The prodigal had wasted his substance
on riotous living. He had a good time for who knows
how long, but he ran out of money, and he had wasted the inheritance
he had from his father, and he now returns expecting to be a
servant. He wouldn't dream of being a
son. And he rehearses a speech. Father,
I've sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and I'm not worthy
to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired
servants. And so he comes back home, and
his father saw him. And the Scripture says he ran
toward his son. What was his son thinking? Is
he going to punch me out? Is he going to knock me down?
But he runs toward his son, and the scripture says he fell on
him. He fell on his neck. I guess he tackled him. And he
began to kiss him. And the scripture says he kissed
him with many kisses. Now, how did that young man feel? I don't know what type of fellow
he was. Some people would tighten up
when there's some physical display like that. It wouldn't bother
somebody, but I love to think of this man. He was being kissed
by his father with many kisses. Now, I've entitled this message,
The Touch of Christ. A very important part of the
human experience is touching. It's one of the five senses of
life, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. And I realize that some people
are more comfortable than others with the idea of hugging and
embracing and kissing and so on. It comes easier to some than
others, but touching is very important to everybody. You know,
when the Elliot's baby was in the hospital, I guess actually
the Elliot's baby is still in the hospital, It has been very
important for the mother to touch the baby and to hold the baby. As a matter of fact, when, as
I understand it, if babies are compromised in the hospital,
they want the mothers to come and hold them, and that actually
helps them even though they don't know it. They're not cognizant
of the fact that, well, my mom's holding me, but somehow it helps
them in being held and they recover better. In nursing homes, they
have what's called pet therapy, and the people who are able to
even establish contact with the pets and pet them have better
vital signs. Their blood pressure goes down
and there's benefit in touching. I'm kind of ashamed to admit
this, but when I go to the dentist, I become so stressed out when
I hear that drill going in my mouth. I can't even describe
to you what that does to me. I press my head back against
the chair until my neck's about to break. I'm hearing that thing,
and one time I started perspiring so heavily that it put a fan
on me. And I don't know what it is. You know, I mean, I've
had some pretty serious surgeries. I didn't react to them the way
I go into a dinner. But what they've started doing, they bring
a massage therapist. And they start, she starts holding
my hand and rubbing it. I'm ashamed to admit this, but
I'm saying it helps somehow. It helps. I mean, I'm sitting
there, you know, and I can't even see the person, but they're
rubbing my hand. And it calms me down just a little bit while
I'm hearing that excruciating noise, that drill going in my
mouth. I just hate it. And in some small measure, that
helps me. Maybe I've got problems. I don't
know. But a warm handshake, a meaningful
handshake, an embrace, a hug, a kiss. You know, five times
in the New Testament, we're told to greet one another with a holy
kiss. A warm handshake can be the same,
but people who know and love each other want to They want
to embrace each other. They want to be with one another. And when you're upset with someone,
I'm sure maybe some of you men have heard this from your wives.
Don't touch me. Maybe you haven't. I can't remember
if I've heard that or not, but maybe I have. The wise man said
in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 5, there's a time to embrace
and there's a time to refrain from. Touching is a very important
part of the human experience. We read a lot in the scriptures
of people touching Christ, coming into contact with him. and being
healed, even touching the hem of his garments and being healed. And we read of people bringing
infants to the Lord that he might touch them. They just wanted
the Lord to touch them and bless them. And I can't help but wonder
what those infants' lives were like after that. It would be
interesting to think about it, wouldn't it? I mean, our Lord
touched these infants and blessed them. I wonder what their lives
were like. Now, while I do want to touch
him, I want to touch the Lord Jesus Christ. One of these days
I will. I want to say with John, our
hands have handled of the word of life. I want to touch him,
but what I want more than that is I want him to touch me. I desperately want him to touch
me. I look the word touch up in the
Greek expositors dictionary. And it says the word means to
fasten, to cling to, and the same word is sometimes translated
kindle, like when fire touches wood. Have you ever watched when
the fire touches the wood and all of a sudden it's fastened
to it and it stays right there kindling with it? Now, I need
him to be fastened to me. I need him to touch me in love,
in mercy, and in grace. I need this touch. Now, what
I'm talking about right now is a thing of need. What I'm talking about right
now is a thing of need. I need him to touch me. Now, would you turn to Mark chapter
1? I'm going to look at 7 or 8 passages of Scripture where
the Lord touched people. Mark chapter 1, verse 40. And there came a leper to him,
and Luke's account tells us this man was full of leprosy. In other words, every square
inch of his body was covered with these leprous sores. Now,
can you imagine what this man must have looked like? And the
scripture uses leprosy to typify sin. What a loathsome disease. This man came not only full of
leprosy, but full of sin. Plum full. Now, this is the way
a sinner comes to Christ. He realizes he is full of sin. That's all that's there. And
this is how he came. And let's go on reading. And
there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him,
and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. I'm unclean. I can't make myself
clean. My need is to be made clean.
