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BLIND BARTUIEUS 
 
 OR THE 
 
 STORY OF A SIGHTLESS SINNER 
 
 AND 
 
 HIS GREAT PHYSICIAN 
 
 BY EEY. WILLIAM J. HOGE, D. D. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE 
 AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 
 
 150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 1858, by Shel- 
 priN, Bi^KE.MA.v & Co., in tlw Clerk's Office of the District Court of 
 tlie Soutliern District of the State of Kew York. 
 
 Transferred to the American Tract Society. 
 
TO 
 
 %\t (§laiu at t|e f 0r^ lesits Christ, 
 
 THIS HUMBLE ATTEMPT 
 
 TO COMMEND TO SOULS IN BLINDNESS 
 
 HIS GRACE AND POWER, 
 
ADVEETISEMENT. 
 
 i^ BEGAN to write this little book, while 
 Pastor of the Westminster Presbyte- 
 rian Church, Baltimore, preaching as I 
 wrote. One or two passages as to their 
 substance, and several as to their form, need 
 this explanation. These memorials of a joy- 
 ful ministry I have found it convenient and 
 pleasant to retain, in rewriting everything 
 with what pains I could bestow. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 MATTHEW'S ACCOUNT. 
 
 XX. 29-34. 
 
 And as they departed from Jericlio a graat multi 
 tude followed Him. And behold, two blind men 
 sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus 
 passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O 
 Lord, thou Son of David. And the multitude re- 
 biiked them, because they should hold their j^eace : 
 but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on ua, 
 Lord, thou Son of David. And Jesus stood still, 
 and called them, and said. What will ye that I shall 
 do unto you ? They say unto Him, Lord, that our 
 3yes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion on 
 them, and touched their eyes : and immediately 
 their eyes received sight, and they followed Him. 
 
8 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 MARK'S ACCOUNT. 
 
 X. 46-52. 
 
 And they came to Jericho : and as He went out 
 of Jericho with His discijjies, and a great number of 
 people, blind Bartimeus, the son of Timseus, sat by 
 the highway side begging. And when he heard 
 that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, 
 and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on 
 me. And many charged him that he should hold 
 his peace : but he cried the more a great deal, Thou 
 Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood 
 still, and commanded him to be called : and they 
 call the blind man, saying unto him. Be of good 
 comfort, rise ; He calleth thee. And he, casting 
 away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And 
 Jesus answered and said unto him. What wilt thou 
 that I should do unto thee ? The blind man said 
 unto Him, Lord, that I might receive my ^ight. And 
 Jesus said unto him. Go thy way ; thy faith hath 
 made thee whole. And immediately he received 
 his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 9 
 
 LUKE'S ACCOUNT. 
 
 xviii. 35-43. ' 
 
 And it came to pass, that as He was come nigh 
 unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side 
 begging ; and hearing the multitude pass by, he 
 asked what it meant. And they told him, that Jesus 
 of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus, 
 thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And they 
 which went before rebuked him, that he should hold 
 his peace : but he cried so much the more, Thou Son 
 of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood and 
 commanded him to be brought unto Him : and when 
 he was come near, He asked him, saying. What wilt 
 thou that I shall do unto thee ? And he said, Lord, 
 that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto 
 him. Receive thy sight : thy faith hath saved thee. 
 And immediately he received his sight, and followed 
 him, glorifying God : and all the people, when they 
 saw it, gave praise unto God. 
 
10 BLIND BARTIMEUS 
 
 THE FULL NARRATIVE, 
 
 COMPILED FROM THE THREE EVANGELISTS. 
 
 And tbey came to Jericho : and as He went out of 
 Jericho with His disciples and a great number of 
 people, bhnd Bartimeus, the son of Timseus, sat by 
 the highway side begging. And hearing the multi- 
 tude pass by, he asked what it meant; and they told 
 him that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And when 
 he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to 
 cry out, and say, "Jesus, Thou Son of David, havo 
 mercy on me 1 Lord, Thou Son of David, have 
 mercy on me !" And many — they which went be- 
 fort! — rebuked liim, and charged him that he should 
 hold his j^eace. But he cried the more, the more a 
 great deal, " O Lord, Thou Son of David, have mercy 
 on me !" 
 
 And Jesus stood still, and called him. He also 
 commanded him to be called, and even to be brought 
 unto Him. 
 
 And they call the blind man, saying unto him, 
 '' Be of sfood comfort ! Rise ! He calleth thee !" 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS, 11 
 
 And he, casting away his garment, rose and came to 
 Jesus. 
 
 And when he was come near, Jesus asked him, 
 saying, " What wilt thou that I should do unto thee ?" 
 The blind man answered and said unto Him, " Lord, 
 that I might receive my sight !" So Jesus had com- 
 passion, and touched his eyes, and said unto him, 
 " Receive thy sight ! Go thy way : thy faith hatli 
 saved thee." 
 
 And immediately he received his sight, and fol- 
 lowed Jesus in the way, glorifying God. And all 
 the peo2')le, when they saw it, gave praise, unto God. 
 
)ATTHEW, Mark, and Luke all give 
 this story, but with some variations. 
 Indeed, there are two things which 
 look like contradictions. In Luke we 
 read that the miracle was wrought as 
 Jesus was come nigh unto Jericho, while Mat- 
 thew and Mark agree that it was as He went 
 out of the city. Agaui. Matthew says two 
 blind men were healed, while Mark and Luke 
 speak of but one. 
 
 Matthew Henry gives a very short answer 
 to the second difficulty. " If there were two," 
 he says, "there was one." In this he but ex- 
 presses, in his quaint way, the well-known rule 
 of interpretation that, where several historians 
 narrate the same event, it is no contradiction 
 for one to give incidents about which others 
 are silent. If, indeed, the number is an es- 
 sential element in the narrative, it must be 
 given with accuracy. If .'i general won a 
 2 
 
14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 battle with ten thousand men, he would be a 
 false historian who should say he won it with 
 five thousand. But if one historian should 
 tell us of a great captain's fighting two battles 
 the same day, it would be no impeachment of 
 his veracity, if another chronicler should tell 
 us of but one of these battles. One might be 
 so insignificant that it would be lost in the 
 greatness of the other ; or it might not concern 
 the special design of one of the narratives ; or 
 any similar reason might prevail. And surely 
 the number is not the great thing here. Christ 
 healed such multitudes that, in any given case, 
 it is a small matter to the gospel narrative 
 whether He healed one or more. Amid the 
 gracious prodigality of His miracles, there may 
 well be a noble negligence, on the part of His 
 biographers, as to the exact number He cured. 
 The great thing is, that B[e healed at all mal- 
 adies incurable by any power but divine. 
 And one Evangelist might often have special 
 reasons (as Mark, perhaps, in this case,) for 
 relating only the more conspicuous and im- 
 portant cure. Why should any one feel a dif- 
 ficulty when Luke simply tells us that, when 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 Uhnst was near Jcriclio, He wrought so illus- 
 trious a miracle as giving sight to a blind 
 man ; and Mark, writing, perhaps, to some 
 who would be especially interested to know 
 this, says that " the son of Timeus, blind Bar- 
 timeus" — a man widely known, it may be — on 
 that day received his sight ; while Matthew 
 tells us that, on that blessed day, two souls 
 were made glad by the healing word of Christ? 
 
 Thus the seeming contradiction vanishes, 
 and turns rather into a confirmation of the 
 truth and independence of the narratives. An 
 impostor would have avoided this. 
 
 The other difficulty remains. Matthew and 
 Mark say the cure was performed as He left 
 the city ; Luke, as He came near it. How 
 shall these statements be reconciled ? 
 
 Several solutions have been proposed, of 
 which I think the following is the best. 
 
 One blind man cried to Christ as He was 
 going into Jericho, but was not cured until, 
 joining himself to a companion in blindness, 
 they cried together to Him as He was leaving 
 the city. Luke, however, having begun the 
 narrative where the first man cried out, carries 
 
16 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 it on to the end without interruption. All 
 historians do this. Thej constantly relate 
 events which run through months or even 
 years, never breaking the thread of their nar- 
 rative by even an allusion, meantime, to what- 
 ever else is taking place. In this case the story 
 of the blind man begins on one side of the city, 
 as Christ is going in, and ends on the other, as 
 He is going out ; while in the city His visit to 
 Zaccheus is to be related.* Now three courses 
 are possible to the narrator. He may begin 
 with what took place as Christ drew near the 
 city, and tell that story to its end. and then 
 tell what occurred in the cit3^ This is what 
 Luke 'does. Or commencing with what began 
 on one side of the city and ended on the other, 
 he may suddenly check his narrative to tell 
 of Zaccheus, and then go on again with his ac- 
 ' count of the blind men. But this would sac- 
 rifice our pleasure in the separate and undis- 
 turbed beauty of each picture, merely to secure 
 what Trench well calls a " painful accuracy." 
 Or, finally, he may refuse to begin the first 
 story until he comes where the most important 
 
 ' Luke, xix. 1-10. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 part of it took place, namely, the actual heal- 
 ing of the men, as Christ was leaving Jericho. 
 This is what Matthew and Mark do. 
 
 Like the other, this seeming discrepancy lies 
 too much on the surface for the work of an 
 impostor. He would have made his three nar- 
 ratives harmonize more easily, lest any should 
 reject them. If the Gospels were cunningly 
 devised fables, there would be contradictions 
 indeed, but not like these. They would not 
 lie on the surface, readily detected, and avoided 
 as readily ; but in the very depth and heart 
 of things, hard perhaps to discern, and impos- 
 sible to reconcile. Gaining easy triumphs for 
 a time, such, narratives would be utterly over- 
 whelmed at length. But true men write with 
 an unconscious variety and naturalness, which 
 looks at first like contradiction, but which, 
 more closely questioned, gives out a deeper 
 testimony for independence and integrity. 
 
 I wish now to say something of the relation 
 of Christ's miracles to things more purely spir- 
 itual, that I may at once guard and justify the 
 2 
 
18 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 use I intend to make of the record of tlie heal 
 ing of blind Bartimeus. 
 
 1. I do not suppose a double sense, as it ib 
 called, in whicli tbe words liave, besides the 
 obvious meaning wbicb we would give tliem 
 in other books, a hidden, sjDiritual meaning, 
 which we must task our ingenuity to search 
 out. This theory is without foundation, and 
 opens a wide door for every fancy and heresy. 
 The words have but one sense. They are 
 simply a record of a miracle of healing. 
 
 2. But the miracles of the New Testament 
 are miracles of grace. They are not mere signs 
 and wonders. Power is not their ch ief element. 
 They are essentially redemptive, — works of 
 God's forgiving and restoring love. They 
 are not meant merely to astonish, much less to 
 terrify. They bless, and curse not ; bringing 
 no fi.i'C from heaven' but that which relumes 
 the extinguished lamp of life ; and dealing 
 with lepros}^, blindness, and pain, only that 
 they may drive them away. They are not 
 even mere proofs of a divine mission. They 
 do not, like the Magi, come from some far-off 
 
 ' Luke, ix. 54-56. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 region, and having offered their incense to 
 Christ, pass away again to be seen no more/ 
 They all speak the language of Canaan,^ and, 
 with heavenly tongue, bear witness that Jesus 
 is the Son of God,' wUile, as sons, they have 
 the freedom of His house, and abide with Him 
 forever.* They prove His mission chiefl}' as 
 they themselves are a part of it. They estab- 
 lish His Messiahship by exemplifying it. To 
 men doubting and jDerishing they bring heavy 
 clusters from that Eshcol, whose reality and 
 surpassing fruitfulneas they would demon- 
 strate.* 
 
 Ages ago, Augustine expressed this thought 
 with much beauty. Speaking of the miracles, 
 he says, " Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 
 is the Physician of our eternal health, and to 
 this end He took the weakness of our nature, 
 that our weakness might not last forever." 
 And Trench finely calls them " miracles of 
 the Incarnation, — of the Son of God, who had 
 taken our flesh, and taking would heal it." 
 lUius is every miracle of Christ, as he says 
 
 ' Mat., ii. 1, 11, 12. 2 isa., xix. 18. 3 John, v. 36 ; xx. 30, 31. 
 * John, viii. 35. 3 Numb., siii. 23. 
 
20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 again, " an index and prophecy of the inner 
 work of man's deliverance." " In each of them 
 the word of salvation is incorporated in an act 
 of salvation," 
 
 Sin has cursed not only man's soul but his 
 body,* and there is a fearful analogy between 
 the diseases, distortions, and ruins of the body, 
 and the deformities and corruptions of the 
 soul. Therefore when we see our Saviour 
 manifesting His healing grace in repairing the 
 ravages which the Destroyer has made on man's 
 body, we can not fail also to have new and 
 deeper insight into His redeeming work on 
 man's spirit. And it would be wonderful, 
 when this is so, if some of the records of these 
 gracious healings should not be, throughout, 
 aptest illustrations of a sinner's restoration by 
 the power and grace of Jesus. 
 
 3. Again, great principles are often contained 
 in these narratives, which are of universal ap- 
 plication. If we see that the vilest have free 
 access to Jesus ; that He heals the wretched 
 without price, of His own pure grace ; that 
 importunity ever gains its point; that every 
 
 ' Gen., iii. 16-19. 
 
INTIIODUCTION. 21 
 
 thing depends on faith ; that the largest faith is 
 ever most applauded and most blessed ; that no 
 disease is beyond His power ; that these and 
 many such things are true in these miracles of 
 bodily healing, then do we as surely know 
 that we may rest confidently upon them, when 
 we go to Hira in the deeper unworthiness of 
 sin, and with the more awful maladies of our 
 souls !^ 
 
 - Mat., ix. 6, 35 ;^uko, vii. 19-23. 
 
BLIND BARTIME US. 
 
 "And they came to Jericho; and as He went out of Jericho 
 with His disciples, and a great number of people, blind 
 Bartimeus, the sou of Timeus, sat by the highway side, 
 begging." 
 
 v'f^HAT a sad sight is this ! A bhnd 
 beggar sitting by the way side ! His 
 clothes are tattered and filthy. His 
 face is burned by many a sun, and 
 browned by many a rude wind, and 
 furrowed with many a wrinkle, making chan- 
 nels for tears, and writing histories of sor- 
 row. His hand still grasps his long staff, — 
 his only support and guide, as every morning 
 he gropes his way from his hovel to his accus- 
 tomed haunt on this high road to Jerusalem. 
 He has taken his seat on the well-worn stone 
 under the palm-tree, and now he waits patiently 
 
24 BLIND BAKTIMEUS. 
 
 in the grateful shade for some passing trav- 
 eler from whom he may ask an alms ; for on 
 the chance pittance of charity he must live. 
 Unhappy man, if he has a wife and children 
 depending on this slender, precarious support ! 
 More unhappy, if he must bear his dark life 
 alone ! 
 
 Is he man as God made him ? Is that the 
 divine image ? Is he possessor and lord of the 
 world ? Where is the dignity and might, the 
 kingly dominion and grandeur of the earth's 
 ancient ruler ? Oh, how changed, how fallen, 
 how lost ! Poor Bartimeus, sad picture of all 
 thy race ! In thee I see myself and every 
 brother, in our estate of nature. Image of the 
 unregenerate man, — blind, poor, a beggar, and 
 helpless alike in wretchedness and ruin ! 
 
 Shrink not, O believer, this is what thou 
 wast. Shrink not, O unbeliever, this is what 
 thou art. 
 
 Nay, the redeemed friends of Jesus will not 
 shrink. They have long been accustomed to 
 gaze on this sad likeness of themselves, and 
 being now the children of adoption through 
 grace, they still gaze upon it to renew repent- 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS, 25 
 
 ance and humility, and to adore Him who has 
 changed it to joy and peace and eternal hope. 
 And let all in whom Jesus Christ hath 
 wrought no miracle of spiritual healing, look 
 steadily on this picture, and hear the voice of 
 God saying, Thou art the man !' 
 
 I . — H IS BLINDNESS. 
 
 Bartimeus is blind. And what is that ? 
 The eyes of his body are out. He sees no 
 light, or color, or form. I do not say his mind 
 perceives nothing, or his heart feels nothing. 
 His wits may be keen and his affections lively. 
 I only say his bodily eyes can not see. They 
 are blind. 
 
 And what is true of the eyes of his body, is 
 true, sinner, of the eyes of your soul. He 
 could not see the natural world, and you can 
 not see the spiritual world. The eye of sense 
 may be bright in you, and its vision clear. 
 The eye of the mind may be bright in you, 
 and its vision clear. But the eye of your 
 soul has been put out. It is bUnd. 
 
 ' 2 Sam., xii. 7-. 
 
26 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 You see I speak of three kinds of blind- 
 ness. The eye of the body may be out, and 
 we have no name for the result but blindness. 
 The eye of the intellect may be out, and we 
 name the result idiocy. We say the man is a 
 fool. The eye of the soul may be out, and 
 God names the residt wickedness. He calls 
 the man a sinner. 
 
 Think, of Bartimeus. He rose this morning, 
 and his wife blessed him, his children climbed 
 his knees and kissed him. They ministered 
 to his wants. They led him a little way by 
 the hand. But he did not see them. He 
 knew of them, but he could not behold them. 
 Their smiles or beauty were nothing to him, — 
 he was blind. 
 
 Think of yourself, sinner. You rose this 
 morning, and the eye of your heavenly Father 
 looked upon j^ou. His hand led you. His 
 power guarded you, His goodness blessed you. 
 But your soul did not see Him. A vague 
 idea that God had done it all may have oc- 
 curred to you, but it had no vividness. He 
 was no blessed reality to you. You saw not 
 the lineaments of a Father, — the loving eye, 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 27 
 
 the benignant smile. You saw nothing, — ^your 
 soul was blind. 
 
 Think again of Bartimeus. He went abroad, 
 and the rich valley of the Jordan spread out 
 before him. The stately palms rose toward 
 heaven, and waved their feathery tops in the 
 early breeze. The gardens of balsam were 
 clothed in their delicate spring' verdure, and 
 Jericho sat in the midst of these vernal glo- 
 ries, deserving its name, — Jericho, the place 
 of fragrance, des-erving its frequent descrip- 
 tion among the ancient writers,— the City of 
 Palms. And high above all was the blue sky, 
 bending over as if to embrace and bless so 
 iliuch loveliness of earth; and the great sud, 
 filling earth and sky and balmy air with glory. 
 
 But what was all this to Bartimeus ? It 
 might have been narrow and black for aught 
 he could tell. It v:as an utter blank, a dread- 
 ful gloom to hini. All was night, black, black 
 night, with no star. 
 
 Why was it so to him, when to others it 
 was splendor and joy ? Ah ! he was blind. 
 
 * For it was at this season tliat Christ was then going to 
 Jerusalem. 
 
28 BLIKD BARTIMEUS. 
 
 Unregenerate man, tliink again of yourself. 
 You went abroad this morning, on an earth 
 once cursed,* as of old Jericho had been," 
 but spared and blessed bj redeeming mercy, 
 even as Jericho was that day blessed by the 
 presence and healing grace of Jesus. Around 
 you, too, was spread a world of spiritual 
 beauty. The wall-s, and bulwarks, and stately 
 palaces of the city of our God were before 
 you. The rose of Sharon, the lily of the 
 valley, the vine, the palm, the olive, and the 
 fig-tree all stood about you in the garden of 
 the Lord. Through them flowed the river of 
 life, reflecting skies more high and clear than 
 the azure of summer mornings ever imaged, 
 and lit to its measureless depth by a sun more 
 glorious than ever poured splendor even up- 
 on Eden, in our poor world's ancient prime. 
 You walked forth amid all this beauty, and 
 many saw it, — none perfectly, yet some very 
 blessedly, — ^but you saw nothing. You see 
 nothing now. Nay, you can not see it. Strain 
 your blind soul as you will, you can not see 
 it. What I have said of it seems to you but 
 
 ' G«n., iii. 17, 18 ; Rom., viii. 20. ' Josh., vi. 17, 26 
 
BLIND BAKTIMEUS. 29 
 
 a phantasy and rhapsody, although I say it on 
 the awful authority of God in His Holy Word, 
 and the experience of unnumbered children of 
 His, who are witnesses that what I say is true, 
 and for their witness would dare to die. Why 
 then do you not see it ? Ah ! the eye of the 
 soul is out, — you are blind. 
 
 I see a beautifal mother gaze anxiously on 
 her babe. She is trying a fearful experiment. 
 She stretches out her arms to it, beseeches it 
 with loving looks, holds out sparkling jewels 
 to it, and flashes them before its eyes in the 
 very sunshine at the open window. But the 
 little eyes move not, or move aimlessly, and 
 turn vacantly away. And she cries out in 
 anguish, " Oh, my poor child is blind!" 
 
 And now I understand why even tender 
 children turn away from Christ, seeing no 
 beauty in Him that they should desire Him,^ 
 and caring nothing for all His smiles or tears, 
 or offers of the rich jewelry of heaven. They 
 see nothing of it all. They are blind, born 
 blind. 
 
 I have read of a man of old to whom Grod 
 
 ' Isaiah, liii. 2. 
 3* 
 
30 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 ha.d given great might, for dignity and honor 
 and the redemption of his enslaved country, 
 who made unwieldy mirth for thousands of 
 scoffing Philistines. He had come from grind- 
 ing in their prison, where slaves were his mas- 
 ters, and now he made sport in open day, 
 while the uncircujncised triumphed and jeered. 
 But he saw neither the dungeon uor the day, for 
 they had put out his eyes, — Samson was blind. 
 
 And now I understand how men can make 
 themselves the slaves and scoff of devils, as 
 they rattle their chains and dance in their fet- 
 ters, and play the fool with the high powers 
 God has given them for usefulness to their 
 fellows, and their own glory, honor and im- 
 mortality. In the daily drudgeries of mere 
 worldly business, and the occasional levities 
 of mere worldly amusement, they are alike 
 represented by fallen and degraded Samson 
 in his blindness. 
 
 I once saw a man walk along the edge of a 
 precipice as if it were a plain. For any thing 
 he knew, it was a plain, and safe. He was 
 calm and fearless, not because there was no 
 danger, but because he was blind. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 81 
 
 And who can not now understand how men 
 so wise, so cautious in most things, can go so 
 securely, so carelessly, even so gaily on, as if 
 every thing were safe for eternity, while snares 
 and pit-falls are all about them, and death may 
 be just at hand, and the next step may send 
 them down the infinite abyss ! Oh, we see it, 
 we see it, — they are blind ! 
 
