Faith in Christ's Ability
(No. 3302)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1912.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL
12, 1866.
"Jesus sai unto them, Believe you that I am able to do this?" Matthew
9:28.
[Other Sermons by Mr. Spurgeon upon verses 27 to 30, are #1355, Volumen
23–OUR LORD'S QUESTION TO THE BLIND MEN and #1560, Volume 26– THE
PLAIN MAN'S PATHWAY TO PEACE.]
I WANT to lay special emphasis on the word, "this," in the
text–"Believe you that I am able to do this?" The question of Jesus
referred to one particular thing–it was not intended to apply to the
general power of Christ to heal the sick or to raise the dead–it
concerned the specific malady from which these two men were suffering.
The question meant did they believe that Christ was able to cure their
blindness? Among professing Christians, there is much so-called faith
that is not really faith. Many of us profess much more in our creeds
than we believe in our hearts and we hold a great deal more in theory
than we do in reality. For instance, I suppose there is no professor of
religion here who would dispute the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to
do anything and everything–we believe that He has all power in Heaven
and in earth. And yet, if it came to be a matter of personal detail and
He said to us, "Believe you that I am able to do this?" we might not
all be able to answer as promptly and as confidently as the blind men
did, "Yes, Lord."
I. I am going to speak about this matter, and I start with the very
simple statement that FAITH, IN SO FAR AS IT IS TRUE, DEALS IMMEDIATELY
WITH THE CASE IN HAND.
True faith believes that Jesus Christ is "able to do this." It
believes, of course, that He is able to do twenty thousand other
things, but it believes especially that He is "able to do this"–to
forgive this sin of which I am so deeply conscious, to remove this
trial with which I am now so sorely afflicted, to sustain me under this
temptation which so fiercely assails me, to strengthen me to accomplish
this duty which so clearly is before me. As each special case arises,
faith will exercise itself upon that particular thing and believe that
Christ is "able to do this."
There are solemn thoughts connected with unbelief concerning "this"
which Christ is able to do. Over there is a Brother who is in such a
plight that he thinks there is no way of deliverance for him out of it.
He has a task before him which he hardly dares ask his Lord to enable
him to perform because he lacks the necessary faith in his Lord's power
and willingness to help him! Now, my dear Friend, as you are in doubt
in this case, I want to ask you what is to prevent you from doubting in
the next difficulty that occurs to you–and then in the next after
that, and so on? You say that it is only upon this one point that you
are in doubt and that you think you have very good reasons for not
believing in this particular case? But the next circumstances that
occurs to you will very probably furnish you with just as weighty
reasons for doubting–and so will it be with each succeeding case as it
arises. It seems to me that you are shut up to this alternative, either
to trust God in this case or else to confess that you do not intend to
believe Him in any case. I know you will urge that the present case is
a very peculiar one, but I shall remind you that the next one will also
be a very peculiar one. I have not lived as long as some of you have
but, during the years that I have been able to observe what has been
passing around me, I have noticed that every year of my life has been a
crisis in the affairs of the nation–at least so the papers have always
told us and so have some good people always told us! I think it is very
likely that the present time is a most solemn crisis and I also think
with equally good reason, that this is a most solemn crisis in your
history and that if you do not believe now, you are not likely to
believe in the next crisis that comes to you. The fact is, you must
either believe God always or you must never believe Him! If you think
Christ is not "able to do this"–forgive this sin, remove this trial,
overcome this temptation, or strengthen you for this duty–you will
probably think the same when the next testing times comes.
Moreover, it seems to me that if you doubt God concerning any one
trial, you give up the whole case. You would have me believe that your
present trial is very peculiar and strange. Well, suppose I admit that
it is? Still, if you do not believe concerning this, you have given up
the whole case, for what Christ claims is Omnipotence–and if there is
any one thing that He cannot do, then He is not Omnipotent! If there is
any one heart too hard for Him to break, if there is any one sin too
strong for Him to enable me to abandon, then He is not Omnipotent. If
you look this thought fairly in the face, I think you will scarcely
dare to rob your Lord of one of the most glorious of His attributes!