I'm filthy. I'm covered with leprosy. I'm
in your hands, if you will. It's all up to you. I have no
control in this matter. It's up to you. If you will,
you can make me clean. Have you ever come to the Lord
like that? Verse 41, and Jesus moved with compassion. What a glorious Savior he is. Put forth his hand and touched him. Would you have
touched this man? The answer is no, you wouldn't. You would be afraid of contacting
his disease. As a matter of fact, he was made
to hold a rag over his mouth and cry out, unclean, unclean. He was to dwell alone. He shouldn't
have even been here. But here he comes into the Lord's
presence, saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.
And the Son of God reached forth his hand and touched him and said, I will. Be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken,
immediately the leprosy departed from him. It went somewhere else.
Notice the leprosy departed from him. What happened to it? Did
it just dissipate? Did it just dissolve? Did it
just disappear? No, I have no doubt that somehow
that went right into the Lord Jesus Christ. Because he bare
our sins, he bare our infirmities, he bare our sicknesses. Everything
came into him and his saving health came into this man. And he was cleansed. Turn to
Luke 7. Verse 11. And it came to pass, Luke chapter
7, verse 11, and it came to pass the day after that he went into
a city called Nain. And many of his disciples went
with him, and much people. Now, when he came nigh to the
gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the
only son of his mother, and she was a widow. and much people
of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and
said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the beer And they that bear him stood
still. And he said, Young man, I say
unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up and
began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. Now, this man was dead. And this
speaks of the sinner's natural condition. The scripture says,
Paul says in Ephesians 2, 1, dead in trespasses and sins. Now, what is this thing about
being dead? If I'm dead, I cannot respond to the stimulus of life. I can't respond to anything.
I can't respond to music. I can't hear. I can't respond
to a beautiful sight. I can't see. I can't respond
to the taste of something because I can't taste. I can't respond
to the feel of something. No matter what it feels like,
I can't feel it because I'm dead. dead in trespasses and sins. And that being the case, for
me to have life, I need the Lord Jesus Christ to come and to touch
me, to have mercy on me, to have favor on me. I need him to do
this for me, because if he doesn't do this for me, I'll go to hell. All the Lord's got to do is leave
me alone and not touch me and I will go to hell. I need Him
to touch me and give me life. I need Him to cleanse me and
make me clean like He did for that leper. I need for Him to
do for me what He did for that young man in that funeral with
his mother crying and he's moved by compassion. Oh, the compassion
of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no way I can describe
it. He's so compassionate. He's so delights in mercy. And
he touched. And this man was made alive. Mark chapter 7. Mark chapter 7. Verse 32. And they bring unto him one that
was deaf. He couldn't hear a thing. It
was nothing but silence. Perhaps he could see people's
mouth moving, but he couldn't hear a thing. And he had an impediment
in his speech. You know, someone that can't
hear, they can't speak like him. They never can pronounce the
word right. They have such a difficult time. He had an impediment in
his speech, and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the
multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and
he touched his tongue, and looked up to heaven. He sighed and said
unto That is, be opened, and straightway
his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed,
and he spake plain." Now, we're going to get back to the speech
a bit in a few minutes, but let's just talk about the fact that
his ears were opened. I love to think of the Lord taking
both of His fingers and sticking them in the guy's ears. And all
of a sudden, be opened, he hears. He hears. Now, here's the point. Remember, I'm talking about need.
I'm talking about need. I need the Lord to touch me to
open up my ears so I can hear the gospel. I can't hear the
gospel unless He enables me to hear. It's just words to me.
It's just doctrines. It's not life unless He gives
me ears to hear. I can't understand what's being
said. Not spiritually. I can't understand a thing that's
being said unless He is pleased to open up my ears so I can hear. Now, I need Him to do this for
me because I can't hear unless He's pleased to do this for me.