 A blind man is more taken up with what 
 he holds in his hand, than with mountains, 
 ocean, sun, or stars. He feels this ; but those 
 be can neither touch nor see. 
 
 And now it is plain why unconverted men 
 undervalue doctrine, saying, that "it is no 
 matter what a man believes, so his heart is 
 right ;" that "one doctrine is as good as another, 
 and for that matter, no doctrines are good for 
 much ;" and that " they don't believe in doc- 
 trinal preaching at any rate." They, forsooth, 
 they ! blind worms, pronouncing contemptu- 
 ously of the stupendous heights and glories 
 of God's revelation, where alone we learn what 
 we are to believe concerning Him, and what 
 duty He requires of us. 
 
 It is plain too why they see no preciousness 
 
32 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 in the promises, no glory in Christ, no beauty 
 in holiness, no grandeur in the work of re- 
 demption ; why they make a mock at sin, 
 despise God's threatenings, brave His wrath, 
 make light of the blood of Christ, jest at 
 death, and rush headlong on certain per- 
 dition. They are blind. So the Scripture 
 speaks. There are blind people that have 
 eyes.' Having the understanding darkened, 
 being alienated from the life of God, through 
 the ignorance that is in them, because of the 
 blindness of their heart.^ So there is such a 
 thing as heart blindness, as well as blindness 
 of the bodily eye. 
 
 Unconverted men often say, " If these 
 things are so, if they are so clear and great, 
 why can not we see them ?" And there is no 
 answer to be given but this. Ye are blind. 
 
 " But we want to see them. If they are 
 real, they are our concern as well as yours. 
 Oh, that some preacher would come, who had 
 power to make us see them !" 
 
 Poor souls, there is no such preacher, and 
 you need not wait for him. Let him gather 
 
 ^ Isa., xliii. 8. ' Epli., iv. 18. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 33 
 
 God's light as he will, he can but pour it on 
 blind eyes. With a lens you may condense 
 the sunbeams, and pour their fierce glory on 
 the eye of a blind man; but still not a whit 
 will he see. Light is the remedy for dark- 
 ness, not for blindness. 
 
 Neither will strong powers of understand- 
 ing on your part, serve. The younger Pitt 
 once went with Mr. Wilberforce to hear Mr. 
 Cecil. The sermon was on the Spirit's agen- 
 cy in the hearts of believers. As they were 
 coming from church, the mighty statesman 
 confessed that he could not understand it at 
 all, and asked his friend if he supposed that 
 any one in the house could. " Why yes," 
 said he, " there were many plain, unlettered 
 women and some children there, who under- 
 stood every word of it, and heard it with 
 
 joy-" 
 
 Ah, hapless souls, ye complain against the 
 gospel, that it is hidden from you, as if that 
 were its fault. And now I must bring forth a 
 dreadful Scripture which will open the mys- 
 tery of your inability to understand it. Oh, 
 it is a fearful word, which ought to make your 
 
34 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 ears tingle and your heart freeze witli terror 
 as you hear it ; — If our gospel be hid, it is hid 
 to them that are lost, in whom the god of this 
 world hath blinded the minds of them that 
 believe not^ lest the light of the glorious gos- 
 pel of Christ, who is the image of God, 
 should shine unto them.' The gospel is 
 real and glorious, and is all the while shin- 
 ing on in its own divine splendor; but you 
 are blind. Satan, the old liar and mur- 
 derer,* has blinded you lest you should see 
 this blessed gospel and be saved. And you 
 are lost, lost already. There is your dread- 
 ful condition, and therefore you can not see the 
 gospel ! 
 
 Let the people of God no more wonder then 
 at the clamors of infidels against the Scrip- 
 tures. Would you heed a blind man criticis- 
 ing pictures, or raving against your summer 
 skies ? If he denies that the sun has brightness, 
 or the mountains grandeur, will you believe 
 him? And if a hundred blind men should 
 all declare that they can not see the stars^ and 
 argue learnedly that there can be no stars, and 
 
 * 2 Oor., iv. 3, 4. ^ John, viii. 44. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 85 
 
 then grow witty and laugli at you as star- 
 gazers, would tlie midnight heavens be less 
 glorious to you ? When these men had thus 
 satisfactorily demonstrated their blindness, 
 would not the mighty works of God still 
 prove their bright reality to your rejoicing 
 vision? Would they not still declare His 
 glory and show His handiwork ?' 
 
 And shall the spiritually blind be more 
 trusted ? Shall they be spiritual guides ? No, 
 the weakest believer who has seen that the 
 Lord is gracious,'^ seen any preciousness in tho 
 promises, any beauty in Christ, any glory in 
 the Scriptures, may chng to his faith, despite 
 the testimony and pretentious sophistries and 
 wit of ten thousand infidels. God has opened 
 your eyes. Satan has blinded theirs. Your 
 testimony is positive. Theirs is negative, and 
 necessarily worthless. A lawyer told his 
 client that two men would swear that they 
 had seen him commit the murder. "Ah, but," 
 said he, " I can bring fifty men who will 
 swear that they didn't see me commit it !" And 
 that poor villain, guilty, but merry with his 
 '■ Psalm xiy. 1. ' Psalm xxsdv, 8, 
 
36 BLIND BAETIMEUS. 
 
 own stupid conceit, is a fair type of infidelity. 
 It can bring men, in great numbers, it must 
 be owned, vvbo will swear right lustily, and 
 with no little cursing, that they never saw any 
 beauty or glory in ChrLst or His gospel. And 
 when they have wrapped this, their whole 
 testimony, in the mists of an unintelligible 
 philosophy, and played off the machinery of 
 an historical criticism, which can prove with 
 equal ease, and by the same process,* that 
 neither Jesus nor Bonaparte ever lived, so 
 that man has had no Kedemption and the 
 French no Revolution, and have then joined 
 in a loud laugh at the deluded " saints" who 
 still prefer Paul to Mr. Hume, John to Mr. 
 Newman, and Jesus Christ to Dr. Strauss, 
 then infidelity has but one thing more which 
 it can do, — change its voice, put on a new dis- 
 guise, and begin again. 
 
 K these men be followed, they will be 
 found to be bhnd leaders of the blind, and 
 both will fall into the ditch.'' 
 
 ' As Archbishop Whately has shown in his "Hiutoric 
 Doubtf Relative to Napoleon Buonaparte." 
 » Mat., XV. 14. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 37 
 
 II.' — HIS POVERTY. 
 
 See now a sad result of tliis blindness, — 
 deep poverty. In this too is Bartimeus an 
 image of every unregenerate soul. Both are 
 poor. 
 
 When may a man be called poor? Is 
 wealth for the body alone? Has the heart 
 no riches ? May not a mind be impoverished, 
 a soul be bankrupt? Ah! yes, there are 
 riches besides money, wealth to which gold 
 and rubies are as nothing.' 
 
 A man is poor when his need is not sup- 
 plied. The higher the wants, the deeper the 
 kind of poverty ; the more the wants, the 
 deeper its degree. A man with neither food 
 nor shelter, is poorer than he who lacks shel- 
 ter only. And is not the man without love 
 or hope, poorer than he who has merely no 
 fire nor bread ? Who shall deny the name of 
 poor to him whose soul is unfurnished ? What 
 is the chaff to the wheat," the body to the 
 soul ? Are not the soul's desires larger and 
 
 1 James, ii. 5; Prov., viii. 10, 11 ; Job, xxviii. 12-19. 
 ' Jer., xxiii. 28 
 
 4 
 
38 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 more insatiable than those of the flesh ? Does 
 Dot the heart hunger ? Is there no such thing 
 as '• a famine of truth and love ?" Do deso- 
 late spirits never cower and shiver and freeze, 
 like houseless wretches in stormy winter 
 nights? Night and winter and storm — are 
 they not also for the soul? And when it has 
 no home in its desolations, no refuge from its 
 foes, no shelter from the blast, no food for its 
 hunger, no consolation in its sorrows, is it not 
 poor? poor in the deepest poverty, which 
 almost alone deserves the name of poverty?* 
 
 How much of such poverty is there, dwell- 
 ing in princely halls, clothed in purple and 
 fine linen, and faring sumptuously every day ! 
 How often does it walk in royal processions, 
 and flash with jewels, and handle uncounted 
 gold! How much in the circles of v/ealthy 
 " fashionable life," as it is called, by which 
 weak souls are so dazzled, and for which weak 
 breasts so ache! Fashionable life — with its 
 suspicion and envy and falsehood; its little 
 
 ' " That man only is poor in this world, who lives without 
 Jesus ; and that man only is rich with whom Jesus delighta 
 to dwell." — Thomas A Kempis. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 39 
 
 meannesses and splendid cheats ; its magnifi- 
 cent desolations and gorgeous misery ! There 
 is poverty indeed. 
 
 But let me not forget. It may also be 
 sober and industrious and plain, and have its 
 pew in orthodox churches. I see it before me. 
 It has its likeness in Bartimeus, but its dread- 
 ful reality, O sinner, in you ! 
 
 I saw a man beginning a long journey. It 
 was a most perilous journey, through a wild, 
 inhospitable country. It did not seem so at 
 first; a green and flowery lane led from his 
 dwelling. The road was smooth, the day 
 bright, friends near, the prospect fair. He 
 set gaily off in an easy carriage, attended by 
 assiduous servants, and followed by wagons 
 loaded with all curious provision for present 
 amusement or need. Song and fragrance filled 
 the morning air, and though as the early hours 
 flew by, these fled with them, still his spirits 
 were high, and the wheels rattled merrily over 
 the graded way. The smiles and congratula- 
 tions of friends saluted him as he passed, and 
 some envied him. He counted himself happy, 
 and rejoicing in his admirable appointments, 
 
40 BLIND BAKTIMEUS. 
 
 gave up his heart to pleasure. The evening 
 of the first day has come, and lo ! the carriage 
 is going down a hill. How steep it is getting ! 
 Faster and faster it goes. The air darkens, 
 the gloom thickens, it grows cold ; and faster, 
 faster rolls the carriage downward. ISTothing 
 can check it. He tries, the servants try. He 
 shrieks for help, but in vain. Downward dash 
 the horses. And see ! at the bottom of the 
 hill, a river, dark and without a bridge. The 
 road leads into it. In rush the horses, and 
 with struggles and groans and plunges of 
 agonj^, all disappears. 
 
 But our traveler did not die in the stream. 
 At the other shore he came forth from the 
 water, cold, desolate, alone. His servants 
 were gone. His treasure was gone. His 
 amusements were gone. And on that bleak 
 shore, in that bitter clime, bound still for 
 that awful journey, I saw him standing, 
 pale, weak, in helpless despair. On, on he 
 must go. He was hungry, but he had no 
 food ; thirsty, but there was no water ; foot- 
 sore, but he must walk. See, he totters, but 
 he has no staff; dangers assail him, but he 
 
BLIND BAETIMEUS. 41 
 
 has no defence ; remorse gnaws him, but he 
 has now no resource. An irresistible destiny 
 urges him, and while the hunger ever bites, 
 and the way grows rougher, and horrors 
 thicken about him, on, on he must go. 
 
 Yet he knew all this from the first, but 
 counted it nothing. All his preparations were 
 for the pleasant road, through green and 
 sunny fields. He seemed rich then. Men 
 called him so, all but one honest soul, who 
 frankly told hinv that his arrangements were 
 short-sighted, wretched, and that if he went 
 thus, his folly was as egregious as soon his 
 poverty would be dreadful. But he was 
 called a rude man for his pains, and bidden 
 begone. Why should he be ever disturb- 
 ing the present joy with his doleful prophe- 
 cies? The very sight of him made one 
 melancholy, and his voice seemed to toll out 
 his warning, like a dismal bell at a funeral. 
 " Let us use the joys we have, while we have 
 them, and let the future take care of itself!" 
 So he spoke, and so he went ; and now there 
 he is. 
 
 Nay, you need not tell me that my picture 
 4* 
 
42 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 is preposterous — ^tlaat there is no such fool on 
 earth. I know how wise the children of this 
 world are in their generation/ and how un- 
 natural all this would be, if I meant the petty 
 concerns of this life alone. But suppose I 
 strip off the veil, and tell you that eternity is 
 that awful journey, and life that pleasant lane, 
 and the body that easy carriage in which the 
 soul sets out so gaily, and death that bridge- 
 less river, where friends can go no further, 
 and servants must forsake . us, and all the 
 treasure of earth go down for ever ? Where 
 now is the unnaturulness ? Has it not become 
 natural enough — tame even, from its very 
 commonness? Thus from your own mouth 
 I condemn you, and from the shock you feel, 
 when the whole scene is bounded by an inch 
 of time, convict you of unutterable madness 
 in preparing for the little course of this life 
 only, and going all unfurnished for everlasting 
 ages. 
 
 As I bid you then, in God's name, beware, 
 shall I be driven away as too rough for your 
 polite ears and tender nerves? Shall I fear 
 
 ' Luke, xvi. 8. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 43 
 
 lest I describe the coming terrors of jour re- 
 morse and shame and utter desolation, of jour 
 fierj, unappeasable thirst, and eternal deep 
 povertj, so graphicallj, that jou shall be 
 I'eallj alarmed, and set to sec\iring the true 
 riches? Must I measure mj periods, and 
 make mild words drop trippingly from mj 
 tongue, lest jou should believe me to be in 
 earnest ? 
 
 souls, let me deal trulj bj God's Word, 
 and bj you. Let me tell jou that jou are 
 poor, miserablj poor, and in clanger of eternal 
 povertj. Poor? You have no Almighty 
 Comforter for jour sorrows,* no Infinite Ee- 
 deemer for jour sins," no Eternal God for 
 your portion.^ You have no solid peace in 
 this world,* no well-grounded hope for an- 
 other," no security for one moment more out 
 of hell/ You are an alien from God's peo- 
 ple, a stranger from his covenants of prom- 
 ised You are without the onlj blood which 
 can pardon, 8 the onlj Spirit who can pu- 
 
 * John, xiv. 17. * Acts, iv. 12. ' Mat., xxiv. 51. 
 
 * Isa., xlviii. 22. ^ Job, xi. 20 ; Prov., xi. 7. 
 
 * Mat., xiL 19, 20. ' Eph., ii. 12. - * John, iii. 18. 
 
44 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 rifj,^ the only righteousness whicli can jus- 
 tify," without title to heaven/ without meet- 
 ness for it,^ without any hope of it, except 
 a hope which is false and shall fail you in the 
 day of need/ Ah, " you are without Christ 
 and have no God,"® and that is poverty indeed,- 
 unspeakable, intolerable ! 
 
 Bartiraeus' blindness caused his poverty ; 
 and your blindness, that is, your sin, has 
 caused yours. His blind eyes could not see 
 all his poverty, and your blind souls cannot 
 see yours. He could get rid of poverty, only 
 by getting rid of blindness ; and it is only by 
 getting rid of sin, that you shall escape being 
 everlastingly poor. 
 
 III. — HIS BEGGARY. 
 
 See now to what a sad strait this blind 
 man's malady has brought him — he is a 
 beggar. Blindness has made him poor, and 
 poverty a beggar. In this, too, he shows the 
 woful estate of the sinner. Every sinner is a 
 
 • John, iii. 5, 6. * Job, xsv. 4; Rom., iii 19-26. 
 
 • Rev., xxii. 14, 15. * Heb., xiL 14. ^ Mat., vii. 21, 26, 27 
 
 • Eph., ii. 12. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 45 
 
 beggar. How can it be otberwise ? Can such 
 poverty be independent ? In outward "poverty, 
 a well-furnished mind, a wealthy soul may be 
 an inward solace. But when it is the soul that 
 is bankrupt, there is no region still within, 
 where it may retire and comfort itself. It will 
 seek for happiness, and it must look without — 
 it is forced to beg. 
 
 You have seen a blind beggar in your 
 streets. He stands at the corner where the 
 crowd hurries by. He hears the confused 
 hum of busy life — the cries of the drivers, the 
 earnest voices of men, the merry laugh of 
 children. How lively and happy they all seem 
 to him in his melancholy darkness ; all hap- 
 pier than he, the poor blind beggar ! In one 
 hand he holds his long staff, while the other 
 is reaching forth for alms. His form is bent 
 with weariness and age. He often stands with 
 his head uncovered, through a deference which 
 befits his lowly errand; and then you may see 
 that his hair is thin and white. His meek face 
 and lips moving, but saying nothing, his out- 
 stretched hand and sightless eyes turning this 
 way and that, as if they tried to see and could 
 
46 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 not — these touch, the heart and plead for him 
 as no words could do. 
 
 And thus I see poor, guilty, blinded souls 
 begging — ^begging of earth and sky and air 
 and sea, of every passing event, of one an- 
 other, of all but the great and merciful God, 
 who would supply all their need through 
 Jesus Christ.' They must beg. The vast 
 desires of the soul, which God gave that they 
 might be filled from Himself, and which no- 
 thing but His own fulness can satisfy; the 
 noble powers degraded to work with trifles ; 
 the aspirations which thrill only as they mount 
 heavenward, but now struggle and pant like 
 an eagle with broken wing and his breast in 
 the dust ; the deathless conscience, filled with 
 guilt and touched with unappeasable wrath, 
 drugged, indeed, and often sleeping heavily, 
 but waking surely, and then lashing the soul 
 inexorably — all these compel it to be a beg- 
 gar. They constrain it to cry out, with the 
 lost fiend, 
 
 " Me, miserable ! which way shall I flj ?" 
 It is not yet conscious, indeed, of a " hell" 
 
 ' Philippians, iv. 19. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 47 
 
 within, but its elements are there, and the un- 
 easy burning keeps it for ever restless. 
 
 The soul was made for good, and for good 
 it will ever cry. However debased and fallen, 
 it still hungers for good. It may be a dis- 
 eased hunger now ; but it is not less ravenous 
 for that. If it cannot find food, it will devour 
 ofial. 
 
 In its ruin, the soul feels itself an exile and 
 vagabond. It is like a prince stolen away 
 from his home in early childhood, and ever 
 retaining some dim remembrance of the glory 
 of his ancient heritage. Amid its deep pov- 
 erty the royaj. instinct sometimes stirs within 
 it, and it wanders weeping through the world, 
 in search of that Eden which is no longer on 
 earth. ^ 
 
 " Poor pensioner on the bounties of an hour," 
 
 the impoverished soul looks for each new hour 
 to bring some good it has not yet. Disappoint- 
 ed each night; it wakes each day to beg anew 
 its daily bread. " "Who will show me any 
 good?'" is its constant cry, and hither and 
 
 ' Psalm iv. 6. 
 
48 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 thither, to and fro over the face of the earth, 
 it wanders, searching evermore for the satis- 
 faction which still it finds not. 
 
 Begging begins in childhood. We beg then 
 with eager hope. We are sure we shall not , 
 be disappointed. Games, holidays, sight-see- 
 ing all promise much, and childhood begs 
 them to make it blessed. Vexed, wearied, 
 sent empty away again and again, the boy 
 sees, further on, the youth, pursuing his 
 greater hopes, and hastens to join him, confi- 
 dent that in higher excitements and larger 
 liberty, in new aspirations and tenderer love, 
 his soul's thirst shall be slaked. Deluded 
 once more, he grows sober and wise and firm. 
 He is older. He is a man. He lays deep 
 plans now, puts on a bolder face, and begs 
 with sterner importunity. He can take no 
 denial. He must have happiness ; he loill be 
 blessed. Fame, wealth, power — these have 
 the bidden treasure he has sought so long. He 
 kijows now where it is, and they must give it 
 up. Years are passing, his time will soon be 
 gone, and now he begs indeed! How these 
 idols lead his soul captive! How he toils, 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 49 
 
 cringes, grovels, sacrifices for their favor. 
 Fame, wealth, power — deceitful gods ! still 
 promise that to-morrow the long-sought good 
 shall be given. But how' many to-morrows 
 come and go, and leave him still trusting to 
 the next ! Now he forsakes the pleasures he 
 might have, dries up the fountains of his 
 early love, sweeps all sentiment from his 
 heart, crushes his dearest affections, tasks every 
 power to the utmost, wrings out his heart's 
 blood, and lays all his soul before his idol's 
 feet, — and is disappointed ! Disappointed alike 
 in failure and success ! If he wins the prize, 
 this is not what he coveted, and worshipped, 
 and bargained away his soul for, and he curses 
 it for a cheat. If he fails, he still believes that 
 the true good was there, and he was near it ; 
 and he curses the chance or envy or hate which 
 snatched it from his grasp. 
 
 But who shall describe the lose arts of 
 this beggary? The disguises, the pretences, 
 the fawnings — all the low tricks of street- 
 beggars — are adopted and eclipsed by those 
 who will be rich, will be great, will have 
 fame. 
 
 5 
 
50 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 And wliat are the profits of thus begging the 
 • world for what God alone can give ? 
 
 Observe a street-beggar for awhile. How 
 many go bj and give nothing, v/here one 
 drops even a penny in the hat ! So many of 
 the passing things of time refuse altogether to 
 give the soul the good it asks. 
 
 See again. Do you mark the impudent leer 
 of that mean boy ? He knows the beggar is 
 blind, and so he comes up pretending sympa- 
 thy, and puts a pebble, a chip, in that trem- 
 bling hand. So a thousand times have you 
 seen the' world do for a beofgins: soul. 
 
 But there comes a still meaner boy ; Aeputs 
 that which, when the grateful old man's hand 
 closes on it pierces or stings it, and, laughing 
 loudly in the blind, bewildered face, he runs 
 away. And thus have I seen the gay, pol- 
 ished world put a sparkling cup to the young 
 man's lips ; but when at last it bit him like a 
 serpent and stung him like an adder, the pol- 
 ished world jeered his imprudence, and turned 
 him from its door. His excesses and agony 
 and death must not be seen there ! 
 
 And when the beggar's gains for the day are 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 61 
 
 fairly counted, wTiat are they ? A few copper 
 coins, foul with gangrene, and little bits of 
 silver, rarely, — enough to buy a scanty meal 
 and a poor lodging, and to-morrow all is to 
 begin again. And thus the world gives — few 
 pleasures, low pleasures, brief pleasures. They 
 stay the soul's hunger for awhile, but never 
 satisfy it, so that straightway we must go out 
 and beg again. The world never raised a 
 man's soul above beggary. It is both too self- 
 ish and too poor. It gives but little of what 
 it has, and if it gave all, gave itself, that would 
 not fill and bless an immortal soul. 
 
