The Blind Man'S Earnest Cries
DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 20, 1865,
BY C. H. SPURGEON AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out
and say, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon me! And many charged him
that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Son
of David, have mercy on me." Mark 10:47,48.
WHEREVER Jesus Christ is found, His presence is marvelously mighty. The
disciples, when Christ was absent, were like sheep without a
shepherd–they were foiled in argument and even defeated in attempted
miracles–but as soon as our Savior made His appearance among them,
they returned to their strength. When a valiant general suddenly
hastens to the rescue of his routed troops, the sound of his horse
hoofs reassures the trembling, and the sound of his voice transforms
each coward into a hero. May the glorious Captain of our salvation show
Himself in the midst of our churches and there will be a joyous shout
along our ranks!
You will have no need to exchange ministers, or to wish for a better
class of Christians–the same officers and the same soldiers will
suffice to win splendid victories! If Jesus is present, the men will be
so changed that you will scarcely know them. They shall be filled with
power from on high and do great exploits in His name and by His
strength. Nor does the Divine energy of His Presence confine itself to
those who are already disciples of the Savior! Strangers, neighbors,
wayfarers and even blind beggars feel the effect of His nearness! This
sightless beggar hears the good news that Jesus of Nazareth passes by
and straightway he begins to pray!
My Brethren, there shall be no lack of praying hearts where there is a
present Savior. If there are no conversions in the congregation, it
must be because Christ is not dwelling there by His Spirit. You have
grieved Him and He is gone– you have forgotten Him and He has left you
so that you may come to know your own weakness and learn to glorify His
power in the future. If the Lord shall graciously return to His Church,
cries of penitents will be frequent and the songs of those who have
found peace by faith in Him shall go up to Heaven in blessed chorus!
Oh, that the Lord Jesus would appear among the churches of this, our
age!
We have much to mourn over. Infidelity audaciously seats itself in the
chief seats of the synagogue. Romanism secretly eats out the very
vitals of our national religion. Broad and liberal views act as a moth
upon Gospel doctrine. Inconsistency of life dishonors the profession of
practical godliness. O Lord, how long, how long! If the Lord Jesus
shall graciously work by His Spirit among us, we shall soon have our
languishing churches revived! Errors will fly as the bats and owls
betake themselves to their hiding places when the sun arises! And every
sweet flower of Christian Grace shall yield its blessed perfume under
the genial influences of His celestial rays.
I thank God we have had Jesus here. We have often been able to say,
"The Son of David passes by." He is here still. Believing hearts who
recognize His Presence and lament when He is absent tell us that they
often find Him sweetly manifested to them here in the preaching of the
Word, in the breaking of bread, and in the fellowship of prayer. He is
here now! But oh, we want to recognize His Presence more fully! We want
to see the Divine influences, like streams from Lebanon, refreshing all
our garden! We desire to see Jesus working more effectually in making
poor sinners feel their need of Him and drawing them to Himself.
Providence at all times co-works with Divine Grace in the salvation of
the chosen people. You have an instance of it here. It was Providence
which brought the blind man where Grace brought Jesus Christ. The Lord
might have been passing by, but if this blind man had not happened to
live at Jericho–or if at that particular moment he had not been
pursuing his avocation of begging just on the particular road along
which the Savior marched–he would never have heard that Jesus passed
by! Consequently he would never have cried out to Him and never have
obtained the necessary cure!
Providence brings sinners under the hearing of the Word and moves the
preacher to select topics suitable to their minds. Providence prepares
them, as the plow prepares the soil. And Grace guides the minister's
mind to act as the hand which throws the wheat broadcast over the
field. I am thankful for many of you that you are here this morning,
for I know that "Jesus passes by." And though it may be that you are
still without the heavenly light, it is a circumstance for which you
ought to thank God that many have here received sight from the Lord
Jesus.
It may be a singular Providence which induced you to come here at
all–I pray it may prove to be the white horse on which Christ rides
forth–conquering and to conquer–that He may win a victory in your
souls now. Permit me, however, to remind you that such a circumstance
involves responsibility. Jesus passes by–the blind man sits by the
way-side–if he does not cry, his blindness will, therefore, continue.
And there will be an addition to all its gloom in the thought that he
did not use the one means within his reach, namely, that of crying to
the physician for healing!
