Young Man! A Prayer For You

Young Man! A Prayer For You

(No. 2215)

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, AUGUST 2, 1891,

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray, open his eyes, that he may
see! And the Lord opened the eyes of the youngman, and he saw. And,
behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around
Elisha" 2 Kings 6:17.

This young man waited upon a Prophet–he could not have had a more
instructive occupation, yet his eyes needed to be opened. He was well
disposed towards good things, for the tone of his language to his
master shows that he was heartily at one with him–but his eyes were
not yet half opened. Being in great alarm for his master's safety, he
ran to him to warn him–good servants should be their master's best
friends. In return, his believing master prays for him. If we desire
the good of our servants, our children and our friends, let us take
care that we make supplication for them! All that we can do for them at
our best is to give them secondary blessings, but if we pray to God for
them, they will receive the best of gifts from Him who sends down in
His mercy nothing but good gifts and perfect gifts. When we have come
to the end of our teaching, example and persuasion, let us hand our
young friends over to the Lord who works effectually unto eternal
salvation.

Elisha's petition for this young man was, "O Lord, I pray, open his
eyes, that he may see!" The young man was, at that time, in the
peculiar condition of seeing and yet not seeing. He saw the enemy
surrounding the city, but not the greater host of the Lord's angels who
protected the man of God. Looking over the little walls of Dothan, he
observed all the country round about to be occupied by the horses and
chariots of the king of Syria. And he cried, "Alas, my Master! What
shall we do?" He could see the danger, but he could not see the
deliverance and, therefore, the Prophet lifted up his heart to Heaven
and said, "O Lord, I pray, open his eyes, that he may see!" Elisha
reckons his servant's natural sight as not seeing and regards the
vision which detects the invisible as the only true sight.

Perhaps I am addressing some, at this time, who are very friendly to
the cause of God and are even connected with it by relationship or
occupation. They cheerfully lend a hand at any time in holy service so
far as they can and they wish prosperity to the cause of true religion.
Yet their eyes have not been opened to see spiritual things or, at
least, not sufficiently opened to see the gracious and Divine side of
them. They see enough to perceive that they are in danger from a great
enemy. They perceive that it is no easy thing to fight the battle of
life and in the prospect of it they cry, "What shall we do?" They
perceive that it is a difficult thing for a man to stand up for
holiness, for truth, for integrity, for purity and to maintain a
gracious character throughout the whole of life. They seem, to
themselves, to be environed with opposing forces in their business, in
their temperament, in their companionships and, perhaps, in their
families. As for the cause of godliness, it seems hemmed in by
adversaries and they ask–"What is to be done? Is not the matter
desperate? Might it not be as well to surrender at once?" For any such
timid one I would present to God the prayer of Elisha–"O Lord, I pray,
open his eyes, that he may see!" Oh, that the prayer might be answered
at this hour!

Very briefly, I shall speak, first, upon our prayer. Secondly, upon our
reason for offering such a petition. And thirdly, upon our hope, for we
trust that if our prayer is answered, the person whose eyes are opened
will behold a vision which will bless him beyond anything he has ever
dreamed of.

I. First, then, OUR PRAYER–"Lord, I pray, open the eyes of the young
man, that he may see!" This petition bears many senses. I will mention
only a few.

For certain of our friends we pray that their eyes may be opened to see
the enemy of their souls under the many disguises which he assumes. We
fear that many are ignorant of his devices. Young men, especially, are
too apt to mistake the

great enemy for a friend. They believe his false and flattering words
and are seduced to ruin. He holds forth to them the sparkling cup–but
in its beaded bubbles death is lurking! He talks of "pleasure," but in
the lusts of the flesh the pleasure is a shadow and misery is the
substance! He wears the mask of prudence and admonishes young men to
"mind the main chance," and leave religion till they have made their
fortunes. But that gain which comes of thrusting God aside will prove
to be an everlasting loss! The devil as a serpent does more mischief
than as a roaring lion. If we had to meet the devil and knew him to be
what he is, we might far more easily conquer him–but we have to deal
with him disguised as an angel of light–and here is the need of a
hundred eyes, each one of them opened by God, that we may see!