 These things make me think how sadly all 
 this begging from the world ends. The hour 
 comes when the world can do no more. It is 
 a bitter hour — an hour of pain and anguish, 
 of weakness and despair — the hour of death. 
 The world is roaring away as ever, in business 
 and mirth, all unconscious that the poor man 
 who loved and worshipped it so, is dying. 
 His banqueting halls, where the world used to 
 riot, are shut. A strange guest came in, un- 
 asked, and few cared to stay with him. The 
 revelry hushed, the splendor grew dark. He 
 
52 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 took the host by the hand, astonished and 
 speechless, and led him to his chamber, and 
 laid him on the bed, and whether others slept 
 or waked, he was a constant watcher — with 
 those cold, sleepless eyes ! Not many may 
 cross the threshold now, and they tread 
 lightly, and speak in "whispers. Even the 
 blessed light of day may no more come in 
 freely at the windows. The gloom and soli- 
 tude and dreadful stillness of the grave are al- 
 ready closing round him. His pillow smoothed 
 again, another drop of water, and the chill 
 dews of the everlasting night wiped once more 
 from, his brow — this is all the poor man has 
 to ask from the world. It is all the world has 
 to give. 
 
 But oh, the begging of God which now be- 
 gins ! Bitter crying to Him whose gracious 
 heart has been waiting to bless these many 
 yearsy^ waiting in vain for one sigh of contri- 
 tion, one prayer of faith to His infinite grace! 
 But it is too late. His patient, insulted Spirit 
 has been grieved at length. ° He has departed. 
 In anger He hath shut up His tender mercies. 
 
 ' Mat., xxiii. 37. 2 Eph., iv. 30. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 53 
 
 He will be favorable no more. His mercy is 
 clean gone for ever.^ He gives no answer, 
 and the soul, beggared now eternally, goes 
 into outer darkness,^ and begins, hungry and 
 naked and cold, its blind, everlasting wander- 
 ing in the land of blackness and emptiness! 
 
 1 Ps. ixxvii. 7-9. - Mat, xxv. 30. 
 
 5* 
 
II. 
 
 "And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it 
 meant, and they told him that Jesus of Nazareth passetb 
 by." 
 
 I LINDNESS, poverty, beggary! What 
 woes to be mingled in one cup ! Who 
 can measure the wretchedness of the 
 man who is ever drinking their still 
 unexhausted bitterness ? Let us pity 
 Bartimeus. But do not forget the deeper sor- 
 rows of which these were but the shadow. I 
 see more miserable souls before me. I can 
 weep over Bartimeus, but when I look at many 
 of you, I am amazed that I ever cease to weep. 
 What hardness has seized my heart that I can 
 think of you without tears, or meet you with- 
 out lamentation ? The heavens are astonished 
 at your wretchedness and doom, and why doth 
 not horror take hold on my soul ?' Oh that 
 my head were waters, and mine eyes a foun- 
 
 ■ Jer., ii. 12, 13; Ps. cxix. 53. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS, 55 
 
 tain of tears, that I miglit weep day and night 
 for jou/ O ye blinder blind, and j)oorer poor 
 than Bartimeus ! 
 
 Ah ! if it were only the eye of the body 
 that is out ! only the flesh that is clothed with 
 rags ! Yet that would be dreadful. It was 
 dreadful in visions of the night, when deep 
 sleep falleth on men.' Then I dreamed that 
 Sabbath morning had come, and I stood in 
 my pulj)it to preach ; when suddenly I saw 
 ]\ileness gathering on all faces ; for God was 
 wrapping you in His cloud and thick dark- 
 ness, and I stood alone among a congregation 
 of the blind. Then a change passed over your 
 bright raiment, and it became rags — the coarse 
 rags of beggars. All bloom fled from every 
 cheek, and every form was shrivelled and bent. 
 A horrible old age had come even on the faces 
 of little children. Ah I what a scene it was ! 
 Some of you groped your fearful way in 
 the dark. Some shrieked in frenzy. Some 
 stretched your bony hands and turned your 
 hunger-bitten faces toward heaven, and with 
 eyes that wept their own blindness, cried in 
 
 ■ Jer., ix. 1. 2 Job, iv. 13. 
 
66 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 anguish for liglit ; wlaile some sat still, pet- 
 rified with horror. Yet I knew you all as be- 
 fore. I looked down on the same dear faces, 
 wretched now, and ghastly, the same gentle 
 eyes through which loving souls had so often 
 looked in kindness on me, — now distorted and 
 wild, and " rolling in vain to find the day." 
 
 When grief and astonishment would let me, 
 I tried to speak, but none heard me. I called 
 aloud ; but screams and sobs and deep-drawn 
 sighs, and curses muttered through gnashing 
 teeth, drowned my voice. When lo ! amid 
 the great bitterness and struggle of my soul, I 
 heard the voice of God saying unto me, 
 " Weep not, nor be dismayed for this ; but 
 weej) for souls that see not, and hearts that 
 are blind. Weep for the desolations of sin, of 
 which I have now shown thee a little, lest I 
 visit the people in mine anger, and there be 
 no remedy ; lest I smite them in my wrath, 
 and their blindness be everlasting. Weep for 
 them." 
 
 The awful voice had made a great silence, 
 and now again it spoke, and said to you, with 
 a benignant sweetness which melted your 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 57 
 
 hearts and poured sunbeams on your darkness, 
 " ye wretched, and miserable, and poor, and 
 blind, and naked ; I counsel you to buy of rae 
 gold tried in the fire, that ye may be rich ; and 
 wbite raiment that ye may be clothed, and 
 that the shame of your nakedness do not ap^ 
 pear; and anoint your eyes with eye-salve, 
 that ye may see !"^ 
 
 Will you not weep for yourselves, ye blind 
 souls ? Will you not believe God's testimony 
 declaring. your ruin and proclaiming a rem- 
 edy ? Will you not taste and see that the 
 Lord is gracious?' Will you not follow on 
 to know the Lord' as He reveals His loving- 
 kindness, in this story, in which human mis- 
 ery and Divine mercy so strangely meet, and 
 mercy so blessedly triumphs ? Consent to begin 
 in the depths with Bartimeus, and one day you 
 shall stand on the heights with him, praising 
 his God and }ours with irrepressible rejoicing. 
 
 But, poor man ! his song is not yet. He 
 still sits by the high-way, as unconscious as 
 the dead, of the blessing which even now 
 slowly draws near, and soon shall pour around 
 
 * Rev., iiL 18. ^ Psalm xxxiv. 8. ^ Hosea, vi. 3. 
 
58 BLIND BAETIMEUS. 
 
 and through him its streams of earthlj and 
 heavenly Hght. 
 
 There he sits in his drearj darkness, while 
 from the Throne an Eye of pitj is looking 
 down upon him, and from the gates of heaven 
 loving angels are pouring forth,* to behold a 
 new triumph of the power and grace of their 
 Lord,^ and welcome a new companion to their 
 everlasting joj,^ and that Lord Himself is 
 coming nearer, nearer, with his heart yearn- 
 ing for its gracious overflow. That celestial 
 virtue, which dwelt in unmeasured fulness in 
 Him and poured out so freelj that, if faith's 
 finger touched even the hem of His garment, 
 its liberal streams emptied themselves till all 
 human need was filled,^ — that virtue was even 
 now springing up from the deep wells of His 
 Deity and thrilling His human heart with 
 secret joy. 
 
 And is it not always so? Does not God 
 always begin with man ? What has man, ex- 
 cept his miseries, to attract any thing in God? 
 And what can these attract but grace — pure 
 
 ' Heb., L 14. ^l Peter, i. 12. 
 
 ' Luke, XV. 10. * Luke^ viii. 43-48. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 59 
 
 grace coming in place of deserved wrath? 
 And when even this comes, it finds no wel- 
 come or congenial home. " The grace of 
 God in the heart of man," says Leighton, " is 
 a tender plant in a strange, unkindly soil." 
 Both the seed and the sunshine, then, must 
 come from heaven. To him that hath, indeed, 
 shall be given, ^ but then what have we that 
 we did not receive?^ Every good gift is from 
 above.^ Have we repentance? Him hath 
 Grod exalted with His right hand to be a 
 Prince and Saviour, for to give repentance to 
 Israel, and forgiveness of sins.* Pardon is no 
 more the gift of Christ than the repentance 
 that leads to it. Have we faith ? It is the 
 gift of God.s Jesus is its Author as well as 
 Finisher.' Have we love? We love Him 
 because He first loved us.' Love, joy, peace, 
 long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
 meekness, temperance, are all the fruit of the 
 Spirit;* while if you would see what fruit 
 springs of itself from the vine of nature, you 
 may read just before,* where Paul counts over 
 
 1 Luke, xix. 26. ^ 1 Cor., iv. 7. ^ James, i. 17. 
 * Acts, V. 3L • Eph., ii. 8. " Heb., xii. 2. 
 
 ' 1 John, iv. 19. » Gal, v. 22, 23. 9 Gal., v. 19-21. 
 
60 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 seventeen bitter, deadly clusters,- and then, 
 weary of tbe dreadful count, adds, " and such 
 like." When God begins to deal graciously 
 with us, passing by us in pity, and looking 
 on us in love, to make us His in everlasting 
 espousals, we are described under the image 
 of a miserable infant, born in an accursed land 
 and of accursed parents, and cast out immedi- 
 ately, unpitied, into the open field, exposed, 
 helpless, bleeding, polluted, to die !* And in 
 many other Scriptures we are declared to be 
 by nature, dead in trespasses and sins, lying 
 in wickedness, children of wrath, having minds 
 which are enmity against God, of our father 
 the devil.' And if the likeness, corruption 
 and curse of hell are not ours for ever, the 
 change from first to last is of God. " Men find 
 a thing lovely, and love it ; God loves a thing, 
 and thereby makes it lovely.'" 
 
 In this case, it is indeed brought to pass 
 that the first word shall come from Bartimeus. 
 But Christ, who is coming near on purpose to 
 bless him, has, by His Providence, arranged 
 
 * Ezek. xvi. ^ Eph., ii. 1 ; 1 John, v. 19 ; Eph., ii. 3 ; 
 
 Eom., viii. f ; John. viii. 44. ° Jenkyn on Jude. 
 
BLIND EAKTIMEUS. 61 
 
 it that he shall be sitting there as He is to pass 
 by ; that he should have some previous knowl- 
 edge of Jesus of Nazareth and His power to 
 heal ; that his curiosity shall be awakened and 
 his desires excited, while through His grace 
 alone, he has faith to call Him Lord and trust 
 his cure to His power and compassion.' 
 
 There he sits hoping for mere worldly gain. 
 He has not come to meet Christ. It was not 
 in all his thoughts to get his eyes opened. 
 
 How many like him are before me, — dying 
 sinners on whom God's curse is resting, who 
 yet did. not come to secure the great salvation. 
 You have gathered in the place of mercy, but 
 not as fugitives from the wrath that is pursu- 
 ing you. You knew that Christ was preached 
 here in every sermon, but you did not come 
 to meet Him. How many of this perishing 
 multitude came for no higher reason than that 
 others were coming, and you knew not well 
 what else to be doing meantime, or you thought 
 it decent to come, or you like to hear sermons! 
 For these and such reasons you have dared to 
 seat yourselves in the house of God, and come 
 
 ' Cor., xii. 3 ; Eph., ii. 3. 
 6 
 
62 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 under the tremendous responsibilities of hearers 
 of the gospel ! To stroll through sacred places, 
 careless spectators of the crucifixion; indif- 
 ferent lookers-on while God comes down in 
 tempest and blackness on Mount Sinai, to give 
 His dreadful Law ! 
 
 God grant a further parallel ; that you may 
 get what you did not come for, even a solemn 
 meeting and saving closing of your souls with 
 Jesus Christ ! 
 
 There sits the blind man, when a faint sound 
 catches his quick ear. He listens, and per- 
 ceives a noise of many foot-steps, a murmur 
 of many voices, confused and distant. On 
 they come, and hope rises high in his breast. 
 To-day shall be a harvest to him. It is rare 
 that so many pass at once, and now will he be 
 diligent. On they come, and louder grows 
 the sound of steps, the swell of voices. Won 
 der mingles with his hope, — wonder what all 
 this means, for now they are near, and plainly 
 it is a great multitude. 
 
 A multitude with Jesus ! a multitude of fol- 
 lowers ! How can he then complain, I have 
 labored in vain, I have spent my strength 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 63 
 
 for naught ?^ Simply because He bad many 
 followers, but few friends ; many from curios- 
 ity, many for loaves, many for fashion, but 
 few from faith, few from love. And so it bas 
 been ever since. 
 
 A multitude with Jesus ! But it is not all 
 following that He blesses. Judas followed Him 
 daily, but remained to the end the thief and 
 devil he was from tbe beginning.'' Once tbe 
 people not only followed but thronged Him ; 
 but only one was healed, and she touched but 
 the hem of His garment. They pressed upon 
 Him, but hers was tne only touch of faith.' 
 Mere outward connection with Christ did no 
 man any good. . And so it has been ever 
 since. 
 
 A multitude with Jesus I Yes, when His 
 march is at all triumphal, — when as He goes 
 He invests His progress with the splendor of 
 miracles, there will be no want of a crowd to 
 gape after Him. But though He fed as well 
 as dazzled them yesterday, a little hard doc- 
 trine preached to-day thins them with a wit- 
 
 ' Isa., xlix. 4. ^ John, vi. 70; Mat., xxvi. 24; :cxviL 5 
 ' Mark, v. 27, 31, 34. 
 
64 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 ness, No man, said Jesus, can come unto me, 
 except it were given unto him of my Father. 
 From that time many of His disciples went 
 back and walked no more with Him.* And 
 so it has been ever since. 
 
 A multitude with Jesus ! Take care, then, 
 ye members of the Church. Examine your- 
 selves close] \\ Profession of religion is easy 
 now. Numbers give power, respectability, 
 fashion, even enthusiasm. Seel They spread 
 their costly raiment in His path. They pave 
 His way with purple. The thunder of their 
 hosannahs goes up to heaven.^ But to-morrow 
 He is alone, and the multitude grow hoarse 
 with hooting and cursing Him.' So little was 
 the applause of the multitude worth ; so little 
 did popularity test principle in the days of 
 Jesus. And so it has been ever since. 
 
 A multitude with Jesus ! Blessed be God, 
 in that multitude some true disciples may be 
 found ; some who, though weak and sin- 
 ning, — forward, like Peter, when they should be 
 backward/ and then backward, of course, when 
 
 ' John, vL 65, 66. =" Mat., xxi. 8, 9. 
 
 ' Luko, xxiii. 18. 21. 23. * Mat, xvi. 22. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 65 
 
 thej should be forward ;' ambitious, like Zeb- 
 edee's children,'' or doubting like Thomas,' are 
 still true friends of Jesus, living for Him, suf- 
 fering for Him, growing like Him day bj day, 
 and dying for Him without a murmur, if He 
 so appoint. Always remember that. Jesus 
 Christ has never been left without true fol- 
 lowers. Among the professed people of God 
 there have always been real people of God. 
 So it was in the days of Christ. And so it 
 has been ever since. 
 
 "And hearing the multitude." O what a 
 blessing is that ! His ears are open though 
 his eyes are shut. Thus God remembers to 
 be gracious. Where He takes one mercy He 
 leaves another. He never takes all until the 
 cup of iniquity is full,* and then wrath comes 
 to the uttermost and shivers it/ He leaves 
 even the heathen without excuse, for they 
 may know His eternal power and Godhead 
 from the works of creation.* And no sinner 
 need flatter himself that because the Bible 
 calls him blind or dead, he shall therefore 
 
 ' Mat, xxvL 58. ^ Mat, xx. 20-24. 3 John, xs. 25. 
 
 • Sen., XV. 16. * 1 Thes., ii. 16. s Rom., i. 20, 32 ; iL 14, 15. 
 
 6* 
 
66 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 escape duty or condemnation. The same 
 epistle whicla pronounces sinners dead in tres- 
 passes and sins, shouts in their ears, Awake, 
 thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead 
 and Christ shall give thee light!' 
 
 Yes sinners, you are blind ; you cannot see 
 spiritual beauty or glory. But you can ' hear' 
 of them, and know that you must see t'uem or 
 perish. 
 
 "But / cannot open my eyes. So you 
 have told me again and again. You say I am 
 helpless." 
 
 You are indeed; but it remains nevertheless 
 true that you must see or perish. 
 
 "Is not this a hard case? Is not such 
 preaching mockery ? I cannot open ray 
 eyes." 
 
 True, true, and the more's the pity. It is 
 a hard case. For the constitution of heaven 
 will not be changed by your helplessness. 
 Christ tells us that none are blessed but they 
 who see Grod, and that only the pure in heart 
 shall see Him." But your heart is foul with 
 sin which God hates, and its foulness has 
 
 ' Eph., ii. 1 V. 14. = Mat., v. 8. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 67 
 
 blinded yoar eyes find brought you under 
 His curse. So that you are, indeed, in help- 
 less blindness. And yet you must -see or 
 perish. 
 
 "But why preach this to me? If I am 
 helpless, why urge me with impossible duties 
 and vain responsibilities?" 
 
 Because it is true that you are helpless, and 
 true that you must see or perish ! Both are 
 awful truths of God's word, and it greatly con- 
 cerns you to know them. I see, indeed, that 
 you would silence me by this logic. You 
 think that in pleading your inability, you 
 have an argument that will excuse you from 
 the duties you hate. Very well ; suppose you 
 do silence me. God will still call to you, 
 Kepent or perish,' Believe or be damned P 
 And if you do excuse yourself from these 
 hateful duties, do you know that you will also 
 excuse yourself from salvation ? You need 
 not see, you need not believe. God will not 
 compel your vision or 3'our faith. But He 
 tvill compel you to believe or be damned, to 
 see or be lost. So all your logic has done for 
 
 • Luke, xiii. 3, 5. ^ Mark, xvi. 16 
 
68 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 jou ia to shut you out of heaven. But per- 
 haps }■ ou do not believe that you are helpless. 
 Then prove your power by opening your 
 eyes. Try it. See, if you can. Look around 
 on the regions of spiritual beauty. Delight 
 yourself with the saints' blessedness. God's 
 light and love are pouring all around you, and 
 they will pour into you, if you can but open 
 your eyes. . . . There, have you done it? 
 Do they fill you with light? Bathe your soul 
 with wonder and bliss? Ah! have you failed? 
 Are you still blind? Is all dark? Is your 
 heart still cold and hard? Alas, then you 
 are helpless, and may never see ! Yet if you 
 do not see you must perish ! • 
 
 " Ah, me ! what then shall I do ?" 
 What ! are you indeed convinced that you 
 have no power to open your eyes ? And yet 
 that you must see or perish ? 
 
 " Yes, alas ! I feel my utter helj)lessness, 
 while the Law of God is urging me with its 
 heavy requirements. I know I can have no 
 heaven but in the vision of God reconciled, 
 and smiling on me. O that would indeed be 
 heaven ! But I do not, cannot see Him. I 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS, 69 
 
 am blind, and can do notliing. O wretched 
 man that 1 am, who shall deliver me?"' 
 
 Now, sinner, you find the use of preach- 
 ing your helplessness and your duty together. 
 The merciless dilemma has met you at either 
 hand, and shut you up to the faith of the 
 gospel.^ You have learned to despair of your 
 own strength, and cry out for a Dsliverer, 
 Then you were in no haste to obey God, for 
 what you could do at any time, why should 
 you not choose your own time for? You 
 would wait for a convenient season. But now 
 that shield of vain confidence is cast away, 
 and your naked heart bared to every arrow 
 from the quiver of God. You lie helpless 
 before a Sovereign God, justly condemned, 
 and hopelessl}^ lost, unless He save you. And 
 now I may tell you what to do. 
 
 Do what Bartimeus did. Hear the truth, 
 bear the truth, believe the truth. Settle it for 
 ever in your heart that if you do not see your 
 infinite need of a Saviour, and Christ's infinite 
 fitness to be your Saviour, you are lost. Then 
 cry to Jesus Christ to open your eyes. Salva- 
 
 > Kom., vii. 24. "" GaL, iii. 23. 
 
70 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 tion is by faith/ and faith is by hearing/ and 
 you have hearing, you do hear — hear that you 
 are blind, and the wrath of God is on you/ 
 and the vengeance of hell awaits you/ and 
 none but Jesus Christ can save you/ and He 
 can !° You hear that, and I pray you make 
 speedy use of it, or that will be taken away, 
 with every other sense and power, and this 
 death in sin will deepen into death in hell — 
 death in blindness and despair for ever ! 
 
 I have seen Laura Bridgman, whom God 
 sent into this world without sight, hearing, or 
 the power of speech. She could see nothing, 
 hear nothing, ask nothing. To her the very 
 thunder has ever been silence, and the sun 
 blackness. The tips of her fingers and the 
 palms of her hands have been her eyes and 
 ears and tongue. Yet that poor sickly girl 
 knows much of the earth and language and 
 numbers ; of human relationships and pas- 
 sions; of what is, has been, shall be, should 
 be ; of sin and death and hell ; of God and 
 Christ and Heaven. And all this has gone 
 
 Eph., ii. 8. 2 Rom., s. 17. = John, iii. 36. 
 
 * Mat.. XXV, 41. * Acts, iv. 12. ^ 1 Tim., i. 15. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 71 
 
 through the i^oor child's slemier fingers, 
 darkly feeling the fingers of another; and 
 thus she tells her hopes and fears and sorrows. 
 And if she, groping so blindly for the Sa- 
 viour, finds Him, and rests her weak hands 
 on His lowly Head, — that blessed Head which 
 bows lowly enough even for this, — oh, how will 
 she rise up in judgment,' and condemn, with 
 utter overwhelming, you, sinners, upon 
 whose souls every sense is pouring the knowl- 
 edge of God, while your eyes read His Holy 
 Word, and your ears hear, a thousand times 
 over, these tidings of great joy, — even the 
 glorious gospel of the blessed God P 
 
 " Hearing the multitude pass by, he asked 
 what it meant." So this inarticulate preach- 
 ing of the passing multitude arrested the at- 
 tention of the blind man, and awakened his 
 cariosity, and set him to inquiring the mean- 
 ing of these things. '' Hearing, he asked." 
 Yes, yes, that is the true progression. If there 
 is a movement in the Church, if a new impulse 
 is given to the power of godliness, if Christ 
 walks amidst His people," even though false 
 
 ' Mat., xii. 41, 42. = 1 Tim. L .' ! ^ Rev., li. 1. 
 