Remember your responsibility, anxious Sinner, and ask God to give you,
now, Divine Grace to improve the flying hour and may His Spirit lead
you to imitate the example of the blind man and cry, "Jesus, Son of
David, have mercy on me!"
I. Coming directly to the case before us, let us observe THE BLIND
MAN'S EARNESTNESS AS A CONTRAST with the behavior of many hearers of
the Word. It was a very short sermon that was preached to him. He heard
that Jesus of Nazareth passed by. He heard nothing more. I do not know
that he understood doctrine–that he knew precisely what Jesus Christ
came into the world for. He could not have explained the system of
theology. He had never had a clear and distinct statement of Divine
Grace laid down before him. All he had heard was that "Jesus of
Nazareth passes by."
But that short sermon led him to prayer. Beloved, what a contrast
between him and some of you! You have been sermonized until you must
well near be sermon-weary! You have heard the Truth of God till
probably, in theory, there are none better instructed than you are. You
know the precious doctrines of Truth so far as the killing letter is
concerned, but you have never yet been led to pray! Or, if the prayer
has come, it has never been that earnest, Heaven-piercing cry which
will not be refused–"Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
It has not been the passionate prayer of your spirit. How many there
are who listen to me so often that I fear I shall never be God's
instrument of salvation to them! It is so easy for you to get used to
one voice till that which once was shrill as the note of a clarion,
becomes like the buzzing of a bee in your ears–you get tired of
it–you sleep under it as a miller sleeps while his mill is going
because it makes no sound to which he is not accustomed. My figures and
illustrations you have heard. My tones of pleading you well know. My
words of exhortation you can probably repeat by heart. And some of you
are no more affected by twelve years of earnest effort than a piece of
marble might be affected by twelve years of pouring oil along its hard
unmelting surface!
It is a melancholy reflection that instead of praying over sermons,
many amuse themselves with them–that which costs us many a prayer and
many a tear is of no further worth to them than giving an opportunity
for exhibiting their critical abilities. I have not to complain of any
hard criticisms from you–you kindly approve of my poorest endeavors
and accept my feeblest words. I almost wish that some of you did not!
Oh, that you would but kick against the Truth of God! Then I might have
some hope for you! But alas for that indifference which makes you
receive it all as a matter of course, and praise the style, and say you
are thankful that the preacher is bold and honest with you! And thus
the whole thing ends in your having complimented me without having
sought my Master's favor.
Oh, my Hearer, we have something else to seek beside your good words!
If you would hate us, we could not regret it if you would but love your
own souls! But if you love us and listen to our voice with respect, and
nevertheless choose the downward path and go on to your own
destruction, how can the preacher be content? Shall he go to his bed
and remember that hundreds of you will dwell in everlasting burnings
and can never have a portion among the glorified spirits in Heaven? Can
he go to his bed and say, "It does not matter, they are pleased with me
and I am unto them as one that makes a sweet sound upon a goodly
instrument"?
Oh, I would God that instead of this you were brought like this poor
blind man to go from hearing to praying! From your pews to your
closets! From listening to me to communing with God and seeking mercy
at His hands! You will say that you cannot fairly be classed in this
category, for under the preaching of the Word you have been led
occasionally to pray. Yes, and I do remember well when I myself was led
to pray by hearing the Word. But what of it? The prayers of Sunday were
forgotten in the sins of Monday and the anxieties of Sunday were
dissipated in the pleasures of the week.
It is so with some of you! You pray when a sermon has been especially
earnest–when the arrows of God wound you, you weep and you promise
amendment and a thousand fine things–you even dream of flying to
Christ and taking hold upon the horns of the blood-sprinkled altar! But
yet it is not done! You have made enough resolutions to pave the road
to Hell! You have piled up enough of your own professions to condemn
you to an everlasting insolvency for bills dishonored and for debts
unpaid! Oh, would God you had done with resolving and
re-resolving–with these transient and temporary feelings!
And oh, that these things would go right through your heart, leaving
such wounds as none but Christ is able to heal! Oh, for the effectual
work of God the Holy Spirit! What is the value of the cloud of the
morning which flies before the gale, or the smoke of the chimney which
is gone with the first puff? For eternity you need something more
lasting than the morning dew! Something more substantial than chimney
smoke! O may the Divine Spirit build you with His own right hand upon
that good foundation–faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! The blind beggar,
with but one sermon and that exceedingly brief, never leaves off
praying till Christ grants him his desire–may God give you also to
pray in earnest– lest you be sent to Hell in earnest!
