POWER WENT OUT FROM HIM AND HEALED ALL
[p. 15] POWER WENT OUT FROM HIM AND HEALED ALL
We have in this passage two striking instances of the ministry of the Lord here; both simple and intelligible. In the one it is the dealing with a case of leprosy; and in the other with a case of palsy. Now it is just these that I want to put together, for in a way they are descriptive of the condition of men in the world today — and I do not think one will have much difficulty in making that plain. Men in this world are universally defiled — the world itself is full of defilement; and we are so accustomed to the defiling influence of things in this world, that we are scarcely conscious that they are defiling. But no one can come in contact with things as they are around us without being defiled. Now the Lord came in contact with these things here, but the consequence of His coming in contact with them is that in result they are removed. The effect of sin having entered into the world has been to bring about the defilement of man; no one can doubt the defiling influence that idolatry has had upon men; but then the Jew was defiled too. The leper in this passage is a picture, I take it, of Israel: and it shows that Israel had not escaped the defilement of the world, the taint of idolatry was upon them too, many things had been done in Israel which were every bit as bad as had been done in heathendom. They were defiled by that which had been abroad in the world; they had touched idolatry, and were defiled by it. It is impossible for men, being what they are, to escape defilement in a world that is defiled, and the fact is, that whatever defilement you find in the world, you find the answer to it in your own heart. The purest man in the world is not free of the contamination that is in the world; and the effect of the fall has [p. 16] been not only to make a man liable to contamination, but that he has the power to contaminate his fellows. I do not question that there are different degrees of defilement, but every man is defiled, and liable to defilement, from what is around him. In a great town like this, it is hardly possible to walk down a street without being defiled; the pictures on the walls are defiling; and the literature which is commonly read — the newspapers, and much else, all tend to contamination. But men would not be contaminated if there were nothing in man’s mind and heart to answer to the contamination. “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts” — these things come out of the heart of man. If the principle and taint of evil were not there, men would not be contaminated by what they see. A holy angel would not be contaminated, because there is nothing in him to answer to it. No; it is we who are contaminated.
But in the case of the paralytic we have another thing, and that is weakness; he was carried on his bed and let down into the midst where Jesus was — he could not walk, he had no power. There was no power of life in him — that is the idea in the case of the paralytic. What a pitiable object in the world must have been that poor leprous, defiled man. The leper had to be kept outside the city, or the camp, as the case might be; he was unclean. But then to my mind the paralytic was as pitiable an object as the leper — and that is the condition of every man by reason of sin; he is weak in regard of God. There may be a certain consent in his mind to good things, many a time have we all consented to the thing which is good, and have found our powerlessness to carry it out. You see this in a child — a child will often consent to what is proper and good, but fail to carry it out. The weakness is not in the absence of consent of man’s mind to what is right,
[p. 17] but in his failure to carry Out what he knows to be right. That is the state of man morally in the world, he is paralyzed, and weak — and it is not exceptional but universal. The picture here is probably in regard to Israel, but what is true in regard of Israel is universally true. God saw fit to test Israel in a peculiar way in His wisdom, but the condition of that people illustrated the condition of everybody under His eye. I think you will see that these two things mark men here in the world, looked at morally, defilement and weakness. Now I want to show the reason of it, and how it was that such a state of things went on for so long; and then, on the other hand, the answer to it all.
It is a great thing that God has presented His answer to it, and there could be no other answer to it than the one which He has given. Who can make a clean thing out of an unclean? No one; you want something different. Can the leopard change his spots? No; they are part of the leopard’s being and so defilement and weakness are part of the moral being of man, and you cannot eradicate them; if you would attempt to eradicate them, you would eradicate the man, and indeed the man must go to whom they belong, the taint is in the spring of man’s being, he is defiled and weak.
This state of things existed when Christ came into the world, but in Christ, God made known His way of meeting it, and that is in the introduction of another Man. In the presence of that Man here, the defilement and weakness must both pass away. And you get that pictured here (verses 13, 14, 18 - 25).