72 BLIND BAKTIMEUS. 
 
 professors gather with them ; if the tread of 
 Zion on the earth is like the tread of an army 
 with banners/ then will a blind, ungodly- 
 world be arrested from its hungry, clamorous 
 quest after mere earthly gain. It will con- 
 sider and wonder and inquire. If the Church, 
 — if you, my brethren, will cease to wander 
 or dance or drudge wherever the world 
 does; if you will be awake and up, and 
 gather nearer to Christ and thus nearer to 
 each other ; if you will move onward wth 
 Christ, then men loill look up. Old Avarice 
 will drop his muck-rake, and Ambition forget 
 to chase his bubble, and on the highway qt 
 byway, in court and camp and on 'change, 
 men will pause and look ; and the movements 
 of a spiritual Church will make them wonder, 
 and they will inquire, (while no little awe is 
 creeping over their hearts,) What do these 
 things mean? Where are these men going? 
 Why do they seem like strangers and pilgrims, 
 with their loins girded and their faces set to- 
 ward some far-off country ?" Why are they 
 so earnest ? Why do they seem to walk 
 
 ' Song, vL 10. = Heb., xi. 13; Luke, xii. 35 ; Jen, ]. 5. 
 
BLIND BAliTIMEtrS. 78 
 
 above the world/ while yet they scatter ten 
 thousand sweet charities as tbej pass? Whal 
 means their strange speech like an unearthlj; 
 harmony ? Why do they sing in the way 
 brave songs of glory, even when the cloud 
 wraps them, and the driving storm beats them 
 with its hail ? 
 
 If Zion thus moved on with her King in the 
 midst of her/ how would the thunder of her 
 triumph shake the earth ! Ah, brethren, if 
 you, just you, thus moved on under the Cap- 
 tain of your salvation, how would this citj be 
 stirred ! Your life would then be preaching 
 all over the town, — in every street and lane, 
 and it would be preaching which would crowd 
 this house continually with anxious inquir- 
 ers. In my heart I believe it ; every seat 
 and standing-place would be filled, and the 
 place be speedily too strait for us,* and that 
 cheering cry be heard again among us, Let us 
 rise up and build/ Then would these courts 
 be still and awful. Believers would find it 
 hard to be absent. Pious affections, deep 
 
 ' Pi-ov., XV. 24. 2 pg. cxsxviii. 5. =* Zech., iii. 15, 17. 
 < Isa., xlix. 20. ' Neh., ii. 18. 
 
 7 
 \ 
 
74 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 adorations, importunate desires would fill their 
 hearts and go up to heaven. With what power 
 would the J sing! With" what fervor would 
 they pray ! With what holy relish would 
 they eat the simple food of the gospel ! And 
 how would the unpardoned hang with pain- 
 ful anxiety on the words of life ! How sim- 
 ple and easy would preaching then be, — yet 
 savoring so preciously of Hfe everlasting 
 through Christ crucified. 
 
 Shall I describe a sermon which would re- 
 fresh the people of God, and be as arrows in 
 the hearts of His enemies,' till they became 
 willing captives of Christ 2"^ 
 
 My text shall be my guide. The road-side 
 was the church, the multitude preached, and 
 Bartimeus was the hearer. And now for the 
 sermon ; — "And they told him, Jesus of Naz- 
 areth passeth by." " Jesus of Nazareth passeth 
 by !" That is the whole of it, and I think it a 
 very good one, when we consider the occasion. 
 At any rate it enchained the whole mind and 
 heart of Bartimeus. It went down into his 
 soul like a beam of light, and filled him with 
 ' Psalm xlv. 5. '' Psalm ex. 3. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 75 
 
 amazement and joy. It was the strangest, 
 gladdest word lie had ever heard. 'Jesus of 
 Nazareth — the Saviour — He who openeth the 
 eyes of the blind ! Is He here — so near me — 
 where I may speak to Him ? O has the day 
 come at last, when my eyes shall be opened ? 
 When I shall see, shall see, and be no more 
 a beggar ? O can such news be true ?' 
 
 So you see it was a poicerful sermon. It 
 went to the heart and took complete posses- 
 sion of it. I am quite sure Bartimeus was not 
 a captious critic of that sermon. He had no 
 time to think whether it was uttered fast or 
 slowly, loudly or gently. Bat what made it 
 so powerful? "Jesus of Nazareth passeth 
 by." That is all of it. I am afraid many of 
 us would think very little of such a sermon. 
 But Bartimeus felt his blindness and his need 
 of Christ. There is the difference. The power 
 of the sermon was in the state of the hearer's 
 heart. A sermon often seems poor because 
 we are cold. There is a difference in sermons, 
 no doubt. But I read that men could go to 
 sleep while Paul preached,' and even the wise 
 
 ' Acts, XX. 9. 
 
T6 BLIND BARTIMEUS, 
 
 men of Athens called him a babbler and 
 mocked/ while the most noble Festus, who 
 was a gentleman in high life, and should have 
 known better, interrupted him in the midst of 
 his sermon, and pronounced him " mad," "^ — 
 crazj, as we would saj. If sinners and saints 
 felt their needs more, — if thej oftener came 
 from secret devotions, the simplest things we 
 could saj of Christ would be like bread to the 
 hungry and cold waters to the tlnrsty soul.' 
 
 It was a very simple sermon. Who cannot 
 preach it? "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by." 
 There is no follower of Jesus who cannot tell 
 poor blind souls this. Yet this is the message 
 which is to save the world. The Bible tells it 
 over in a thousand forms. Fill your hearts 
 with them, and go, tell the glad tidings to lost 
 sinners every where. I thank God that the 
 gospel is so simple that the whole multitude 
 of Christ's followers can preach it. 
 
 And so must the preaching from the pulpit 
 be simple. We must say many things that 
 our hearers already know. A good preacher 
 tries to make all truth simple. He is a bad 
 
 ' Acts, xvii. 18, 32 ' Acts, xxvi. 24. ' Prov., xxv. 25, 
 
 » 
 
BLIXD BARTIMEUa 77 
 
 shepherd, say the old writers, who holds the 
 hay too high for the sheep. According to 
 Lord Bacon, little minds love to inflate plain 
 things into marvels, while great minds love to 
 reduce marvels to plain things. 
 
 " The very essence of truth," says Milton, 
 "is plainness and brightness; the darkness 
 and crookedness are our own.'" ** Better the 
 grammarian should reprehend," says Jenkyn, 
 " than the people not understand. Pithy plain- 
 ness is the beauty of preaching. What good 
 doth a golden key that opens not ?"^ An old 
 lady once walked a great way to hear the cele- 
 brated Adam Clarke preach. She had heai-d 
 he was " such a scholar," as indeed he was. 
 But she was bitterly disappointed, " because," 
 said she, " I understood every thing he said." 
 And I knew a man who left the church one 
 morning quite indignant, because the preacher 
 had one thing in his sermon he knew before I 
 It was a little explanation meant for the chil- 
 dren, — 'dear little things, — they are always 
 coming on, and I love to see their bright little 
 
 ' Reformation in England. Book First. 
 ' Exposition upon Jude. 
 7'" 
 
78 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 faces among the older people. We used to 
 need and prize these simple explanations, and 
 why shouldn't thej have them in their turn ? 
 And this blessed thing is to be said of the 
 gospel : Let it be made ever so simple, so that 
 little children are drinking it in with gratefal 
 wonder, it still has depths and riches to satisfy 
 the mind and heart of the mightiest philoso- 
 pher, if only he has that highest attainment 
 of wisdom, — a simple, child-like faith. Like 
 the sun, it is mirrored at the same moment by 
 the dew-drop and the ocean. 
 
 But best of all, this sermon was about Christ. 
 He is mentioned alone. When Bartimeus 
 asked " what it meant," these preachers did 
 not answer, " We are passing b}'." Yet their 
 movements arrested him ; he heard them. But 
 when he asked what the multitude meant, they 
 told him " Jesus of Nazareth passeth by." It 
 is a happy thing when the church can say 
 of all its great movements and excitements, 
 "Jesus is passing by." This is a test of re- 
 vivals, a test of all right Christian effort, — 
 " Jesus passeth by." This is the test too of a 
 good sermon. " The excellency of a sermon," 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 79 
 
 says Flavel, " lies in the plainest discoveries 
 and liveliest applications of Jesus Christ." 
 
 They announce that Jesus is near. What 
 blessed tidings to Bartimeus! In this you all 
 agree. It was a great thing for him to liave 
 his eyes opened. From these far-off ages your 
 sj'mpathies run back and mingle "with his 
 agitation of joy. To have the eyes opened — 
 to see for tL^e first time ! The rapture must be 
 indescribable. 
 
 And when I announce the nearness of 
 Jesus, now and here, to you, sinner, why 
 is not the news joyful? Was it much that 
 those eyes should be opened upon a world 
 darkened by the curse, and stained by the 
 shadow of death, and furrowed so roughly 
 with graves? eyes often to be dimmed with 
 tears and soon with age ? eyes whose brief 
 light death should soon quench with the clods 
 of the valley, and leave their hollow sockets 
 to be nests for worms? Yes, yes, I confess 
 it, even this was much. But oh, tell me, in 
 your turn, is it nothmg to you that Jesus is 
 again near, and that your eyes may this day 
 be opened to the light of the Cross? light 
 
80 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 fairer than the moon, clearer than the sun, and 
 making earth radiant with the glories of 
 heaven? light which often streams brightest 
 in death, gilding even the dark valley ? light 
 of the everlasting Throne, on which, with 
 saints and angels, you may gaze for ever ? 
 
 And is it tidings of this light alone, which 
 cannot agitate ? Is it only eternal salvation 
 that is a trifle ? Is it only because the offered 
 blessedness is absolutely immeasurable and 
 everlasting, that it is not worth your thought 
 or care ? 
 
 Miserable souls ! so blind that you do not 
 know your blindness, so blind that you do 
 not believe it, though God declares it, my 
 business now is to tell you that Jesus Christ 
 is near, — He passeth by ! Now is your time ; 
 make haste to secure your salvation. How 
 near He is ! He passeth by in the light of 
 every Sabbath sun, in every church built to 
 His Name, in every reading of His Word, 
 in every gospel sermon, in sacraments and 
 prayers and psalms, but most of all in every 
 movement of His Spirit on the heart. K you 
 feel under the truth, if your conscience con- 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 81 
 
 firms what God declares, if you have been 
 made even uneasy in your sin, if like Felix 
 you have trembled,' or like Agrippa have 
 * been almost persuaded to be a Christian,^ oh, 
 let me tell you that / did not work any of 
 these things in your heart. Who am I, that 
 I can put a pulse in the heart of death ?^ 
 They are not my work, and I dare not claim 
 the glory of them/ God's Spirit has been 
 stirring in your heart, striving with you for 
 your eternal salvation ! What an awfulness 
 does that give to these services ! Jesus, God 
 manifest in the flesh,^ is here, by His gracious 
 Spirit.' He fills every ordinance/ He moves 
 from heart to heart. You are in His tremen- 
 dous presence, under His omniscient eye, in 
 the grasp of His infinite power, in the gracious 
 sphere of His healing love. 
 
 But He " passeth hy P He will not always 
 tarry.8 The day of grace is not for ever.' Its 
 sun will go down, and the night that follows 
 is eternal despair.'" Christ never passed that 
 
 * Acts, xxiv. 25. * Acts, xxvi. 28. ' 2 Kings, v. 6. 
 
 * Ps. CX7. 1. "1 Tim., iii. 16. s John, xvi. 7, 8. 
 '' Mat., xviiL 20. ^ John, xii. 35, 36. » Gen., vi. 3. 
 
 1" John, viii. 21, 24 ; Luke. xix. 42. 
 
82 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 way again ; He may never pass your way 
 again. That was His last visit to Jericho ; 
 this call may be His last visit to you. This 
 was Bartimeus' only opportunity ; to-day may 
 be your only opportunity.' Woe, woe, to 
 Bartimeus, if he lose this golden season ! If 
 he does he shall die in his blindness. Woe, 
 a heavier woe to you, O sinner, if 3^0 a slight 
 this, your golden season, for securing this great 
 salvation P This moment may decide your 
 doom. Fly to Jesus Christ ! 
 
 * 2 Cor., vl 2. "^ Heb., iL 3 
 
. III. 
 
 " And -when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazarelh, he be- 
 gan to cry out and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have 
 mercy on me 1" 
 
 I E left Bartimeus listening to his first 
 gospel sermon. The preachers seem 
 to have done their part well. At 
 any rate their message was good. 
 It was simple, straight-forward and 
 altogether about Jesus Christ. 
 
 We do not know how they spoke. It would 
 be pleasant, for their sakes, to know that they 
 showed a proper sympathy with the precious 
 words they were saying, and with the poor 
 man who heard them. But if we cannot tell 
 this, we know what concerns us far more, — ■ 
 that they told him the very thing he needed. 
 However rude in speech, they have let him 
 know that the Healer of the blind is near ; 
 and I am sure that nothing they could say 
 about any thing else could make up for not 
 
84 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 telling liim that. The most eloquent harangue 
 on th"e politics of the times, though Pilate and 
 Herod and CaBsar, and Roman eagles and Jew- 
 ish banners, and liberty and nationality and 
 destiny had rolled with splendid imagery 
 through sounding periods, would have been a 
 sad exchange for those simple words, — " Jesus 
 of Nazareth passeth by." Nor would Aris- 
 totle's keenest logic, nor Plato's finest specu- 
 lations have served a whit better. The man 
 was blind, and wanted his eyes opened ; and 
 till this was done, these things, however set 
 forth, were but trash and mockery. 
 
 Mockery ? Are not the preachers of Grod's 
 Word stewards in Christ's House?' And has 
 He not made ready to our hands boundless 
 stores for perishing sinners, and bidden us 
 give as freely as we have received?^ And 
 when hungry souls come at our call to the 
 gospel feast and wait to be fed, if we give 
 them dry husks of philosophy for the " strong 
 meat" of doctrine, the " stone" of hard meta- 
 physics for the living bread of God's saving 
 truth, and the " scorpion" of envenomed po- 
 1 1 Cor., iv. 1, 2 ; 1 Pet., iv. 10. ' Mat, x. 8. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 85 
 
 litical faaaticism for tlie sincere milk of the 
 word, clusters from Esbcol, water from the 
 Eiver of Life, wine of gladness, and manna 
 still wet witli the dews with which, it came 
 down from heaven,* — is it not bitterest mock- 
 ery of the deepest sorrows and basest treachery 
 to the highest trusts ? 
 
 Nay, if these preachers told their glad tidings 
 in an unfeeling way, it was a great wrong, — » 
 a wrong to themselves and Bartimeus and 
 sucli blessed truth, but still a wrong immea- 
 surably less than not to have told such truth, 
 in whatever way. 
 
 But if the preacher's responsibility is so 
 dreadful, I pray you, has the hearer no re- 
 sponsibility? If these men tell Bartimeus 
 that Jesus passeth by, though in a way hav- 
 ing what faults you please, will he not be the 
 most besotted of fools, if he turns from this 
 glorious opportunity, and gropes his way back 
 to his hovel, to sit down there in poverty and 
 darkness, and sneer or laugh or be angry at 
 these failures in manner or spirit? These 
 
 ■ Heb., V. 14; Luke, xi. 11, 12; 1 Pet., ii. 2 Numb., xiii. 
 23 ; Rev., xxii. 1 ; Numb., xi. 9. 
 
 8 
 
86 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 things concern them, and they must answer 
 for them to God, but what concerns him but 
 that he is blind, and now "Jesus of Naza- 
 reth passeth by?" 
 
 Take heed, therefore, how ye hear,' is the 
 warning of Christ. O there is much in that ! 
 K we must take heed to our preaching, you 
 must take heed to your hearing. If an awfal 
 account must be given from the pulpit, one 
 hardly less awful must be given from the pew. 
 If it is no light thing to preach the gospel, you 
 will find that it is no light thing to hear the 
 gospel. Eternal salvation depends on right 
 hearing. There are just two kinds of hearing, 
 not three. There is a hearing unto life, and 
 another hearing unto death ; but there is no 
 hearing between, — none to indifference. You 
 may try to hear merely that you may hear, 
 and let that be the end of it, — ^but that will 
 not be the end of it. The end of it will be 
 life or death ! You may resolve that the 
 preaching shall make no difference in you, — 
 but it will make a difference in you, and the 
 difference will be salvation or perdition I The 
 
 * Luke, viii. 18. 
 
BLIND BAKTIMEUS. 87 
 
 gospel leaves no man where it found him. If 
 it be not wings to bear him to heaven, it will 
 be a mill-stone to sink him to hell. Some of 
 you think it the lightest of pastimes to come 
 to church and hear a sermon. I warn you 
 that this is a fearful mistake. I will speak to 
 you in the words of God : We are ambassadors 
 for Christ, as though God did beseech you by 
 us : we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye rec- 
 onciled to God.^ "We are unto God a sweet 
 savor of Christ, in them that are saved and 
 in them that perish : to the one we are the 
 savor of death unto death ; and to the other 
 the savor of life unto life.^ If our gospel be, 
 hid, it is hid to them that are lost.* This is 
 true always. It is true to-day, — of this ser- 
 mon. As God is true, this process is now 
 going on in every hearer. Each one of you 
 is this moment fitting either for blessedness 
 with God, or for His wrath in hell ; for which, 
 depends on one thing alone, — how you are 
 now hearing. Take heed then, and that you 
 may do this the more intelligently, see further 
 how Bartimeus heard. I think we shall find 
 
 » 2 Cor., V. 20. 2 2 Gov., ii. 15, 16. =2 Cor., iv. 3. 
 
88 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 most of the marks of a good hearer in him, 
 and I shall notice none other. 
 
 I. His hearing led him to action. His very 
 soul seemed to be roused, and he began txD do 
 something. 
 
 In contrast with this we see the great fault 
 of gospel hearers in this day. It is not that 
 you are not polite and attentive hearers. 
 Your orderly sitting and solemn listening are 
 even beyond our expectation. When Paul 
 and Stephen and Christ preached, the peo- 
 ple often made a tumult. They mocked ; they 
 sneered ; they cried out and threw dust into the 
 air. They were ready to beat and kill them.* 
 You'do none of these things, I often wonder 
 you do not. It sometimes makes me fear I 
 have not dealt faithfully with you. Yet I try- 
 to preach as plainly as they did. I take their 
 very words, and in the name of God speak 
 them boldly to you. I do not abate one jot 
 of their terrible energy and point. Yea, I take 
 the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of 
 God,'' and with unsparing hand lay open your 
 hearts. I repeat the tremendous descriptions 
 ' John, viii, 59 ; Acts, xxii. 22, 23, &c., &c. = Eph., vi 17. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEL'S. 89 
 
 which God has given of them ; I apply the 
 dreadful names bj which He has called you ; 
 I sound aloud the threats of His wrath ; I 
 strive in every way to make you feel that I 
 am personal, — that I mean you, — every unre- 
 generate soul ; and for these things in Christ's 
 day, they would have gnashed on me with 
 their teeth and hurled me out of the city; 
 while you listen so calmly, so complacently, 
 that I cannot tell saint from sinner; the men 
 against whom God's curses are thundered, from 
 those to whom His eternal blessing is sealed; 
 the men, who through sovereign grace are 
 washed, who are sanctified, who are justified in 
 the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit 
 of our God,' from those who are lying in wick- 
 edness," the enemies of the cross of Christ,' 
 condemned already,* and in ijastant danger of 
 the vengeance of eternal fire !' 
 
 Is it not a marvel ? What ails you, O man, 
 that nothing can rouse you — if not to feel 
 right, at least to feel at all ? if not to rise and 
 lay hold on eternal life," at least to stir in your 
 
 ' 1 Cor., vi. 11. 2 1 John, v. 19. ' p|^_^ jj|^ jg^ 
 
 * John, iii. 18. Miide, vii. ° 1 Tim., vi. 12. 
 
90 BLIND BARTIMEUS, 
 
 tomb, and give us some token for hope thai 
 you are not already past feeling/ — ^blind, deaf, 
 dead, spiritually, utterly, everlastingly dead ! 
 
 Oh, .for a pulse of life in those frozen 
 hearts ! A flush of blood, even though it 
 were angry blood, in those pale cheeks ! Give 
 me Saul breathing out threatenings and slaugh- 
 ters, rather than Gallio caring for none of 
 these things.^ Some arrow of truth has pierced 
 the heart of Saul or he would not rage so; 
 and soon 3'ou read of him as Paul the Apostle. 
 But I fear Gallio went on in his careless way, 
 till the pains of hell made him care for ever. 
 
 " I came to break your head," said a man 
 once to Whitefield, " but by the grace of God 
 you have broken my heart." That was a vile 
 purpose to go to church with, but if he had 
 gone in a complacent frame, and quietly slept 
 or coolly criticised the preacher, it would have 
 been far woree. He would not have carried 
 away that priceless treasure — a broken heart. 
 
 If what we say is true, why do you not act 
 upon it? If false, how can you bear to be 
 charged with it? If our charges are f\dse, 
 
 ' ISph., iy. 19. "^ Acts, ix. 1 ; xviii. 17. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 91 
 
 they are also insulting and outrageous. K 
 you believe them to be felse, your conduct, in 
 hearing them so calmly, and coming back to 
 hear them again, and even sometimes applaud- 
 ing us for the vehement way in which we as- 
 sail and denounce you, is perfectly astonish- 
 ing. Why look at it ! You gather in a church 
 on a Sabbath iiiorning, and we strip away all 
 your hopes, one by one; we weigh all your 
 moralities and good deeds in the scale of 
 God's law, and, by God's authority, write 
 " wanting" on every one ;' we cast the light 
 of heaven on your boasted righteousness, and 
 the comely robe, in which you were so confi- 
 dently wrapped, turns to rags and filthiness ;^ 
 we press on into your very heart, and in God's 
 name, pronounce it deceitful above all things 
 and desperately wicked f and when we have 
 left you thus naked, helpless, guilty and with- 
 out hope, we show you the storm which death, 
 devils and hell are urging on, and vv^hich waits 
 only for the nod of the sin-avenging God, 
 whom you have made your enemy, and are 
 now provoking to sweep you as chaff into 
 
 • Rom., iii. 20. " Lsa., Ixiv. 6. ' Jer., xvii. 9, 
 
92 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 ruin beyond redemption ;^ — and believing all 
 this to be false, you bear it, and go out smil- 
 ing, and say tbat was a good sermon, and you 
 like to bear a man preach that way; and that 
 night or the next Sabbath you come back to 
 hear the same things again ! 
 
