Jesus at Bethesda; or, Waiting Changed for Believing
APTEK Tm? THEBE WAS A FEAST OP THE JEWS; AND JESUS WENT UP TO JERUSA-LEM. NOW THE«K IS AT JERUSALEM BY TUE SHEEP MARKET A POOL, WHICH 18 CALLED LN THE HEBREW TONGUE BETHESDA, HAVING FIVE PORCHES. IN THE3B LAY A GREAT MULTITUDE OF IMPOTENT FOLK, OF BLIND, HALT, WITHERED, WAIT-ING FOR THE MOVING OF THE WATER. FOE AN ANGEL WENT DOWN AT A CERTAIN SEASON INTO THE POOL, AND TROUBLED THE WATER: WHOSOEVER THEN FLRST AFTER THE TROUBLING OF THE WATER STEPPED IN WAS MADE WHOLE OF WHAT-SOEVER DISEASE HE HAD. AND A CERTAIN MAN WAS THERE, WHICH HAD AN IN-FIRMITY THIRTY AND EIGHT YEARS. WHEN JESUS SAW HIM LIE, AND KNEW THAT HE HAD BEEN NOW A LONG TIME IN THAT CASE, HE SAITH UNTO HIM, WILT THOU BE MADE WHOLE? THE IMl’OTENT MAN ANSWERED HIM, SIR, I HAVE NO MAN, VTHEN THE WATER 18 TROUBLED, TO PUT ME INTO THE POOL: BUT WHILE I AJT COMING, ANOTHER STEPPETH DOWN BEFORE ME. JESUS BAITH UNTO HIM. RISE, TAKE UP THY BED, AND WALK. AND IMMEDLATELY THE MAN WAS MADE WHOLE, AND TOOK UP HIS BED, AND WALKED: AND ON THE SAME DAY WAS THE SABBATH.’
—John V. 1 — 9.
The scene of this miracle was Bethesda, a pool, according to the evangelist, adjoining the sheep market, or neai to the sheep gate: the place through which, I suppose, the cattle consumed by the inhabitants of Jerusalem would be driven; and the pool where, perhaps, the sheep intended ‘”or sale to the offerers in the temple were washed. So common was sickness in the days of the Saviour, that the infirmities of men intruded upon the place which had been allotted to cattle, and the place where sheep had been washed, became the spot where sick folk congregated in great multitudes, longing for a cure. We do not hear that any one remonstrated at the intrusion, or that public opinion was shocked. The needs of mankind must override all considerations of taste. The hospital must have the preferenco over the sheep market. This day you have another case it?
point. If tlic physical infirmities of Jerusalem iiitruded into the sheep mai’ket, I shall ask no excuse if, on these Sabbath days, the spiritual sickness of London should demand that this spacious place, which has hitherto been given up to the lowing of cattle and to the bleating of sheep,* should be consecrated to the preaching of the gospel, to the manifestation of the healing virtue of Christ Jesus among the sjiiritually sick. This day there is by the sheep market a pool, and impotent folk are here in exceeding great multitudes.
/ We might never have heard of Bethesda, if an august visitor had not condescended to honor it with his presence — Jesus, the Son of God, walked in the five porches by the ] 1 o ol. It waf the plac e, wli(u-.e .weLmigM -expect -to meet. Jiitu, for whm-e sbnuld t.hf. physician ho fiMind if not, in t]^. pjafiflwhpr 1,1) p sick are gathered? Here was work for Jesus’ healing hand and restoring word. It was but natural that the Son of Man, M^ho “came to seek and to save that which was lost,” should make his way to the lazar-house by the side of the pool. That gracious visit is Bethesda’s glory. This has lifted up the name of this pool out of the common rank of the s))rings and waters of the earth. Oh that King Jesus might come into this y)lace this morning! this would be the glory of this Hall, for which it should be famous in eternity. If Jesus would be here to heal, the remarkable size of the congregation would cease to be a wonder, the renown of Jesus and his saving love would eclipse all else, as the sun puts out the stars. My brethren, Jesus will be hero, for there are those who know him and have power with him, who have been asking for his presence. The Lord’s favored y)eople, by prevailing cries and tears, have won fmm him his consent to be in our midst this day, and luij£,.jj:iilldug. ar.iidjhis throng as re.a<ly tO-..Iiea L an d -aajliiglitxt<> J^.lli’.^^ “m,ltj3,da&of hi.sjB^sh *’Lo, lamwith you al way, even
* In the Afrricultural Hall the annual cattle-shows are IieltL
unto the end of the workl,” is an assurance which coraforiH the preacher’s heart this morning. A present Saviour — present in the power of the Holy Ghost — shall make thia
d.’iy to be remembered by many who shall be made whole J
I ask the earnest attention of all, and I entreat of believers their fervent assisting prayers while I first 1 id yoi. observe tjie sick tnati’ secondly, direct your attentive eye to tht Gbreat Bhy&iciaTik,; and, thirdly, male an applkatloy of the whole narrative to the present case,
I, In order to observe the patient, I shall ask you to go with me to the pool with the five porches, around which the sick are lying. Walk tenderly among the groups of lame and blind! I?ay, do not close your eyes. It will doH you good to see the sorrowful sight, to mark what sin has 1 done and to what sorrows our father Adam has made us J heirs.
