In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of having our spiritual senses exercised in order to discern good and evil. He uses the example of a blind man who, after being touched by Jesus, gradually gains his sight and begins to see people as trees walking. The speaker relates this to how as young believers, we often focus too much on individuals and fail to see things spiritually. He then goes on to discuss various encounters Jesus had with individuals, such as a leper and Peter's mother-in-law, highlighting the personal touch and contact Jesus had with them. The speaker concludes by encouraging listeners to draw near to God and persistently seek peace in Jesus, as he is eager to touch and transform their lives.

In the fifth chapter, Mark chapter 5, and starting with verse 21. Jesus having passed over in the ship again to the other side, a great crowd gathered to him, and he was by the sea. And behold, there comes one of the rulers of the synagogue, by name Jairus. And seeing him, he falls down at his feet, and he besought him much, saying, My little daughter is at extremity. I pray that thou shouldst come and lay thy hands upon her, so that she may be healed and may live. And he went with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed on him, and a certain woman who had a flux of blood twelve years, and had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent everything she had, and had found no advantage from it, but had rather got worse, having heard concerning Jesus, came in the crowd behind and touched his clothes. For she said, If I shall touch but his clothes, I shall be healed. And immediately her fountain of blood was dried up, and she knew in her body that she was cured from the scourge. And immediately Jesus, knowing in himself the power that had gone out of him, turning round in the crowd, said, Who has touched my clothes? And his disciples said to him, Thou seest the crowd pressing on thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her who had done this. But the woman, frightened and trembling, knowing what had taken place in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said to her, Daughter, thy faith has healed thee. Go in peace, and be well of thy scourge. While he was yet speaking, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying, Thy daughter has died. Why troublest thou the teacher any further? But Jesus, immediately having heard the word spoken, says to the ruler of the synagogue, Fear not, only believe. And he suffered no one to accompany him, save Peter and James, and John, the brother of James. And he comes to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and sees the tumult, and people weeping and wailing greatly. And entering in, he says to them, Why do you make a tumult and weep? The child has not died, but sleeps. And they derided him. But he, having put them all out, takes with him the father of the child, and the mother, and those that were with him, and enters in where the child was lying. And having laid hold of the hand of the child, he says to her, Telethah kumi, which is interpreted, Damsel, I say to thee, arise. And immediately the damsel rose and walked, for she was twelve years old, and they were astonished with great astonishment. And he charged them much that no one should know this, and he desired that something should be given her to eat. And in the seventh chapter, in the thirty-first verse, And again, having left the borders of Tyre and Sidon, he came to the Sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. And they bring to him a deaf man, who could not speak right. And they beseech him that he might lay his hand on him. Having taken him away from the crowd apart, he put his fingers to his ears, and having spit, he touched his tongue, and looking up to heaven, he groaned. And he says to him, Hephathah, that is, he opened. And immediately his ears were opened, and the band of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke right. And he charged them that they should speak to no one of it. But so much the more he charged them, so much the more abundantly they proclaimed it. And they were astonished above measure, saying, He does all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear, and the speechless to speak. And in the eighth chapter, the twenty-second verse, And he comes to Bethsaida, and they bring him a blind man, and beseech him that he might touch him. Taking hold of the hand of the blind man, he led him forth out of the village, having spit upon his eyes, and laid his hands upon him, and asked him if he beheld anything. Having looked up, he said, I behold men, for I see them as trees walking. Then he laid his hands again upon his eyes, and he saw distinctly, and was restored, and saw all things clearly. And he sent him to his house, saying, Neither enter into the village, nor tell it to anyone in the village. And in the gospel of Mark, I mean Matthew, in the eighth chapter, Matthew chapter eight, starting with verse one, And when he had come down from the mountain, a great crowd followed him. Behold, a leper came up to him and did him homage, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou art able to cleanse me. And he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, I will be cleansed. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus says to him, See thou tell no man, but go, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses ordained for testimony to them. And finally, in the fourteenth verse, And when Jesus had come to Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law laid down and in a fever, and he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she arose and served him. What I have in mind, dear brethren, in taking up these passages is the touch of Christ. I was thinking this last week about how effectual the touch of Christ is, that God has come in in such a way that you can be touched by him. There's a passage in the Old Testament that talks about God touching their hearts in relation to Israel. And I think it's wonderful that we see this one who is the Son of God, Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate in flesh, come in manhood, moving about through this scene, and desirous to touch persons. He could not be touched with their affliction in the sense that he would be contaminated by it, but they could be touched with his purity, and his love, and his compassion, and his forgiveness. How wonderful it is to see in this passage in Mark chapter 5, my thought immediately is not to take up the woman with the issue of blood, but this man Jairus and his daughter who was in need, his daughter who was in need of a touch from Christ because she was dying. Well, my friends, if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, then the Bible says that you are dead, because you have sinned. It says all have sinned, there is not one that does good before God, not one, and all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And because of one man's sin also, because Adam sinned in the beginning, death is passed upon all men for that, or because of that, all have sinned. All have sinned. So if you are dead before God, then you are in need of a touch. A touch from the Savior, a touch from the Master. Here is this father Jairus who was in extreme dire straits because of his love for his daughter. He loved her, and he desired to see her well, but he says of her, my little daughter is at extremity. How this must have burdened this father's heart to see the daughter who he loved dying. And he knew that there was an answer for her, and he knew where the answer could be found. It was in the Lord Jesus. And so he comes and he seeks out the Lord Jesus. It says, behold, there comes one of the rulers of the synagogue by name Jairus, and seeing him falls down at his feet, and he besought him much. He besought the Lord Jesus much. Well that's like praying for one who is lost and dying. Well if we have one who is a family member who is lost in this world and is dead to God and dead to the things of God, they need a touch. And we can take those persons before the Lord Jesus, and we can intercede for them in their behalf, and say, Lord, come touch my daughter. Well, the Lord Jesus responds to faith. And he responded to Jairus' prayer and his entreaty to come touch his daughter. And it says that he went with him. He went with him. How wonderful it is to know that no matter what circumstances we may be going through, and no matter how dark those we love may seem, and no matter how dead they may seem, that the Lord Jesus can be with us through it. We're not going through it alone. He desires that there be life there, and he's willing to come with you the whole way. So we see him at the end of this section, and he comes into the house. There were persons who said not to trouble the Master any further. They said, why troublest thou the Teacher any further? But Jesus, having heard the word, says to the ruler of the synagogue, fear not. And how wonderful it is that we can get a touch in our hearts from the word of Christ that will come in and give us confidence that somehow, someway, Christ is going to get the victory. He will win. And he says to him, fear not, only believe. And so how necessary it is for us to have faith and to trust the word of Christ that somehow, through this dark night, there's light at the end of the tunnel. That there is life, and there's life in Christ. Well, when they find this young woman, Christ says about the child that she has not died, but sleeps. By all appearances, it may seem that this person was dead, but the Lord knows those who are His. He knows those who are His. And He has always desires to come in and bring life. And we do not know what came in to bring this state of death to this child, but the Lord Jesus says in verse 41, having laid hold of the hand of the child, He says to her, Talitha kumi, which is being interpreted, damsel, I say to thee, arise. And so one can arise from a dead state, from a place where there's no life Godward, because Christ has come in and taken you by the hand. What a wonderful thing it is to know that this is where we start. That Christ must come in and touch you. He must touch you if there's going to be life, and if you're going to be able to arise. Because you cannot arise out of a dead state on your own. If Christ did not come in and intervene in your life, then you could not walk. You could not arise. You would go to the grave, lost and dead. But Christ can come in. And He is desirous to say to thee, arise. And the wonderful thing is, is that it says immediately the damsel arose. Not two days later, not a week later, but immediately. And when Christ comes in and touches someone's life, there is immediate evidence that life has come in. There is no longer a dead state. There is no longer that which shows a lack of life, and a lack of participation with Christ. There is life that comes in, and she arose. And the first thing that Christ desires for this one, this child, and she was only 