Even worse than this is the fact that, at times, he does not meet us at
all, but he undermines our path. He digs pits for our feet, he shoots
his arrows from afar, or sends forth a pestilence which walks in
darkness. Then have we need of a better sight than Nature gives. I
would pray for the young man who is just leaving home to go into the
world, "O Lord, open the eyes of the young man, that he may see!" May
he be able to detect the falsehood which may hide itself beneath the
truth, the meanness which may wrap itself about with pride, the folly
which may robe itself in learning, the sin which may dress itself in
the raiment of pleasure! I would not have you taken, like birds, in a
snare. I would not have the youth led, like a bullock to the shambles,
by the hand of temptation. Let us breathe such a prayer as that of
Elisha for each person in this place who is beginning life. God grant
that his eyes may be opened to see sin as sin and to see that evil
never can be good, a lie never can be true and rebellion against our
God can never be the way to happiness!

We want men's eyes to be opened to see God as everywhere, observing all
things. What an opening of the eyes this would be to many! It is a sad
but true saying that God may be seen everywhere, but that the most of
men see Him nowhere. He is blind, indeed, who cannot see HIM to whom
the sun owes its light. Until our eyes are opened, we rise in the
morning, we fall asleep at night and we have not seen God all day,
although He has been every moment around us and within us! We live from
the first day of January to the last day of December–and while the
Lord never ceases to see us, we do not even begin to see Him till, by a
miracle of Grace–He opens our eyes! We dwell in a wonderful world
which the great Creator has made, filled with His own handiwork,
cheered with His own Presence–and yet we do not see Him! Indeed, there
are some so blind as to assert that there is no Creator and that they
cannot perceive any evidence that a supremely wise and mighty Creator
exists!

Oh, that the Lord Jesus would open the eyes of the willfully blind! Oh,
that you, also, who are blinded by forgetful-ness rather than by error,
may be made to cry with Hagar, "You, God, see me," and with Job, "Now
my eyes see you"! If God will graciously convince men of His own Divine
Presence, what a benediction it will be to them, especially to the
young in commencing life! A clear perception that the Lord observes all
that we do will be a very useful protection in the hour of temptation.
When we remember the Divine eyes, we shall cry, like Joseph, "How can I
do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" To see yourself is
well, but to see God is better. Let us pray, "O Lord, open the young
man's eyes, that he may see YOU!"

When a man begins to see his great enemy, and his best Friend, we may
next pray, Lord, open his eyes to see the way of salvation through the
appointed Savior. There is no seeing the Lord Jesus but by His own
light. We look to Him with a look which comes from Him. I have tried to
explain salvation to people many times in simple words and figures, but
there is a great deal more needed than an explanation. It is right to
be very plain, but more is needed than a clear statement. No matter how
bright the candle, a blind man sees none the better. I continually
pray, "Lord, open my mouth," but I perceive that I must also pray,
"Lord, open men's eyes!" Until God opens a man's eyes, he will not see
what faith means, nor what atonement means, nor what regeneration
means. That which is plain as a pikestaff to a seeing man is invisible
to the blind. "Believe, and live"–what can be plainer? Yet no man
understands it till God gives Grace to perceive His meaning.

It is our duty, as preachers, to put the Gospel as plainly as possible,
but we cannot give a man spiritual understanding. We declare, in
baldest and boldest terms, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you
shall be saved," but men ask, like simpletons, "What do you mean?" We
cry, "Look unto Jesus and live," but when our explanations are over, we
learn that they have mistaken our meaning–and are still looking to
themselves–and turning their backs on the Lord Jesus. To believe, or
trust, is no mystery, but the simplest of all simplicities! And for
that very reason men cannot be persuaded to think that we mean what we
say, or that God means what He says. We need to pray–"Lord, open their
eyes, that they may see, for seeing, they do not see, and hearing, they
do not perceive!"

Blessed be the Lord, how sweetly they do see it the moment their eyes
are opened by His own Omnipotent touch! Then they are amazed that they
did not see it before and call themselves fools for not perceiving what
is so plain! Faith in the Lord Jesus is the simplest A B C of Divine
Revelation–it belongs to the rudiments and elements of heavenly
knowledge and we are dolts, indeed, not to take it as we find it in the
Word of God and leave off mystifying ourselves over so plain a matter!
Once let the miracle-working power of God open our eyes and we see well
enough! But till then, we grope in the noonday for that which is right
before us! I hope, beloved fellow-Christians, that you are praying
while I am speaking. Praying, I mean, for those around you, and for all
the blind souls that wander among the graves of earth– "Lord, open
their eyes, that they may see!" He that made the eyes can open them!
Sin cannot so darken the mind but that God can pour light into it! If
we cannot make men see, we can at least lead them to the Master
Optometrist, who can rectify their sight.

