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36 - The Desire of Ages - Ellen Gould · Sacred Texts Archive

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  The touch of faith. Returning from Gergisa to the western shore, Jesus found
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  a multitude gathered to receive him, and they greeted him with joy. He
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  remained by the sea side for a time, teaching and healing, and then
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  repaired to the house of Levi Matthew to meet the publicans at the feast.
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  Here Jurias, the ruler of the Synagogue, found him. This elder of
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  the Jews came to Jesus in great distress and cast himself at his feet,
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  exclaiming, my little daughter lieth at the point of death. I pray thee
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  come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed and she
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  shall live. Jesus set out at once with the ruler for his home.
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  Though the disciples had seen so many of his works of mercy, they were
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  surprised at his compliance with the entreaty of the haughty rabbi. Yet they accompanied
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  their master, and the people followed eager and expectant. The ruler's house was
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  not far distant, but Jesus and his companions avanced slowly, for the crowd
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  pressed him on every side. The anxious father was impatient of delay, but
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  Jesus pitying. The people stopped now and then to relieve some suffering one,
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  or to comfort a troubled heart. While they were still on the way,
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  a messenger pressed through the crowd, bearing to Jerias the news that his daughter
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  was dead, and it was useless to trouble the master further. The word
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  caught the ear of Jesus. Fear not, he said, believe only,
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  and she shall be made whole. Jerias pressed closer to the Savior, and
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  together they hurried to the ruler's home. Already the hired mourners and flute players
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  were there, filling the air with their clamor. The presence of the crowd
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  and the tumult jarred upon the spirit of Jesus. He tried to silence them,
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  saying, why make ye this ado and weep? The damsel is not
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  dead, but sleepeth. They were indignant at the words of the stranger.
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  They had seen the child in the embrace of death, and they laughed him
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  to scorn, requiring them all to leave the house. Jesus took with him
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  the father and mother of the maiden, and the three disciples, Peter,
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  James, and John, and together they entered the chamber of death. Jesus
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  approached the bedside, and taking the child's hand in his own, he pronounced
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  softly, in the familiar language of her home, the words damsel I say
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  unto thee arise. Instantly, a trimmer passed through the unconscious form. The
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  pulses of life beat again. The lips unclosed with a smile, the eyes
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  opened widely, as if from sleep, and the maiden gazed with wonder on
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  the group beside her. She arose, and her parents clasped her in their
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  arms and wept for joy. On the way to the ruler's house, Jesus
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  had met in the crowd a poor woman who, for twelve years had suffered
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  from a disease that made her life a burden. She had spent all her
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  means upon physicians and remedies, only to be pronounced incurable. But her hope
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  revived when she heard of the cures at Christ performed. She felt assured that
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  if she could only go to him, she would be healed in weakness and
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  suffering. She came to the sea side where he was teaching, and tried
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  to press through the crowd, but in vain again, she followed him from
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  the house of Levi Matthew, but was still unable to reach him. She
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  had begun to despair, when, in making his way through the multitude,
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  he came near where she was, the golden opportunity had come. She was
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  in the presence of the great physician, but amid the confusion, she could
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  not speak to him, nor catch more than a passing glimpse of his figure.
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  Fearful of losing her one chance of relief, she pressed forward, saying
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  to herself, if I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
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  As he was passing, she reached forward and succeeded in barely touching the
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  border of his garment. But in that moment she knew that she was healed.