Why are they all here? They are here because sometimes the waters bubble up with a healing virtue. Whether visibly stirred by an angel or not it is not necessary for us here to discuss; but it was generally l)elievedthat an angel descended and touched the water — this rumor attracted the sick from all quarters. As soon as the stir was seen in the waters, the whole mass probably leaped into the pool — yiQSfi; who could not leap themselves were 4jushed in by their ate ^/c tendauts. Alas! how small the result! JNlany were disap- ro/ pointed; only one was rewarded for the leapj whosoever Jirst stepped in was healed, but only the first. For the poor and meagre chance of winning this cure the sick folk lingered in Bethesda’s arches year after year. The. imjjLplci.it. man in the narrative had niQst lilcely spent the better part of his thirty eight years in waiting at this famous pool, buoyed up by the slender hope that he might one day be first of, |he throng. On the Sabbath mentioned in the text, the angel had not come to him, but som.ething better had cotu£, for Jesus Christ the angel’s IMaatpr. wna thprp
Note. coacfirning-tliis .man thaX-he -was fully aware of hit sickness* He did not dispute the failure of his health: he was an impotent man; he felt it and he owned it. He waa Qot like some present this morning, who are lost by naturq, but who do not know it, or will not confess it. He was coa- ^yious that he needed heavenly help, and his Availing at the pool sjiowed it. Are there not many in this assembly who are equally convinced on this point? You have for a long j time felt that you are a sinner, and have known that unless grace shall save yon, saved you never can be. You are noj atheist, no denier of the gospel; on the contrary, you firmly believe the Bible, and heartily wish that you had a saving part in Christ Jesus; but for the present you have advanced no further than to feel that you are sick, to desire to be healed, and to own that the cure must come from above. So far so good, but it is not good to stop here.
The impotent man thus desiring to be healed, waited by. iljig^QoJ, expecting some sign and wonder. He hoped that an angel would suddenly burst open the golden gates and touch the waters which were now calm and stagnant, and that then he might be healed. This, too, my dear hearers, IS the thought of many of those who feel their sins and who desire salvation. They accept that unscriptural and dangerous advice given to them by a certain class of ministers; they wait at the pool of Bethesda; they persevere in the formal use of means and ordinances, and continue in unbelief, expecting some great thing. They abide in a continued refusal to obey the gospel, and yet expect that on a sudd«ni they will experience some strange emotions, singular feelings, or remarkable impressions; they hope to see a vision, or hear a supernatural voice, or be alarmed with deliri* urns of horror. Now, dear friends, we shall not deny that a few persons have been saved by very singular intei positions of God’s hand, in a manner altogether out of the ordinary modes of divine procedure. We should be very foolish if we were for instance to dispute the truth of such a convex-WAITING CHANGED FOR BELIEVING. OOp
non as that of Colonel Gardiner, who, the very night when Le made an appointment to commit sin, was arrested and convtrted by a vision of Christ upon the cross, which, at any rate, he tliouglit he saw, and by hearing or imagining that he heard the voice of the Saviour tenderly pleading n-ith him. It wei-e idle to dispute that such cases have occurred, do occur, and may occur again. I must, however, beg unconverted people not to look for such interpositions in their own cases. Yhcn tlic Lord liids you lelicle in Jesus, Avliat right have you to denKuid signs and woiiikrs instead? Jesus liimsclf is the greatest of all wonders. .My dear hearer, for you to wait for remarkable experiences is as futile as was the waiting of the multitude who lingered at Bethesda waiting for the long-expected angel, when he who could heal them stood already in their midst, neglected and despised by them. What a piteous spectacle, to see them gazing into the clouds when the physician who could heal them was present, and they offered him no petitions, and sought no mercy at his hands.