12 years old, but the first thing He desires for her when she is arisen, is that she would eat. He charged them, He says, and He desired that something should be given her to eat. And so food, the word food, the word of God is necessary, even for a child. It is necessary for a child to grow in the things of God, in the things of Christ. And Christ is desirous that there would be food to be found for you, so that you would have the strength, not just to arise, but to be able to walk as well. Well, in the 7th chapter, in the 31st verse, we find this man who is deaf. Not only was he deaf, but it says of him that he could not speak right. What a shame, that we may get into such a condition. You know, the Lord Jesus talked about the Jews, and He said about them that hearing, they heard not and did not understand. And I would think that this deaf person was one who could not hear. He may have heard, but he did not hear, and so therefore did not understand. And because he could not understand, he could not speak right about divine things. And it may be that he didn't have any interest in divine things, although he was the Lord's. It says in verse 33, and having taken him away from the crowd apart, he put his fingers to his ears, and having spit, he touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he groaned. And it shows the feeling that Christ has about persons who do not hear and do not understand the Word of God. And I think that the reason that he touched his tongue with his spit is because he was giving this man a taste for divine things. And it has to come from a touch from him in order for there to be a taste of divine things. And he says to him, Ephethah, that is, be opened. And the man could not speak right because he was not hearing right. If you do not understand the Word of God, and you do not understand the things of God, then maybe it's because you need a touch from Christ to have a taste for divine things. And he touched his tongue. It says, be opened, is what he said. And immediately his ears were opened. Immediately his ears were opened, and the band of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke right. Now how discouraging it is when we find persons that seem to love the Lord, but they don't speak rightly about Christ and about divine things. They need a touch, dear brethren. It's interesting too that it says here that they bring him a deaf man. Well, here's persons intervening for another again. And maybe when there's someone amongst us who does not speak right because they're not hearing and they do not understand that they should be prayed for. They need to be brought before Christ so they can receive a touch from Christ so they can have an interest in divine things. Here was a man who was God incarnate. And this man took his spit and put it in this man's tongue. It's a wonderful thing to think how desirous that Christ is that there will be right hearing and right speaking. And that the words would match what he has said from his own mouth so that you're speaking right because you're speaking according to Christ and you have a taste for divine things. The band of his tongue was loosed and he spoke right. Well, that's a wonderful thing when we hear someone who does speak right. And we can be like these in verse 37 who would say he does all things well. He does all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the speechless to speak. What a Savior we have. What a blessed Lord we have that He can do this. And He does do it. Well, in the 8th chapter we have a blind man. Before we had one who could not hear and could not speak right because he did not hear. But now we have a blind man. And it says they bring him a blind man. Here again there are others intervening for one. This blind man didn't come on his own. He was helped there. And if you cannot see spiritually then you may need some help. They bring him a blind man and beseech him that he might touch him. And taking hold of the hand of the blind man he led him forth out of the village and having spit upon his eyes he laid his hands upon him and asked him if he beheld anything. Again, the personal contact the personal touch of the Lord Jesus coming in that he would spit upon his eyes and he would lay his hands upon him. You see, you must see spiritually in order to be able to discern things. And this man, being blind would have no discernment through this scene. You know, I think there's a passage in Hebrews 5 at the end of the chapter it says, For everyone that partakes of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to full-grown men who have, on account of habit have their senses exercised for distinguishing both good and evil. And see here, being this blind man would not be able to distinguish between good and evil because he did not have the spiritual senses. You see, all these things we talk about hearing and taste and sight, our senses and the persons in Hebrews 13 have their senses exercised to discern good and evil. Well, the Lord Jesus touches him he spits upon his eyes and laid his hands upon him he identified with him and having looked up and he asked him if he beheld anything and first when he opens his eyes he says that I beheld men and I see them as trees walking well he did not fully see right yet but maybe this is where we all start and often times as a young believer we have a tendency to get our eyes on persons and I think that's what these trees men as trees walking is is just persons who loom large in our eyes and they may even set a