We should pray that our friends may have their eyes opened to see all
manner of spiritual Truths of God. These optics of ours can only see
natural objects. That is all they are intended for. We should be very
grateful that our eyes can see as much as they see, but spiritual
objects are not discernible by the eyes of the body, which are only for
material objects. The things which pertain to the spiritual Kingdom
must be perceived by eyes of a spiritual sort, eyes opened by the Lord!
God must give to us spiritual senses before we can discern spiritual
things–let this never be forgotten. There are those sitting among us
who cannot discern spiritual things, for they have not the needed
faculties. Carnal men and carnal women see only carnal things. The
flesh cannot grasp, perceive, or discern the things of the Spirit. We
must become spiritual and receive spiritual faculties before we can
perceive spiritual things–in a word, we must be "born again." "The
natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned." Therefore the need of the prayer, "Lord, open
the eyes of the young man, that he may

see!"

Already the horses and chariots of fire were round about Elisha, but
his servant could not see one of them because they were spiritual
chariots and spiritual horses–angelic beings belonging to the purely
spiritual domain–and as yet the youth had not entered the spiritual
region and had no eyes with which to see into it. When God had given
him spiritual eyes, then there began to break upon his vision that
strange sight. Ethereal, airy–no, spiritual–but yet most real! That
sight which revived his soul with the conviction that the Prophet was
safe, was the ministers of God, as flames of fire, flashing to and fro
and, like an army with horses and chariots, showing themselves strong
for the defense of the servant of Jehovah. How surprised he was! How
great his amazement! How content his mind! He and his master were
mysteriously defended beyond all fear of danger.

O my Hearers, as yet strangers to the things of God–if the Lord would
open your eyes at once, you would be astonished, indeed, for as yet you
have no idea, you cannot have any idea, what the spiritual life is, nor
what spiritual realities must be–neither can you have any true idea of
them till you are quickened of the Lord! You may talk about spiritual
subjects and discuss them and think yourselves theologians–but you
resemble deaf persons criticizing music–and blind men describing
pictures! You are not qualified, even, to express an opinion upon the
matter till you are created anew in Christ Jesus and brought within
range of the spiritual and the heavenly. "Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Let the prayer go up, then, from all
enlightened hearts, for those who are not as yet walking in the
light–"Lord, open the eyes of the young men, that they may see!"

We may expect a speedy answer! God hears prayer! Who knows but that
many sitting in this house may be surprised by the secret touch of the
invisible Spirit and all of a sudden may find themselves introduced
into a new world? Elisha's prayer for this young man was not–and our
prayer for others is not that they may do something which they can
already do–that they may use some faculty which they already possess.
No, our prayer is that a new sight may be granted to them–and that a
new nature may be created within them, by a power altogether above and
beyond themselves! We call on the hand of God! We ask the Lord to work
a marvel! We would have you, dear Friends, receive what no education
can ever get you, what no graduation at any university can ever bestow
upon you! We want you to obtain what no years of experience or of study
can achieve! We want you to possess what no imitation of other people
will gain for you! We want you to experience a change which only the
Lord, Himself, can work in you! We would have you pass from Nature's
darkness into God's marvelous light–from an awful blindness into a
clear vision of things otherwise invisible! Register that

prayer before the Lord, you that are familiar with the courts of
Heaven! Present the prayer for children, kinsfolk and friends. Cry,
"Lord, let them receive sight, through the gracious working of Your
Holy Spirit!"

II. Secondly, let us set forth OUR REASON for praying such a prayer for
those around us. On this occasion, I can truly say that I am praying
much more than I am preaching. While I am standing here before you, I
am also bowing low before the Lord, my God, and I am bearing upon my
heart certain of you for whom I long in my heart and have great
heaviness of spirit. I am praying, in the secret of my soul, "Lord,
open his eyes, that he may see!"

