| The Christian Life | June 1945 |
Source of Virtue and Strength
The Masters Touch
THE hand is used in the Scriptures as a symbol of power. The touch of the hand is a small exercise of power. Let us notice a few Biblical records of the wonderful things that were accomplished by the Master’s touch, and consider them to be illustrative of the manner in which we are being dealt with by the same loving and gracious Master, of whom the poet wrote:
“Thy touch hath still its ancient power,
No word from Thee can fruitless fall.”
Leprosy—Sin
“When He was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth His hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”—Matthew 8:1-3
LEPROSY is used in the Scriptures as a symbol of sin. Just as the disease of leprosy eats away the flesh of its victims, so sin eats away the heart, the finer sensibilities of the human being, his character.
Not all the lepers in Israel were cleansed by Jesus at the first advent (Luke 4:27); so during the Gospel age, although Jesus by. the grace of God tasted death for every man, not all have benefited from this precious sacrifice, but only one here and there. (Heb. 2:9) However, the Millennial age is to bring a still fuller manifestation of divine grace to mankind, and all who will of the sin-stained lepers will be cleansed—the sin of the world will be taken away (John 1:29), and earth will be once more a holy place.
Fever—Pride
“And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever. And He touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.”—Matthew 8:14,15
THIS would well illustrate the fevers of pride, anger, temper, passion, that afflict the human family. The world was never in a more feverish condition than it is today. Man cannot possibly get rid of these symbolic fevers by his own efforts, much less commend himself to God thereby. “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight.” (Rom. 3:20) What mankind needs is the Master’s touch.
Fever in the symbolic sense is a condition of unrest. The touch of Jesus will abolish this, and bring rest and peace—peace with God as we lay hold of the Lord by faith, and the peace of God in our hearts as we surrender ourselves fully to walk in His steps. (Matt. 11:28; Rom. 5:1; Phil. 4:7) May our prayers for this blessing be those expressed by the poet:
“Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.”
Our Eyes of Understanding
“And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way, side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, Thou Son of David. … And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto 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.”—Matthew 20:29-34
THIS illustrates the opening of the eyes of our understanding by the power of the Spirit of God. Some think that our eyes may be opened by education, or through our own efforts. But repeated endeavors along these lines through the centuries have shown that this is no more possible than for one born blind to open his own eyes.
On one occasion the Master opened a man’s eyes by making clay and placing it upon the sightless orbs (John 9:6); a beautiful illustration of the method the Lord frequently uses in opening the eyes of one’s understanding. He uses human instrumentalities, “clay,” as a means of conveying this great blessing.
Especially has this been the method followed at this end of the age in connection with the message of present truth. A faithful and wise servant has been used. (Matt. 24:45-47) Fellow servants also have been favored to share in these “greater works” which the Master foretold would be the privilege of His faithful followers to perform. It will be their blessed privilege to open the eyes of millions who have been physically as well as mentally blind.—Isa. 35:5
After Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit, in addition to being sanctified by the truth (John 17:17-19), He went throughout all the cities and villages of Israel, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom. This shows the two principal reasons why our mental eyes have been anointed with the eye-salve of truth: (1) that we might experience sanctification; (2) that we might witness to the message as extensively as our circumstances will allow.
Spiritual Food Multiplied
“And Jesus said unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes. And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.”—Matthew 15:34-37
JUST as the seven loaves were multiplied sufficiently to feed the four thousand men, besides women and children, as a result of the Master’s touch; so on a still higher plane, the same gracious power has caused the spiritual food to be multiplied that it might reach and fill the truth-hungry multitude wherever found throughout the earth.
A little more than five centuries ago divine power permitted the printing press to be invented. Since then men’s minds have continued to be touched so that this wonderful contrivance has ever continued to be improved. In this way the Bible, and literature explaining the Bible, have been multiplied a million fold. In other ways men’s minds have been touched, enabling them to provide rapid means of transit in order that the Gospel of the Kingdom might be carried to the ends of the earth. Finally, the Lord’s consecrated servants have been quickened by the Master’s touch to make use of these modern facilities, that the truth-hungry might be fed, wherever or however situated.
“Wise as Serpents”
“And one of them smote the, servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And He touched his ear, and healed him.”—Luke 22:50,51
WE can be fairly certain that as a result of Peter’s rather reckless use of the sword, the hearing of the injured man would be seriously impaired. So some have had their spiritual hearing injured by an unwise use of the sword of the Spirit on the part of over-zealous disciples. All, so injured, need the Maser’s touch in order for their bearing to be fully restored.
“Open Thou Our Lips”
“And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, He cane unto the sea of Galilee. … And they bring unto Him one that was deaf, and 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 touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, He sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.”—Mark 7:31-35
THE poor man here brought to our attention was deaf as well as having an impediment in his speech, and the power of the Master’s touch was again manifested to heal him. Frequently the Lord’s people have, in a spiritual sense, an impediment in their speech. They are unable to speak the Lord’s message as clearly as they would like to do. We need, therefore, to come into that condition of full consecration and submission to the Lord’s will, that His touch may be experienced.
This symbolic touch does not make orators of us all, but it does make it possible for us, in one way or another, to show forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. (I Pet. 2:9) Moses, the servant of God, was slow of speech, but the Lord’s providence overcame this difficulty by providing Aaron as a mouthpiece. The message through the printed page is a wonderful assistance to God’s people today, who are slow of speech.
Little Children Blessed
“And they brought unto Him also infants, that He would touch them: but when His disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto Him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the Kingdom of God.”—Luke 18:15,16
THIS beautiful illustration shows that even young children can experience divine blessing as a result of the Master’s touch. In view of this, how important it is for Christian parents to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord! How many can testify to blessings that have continued throughout the whole life as a result of experiencing the Master’s touch in their very early years! No wonder the wise man says, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.”—Ecclesiastes 12:1
The Dead Awakened
“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 bier: and they that bare 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.”—Luke 7:11-15
COULD we imagine a more touching spectacle than the giving back of this young man to his widowed mother—her only son, and possibly her only support? As a spiritual counterpart to this during the Gospel age, one here and there has experienced an awakening into newness of life—has passed from death unto life—the earnest of that great raising up in the first resurrection of all who wholly live unto Him.—Col. 3:1-2
In view of the gracious works accomplished during the Gospel age, resulting from the Master’s touch, what marvelous things may be expected when the arm of the Lord is laid bare! Surely then all the blind eyes will be opened, and all the deaf ears unstopped. (Isa. 35:5) All that are in their graves will hear the voice of the Son of God and come forth; for He must reign until He hath put all enemies under His feet, and the last enemy to be destroyed is death.—John 5:28,29; I Cor. 15:25,26
In order to experience the Master’s touch we need to do our part by keeping in touch with the Lord. Like the poor woman of old with an issue of blood, let us press through the crowd, if necessary, in order to be near to Him; for if we but touch the hem of His garment we shall be made whole!
In the still lute the music lies unheard
In the rough marble beauty lies useen:
To make the music and the beauty, needs
The Master’s touch, the sculptor’s chisel keen.Great Master, touch us with Thy skillful hand;
Let not the music that is in us die!
Great Sculptor, hew and polish us; nor let,
Hidden and lost, Thy form within us lie!Spare not the stroke! do with, us as Thou wilt!
Let there be nought unfinished, broken, marred;
Complete Thy purpose, that we may become
Thy perfect image, Thou our God and Lord!