This poor man began to cry for himself, "Jesus, Son of David, have
mercy on me!" And we cannot bring men to hear for themselves. They will
say, "I hope that sermon which was so appropriate to my friend will
have a beneficial effect on him." You will think of those in the
opposite gallery–your hearts will remember some sitting down below.
Oh, mind yourselves! Yourselves! Yourselves! Another man's salvation
is, of course, desirable–but what will it be to you that he should be
in Abraham's bosom if you are with the rich man in the flames? Your own
soul is that which you have to look to first. Self-preservation is a
law of nature–be not disobedient to it! May Grace put such force into
it, that from this day you will say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy
on me!"
I confess to you that I could not read this passage without feeling the
deepest and most humiliating feeling–to think that the mere report
should have been so blessed to that man–and that year after year we
should have given forth a much more full report of Christ Jesus and yet
have to say of many of you, "Who has believed our report and to whom is
the arm of the Lord revealed?" I would God I could lay this more to my
heart and that you laid it more to your hearts, for, after all, it is
more your concern than mine whether you are saved or not.
The preacher is responsible for the faithfulness of his preaching, but
hearers also are responsible for the earnestness of their hearing! May
God grant that your responsibility may not prove to be a millstone
about your necks to sink you to the nethermost Hell!
II. Passing onwards we notice this man's intense DESIRE AS AN ABSORBING
PASSION. There are many excuses which men make for themselves why they
should not seek their soul's salvation just now. A very common one is,
"I am a very poor man. Religion is for the gentle folks, for people
that have time to spare–it is of no use to a working man." This person
was a beggar. His position in life was far less honorable than yours!
But, though a beggar, he desired that his eyes might be opened. And you
who are superior in your position to him–you ought not to make the
lowness of your estate an excuse for not seeking the salvation of your
souls.
Where did that lie first come from–the lie that the religion of Christ
is not for the poor? Is it because so many of our sanctuaries are
gorgeous in architecture? Is it because it is usual on Sunday and very
properly so, for people to put on their best clothes? And does the
working man think that therefore he would not be welcome because he
happens to be out of work, or has not a good suit of black to put on?
Then, by all means, let us break down this prejudice and show to the
working man that he is welcome here!
I have often noticed you give a seat to a navigator or to a laborer in
a smock frock when you have left very respectable people to stand in
the aisles and I do not blame you for it–well-dressed people may be
less fatigued than those who have been toiling all week. I admire the
choice you make because I hope it will go to prove that the working man
is not a speckled bird among us. Why it is all nonsense because we see
a congregation well and respectably dressed to think that they must all
necessarily belong to the upper classes!
A certain preacher said to me the other day, "You preach to the rich, I
preach to the poor." Now this was from want of knowing better. We have,
I am happy to say, some rich among us, whose princely gifts enable us
to do much for the Lord's work. But still our great multitude is made
up of the genuine working class. They are not a canting, whining lot
who will go about begging of everybody and therefore dress shabbily.
No, they are sober, saving people, and therefore, for the most part,
lift themselves out of the ditch of absolute poverty into manly
independence.
The religion of Christ not for the poor man? Why, above all men, these
are those that want it! And while the religion of Christ appeals to all
ranks, if there is ever a preference given, it is the boast of the
Gospel of Christ, that "the poor have the Gospel preached to them." Now
do I have the ear of any man who has talked in that way and said, "It
is all very well for gentlemen and so on"? Well, do not go and say that
again, because you know it is not true! You know it is not true!
We can give you thousands of instances where the religion of Jesus
Christ blesses the cottage as much as ever it could bless the palace,
and is found quite as useful to the laborer who has to toil from
morning to night as to, "My Lady," who has next to nothing to do if she
does not do something in the cause of Jesus Christ. Now get rid of that
excuse! Well, but this beggar might have said, "I must stick to my
business." His business was begging and though Jesus Christ might be
passing by, he might very reasonably have said, "I really have no time
to attend to this gentleman, whoever he may be. His preaching may be
all very well and good, but I must beg right on, for when I get home
there is little enough in my hat and I really cannot afford the time to
attend to this gentleman."