You would surely hesitate to put forth that right hand of yours to
snatch from His crown one of its most precious gems! No, you would
sooner lose your life than commit so traitorous a crime as that–yet
you do practically commit it if you do not believe that He is "able to
do this," whatever, "this," may be and, therefore, you do virtually say
that He is not Almighty!
Besides, your doubt concerning God's power sets up a new god. Do you
start in alarm at that statement? It is true, for that which is
mightiest in the world is God–but if there is anythingwhich surpasses
the power of God–something that is more potent than Omnipotence, that
something must be god! I only put the matter thus to show you that you
are obliged to believe that God can deliver you out of your present
desperate plight, or else you must become an idolater! You must feel
that your difficulties and trials are greater than God and, therefore,
you deify them! Of course you do not mean to do that! You feel a cold
shiver go through you at the bare thought of such blasphemy, yet you
practically do it whenever you doubt that God is "able to do this,"
whatever, "this," may be!
Further, to doubt God's power to do "this," whatever it may be, is
challenging every attribute of the Divine Character. I could prove this
if I had the time, but I will indicate only one attribute of God, that
is, His truthfulness. Take such a promise as this, "He shall call upon
Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble." Now, if you
doubt God's power to fulfill that promise, you practically challenge
His veracity! Can you calmly contemplate such a sin as that would be?
Yet it seems to me that you cannot avoid committing that sin unless
now, by simple faith, you believe that He is "able to do this." But
grant that God is Omnipotent, once really accept that Truth of God in
your heart and then you will feel that there remains no strait into
which you can be brought out of which He cannot deliver you, that there
is no temptation which may assail you from which He cannot preserve
you, that there can be no position of peril in which He cannot protect
you and out of which He cannot bring you unharmed! May the Holy Spirit
graciously reveal to us the unsafe, treacherous, boggy pit that would
swallow us up if we doubt that God is "able to do this"–and may He
enable us to realize that it is safe walking and happy walking when we
walk by faith!
II. My second statement, which is as simple as the first, is that TRUE
FAITH, ESPECIALLY IN THE MATTER OF SALVATION, MUST BE PERSONAL.
If I have any true faith in Christ at all, I must believe that He is
"able to do this"–that is, that He is able to do for me what He has
done for many who are now in Glory–and what He is doing for many who
are rejoicing in His salvation here on earth! I know that I am
addressing many who believe in the Bible. At least you say that you do
and that you believe that Jesus Christ is able to do everything. That
is the theory of your faith, yet you do not believe this–that Jesus
Christ is able to save you now. You have got an idea in your mind that
for some reason or other, on account of some lack of preparation in
you, or for some equally foolish reason, the simple act of faith in
Christ would not be the means of bringing salvation to your soul! You
imagine that your case is not one that is covered by the promise of
God, or encompassed by the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!
If that is what you think, that Christ cannot save you–why do you not
doubt whether He can save others? In fact, why do you not doubt whether
He can save any sinner who ever lived? You tell me that your case is a
very peculiar one. I will grant you that, but then the case of the next
sinner you meet will also be a peculiar one. He is as honest a man as
you are and he will tell you that there is something very peculiar
about his case. I have very seldom talked with any person under
conviction of sin who did not think that his case was different from
that of anybody else–and very surprised has he been when I have told
him that his words just described my own experience when I was under
conviction of sin! If you believe that Christ cannot save you because
of some peculiarity in your case, is it not equally reasonable or
unreasonable that you should believe that He cannot save another sinner
because of some peculiarity in his case? In this way you would soon get
to believe that Jesus Christ cannot save at all! "No," you say, "I
shall never believe that." But that is practically
what you do believe! You do not believe that Jesus Christ is a potent
Savior! You may think that you do, but if the matter were put to the
test and you regarded every other sinner's case as you regard your own,
there would be just as good reason to suppose every other case to be
hopeless as to conclude that there is no hope of salvation for
yourself! If you are strictly reasonable in your belief, you must
either believe that Christ can save you or that He can save nobody at
all!