In dealing with the method of waiting to see or to feel some great thing, we remark, thnt it is not the way ichich God has hidden his servants preach. I challenge the whole world to find any gospel of God in which an unconverted man is told to abide in unbelief. Where is the sinner told to wait upon God in the use of ordinances, that so he may be saved? The gos)ie’l of our salvation is this — “Helieve ‘lx the Lord Jesus C’hiist, and thou shalt be saved.” When our Lord gave his eoiuinission to his disciples, lie said, “Go ye into all the world, and prcaeh the gos[)el to elery creature.” And what was that gos[)el? Tell them to wait in their unbelief in the use of means and oi-(linanees till the eee some great thing? Tell them to 1>e diligent in prayer, and i-ead the Word ol’ Gnd, until they feel better? Not an atom of it. Thus saith the Lord, “he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be dumnod.” This was the gospel, and the oidy gospel wh.ich
Jl’sus Christ ever bade his ministers preach; and they wlifl §a.y, wait for feelings! wait for impressions!. wait for woiip ‘•** ders! they preach another gospel which is not another; but there be some that trouble you. The lifting up of Christ on the cross is the saving work of the gospel ministry, ant] in the cross of Jesus Ees the hope of men. “Look iinio nie and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth,” is God’s gospel: “Wait at the pool,” is man’s gospel, and has destroyed its thousands.
This ungospel-like gospel of waiting is immensely popular. I should not wond^r if well nigh half of you are satisfied with it. O my hearers, you do not refuse to fill the seats in our places of worship; you are seldom absent when the doors are opened, but there you sit in confirmed unbelief, waiting for windows to be made in heaven, but neglecting the gospel of your salvation. The great command of God, “Believe and live,” has no response from you but a desaf eai;, and a gtonjJieaJ“i, while you quiet your consciences with outward religious observances. If God had said “Sit in those seats and wait,” I would be bold to urge it upon you with tears; but God has not said so; he has said, ‘’L(£LJJie..yv;i.ckedfL)j:sake,Iiis,:wjiy»-a^^^
;i’ Uis thoughts; and let him return imto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him.” He has not said “Wait,” but he has sai<l, “Seek ye the Lord while lie m;iy be fduiid, call ye upon him while lie is near.” ‘” To-(luy if ye will hem his voic’, harden no’ y(nir hearts.” I iiud Jesus sayiiiji nothing to sinners about waiting, but verj’ much abouj, coming. “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heay.^- laden, and I will give yon rest.” “If any man thirst, IgJ “him come unto me and drinl” “The Spirit and the bridf .?ay, Come. xlnd let him that heaz*eth say, Come. And let I(im that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freelyj’
Why h: this way so very popular? It is because it ad ministers laudiowm to the conscience. When the ministei WAITING CHANGED FOR BELIE V IN v*. 231 J)
preaches with power, and the hearer’s heart is touched, the. ^^7 devil says, “Wait for auipre conveuieut season.” Thus the arch enemy pours this deadly drug into the soul, and the sinner, instead of trusting in Jesus on the spot, or on bended knee with tearful eyi, crying for mercy, flatters himself because he is in the use of the means: which use of means is well enough as far as it goes, but which is bad as bad can be when it ccmes into the place of Christ crucified, A child ought to hear its parent’s co)nmand, but what if the child puts hearing into the place of obeying? God forbid that I should glory in your listening to the gosi)el, if you are hearers only — nj[y.o;iQty. isJLn the cross; and unless you look to the cross, it were better for you that you had never t been born. 1
I ask the candid attention of every one who has thua ‘J’^*’’ been waiting, while I mention one or two points. My dear fi-iend, is not this waiting a very hopeless business after all? j Out of those who waited at Bethesda, how very few were ever healed! He who stepped ^oyjxi first into the pool was * cured, but all the rest came up from the pool just as they j went in. Ah! my hearers, I tremble for some of you — you chapel-goers and church-goers, who have for years been waiting, how few of you get saved! Thousands of you hie in your sins, waiting in wicked unbelief. A few are snatched like brands from the burning, but the most of those who ai*e hardened waiters, wait, and Avait, till they die in their sins. I solemnly warn you that, pleasing to the flesh ’ as waiting in unbelief may be, it is not one which any reasonable man would long persevere in. For, my friend, are i not you in your own person an instance of its hopelessness?, Vou have been waiting for years; you can scarcely remember M’hen you first went to a place of worship; your mother carried you thither in her arms, and you have been nurtured under the shadow of the sanctuary, like the swallows that build their nests under God’s altars, and what has your ( unbelieving waiting done for you? Has it made you a ‘Christian? No, you are still without God, without Chnst,
* without hope. I shall put it to you in God’s name, what V right have you to expect that if you wait another thirty