That is what many people say–"Really, our business occupies all our
time. We have to be always at it! Early in the morning, almost before
the sun is risen and late at night till we are much too tired to read a
book or to pray." Ah, but you see, this man forgot his begging to find
his eyesight. And you might well forget your trading to find your
soul's sight! If it were worthwhile to neglect his begging to have his
eyes opened, it were worthwhile, even if it were necessary, to neglect
your business if you might but find Christ! Though, mark you, I do not
believe that any man need neglect his lawful calling on account of
religion. Bartimaeus might have said, "I cannot attend to Jesus Christ
now, for it is the height of the season."
You see a beggar's season always is when plenty of people are about and
as Jesus had brought a crowd with Him, the beggar might very justly
have said, "Why, if I do not beg now, it is of no use begging at any
other time! I have a call of Providence to stick to my begging just
now. I must attend to getting my eyes opened, if they can be opened, at
some future time. Just now I must make hay while the sun shines." This
is your style of talking. "See! I am so very busy just now. Providence
has put a good thing in my way and I must stick to it. I cannot be
supposed to go out week nights to hear sermons and I cannot spare time
for prayer. I want every moment that I can possibly get to make money,
for now is my time. When I get old and can get a house in the country,
I may then rest and attend to Divine things."
Ah, you simpleton! Here is a man who flings away the golden opportunity
of gleaning money of the multitudes to seek his sight! And yet you are
such a simpleton that you will not leave your gains to think of your
eternal state! He might have made yet other excuses if he would. For
instance, he might have said, "Well, suppose I do get my eyes opened.
Then I shall not be so well-fitted for my trade as I now am." For a
blind beggar gets twice as much as a man who can see. And it is rather
a qualification to a beggar to have no eyes.
Some of you feel, "If I had my soul saved, I could not trade as I now
do. I know I should have to shut up that gin palace. I could not be the
nurse of drunkenness and yet call myself a Christian." "I could not
stand at that bar," said a young woman to me who had been serving at
one of the gin palaces, "the Lord had met with me. I did serve a few
nights, but I could not stand it. I could not serve glasses of gin and
then go to the communion table–that would never do." There are some
who are afraid to think about religion because it will disqualify them
for their business–and a blessed disqualification, too! May the Lord
disqualify thousands for the accursed work!
But oh, if this man could well give up his poor trade of beggary to
pray for his eyes, you may well give up your wicked trade if your souls
may but enter Heaven! If you should lose all the world, you have lost
next to nothing if you have gained eternity! I am amazed this man did
not make the well-known excuse, "I do not know whether I am
predestinated to have my eyes opened–because if I am to have my eyes
opened, they will be opened. And if I am not to have my eyes opened,
they will not be opened. So I shall sit still here and hold my hat and
beg. That is the main chance! I shall hold my hat and stick to my
trade!"
I think that every man who uses this last excuse knows within himself
that he is talking nonsense! I cannot believe in a rational man
standing upright and saying, "If I am to be saved, I shall be saved and
therefore I shall not pray." I believe that man is a sneak! He is
trying to make himself believe what he knows is not true. He knows very
well that he does not say that kind of thing in business–"If I am to
make twenty pounds, I shall make twenty pounds and so I shall not take
down the shutters tomorrow. If I am to have a harvest, I shall have a
harvest and so I shall not plow this year."
He never does anything of the kind ordinarily, and yet he pretends he
is such an idiot that he must throw away his soul because of the
doctrine of predestination! Brethren, if a man means to hang himself,
he can always find a piece of rope. And if a man means to damn himself,
he can always find an excuse. And this excuse about predestination is
one to which those run who are greater fools or knaves than ordinary!
This man made no excuse of any sort about his family, or his trade, or
predestination–he just cried out with emotion–"Jesus, Son of David,
have mercy on me!"
III. We turn, now, to NOTICE HIS ZEAL and observe that it was A MOST
REASONABLE ZEAL. It appears, according to the Greek, that this man had
a good voice, or, at least, made the most of it. He did not sit and
whisper, "Jesus, Son of David have mercy on me." But he shouted and, as
the opposition increased, his shouts grew yet more loud, "Jesus, Son of
David, have mercy on me!" He was zealous and persevering in his
prayer–but his zeal was justified. He was blind and he knew the misery
of blindness. There are unutterable woes connected with it and it needs
much Grace to make a man content when his eyes are closed to the light
of day.
This poor soul could not be content while there was a chance of a cure.