Then, as I said before under the previous head, if you do not believe
that Christ can save you, you give up the whole case. You have
probably, all of you, held as one of the undisputed articles of the
Christian faith that Christ is Omnipotent. But supposing that your case
is one in which His blood has no cleansing efficacy–supposing that you
are so vile that He cannot and will not receive you, supposing that
your heart is so hard that He cannot soften it–then He is not
Omnipotent! That is as clear as anything can be, for here is a case
that has defied and defeated Him! Oh, tell it not in Gath, publish it
not in the streets of Askelon that there is a man here who professes to
believe the Bible, yet He holds that Christ is not Omnipotent! "Oh,"
you say, "I do not hold that!" But you do practically hold it, for if
you thought Him to be Omnipotent, you must conclude that He is "able to
do this," that is, to save you!
More than that, disbelieving Christ's power to save in your own case is
virtually making yourself god. "Oh, no!" you say in horror at the bare
mention of such a thing! "I never did that!" Stay a moment and let me
prove it to you. You believe that there is something in you which
cannot be overcome by Divine Power. You think that there is something
in you which makes it impossible that you can be saved. Now listen, the
most mighty of all forces must belong to Deity– but if there is in you
some force of wickedness, some hardness of heart, some obstinate
willfulness which you imagine God really cannot overcome, then you are
practically making out that the evil in you is more powerful than
Omnipotence and greater than God! Is not this very strange, as well as
very wicked? You thought you were making yourself out to be very
humble, but it turns out that you are very proud, lifting up yourself
to the very Throne of God and seeking to usurp His place! This is what
you are practically doing when you assume that Christ is not "able to
do this," that is, to save you. My dear Friend, look at the enormous
guilt in which such unbelief would involve you and start back from it
with the utmost abhorrence! And believe that Christ is mighty to save,
yes, that He is Almighty to save even you!
I say again, as I said upon the first part of my subject, this unbelief
of yours challenges all the Divine Attributes. In believing that Christ
cannot save you, you are dishonoring the Character of God in the Person
of His well-beloved Son, for you have set a limit to His power although
He said that all power in Heaven and in earth had been given to Him!
When He asks, "Is My arm shortened that it cannot save you?" you
answer, "Yes, Lord." When He says, "Is My ear heavy that it cannot hear
your cry?" you reply, "Yes, Lord." You may not dare to say it with your
lips, but you really mean it in your heart–and that is even worse! You
are denying the Truth of Christ's promise. He said, "Come unto Me, all
you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Yet
yousay, "Lord, I would come to You, but I would never get any rest. I
would trust you, but I would never be saved." You suppose either that
Christ has promised more than He can perform, not knowing that He was
doing so, which is challenging His Omniscience, or that He has
deliberately promised more than He knew that He could do, which is
challenging His truthfulness and honor! He has commanded that this
message should be preached to every creature in all the world–"He that
believes and is baptized shall be saved." He also said, "He that
believes on the Son has everlasting life." This is His declaration
concerning every believing soul, so that if you believe on Him, it is
notpossible that your case could be beyond the limit of His power to
save! I am not talking now about His willingness to save. If I were, I
would speak just as confidently, but just now I am referring to His
power. Christ's own question to you, my dear Friend, is the same that
He put to the blind men, "Believe you that I am able to do
this?"–that, is, to save you! Think of the solemn consequences of
unbelief–see how shamefully it maligns and slanders the Character of
Jesus and then may His gracious Spirit sweetly compel you to believe
that He is "able to do this," and to save even you!
After Christ had cured these blind men, He healed a dumb man who was
possessed with a devil. And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was
never so seen in Israel." I wonder if there is one here who thinks
himself the biggest sinner in the world, the most hardened, the most
hopeless? If so, and he believes in Jesus, Jesus will save him and then
he, also, will be able to say, "It was never so seen in Israel." I know
that when I found peace through believing in Jesus, I thought that it
had never been so seen in Israel! And I have met with many others who
have felt just the same about their own conversion. Well, supposing
that it wasnever so seen in Israel, then there are new honors and fresh
glories for Immanuel and there is no reason why it should not be seen
here tonight! At any rate, I pray God to show you the inconsistency of
professing to believe the Bible and yet thinking that for some reason
or other, or for all the reasons in the world put together, Christ is
unable to save you!
