The Free Agency of Christ

The Free Agency of Christ

(No. 2761)

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, JANUARY 12, 1902.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
SEPTEMBER 21, 1879.

"And He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and
begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led
him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands
on him, He asked him ifhe saw anything. And he looked up and said, Isee
men as trees, walking. After that Heput His hands again upon his eyes,
and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw everyone clearly."
Mark 8:22-25.

THERE is a very wonderful variety in the miracles of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and the variety is apparent even in the way in which men come
to Him to partake of His blessing. With regard to the blind men to whom
our Lord gave sight, we read of some that they were brought to Christ
by their friends, as in the case of this man at Bethsaida, who was
almost passive all the way through. His friends appear to have had more
faith than he had and, therefore, they brought him to Jesus. There were
other cases in which the blind men cried to Christ and, as far as they
could, came to Him of themselves. Some of them even came to Him in the
teeth of stern opposition, for, when the disciples upbraided one of
them for crying out so loudly, he cried out the more loudly, "Son of
David, have mercy on me." So that, you see, some were brought to Christ
by their friends and others came to Him in spite of much opposition.

Then there is that notable case which many of you must remember, of
that remarkable blind man who had been blind from his birth, to whom
Jesus came uninvited. Jesus saw him and anointed his eyes with the clay
which He had made, and then bade him go and wash in the pool of Siloam.
"He went his way, therefore, and washed, and came seeing." Thus, from
the very commencement of our Savior's earthly ministry, there were
differences in the way in which one class of characters, the blind,
came to Jesus Christ.

I. The lesson for us to learn from this undoubted fact is just
this–that THERE ARE GREAT DIFFERENCES IN THE WAY IN WHICH MEN COME TO
JESUS CHRIST–and differences even in their first desires. Some will
begin to seek the Savior like merchantmen seeking goodly pearls and
when they have found Him, He will be the Pearl of Great Price to them.
Others will be like the plowman whose plow struck against a crock of
gold–they will know Christ's value as soon as they stumble upon Him,
as it were, and will be ready to sell all that they have and buy the
field so that the treasure may be theirs. Some of you who are here may
get a blessing instantaneously, though you have not come especially
seeking it. Others of you may have come here for months and years,
seeking the Savior–and you may nowfind Him.

Some may begin to seek even while the sermon is progressing, but may
not find Christ for a while–while others will no sooner seek Jesus
than they will at once find Him. Some will be brought by the example of
the godly. Some by the preaching of the minister. Some by a kind word
from a friend. Many by parental exhortations. Some by a holy book. Some
by no outward means at all. Some simply by their own thoughts in
solitude, or at the dead of night–all led by the one gracious Spirit
of God–but each one brought to Christ in a different way and by
different means from all the rest.

I think that the same differences will be found, not only at the
beginning of the Christian life, but also all the way through that life
in all who are the subjects of Divine Grace. All Christians are like
each other in some respects, but no one Christian is exactly like
another in all points. There is, often, a great family likeness in the
children in one family. Sometimes, you might go where there are 10 or
twelve, and you might pick them all out and say, Yes, we are quite sure

that they all belong to this family–there are certain distinctive
features which evidently show that they belong to these parents." After
you have noticed that resemblance, take the 10 or 12 children, one by
one, and look at them individually. Perhaps, at first sight, you might
say that you did not know one from the other, but those who see them
day by day will tell you that there are distinct differences of
countenance and contour about each one–and idiosyncrasies of character
which distinguish them from one another–so that there is not one of
them who is exactly like the rest.

Now, it would be a great pity if they should all begin to wish that
they were exactly like someone in the family whom they set up as a
model. It would be a right and proper ambition that every son should
wish to be like a godly father, and that every daughter should seek to
imitate a lovely and gracious mother, but that one girl would wish to
be just like her sister, or a boy to be exactly like his brother would
be absurd. Yet I have often seen that absurdity in the Church of God!
One is depressed because his experience is not quite like his
neighbor's. Another because he sees that there are points in his
experience that are unlike anybody else's–and I have even known them
go and try to remove their names from God's register and
"unchristianize" themselves! And, what is worse, sometimes
unchristianize one another because they are not all exactly run into
the same mold–like so many shot, precisely alike in form and shape–as
manufactured articles are when they come quickly from under the die!
No, we fall into grievous error when we entertain this kind of idea!
God's ways are diverse–from the beginning to the end, God the Father,
God the Holy Spirit and our Lord Jesus Christ act sovereignly and do
not choose to follow one particular mode of action in every case.