But yours, Sinner, is spiritual blindness–the blindness which does not
let you see yourself or see your Savior–the blindness which shuts out
all spiritual joys from your eyes and will shut out the joys of Heaven
eternally from you and condemn you to wander hopelessly in the
blackness of darkness forever! However awfully earnest your prayers may
be, they cannot be too earnest. He was a beggar, and had doubtless
learned the weakness of man. He had often gone home with nothing when
he had expected that his bag would be filled.
And you, too, you are a beggar! You have tried your own works and found
them worthless! You have begged at the door of ceremonies and you have
found them to be an empty show! You have trusted first to one thing of
man's invention and then another–but after all your begging you still
need heavenly alms to make you rich–you are naked and poor and
miserable. Now, considering the weakness of man, and that Christ alone
has power to save you, if your prayer should become as terribly earnest
even as the shrieks of lost souls it would be fully justified, for
yours is an urgent pressing case.
The beggar knew, moreover, that Jesus Christ was near and when Jesus
Christ is near there is much cause for earnest prayer. If Jesus would
not listen. If it were not a season of mercy. If Grace were not being
distributed plentifully, you might be excused from praying! But oh,
when it is a season of revival! When you are in the place where Jesus
blesses souls! When you listen to a ministry which God has honored,
then let your cry be more zealous than it ever has been! This poor man
felt it was now or never with him. If he did not get his eyes opened
that day they might never be opened.
Christ was passing by then and He might never pass that way again. Oh,
Sinner! It may be now or never with YOU! I know that God saves men at
the eleventh hour, but I also know that there are many who are not
saved at the eleventh hour–and that after such-and-such an hour has
struck, many are given up to hardness of heart, permitted to be their
own destroyers, without any checks of conscience or of the Holy
Spirit–and such may be your case.
The ticking of the clock always cries to men who know how to interpret
its meaning. "Now, or never! Now, or never! Today on earth, tomorrow in
eternity!" If you would have Christ, the only time to seek Him is
today! "Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts."
"For now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation." The beggar
felt this and therefore up went the cry, louder and yet more loud,
"Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
He guessed at least something of the value of sight. He had heard what
others told him of the happiness of gazing upon the landscape, the
field, the flood, the sky. He longed to look into the face of friends
and to know his own parents or his own children by sight. Well might
he, if he guessed the value of his eyesight, cry most mightily! Sinner!
You have at least a guess of the happiness of pardon! You have at least
some idea of the sweetness of justification! You know, for you have
often been told, that Eternal Life is well worth your seeking. Oh, may
the Holy Spirit stir your heart this morning till you can no longer
restrain the cry, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
I say, if you think of the dreadfulness of his present state, of the
hope which the Presence of Christ afforded him and of the blessedness
which he might expect from a restored eyesight, he had good reasons for
being zealous! And, Sinner, if you will think of the wrath of God
abiding on you now–of the future with all its array of terror–and if
you will remember the power of Christ to save and the eternal
blessedness of being safe in Him, all these things and especially the
shortness of time and the present necessity of your case should move
you to cry yet more and more earnestly, "Jesus, Son of David, have
mercy on me!"
IV. Let us pass on to a fourth point–THIS MAN EXPERIENCED OBSTACLES IN
HIS PRAYER and this is a very common affliction. John Bunyan tells us
that right by the wicket gate Diabolus had a castle! And from this
castle he used to shoot at all who sought an entrance. Moreover, he
kept a big dog which did always bark and howl and seek to devour every
person that knocked at the gate of Mercy. I am sure that is true.
Whenever a sinner gets to Mercy's gate and begins knocking, that noise
is heard in Hell and straightway Satan endeavors to drive the poor
wretch away from the gate of hope.
In olden times when the Algerian pirates took many Christian prisoners,
they chained them to the oars of their galleys to row their masters.
When Christian ships of war were seen in the distance, the captives
knew that there was a hope of their being liberated–but their masters
would come on deck and cry, "Pull for your lives," and the whip was
laid on to make these poor captives fly, by their efforts, from their
own rescue. This is what the devil does. He gets sinners to tug at the
oar and whenever Christ with His blood-red flag of liberty is seen
within hail, the sinner exerts himself to the utmost to get out of
Christ's way! If that does not suffice, Satan will employ, sometimes,
bad men and sometimes good men to stop the sinner from seeking a Savior
at all.