good example for us and probably do many have helped us along the way in our spiritual pathway but there comes a point when you have to see beyond the persons and so the Lord has to lay his hand on him again he laid his hands again upon his eyes and he saw distinctly and was restored and saw all things clearly before we had the man who spoke rightly and now we have one who sees all things distinctly he sees all things clearly how wonderful it is when the Lord Jesus can come and touch our eyes touch our spiritual eyesight so that we see things clearly and we can have discernment about things in this world and even the things amongst our own we must be able to have a certain sense of judgment and not be blinded towards things and some people even take a blind posture we could say by looking the other way or maybe they shouldn't and that is just as bad so he was restored and he saw all things clearly well in the book of Matthew we have another condition and it's sad that one could find himself this way in the first verse of chapter 8 when he had come down from the mountain great crowds followed him behold a leper came up to him and did him homage saying Lord if thou wilt thou are able to cleanse me and he stretched out his hand and touched him saying I will be cleansed well leprosy in the old testament economy was a condition that was found that was exposed and could be seen and that person who was a leper had to go about and proclaim himself as unclean because that was what he was judged to be as unclean and he could not be in the joy and the good of Christian fellowship because he was unclean and maybe this is where you are today maybe you feel that way that you are unclean and you cannot enjoy Christian fellowship leprosy is something that is there that has come forward and has come out I'd like to relate this to the thought of a root there are different roots that scripture speaks of and one of the roots I think of is in Hebrews where it talks about the root of bitterness defiles many well this is leprous condition that has come out when others are being defiled by it that's uncleanness isn't it and so those persons are affected by your condition of bitterness what a sad state to be in that we would become bitter towards God and bitter towards God's people because there is something in us and it comes out and affects persons there is also the love of money which is the root of all evil and it's probably one of the easiest things for anybody here in this scene especially in this country to get involved in is the pursuit of money and the things that it can acquire and it can be distracting and will pull you earthward that does not negate the need to fulfill all righteousness but we must have the true root the one who is called the root of David the one who is called the root of Jesse and Isaiah talks about the root going downward so that there would be fruit upward and that root downward would be your death with Christ and out of that becomes fruit upward that is towards God so you don't want an iniquitous root you want the root of the righteous so that there is fruit Godward you don't want this leprous condition but if you do find yourself in a leprous condition then there is help for you because you can be like this man who can turn to the Lord Jesus and say if thou wilt thou canst cleanse me thou art able to cleanse me maybe that's all he had the faith for you know that God can help you you know it maybe that's all you're able for you know that God is able to help you but you don't know that he will well I'm here to tell you today that God is not only able but he's willing and he says to him I will be thou cleansed I will that is his response he desires no one to be in a leprous condition but that all would be in a place where they could be in fellowship and be in the city and not out not having to cry out unclean unclean but to be in a position where they can enjoy the Lord and enjoy the Lord's people and he says to him see that you tell no man go show thyself to the priest and offer the gift which Moses ordained for a testimony to them and I think that here if you were to find yourself in a leprous condition that you would go to the brethren and desire to be restored and show yourself that you have been cleansed that this which is in you the root that is in you has been judged and is left behind because the Lord has touched you that's showing yourself to the priest well in the 14th verse we see Jesus coming to Peter's house how the Lord loved to be with persons in their houses and he saw Peter's mother-in-law laid down in a fever this is the condition in which according to how I understand this passage in which she was unable to serve her mind was taken with a fever could be taken with the distraction of many things much like Martha she might have thought she was serving rightly but she really wasn't and her mind was really on her sister instead of on the Lord and what would be for the Lord well Martha got a touch from the Lord as well as we know that she was found serving rightly but here is Peter's mother-in-law who is unable to fill out her place here in the house I'm sure she desired to but she was unable to because she was stricken with this fever and the Lord Jesus touched her and the fever left her and she arose and served how wonderful it is to know that we can serve the Lord Jesus and if you find yourself in a position where you feel like you have no power in which to serve there is one who is available and he desires to touch you so that