That lesson I wish to teach, first, in reference to our prayers. We
must not attempt to dictate to God with regard to His answers to our
prayers. Let us learn that lesson from the incident before us–"They
brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him"–to open his eyes? No–that
would have been a very proper prayer, but they, "begged Him to touch
him." But Christ did not do His work according to their request–"He
took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town. And when
He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he
saw anything." Now, with regard to our prayers, we may bring our
children, friends and neighbors to Christ–and we may ask that they may
be saved–but we must not dictate to Christ the methods by which
salvation is to come to them, for it is very usual with Him not to
follow those means which we would prescribe!

That plan of touching the sick person was a very common one with Christ
and, therefore, the people began to expect that He must always heal by
a touch. Naaman thought that the Prophet Elisha would come out to him,
"and stand and call on the name of the Lord, his God, and strike his
hand over the place and recover the leper." But he was mistaken, as
were those folk at Bethsaida. It was a sort of understanding among them
that Christ's touch was the usual method by which His cures were
worked, so they begged Him to touch their blind friend. But He would
not give any support to that notion. If they thought than He worked His
miracles by putting His hands upon the sick, then He would not put His
hands upon them–He would let them see that He was not bound to any
particular method. If He had allowed them to cherish such an idea,
probably their next step in error would have been that they would have
said that it was an enchantment, a kind of performance by certain
passes and touches, as by a wizard or conjurer, through which Christ
went in order to heal the sick.

Superstition can be very easily made to grow, and you and I, mark you,
may think ourselves perfectly free from superstition, yet, all the
while, it may only have taken some other form from that in which it
appears in other people. For instance, if the Lord is pleased to bless
a certain preacher to the conversion of souls, you may settle it in
your mind that if you get your children to hear him, they will
assuredly be saved. Yet it may not be the case, for the Lord has a
thousand ways of saving souls and He is not tied to any one man as His
agent or instrument. It may get to be a kind of superstitious notion
that in some one person, alone, the power of converting others may
rest. Or it may be that you say to yourself, "I was converted by
reading such-and-such a book. If I get my boy to read that book, it
will convert him, too." Yet it may have no influence whatever upon him,
for the Grace of God is not tied to any book, nor to any way of working
that you choose to prescribe!

I would not wonder, my dear Friends, if some of you have tried to tie
the Lord down to your way of working. For instance, in your class in
the Sunday school, it was the reading of a certain chapter in the Bible
that brought one of your scholars to Christ. So, in order to bring the
rest of them to the Savior, you get them to read that chapter. That may
be all right, for the Lord can bless it to them if He pleases, but, at
the same time you must remember that He is a Sovereign and, therefore,
He will probably use other means in other cases. You preached, dear
Friend, in the street, or in a Chapel, and

God blessed that sermon. So you have made up your mind that you will
preach it a second time. I recommend you not to do so, for very likely
it will hang fire if you do. If you begin to confide in the sermon, God
will not bless it. I think it is often well to do with a good sermon as
David did with Goliath's sword–he said that there was none like it,
yet he did not keep it by him for constant use, but he laid it up
before the Lord–then it was ready for the special occasion when it was
required. When God has blessed any sermon that I have preached, I do
not make it a rule to preach it again, lest I might be led to put my
trust in that sermon, or to have some confidence in the way in which I
set forth the Truth of God, rather than in the Truth itself–though I
never hesitate to preach the same sermon again and again if I feel that
the Spirit leads me to do so. We must not, in our prayers, tie the Lord
down to any particular means, for He can use what means He pleases and
He will do so, whatever we may say. We may ask Him to open the blind
man's eyes, but it is not our place to beseech Him to touch the blind
man in order to effect His cure!