It is evident enough that a revolution took place in regard of the leper and the paralytic, and the way of it was either the touch or the word of Christ; they were both brought into contact with Jesus, the leper by the touch of Jesus, and the paralytic by the word of Jesus, and the effect in each case was [p. 18] the removal of what was there, the defilement or the weakness. The leper was cleansed, and the paralytic took up his bed and walked. Now that is the effect of the introduction of that Man into the world; a Man, who had personally no part in the contamination or the weakness — He was apart from all that was either defiling or weak, but was brought into contact with it, and with this effect, that both the defilement and the weakness departed from before Him. It must have been a wonderful experience to this poor leper to be cleansed; he could not understand the meaning of it spiritually, perhaps, but what a moment it must have been to him when at the touch of Jesus he finds himself relieved of his leprosy. And it must have been an unparalleled experience to the paralytic, accustomed to his weakness and helplessness, to be made to take up his bed and walk; to either one or the other it must have been an unparalleled experience, and it was evidently not due to anything in themselves, but to another Man, to One who had come into contact with the defilement and weakness of men, though, as I said before, Himself personally apart from it all. But He put Himself in contact with it, so to speak, He touched the leper, and spoke to the paralytic — “Thy sins are forgiven thee”, and then in confirmation said, “take up thy couch, and go”. Now I carry the thought on to the future; that One to whom I have referred, who had come into the world, is rejected of men, but He has accomplished the will of God, and is the Sun of righteousness, at the right hand of God; He is not yet manifest, but there is a bright hope before us, and that is of His coming in glory. We get that constantly presented in Scripture; there were people who looked for redemption in Israel at the time when Christ first appeared; they had a good hope — but now we have a better hope, the hope of the appearing of the glory [p. 19] of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ — it is a better hope than that first hope. When He comes again into the world what took place here will come out in a much greater way. What marks Israel at this present time is defilement and weakness; they are in a sense dead. In every part of the world the Jews are marked by defilement, they have been contaminated by the covetous principles that obtain in the world, and have no strength at all; they cannot recover their privileges, and are spiritually helpless. The secret of it is in that they have rejected the Man who came into the world, and until they receive that Man, they will remain as they are. When Christ comes again in glory, He will be the answer to their defilement and their weakness; the reproach under which they are will be taken away, and they will be raised up again from the dust of the earth. That is what will come to pass in the coming of Christ again into the world, and it is foreshadowed in this chapter. What a day it will be when there is the introduction into the world of a Man entirely apart from man’s defilement and weakness; and who in putting Himself in contact with men down here in the world, causes their defilement and weakness to pass away. That will be the effect of the introduction into this world of Christ in glory. It will be a Man born into the world — a new Man, whose coming will impart an entirely and totally new character to everything here. Not only will His presence relieve man of his contamination and weakness, but at the same time He will give a wholly new character to the world: there will be no question of contamination or of weakness in the day of the glory of the Lord.
Now the “grace of God which carries with it salvation for all men has appeared, teaching us that, having denied impiety and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, and justly, and piously in the present [p. 20] course of things, awaiting the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ”. We receive in the Lord Jesus Christ a better, a blessed hope, and we look for Him. I do not know anything much more beautiful than the beginning of this gospel of Luke, where you find godly men and women cherishing hopes, and you see them fulfilled. Simeon was delighted as He held the child Jesus in his arms; and Anna, too, spoke of Him to all that looked for redemption in Israel. And christians have a hope, they look for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory. When Christ comes again He will be displayed as the Sun of righteousness, who brings the answer in His own Person to the contamination and weakness that mark men at the present time. All that marks Israel will give way before the touch of Christ; and so, too, with the nations, He will in a sense touch them, and their leprosy, their weakness, will pass away. It will be the great day of the restitution of all things, when Israel will come again into their own land, on the ground of the promises made to the fathers. And at the same time the gentiles will be placed in connection with God’s people, and a totally new character be given to the world, by the introduction into it of the Man of God’s counsel.
Now I want to touch upon what is true in the meantime, for after all it is that which concerns you and me. I think it is most important to get a view of God’s ways, and to have the coming of the Lord clearly in view — and what will be effected at His second advent. I feel one is justified in seeking to bring before men the better hope, the coming of Christ in glory. But now I would point out to you where Christ is, and what is the reason of His being there, and what it means to you and to me.