You know the ways in which the world will try to make a crying sinner
hold his peace. The world will tell him that he is crying out about a
matter that does not matter, for the Bible is not true–there is no
God, no Heaven, no Hell, no hereafter. But if God has set you crying,
Sinner, I know you will not be stopped with that–you will cry yet the
more exceedingly, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
Then the world will try pleasure. You will be invited to the theater.
You will be attracted from one ballroom to another. But if the Lord put
the cry in your mouth, the intense anguish of your spirit will not be
satisfied by the noise of viols, nor by the shouts of them that make
merry. Perhaps the world will call you a fool to be vexed about such
things– you are melancholy and have got the mopes. They will tell you
that you will soon go where many others have gone–to Bedlam. But if
once God has made you cry, you will not be stopped by a fool's
laughter! The agonizing prayer will go up in secret, "Have mercy on
me."
Perhaps the world will try its cares. You will be called into more
business. You will get a prosperity which will not make your soul
prosper. And so it will be hoped by Satan that you will forget Christ
in accumulated wealth and growing cares. But ah, if this is such a cry
as I hope it is, poor anxious Sinner, you will not be stopped by that!
Then the world will affect to look down upon you with pity. Ah, poor
Creature, you are being misled! When you are being led to Christ and to
Heaven, they will say you have become the dupe of some fanatic, when,
in truth, you are now coming to your senses and estimating eternal
things at their proper value!
Yes, but the worst is that even the disciples of Christ will act us
these did in this narrative–they will charge you to "hold your peace."
Some professors have no sympathy with anxious souls. Much mischief is
done by the light and frothy conversation of Christian professors,
especially on Sunday. How often sermons are blunted by a spirit of
caviling! I have heard of a woman who prayed for her husband's
conversion very earnestly and one day, after the sermon, as she was
walking home, she was speaking to her friend and pulling the sermon to
pieces! The doctrine did not quite suit her taste. Her husband looked
at her with wonder–that sermon had broken his heart and yet here was a
woman caviling at the very Truth which God had blessed to give her the
desire of her heart!
I do not doubt that Christian people, by their unprofitable criticisms
upon ministrations which God has blessed, may mar the good work and be
the instruments in the hands of Satan of urging poor sinners to cease
their cry. But oh, poor Soul, let neither saint nor sinner make you
stop! If you have begun to pray, though you have cried for months and
no sweet answer of mercy has come, cry more loudly! Oh, be yet more
earnest! Take the gates of Heaven and shake them with your zeal as
though you would pull them up–post, and bar, and all! Stand at Mercy's
door and take no denial. Knock and knock, and knock again, as though
you would shake the very spheres, until you obtain an answer to your
cries!
"The kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by
force." Cold prayers never win God's ear. Draw your bow with your full
strength if you would send your arrow up as high as Heaven. He whom God
has taught to be resolved to be saved will be saved. He that will not
take damnation as his fate, but who feels he must have Christ, is al-
ready under the Divine operation of the Holy Spirit! Such a man bears
the marks of Divine election upon his very brow! Such a man must and
shall obtain everlasting salvation!
V. I come to the closing point. This MAN'S IMPORTUNITY AT LAST BECAME
SO MIGHTY THAT REBUFFS BECAME ARGUMENTS WITH HIM. "He cried the more a
great deal." He took the weapons out of their hands and used them on
his own account! What do you suppose were the arguments that they used
to induce him to leave off praying? Would not one of them say, "Hold
your tongue, you ragged, filthy beggar! Hold your tongue!" "That is why
I will not hold my tongue," says he. "I am such a poor loathsome object
that I have need to cry. You gentlemen that are better off have no need
to cry as I have. But the worse you prove me to be, the more need I
have of the Master's help! And therefore I shall cry the more."
The devil says to you, "Do not pray, you are such a sinner." Tell the
devil that is the reason why you will pray, for being so foul and
filthy, these are all arguments why you, above all others, should cry
aloud, "Jesus, have mercy on me." Then they said, "Why, you have
nothing to recommend you! Jesus Christ has not invited you! He has
never looked on you with an eye of love! He has never called you."
"Then it is the very reason," said he, "why I should call Him. If I
have no love token, then so much the worse for me and so much the more
reason why I should never be happy till I get one! If He has not
invited me, then I will cry to Him for an invitation!"