Notice, also, that Christ did not answer the prayer of these people in
the place where they presented it. They brought the blind man to Him
and they evidently expected the Lord Jesus Christ to open his eyes
there. But Jesus did not do so. "He took the blind man by the hand and
led him out of the town"–right away from the place where the people
wanted to have the miracle performed! The Savior acted as though He
could not do anything in the matter until He was out of town–and He
would not speak a word to him till He got him quite away by himself.
Well, now, it is very easy, in our prayers, to fix upon a certain place
as the one where God will give His blessing, and to think, "The friend
I am praying for must be converted in the Tabernacle, or must be
converted in the little meeting that I hold in my house, or must be
brought to Jesus Christ in the Church where I attend, or in the Chapel
where I worship." But our Lord may, perhaps, never convert that young
man in any of the places you have mentioned–He may meet with him
behind the counter, or on board boat, or walking by the way, or on a
sickbed. Do not be disappointed, therefore, when your place does not
prove to be God's place! Take your friend to the House of God, for
Christ's miracles on a Sabbath and in the synagogue are frequent–but
do not try to tie Him down to the synagogue, for He must be left at
liberty to work His miracles in His own way.

Neither, dear Friends, must we, for a moment, try to tie the Lord Jesus
Christ down to work in our particular manner! I have no doubt that
these people meant to prescribe to Christ that He should open that
man's eyes directly. He had done so before and He was able to make the
sightless one see in a single moment. And they, therefore, naturally
expected that He would do it. But the Savior did not do so–He did not
work an immediate, but a progressive cure. He opened the man's eyes a
little and afterwards opened them more fully. This was a very
extraordinary miracle–there is no other case like it in Scripture. All
the other cures that Christ worked were immediate–but this one was
progressive. So, my Brother, the Lord may hear and answer your prayer,
but it may not be by a conversion in the way you expected. You thought
that, all of a sudden, you would hear that your dear friend had been
turned from darkness to the Light of God. You have not heard that, but
you have heard that he begins to be more thoughtful than he used to be,
and that he attends the means of Grace more regularly than he formerly
did. Perhaps the Lord intends, in his case, to work salvation by
degrees.

Do not go and run the risk of spoiling it by trying to run faster than
God guides you! The daylight does not always come in a moment. I am
told that in the tropics there is but slender notice of the rising of
the sun–he seems to be up and shining in full glory in a few seconds!
But here, in England, you know how long a time of twilight and dawn we
have before the sun has fully risen. No doubt there are conversions
that are just like the tropical morning–in a moment the great deed of
Grace is done! But there are many more conversions that are slow and
gradual, yet they are none the less sure! The genial sun is up when he
is up–even if he takes an hour in the operation of rising–quite as
effectually as he is up when he seems to leap out of the sea into
meridian splendor! So, if the Lord should see fit to bless your friend
in a different manner from that which you had thought of, do not you
quarrel with Him. Whatever He does is right–so let us never question
any of His actions.

One other point, in which we must not dictate to God, is this. He may
hear our prayer and grant our request, yet we may not know that it is
so. I do not think that these people who brought the blind man to
Christ ever saw him again after his eyes had been opened. Mark tells us
that Christ "led him out of the town"–that is, away from his friends.
And after He had healed him, "He sent him away to his house, saying,
Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town." I suppose
they found it out afterwards, but then and there, at any rate, they did
not see the man's eyes opened. If he did as

Christ commanded him, he went straight away home and kept the matter
quiet, so far, at least, as the general public and, perhaps, these
friends of his were concerned.

Now, it is quite possible that God may hear your prayer for some dear
friend in whom you are interested and yet you may never know of it till
you get to Heaven. The Lord has promised to hear prayer, but He has not
promised that you shall know that He has heard your prayer! A godly
mother may be in Glory long before her supplications have been answered
in the conversion of her son. A Sunday school teacher may go Home to be
with Christ before the boys, over whom he has agonized, are brought to
the Savior. Our farmers know that earthly harvests are sometimes late
and it is the same in spiritual husbandry! Divine Grace ensures the
crop, but even the Grace of God does not guarantee that the crop shall
come up tomorrow, nor whenever we please. So, dear Friend, keep on
sowing the good seed of the Kingdom of God, water it with your tears
and your prayers, and then leave with God the question whether you
shall see the harvest or not. He may, in your case, fulfill that
gracious promise, "He that goes forth and weeps, bearing precious seed,
shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with
him." Or He may simply choose to make you the sower and another the
reaper. It is for you to believe that your petitions shall be granted,
even if you do not live to see them!