 Or if you say you believe these things to 
 be true, your conduct is still more amazing. 
 K true, they should concern you infinitely : 
 yet you are not concerned at all. If true, 
 they are of eternal weight, and should over- 
 ride every business, care and pleasure in the 
 world ; jet the lightest trifle of time overrides 
 them, and tramples them in the dust and 
 buries them in utter forgetfulness. You will 
 call Bartimeus a fool if he does not try to get 
 his eyes opened this very day. But what 
 name will 3'ou reserve for yourselves, if, while 
 I this day, as one of these ambassadors of 
 God, offer you pardon and healing and eternal 
 life through Jesus Christ, who now passes by 
 to bestow tliem, you once more refuse the 
 Saviour, and go on as before toward perdi- 
 tion? 
 
 " Job, xxi. 18. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 93 
 
 But Bartimeus is no fool. As he hears he 
 acts. " Jesus of Nazareth passeth by," say 
 the multitude, and straightway the blind eyes 
 fill with tears, the faded cheeks flush with 
 hope, the hands are out-stretched in supplica- 
 tion, and his very soul pours out in the cry, 
 "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me !" 
 
 II. This reveals to us the second mark of 
 right hearing; — It fills a man with earnestness. 
 If he has heard such truth as he ought, he not 
 only acts, but acts with energy. Thus Barti- 
 meus acted. " When he heard he cried out." 
 The word means a great and strong cry. The 
 multitude was around him ; but he cared not 
 for that. They were mostly strangers to him ; 
 but he cared not for that. Those who did 
 know him knew him as a beggar ; but he 
 cared not for that. He had never been in the 
 presence of Christ before ; but even this did 
 not deter him. Beggar as he was, he " cried 
 out" before Him, before them all. He felt 
 too deeply the bitterness of blindness, the 
 misery of poverty, the degradation of beg- 
 gary, to think of these things. 
 
 So it must be with you, O sinners. If you 
 
94 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 would enter heaven you must be in earnest 
 about it.' Men were brought on beds to Christ 
 to be healed,'^ but no man ever went to heaven 
 lying on his bed and borne on the shoulders 
 of others. In the preparations needful for gain- 
 ing heaven^ I find an account of many pieces 
 of hard armor/ but no mention of a bed. 
 There they rest in their beds/ but our rest is 
 not yet. You will never wake up some fine 
 morning and find yourself pious. The great 
 change will not steal softly over you while . 
 you sit at ease. You must be awake, and up, 
 and at it. You must strive, says Christ/ — 
 Strive like a wrestler who has his foe and his 
 match ; — Strive like a runner, when the race 
 is long and the runners many, and but one 
 can win ; — Strive as the soldier, when the 
 conflict is sharp, and he who conquers not 
 must die.° Such is the Scripture usage of 
 that 'striving' by which we enter into life. 
 The word is full of earnestness, — 'Aywvi^ea0«, — 
 earnestness even to ' agony !' 
 
 ' Mat, xi. 12. "" Mark, ii. 2, 3. ^ Eph., vi. 11-18. 
 
 * Isa., Ivii. 2. ^ Luke, xiii. 24. 
 
 • 1 Cor., ix. 24^27; 1 Tim., vi. 12. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 95 
 
 Let us now see how this earnestness found 
 expression. So shall we have another mark 
 of true hearing. 
 
 III. When the gospel is heard aright, it 
 leads to ]irayer. This was the first thing Bar- 
 timeus did, when he was told that Jesus was 
 passing bj, — he prayed. And this is always 
 the first thing for a lost sinner who hears of 
 Christ, — let him pray. A soul truly in ear- 
 nest after salvation iviil cry for help. If a 
 man feels his just exposure to wrath, he will 
 be full of anguish, and his anguish will con- 
 strain him to cry out. For what is prayer 
 but human need craving the divine fulness, 
 the wretchedness of earth begging the conso- 
 lations of heaven, man's guilt beseeching the 
 mercy of God? By prayer the helplessness 
 of the creature clings to the strength of the 
 Creator. Prayer is a voice from nature's 
 wound calling to the heavenly Healer. 
 
 Self-preservation is the first law of nature, 
 and when our strength fails, prayer is nature's 
 messenger for helpers. It may be the shriek 
 of fright, the scream of torture, the imploring 
 eye, the quivering lip, the clasped hands, the 
 
96 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 pleading tongue, or any of the thousand 
 forms by which heart speaks to heart ; — these 
 are nature's prayers. 
 
 And when did nature fail to pray in her 
 need? Hunger will beg and pain cry out. 
 Though the fever have caused madness, the 
 sufferer will still cry for water. None need 
 teach the babe to clamor for its nurture. 
 Birds can plead for their young, and the dog 
 entreat you, with all the power of speech, to 
 follow him to the forest where his master lies 
 robbed and bleeding. 
 
 And has the soul no voice in its sickness 
 unto death ? Is the instinct of the brute a 
 sure guide, and do the reason and conscience 
 of men slumber or lie? Or are they quick- 
 sighted and honest about bodily wants and 
 earthly things, only to show themselves utterly 
 besotted, when glory, honor and immortality 
 are at stake? When your souls are in jeo- 
 pardy, must you be plied with such urgency, 
 before you will cry for help ? Alas, I see you 
 lying in the arms of Satan, bound hand and 
 foot with his hellish letters, and borne swiftly 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 97 
 
 away into liis region of outer darkness.' His 
 cruel eye glares on you, in anticipation of the 
 tortures lie will soon begin on your helpless 
 soul. Further and further from hope and 
 heaven he bears you, the frown of God is on 
 you, and the shadows of night are deepening 
 around you. Thicker grows the gloom, when 
 flash ! flash ! shoot up the flames of hell, as it 
 is moved from beneath to meet you at your 
 coming. Ah, why are you not terrified ? Why 
 do we hear no cry of alarm, no call for help ? 
 Does your soul know no law of self-preserva- 
 tion? Has it no instinct of terror? Does 
 Eeason see nothing fearful in the blackness of 
 darkness, the pangs of undying remorse, the 
 torments of unquenchable fire?* Can it be 
 that you believe these things ? You say you 
 do, but can it be, when they do not move you 
 to prayer? When God calls you from the 
 secret place of thunder,^ shall His voice be 
 unregarded? When He declares that these 
 things truly describe your woful state, will you 
 
 ' 1 Jolin, V. 19; "lieth in wickedness;" ralher, (it is gen- 
 erally agreed,) "in the Wicked One." 2 Tim., ii. 2G ; Eph., 
 ii. 2 Mude, 13; Mark, ix. 4;^, 44, 45, 46, 47, 4S. 
 
 ■' Psalm Ixxxi. 1. 
 
 9 
 
98 BLIND BAETIMEUS. 
 
 give Him the lie by your indifference, and 
 still sleep on as you fast post to hell ? 
 
 Sinners, be entreated to pray. You must 
 pray or perish. No sinner ever went to heaven 
 without prayer. Grod's curse is on the prayer- 
 less. The tongue that will not call on Him 
 for mercy, shall consume in the fires of His 
 wrath. Sleep now or not, you will not sleep 
 long. If the voice of grace, sometimes warn- 
 ing, sometimes inviting, cannot wake you and 
 bring you to your knees, God will try the 
 voice of unmixed vengeance. He will see 
 whether the shout of the Archangel and the 
 trump of God will fail. Ah! then you will 
 wake, to sleep no more. Then you will come 
 to your knees, for the weight of the Omnipo- 
 tent hand will bring you down. The stoutest 
 devil will bend and you will crouch beside 
 him, for God has sworn by Himself that to 
 Him every knee shall bow.* Then you will 
 pray, but you had as well not, only you can- 
 not help it.' You will pray like Dives, ^ — 
 pray even to a maa, you who now will not 
 pray to God ; pray for a drop of water, you 
 
 ' Is., xlv. 23. - Prov., i. 24-28. ' Luke, xvL 23-26. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 99 
 
 wlio now will not pray for Leaven; pray for 
 that poor drop at the hand of a despised beg- 
 gar, you who now will not accept infinite 
 blessings from the Hand that made the world, 
 and was nailed to the Cross for our salvation ! 
 Thus shall you pray. But how will the an- 
 swer pierce you with remorse and freeze you 
 in despair. " Son, remember !" Compelled re- 
 membrance is the deathless sting of remorse. 
 " A great gulf fixed !" There is the necessity 
 and seal of unending despair. Pray then, 
 pray ! while you hear that " Jesus of Naza- 
 reth passeth by." 
 
 IV. And do it at once. Promi^tness is an- 
 other mark of a good hearer of the gospel. It 
 is found in Bartimeus. " And when he heard," 
 that is, as soon as he heard, "he began to cry 
 out." 
 
 But what need of such haste? "Jesus is 
 going slowly," he might say, " and some little 
 while must pass before He is gone. Be sure 
 I will be in time." 
 
 Do you never reason so ? " There is time 
 enough yet. My life goes slowly ; my health 
 is firm ; I shall certainly be in lime." 
 
100 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 5roai- life ! your health ! 
 
 " Great God ! on what a slender thread 
 Hang everlasting things !" 
 
 " Or if he does get a little out of sight," 
 Bartimeus might saj, "while I am attending 
 to some little matters, I will run after Him 
 and call Him. I will never think of let- 
 ting Him get out of hearing. I will be in 
 time." 
 
 And is not this your way ? Are you not 
 letting mercies and opportunities slip by, and 
 running the frightful risk that they may all 
 pass away, and leave you on a death-bed, to 
 call, in helpless agitation and dismay, for Sab- 
 baths and sermons aud Jesus Christ, rejected 
 often, and now gone beyond your call — gone 
 for ever ? 
 
 " But I only want a little time, and that for 
 most important business," Bartimeus might 
 plead. 
 
 Why man, what business can you have now, 
 but getting your blind eyes opened? 
 
 " O that is the chief thing to be sure, and I 
 mean to attend to that. It would never do to 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 101 
 
 neglect that greatest of matters. Ah, would 
 that they were open now ! But really, I must 
 go about in this crowd for a few minutes, 
 and collect what alms I can. I must live !" 
 
 Before any of you undertakes to rebuke 
 this supposed reply too harshly, see if he had 
 not more cause than you think, for such a 
 course ; nay, if he had not all the reasons 
 that men now urge for neglecting their salva- 
 tion. 
 
 Begging was his regular business, the only 
 way he had of supporting himself, and possi- 
 bly, a helpless family. Is not that excuse 
 thought a good one in this day ? Did you 
 never use it? Is it not often heard in this 
 form? — " I am in a business in which I cavHt 
 be a Christian. I am connected with the rail- 
 road, or the Post-Office, and am required to 
 labor on the Sabbath. I am very sorry it is 
 so, and I mean some day to get out of it and 
 attend to religion." 
 
 Would to God our groaning land were de- 
 livered from the curse of Sunday mails and 
 Sunday railway trains, and all the oppressions 
 and abominations they drag after them ! But 
 9* 
 
102 BLINJJ BAETIMEUS. 
 
 while they last, the duty of men, who fear 
 God and mean to save their souls, is clear; 
 and that is, to jDrotest against them, pray 
 against them, and above all, stand aloof from 
 them, if they would not have the blood of 
 God's "murdered Sabbaths" staining their 
 skirts and crying from the ground for ven- 
 geance. Whatever your business, if it stands 
 in the way of your serving God, it is wrong, 
 and you must give it up, or keep it at the cost 
 of losing Christ.' It may try you sorely, but 
 you had better pluck out a right eye, or cut 
 off a right hand, than be cast into hell." 
 
 I miss the honest face of a German, who 
 used to be in his seat every Sabbath morning 
 and night, listening anxiously to the Word of 
 God. For many years he had faithfully served 
 one of our railroad companies through seven 
 days of the week. But at length his conscience 
 was awakened, and he could no longer serve 
 them on the Sabbath. Six days lie would 
 labor hard, but God's day he must have for 
 God. So he gave up his place. It was in the 
 winter of 1854r-5 too, when thousands of 
 
 ' Mat., vi. 24 ; xvi. 2-t. " Mat., v. 29. 30. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 103 
 
 workmen were thrown out of employment, 
 and when men already out had almost no 
 hope of getting in. But in the face of all 
 this he gave up his place. Then month after 
 month passed by, and brought no relief; not 
 one dollar could he earn. The savings of 
 years of toil were fast consuming, and soon 
 his family would be suffering, and still he 
 could not get employment. Then his old 
 place was offered him, and it was a sore temp- 
 tation. But God's Law stood up in his way, 
 and bade him beware. So he was strength- 
 ened, and still trusted in God and obeyed His 
 Word. For long months more were his faith 
 and patience tried, until at last, with a reluc- 
 tant but determined heart, he left the city, and 
 sought in the far West a new home, where 
 by the sweat of his brow he might earn his 
 bread, and still have " freedom to worship 
 God." 
 
 If all true men would do likewise, God 
 would soon right their wrongs. He would 
 teach our government and these huge corpo- 
 rations, that though they have joined hand in 
 hand to defy the God of heaven, they shall 
 
104 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 not go unpunished. He is yet a God that 
 judgeth in the earth. As they tempt men to 
 transgression, He will brand them with the 
 curse of Jeroboam, the son of ISTebat, who 
 made Israel to sin.* He will set His face 
 against them in dreadful Providences. He 
 has dealt with our nation as He did with 
 Israel of old, in great goodness. We may- 
 yet have to learn, as they have, in exile and 
 tears, His severity also.^ And these powerful 
 companies will find that, if their requirements 
 and God's come in conflict, their best servants 
 will leave them, and then their places of high 
 trust must be filled by those who fear not God, 
 and therefore regard not man,^ and then swift 
 damage and ruin must come upon them, until 
 they repent and learn righteousness. 
 
 Meantime, let all who suffer for conscience' 
 sake take this good word of Christ for their 
 consolation ; Verily I say unto you, there is 
 no man that hath left house, or parents, or 
 brethren, or wife, or children for the King- 
 dom of God's sake, who shall not receive mani- 
 
 ' 1 Kings, x'j. 2G-;!0 ; xiii. 34. '■' Rom., xi. 22 
 
 * Luke. x\^ii 4. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 105 
 
 fold more in this present time, and in the 
 world to come, life everlasting I* 
 
 But if Bartimeus choose to attend to his 
 alms instead of his ejes, see if he has not a 
 still stronger reason. Begging is not only his 
 business, but this happens to be a very '' busy 
 season," as we say in the city, or " harvest- 
 time," as they say in the country. A multi- 
 tude was passing! When had he such a 
 chance before? He waits day after day, glad 
 of an occasional traveller ; but to-day the peo- 
 ple pour along in crowds, and can he afford to 
 leave his business now ? Sight is no doubt a 
 very good thing ; but suppose all these people 
 should give him even a penny a-piece, — think 
 of that ! He might go home almost rich, — 
 might almost retire from business ! And after 
 all has not Providence given him this oppor- 
 tunity, and would it be exactly right to throw 
 it away ? 
 
 So have I heard j)rofessors of religion and 
 non-professors reason. So do they put earth's 
 business above all the calls of God. With 
 such words do some members of the Church 
 
 * Luke, xviii. 29, 30. 
 
106 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 throw all the active work of tlie Church on 
 some one else ; yes, on others as busy as you, 
 or at least, as busy as you have any right to 
 be. They redeem time, or take time at a sa- 
 crifice, which you could take, and should, and 
 would, if 3'our hearts were right before God. 
 Some of you make business and busy seasons, 
 (which seem to last most of the year,) an ex- 
 cuse for not seeking God, and some, for not 
 serving Him, despite all your professions and 
 vows. Some of you are too much pressed 
 ever to get to prayer-meetings, or the services 
 before the holy Communion, to do any of 
 the work of the Church, by which her influ- 
 ence is enlarged, her wheels are made to move 
 on, and by which your graces might be en- 
 riched and manifested. 
 
 In the dark ages men sometimes sold them- 
 selves by deliberate compact to the devil. For 
 so much wealth or honor he should have their 
 souls. Men rarely do that now, I suppose, in 
 any formal way. But this busy age, busy 
 country, and busy city, are binding them in 
 chains, and sealing them for hell, as surely as 
 any infernal sorceries. When men say they 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 107 
 
 have no time for religion, while they acknowl- 
 edge its divine claims, they really say, " Busi- 
 ness, be thou my God I I devote myself to 
 thee." 
 
 Men of the world ! You must take time 
 for religion, or eternity for remorse. If you 
 take the world for your service, you must 
 take hell for your reward,^ 
 
 Men of the Church I Your whole time is 
 God's, and you must use it for His glory, so 
 as to satisfy, not only your ungodly business- 
 partner, and your torpid conscience, but the 
 severities of the Judgment Bar. If you do 
 not always make the world's calls yield to 
 Christ's, then you deny your Saviour and 
 belie your profession.^ 
 
 But let me no longer misrepresent Barti- 
 meus, even in supposition. He delays not, 
 but makes haste. 
 
 Christ is passing, and he may be too late, 
 and therefore he is in haste. 
 
 He is blind and feels the misery of blind- 
 ness, and therefore he is in haste. 
 
 If he begs first, Christ may be insulted by 
 
 1 Luke, xvi. 25. - M:at, x. 37-39. 
 
108 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 this putting of filthy lucre before His healing 
 power, and so may refuse the blessing when 
 it is sought,' and therefore he is in haste. 
 
 And sinner, be you in haste. There is a 
 limit to God's long-suffering. He will not see 
 His calls made light of for ever. He will not 
 stand waiting all the day long. His Provi- 
 dence and grace will move on. His voice will 
 be silent. He will noiselessly withdraw, and 
 you shall call after Him and grope after Him 
 for ever, but never find Him again !* 
 
 Y. and YI. Two other marks of a good 
 hearer of the gospel are found in Bartimeus. 
 He heard with Faith and Humility. He trust- 
 ed in Jesus and was lowly in heart. He felt 
 his need and looked to Christ for aid. Humil- 
 ity laid him in the dust, while Faith reached 
 up and took hold on the strength of the Ee« 
 deemer. 
 
 His faith even outran the word of the mul- 
 titude. They spoke of " Jesus of Nazareth," 
 — Nazareth of Gahlee — a despised town of 
 a despised province; but he could call Him 
 " Son of David," and "Lord." In these words 
 
 ' Heb., xii. 16. 11. - Prov., i. 24-31. 
 
 O 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 109 
 
 he hailed Him as the Messiah, the promised 
 Messiah of God, of whom Isaiah had foretold 
 that He should open the eyes of the blind.' 
 Though Nathanael might ask. Can any good 
 thing come out of Nazareth V and the Phari- 
 sees assert that, Out of Galilee there ariseth no 
 prophet,' this poor blind man had an eye ot 
 faith which saw in Him, the great descend- 
 ant of David who should redeem Israel,— Da- 
 vid's Son and David's Lord.* He believed too 
 that He was now passing by, and that He had 
 power enough and love enough to open his 
 eyes. This was his simple faith, and by this 
 he took hold on Christ for deliverance. 
 
 And how deep was his humility ! He hid 
 nothing, pretended nothing. He came as he 
 was. Blind, he came as blind. Poor, he 
 came as poor. A beggar, he came as a beg- 
 gar. He set up no claim as of right. He told 
 of no good deed. But needy and wretched 
 and helpless and unworthy, he cast himself 
 on the tender heart of Christ ; " Jesus, Sou 
 of David, have mercy on me ! Lord, Son 
 of David, have mercy on me !" 
 
 ' Ts., XXXV. 5 ; xlli. 7. -j John, i. 46. 
 
 -' John, vii. 52 < Mat., xxii. 45. 
 
 10 
 
110 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 But is this the whole lesson ? "When we 
 have found botli faith and humility in this 
 prayer, are we to view them apart only ? May 
 either be absent, and are they here in friendly 
 meeting but by chance ? 
 
 No : the prayer has a deeper and more 
 precious teaching. Faith and humility are so 
 blended in it, that none can say how much is 
 one, and how much the other. If faith is 
 more manifest in the titles he gives Christ, 
 yet humihty is not wanting ; and if humility 
 shines brightest in his asking for " mercy," 
 faith is seen in his simple reliance on that 
 mercy. 
 
 And so it is always. Faith and humility 
 meet in the sinner's experience, not as occa- 
 sional companions only ; they ever walk lov- 
 ingly together as sisters. They cannot separate. 
 Like the Siamese twins they live in each other's 
 presence alone ; should they part, they would 
 die. A sinner cannot believe in Jesus and 
 not be humble; he cannot be truly humble 
 without believing in Jesus. 
 
 This is most needful for a sinner to know ; 
 for when seeking Christ, he fears it would be 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. Ill 
 
 presumptuous to believe and rest on Christ at ' 
 once. So lie still stays a way and tries to pre- 
 pare himself for Christ. He thinks that this 
 is true humility ; but it is only pride in dis- 
 guise, and so deceiving him. 
 
 "Alas, I am lost," begins the sinner, "what 
 shall I do to be saved?'" 
 
 " Come to me," says Christ, " I came to seek 
 and save that which was lost."^ 
 
 " But how can I come ? I am a sinner." 
 
 " Come hecause you are a sinner. I came 
 not to call the righteous, but sinners to repent- 
 ance."^ 
 
 "But I am such a sinner," says this false 
 humility, (for you see it dares dispute witb 
 Christ,) "there never was a heart as bad as 
 mine." 
 
 " The greater your sin, the greater your 
 need of me," says Christ, " and do not fear, 
 for I came into the world to save sinners, even 
 the chief. This is a faithfal saying, and wor- 
 thy of all acceptation."* 
 
 "But my heart is so Aarc?." 
 
 ' Acts, xvi. 30. * Luke, xix. 10. 
 
 ' Luke, V. 32. * 1 Tim., i. 15. 
 
112 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 " Then give it to me, and I will soften it ; 
 I will take away the stony heart out of 
 your flesh, and I will give you an heart of 
 flesh.'" 
 
 "But I do not even feel my sins as I 
 ought," continues this disputatious, arrogant 
 humility. 
 
 " And you never will," answers Christ, 
 " until you have a new heart ; come to me, 
 and I will give you one."'* 
 
 " But I cannot see any thing good in my 
 heart ; I am too unworthy ; I have no faith, no 
 love." 
 