What marks the present time is not Christ in the world to touch the leper, but we touch Him where [p. 21] He IS. The leper did not touch Christ, but He touched him; and when Christ went to raise the daughter of the ruler, He took her by the hand as she was lying dead, He touched her. That was true when Christ came into the world, and is a figure of what will be when He comes again. He will touch defiled and dead Israel, and they will be raised from their death and defilement. But now, as I was saying, it is not a question of His touching us but of our touching Him, like the woman with the issue of blood, who said, “If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole”. That is what marks the present time — we, by faith, touch Christ. And in touching Christ we touch God; it is impossible to touch Christ without touching God. It is a wonderful thing to touch God; and if you touch God you touch Him for blessing. If it were a question of judgment — of God dealing with men according to their deserts — you could not touch Him, but it is God putting Himself within the reach of men, so that they may touch Him, and in touching Him be relieved of all that disqualifies them for Himself. If a man touches Christ, it is to touch the virtue that is in Christ. When the woman touched the hem of His garment He said, “Who touched me? ... for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me”; and we read elsewhere that many touched Him, and there went virtue out of Him and healed them all.
God has in the death of Christ removed the man that was defiled and weak. His dealing with man was by removing man, so as to put another Man in his place. That is what I want to make plain. We get two things spoken of in connection with the death of Christ; there is the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new. The old man, that is what describes us all, is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and that is true of every one in the world. A person of great refinement,
[p. 22] and it may be of great attainments and knowledge, is no more free of the charge than other men; the springs of that man’s being are defiled; all may be covered up by worldly polish, and refinement, and proprieties, by education and training, but if you get beneath the surface you will find the springs are tainted.
Now in the death of Christ that man has been removed from before God, and the contamination and weakness have passed away with him: they may not have passed away yet in our experience, but from the eye of God they are passed away for ever. “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh”. The Lord Jesus entered into every liability under which man was, the wrath, and the death, and the curse — everything that lay upon man, but having taken everything that lay upon man by the just judgment of God, He died: that man was terminated; Christ was the victim, and the victim was never revived. In the Lord Jesus Christ we see both the Priest and the victim. The Priest was revived, but the victim never, and the old man was terminated with Him. Now, beloved friends, everything depends on that — the victim is gone, the lawless man, the defiled and weak man has been terminated in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Wrath and the curse and death have been brought to an end in His death. But Christ has been revived from among the dead in order that He might take the place of that man which has been removed in His death. He stands in relation to all men, in a place of contact for all men, as revived from the dead. He came after the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, but He was also the offering Priest — He was God’s Son. A priest in Israel never offered himself, he could not, he offered a victim; nowhere do you get a type under the law which combines in one both the victim and the [p. 23] priest. But that is what Christ was, He was the Priest; but He died as the victim in order that man after the flesh might never be revived. The apostle Paul says, “Though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more”. But as offering Priest He is revived, and revived in the value of that work which He has accomplished, in the value of that righteousness which He has effected. Christ raised up from the dead goes to the right hand of God, and from that place imparts the gift of the Holy Spirit. One man has been removed that another Man might take his place. Christ, the Man whom God has revived from the dead, is the last Adam, and the second Man, and He stands thus in relation to all men.
Now I can understand how right that is — if He gave Himself a ransom for all, then it is right that He should have a voice to all. He is the Mediator between God and men, and is presented to every man for faith, and is thus the test of every man. That is what Christ is, as Head of every man. All the gifts for men are in Christ, and have been communicated to men by Christ. All were dead, but He died for all, and hence it is as raised from the dead, as the Mediator, He is set in relation to every man upon earth. There is one thing in regard of Christ, and that is that all preaching centres in one name. I may preach to you for an hour, but all the preaching centres in a name, and the value of that name. The name presents the Head of every man, the Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. The exalted Christ, the Christ who died, and is raised, and is coming again in glory, that is our blessed hope. It is in that name that all preaching centres; it is in the presentation of the virtue that is in that name, made available for man, and available for every man upon earth, so that every man is tested and proved by that name. On [p. 24] the one hand, if that name is refused, man avows himself to be lawless. He will not be subject to the Man that God has presented for faith; he disdains the name of Jesus, he avows himself to be disregardful of God. But if that name is accepted, then Christ communicates living water to the one who believes. The practical effect of Christ being the Mediator between God and men is that He is set of God in relation to all men, with the effect that the man who refuses His name is avowedly lawless and defiant of God, his sin is proved; but on the other hand, the one who accepts that name receives from Christ the gift of living water, so that he may be livingly connected with Christ. Christ is there for the touch of faith: He Himself will touch man in the time to come, He will touch Israel; and the receiving of Israel hereafter will be life from the dead for the nations.