There have been many instances in which men's prayers have prevailed,
although they themselves have never lived to see that happy result. I
think I have told you, before now, the story of a godly father whose
unhappy lot it was to see his sons grow up without the fear of God in
their hearts. This was a very heavy burden upon the good old man's
spirit. Day and night he wept and prayed about it before God. At last,
the time came for him to die and he had not, then, one son who had
found the Savior! It had been the old man's prayer that his death might
be the means of the conversion of his children if they were not brought
to Christ in his lifetime–and so it was. Yet the scene at his death
was very different from what he had hoped that it might be, for it was
a very gloomy departure. His faith was grievously tried–he did not
enjoy the Light of God's Countenance–he was put to bed, as God often
puts some of His best children to bed, in the dark. He died humbly
trusting in Jesus, but not triumphing, not even rejoicing–he was in
great pain of body and deep depression of spirit–and his last thought
was, "This experience of mine will only confirm my sons in their
infidelity. I have borne no witness for Christ as I had hoped to do.
And now they will say that their father's religion failed him at the
last and so, my heart's desire will not be granted to me."

Yet it was granted, though he did not live to see it, for, after they
had put him in the tomb and had come home from the funeral, the eldest
son said to the others, "You noticed, brothers, what a struggle our
father seemed to have on his dying bed and how hard it went with him.
Now, we all know that he was a man of God. His conduct and example were
such that we have no doubt about his being a true Christian, yet, if he
found it so hard to die, what will it be for us when we come to the day
of our death and have no God to help us, and no Christ to look to in
the hour of our extremity?" It was remarkable that the same thought had
struck all the good man's sons–and they went to their own homes deeply
impressed by their father's gloomy death–to seek their father's God
and to find Him!

Could the old man have known what was best, he would have chosen just
such a death in order that he might, thereby, be the means of bringing
his children to Christ! In like manner, you may not be sure that you
will see, here, the answer to all your prayers, but you will see it
when you get up yonder–when God shall bid you fling up the celestial
windows and you will look down and see the harvests which you never
reaped, but for which you sowed the seed! You will see, springing up
from the soil, the rich result of your labor, though you saw it not
while here on earth–and your Heaven will be all the sweeter because,
then, you will know that the Lord has heard and answered the prayers
that you offered in your lifetime here below.

II. Secondly, I learn, from this narrative that WE MUST NOT ATTEMPT TO
TELL THE LORD JESUS CHRIST HOW HE IS TO WORK, for He has various ways
of working in the blessing of men.

For instances, when this blind man was brought to Him, He did not open
his eyes with a word. Often, when the sick were brought to Him, He
spoke and they were at once cured. He might have done so in this case.
He might have said to the blind man's eyes, "Be opened!" The ancient
fiat might have been repeated, "Light be!" and there would have been
light in his darkness. But there came out of Christ's mouth–not a
word–but spittle! Christ spat on the blind man's eyes. Ah, but if
anything comes out of His mouth, it does not matter much what it
is–whatever comes out of the mouth of the Christ of God means healing
and life to those whom it reaches! He has His own ways of working.
Usually, He is pleased to save men by the preaching of the Word and,
sometimes, the great change is brought about through very feeble

testimony. Yet, nevertheless, it is the Word of the Lord that is
spoken, and it comes from the mouth of God, so He blesses it to the
opening of blind men's eyes.

In this case, too, Christ did not work upon this man all at once. As I
have already reminded you, He worked a gradual cure upon him. So, dear
Friend, you must not dictate to Jesus Christ as to how you will be
saved. I know that some of you do. One said to me, in my vestry, that
she believed she had found Christ, but she was half-afraid it could not
really be so. "Why not?" I asked. And she answered, "My old grandfather
told me that it took him three years before he got peace and he was
locked up in a lunatic asylum most of the time. I thought it was an
awful affair altogether." I enquired where she could find anything in
the Word of God to support that idea and then told her to simply
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and not to trouble about what her
grandfather did. I have no doubt that he got to Heaven even through a
lunatic asylum, but there are other and better ways of getting there!