years, you will be at all diflerent from what you are now? Are not the probabilities most strong that at sixty you will ‘be as graceless as you are at thirty? For, let me say it, iBud I dare say it without egotism, some of you have lislen-L ed to the gospel preached to you in no mincing manner. Liv dear hearers, I have been as plain with you as I know how to be; I have never shunned to declare the whole coun- {sel of God, nor even to pick out an individual case and deal with it closely. Short of actually mentioning people’s ‘names, I have hardly stopped, but I have sought to commend the gospel to the conscience of every man as in the sight of God. Remember the warnings you had in Ex- ’ eter Hall — some of you. recollect the breakings dwwn you felt in the Surrey Gardens; remember the invitations which have already come to you in this very Hall; and if all these ‘have failed, what more is to be done in the way of hearing I and waiting? Many of you have listened to other preachers, equally earnest, equally tender, perhaps liiore so: now, if all these have had no effect upon you, if waiting at the pool 5 has done nothing for you, is it not a forlorn and hopeless
mode of procedure? Is it not time that something better were tried than merely waiting for the troubling of the wa-I ter? Is it not time that you remembered that Jesus Christ
is ready to save you now, and that if you now trust in him,
you shall this day have everlasting life? i There lies our poor friend, still waiting at the Avater’s; edge. I do not blame hiin for waiting, for Jesus had not
ben there before, and it was right for him to seize even the ’ most slender chance of a cure; but it was sad that Jesu’^ y should have been so slighted: there he went, threading his. way among the blind, and the halt, and the lame, and look*
ing benignly upon them all, but none looking up to him.
Now, in other places, soon as Jesus made his appearanca
thoy brought the sick in their beds and hud them at his, feet, and as he went along he healed them all, scatterin:^ i mercies with both his hands. A blindness had come over these people at the pool; there they were, and there was Christ, who could heal them, but not a single one of them sought him. Their eyes were fixed on the waterj’expecting, Su it to be troubled; tlxey. werQsotaken up with their owu chosen way that the true way was neglected. No merci(,’s were distributed, for none were sought. Ah! my friends, my sorrowful question is, shall it be so this moryiing f ThQ living Christ is still among us in the energy of his eternal ^pirJi Will you be looking to your good works? Willl you be trusting to your church-goings and your chapel-goings? Will you rely upon expected emotions, impressions, and fits of terror, and let Christ, who is able to save to the uttermost, have no glimpse of faith from any eye, no prayer of desire from any heart? If it shall be so, it is heart-breaking to think of it; men, with an Almighty Physician in their house, dying while they are amused with a hopeless quackery of their own inventing. O poor souls, shall Bethesda be repeated here this morning, and Jesus Christ, the present Saviour, be again neglected? If a king shoiald give to one of his subjects a ring, and say to him, “When you are in distress or disgrace, simply send me that ring and I will do all for you that is needful,” if that man should wilfully refuse to send it, but purchase presents, or go about to do some singular feats of valor in order to win his monarch’s favor, you would say, “What a fool he is; here is a simple way, but he will not avail himself of it; he wastes his wits in inventing new devices, and toils away his life in following out plans that must end in disappointment.” Is not this the case “with all those who refuse to trust Christ? The Lord has assured them that if they trust Jesus, they shall be saved; but they go about after ten thousand imaginings, and let their God, their Saviour, go.
MeauwMLe the jick maa^SQ pHen disappointed, was yroajbig irdo deep despair. Moreover he was becoming old for thirty-eight years is a long time out of a man’s life. He felt that he should soon die. The brittle thread was nearly snapjDcd, and so as the days and nights wearily wore o, though he waited, it b’caine heavy work to wait. iMy friend, is not this your case? Life is wearing away with you. Are there not gray hairs here and there? You have waited all this while in vain, and I warn you that you have sinfully waited. You have seen others saved. Your child is saved, your wife is converted, but you are not; and you are waiting, and will wait,I fear, till to the tune of “Earth to earth, dust to dust, ashes to aaheii,” the mould shall rattle on your cothu-lid, and your soul shall be in helL Do not, I pray you, play with time any longer. Say noli “There is time enouo-h; “or the wise man knows thr..t t.imft ftnnufyh is ^ittle enoug-h. Be not like the foolish drunk ard who, staggering home one night, saw his candle lit for him.” Two candles! “said he, for his drunkenness made him see double,” I will blow out one,” and as he blew it out, in a moment he was in the dark. !Many a man sceg double through the drunkenness of sin- — he thinks that ha has one life to sow his wild oats in, and then the last inirt. of life in wliicn to turn to (.Tod; so, like a fool, he blows out the only candle that he lias, and in the dark he will have to lie down forever. Haste thee, traveller, thou hast but one sun, and when that sets, thou wilt never reach thy home. God help thee to make haste now! avi, gx;a>», W^ ““”^