So, Lord, open my ears, touch my ears, cause me to hear, cause
me to hear in the power of God the Holy Spirit so that I can
hear. I can't even hear. You know,
I can hear the truth. I can hear it preached powerfully
and clearly, and it means nothing to me unless God is pleased to
touch my ears. I can't understand what's being
said unless God is pleased to touch my ears and enable me to
hear. I need Him to touch me. Now,
listen to me. When the Lord enables you to
hear the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, you know
what? He's touched your ears. That's
why you hear. He has touched your ears and
enabled you And if he doesn't touch our ears, we won't hear
a thing. Now turn with me to Matthew chapter
20. Matthew chapter 20, verse 30. And behold, two blind men sat
by the wayside. When they heard that Jesus passed
by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. Now, this is the story of blind
Bartimaeus. In Matthew's account, he says, two blind men. In both
Mark and Luke's account, all we read about is Bartimaeus himself.
Somebody says, Aha, a discrepancy in the scripture. It says two
in one place and one in another. Oh, it's not a discrepancy. It
just tells about one in one place and two in the other. It doesn't
tell about the two in the other two places. And the Lord says
this so people like you will trip on the truth. That's why
the Lord does this. He allows things like that. He'll
give you enough rope to hang yourself if that's what you want
to do. This is not a discrepancy. He just doesn't mention one.
Anyway, let's go on reading. 30, they heard Jesus pass by, they
cried, saying, have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.
And the multitude rebuked them, that they should hold their peace.
But they cried the more, saying, have mercy on us, O Lord, thou
Son of David. And Jesus stood still. That, oh my, he's on his way
to the cross. The scripture says he'd set his
face like a flint. He wouldn't be moved. And yet,
when he heard this cry for mercy, he stood still. This stopped
him in his tracks. I'm sure everybody was calling
his name. There he goes marching, marching. Everybody's calling
his name. All of a sudden, somebody cries for mercy. And Jesus stood
still. And if I cry for mercy right
now, he's going to stand still and he's going to hear me. Let's
go on reading. And call them and said, what
will you that I should do unto you? I love that question. What
will you that I shall do unto you? Not not what you want to
do or what will you that I should do for you? What the Lord asked
you that? What a question. What will you
that I should do to you? They say unto him, Lord, that
our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes
and immediately their eyes received sight and they followed him. Now, I need the Lord to touch
my eyes. I cannot see the beauty of Christ
unless he touches my eyes. I cannot see the glory of the
gospel I can't see. It's a beautiful song that I
don't understand unless he touches my eyes and enables me to see. I need him to give me sight because
by nature I'm blind. I can't see. I need him to touch
my eyes so I can behold the glory of Jesus Christ. I need him to
touch my eyes so I can see the truth regarding myself, so I
can see myself as I really am. Nothing but sin. as I can see
Him as He really is, absolutely holy, that I can see salvation
as it really is, all together in Christ, and that I might be
enabled to see Him as my salvation. Now, I think of that passage
in John chapter 9. Turn with me there. John chapter
9. Now, once again, let me emphasize
what I'm talking about. I'm talking about how I need
Him to touch me. I need all these things I need. Here in John chapter
9 verse 39. And Jesus said for judgment I'm
coming to this world. This is right after he healed
the man that was born blind. For judgment I'm coming to this
world that they which see not might see. And they which see
might be made blind. Now, what in the world does that
mean? The Lord says, I've come that the folks who can see will
be blinded and the folks who can't see will be given sight. What in the world does that mean?
I know. Listen real carefully. Find me someone who can't find
one reason who can't see one reason as to why God would ever
show them mercy. And I'll show you somebody that
he gives sight to. Find me somebody who can see
why God would save them. After all, I did this and I started
doing that. Find me somebody who can see why God would save
them. And I'll show you somebody that he's blinded as an act of
his judicial work. For judgment, the Lord says,
I've come into this world that they which see not might see,
and that they which see might be made blind. Matthew chapter 17, verse 1. And after six days, Jesus taketh
Peter, James, and John, his brother, and bringeth them up into an
high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the
sun, and his raiment was white as the light. Can you imagine
what this must have been like? Our Lord at this time Let's then
see something of his deity. They'd never seen anything like
this before. Verse three, and behold, there appeared unto them
Moses and Elijah talking with him, and we know from Luke's
account what they were talking about. The scripture says they
spake of the decease which he should accomplish. Then answered
Peter. I don't know how many times Peter
answers when he's never asked anything, but he gives an answer.
He's got to put his two cents in. He doesn't know what to say.