 "Then come without them," says Christ, 
 " and I will give them to you."^ 
 
 But the heart is not ready to give up yet, 
 and take Christ just at His word. It cannot 
 understand that it is to go to Christ with ab- 
 solutely nothing to recommend it, and so it 
 toils on with huge pains and anxiety, to do 
 something, or be something, or feel something, 
 which shall make it more fit to come to Christ. 
 So after a while Christ comes again and says 
 very kindly, " Poor heart, you can never 
 
 ' Ezek., xxxvi. 2G. " Ibid. = Oal., v. 22, witlrAeta, ii. 53. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 113 
 
 make yourself belter. Only I can do that. 
 If you come at all, it must be just as you 
 are." 
 
 " Alas ! alas ! I wish I could, but I seem to 
 get worse and worse." 
 
 " But do you believe, or not, that I am able 
 to save you ?" says Christ. 
 
 " Oh, yes ! You are able, but /am so un- 
 worthy." 
 
 And so this blind self-righteousness reasons 
 round and round in a circle, and still comes 
 back to the same fatal point, and though very 
 sad, takes a secret comfort in being so very 
 humble ! 
 
 Now Christ comes again, and speaks search- 
 ing words, but very patiently ; " Blind and 
 stubborn heart, I will show you a little of 
 yourself. You say you believe I am able to 
 save all sinners ; able to save you. But you 
 do not; or you would trust me to be your 
 Saviour. You could trust me to save a softer 
 heart, or a better heart, or a heart that felt 
 more ; but not your hard, wicked heart. Does 
 not this limit my power, my grace, my blood ? 
 Am I a Saviour for little sins, and not for 
 
11-i BLIND BAUTIMEUS. 
 
 great?' Does your unworthiness overtop my 
 Eighteousness ?'' Does my blood fail for your 
 heart ?" My Eighteousness and blood are in- 
 finite,^ and do you stretch up to measure them 
 and find them wanting ? I say I can save 
 you, and what arrogance it is that denies it I 
 What boundless presumption ! If you were 
 better you would come, you say. Yes ; you 
 are too proud to come as other sinners. You 
 must needs be an exception. You cannot be 
 altogether indebted to grace. A little wor- 
 thiness must be found, for the glory and com- 
 fort of your self- righteousness. Abase yourself 
 in the dust, and come just as you are." 
 
 If these cutting words of Christ slay the 
 sinner's pride, true humility fills his heart. 
 It dares not dispute with Christ, or think of 
 making any change in His plan of grace, 
 amazing as its freeness seems. It just takes 
 Him at His word, and says, 
 
 " Just as I am, without one plea, 
 But that Thy blood was shed for me, 
 And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, 
 Lamb of God, I comel 
 
 1 Isa., L 18. ^ Rom., x. 4. M John, L 1. 
 
 * Jer., xxiii. 6; Ileb., vii. 25. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 115 
 
 " Just as I am, and waiting not 
 To rid my soul of one dark blot, 
 To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, 
 Lamb of God, I come I 
 
 "Just as I am, — poor, wretched, blind — 
 Sight, riches, healing of the mind. 
 Yea, all I need, in Thee to find, 
 
 Lamb of God, I come 1" 
 
 Thus do these holj sisters, Faith and Hu- 
 militj, go together to Christ. When Hu- 
 mility, looking down upon her sins, would 
 faint in the way. Faith feels the pressure of 
 her drooping form, and lifting her own clear 
 eye to the glories of Christ, bids her look 
 to Him and be comforted. And even Faith 
 grows bolder, when Humility in her turn 
 whispers, " Do not fear ; though our sins are 
 many,' He can cleanse them. If He says 
 Come, we cannot but take Him at 'His word." 
 And Humility grows lowlier, when Faith 
 drawing near, and fixing her eye on Calvary, 
 says, "Oh sister, against what a Saviour we 
 have sinned!" 
 
 • Psalm ciii. 3, 11 ; Luke, va. 47. 
 
IV. 
 
 " And many charged him that he should hold his peace ; but 
 he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have 
 mercy upon me!" 
 
 )HEEB is never a knock at heaven's 
 gate, but it sounds through hell, and 
 devils come out to silence it/ When- 
 ever a soul is striving for heaven, or 
 heaven striving for a soul, which is 
 but another side of the same truth, there two 
 worlds are at strife,'' The Mohammedans 
 have a saying that, whenever two persons 
 meet, there is always a third. The proverb 
 refers to the presence of God, But it is just 
 as true that when God and a human soul meet 
 on business for eternity, Satan will be there. 
 He will be there as an opposer and destroyer.' 
 All souls are his at first,* for by nature we are 
 
 ' 1 Pet., V. 8. = Mat., xiii 37, 39; Eph., vi. 11, 12 • 
 
 I John, iv. 4. ^ 2 Cor., ii. 11 ; Liiko, viii. 12. 
 
 * Eph., ii. 2 ; .John, viii. 44 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 117 
 
 children of wrath ;' and he never lets his own 
 go without a struggle.* He hath the cheek- 
 teeth of a great lion, and it is not easy to rend 
 the prey from his mouth.^ 
 
 Both Christ and Satan came on earth as 
 destroyers ; Satan to destroy the works of 
 God, but Christ to destroy Ms destructions 
 and the destroyer himself.* And so we must 
 look for war on the earth, and must ourselves 
 take part in the battle, if we mean to go to 
 heaven.^ The kingdom of heaven suffereth 
 violence, and the violent taketh it by force.* 
 
 The children of Israel sang bravely on the 
 shore of the Eed Sea, and behaved themselves 
 stoutly. They seemed just ready to go up 
 and i^ossess the promised land. But the 
 howling wilderness soon shut up their song, 
 and when they began to hear of giants and 
 war chariots of iron, and cities walled up to 
 heaven, their craven hearts died within them, 
 and for base safety, beside full flesh-pots, they 
 were ready to slink back into slavery.' 
 
 ' Epli., ii. 3. 2 Mark, ix. 20, 25, 2G. 
 
 3 Mark, ix. 29. * Rev., xii. 12 ; Ilcb., ii. 14; 1 John, iii. 8. 
 * Eph., vi. 11-18. 6 Mat., xi. 12. 
 
 ' .I':x.. XV. 1-21.; xvi. 1-:! ; DLUt., i. 27, 28. 
 
118 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 The giants are not all dead yet, and if a 
 pilgrim do but show himself, going toward 
 the City of Grod, out they come to give him 
 battle. So, those who mean to serve Christ, 
 may as well make up their minds at once to 
 meet opposition.* 
 
 Bartimeus had sad proof of this. As soon 
 as he began to cry out for mercy, rebukes 
 rained' down upon him from all sides. Satan 
 raised a clamor, and tried to beat him down. 
 Am I not right in ascribing this opposition to 
 the old murderer, though men were his agents? 
 What was the offence? A sightless beggar 
 beseeches the compassion of the Heavenly 
 Physician. He has never been near Him be- 
 fore. This is the only opportunity of his life. 
 A word or touch can heal him, and in a sud- 
 den agony of earnestness, he begs the blessed 
 stranger to pity him, — said I not rightly, that 
 none but a devil would have bidden him hold 
 his peace ? 
 
 But Satan hides while he works. He is 
 sometimes like a lion roaring on his prey, 
 but oftener a serpent gliding in the grass, 
 
 ' 2 Tim., iii. :2. M Pet , v. S. 
 
BLIND BAKTIMEUS. 119 
 
 biting, gone.' He can even put on the form 
 of an angel of light/ and here he wears the 
 guise of the followers of Christ. 
 
 There is a manifold, hellish craft in this. 
 He conceals himself, puts the shame of his 
 deeds on the cause of God, destroys his vic- 
 tims more easily and surely because his hand 
 is not seen, corrupts all who do his work, and 
 thus brings them under his own condemna- 
 tion, and fills many who see what is done, with 
 such prejudice against the cause and followers 
 of Christ, that they too are ruined. 
 
 The ungodly world bids anxious souls to 
 hold their peace. It cannot bear the sinner's 
 distress. If his conscience is disturbed its own 
 is not quite easy. If he cries out through 
 fear of the wrath to come,^ a shudder passes 
 through its heart. If he speaks of heaven, it 
 is not ready, it feels, for that, and its own joys 
 look pale in that pure light. If the weight 
 of eternal concernments smite him amidst its 
 gay throngs, it has the unpleasant effect of the 
 sudden death of an actor in the theatre. The 
 play goes on, to be sure, but the applause is 
 
 ' 2 Cor, xi. 3. " 2 Cor., xi. 1 1. ^ Mat., iii. 7 
 
120 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 not hearty, and a cliill shadow damps the 
 mirth. The tragedy is gloomy and the com- 
 edy hollow. 
 
 Therefore the world sets itself to make an 
 end of these convictions. For this it has in- 
 numerable devices. It will flatter, or curse. 
 For some it has persecutions, for others pro- 
 motions. Now it laughs with irresistible mer- 
 riment ; now dazzles with deceitful splendors, 
 and now cuts one's acquaintance with a sneer. 
 It bewilders the reason with sophistry, and 
 bewitches the senses with voluptuousness. 
 And two other foes it brings into the field for 
 the silencing of crying souls, — Infidelity, with 
 its thousand " phases," (changing every day,) 
 its flippancy, its sarcasms, its dogmatism, 
 (which never change ;) and Atheism, with its 
 sullen front and frozen heart. 
 
 But I pause not on any of these. I wish 
 now to address the professed people of God. I 
 pray you heed an honest warning. 
 
 I say then plainly : You are in great danger, 
 every day, of rebuking anxious souls, and 
 charging them to hold their peace. I do not 
 say you do it wittingly. It is a sin so awful, 
 
BLLN^D BARTIMEUS. 121 
 
 SO unnatural, so cruel, tliat every lover of tlie 
 Saviour must utterly abhor it. Yet even 
 Christ's true friends may commit it carelessly 
 and unconsciously. Bear then some cau- 
 tions. 
 
 I. By injudicious criticism of sermons you 
 may stifle convictions and drive sinners away 
 from Christ, 
 
 We do not refuse to be tried by honest 
 and enlightened judgments; and when we 
 hear their verdict, it should give us little con- 
 cern, except to learn how we may become 
 wiser and more faithful stewards of the mys- 
 teries of God.' But we charge our hearers 
 not to forget that, however humble our abili- 
 ties, if we are in our place at all, we are Am- 
 bassadors for Christ," standing in His room, 
 making known His terms of pardon ; and 
 that, so far as we preach the Word,' He will 
 take its vindication into His own hands, and 
 avenge it of every slight and a:il contempt.* 
 
 Nay more ; when we preach Christ cruci- 
 fied, our message is the power of God, by 
 
 ' 1 Cor., iv. 1. '^ 2 Cor., v. 20. 
 
 ' 2 Tim., iv. 2. * Luke, x. 16 ; ix. 26. 
 
 11 
 
122 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 which alone sinners can be saved ; but your 
 criticisms may turn it into very foolishness, 
 and a stumbling-block, and the savor of death 
 to some beloved one for whose salvation you 
 have been striving.* 
 
 I cannot better illustrate this caution than 
 by a true narrative from "The Central Pres- 
 byterian." " A pious lady once left a church 
 in this city, [Eichmond,] in company with her 
 husband, who was not a professor of religion. 
 She was a woman of unusual vivacity, with 
 a keen perception of the ludicrous, and often 
 playfully sarcastic. As they walked along to- 
 ward home, she began to make some amus- 
 ing and spicy comments on the sermon, which 
 a stranger, a man of very ordinary talents and 
 awkward manner, had j)reached, that morn- 
 ing, in the absence of the pastor. After* run- 
 ning on in this vein of sportive criticism for 
 some time, surprised at the profound silence 
 of her husband, she turned and looked up in 
 his face. He was in tears. That sermon had 
 sent an arrow of conviction to his heart! 
 What must have been the anguish of the 
 
 1 Cor., i. 23, 24, 2 Cor., ii. 16. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 123 
 
 conscience-Stricken wife, thus arrested in the 
 act of ridiculing a discourse which had been 
 the means of awakening the anxiety of her 
 unconverted husband !" 
 
 Watch then, your words and spirit. Take 
 care what you say, and before whom you say 
 it. Are you about to speak in love, in hu- 
 mility, in the temper of Christ? Will any 
 one be the better for what you say? Will 
 your criticisms deepen your child's or your 
 friend's reverence for Christ's Ambassadors, 
 and God's chosen instrument for saving souls? 
 When you have said what you wish, will you 
 become thereby fellow-helpers to the truth?' 
 If not, oh, leave it all unsaid, lest in criticising 
 the flaws of the earthen vessel, you be found 
 to have despised the heavenly treasure f lest 
 ■you turn aside the sword of the Spirit,' and 
 with great sin to yourself, bring destruction 
 on some most precious soul. 
 
 II, Beware also of unseaso'oable levity after 
 solemn appeals. 
 
 I do not warn you against cheerfulness. It 
 is pleasant to see the faces of God's people 
 
 ' 3 John 8. 2 2 Cor., ir. 7. ' Eph., vi 17. 
 
124 BLIND BAKTIMEUS, 
 
 beaming witli the secret refresTiments of the 
 Spirit, or refiectiug the glories which shine 
 from between the cherubim.' But this sacred 
 rejoicing is no more like levity, than the clear 
 diffused light of morning is like the flash 
 of shaken tinsel. Cheerfulness is the genial 
 warmth of the Sun of Eighteousness -^ levity 
 the crackling of thorns under a pot.^ One is 
 the voice of rejoicing which becometh the 
 tabernacles of the righteous,^ the other the 
 laughter of fools, fit only for the tents of 
 wickedness.^ Cheerfulness can mingle with 
 solemnity, just as the clear heavens may be 
 solemn with night, yet cheerful with stars. 
 
 A Christian can sit in God's House, and 
 relish all the truths of His Word. He may 
 indeed often hear what is immediately dis- 
 tressing. Unlike the little book which the 
 angel gave John, it may be bitter and pain- 
 ful in the mouth, that is, in the hearing; yet 
 being mixed with faith, it shall through grace 
 be sweet and wholesome in the digestion.^ In 
 the very thunders of Sinai he will hear the 
 
 ' Ps. Ixxx. 1. ^ ilal., iv. 2. » 3']ccl., vii 6. 
 
 < Ps. cxviii. 15. 5 Ps. L^xxiv. 10. « Rev., x. 9 
 
BLIND BARTIMEL'S. 125 
 
 voice of bis covenant God/ and prostrate 
 himself in holy abasement. If God be set 
 forth as a consuming fire,^ taking vengeance, 
 he will confess that this is but bis own desert ;' 
 and while adoring the sovereign grace which 
 has saved him from wratb, he will be grieved 
 for transgressors,* and weep for them, and praj 
 for them ; and when the congregation breaks 
 up, and he meets them face to fece, there will 
 be something in his eye and voice and pressure 
 of the hand, which will touch sinners to the 
 heart, with a sense of their own danger, and 
 the affectionate anxiety of God's people. 
 
 How different the conduct of many profes- 
 sors ! They may be dull enough while the 
 word is preached, but when the benediction 
 is pronounced, how relieved and lively they 
 seem ! With what alacrity they address them- 
 selves to the business of leaving the Church ! 
 With what sprightliness are the aisles sud- 
 denly animated ! And so with jests and 
 vanity and levity they go to their homes, sit 
 at their tables, and hold mirthful converse 
 with their unconverted children and friends. 
 ' Ex., XX. 2. = Heb., xii. 29. ' Ps. li. 4. * Ps. cxLx. 158 
 11* 
 
126 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 All ! in some breast at that table the struggle 
 for eternity may have begun ; the Spirit of 
 God and the powers of darkness may be en- 
 gaged in their final conflict, and this foolish 
 jesting may decide it for despair and hell ! 
 What a fearful truth ! One may laugh away 
 the Holy Ghost and all conviction of sin, 
 laugh the awakened conscience to sleep and 
 precious souls to perdition ! 
 
 III. This brings to mind another Avay by 
 which you may bid sinners hold their peace, 
 — by blindness to any beginning concern. 
 
 K you do not watch for the Spirit, He may 
 pass by unseen. If He is not cherished, He 
 may pass away. A great part of this cher- 
 ishing work belongs to you, as disciples of 
 Christ and friends of the Spirit. By mere ne- 
 glect you may ruin the work in which jou 
 were called to be workers together with God.' 
 You fail to come up to the help of the LorJ,' 
 and so your friend may be lost. 
 
 Would you see how you should watch ? 
 Come with me to the chamber where a babe 
 lies dying. A breathless messenger has gone 
 
 " 2 Cor., \i. 1. - Judo-es. v. 23. 
 
15LIXD BARTIMEUS. 127 
 
 for the physician, but still he comes not. How 
 the worn mother gazes on her little sufferer in 
 an agony of fondness and fear ; how she sinks 
 in anguish before the mercy-seat, and pleads 
 like the Syrophenician woman at the fe<3t of 
 Jesus ;' how she rises wildly, and watches at 
 the window for the physician ; how at every 
 sound of wheels she flushes with eagerness, 
 and then grows sick at heart as they turn the 
 corner, and the sound dies away ; how she 
 springs to the door as his well-known step is 
 heard on the stair ; and then, as he searches 
 every symptom, how. she waits on his every 
 look, living on a gleam of hope, ready to die 
 if bis face is darkened by a cloud ! 
 
 disciple of Jesus, thy child, thy brother, 
 some beloved of thine, is sick unto eternal 
 death ; and where is this watching for the 
 Great Physician ? this weeping, longing, pray- 
 ing? Ah, when He has of His own heart's 
 love come near, and alarmed the dying soul 
 from its fatal torpor, and prescribed His sov- 
 ereign remedies, you will not even be nursing 
 fathei-s and mothers,^ to carry on the Lord's 
 
 1 Mat., XV. 2^-28. 2 is., xlix. 23. 
 
128 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 gracious work, and save these dear souls from 
 death I 
 
 rV. Nor is this the worst. Professing 
 parents often lay plans for their children directly 
 opposed to the Spirit! s worh. 
 
 Let one example illustrate my meaning. In 
 your morning devotions yon ask God to con- 
 vert your children — even on the next Sabbath 
 to send His word with power to their hearts. 
 Surely you should pray so, and I will suppose 
 you do. But, before the day is over, yield- 
 ing to tbe tide of corrupt worldliness around 
 you, or the pleadings of your unconverted chil- 
 dren, you arrange for a dancing-party the next 
 week, and issue your invitations. " Only a 
 children's dancing-party, and only with the 
 piano, you know," you say patronizingly and 
 «heerfully to conscience, though somehow 
 conscience looks a little blank at those nice 
 distinctions, and does not return your smile. 
 But let that pass. Suppose, however, God 
 answers your prayer on the Sabbath, and one 
 of these children weeps under the sermon, and 
 comes home downcast and distressed; what 
 will your condition be? To say the least, 
 
BLIND EARTIMEUS. 129 
 
 will you feci no embarrassment ? No temp- 
 tation to seem not to Lave observed it, until 
 jour scLeme is carried out? No regret even, 
 that these feelings should have come just 
 then? How awkward that when you had 
 meant your daughter to be so bright and 
 beautiful in the dance on Monday, that she 
 should be convicted of sin, and fleeing from 
 God's wrath, and weeping so, on Sunday ! 
 On the other hand, will you have no fear 
 lest the excitements of the giddy scene shall 
 quench the Spirit,' and harden the heart for 
 ever?^ And, besides all this, would not these 
 convictions take you by surprise, and send a 
 guilty pang to your heart ? Could you be, as 
 you ought always to be, exp :cting in strong 
 faith the answer of your prayers, and ready to 
 bless God with a clear heart, and go in se- 
 cret with this dear anxious soul, and mingle 
 your tears, and together beseech Christ for 
 mercy ? 
 
 But how can I exhaust the ways by which 
 professed Christians may bid troubled sinners 
 hold their peace? By all your worldly- 
 
 ' I Thess., V. 19. ' Heb., iii. 13. 
 
130 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 mindedness and world jj-conformity; Ly every 
 proof you give that you think more of this 
 life tlian of that to come ; that you will spend 
 more, sacrifice more, go through more to gain 
 earthly ends than for Christ and His cause ; 
 by all these you become stumbling-blocks in 
 the way of sinners coming to Christ. 
 
 These too, are the things you cannot hide. 
 Some very pious looks and tones for special 
 seasons ; some very common-place Christian 
 observations now and then ; some very general 
 sighing over the fact that ' We all comr^ short,' 
 &c., &c., none of these will do. Your little 
 children and your servants see the incon- 
 sistency. 
 
 O this worldliness in profe:-^sor3 ! This 
 want of whole-conformity to Christ!^ This 
 is the most grievous stain on Christianity, the 
 hardest argument of infidelity, the greatest 
 hindrance of revivals, and their surest extin- 
 guisher. Because of this hath the Lord cov- 
 ered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in His 
 anger. For this her ways mourn, her gates 
 are desolate, her priests sigh, her virgins are 
 
 ' Rom., xii. 1, 2. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 131 
 
 afflicted, and she is in bitterness; while her 
 enemies blaspheme, and all that pass bj clap 
 their hands at her ; they hiss and wag .heir 
 head at the daughter of Jerusalem !' 
 
 Now let me sound an honest alarm to all of 
 every name and condition, who in any way 
 charge convicted sinners to hold their peace. 
 You are opposing the work of God, and must 
 beware of His heavy arm. If you are His 
 people and your opposition is unwitting, lie 
 will teach you needful lessons by the Voice of 
 the Eod.'' They may be very hard,' but you 
 will have to learn them.* He will not suifer 
 such sin upon you.^ But if you are not His 
 people, you shall feel his vengeance. You 
 are falling on the eternal Corner-stone and 
 shall be broken; and unless you speedily cease 
 to oppose those who would build upon it, and 
 begin yourself to build there, that stone shall 
 one day fall upon you and grind you to 
 powder !" 
 
 There is no sadder doom than theirs who 
 
 1 Lamentations. ^ Mic, vi. 9 ; Ps. cxix. 67, 71, 
 
 ,* Heb.; xii 11. ■» Pro v., iii. 12 ; Rev., iiL 19. 
 
 ' Heb., xii. 10. " Mat., xxi. 44. 
 