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  In that one touch, she was concentrated faith of her life, and
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  instantly her pain and feebleness gave place to the vigor of perfect health. With
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  a grateful heart, she then tried to withdraw from the crowd, but suddenly
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  Jesus stopped, and the people halted with him. He turned, and,
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  looking about, asked, in a voice distinctly heard above the confusion of the
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  multitude, who touched me? The people answered this query with a look of
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  amazement, jostled upon all sides, and rudely pressed hither and thither as he
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  was, it seemed a strange inquiry. Peter, ever ready to speak,
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  said Master, the multitude thronged thee and pressed thee, and sayest thou who
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  touched me? Jesus answered, somebody hath touched me, For I perceive that
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  virtue is gone out of me. The Savior could distinguish the touch of faith
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  from the casual contact of the careless throng. Such trust should not be passed
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  without comment. He would speak to the humble woman, words of comfort that
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  would be to her a well spring of joy, words that would be a
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  blessing to his followers. To the close of time, Looking toward the woman,
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  Jesus insisted on knowing who had touched him. Finding concealment vain, she
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  came forward, tremblingly and cast herself at his feet with grateful tears. She
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  told the story of her suffering and how she had found relief. Jesus gently
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  said, daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith had made thee whole
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  go in peace. He gave no opportunity for superstition to claim healing virtue for
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  the mere act of touching his garments. It was not through the outward contact
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  with him, but through the faith which took hold on his divine power,
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  that the cure was wrought. The wandering crowd that pressed close about Christ realized
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  no accession of vital power. But when the suffering woman put forth her hand
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  to touch him, believing that she would be made whole, she felt the
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  healing virtue. So in spiritual things, to talk of religion in a casual
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  way, to pray without soul hunger and living faith avails nothing. A nominal
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  faith in Christ, which accepts him merely as a savior of the world can
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  never bring healing to the soul. The faith that is unto salvation is not
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  a mere intellectual assent to the truth. He who waits for entire knowledge before
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  he will exercise faith cannot receive blessing from God. It is not enough to
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  believe about Christ. We must believe in him. The only faith that will
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  benefit us is that which embraces Him as a personal savior, which appropriates his
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  merits to ourselves. Many hold faith as an opinion. Saving faith is a
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  transaction by which those who receive Christ join themselves in covenant relation with God.
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  Genuine faith is life a living faith means an increase of vigor, a confiding
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  trust by which the soul becomes a conquering power. After healing the woman,
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  Jesus desired her to acknowledge the blessing she had received. The gifts which a
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  gospel offers are not to be secured by stealth or enjoyed in secret. So
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  the Lord calls upon us for confession of his goodness. Ye are my witnesses,
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  saith the Lord that I am God Isaiah forty three twelve. Our confession
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  of his faithfulness is Heaven's chosen agency for revealing Christ to the world. We
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  are to acknowledge His grace as made known through the Holy Men of old.
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  But that which will be most effectual is the testimony of our own experience.
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  We are witnesses for God as we reveal in ourselves the working of a power
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  that is divine. Every individual has a life distinct from all others and an
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  experience differing essentially from theirs. God desires that our praise shall ascend to Him,
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  marked by our own individuality. These precious acknowledgments to the praise of the
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  glory of His grace, when supported by a christ like life, have an
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  irresistible power that works for the salvation of souls. When the ten lepers came
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  to Jesus for healing, he bade them go and show themselves to the priest.
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  On the way they were cleansed. But only one of them returned to
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  give him glory. The others went their way forgetting him who had made them
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  whole. How many are still doing the same thing. The Lord works continually
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  to benefit mankind. He is ever imparting his bounties. He raises up the
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  sick from beds of languishing. He delivers men from peril which they do not
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  see. He commissions heavenly angels to save them from calamity, to guard them
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  from the pestilence that walketh in darkness, and the destruction that wasteth at noonday
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  Psalms ninety one six. But their hearts are unimpressed. He has given all
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  the riches of heaven to redeem them, and yet they are unmindful of His
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  great love. By their ingratitude, they close their hearts against the grace of
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  God. Like the heath in the desert. They know not when good cometh,
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  and their souls inhabit the parched places of the wilderness. It is for
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  our own benefit to keep every gift of God fresh in our memory. Thus
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  faith is strengthened to claim and to receive more and more. There is greater
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  encouragement for us in the least blessing we ourselves receive from God than in all
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  the accounts we can read of the faith and experience of others. The soul
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  that responds to the grace of God shall be like a watered garden. His
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  health shall spring forth speedily, his light shall rise in obscurity, and the
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  glory of the Lord shall be seen upon him. Let us then remember the
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  loving kindness of the Lord and the multitude of his tender mercies. Like the
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  people of Israel. Let us set up our stones of witness and inscribe upon
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  them the precious story of what God has wrought for us. And as we
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  review His dealings with us in our pilgrimage, let us, out of heart
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  melted with gratitude, declare, what shall I render unto the Lord for all
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  his benefits towards me. I will take the cup of salvation and call upon
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  the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord.
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  Now in the presence of all his people Psalms one sixteen, twelve to fourteen,
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  end of Chapter thirty six,