H. Let us look at the physician himself.
As we have already seen, our Lord on this occasion walked, ^>>*<i forgotten and neglected, through that throng of impotent folk, no one crying, “Thou Son of David, have mercy upon me!” no struggling woman seeking to touch the hem of his garment, that she might be made whole! All were desirous of being healed, but, either no one knew or no one trusted hhu. What a strange, soul-sickening sight it was, for
Jesus was quite able and willing to heal, and to do it all without fee or reward, and yet none sought to h’lnuj Is this Bcenc to be repeated this morning? Jesus Christ is able to saval you, myhearer. There is no heart so hard that he cannoi soften it; there is no man among you so lost that Jesus cannot save him. Blessed be my dear Master, no case ever did defeat him; his mighty power reaches beyond the uttermost c f all the depths of human sin and folly. If there be a harlot here, Christ can cleanse her. If there be a drunkard or a thief here, the blood of Jesus can make him white as snow. If you have any desire towards him, you have not gone beyond the reach of his pierced hand. If you are not saved, it is certainly not for want of power in the Saviour. Moreover, your poverty is no hindrance, for my Master asks nothing from you — the poorer the wretch, the more welcome to Christ. My Master is no covetous priest, who demands pay for what he does — he forgives us freely; he wants none of your mei’its, nothing whatever from you; come as you are to him, for he is willing to receive you as you are. But here is my sorrow and complaint, that this blessed JLord Jesus, though present to heal, receives uo ntfp.ntion. fvnnq. tJ^^Q^ most of-nnym. They are luokiug auolher-jsiajf, and have no. eyes for him. Yet Jesus icas not angry. I do not find. i.hat he upbraided one of those who lay in the porches, oi; that he even thought a hard thought of them; but I am pure that he pitied them, and said in his heart, “Alas! poor Bouls, that they should not know when mercy is so near!” My Master is not wrathful with you who forget him and neglect him, but he pities you from Jijs heart., I am but his poor servant, but I pity, from my inmost heart, those of you who live without Christ. I could fain weep for you whg are trying other ways of salvation, for they will all end ip disappoiiitineut, and if continiie.d. in, will prove to bo youi j eternal destruction.
Observe very carefully what the Saviour did. Looking around amongst the whole company, he made an eliiciion lie had a right to make what choice he pleased, and he exercised that sovereign prerogative. The Lord is not bound to give his mercy to every one, or to any one. He has freely ])roclainied it to you all; but as you reject it, he has now a double right to bless his chosen ones by making them willing in the day of his power. ;The Saviour selected that man out of the great multitude, we know not why, but cei tainly for a reason founded in grace. If we might venture to give a reason for his choice, it may be that he selected him because his was the worst case, and he had waited the longest of all. This man’s case was in everybody’s mouth. They said, “This man has been there eight-and-thirty years.” Our Lord acted according to his own eternal purpose, doing as he pleased with his own; he fixed the eye of his electing love upon that one man, and, going up to him, he gazed upon him. He knew all his history; he knew that he had been a long time in that case, and therefore he pitied him much. He thought of those dreary months and years of painful disappointment which the impotent man had suffered, and the tears were in the Master’s eyes; he looked and looked again at that man, and his bowels yearned towards him. Now, I know not whom Christ intends to save this morning by his effectual grace. I am bound to give the general call, it is all that I can do, but I know not where the Lord will give the effectual call, which alone can make the word saving. I should not wonder if he should call some of you who have been waiting long. I will bless his name if he does. I should not marvel if electing love should pitch upon the chief of sinners this day; if Jesus should look on some of you who never looked on him, until his look shall make you look, and his pity shall make you have pity upon yourselves, and his irresistible grace shall make y(m come to him that you may be saved. Jesus performed an r.ct of sovereign, distinguishing grace. I pray you, do not kick at this doctrine! If you do, I cannot help it, for it is true. I have preached the gospel to every one of you as freely as man can
3o it, and surely you who reject it ought not to quarrel with God for bestowing on others that which you do not care to receive. If you desire his mercy, he will not deny it to you,; il you seek hi:u lie will be found of you; but if you willuoL seek luerey, rail not on the Lord if he bestows it upon others.