I bet he's scared to death. He doesn't know what to say,
so he says something. Then answered Peter and said
unto Jesus, Lord, it's good for us to be here. If thou wilt,
let us make here three tabernacles for worship. One for thee. One for Moses,
and one for Elijah. Now this was a blasphemous, idolatrous,
wicked thing for him to say. He's putting these two men, even
in their glorified state, on the same plane as the Lord Jesus
Christ. Three tabernacles, one for you,
one for Moses, one for Elijah. Now, why did he say that? I don't
know, but he did. And it was an evil thing to say. Verse 5, while he yet spake,
while he was saying this, immediately, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed
them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud which said, This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him. And when the disciples heard
it, they fell on their face and were afraid. I reckon they were.
For all they knew, God was going to kill them for making such
a blasphemous, idolatrous statement. And they're scared to death.
They fall on their face, sore afraid, verse 7, and Jesus came
and touched them. and said, Arise, be not afraid. Now, this is the touch of his
grace. Now, what Peter said was terribly
wrong. Evil. Could a believer say something
like that? Well, he did. He did. And that deserved some kind of
severe chastisement. You would agree with that. that
yet the Lord in mercy and favor came and touched him and said,
Arise, be not afraid. Can you imagine how that touch
must have felt? And hearing those assuring words
You got no reason to fear. You see, the only thing that
causes fear is sin. But if sin is taken away. I have
no reason to fear. The touch of his grace and would
you turn back to Mark chapter seven, we looked at this once,
but I think it's well, you only look at half of it. Mark, chapter seven. Remember, in verse 32, they bring
unto him one that was dead. Verse 32. Mark chapter 7, verse
32. And they bring unto him one that
was dead, and he had an impediment in his speech. Now, if you can't
hear the gospel, what you say is not going to be right regarding
the gospel. An evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart
brings forth evil things. A good man out of the good treasure
of his heart brings forth good things. Out of the abundance
of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Now, this fellow couldn't hear,
so he couldn't speak. And they beseech him to put his
hand upon him, and he took him aside from the multitude, and
put his fingers in his ears, and he spit and touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he
sighed. You know, I would imagine the
Lord did a lot of sighing when he was here on earth. Being around
people like me and you, a lot of sighing. One time he said,
how long shall I suffer you? Bring him to me. How long? You
understand that. He sighed. And said unto him, Ephetah, that
is, be opened. And straightway his ears were
opened, and the string of his tongue was loose, and he spake
plain. He spake rightly. He said right
things about himself. He said right things about God. He said right things about the
gospel. You see, when the Lord touches
you, you say right things. Your speech lines up with the
speech of Scripture. Your speech lines up with the
gospel. The Lord said, by your words
you'll be justified, and by your words you'll be convened. What
do you believe? Well, find out what a man says.
That's what he believes. That's what he believes in. All
of a sudden this man spake rightly. Matthew chapter 8. Matthew chapter 8. Verse 14. I need the Lord to touch my tongue
to cause me to speak rightly. And you know, we need the same
thing. Look in verse 14, And when Jesus
was come into Peter's house, he saw his mother's wife laid
and sick of a fever, and he touched her hand, and the fever left
her, and she arose and ministered unto them. I need him to touch
me. to make me a servant, to make
me to minister to the Lord's people, to truly be a servant. The only way I can truly be a
servant, that's what I want to be, is if he touches me. So Lord, touch me just like you
did Peter's mom and cause me to truly be a minister, a servant
to thy people. In Matthew chapter 9, verse 27, Here's another couple of blind
fellows. And when Jesus departed, thence two blind men followed
him, crying and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us. How many times do we find that
in Scripture? That's a good prayer, isn't it? That's a prayer me
and you could be praying every day. Thou Son of David, God's
promised Messiah, coming through the seed of David, the Messiah,
the Christ. Thou Son of David, have mercy
on us. And when he was coming to the
house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus saith unto them,
Believe ye that I am able to do this. They said unto him,
Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying,
According to your faith be it unto you. Now, we learn from
this that his touch comes according to our faith. Now, first he touched
them with faith. And they believed. And then he
said, Do you believe? And they said, Yes. And then
he touched their eyes and said, According to your faith, be it
unto you. What's your faith? Do you believe
he's able? That's the bottom line. Do you
believe he's able to save you? According to your faith, be it
unto you. And he touched them. Now I want to close in Mark chapter
5. How can I know if he has touched
me? I want him to touch me. I need
him to touch me, to come down and make me clean, to make me
to live, to make me to hear, to make me to see, to make me
to have favor, to make me to speak, to make me to serve, to
make me to believe. I need him to touch me. How can
I know if he has touched me? Well, Mark chapter 5, beginning
in verse 24. And Jesus went with him, and
much people followed him and thronged him. There was a bunch
of people touching him. That's what that means. They
were pressing against him. They were touching him. Everybody wanted to touch
the Lord Jesus Christ. I understand that. I'd want to,
too. I'd be one of these people thronging him, too. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood 12 years, this woman had some kind
of menstrual disease. And because of that, she was
considered unclean, ceremonially unclean. She was supposed to
stay away from the people. And can you imagine What a weakened
state this woman was in, anemic from this menstrual disease that
she'd suffered with for 12 years. Weak. And the scripture says
in verse 26, she'd suffered many things of many physicians. And spent all that she'd had,
she'd do anything to get rid of this and was nothing bettered
but rather grew worse. Now, you know as well as I know,
that represents her coming to salvation by works, the different
physicians that couldn't do anything for her that only made her worse. Verse 27, when she had heard
of Jesus, I don't know what all she'd heard
of him, but she heard something. And the scripture says she came
in the press, in the crowd. She was doing something she wasn't
supposed to do. She was supposed to be away from everybody. She
was unclean. But she knew her only way of cleansing was to
come into contact with the Lord Jesus Christ. She knew that.