III. My third statement, which is as simple as the first and second
were, is that IN ALL MATTERS AFFECTING THE SOUL, THE VITAL QUESTION IS
THAT OF FAITH.
"Believe you that I am able to do this?" must be the vital question
concerning a soul's salvation! Personal faith with regard to Christ's
power to save must be the main matter. Jesus did not say to these blind
men, "Have you a proper sense of your blindness? Are you sufficiently
sensible of the deprivation from which you suffer through the loss of
your eyesight? Do you feel the degradation of the poverty which compels
you to beg? Have you wept, moaned, groaned and grieved because you
cannot see?" No such questions as these were put to them by our Lord!
He simply asked them, "Believe you that I am able to do this?" There
are various questions that many of you ask yourselves although Christ
never puts them to you–His one enquiry is, "Believe you that I am able
to do this?" If you can answer that question satisfactorily, you need
not trouble about your own queries!
You will notice, too, that Christ did not ask the blind men whether
they loved Him. He did not say to them, "I am not going to do anything
for you unless your hearts are burning with love to Me." Oh, no! It
would have been clean contrary to our Savior's nature to say to these
men, "Are you really fond of Me? Then I will do what you desire." So,
Sinner, Christ does not ask you whether you love Him because He knows
that you do not–yet you ask yourself this question again and
again–"Do I love the Lord or no? Am I a lover of Jesus? I have heard
His people say that they love Him, but do I love Him?" Now, this is a
very proper question for you to ask yourself after you have believed in
Jesus–but you must have the root-grace of faith, first, before you
begin to look for its fruits. I hope that you will afterwards attain to
that burning, fervent love that many advanced Believers have to Jesus,
but this is not the matter that concerns you just now. The question
that Jesus puts to you now is, "Believe you that I am able to do this?
Believe you that I can take your sins away and make you clean tonight?
Believe you that I can take away your heart of stone and give you a
heart of flesh? Believe you that I can turn you, a lion, into a lamb?
Believe you that I can give you the Grace of repentance though you
cannot repent without My aid? Do you believe that I am able to do all
that needs to be done in order to save you?" This is the question
Christ asks you now. I trust the time will come when He will say to
you, "Do you love Me?" and that you will be able truthfully to answer,
"Lord, You know all things. You know that I love You."
There was another question which Christ did not put to the blind men.
He did not say to them, "Have you feared whether you would ever have
your sight? Have you been frightened at the thought that you may have
to grope about in darkness and poverty all your days? Have you been in
such despair that you have almost feared that you would commit suicide
unless your blindness could be cured?" No, Christ did not ask any such
questions as these! His one enquiry was, "Believe you that I am able to
do this?" Friends tell us sometimes about the terrors they have
experienced before they came to Christ by simple faith, but it would be
quite wrong on our part to conclude that such terrors are necessary! I
believe that they are nevernecessary and that they are seldom
useful–it certainly cannot be right to put them in the place of faith
in Christ! Dear Friend, I wish that you would answer the Master's
question and leave all other matters alone until He asks you about
them. He does not question you concerning your fears and your terrors,
the plowing and harrowing Law work of which some brethren are so fond
of talking about. His first question is, "Believe you that I am able to
do this?" Give Him an answer and may the Holy Spirit enable you to give
the right reply, "Yes, Lord," even as the blind men did when Christ put
a similar question to them! The vital matter is faith in Jesus. "Do you
believe on the Son of God?" O Sinner, how glad and thankful I would be
if I knew that you were saying in your heart, "I do believe that Christ
is both able and willing to save me. And I cast myself into His arms
now." If you have really done that, you are saved, and now you know,
feel, and rejoice in His power to save all those who come unto God by
Him! Trust in Jesus, for this is the vital sign by which we discern
those who are chosen of the Father, regenerated by the Holy Spirit and
redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus! If you truly believe in Jesus,
you are born of God–you need not fear that you shall ever perish, but
you may even now rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of Glory!