Jesus, having looked upon this man with a special eyo, ’ of regardj said to him, “Wilt thou be made wholu? “1 ha e already hinted that this was not said because Christ wanted information, but because he wished to ((rouse tJte rtiaii’s «:«, tention. On account of its being the Sabbath, the man w’la. not thinking of being cui-ed, foj* to the Jew it seemed a mos unlikely thing that cures should be wrought on a Sabbath / day. Jesus, therefore, brought his thoughts back to the matter in hand; for, mark you, the work of grace is a work upon a conscious mind, not upon senseless matter. Though Puseyites pretend to regenerate unconscious children, by sprinkling their faces with water, Jesus never attempted such a thing — Jesus saves men who have the use of their senses — and his salvation is a work upon a quickened intellect and awakened affections. Jesus brought back the wandering mind with the question,” Wilt thou be made whole £” ’ “Indgfid,” tlieman might have said, “indeed, I desire it above all things — ^1 long for it — I pant for it.” Now, my (tear heiirer, I will ask the same question of you. “Wilt thog le made whole? Do you desire to be saved? Do you know what being saved is? ““Oh,” say you, “it is escaping from hell.” No, no, no; that is the result of being saved, but being saved is a different thing. Do you want to be saved from the power of sin? Do you desire to be saved from being covetous, worldly-minded, bad-tempered, unjust, ungodly, domineering, drunken, or pi-ofane? ^•e,^:QU wiilJl uig to give up the sin that is dearest to j’ou.? “No,” says one, “I cannot honestly say I desire all that.“” Then, you are not the man I am seeking this morning: but is there one hei’e wto says, “Yes, I long to be rid of sin, root and branch: 1,. desire, by God’s grace, this very d^Y to become a Christian, and to be saved from sin?” Well, then, as yon are ab’cady in a state of tliouglitfulness, let ns go a step further, and observe what the Saviour did. Tfaaiy fJi ^Q’^LsxC-^^^’^^^ 22Zjcui,£aying, “Kise ,! take up thy bed and walk.” The ower by which the man arose was not in liiuiself, but in ■^Ji’sus; it was not the mere sound of the word which made him rise, but it was the divine power which went with it. I do believe that Jesus still speaks through his ministers; I trust that he speaks through me at this moment, when in his name I say to you who have been waiting at the pool, loit n,2«121ig£1*, but this moment believe in Jesus Christ! Trust him now. I know that my word will not make you do it; but if the Holy Ghost works through the word, you will believe. Trust Christ now, poor sinner. Believe that he is able to save you; believe it now! Rely upon him to save you this moment; repose upon him now! If you are enabled to believe, the power will come from him, not from you; and your salvation will be effected, not by the sound of the word, but by the secret power of the Holy Ghost which goes lwith that word.
f i pray you observe, that although nothing is said about
, faith in the text, yet the nian mustligjie haclfaith. Su]jpo?e
you had been unable to move hand or foot for thirty-eight
years, and some one said at your bedside, “Rise!” you
’ would not think of trying to rise, you would know it to be
impossible; you must have faith in the person who uttered
. the word, or else you would not make the attempt. I think
, I see the poor man — there he is, a heap, a writhing bundle
of tortured nerves and powerless muscles; yet Jesus says,
‘“Rise!” and up he rises in a moment. “Xake, up thy
t lidd,” says the Master, and the bed is carried. IJere.wr5
the man’s faitlv The man was a Jew, and he knew that,
according to the Pharisees, it would be a very wicked I hing
for him to roll up his mattress and carry it on the Sabbath;
but because Jesus told him, he asked no questions, but douLlcd up his couch and walked. He did what he was, told to do, because he believed in him who spake. Have i you such faith in Jesus, poor sinner? Do you believe that, Christ can save you? If you do, then I say to you in his name, trust him! Trust him now! If you trust Jesus, you phall be saved this morning — saved on the spot and saved j forever.
