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How great an idea this woman had of Christ! If there was any fault, it was that she believed in the power, but did not trust the love of Christ. Yet her humility, which was as manifest as her faith, and her shame may account in great part for the stealth and surreptitiousness of her action.

I. MEANS OF GRACE ARE NOT TO BE DESPISED BECAUSE THEY APPEAR OUTWARDLY INSIGNIFICANT. Superstition, ritualism, etc., deprecated; yet an error incident to the opposite extreme. We are not saved by works, neither (literally) are we saved by faith. It is Christ that saves. This woman was touching Christ. God's sufficiency so different from man's.

II. NOT THE OUTWARD CHARACTER OF ANY ACT, BUT THE SPIRIT IN WHICH IT IS DONE, IS TO BE CONSIDERED CHIEFLY. The great end of religious acts is to bring us into communion with Christ. This of the woman was a mere touch, scarcely perceptible in the pressure of the crowd. The disciples had not observed it. But Christ felt that it had taken place, and had been effectual. There are manifold ways in which he reaches souls and is reached by them. The common experiences of life may be channels of greater blessing than the ordinances of the Church, when they are regarded in a believing, pious spirit.

III. PIETY IS OFTEN APPARENTLY OUT OF PROPORTION TO ADVANTAGES AND OPPORTUNITIES.

1. Small things way often bring people to Christ, or keep them away from him.

2. Faith may often discover itself in the midst of ignorance and the absence of conventional religion.

3. Spiritual privileges may hinder instead of helping religious progress if they be not spiritually used. This poor woman will rise in judgment against many who have made great show of religious observance, and condemn them. We may hear too often, if we do not lay to heart and obey. We require "grace for grace." - M.

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KJV: And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,

WEB: A certain woman, who had an issue of blood for twelve years,