The first reason for our prayer is because we, ourselves, have been
made to see. Had this miracle of Grace not taken place within us, we
would have had no thought of prayer for you. But now our whole heart
goes with the plea. Once we were as you are. Our eyes were blinded so
that we saw neither our foes in all their terror, nor the Glory of the
Lord round about us. Like blind Samsons, we went through the weary
drudgery of earth surrounded by our foes. At last a glimmering of the
Light of God fell upon us like a lightning flash, showing us our sin!
And after we were thus illuminated we endured a great fight of
afflictions. Without were fights, within were fears. Our enemies were
around us and we knew not what to do! But some man of God prayed for us
and one day our eyes were turned toward the hills from which comes all
aid to terror-stricken men. The Lord was there, though we knew Him not!
But, by His Grace, we looked to Him and were enlightened and our faces
were not ashamed–for round about Him the mountain was full of chariots
and horses of fire! "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of
darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge
of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."–

"Lord, I was blind. I could not see

In Your marred visage any Grace!

But now the beauty of Your face

In radiant vision dawns on me!" What else but such a heavenly vision
could have scattered all our guilty fear? What else could have given us
peace in the midst of tumult? We did not quite understand how it was
done, nor did the change come to all of us in the same way, but we can
all say, "One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see!" And
since the prayers of others availed for us, we ought with double
earnestness and hope to continue to plead for those who still have
missed the glorious Revelation. "Lord, open the eyes of the young man,
that he may see!"

We call upon the Lord for this second reason, because only by His power
can men be made to see. This we found in our own experience. In vain we
struggled to behold the salvation of God. In vain we sought the help of
godly people. No sight came to our souls, nor were the eyes of our
understanding enlightened until the Lord, Himself, washed our eyes in
the waters that go softly. Then we came seeing! And this we also
discover when we try to lead others to the Light of God. We speak to
them of the glories we, ourselves, behold, and set before them the
Truth of God, but we cannot make them see. To bestow spiritual vision
is as great a wonder as to make a world–and requires the same fiat of
Omnipotence! Only He who created the eyes can give this second sight.
"Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of
one that was born blind." What folly, then, to attempt the greater task
of bestowing the sight of the heart! How vain the boast of those who
attempt to invade God's prerogative and imagine that human ordinances
or observances can open blind eyes! Beloved, let us, after we have done
our best to make the people see the Glory of the Gospel, always fall
back on the God of the Gospel and entreat Him to do His own blessed
work–

"He comes, from thickest films of vice,

To clear the mental ray;

And on the eyeballs of the blind,

To pour celestial day."

Do not try to hold up your tallow candles to reveal the chariots of
fire nor parade your vain philosophy, as if that could clear away the
darkness of the soul. Leave room for God to work and, in a moment, at
the touch of His finger, in response to the prayers of His people, the
wondrous work shall be accomplished!

Most importunately do we pray when we see the people enquiring. The
cry, "What shall we do?" sends us to our knees, for we know that what
is necessary is, not something to be done, but something to be seen.
And we feel persuaded that the Lord who awoke the desire in the hearts
of the seekers will surely, also, open their eyes to behold His Glory.
The very fact that we feel drawn to pray for them is already a token to
us that, before long, the scales shall fall from their eyes and through
their vision of the splendor and sufficiency of the provision that God
has made for those who trust in him,

the name of the Lord will be greatly glorified. Therefore, with much
expectancy, we again utter our prayer, "Lord, open their eyes, that
they may see!"

Another reason for this prayer is–you are not aware of your own
blindness. You are trusting in yourselves that you can see all you need
to see well enough. That young man, of whom I am now thinking, has no
idea, whatever, that his eyes are stone blind to eternal things! He
thinks himself a sharp and clever fellow and I do not deny that he is
so, in his own line of things. I am glad that he has such quick
faculties for this life. God bless him and may he prosper in his
business and in the enterprise upon which he is just entering! May the
good Lord be with him concerning the matter on which his heart is set!
But still, dear Friend, I am rather afraid of your cleverness. I am
somewhat frightened at that keenness of yours because I have seen sharp
men cut themselves, and I have seen the self-reliant make miserable
failures! Something is to be said for confidence in its proper place,
but self-congratulation is a proof of inward weakness and forebodes a
breakdown.