Qbserv beloved friends, that the cure irhlch Christ’ urought cas ‘perfect. The man could carry his bed; the ,. restoration was proved to a demonstration, the cure waa I manifest; all could see it. Moreover, the cure was ««/ne-, a He was not told to take a lump of tigs, and put it, on the sore and wait; he was not carried home by his, friends, and laid up for a month or two, and gradually nursed into vital enerfjv. Oh, no! he was cured there and theiL’ Half our professing Christians imagine that regeneration cannot take place in a moment; and therefore, they say to poor sinners, “Go and lie at Bethesda’s pool, Avait in the use of ordinances ;^ humble yourself; seek for deeper repcnj;-. ance.” Beloved, away with such tcacliing! The cross? the croS/S! thecros! there liaiigs a sinner’s hoie! You must not rely on what you can do, nor on what angels can do, nor on visions and dreams, nor on feelings and strange emotions, and horrible deliriums, but you must rest in the blood of ray Master and my God, once slain for sinners. There is life in a look at the Crucified One, but there is life nowhei’e else. I come to the same point, then, upon the second head as upon the first. Thus saith the Lord, “Look ’ lyitome and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. “^
in. Thirdly, we have to apply the instance in the
TI5X1’ TO THE PPvESEVT OCCASION.
I hope, believers, your hearts ai’e going up in prayer this morning. What a scene is before us! K some one had told us that this mass of people would have gathered to listen t) the gospel, are there not hundreds who would have doubt ed it! Mark this, we have had nothing novel to attract this multitude; nothing by way of gorgeous ceremony j there is not even the swell of the organ: I declined its pealing notes, lest we should seem to depend in the slightest degree from a thread even to a shoe latchet, upon any thing but the preaching of the gospel. The preaching of the cross is enough to draw the peoyle, and enough to save the people, and if we take to any thing else, we lose our power and shear away the locks which make us strong. The application of the text, this morning, is just this; Why should we not on this very spot have instantaneoxis cures of sick souls f Why should there not be scores, hundreds, thousands, who shall this morning hear the gracious word, “Arise, take up thy bed and walk?” I believe it is possible. I hope it will be done. Let me talk with you who doubt this matter. You still think that you must wait — you have had a sufficient spell of waiting, and you are getting tolerably weary, but still you stick to the old plan; hopeless as it is, you still catch at it as drowning men do at straws. But I want to show you that this is all wrong. Regeneration is an instantaneous work, and jvistiticatioji an instantaneous gift.j 3Ian fdl in a rnomtnt. When Eve plucked the fruit, and Adam ate it, it did not require six months to bring them into a state of condemnation. It did not require several years of continued sin to cast them out of paradise. Their eyes were opened by the forbidden fruit; they saAV that they were naked, and they hid themselves from God. Snyely, suiel Christ is not to be longer about his work than the devil waa, about his. Shall the devil destroy us in a moment, ann, Jesus 1)0 unable to sja~vc..ua in n momont? Ah! glory be to God, he has power to deliver far more ample than any which Satan uses for man’s destruction.
Look at the hihUr(.d illustrations of what salvation is. I will only mention three. Noah built an ark; that was the type of salvation; now, when was Noah saved? Christ has bailt the ark for us, we have nothing to do with building that; but when was Noah saved? Does any one say, “He was safe after he had been in the ark a month and had arranged all the things and looked out on the deluge and felt his danger”? No! the moment Noah went through the door, and the Lord shut him in, Noah was safe. When lie had been in the ark a second he was as secure as when he li;id been there a month. Take the case of the passover, when were the Jews safe from the destroying angel .vho went through the land of Egypt? “Were they safe after the blood which was sprinkled on the door had been looked upon and considered for a week or two? Oh, no! beloved, the moment the blood was sprinkled the house was secured; and the moment a sinner believes and trusts in the crucified Son of God he is pardoned at once, he receives salvation in full through Christ’s blood. One more instance, the brazen serpent. When the brazen serpent was lifted up, what were the wounded to do? AVere they told to wait till the brazen serpent was pushed into their faces, or until the venom of the serpent showed certain symptoms in their flesh? No, they were commanded to look. They did look. Were they healed in six months’ time? IxeadnotsobjaJtas .aoan as their eye met the serpent of brass, the cure was wroiigh.t: and as soon as your eye meets Christ, poor trembler, you are saved. Though yesterday you were deep in your cups, and up to your neck in sin, yet if this morning you look to my once slain but now exalted IVIaster, you shall find eternal life. Again take hiI)licaL uistaiice Did the dying thief wait at the pool of the ordinances? You know how soon his believing prayer was heard, and Jesus said, “To-day shalt (hou be with me in paradise.” The three thousand at Fentecost, did they wait for some great thing? Nay, they believed, and were bantized. Look at the jailer of Philippi. Ii was the dead of the night, the prison was shaken, and tho jailer was alarmed, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to bo saved?” Did Paul say, “Well, yru must use the mean a and look for a blessing upon the ordinances”? No! ho 1]
Raid, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house,” and that very night he baptized him. Paul did not take the time about it that some think so exajedingly necessary. He believed as I do, that thore is life in a look at Jesus; he bade men look, and looking they lived.