You see, the more you can prove that the sinner's case is hopeless and
bad, you have only proved that the sinner has the more reason for
prayer. If I am the furthest from hope, why, then, he who wants to be
heard and is a very long way off, must call loudly! He that is further
still, must call more loudly still! And he that is furthest off must be
the loudest of all–so if I am the furthest off from God and hope–I
will only pray with the greater importunity till I do prevail. "Yes,
but," said another of them, "you make such a noise. Be still! You
disturb the whole neighborhood." "Ah," says he, "I am thankful for
that, for now He will hear me."
I think this man, if he had heard the Savior tell the parable about the
woman whose perpetual coming wearied the Judge, must have said, "Make a
noise, do I? So much the better! Then I will make more, for I see I
tease you–perhaps I shall weary Him, so I will even keep on till the
Judge is drawn to grant my request by the very noise I make." Some tell
you, you should not be so earnest! You really disturb your friends–you
have become so concerned about your soul that your friends are
concerned about your sanity! Tell them you are glad of it and you mean
to be more earnest, for if you have made hard-hearted man feel, you
will soon make God, who bids us give Him no rest, at last give you the
desire of your heart!
Then they would say to him, "Now, do not disturb the Savior! He is so
busy. He has so much to do. He is preaching now. He is talking to His
disciples." "Ah, well," says he, "then if He does so many good things,
the more reason why I should cry that He would do me a good turn,
also." It is of no use to ask a man to give anything who never gives
any-thing–but the man who is always giving–always will give. And so
from Christ's many works he derives a reason why he should cry! "Is He
blessing others, then why not me?" So, dear Hearer, when you hear of
showers of blessings, ask that they may fall on you. And when you know
that Christ is saving so many, make that a reason why He should save
YOU– even you.
Then they said, "He is on a journey. He is going to Jerusalem. He
cannot be stopped by every beggar. Hold your tongue! When do you think
He will ever get there if He is to turn aside to every clamorous beggar
who chooses to urge his claim?" "Traveling is He?" said he. "Then I
will stop Him now, for if I once let Him go by I shall never catch Him
again. Going to Jerusalem to die! Ah, then my hope will be all over! I
have Him now–I will not give Him a chance of going by." Louder goes up
the cry, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me."
If the devil tells you, "It is too late!" Then say, "I will go
directly, I will not stop. If so many years have passed over my head
without my finding a Savior, then every one of these shall be a spur to
make me fly, like the wind, more swiftly." It is very likely that they
also said to him, "How dare you, a beggar, interrupt such a person as
Jesus Christ? Why, He is going in triumph through Jerusalem. He is to
ride with solemn pomp all through the streets. How can you think that
you are to have an audience with such a great one as He is?" "Great
one, is He?" the man seemed to say. "Great one! I need a great one! A
little one will not serve my need. It must be a great one that can open
my eyes and the greater He is the more reason why I should cry to Him."
So whenever you are alarmed at the glory and greatness of the Lord
Jesus Christ, do not be put off because of that, but rather say, "Is He
mighty? Then He is mighty to save. Is He a Savior and a great one? Then
He is just such a Savior as I need. I will never rest, I will never
pause till He says unto my soul 'I am your salvation.' "
Now I did solemnly ask God that He would, this morning, excite in some
sinner a desire to pray, and that if there were one here who had been
praying and who was tempted to stop, the Word might be blessed by God
the Holy Spirit to make him more incessant in his prayer. O may He
grant my petition! Remember that the only way in which this praying and
this waiting will come to an end, is by looking alone to Jesus Christ!
If you turn those eyes of yours away from yourself and your feelings
and yes, your prayers, to Jesus Christ's finished work and trust Him,
you will find peace directly!
There is peace to the soul that looks alone to Jesus! While I have been
exhorting you to pray–and I meant to do it earnestly, more earnestly
than I have been able to do it–I did not wish you to put praying in
the place of believing. If you cannot as yet understand Christ so as to
rest on Him. If you cannot as yet cast yourself on Him–then pray for
more enlightenment! Pray to be led to faith. Pray that faith may be
given you.
But O may God give you the power and the will now, even now, to exert a
living faith upon the crucified Savior– for there is "life in a look
at the Crucified One." Praying will ultimately bring you to that point,
but I pray God to bring you to it now through His mighty Spirit and so
like Bartimaeus, may we receive our sight and follow Jesus in the way
and to Jesus be the glory forever and ever. Amen.