If you are depending on an arm of flesh, at the very best you are
resting on a broken reed! You require a strength beyond your own to
fight the moral and spiritual battle of life. Your self-reliance, in
this case, is a piece of groundless self-conceit. Do you not remember
one of whom we read in this very Book of Kings that, when he was
forewarned of what he would yet do, he exclaimed in astonishment, "Is
your servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?" Hazael could
not think himself capable of such crimes–and yet he no sooner had the
opportunity than he fell into the evil up to his neck! He was dog
enough to be cruel, for he was dog enough to fawn upon himself! You do
not believe, young man, that you will ever be dishonest, and yet that
little gambling speculation of yours will lead to it. You cannot think
that you will ever be godless–and yet you are even now departing from
the good old ways of your home and making a jest of sacred things when
in certain company! They that trust in themselves are storing up fuel
for a great fire of sin! The pride which lifts itself up will throw
itself down. Because the fine young fellow does not know how blind he
is, we, therefore, lament his blindness and are the more earnest in
bringing him to Jesus, that he may receive his sight. "Lord, open his
eyes, that he may see!"

Next, we pray this prayer because we have reason to fear that you are
surrounded by those who will mislead you. We know the young man well.
He has newly come to London from that sober, orderly, country home–and
he has no notion of the snares which will be laid for him by fowlers,
male and female. Oh, you who have no experience and little discretion,
hear the voice of warning! Satan has cunning servants about him that
hunt for the precious life with double diligence. Our Lord Jesus has
about Him servants who too often slumber, but the devil's servants are
not slothful in their dreadful business! You will find them waylay you
in the streets and press around you in the haunts of pleasure. They are
everywhere and they leave no stone unturned that they may entrap the
unwary. And what if this blind young man is put down in the midst of
all these bloodsuckers? They will devour him if they can–what if he is
left to be their victim? It is like turning out a sheep among a pack of
wolves! "Lord, open the eyes of the young man, that he may see!"

We pray this prayer for some of you because you are going away from
those who have watched over you and this is a dangerous change for you.
Your mother–ah, we can never tell what a blessing a godly mother is to
a young man–your mother parts from you with great anxiety. Will you
ever forget her tender words? Our fathers are all very well–God bless
them!–and a father's godly influence and earnest prayers are of untold
value to his children. But the mothers are worth two of them, mostly,
as to the moral training and religious bent of their sons and
daughters! Well, I say, you are going right away from your mother's
holy influence and from your father's restraining admonitions. You will
now have nobody to encourage you in the right way. You will miss your
sister's holy kiss and your grandmother's loving persuasions. You are
going out of the hothouse into a night's frost -well may we pray
concerning you, that you may carry with you well-opened eyes to see
your way and look before you leap! The young man is now to walk
alone–"Lord, open his eyes, that he may see!" If he does not look
before he leaps, he will soon be in the ditch–and who shall pull him
out?

Again, we pray this prayer with the more pleasure because you will do
so much good if your eyes are opened. A blind man in the midst of such
a world as this, what can he do? He cannot help other travelers, for he
has to seek aid for himself! You wish to give rather than to take, do
you not? Some here have great abilities and I want them to use them
aright. I am persuaded that I am speaking to young people whom God has
ordained to be of great service to their age. That youth yonder does
not as yet know what is in him. He is playing with himself. He is
making a fool of himself! He is

throwing his pearls before swine–he is wasting his strength. If the
Lord should open his eyes, he would see what he is doing. What a man he
would make if he were but right with God!

Think of Saul of Tarsus, how he harassed the Church of Christ! But when
the scales fell from his eyes, the Lord had no better servant under
Heaven than that once-furious persecutor! With both hands he diligently
built up the Church which once he labored to cast down. "The thing
which has been is the thing which shall be." Pray, therefore, O my
Brothers and Sisters, for our young men who have sinned, that they may
be restored! And pray for those who are as yet ignorant, that they may
be enlightened. The cause of God has need of these and in these the
Church shall find her champions! Little know we the wealth of comfort
for the faithful which may lie in one young life. Surely, we ought to
pile on our prayers and make our intercession flame like some great
beacon light for the rising youth of our time!

There is yet another reason, fetched from the other side of the case.
We should pray for the blinded one, since he may terribly sin if not
soon made to see. How capable of doing mischief is a man blinded by
ignorance, by passion, by ambition, or by any other form of sin! Who
knows the capacities for evil that lie within a single soul? That once
bright spirit, Satan, when he first thought of revolting against the
God of Heaven, it was, perhaps, a single momentary flash of rebellious
thought. But before long he had become proudly antagonistic to his
Maker and the dragon had drawn down with his tail a third part of the
stars of Heaven to quench them in the eternal night of endless
wickedness! Then he came to this earth and polluted Paradise–and
seduced our first parents from their happy innocence so that they
became the progenitors of an unhappy race, steeped up to their lips in
sin.