[^ Possibly you will see this still more clearly if I remind you that tjie work of salvation is all done There is nothing for a sinner to do in order to be saved, it is all done for him: You want washiug.^ The bath does not need filling. “There is a fountain filled with blood.” You want clothing. You have not to make the garment, the robe is ready. The garment of Christ’s righteousness is woven from the top throughout, all that is wanted is to have it put on. If some work remained for you to do it might be a lengthened process, but all the doing is accomplished by Christ. Salvation is not of works, but of grace, and to ac-Icept what Christ presents you is not a work of time.
Once more, let me say to you that regeneration itself cannot he a work of long time, because, even where it seems to be most gradual, when looked at closely, it turns out in its essence to be the work of a moment. There is a dead man: now, if that man be raised from the dead, there must be an instant in which he was dead, and another instant in which he was alive. The actual quickening must be the work of a moment. I grant you, that at the first the life may be very feeble, but there must be a time when it begins. There must be a line — we cannot always see it ourselves, but God must see it — there must be a line between life and death. A man cannot be somewhere between d(ld and alive; he either is alive or he is dead; and so you are either dead in sin or alive unto God, and quickening cannot involve a long period of time.
r Finally, ray hearers, for God to say “I forgive thee,” takes not a century nor a year. The judge pronounces the sentence, and the criminal is aquitted. If God shall say to thee this morning, “I absolve thee,” thou art absolved, anil< thou raayst go in peace. I must boar faithful witness as to my own case. I never found mercy by waiting. I never’ obtained a gleam of hope by depending upon ordinances.? found salvation by believing. I heai’d a simple minister of ’ the gospel say, “Look and live,! Look to Jesua [T<^ bleeds in the garden, he dies on the tree! Trust hun! Trust to what he suffered instead of you; and if you trust him, you shall be saved.” The Lord knows I had heard that gospel many times before, but I had not obeyed it. It came, however, with power to my soul, and I did look, and the moment I looked to Christ, I lost my burden. “Cut,”. says one, “how do you know?” Did you ever carry a burden yourself? “Oh, yes,” say you. “Did you knoAV when it was off? How did you know?” “Oh,” you say, “I felt so different. I knew when my burden was on, and, con- sequently, I knew when it was off.” It was so in my case. I only wish some of you felt the burden of sin as I felt it,, when I was waitingat the pooLoi” Bethesda. I wonder that such waitinjj had not landed me in hell. But, when I heard the word, “Look!” I looked, and my burden was gone, I wondered where it was gone; I have never seen it * since, and I never shall see it a2;aiii. It went into the Maa.- ter’s tomb, and it lies forever buiied there. God has said il, “I have blotted out like a cloud thine iniquities, and like i a thick cloud thy sins.” Oh come, ye needy, come to my I^IastfiT! Ho, ye that have been disappointed with rites and ceremonies, and feelings, and impressions, and all the hopes of the flesh, come at my Master’s command, and look up to liira! He is not here in the flesh, for he has risen; but he ’ has risen to plead for sinners, and “he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever. liveth to make intercession for them.” Oli, if I could know how to preach the gospel so that you would feel it, I-woiil4( go to any seliool to4anra>! The Lord knows I woukl willingly consent to lose these eyes, to get greater power in my mini*,/ try; ay, and to lose arms, legs, and all my members. I ■vroul<l be willing to die if I could but be honored by the Holy Spirit to win this mass of souls to God. I implore you, my brethren, you who have power in prayer, pray the Lord to bi-ing sinners to Christ. Let me say, solemnly, to you who lia e heard the word this day, I have told you the plan of sahation plainly; if you do not accept it, I am clear of your blood, I shake my skirts of the blood of your souls. If you come not to ray Lord and Master, I must bear swift witness against you at the day of judgment. I have told you the way — I cannot tell you it more simply — I beseech you to follow it I I entreat you to look to JesusJ But if you refuse it, at any rate, when you shall rise from the dead, and stand before the great white throne, do me the justice to say that I did entreat and persuade you to escape, I did impress upon you to flee from the wrath to come. The Lord save each one of you, and his shall be the praise evei more. Amen.