Mr. Bunyan tells us that his pilgrim went through the Slough of Despond
and did not pick the steps well, so he floundered, and it was with
difficulty that he got to the other side. Mr. Bunyan pictures
Evangelist as bidding the poor seeker fly towards a certain wicket gate
and keep his eyes on the light within that gate. Now that was a mistake
on the part of Evangelist–and it was through that mistake that the
poor pilgrim got into the Slough of Despond. The Gospel does not tell
you to look for wicket gates, nor to keep your eyes on any light! You
remember how, at last, the poor pilgrim did get rid of his burden–it
was at the Cross that the burden rolled from his shoulders and
disappeared into the sepulcher so that he saw it no more! And, dear
Friends, that is where your eyes have to be turned–to the Cross of
Christ and to the full Atonement He has made for all who trust in Him!
As for wicket gates and the Sloughs of Despond–the less you have to do
with them, the better. "But is there no Slough of Despond?" someone
asks. Oh, yes! Twenty of them, but it is far easier to go through that
Slough with the burden off rather than on your shoulders! The best
thing you can possibly do is to go to Christ, first, for then you can
better go wherever you have to go. As for me, I would rather avoid the
Slough of Despond altogether if I could–and keep my eyes always upon
the Cross–for Christ Crucified is the one and only hope of sinners!

You must not, any of you, say, "Bunyan went through the Slough of
Despond. According to his Grace Abounding, he was there for years. And
there is our Pastor, I have often heard him say that he was a long
while in that Slough." Yes, I am sorry to say that he was, but that is
no reason why youshould go there. If, when I was a youth, I had heard
the Gospel of Christ preached as plainly as I have preached it to you,
I feel certain that I would never have been in the bog so long as I
was. But I heard a mixed sort of Gospel, a mingle-mangle–a mixture of
Law and Gospel–a muddling up of Moses and Christ–something of "do"
and something of "believe." And, therefore, I was for so long a time in
that sad state of bondage! In fact, the good sound doctrine people that
I used to hear, said, "You must not come to Christ, for you do not know
whether you are one of the elect–and you must not come until you do."
I know perfectly well that nobody can possibly tell whether he is
elect, or not, till he finds it out by coming to God! And that no one
ever comes to God the Father, who makes the election, except by Jesus
Christ His Son! So we have first to do with the Son and afterwards with
the Father. That I did not know when I was seeking the Savior. I needed
an angel to tell me that I was one of the elect, but I was obliged to
come to Christ as a poor, guilty sinner and just trust in Him, and so
to find peace in believing. That is the plan that I recommend you adopt
if you want to be saved!

Do not say, "I shall not come to Christ till I stick in the mud of the
Slough of Despond. I shall not come to Him till I get laid by the heels
in Giant Despair's Castle! I shall not come to Him till I get whipped
on the back with the ten-thonged lash of the Law." If you really want
to have that lash, perhaps you will get it, and I hope you will like
it–but the Gospel says, "Come and welcome! Come and welcome! Come to
Jesus just as you are!" Never try to lay down rules and regulations for
Christ, but let Him save you in His own way and be you content, just as
you are, to take Him just as He is!

There is one more point about this man in which the singular
Sovereignty of Christ is seen, and that is, He did not make use of the
healed man, though we would have thought that He would have done so. If
this miracle had been worked in the present day, we would soon have
seen this man in the Salvation Army, or in some other public position.
Nowadays, the rule seems to be send off a paragraph to the newspapers,
"So many in the enquiry-room! So many converted on such-and-such a
night! Blow the trumpets! Beat the drums! Let everybody know!" But that
was not Jesus Christ's way of working–He told this man not to go into
the town. And when he did get home, not to tell anybody what had been
done

to him. Why was he not to tell anybody? Well, first, because the Lord
wanted to do good and not to have a noise made about it. And, secondly,
because there was no need to tell anybody. Suppose I had been for years
a blind preacher and that my eyes had been opened–would there be any
need for me to tell you, next Sunday, that my eyes were opened? You
would see it for yourselves–everybody can see when a man's eyes are
opened. And, often, the best way in which a man can tell that he is
converted is simply by letting other people see what a change there is
in him because, if his eyes are not really open, it is of no use for
him to stand up and say, "Bless the Lord! My eyes are open," while he
is still blind! I have heard people say that they were converted and I
have thought that if the work were done over again, it would not hurt
them much and that, indeed, six or seven such conversions would not
amount to much! Oh, give us a conversion that speaks for itself! Give
us a new heart that shows itself in a new life! If a man is not able to
control his temper, or to speak the truth–if he is not a good servant,
or a good master, or a good husband–do not let him think it necessary
to proclaim what Christ has done for him, for, if he has done anything
that was worth doing, it will speak for itself!