That one first thought of sin, oh, how pregnant was it with innumerable
evils! So, too, among ourselves. A boy, his mother's pride, to whom she
looks forward as the honor of the family, may, for a while, appear to
be everything that love can hope. But he falls into the hands of one of
those tempters to unbelief who are so abundant in this great city. He
is taught to pour ridicule upon his mother's piety and soon he casts
off the bands of his father's God. He forgets the sanctity of God's
Holy Day and forsakes the House of Prayer–and then he learns the way
to the houses of strange women and to the palace of strong drink. And
he plunges into one sin after another, till he is, himself, the leader
of others down to the abyss! That boy who used to kneel at his mother's
knee, say his childish prayers and then stand up and sing of Jesus and
His love, was fondly regarded as one who would honor Jesus in his life.
But look at him, now–he staggers home after midnight, vomiting oaths!
He is foul both in soul and in body and those who love him best are
saddest at the sight of him.

Dear Friends, if we would not see our children or our friends running
to this excess of riot and sinking in this superfluity of sin, let us,
in agony of spirit, plead with God at once on their behalf! Oh, for an
immediate entrance of the Light of God into their souls! Lord, open
their eyes, that they may see! Lord, cause them to start back from the
beginnings of sin, which are as the breaking out of the water floods! O
Savior, quench in them the spark of evil before it grows into a fire
and rages to a conflagration!

III. I must now close by mentioning what OUR HOPE is about men when we
pray this prayer for them, as I have been doing all along–"Lord, open
the young man's eyes, that he may see!" What is our hope in reference
to this? What will they see if the heavenly eye salve is applied?

Elisha, no doubt, felt that the answer to his prayer would be precisely
what it really was. "The Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he
saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire
round about Elisha." We want men's eyes to be opened, that they may
know, first, that spiritual forces really exist. The things which we
see are not the only real things, nor even the most real things. The
things that are seen are temporal–they are, in truth, but shadows of
the unseen! The substantial realities are not seen by these poor
eyes–the substance is only perceived by our true selves. All that is
visible is the mere shadow–the very image of the thing is out of
sight. Faith teaches us to believe in the existence of that most
glorious of all Spirits–the great God–in whom we live, move and have
our being.

Faith reveals to the heart the existence of that Divine and
ever-adorable Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is at this hour with
His Church, and will abide with her to the end of the world. Faith also
makes us know the existence, power and Presence of the Holy Spirit who
dwells with Believers and is in them, working out the eternal purpose
of God in their sanctification. No knowledge is more sublime than to
know the Trinity in Unity–Father, Son and Holy Spirit– one Jehovah!
When we come to realize that the Lord God is the source of all things,
that the Lord has made us and not, we, ourselves–and that all things
come into being by His sovereign will and power–then we come to
recognize His

Presence, to consult His will and to lean upon His might. God then
becomes real in our thought and apprehension. Since He whom we cannot
see, nevertheless supports all things that are, we feel that the
invisible is the basis of all things!

Oh, that we could get men's minds out of these time-worn ruts of things
seen, these narrow bounds of space and time, and seeing, and handling!
Oh, that they could rise into the region where the dim faculties, which
are bounded by so small a circle, would give place to perceptions which
know the infinite, the eternal, the true, the Divine! Oh, that the
human mind, which was made in the image of God, could find itself at
home with God, whose child it may become, by a second birth, of the
living and incorruptible Seed, by the Word of God, which lives and
abides forever!

Verily, if our eyes are opened, we shall begin to recognize that God is
greater than this world and all worlds! And then the mighty Truths of
God which concern His way of mercy in Christ Jesus will ennoble the
soul! Then shall we become true comrades of those bright messengers of
God that fly to and fro, fulfilling the behests of the Most High. That
there are devils, I think no Christian man will ever doubt, for at
certain seasons we have been sadly conscious of a singularly terrible
presence with which our souls have been in agonizing conflict. In that
tearful battle, it has gone hard with us– our armor has been battered,
our comfort has been grievously wounded and our courage badly mauled.
We have been saved as by the skin of our teeth. We hardly knew how to
hold on at all, we were so sorely beset by unnatural temptations and
suggestions nothing less than infernal!