132 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 lead men into sin, or keep souls from Christ 
 It is enough to go to hell at all. But if I 
 must go, let me go alone. Let me not carry 
 my tormentors with me. Its fires will be hot 
 enough, and its woes heavy enough, without 
 souls whom I have ruined, to heap them upon 
 me in revenge for ever pitiless^ and exasper- 
 ated for ever by their own eternal agony. If 
 I am bent on death, let me like Ahithophel, 
 put my household in order and die alone/ and 
 not like Samson gather the pillars of the tem- 
 ple in my grasp, and drag others down with 
 me, myself falling undermost and buried in 
 the deepest ruin." 
 
 Now let me say two things to awakened 
 sinners. 
 
 Are you thus opposed? If you fail, this 
 win not excuse j'ou. One man's sin may be 
 another's temptation and his ruin, but it can 
 never be his apology. Satan tempted Eve, and 
 she tempted Adam, but all three of them were 
 cursed.^ Even the heathen could say, The 
 gods help those who help themselves ; and we 
 may be sure that Christ will help every soul 
 ' 2 Sam., xvii. 23. ^ Judges, xvi. 30. 3 Qen., iii. 12-19 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 133 
 
 in earnest after Him. Grod lias never said to 
 the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain.' Seek, 
 says Christ, and ye shall find.'^ When God 
 calls a soul out of Egypt, old tyrants and new 
 enemies, a deep sea and a howling wilderness 
 may all be in the way, but if that soul be of 
 good courage it shall not fail to eat of the 
 golden fruits of Canaan,^ Neither the chosen 
 people nor a chosen soul ever lost a battle 
 except by cowardice or sin. For His mercy 
 endureth for ever ; — twenty-six times over is 
 that said in the Psalm that recounts Israel's 
 redemption and triumphs.'' At every point, 
 at every danger and every battle is the story 
 interrupted to say, For His mercy endureth 
 for ever ! Has God said to you. Seek ye my 
 face ? And has your heart replied, Thy face, 
 Lord, will I seek T Then, though a host 
 should encamp against you, your heart need 
 not fear. Though father and mother forsake 
 you, the God of your salvation will never 
 leave you nor forsake you.^ So, Wait upon 
 
 ' Is., xlv. 19. "^ Mat., vii. 7 3. 
 
 ' Joshua., V. 11, 12. * Ps. cxxxvi. 
 
 5 Ps. xxvii. 8. 6 Ps. xxvii. 3, 10; Heb., xiii. 5 
 
 12 
 
134 BLIND BARTIMEUS, 
 
 the Lord ; be of good courage, and He sliall 
 strengthen your heart! Wait, I say, on the 
 Lord.' 
 
 Are you thus opposed? Do as Bartimeus 
 
 did. " He cried the more," says Matthew ; 
 
 "the more a great deal," or "so much the 
 
 more," say Mark and Luke. O that is brave ! 
 
 Opposition only rouses him to new energy. 
 
 And so cry you. It is time to " cry out" 
 
 when men would beat you back from Christ ; 
 
 time to summon all your strength when the 
 
 enemy is summoning his. See ! there is but 
 
 l\ one way ; the path is narrow ; the foe is clos- 
 
 1 ing in. Now soul, if thou wouldst not be 
 
 lost, quit thyself like a man." Take shield 
 
 and sword, and lay about thee. It is now or 
 
 never with thee. Cry unto Christ and press 
 
 1 forward. And while using all thy might, still 
 
 1 remember that nothing can cut through the 
 
 \ foe and clear thy path to Christ, like this cry 
 
 ' of faith, " Jesus, Son of David, have mercy 
 
 upon me!" 
 
 ' Pa. xxvii. 14. ^ 1 Cor., xvi. 13 
 
y. 
 
 " And Jesus stood still and called him." — (Matthew.) 
 
 " And Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called."— 
 
 (Mark.) 
 " And Jesus stood and commanded him to be brought unto 
 
 Him."— (Luke.) 
 
 :f(^HEN Jesus thus "stood still," He 
 ■was*on His way for the last time to 
 Jerusalem. His " hour" vras draw- 
 ing nigh/ and He was hastening to 
 meet it. He knew it was to be an 
 hour of anguish and desertion, the hour and 
 power of darkness," He saw the cup He was 
 to drink, and He knew the bitterness of every 
 drop.^ He knew He was to wrestle with the 
 terrors of death and the principalities of hell, 
 and bear the insufferable torments of aveng- 
 ing wrath. Yet such love for sinners, such 
 hatred of sin, sach zeal for the vindication of 
 the insulted glory of the Godhead filled and 
 
 * John, xviL 1 ; Mark, xiv. 41. ^ Luke, xxii. 53. 
 
 » Mark, x. 32-34; Mat, xx. 22 ; xxvi. 39 ; John, xviii. 11. 
 
136 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 fired Him, tliat He was pressing on, with al- 
 most impatient ardor. He was straitened, in 
 an inexpressible wa}', till He had oifered Him- 
 self a sacrifice to DiviDV justice for the sins of 
 His people.* 
 
 Never was anj being in the universe on such 
 a journey before. Never can even He be again. 
 The redemption of the world," the defeat of 
 Satan, 3 and the most illustrious display of the 
 Attributes of God which ever can be made,^ the 
 infinite concernments of three ^j^orlds, heaven, 
 earth and hell, and the glory of the sovereign, 
 eternal Godhead, all rested on Him and the 
 decease He was about to accomplish at Jeru- 
 salem.^ 
 
 Can He be arrested in this journey ? Where 
 is the event mighty enough to stay His course? 
 "What destiny of man or empire is worthy 
 even of a thought from Him now ? Shall 
 not the vision of infinite suffering, and the 
 infinite glory that is to follow,* absorb His 
 heart ? Avaunt, even ye angels of God ! 
 Let not cherubim or seraphim intrude now ! 
 
 ' Luke, ;xii. 50. ^ John, i. 29. 3 jjeb., ii. 14. 
 
 * Luke, iu 14; John, siii. 31 ; xvii. 1, 4, 6 ; Eph., iii. 10, 2L 
 5 Luke, ix. 31. « I Pet., i. 11. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEU3. 137 
 
 Be astonished, ye heavens, and be silent, O 
 earth, while your Maker and Lord, who is 
 over all, God blessed for ever,' treads His 
 path of unutterable shame and glory ! He 
 must walk that awful way alone I 
 
 But what voice breaks this holy silence? 
 Who dares draw so near, with clamors so 
 loud? A degraded mortal! A miserable, 
 blind beggar! obtruding his petty sorrows on 
 the Heart that is gathering to itself the woes 
 of a world ! ^ Can he be regarded ? Will the 
 war-chariot, rushing into battle, turn aside for 
 a worm ? Will the swell of the sea, roaring 
 on the shore, be checked lest a lamb be 
 drowned ? Shall we not join with the multi- 
 tude and bid Bartimeus hold his peace? 
 
 Ah, if we do, neither we nor they know 
 the heart of bur Lord. If we mean thus to 
 do Him honor, we shall find we have only put 
 ourselves to shame. For see. He turns to the 
 cry ; He looks upon the beggar. There is no 
 lightning in His eye, no terror in His voice. 
 His sorrowful face beams with benignity. He 
 stands still. His journey is stayed. He calls 
 
 ' Rom., \x. 5, 
 12^ 
 
188 BLIND BARTIMEUs. 
 
 the poor man to Him, and gently directs those 
 about Him to repeat His welcoming words 
 and guide the uncertain steps to Him. 
 
 "He stood still." Let us also stand and 
 admire. Here let us learu the grace of our 
 Eedeemer, and lay up in our hearts the bles- 
 sed teaching. 
 
 Is not the scene beautiful ? Is not the gran- 
 deur of such calmness Godlike; the grace- 
 fulness of such condescension worthy of a 
 birth in heaven? Can it be less than celes- 
 tial radiance that streams out in such benevo- 
 lence ? 
 
 Then may we learn how unreasonable and 
 bow unnatural is a favorite clamor of infidels 
 against the gospel. They say they cannot be- 
 lieve that the Son of Grod came to this world 
 and died for its redemption. This world is 
 too small and mean in the great scale of the 
 universe, to allow them to think that the Cre- 
 ator of countless millions of glorious suns and 
 systems, could have stooped to love and care 
 and suffer and die for the poor creatures of a 
 day, who live on this insignificant planet. 
 
 This objection taken from the discoveries of 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS, 139 
 
 astronomy, Dr. Chalmers lias swept away, in 
 his own magnificent manner, in his Astronom- 
 ical Discourses, and I shall not attempt "the 
 height of his great argument." Neither does 
 it suit my present design to enter on a long 
 discussion. But if the naturalness and beauty 
 of this scene near Jericho be granted, does it 
 not throw light on that tremendous tragedy 
 which the gospel declares to have been enacted 
 on Calvary ? Granting, — as who will not ? — 
 that no violence is done in this scene to any of 
 our ideas of the becoming and beautiful, but 
 rather that we have here a most attractive 
 blending of grace, condescension and heavenly 
 charity, may not the Cross itself be granted, 
 and its Divine Sufferer ? 
 
 To a narrow vision a structure may seem 
 unsightly from its vastness, while in miniature 
 the same eye might find the proportions ex- 
 quisite. And have we not, in this standing 
 still of Jesus, amidst the urgencies of such a 
 journey, at the call of a beggar, a miniature 
 of the very things by which some are con- 
 founded or repelled, in the immense transac- 
 tions of the Atonement ? It was worthy of 
 
140 BLIND BARTIMEU3. 
 
 the illustrious Stranger — nay, it was beauti- 
 ful, it was sublime — to stay for the relief of 
 the unhappy beggar, though His own mind 
 was burdened with the weight of the infinite 
 sacrifice He was about to offer. Then who 
 shall so vilify the redemption of men by the 
 Cross, as to pronounce it unworthy of the 
 Sovereign of a universe to which our earth is 
 but an atom ? Shall an astronomer be so 
 lost in God's glory declared by the heavens,' 
 in their measureless and bright immensity, as 
 to scorn the thought of His upholding and 
 blessing each sun and star ? Then if these 
 philosophers gaze on the luminous, illimitable 
 fields of creation, until their dazzled minds 
 turn back with contempt to the world on 
 which they dwell, and find no worth nor 
 grandeur in the Cross which redeems it, though 
 it saves numbers without number from perdi- 
 tion, and glorifies them in the light of God, 
 and displays His Attributes before an admir- 
 ing universe, let us hold up the confessed 
 truthfulness and beauty of this simple inci- 
 dent, till, " like a mirror of diamond, it pierce 
 
 ' Psalm xix. 1 
 
BLIND BAKTIMEUS. 141 
 
 tlieir misty eye-balls'" and lead them on to 
 the acknowledgment of the truth. 
 
 " Jesus stood still," and when did He ever 
 refuse to stay at the call of the distressed sin- 
 ner? Nay, if He stayed then, when can He 
 refuse ? Is He not the same, yesterday, to- 
 day and for ever V Has the love, which 
 death and the grave could not quench, per- 
 ished in His exaltation ?* Did He not bring 
 it with Him from the Throne ? Or rather, 
 did it not bring Him from the Throne ?* And 
 is it not an everlasting love ? O needy sin- 
 ner. He cannot refuse your cry. " Jesus, Son 
 of David, have mercy on me," finds its way 
 through the adoring ranks of saints and angels, 
 and constrains His gracious heart. He cannot 
 resist it. He has bound Himself in covenant 
 to regard it.'' Every thing else shall give way, 
 if need be, but it shall prevail. Heaven and 
 earth shall pass away, but not His word of 
 promise to a sinner.'' 
 
 The fires of eternal vengeance stood still 
 
 1 Milton. Ref. in Eng. Book I. 2 Heb., xiii. 8. 
 ' John, xiii. 1 ; xiy. 1-3. ^ Phil, ii. 6-8. 
 
 s John, xiv. 13, 14. » Mat., xxiv. 35. 
 
142 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 over Sodom till Lot was gone out.* The waves 
 stood still, and the depths were congealed in the 
 heart of the sea till the children of Israel passed 
 over,'' The down-rushing waters of swollen 
 Jordan stood still, as the feet of the priests 
 touched their brim, and rose up as a wall till 
 the chosen tribes had gained their inheritance.^ 
 At the cry of Joshua, the sun stood still in the 
 midst of the heavens, and the moon in the 
 valley of Ajalon, until the Lord's hosts had 
 avenged themselves upon their enemies.^ And 
 at the prayers and tears of Hezekiah, Time, 
 whose onward urgency is the most inexorable 
 of all things, not only stood still, but retreat- 
 ed. Ten degrees backward did the shadow go 
 on the sun-dial of Ahaz, and fifteen years 
 were added to the life of the dying king.^ 
 
 But ah, me ! death is swifter than time, 
 and hell deeper than the sea, and Grod^s wrath 
 against sin mightier than its waves, and fiercer 
 than the fires of Sodom; and can these be 
 stayed ? Yes, yes, since Christ received all this 
 wrath into His own soul, and there exhausted it,* 
 
 ' Gen., xix. 23, 24. 2 Ex., xv. 8. 
 
 = Joshua, iii. 15-17. ■• Joshua, x. 12, 13. 
 
 ' 2 Kings, XX. 1-11. « I3., liii. 6; John, xix. 30. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 143 
 
 even these stand still at the cry of the weak- 
 est sinner praying in faith to Jesus Christ, or 
 in Christ's name.' And if a little child even, 
 do but trust in Him, he may walk through 
 the valley of the shadow of death, singing as 
 he goes this cheerful song of defiance, Death, 
 where is thy sting? Grave, where is thy 
 victory ?' For, since the Messiah was cut off, 
 but not for Himself, He hath made an end of 
 sin, and brought in everlasting righteousness ; 
 the Law is satisfied, and the head of the old 
 Serpent bruised.^* 
 
 Then let burdened sinners be of good heart 
 and come to Jesus Christ. Let them cry for 
 mercy where they will, their faith may be 
 sure that Jesus Christ is "standing still" just 
 before them, looking kindly on them, and 
 ready to give them His blessing. He passed 
 that way that Bartimeus might cry to Him, 
 and He came on earth that we might all cry to 
 Him for mercy. Our crying is the fruit of His 
 coming, not its cause. He came of His own 
 grace, and we pray because of our need. But 
 
 * Mark, ix. 23 ; Rom., viii. 31-39 
 
 3 Ps. xxiii. 4 ; 1 Cor., xv. 55. ' Dan., ix 24, 26 ; Gen., iii. Ic 
 
144 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 we would have sat for ever voiceless and de- 
 spairing in our blindness, if His coming had 
 not filled our hearts with hope, and our 
 mouths with supplications. 
 
 The three evangelists united in saying that 
 "Jesus stood still," but now their expressions 
 differ. Each one sounds a note which the 
 others do not wake, and together they make 
 a noble harmony. Do not fail to notice the ad- 
 vantage of comparing Scripture with Scrip- 
 ture. This is one of the most beautiful in- 
 stances I have found. Matthew says, "He 
 called ;" Mark, " He commanded him to be 
 called ;" and Luke, " He commanded him to 
 be brought unto Him." There you have the 
 three great steps in a sinner's effectual calling 
 illustrated. Bartimeus was called, Sovereign- 
 ly, by the voice of Christ ; Instrumentally, by 
 the voice of men ; and Efficiently, by the 
 helping hands which guided his willing steps 
 to Jesus. So we may look upon his call, and 
 the gracious call of every sinner who becomes 
 a saint, in its divine Origin, its gentle Instru- 
 ments, and its effectual Aids. 
 
 I. " He called." Our vocation is of God. He 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 145 
 
 hath called us out of darkness into His mar- 
 vellous light.* The God of all grace hath 
 called us unto His eternal glorj by Christ 
 Jesus." Our calling is a holy calling, a high 
 calling, a heavenly calling.^ Its source is 
 divine grace, its rule the divine purpose, and 
 it is the fruit of election. We are chosen in 
 eternity and called in time.* 
 
 " He called." This word of Matthew con- 
 tains, as in the seed, the expressions of Mark 
 and Luke. All the agencies, by which the 
 soul is persuaded and enabled to embrace 
 Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gos- 
 pel, are hidden in this, His loving call, as the 
 leaves and flowers and golden fruit are all 
 folded in the germ. Many providences, many 
 scriptures, many ordinances, many movements 
 of the Spirit may lay hold on a soul to draw- 
 it to Christ ; but they are all so many threads 
 which Christ holds in His own hand. They 
 have all their power from His drawing. 
 
 Then let us use this truth for holy fear. If 
 you resist the appeals of God's ministers, you 
 
 ' 1 Pet., ii. 9. ^ 1 Pet, v. 10. ' 2 Tim., i. 9 ; PML, iil 4 ; 
 Heb., iii 1. < Gal., i. 15 ; Rom., viil 30 ; 2 Tim., i. 9, 10. 
 
 13 
 
146 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 resist God. If jou despise God's providences, 
 you despise Him, If jou stifle the alarms of 
 conscience, you are silencing the Voice from 
 teaven, which may speak to you no more till 
 it speak in the thunders of the Judgment. Oh, 
 see that ye refuse not Him that speaketh from 
 heaven. He that despised Moses' law died 
 without mercy. And a sorer punishment — 
 sorer than a death, sure, bloody and merciless, 
 is in reserve for all who turn away from Him 
 that speaketh from heaven. For our God is a 
 consuming fire.' 
 
 Let us also use this truth for holy encour- 
 agement. Is it indeed Christ's voice that 
 speaks by sacraments and Sabbaths and gos- 
 pel ministers ? Then let faith cry. The voice 
 of my Beloved V and open the door, and He 
 shall come in and sup with us and we with 
 Him.^ We shall feed upon the promises, and 
 His fruit shall be sweet to our taste.* Our 
 hearts shall burn within us,^ our sorrows be 
 comforted, our burdens lightened, our graces 
 revived, A bundle of myrrh shall He be to 
 
 1 Heb., X. 28, 29 ; xii. 25, 29. 2 gong, ii, 8, 
 
 » Rev., iil 20. * Song, ii. 3. ^ Luke, xxiv. 32. 
 
BLIND BAETIMEUS. 147 
 
 US, and a cluster of camphire from the vine- 
 yards of En-gedi.' 
 
 " He called." In Jesus Christ we behold 
 the best of preachers, — the divine Exemplar 
 after whom all should copy. 
 
 While He lived on earth He called to men 
 every where, saying, If any man thirst let him 
 come unto me and drink. '^ In His zeal to pro- 
 claim the glad tidings of salvation through 
 faith in His name, anj^ spot became a pulpit, 
 any lost sinner a sufficient audience. He 
 preached indeed in the temple frequently, 
 and in the synagogues habituall}^, all over the 
 land ;' but also in the street, on the mountain, 
 and on the strand ;* as He walked by the way 
 or sat at meals ;^ when the multitude broke 
 in upon His quiet retreat in the country, 
 which He had sought with His disciples, for 
 a little needful rest,* or when the timid in- 
 quirer came to Him by night,^ or the guilty 
 woman of Samaria questioned Him as He sat 
 in weariness, at noon, on Jacobs's well;* wheth- 
 
 ' Song, i. 14. ^ John, vii. 37. ^ Luke, xix. 47 : iv. 16, 4'i, 
 
 * Luke, xiii. 26 ; Mat., v. 1 ; Luke, xiii. 1, 2 
 
 * Luke, xxiv. 15, 27; Luke, xiv. « Mark, vi. 31-.34. 
 ' John, iii. 1, 2. s jobn, jy G. 
 
148 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 er the great ones of Church and State were 
 arrayed before Him, or the j)oor and the dis- 
 eased, the pubhcan and the abhorred outcast 
 besought His mercy.* All moved His pity. 
 None were sent empty away. Never was He 
 so exhausted that He could not give rest to the 
 heavy-laden. Thirsting Himself, He gave to 
 others the cup of living water.^ On his way 
 to the Cross, condemned, forsaken, scourged 
 and bleeding. He tenderly addressed the 
 mourning daughters of Jerusalem, and in the 
 very anguish of death, He gave eternal life to 
 the penitent robber by whom He had just 
 been reviled.^ 
 
 Such a Preacher was Christ : yet it was ex- 
 pedient for us that He should go away. The 
 purposed ends of His personal ministry on 
 earth were accomplished, and it was needful 
 that He should leave the world and go to the 
 Father, there to prepare a place for us, that 
 so He might come again, and receive us to 
 Himself.* But rneantime, the preaching of 
 the gospel was not to cease. 
 
 ' Mat., xxiii. ; Luke, vii. 36-50 ; xv. '^ John, iv 10. 
 
 " Luke, xxiii. 28, 40-43, with Mat., xxvii. 44. 
 * John, xiv. 2, 3 ; xvi. 7, 28. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 149 
 
 IL " He commanded liim to be called." 
 The Lord gave the word ; great was the com- 
 pany of them that published it.^ He did not 
 leave Himself without a witness, nor His peo- 
 ple without a comforter.'' When He ascended 
 up on high, He led captivity captive, and 
 gave gifts unto men.' Chiefest Gift, Chiefest 
 Witness and Chiefest Comforter was the Holj 
 Ghost. But besides Him, and under His min- 
 istration, He gave some, apostles; and some, 
 prophets ; and some, pastors and teachers ; 
 for the perfecting of the saints, for the work 
 of the ministry, for the edifying of the body 
 of Christ.* 
 
 God having reconciled the world unto Him- 
 self by Jesus Christ, hath given to us the 
 ministry of reconciliation, so that we are am- 
 bassadors for Christ, as though God did be- 
 seech you by us ; we pray you in Christ's 
 stead be ye reconciled to God.' The divine 
 wisdom is clearly seen in this. The treasure 
 is in earthen vessels that the excellency of 
 the power may be of God, and not of us." If 
 
 •■ Ps. Ixviii. 11. ^ Acts, i. 8 ; John, xiv. 16-18. = Eph., iv. 8. 
 < Eph., iv. 11, 12. 5 2 Cor., v. 18-20. « 2 Cor., iy. 7. 
 