you can serve he loves service divine persons love service the Lord Jesus said it is written love the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve him only shalt thou serve and when we take up the scriptures it's with an inquiry as to how we can serve and be here and serve rightly for him in every aspect of our life how wonderful the passage that we have in the reading this morning is a very practical passage but it's there to help us to be able to serve rightly in our marriage relationships or to serve rightly if you're a single person every aspect of our life is covered here in God's word and the Lord Jesus desires to touch you so that you can serve him and serve him rightly I would like to turn back to Mark chapter 5 I'd like to talk about the woman with the issue of blood for a moment because here is one who it says had a flux of blood 12 years what a shame that she had gone this long with this condition it says that she had suffered much under many physicians it's not that she hadn't tried to do something about it she was desirous to see a cure for herself well I think of the issue of the flux of blood as being a thought that in the blood that life is in the blood and her life was slowly ebbing away from her she had sought many avenues trying to find help and counsel from many places and physicians she had suffered much it says she had exercised about this condition in which she was found in and her life was slipping away from her she had spent everything she had I wonder how many of us are that committed to getting through to a cure how many of us see our life slipping away from us are we willing to do whatever it takes you know there was a lot of obstacles here even at this point there was the crowd that she had to get through to get to the Lord Jesus this is not a situation where the Lord is the one who is coming in to touch it is the woman who is coming in to touch Him if I can but touch the hem of His garment I'm telling you that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him out and this woman was diligent for 12 years she tried to find the answer, for 12 years she was not satisfied where her soul was and she knew that her life was slipping away and she was not going to be satisfied and even the crowds did not stop her from getting to the Lord Jesus and she touched the hem of His garment and He knew it and He turned about in the crowd and asked who touched Him He didn't say who touched my garment who touched Him how wonderful it is that faith can lay a hold of Christ and find an answer for itself and find life and the scourge that you may be under can be healed and He says to her daughter thy faith has healed thee go in peace and be well of thy scourge for that scourge no longer has to plague you this is a condition that you find yourself in be diligent, do not let go until Christ has touched you that's what I'm saying in this do not let go until Christ has touched you seek and ye shall find knock and the door will be opened to you draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you the answer is there in Christ but you must be persistent to stay with it until you find peace He says to her, go in peace and you can have peace and it can be found in the Lord Jesus His desire is to touch you no matter what of these situations that we've read about in the Word of God where you may find yourself whether you're in a dead state or whether you're like the man who could not speak rightly because he did not hear rightly or maybe you're like the blind man who has no discernment about things at all God word, no discernment about things in the world you cannot discern between good and evil there's an answer maybe you're like the leper who has a condition within you, a root that's there that needs to be addressed and needs to be judged so that you can take root downward and have fruit upward or maybe you are sick with a fever and you're unwilling and unable to serve and to serve Christ and serve Him acceptably in godly fear or maybe you're like this woman with the issue of blood where you feel your life is just ebbing away slowly but surely where you can latch on to Christ by faith and be diligent and He will reward you you can have peace at the end you can have a touch from Christ it may be that others will bring you to Him and He will touch you in this case it was she who went to Him so I thought maybe we could be encouraged by these thoughts as to the touch of Christ how wonderful it is to be touched by Him have we known it? do we know it today? were we touched this morning in the service of God? are we touched in our own personal prayer life? are we touched when another who is the Lord speaks to us? is Christ touching us? is He touching our soul? are we really hearing? is He getting to the root of the matter? are things being exposed that need to be judged? do you need a touch from Him? well I pray that we all can find some help in looking to the Lord for that touch something fresh from Him that will cause us to continue to go on in the pathway to be here for God to be here for divine persons because that is the end and the issue of all things is that you may love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and strength love thy neighbor as thyself and that is the essence of the Christian pathway summed up in that one commandment love God and love thy neighbor and when you do that you will find that you will get frequent touches from the Lord and you can be here rightly for Him so may it be so for His name's sake, Amen