Now I must close by just noticing one fact about this man as to the
early steps that Jesus Christ used with him. There is one point I want
to dwell upon for a minute. Our Lord, before He did anything else with
the blind man, took him by the hand and led him out of town. There are
some of you here, perhaps, with whom the Lord has been thus working.
You have begun to come to listen to the Gospel–through your wife,
perhaps, or through some Christian friend. I am very hopeful concerning
you, for, although you cannot yet see, the Lord has taken you by the
hand. All the faith that this poor man had was a yiedingfaith–he gave
himself up to be led–and that is a saving faith. My dear Friend, give
yourself up to be led by Christ! If you have come under gracious,
heavenly influences, yield yourself up to them!

The Master led this blind man right away from other people and it will
be a good sign when you begin to feel that you are getting to be
lonely. Sometimes, when the Lord means to save a man, He lays him aside
by illness, or, if not, He takes him away from the company he used to
keep by some other means. Or, if the man is allowed to go into the same
company, he gets to dislike it. He does not feel at home with those who
were once his companions–he goes in and out of the shop as if he were
one by himself. He has the Lord's arrow sticking in him and, like the
wounded stag, he tries to get away to bleed alone. You feel, sometimes,
as though nobody understood you. You read in the Book of Job, or the
Lamentations of Jeremiah and you say, "This is the kind of experience
that I am passing through. I have a broken heart and a troubled
conscience, and I feel that I am all alone."

Well, dear Friend, that is the Lord Jesus Christ leading you out of
town, getting you away from everybody. And, mark you, the place of
mercy is the place where a man stands alone–away from everybody except
his Lord. Do not draw your hand back from the hand that is leading you
away! Perhaps ungodly company has been your ruin and it is through
solitude that God intends to save you. Be much alone. Think over your
own case. Make a personal confession of sin. Seek for personal faith in
a personal Savior. You were born alone–you will have to pass through
the gates of death alone. Although you will stand in a crowd to be
judged, yet you will be judged as a separate individual–and even
though myriads perish with you, your loss will be your own if you are
lost!

Therefore, look into your own affairs. Cast up your own account and,
before the living God, stand separate from all your fellow men! I
believe that if any of you have reached that point, you are where the
deed of Grace shall be done. May the Lord enable you to yield yourself
up completely to Him, for your safety lies there! We rightly put faith
before you as a look, but now I will put it before you, if you have not
even an eye to look with, as the yielding up of yourself to the
guidance of the Savior. Be nothing and let Christ be everything! Give
yourself entirely up into His hands and He must and will save you! For,
though it is faith in its passive form, it is, nevertheless, a real and
saving faith! And blessed are all they that have it! May God grant it
to everyone of us now, for Jesus' sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MARK8:1-30.

Verses 1-4. In those days the multitude being very great, and having
nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to

Him and said to them, I have compassion on the multitude because they
have now been with Me three days and have nothing to eat And if I send
them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for
many of them came from far. And His disciples answered Him, From where
can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?

Why did they not ask their Master what He could do in such an emergency
as that? After so much experience of His power as they had already had,
it is amazing that they did not refer the matter to Him and say, "Lord,
You can feed the multitude; we beseech You do it." But they did not act
so wisely. Instead, they began questioning about ways and means. "From
where can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?"

5-9. And He asked them, How many loaves have you? And they said, Seven.
And He commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and He took the
seven loaves, and gave thanks, and broke them and gave to His disciples
to set before them; and they did set them before the people. And they
had a few small fishes: and He blessed them and commanded to set them
also before them. So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up
seven baskets of leftover fragments. And they that had eaten were about
four thousand: andHe sent them away. Christ is the great Master of the
art of multiplication! However small is the stock with which we begin,
we have only to dedicate it all to Him and He will multiply and
increase it until it will go far beyond our utmost expectations–and
there will be more left after the feast is over than there was before
it began!

Bring your small talents! Bring the little Grace you have to Christ,
for He can so increase your store that you will never know any lack,
but shall have all the greater abundance the greater the demand that is
made upon that store. Had these four thousand people not been
miraculously fed by Christ, the seven loaves and the few small fishes
would have remained just as they were–but now that the four thousand
have to be fed, the loaves and fishes are multiplied by Christ in a
very extraordinary manner, so that, in the end, there is far more
provision than they had at the beginning. Expect, Beloved, to be
enriched by your losses, to grow by that which looks as if it would
crush you and to become greater by that which threatens to annihilate
you! Only put yourself into Christ's hands and He will make good use of
you and leave you better than you were before He used you as the means
of helping and blessing others!