Now my point is, that the One who is coming again is now at the right hand of God; I have given you His history as coming into the world full of grace and truth, and entering into all that lay upon men by the judgment of God. He gave Himself a ransom for all, and is gone up into the highest place of exaltation, and from that point is coming again. Meanwhile testimony has come from Him there, the Holy Spirit has come so that we might know the reality of His being there; He is borne witness to by the Spirit, so that man may touch Him by faith, and derive from Him the virtue that is in Him. There is in His name the forgiveness of sins; He has obtained it in the accomplishment of redemption, and there is the witness of it now by the Spirit. “Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins”.
But that is not all. The greatest virtue that is in Him is living water; He will give of the fountain of the water of life to those who believe in Him, and [p. 25] no one else than those who believe would care a bit about it. But if you bow to Christ — if you touch Him by faith; or, let me put it another way, if you believe on His name, and it is the name of a Man who is at the right hand of God, of which we know by the Holy Spirit come down, that Man will impart to you the gift of living water. It is no more wonderful for a Man to be in heaven, than for God to be down here upon earth, and it is the Spirit of God that is witness that Christ is at the right hand of God; the Holy Spirit has come down to report His glory, and the virtue of His name, that man may receive the gift of living water. The Lord said to the woman of Samaria, “Every one who drinks of this water shall thirst again”, it satisfies but for a moment, but “whosoever drinks of the water which I shall give him shall never thirst for ever”, you will never drink but once of that water. It is in the believer a well of living water, springing up to eternal life. The first thing is that thirst is quenched for ever; the believer is content with the water that Christ gives him; it is drunk once and for all, and one is never to thirst again. But then it goes further, it shall be in him a well of water springing up to everlasting life; it springs up in the appreciation of Christ.
Now I would impress upon you, first, that the defiled and weak man has been removed in the death of Christ, and there abides for God, and for you, “ONE MAN”; and when you have known the fountain of living water that springs up in the appreciation of that one Man, you are consciously apart in the eye of God from the defilement and weakness that was connected with the other man. It all lies in the appreciation of Christ, the result of the springing up of the water that Christ gives. It was a wonderful word that Christ spoke to this woman of Samaria, a word she poorly understood,
[p. 26] but I do not doubt the moment came when she did understand it. And perhaps it is so now; it may be that people hardly understand one word; they hear these things, yet as to intelligent apprehension of what they hear, for the moment they have none. What I have been speaking of to you tonight may be Greek to you, and yet I have only sought to show you that there is an actual living Man tonight at the right hand of God, and we know this by the witness of the Holy Spirit, who has come down here to testify to Him. That witness has been in the world for well-nigh two thousand years, it has been maintained by the Spirit of God. The Spirit has maintained the testimony of the virtue that is in His name, so that, in our consciousness, there might take place what took place for God in the death of Christ, the removal of the man that was defiled and weak, so that the Man who has gone to God might fill his place — the Man, I say, who came from God, and who is gone to God, and who abides for God, that is the Man who comes full into view by the springing up of the living water. But that is not the beginning; the beginning is the touch of faith, the believing on His name. We often believe in the name of some great person in this world; now I want you to believe simply on the name of the One who is at the right hand of God. Just as the woman who touched the hem of His garment got virtue from Him, so I want you to touch Him that you might get virtue too from Him, the gift of living water, so that you may never thirst. The woman of Samaria had tried hard enough to please herself but she was still athirst, and the Lord meets this in divine grace.
May God grant that you may believe on Christ’s name, so that each one may prove the value and the virtue that is in His name.