IV. I close with this fourth observation, that THIS QUESTION IS ONE
WHICH WE MIGHT NATURALLY
HAVE CONCLUDED THAT JESUS WOULD ASK.
It was a vitally important question, and it was by no means an
unreasonable one. If the blind men had not believed that Jesus was
"able to do this," they would not have asked Him to have mercy upon
them. It would have been an imper-
tinence on their part, or something worse than that, if they had
pleaded for mercy and yet had not believed that He was able to grant it
to them! I should not feel pleased if a blind man came to me and said,
"Will you be so good as to open my eyes?" I should feel morally certain
that he was mocking me, for he would know as well as I do that I have
not the power to give sight to the blind! Now, dear Friends, some of
you have been praying to the Lord to have mercy upon you–so you see
that you have committed yourselves just as these blind men had! You
have not told anybody about it. Possibly it was behind the hedge, or up
in the hayloft, or in that little bedroom of yours when no one but God
could see you. Well then, how did you dare to pray thus if you did not
believe that the Lord could do for you what you asked of Him? You did
not mean to insult Him, did you? I think the very fact of your praying
drives you to the conclusion that you do believe that He is "able to do
this." If you do not, you must not pray anymore! "Oh," you say, "I
cannot help praying." I am glad you cannot and I hope you never will
cease praying, but if you go on praying, yet do not believe in Christ's
power to save you, it is very much like a mockery of the Savior, for
how can you pray with any sort of justification unless you can truly
say, "O Lord, I do believe that You are able to save, and able to save
even me"? I do not know whether the blind men at first fully believed
in the Deity of Jesus, but I assume that all of us hold that He is
"very God of very God." I hope none of you have been led astray by the
false Doctrine that Christ is a mere man. You believe that He is the
Son of God, so what is more reasonable than that He should say to you,
"Believe you that I am able to do this?" You must give up your belief
that He is Divine or else you must believe that He is able to do this,
that is, to save you! I have already shown you that Omnipotence is
essential to Deity, so if you doubt that Christ is Omnipotent, I do not
see how you can believe that He is the Son of God. But inasmuch as you
say that you do believe that He is the Son of God, and I have no reason
to question your veracity, how can it be a question with you whether He
is able to save you?
Besides, you know that Christ has saved a great many other people and
this should encourage you to believe that He can save you. The blind
men had probably heard of His miracles of mercy and so were stimulated
to cry to Him on their own account. You have seen the change that
Christ has worked in some of your relatives or friends–and this being
the case, Christ certainly has the right to expect that you should
believe that what He was able to do for them, He is also able to do for
you! Your case is not by any means as peculiar as you imagine. It can
easily be matched by others where Christ's power to save has been
abundantly proved. If you are a drunk, we can produce drunks who have
been saved by Christ. If you are a swearer, we can show you swearers
who have been saved by Christ. If you are a harlot, we can bring
harlots who have been washed in the precious blood of Jesus and who are
now living chaste and holy lives. If, on the other hand, you have led
an outwardly moral life and cannot feel the deep conviction of sin that
others have experienced–if you say, with Cowper–
"I hear, but seem to hear in vain, Insensible as steel. If anything is
felt, 'tis only pain To find I cannot feel"–
we can find plenty of cases to match yours! Suppose you have a bad leg
and you go to a doctor and say to him, "Doctor, you see what is the
matter with my leg, but I don't believe you can cure it." He would
certainly not feel flattered by your doubt concerning his skill, yet he
might say to you, "Well, it so happens that I have had many cases
exactly like yours, and in every instance the remedies I have
prescribed have been the means of producing a complete cure." If, after
that, you still persist in saying that you do not believe the doctor
can cure you, he would be fully justified in saying to you, "Then I
think your unbelief is very unreasonable. Here in my book I have the
record of many cases almost identical with yours, and as I was able to
cure them, I have no doubt that I can cure you if you will only commit
yourself to my hands and do as I tell you." In a similar manner, I
venture to say that there is not a case in this house–there is not a
case in the whole world to which there has not been a very close
parallel in which the power of Christ has already been displayed– and,
therefore, He has the right to ask every unsaved soul, "Believe you
that I am able to do this for you?"