10-12. And straightway He entered into a boat with His disciples and
came into the region ofDalmanutha. And the Pharisees came forth and
began to question Him, seeking of Him a sign from Heaven, tempting Him.
And He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, Why does this generation
seek after a sign? Verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given
unto this generation. Unbelief always pricked Him to the heart and
greatly grieved Him. When men trusted Him, He delighted to exhibit His
matchless Grace. But when they quibbled and questioned, His heart was
heavy and He turned away from them.

13. And He left them and, entering into the boat again, departed to the
other side. But, alas, even on board that little boat there was
unbelief–and from the small and select circle of His own disciples! He
had fresh reason for sorrow from the same cause.

14-21. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they
in the boat with them more than one loaf And He charged them, saying,
Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of
Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we
have no bread. And when Jesus knew it, He said unto them, Why reason
you because you have no bread? Perceive you not yet, neither
understand? Have you your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see you not?
And having ears, hear you not? And do you not remember? When I broke
the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments
took you up? They said unto Him, Twelve. And when the seven among four
thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took you up? And they
said, Seven. AndHe said unto them, How is it that you do not
understand? Can we not learn from past experience? If the Lord has
helped us before, is He not equally ready to help us again? What? When
there are only a few of you disciples on board boat, do you begin to
distrust your Lord because you have only one loaf when He found enough
food for five thousand and for four thousand out of a few scanty
loaves? O you unbelieving children of God! What infinite patience your
gracious God has with you, though you so often and so shamefully doubt
Him! "Do you not remember?" "How is it that you do not understand?" Can
it be that all your Lord's lessons of love and deeds of kindness have
taught you nothing? Do you still doubt Him–still distrust Him? Has He
delivered you in six troubles and can you not trust Him in the seventh?
Has He kept you, by His Grace, till you are 70 years of age, and can
you not trust Him for the few remaining years of your earthly
pilgrimage? Oh, shame upon us that we are such dull scholars in the
school of Christ!

22-26. AndHe came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him,
and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and
led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His
hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and
said, I see men as trees, walking. After that He put His hands again

upon his eyes, andmade him look up: and he was restored, andsaw
everyone clearly. And He sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go
into the town, nor tell it to any in the town. "Your house is outside
Bethsaida, so go round-about, and get home without going into the town.
And if any of your neighbors call to see you, say nothing about Me to
them, for I wish to remain concealed for the present."

27. And Jesus went out, and His disciples, into the towns of Caesarea
Philippi: and by the way He asked His disciples, saying unto them, Whom
do men say that I am?t was Christ's usual way, when He took a walk
with His disciples, to beguile the time with holy conversation. It
would be well if we always did the same. We might do much good and we
might get much good if we made our Lord Jesus the theme of our talks
"by the way." It was an important question that He put to His
disciples, "Whom do men say that I am?"

28. 29. And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elijah; and
others, one of the Prophets. And He said unto them, But whom do you say
that I am? "That is the main point. It matters little to you what other
men say about Me–whether they are right, or wrong, may not concern
you. But what is your own opinion? What do you know about Me? 'Whom do
you say that I am?'"

29. And Peter answered and said unto Him, You are the Christ. "You are
the Messiah." We know, from Matthew's Gospel, that it was this
confession of which our Lord said to Peter, "Blessed are you, Simon
Bar-Jona," son of Jonas– "for flesh and blood have not revealed it
unto you, but My Father which is in Heaven."

30. And He charged them that they should tell no man of Him. He wished,
at that time, to remain in comparative retirement. He was not anxious
that His miracles should be blazoned abroad. By-and-by He was to die
and He preferred to derive His fame from His death rather than from His
life–to gather His honors from His Cross rather than from His
miracles. He never bade any man to be silent about His death on the
Cross, but when honor was likely to come to Him among men from His
miracles, He frequently "charged them that they should tell no man of
Him." That restriction is no longer in force–it was entirely abrogated
after our Lord's Resurrection when He said to His disciples, "All power
is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth. Go you therefore, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatever I
have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of
the world. Amen."