When she had heard of Jesus, she came in the press, behind.
and touched his garment, for she said, If I may touch but
his clothes, I shall be whole. That's what this woman believed.
If I can just touch the hem of his garment, such is the greatness
and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. If I can come into contact
with him and touch the hem of his garment, I'll be whole, plumbed,
healed, saved, complete. Verse 29, And straightway, now
she had touched the hem of his garment, and straightway the
fountain of her blood was dried up. And she felt in
her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus immediately knowing
in himself that virtue, that power had gone out of him. Now, this is the way his saving
works. My sin, my disease, the hell that's in my heart. You know, this thing of Christ Jesus, being
made sin. You know, there's something about
that that we kind of recall at it. You know, we talk about sin,
we say it's bad, wicked, evil, and so on, and we mean it, but
we don't know what we're talking about, because it really doesn't
bother us that much. But when we think of the Lord being made
sin, it's disturbing, isn't it? It's disturbing. And it ought
to be disturbing. And you think of her disease
going into him. and that power and that virtue
coming out of him into her. That's just picture salvation.
That's what happened on the cross. And she knew she was whole of
her plague. Verse 30, And Jesus immediately,
knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him
about in the press, the people pressing against him, hundreds,
and said, Who touched my clothes? Don't you reckon he knew? Of
course he did. He knew exactly who touched his
clothes. You see, he'd already touched
her. That's why she touched him. The
reason she came behind him in the press was because he touched
her by His grace. And this woman knew that the
only way she could be healed is to come in contact with Him
and she wouldn't dare come up front. She comes behind Him.
Oh, she's humiliated over herself and she doesn't even want anybody's...
She comes behind Him in the press and she knows if I just touch
the hem of His garment, I'll be clean. And she was made whole. And it's because the Lord had
touched her. Now, this is how you can know
if the Lord has touched you. You're going to come to Him just
like this woman did. If you do that, He's touched
you. Verse 31, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him,
Thou seest the multitude thronging thee. You've been touched by
hundreds of people. And sayest thou who touched me?
And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. And I suppose when he looked
into her eyes, she flipped out. She was scared. Did I do something wrong? Was
I wrong in this? Was this an act of presumption
for me? To come and touch him. I can
imagine all the thoughts that must have gone through her mind
when he looked upon her. Verse 33, but the woman. Fearing. And trembling. Knowing what was done in her. Came. And fell down before him. and told him what? All the truth. And this is what's
going to happen when the Lord's touched somebody. I ain't going
to be lying. They're going to tell all the
truth concerning who they are, concerning who God is in His
Word, concerning salvation. They're going to tell all. The
truth. Now, if the Lord touches me,
I'm telling all the truth. Here's the truth. I am nothing
but sin. Here's the truth. Salvation is
utterly of the Lord. Here's the truth. The only way
I can be saved is for Christ to represent me completely. Him doing it all. I tell all
the truth. That's what this woman did. And
He said it unto her. Verse 34. Daughter, thy faith
hath made thee whole. Go in peace, and be whole of
thy plague. Now, do you have this woman's
faith? You answer that question. Do you have this woman's faith?
Well, what was this woman's faith? She knew. If somehow she came
into contact with Christ, she'd be made whole. Now, I'm coming behind him in
the press to touch the hem of his garment, how I need virtue
to come out of him. You see, when she touched him, he
touched her. Lord, come down and touch us that we might be clean, that
we might live, that we might hear, that we might see, that
we might have your favor, that we might speak, that we might
serve, that we might believe. Let's pray.