My dear Hearer, I can most confidently assure you that He is "able to
do this." I know the ways of unbelief, for I have walked there. But oh,
happy, happy, happy day when I understood my Savior's Grace and power
at least in some degree! When I saw that, although I was a sinner, He
came to save sinners, and although I was black with sin, His precious
blood was able to wash me whiter than snow–and although I was naked,
His righteousness supplied me with a robe in which I might even dare to
appear before God, and although I was spiritually dead, His Holy Spirit
was given to
quicken me and make me live forever–thus in Christ all my soul's needs
were fully met–and desperate as my case had appeared to myself, I had
proved as so many before me and since have also proved that, "with God
all things are possible." May you come to the same conclusion, dear
Friend, and cast yourself now upon the naked promise of God made in
Covenant with Christ and ratified by His most precious blood! If He
does not save you when you trust Him, this Bible is not true. If any
soul can truly trust Him and then be a castaway, I have no Gospel to
preach to guilty sinners! But that can never be the case, for He has
Himself declared–oh that I could pronounce the words as He uttered
them!–"Him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out." Come then,
everyone of you, and prove the truth of His blessed promise and so you
shall be saved–and He shall have the Glory forever and ever! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MATTHEW9:18-38.
Verse 18. While He spoke these things unto them, behold, there came a
certain ruler and worshipped Him, saying, My daughter is even now dead:
but come and lay Your hand upon her, and she shall live. This was grand
faith on the ruler's part, believing that the touch of Christ's hand
would raise his dead daughter to life! We do not wonder that the Savior
honored such faith as that at once!
19, 20. And Jesus arose, and followed him, andso didHis disciples. And,
behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve
years, came behind Him and touched the hem of His garment This was
while He was on the way to the ruler's house. Jesus Christ can work
many miracles while He is on the way to work other miracles.
21. For she said within herself, If I may but touch His garment, I
shall be whole. This also is wonderful faith-in this Chapter we get
among the
great Believers! The man believes that the touch of Jesus can raise the
dead. The woman believes that the touch of His garment will make her
whole!
22. But Jesus turned about, and when He saw her, He said, Daughter, be
of good comfort; your faith has made you whole. And the woman was made
whole from that hour. [See Sermon #3020, Volume 53–good cheer from
grace received.] Christ never comes short of our faith, but He often
goes beyond
it!
23. And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels
and the people making a noise. These were hired men and women who were
brought in to act as mourners
24. 25. He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but
sleeps. And they laughed Him to scorn. But when the people were put
out, He went in–There is a good deal that has to be "put out" before
the Lord Jesus Christ will fully reveal His power to bless. He would
have you put out your doubts, your fears, your wandering thoughts, your
self-trust–in fact, everything that is contrary to His righteous rule.
"When the people were put out, He went in"–
25-27. And took her by the hand, and the maid arose. And the fame
hereof went abroad into all that land. And when Jesus departed from
there, two blind men followed Him, crying, and saying, You Son of
David, have mercy on us! See how busy our Lord was, and how ready for
every application that was made to Him! And note how He adapted His
power to every case that came before Him. First He heals an issue of
blood. Then He raises the dead and now He is ready to open blind eyes!
I wish the Lord might have such blessed business among us here–and He
may have–for if you will cry to Him for your child, dead in trespasses
and sins, He will make her live! If you will bring your blind eyes to
Him, He will open them! And if you will come to Him with a disease that
is sapping your very life, He will heal you! Give the Lord plenty of
this holy work to do! Drawn wells, they say, are sweetest–and a Savior
who is constantly used is most enjoyed!