Then, at the Lord's rebuke, this great adversary has taken sudden
flight and angels have come and ministered to us new joys and fruits of
consolation fresh from the Tree of Life! Then have we enjoyed communion
with unseen messengers of God who have seemed to bind up our wounds and
bring us on our way and whisper peace. Did not an angel come to
strengthen our Lord in Gethsemane? Have we not, in our measure, enjoyed
a similar visitation? It is a grand thing to see the hosts of God
attending us and to know that bright convoys of these shining ones will
come to salute us at the last! It is a great gain to have our eyes
opened, to see the Lord's goodness and mercy following us all the days
of our life and ourselves, even here, dwelling in the house of the Lord
forevermore! Open your eyes to spiritual things and at once you are
encouraged! The present is grievous while you know only the visible,
but the wilderness blossoms as the rose when you see the invisible!
Project yourself beyond this narrow region and behold the Infinite–and
sources of joy spring up around you everywhere! Poverty is forgotten in
the midst of such riches–and even pain and disease have lost their
sting.

Elisha's young attendant, when his eyes were opened, saw, next, that
God's people are safe. He perceived that there were more with Elisha,
after all, than could possibly be against him, and he felt that he,
himself, was safe as the servant of the servant of God. Thus he
believed in his master's God and found a shelter from his own fears.
The invaders were flesh and blood, but the defenders were of fire and
thus were able to consume the adversaries at once. He saw, and saw it
so joyfully, that God's horses of fire and chariots of fire were more
than a match for all the forces of evil! I pray that the eyes of every
Christian person here may be so opened that they shall never doubt that
the powers on the side of Truth and righteousness and God are, after
all, mightier than the hosts of evil.

It may be that you live among those who scoff at your faith and despise
all that you hold dear. Indeed, it seems that wherever you turn,
everybody is against you in this day of doubt! I think I hear you cry,
with David, "My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are
set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
and their tongue a sharp sword." Courage, my Comrade, God is near you!
His angels are keeping watch and ward about you! We are not alone, for
the Father is with us. Oh, that our eyes may be so opened as to see
that more are they that are with us than all that are against us!
Indeed, "if God is for us, who can be against us?" Let us be strangers
to fear! In holy confidence, let us be "steadfast, unmovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord." Never allow a doubt as to the
ultimate issue. Is God, Himself, your shield and your exceeding great
reward? Then, what can man do to you?

Perhaps, within a month, some of you to whom I now speak, may be in so
severe a fight that you will be almost driven to throw down your
weapons in utter despair, saying, "How can I stand against so many?–I
that am so feeble?" I beseech you, remember this warning! Have not I
told you of it? I would plead with you to play the man! Gird up the
loins of your mind. Be sober and hope to the end, for if the Lord has
opened your eyes, you will perceive that you are on the winning side
and that HE is coming soon who will smite His enemies upon the
cheekbone. If you are on the side of God and of His Truth. If you do
the right. If you believe in the Lord Jesus. If you commit yourself to
the keeping of the hands which were pierced with the nails, Heaven and
earth may pass away, but the Lord can never desert you! The skies may
be rolled up like a shriveled parchment scroll and all the things that
are seen may melt away like baseless fabrics of a vi-

sion–earth and sea may vanish–but a believing soul must live, triumph
and be exalted to a throne with Christ, for He has said, "Because I
live, you shall live also." Hold fast your integrity! Believe the Truth
of God even to the end, for the Lord Jesus will not fail, nor be
discouraged, till all His foes are beneath His feet!

If your eyes are opened, you will know that saints are honored by their
Lord. Look! He dispatches His squadrons to be a bodyguard to one of
them–would not you wish for such honors? See here the secret of the
peace which abides with the man of God–as he has meat to eat that men
know not of–so has he company that men cannot see! He lives like a
prince in the center of a camp and sleeps securely. Faith makes the
difference between the tranquil Prophet and his frightened boy. Oh,
that you would believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and so enter into His
peace! May this be the red-letter day in which your eyes shall be
opened to see spiritual things and you shall begin to live a spiritual
life! For this I have prayed. For this, let us all breathe, for a
moment a silent prayer. (Here followed an interval of silence and then
the preacher spoke in prayer), "Lord, I pray you, open the young man's
eyes, that he may see: yes, Lord, open the eyes of all the blind among
us, for Jesus' sake! Amen."

PORTION OFSCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–2 Kings 6.