28. And when He was come into the house, the blind men came to Him: and
Jesus said unto them, Believe you that I am able to do this?That is the
question the Lord puts to any who are in soul-trouble. "'Believe you
that I am able to do this?'–to forgive your sins once and for all–to
give you a new Nature at this very moment–to make you, a sinner, into
a saint–to save you, not merely for the next few weeks, but to save
you eternally so that you shall see My face in Glory with exceeding
joy–'Believe you that I am able to do this?'"
28, 29. They said unto Him, Yes, Lord. Then touched He their eyes,
saying, according to your faith be it unto you. That is what Jesus says
to every person here, "According to your faith be it unto you." If you
believe Christ a little, He
will bless you a little, but if you believe Him up to the hilt, He will
bless you to the fullest! Your faith shall never outrun the
manifestations of Divine Love. Believe you this? Then you shall see it!
"According to your faith be it unto you."
30-32. And their eyes were opened and Jesus immediately charged them,
saying, See that no man knows it But they, when they were departed,
spread abroad His fame in all that country. As they went out, behold,
they brought to Him a dumb man possessed with a devil. These miracles
were worked so rapidly, and they concerned such different cases that as
we read of them, we rejoice to see how Christ was ready for anything
and ready for everything! It did not matter what case was brought to
Him, He was never taken aback. Here He is just as fully prepared to
heal the dumb as just now He was to cure the blind!
33. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spoke –There is nothing
like going at once to the root of the matter. Christ did not heal the
dumb man, and leave the devil in him, but He first cast the devil out
and then, "the dumb spoke." And this is His way of saving men. He
renews them by His Spirit, He casts the devil out and then their
despair goes, their prayerlessness disappears, their love of vice is
killed! All evil is expelled when once the root of the evil is pulled
up. "When the devil was cast out, the dumb spoke"–
CURE–Read/download the entire sermon, free of charge, at
http://www.spurgeongems.org.] Christ had worked such miracles as the
multitudes had
never before seen! And they might well marvel.
34, 35. But the Pharisees said, He casts out devils through the prince
of the devils. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages– What
the Pharisees said was of such very small consequence that, for the
time being, Christ vouchsafed them no answer but this, "Jesus went
about all the cities and villages." In like manner, it will be your
best plan not to reply to slander. There are some lies that smell so
strongly of the Pit from which they come that everybody will recognize
their origin and, therefore, you need not take the trouble to point out
that they are lies. And the best reply to all scandal and slander is to
go on with your work just as if you had never heard it. The Pharisees
said that Christ cast out devils through the prince of the devils, and
the very next sentence is, "And Jesus went about all the cities and
villages"–
35- 36. Teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the
Kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for
them–Yet Christ, while upon the earth in the flesh, never saw such
multitudes as are gathered in London today! He never saw such
multitudes as make up this nation! There never passed before the eyes
of the Redeemer such multitudes as are crowded together in China and
India today! No, the population of the world has wondrously increased
since those days, so what must be the compassion of His heart when He
sees the multitudes that are living in the world today? "When He saw
the multitudes He was moved"–in the original, this is a very striking
word–it signifies that He trembled with emotion, His inmost powers
were moved, His heart was stirred "with compassion on them"–
36- 37. Because they fainted and were scattered abroad, as sheep having
no shepherd. Then said He unto His disciples, The harvest truly is
plenteous, but the laborers are few. Not the preachers, but the
laborersare few! Not the talkers, but the laborers–the patient,
plodding, resolute, disinterested, industrious toilers who really go in
for winning souls for Christ–the men and women who do real work for
God and do not play at Christian service as some do, making it a kind
of amusement to go and do some little good now and then! It is these
laborers who are few. You know the difference between a dock laborer,
or a farm laborer, and the gentleman who takes a tool in his hand just
for a pastime now and then.
38. Pray you therefore the Lord of the Harvest, that He will send forth
laborers into His harvest [See Sermon #1127, Volume 19–HARVEST MEN
NEEDED.] It is earnest workers that we are to
pray God to thrust forth into His harvest, for still the harvest is
plenteous and the laborers are few.
was never before seen in Israel.