 13* 
 
150 BLIND BAETIMEUS. 
 
 under the music and thunder of angelic voices 
 the soul was converted, while the Sabbath air 
 was fragrant with heavenly odors and quiver- 
 ing with bright wings, our foolish hearts, all 
 enravished with the splendor of the vision, 
 and thrilling still to the celestial eloquence, 
 would ascribe to these flaming ministers the 
 glory, saying, By their might, by their power, 
 and not by the Spirit of the Lord !^ But when 
 the worm Jacob threshes the mountains," the 
 Spirit is honored, and Christ is honored, and 
 men and angels cry together, Not unto us, O 
 Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give 
 glory, for Thy mercy, and for Thy truth's 
 sake.^ 
 
 And so it must be. God cannot give His 
 glory to another. •• The saved must all be 
 saved by grace, and own it too." The shout 
 of Grace ! Grace ! shall be heard over every 
 stone in the Heavenly Temple/ 
 
 So too, do the preachers of the gospel stand 
 before the people as trophies of the grace they 
 proclaim*. Therefore the preaching comes 
 
 ' Zeeh., iv. 6. = Isa., xH. 14, 15. ^ Ps. cxv. 1. 
 
 * Is., xlii. 8. ' 2 Tim., L 9. « Zech., iv. 7 
 
BLIND BAHTIMEUS. 151 
 
 witli- the power and tenderness of experience. 
 " I preached," says Bunjan, " what I felt, 
 what I smartingly did feel, even that under 
 which my poor soul did groan and tremble to 
 astonishment. Indeed, I have been as one 
 sent to them from the dead. I went myself 
 in chains, to preach to them in chains ; and 
 carried in my own conscience that fire I per- 
 suaded them to beware of. I can truly say, 
 and that without dissembling, that when I 
 have been to preach, I have gone full of guilt 
 and terror, even to the pulpit door, and there 
 it hath been taken off, and I have been at 
 liberty in my mind until I have done my 
 work." ' Oh, who cannot imagine the ten- 
 derness, the inflamed earnestness and heart- 
 melting pathos with which he must then have 
 preached ! 
 
 If we " call" because Christ has " command- 
 ed," then are we servants of Christ, servants 
 of the Church for His sake, and servants of 
 the gospel. Therefore must we preach not 
 ourselves, but Christ Jesus our Lord.' As 
 our calling sinners grows out of His calling 
 
 » Grace Abounding. ^ 2 Cor., iv. 5. 
 
152 BLIND BARIIMEUS. 
 
 them, our great business is to repeat, expound 
 and enforce His teachings. His Word is to 
 be the substance of our preaching,* His Spirit 
 our Helper,^ Himself our Exemplar.^ Then 
 will He stand by us/ When we speak frorn 
 His mouth, He will speak by our mouths. 
 Through our voice of weakness will sound 
 His voice of power. When in heathen lauds 
 we can but stammer brokenly, in a half- 
 learned language, the story of the Cross, He 
 will be there, translating to the longing heart 
 the glad tidings. When we appear for Him, 
 He appears in us. 
 
 Let him that heareth, say, Come I^ Then 
 all the called may themselves become callers. 
 Some are especially chosen and -ordained to 
 this work, but every saint may have a share 
 in it. O soul, once sick unto death, hast thou 
 found the great Physician ? Eun quickly to 
 thy dying neighbors, and tell them what He 
 has done for thee. Ah ! how canst thou help 
 it ? If thou canst hold thy tongue from pub- 
 
 ' 2 Tim,, iv. 1, 2, "^ Acts, ii. 4; Eph., vi, 19 
 
 s 1 Cor,, xi, 1 : 1 John, ii. 6. ■• Mat., xxviii. 20. 
 
 5 Rev,, xxii. 17, 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 153 
 
 listing His fame, tbou deservest that it sbould 
 stiffen in eternal silence for its base selfishness 
 and ingratitude ! 
 
 III. And now what a word of good cheer 
 the third evangelist speaks — "He commanded 
 him to be brought unto Him !" Admire the 
 Lord's grace to the blind man. He will not 
 leave him to grope his dark way alone. Some 
 shall lead him by the hand. In whatever way, 
 he shall have all the aid he needs to come into 
 the Saviour's very presence. 
 
 Blessed thought! that we who are but men, 
 may have some share in this dear work of 
 guiding blind souls to Jesus. There is no dig- 
 nity like it on this side of heaven ; no bliss 
 like it to be tasted on earth. It is worth liv- 
 ing for, worth dying for, to guide one lost sin- 
 ner to his Redeemer. 
 
 But here I rather choose to think of the 
 higher than human aid, which Christ sends 
 with His word to the souls of His chosen. 
 The energy of Almighty power accompanies 
 the preaching of the truth.' The Spirit and 
 the Bride say, Come!' There is your hope 
 
 ■' Eph., i. lT-20. 2 Rev., xxii. 17. 
 
154 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 and our consolation. While we call from 
 our pulpitS; Christ calls from heaven, and the 
 Spirit calls in jour very hearts. At the word 
 of Christ, we tell you of your blindness ; only 
 the Spirit can convince you of your blindness/ 
 We tell you of Christ; only the Spirit can 
 take of the things of Christ, and show them to 
 you.'^ He alone can shine into your hearts to 
 give the light of the knowledge of the glory 
 of God in the face of Christ.^ We can pro- 
 phesy to the dry bones in the Valley of Vis- 
 ion ; only He can clothe them with flesh and 
 fill them with life, till they shall rise and go 
 forth a great army.* When bidden, we can 
 stretch out the rod over the sea ; only He can 
 make it a rod of might, and send the strong 
 wind which shall change the sea to dry land.* 
 But all these this mighty Spirit can do, and 
 will do, at the will of Christ, for the word of 
 Christ. 
 
 Therefore we are of good courage. We are 
 weak, but our Helper is strong. We take the 
 word of Jesus, and while it seems but a word 
 
 * John, xvL 8, margin. '^ John, xvi. 15. ' 2 Cor., iv. 6. 
 
 * Ezek., xxxvii. 1-10. ' Ex., xiv. 16, 21. 
 
BLIND BAKTIMEUS. 155 
 
 from human lips, the Spirit makes it the 
 power of God for salvation.' It suddenly be- 
 comes a two-edged sword, quick and power- 
 ful, in the hands of Omnipotence. It pierces 
 to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, 
 and of the joints and marrow — almighty to ac- 
 complish the whole sovereign will of Christ.' 
 Sinner, I charge you, remember the dread- 
 ful sanction Christ puts on the preaching of 
 His ambassadors in these words : He that de- 
 spise th }ou, despiseth Me, and he that despi- 
 seth Me, despiseth Him that sent Me." It is 
 heavenly "Wisdom that now cries, Turn you 
 at my reproof; behold I will pour out my 
 Spirit unto you. I will make known my 
 words unto you.* Beware, then, lest one day 
 you hear that awful voice, Because I have 
 called, and ye have refused ; I have stretched 
 out my hand, and no man regarded ; but ye 
 have set at nought all my counsel, and would 
 none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your 
 calamity; I will mock when your fear com- 
 eth; when your fear cometh as desolation, 
 
 ' Rom., i., 16. ' Heb., iv. 12 ; Is., Iv. 11. 
 
 * Luke, X. 16 «Prov..i.23. 
 
156 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 and your destruction as a whirlwind ; when 
 distress and anguish cometh upon you ! Then 
 shall they call upon me, but I will not an- 
 swer ; they shall seek me early, but they shall 
 not find me !* 
 
 O Christ, I have preached the preaching 
 Thou hast bidden me. Honor Thine own 
 word, and send Thine effectual aids ! 
 
 Spirit of Jesus, glorify the truth in Jesus. 
 Display Thine almighty power, and lead these 
 poor sinners to Jesus Christ ! 
 ' JProT., L 24^28. 
 
VI. 
 
 " And they call the bhnd man, saying unto him, Be of good 
 comfort ; rise ; He calleth thee. And he, casting away his 
 garment, rose and came to Jesus." 
 
 I HAT a lively picture of gospel 
 preaching! The seeing hasten to 
 the sightless and bid them come to 
 Jesus Christ. Men whose eyes have 
 seen the Lord, and whose ears have 
 heard His gracious words, go at His command, 
 to souls sitting in the region and shadow of 
 death,' and there proclaim aloud their joyful 
 tidings. 
 
 The analogy is perfect, if those who wel- 
 comed Bartimeus to Jesus could say, " Once 
 we, too, were blind ; but He hath opened our 
 eyes!" And who shall deny that it was so? 
 Christ had healed many blind men, and it is 
 far from improbable that some of them fol- 
 
 1 Mat., iv. 16. 
 
 14 
 
158 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 lowed Him ever after, waiting to be sent on 
 these joyful errands of grace. 
 
 Then with what generous indignation must 
 they have heard the cruel rebukes of the mul- 
 titude ! O gospel preachers, both lay and 
 clerical — all who in public or in private, in 
 the pulpit or by the way-side, have any thing 
 to tell to others of Christ's gracious dealings 
 with your souls, remember the wormwood 
 and the gair of your lost estate, and let a 
 righteous anger burn against the world, the 
 flesh and the devil, against priest and phari- 
 see, and every ungodly church and professor, 
 who would silence the cries of convicted souls. 
 Think of the woes of perishing sinners, and 
 let an honest zeal for their deliverance from 
 ruin kindle your heart and tongue against all 
 the agencies of hell, however disguised, bap- 
 tized or consecrated, who would drive even 
 the meanest sinners — publicans and harlots, 
 from Jesus Christ. Feel as men once rescued 
 from a wreck would feel, if they saw, upon a 
 stormy sea, " swimmers in their agony" weakly 
 grasping the icy shore, only to be inhumanly 
 thrust back into the wintry waves. 
 
 ■ Lam., iii. 19 
 
BLIND BAKTIMEUS. 159 
 
 Then too, with what alarmed sympathy 
 would these men, once blind, now seeing, have 
 regarded Bartimeus, if he had wavered in his 
 earnestness after Christ! What would they not 
 have done to have roused him again to his im- 
 portunity? O gosjDel preachers, be it so with 
 you. Let your hearts melt with concern for 
 timid souls turning away from Christ through 
 discouragement. Would that we could all say 
 with Paul, My little children, of whom I tra- 
 vail in birth again, till Christ be formed in 
 you !^ Would that all ministers and all Chris- 
 tians felt such anguish of love for halting- 
 souls 1 
 
 And with what alacrity would these messen- 
 gers of Christ have hastened to bear His words 
 of welcome to the blind man ! Joy beyond 
 expression would have inspired them. I have 
 heard of a caravan which had lost its way 
 in the desert. For days they could find no 
 water. The suffering was sore, and many 
 were perishing. Men were out in all direc- 
 tions searching for the water that was to be, 
 indeed, water of life. At last, faint and ready 
 
 > Gal., iv. 19. 
 
160 BLIND BAETIMEUS. 
 
 to die, one man lighted on a spring. Cool 
 and clear the stream gushed from the rock. 
 Almost frantic with thirst, he rushed forward 
 and drank, drank. Oh how deep was the 
 bliss of that draught! Is it strange that for 
 one moment he thought only of himself? But 
 suddenly the perishing multitude came before 
 his mind, and he leaped up, and ran shouting, 
 " Water ! water ! Enough for all ! Come 
 and drink !" And so from rank to rank of 
 that scattered host he sped, until he had told 
 them all, and was himself thirsty again. But 
 when he saw the eager crowds rushing to 
 the fountain, when he -beheld the refreshment 
 and gladness of all hearts and faces, and then 
 stooped once more himself to drink the liberal 
 stream, was not his second draught full of 
 deeper bliss than even the first ? Had he ever 
 tasted such water as that? O blessed souls 
 who have drank of the river of life, lift up 
 your voice upon the mountains, and let your 
 feet be swift upon the plains, publishing the 
 good tidings of salvation.' 
 
 This brings to view the joyfulness of the 
 
 ' Isa., lii. T. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 161 
 
 gospel. It is not a message of gloom, a thing 
 to be wliispered in darkness as a dreadful 
 secret. We dishonor the gospel when we 
 would recommend it by a melancholy visage. 
 We have not entered into its s|)irit, if, when 
 we would press its claims upon a friend, we go 
 stealthily aside, and hang our heads, and use 
 lugubrious speech, and seem like doleful cul- 
 prits at the confessional, instead' of free citi- 
 zens of the Kingdom, rejoicing in our coming 
 inheritance of inconceivable glory. When 
 the hypocrites in Isaiah's time would keep a 
 fast, they bowed their heads as a bulrush, and 
 spread sackcloth and ashes under them.' And 
 in Christ's day, they were of a sad counten- 
 ance, and disfigured their faces; but Christ 
 rebuked this, and required His disciples rather 
 to wash their faces, and anoint their heads, 
 that even in keeping a fast, they might lack 
 none of the usual tokens of cheerfulness.^ 
 
 Oh, the gospel is joyful ! It found the race 
 cowering in despair by the forbidden tree, 
 under the threatened vengeance of Jehovah ; 
 and it will not leave them, till the last of the 
 
 ' Isa., Iviii. 5. ^ Mat., vi. 16, 17 
 
 14* 
 
162 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 cliosen seed are exulting in eternal song be- 
 fore tlieir Father's Throne. When it first vis- 
 ited our world, the earth was groaning and 
 travailing in the bondage of corruption. But 
 the Redeemer shall one day break these chains, 
 and introduce the burdened creation into the 
 glorious liberty of the children of God. It is 
 already waiting for their manifestation, and 
 leaning forward in eager hope of its own de- 
 liverance.' 
 
 The gospel gloomy ! It is an anthem from 
 the harps of heaven, the music of the River 
 of Life washing its shores on high, and pour- 
 ing in cascades upon the earth. Not so cheer- 
 ful was the song of the morning stars, nor the 
 shout of the sons of God so joyful." Gushing 
 from the fountains of eternal harmony, it was 
 first heard on earth in a low tone of solemn 
 gladness, uttered in Eden, by the Lord God 
 Himself.^ This gave the key-note of the gos- 
 pel song. Patriarchs caught it up, and taught 
 it to the generations following. It breathed 
 from the harp of Psalmists, and rang like a 
 clarion from tower and mountain-top, as pro- 
 
 1 Rom., viii. 19-23. ^ Job, xxxviii. 7. ^ Gen., iii. 15. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 163 
 
 phets proclaimed the year of jubilee. Fresh 
 notes from heaven have enriched the har- 
 mony, as the Lord of hosts and His angels 
 have revealed new promises, and called on the 
 suffering children of Zion to be joyful in their 
 King,' From bondage and exile, from dens 
 ■ and caves, from bloody fields and fiery stakes 
 and peaceful death -beds have they answered, 
 in tones which have cheered the disconsolate, 
 and made oppressors shake upon their thrones ; 
 Avhile sun and moon and all the stars of light, 
 stormy wind fulfilling His word, the roaring 
 sea and the fulness thereof, mountains and 
 hills, fruitful fields and all the trees of the 
 wood have rejoiced before the Lord, and the 
 coming of His Anointed, for the redemption 
 of His people, and the glory of His holy 
 Name." 
 
 The gospel gloomy ! If the best right, and 
 the only right to be glad on earth, with the 
 assured prospect of eternal blessedness in 
 heaven; if songs in the night ^ and stars of 
 promise; if the light of morning with ita 
 
 ' Ps. cxlix. 2. - Ps. xcviiL 11-13 ; cxlviii. 3, 8, 
 
 ' Job, XXXV. 10. 
 
164 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 fragrant breath and singing birds ; if health 
 for the sick, return for the banished, pardon 
 for the doomed, and life for the dying ; if love, 
 joj, peace, hope ; if harp and crown and wav- 
 ing palm, and the everlasting vision of the 
 Eedeemer's glory be gloomy, then is the gos- 
 pel gloomy ! 
 
 Such is the spirit of the tidings these mes- 
 sengers bring to Bartimeus, in this, his second 
 gospel sermon. The first told him simply that 
 Jesus was passing by. Now he hears these 
 heart- reviving words, " Be of good comfort ; 
 rise ; He calleth thee." 
 
 " Be of good comfort." On thy long night, 
 without moon or star, or even a dim candle 
 in thy dwelling, the Day-star is dawning.* 
 Thine eyes have never been used but for weep- 
 ing ; they seemed only made for tears. But 
 now they shall serve thee for seeing. Thou 
 shalt look upon earth and sky and all dear 
 faces and even Christ thy Saviour. Eejoice, 
 too, for thy poverty and beggary are ended. 
 Thou shalt work with thy hands, and eat the 
 bread of thine own honest toil. Be of good 
 
 'Luke, i. 18; Rev., xxii. 16. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 165 
 
 heart. With Jesus for thy physician, thou 
 needst not fear. He never casts any away, 
 and He never fails. At His toucb, how have 
 we seen the blind gaze, the dumb sing, the 
 lame cast away their crutches, and leap for 
 joy, and even the dead awake and live !' 
 
 Sinners, poor, wretched and blind, but cry- 
 ing for the Saviour, be not disconsolate. " Be 
 of good comfort." After your night of weep- 
 ing, your morning of joy has come.'' On your 
 hearts the Day-star is rising.' Come to Jesus, 
 and roam and grope and beg- no more. Do 
 not fear to come. Oh, He is gracious! Oh, 
 He is mighty ! His blood cleanseth from all 
 sin.'' He is able to save to the uttermost.' 
 This is the work in which His soul delighteth. 
 None can measure His love.* It is stronger 
 than death, even the death of the Cross. And 
 the satisfaction He desires for all the travail 
 of His soul, is just to pardon and cleanse 
 guilty sinners.^ " Be of good comfort" then, 
 and come to Jesus Christ. 
 
 " Eise !" say the preachers to Bartimeus, and 
 
 ' Mat, xL 5. ^ Ps. XXX. 5. ' 2 Pet., i. 19. * John, i. T 
 " Heb., vii. 2.'5. « Eph., iii. 19. ' Is. liii. 10, 11. 
 
166 BLIND BAETIMEUS, 
 
 SO we cry. There is salvation for the sinner, 
 none for the sluggard. There is pardon for 
 all sin, except not coming to Jesus.' Whether 
 from hatred, doubt, or indifference, it is the 
 same, if you will not rise and come, you per- 
 ish. Laziness is a slow devil. He looks easy, 
 and sometimes amiable. But none are more 
 obstinate, and few have carried more to hell 
 than he. Not to receive Christ is to reject 
 Him. Not to love Him is to hate Him and 
 be Anathema.^ How often would I have gath- 
 ered you, says Christ, as He weeps over the 
 doom of Jerusalem, but ye would not P Ah, 
 that is the secret of damnation — Ye would not 
 come unto me that ye might have life. Eise, 
 then, ye unpardoned. Away witb your fears 
 and doubts. They are unreasonable and 
 wicked. Break off your indifference. It is 
 a noiseless chain, indeed, but be not deceived ; 
 the chain that does not clank is the tightest. 
 Let me take the trumpet of the Holy Ghost, 
 and may He fill it with a sound that shall 
 pierce your heart; — ^Awake thou that sleepest. 
 
 ' John, vi. 37, with v. 40. ^ 1 Cor., xvi. 22. 
 
 " Mat, xxiii. 37. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 167 
 
 and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give 
 thee light I' 
 
 "He calleth thee." What more canst thou 
 want, Bartimeus? If He calk thee. He will 
 cure thee. If He calls, who can forbid ? His 
 call would clear a way for thee through all 
 this multitude, if they should oppose. All the 
 devils in hell could not keep thee back, poor, 
 sightless, helpless man, if thy Saviour calls 
 thee. 
 
 Thy call is thy warrant. The call of Christ 
 is warrant enough for any sinner. He may 
 use it against the Law and Satan and his own 
 evil conscience. For example, Satan comes 
 to him and says, 
 
 " What, wretch ! art thou going to Christ ?" 
 
 " Ay, that I am, with all my heart." 
 
 " But will He receive thee ?" 
 
 " Ay, that He will, with all His heart." 
 
 ''Truly, thou art a brave talker! Who 
 taught thee this lofty speech ?" 
 
 " Nay, my speech is lowly, and I learned 
 it of. my Lord," 
 
 "But where is thy warrant? None can go 
 to Christ without a warrant." 
 ' Eph., V. 14. 
 
168 BLIND BAETIMEUS. 
 
 " He calleth me — be that my warrant !" 
 
 "But where is tlij fitness?" says Satan, 
 shifting his ground. 
 
 " Be my warrant my fitness — He calleth 
 me," answers the sinner keeping his ground, 
 his only ground. 
 
 "But listen, soul! Thou art going before a 
 King. He cannot look upon iniquity,"' (for 
 you see Satan can quote Scripture,) "and 
 thou art but a mass of iniquity ;" (here the 
 devil afifects a great horror of it, to fill the 
 sinner with fear.) " The heavens are not clean 
 in His sight ]^ how then shall thy filthiness 
 appear before Him ? Look at thy rags, if thy 
 blind eyes will let thee, and say, what a dress 
 is this to take into His presence !" 
 
 "It is all true," says the contrite sinner, 
 " still I will go, for He calleth me, I will bind 
 this call about me and it shall be my dress^ 
 till He give me another. I will hold up this 
 call, written with His own hand, and signed 
 with His own name, and sealed with His own 
 blood, and it shall be my defence and plea. 
 Miserable and unworthy as I am, and deserv- 
 
 ' Hab., i. 13. = Job, xv. 15. 
 
BLIND BAIiTIMEUS. 169 
 
 ing, I know, to die, with this I have boldness 
 and access with confidence/ saying only, like 
 little Samuel, Here am I, for Thou didst call 
 me !"* 
 
 Bartimeus needed no more. "Casting away 
 his garment, he rose and came to Jesus." It 
 could not be otherwise. True earnestness does 
 not wait. Conscious wretchedness in the pre- 
 sence of a trusted Saviour cannot delay. Only 
 half-convictions can procrastinate. Sinners 
 who hang back and yet look forward, longing 
 and tarrying, hearing a thousand exhortations 
 but waiting for one more, have either shallow 
 views of sin or low views of Christ. I praj^ 
 you take heed of that ; there is your trou- 
 ble, — shallow views of sin or low views of 
 Christ. Either you do not see your need of 
 such a Saviour, or you do not see Him to be 
 the Saviour you need. If you knew what a 
 sinner you are, and what a Saviour He is, you 
 would go to Him at once and be saved. 
 
 " A full conviction of sin," says John Owen,* 
 " is a great and shaking surprisal unto a guilty 
 soul." And without such surprisals men will 
 
 ' Eph., iii. 12 - 1 Sain., iii. 6. 3 Qn Heb. vi. 18. 
 
 L5 
 
170 BLIND BAKTIMEUS. 
 
 die in their carnal security. Therefore though 
 the gospel is indeed a message of gladness, its 
 preachers must often preach heavy and bittei 
 things. The Old Testament ends with the 
 word " Curse," while the New begins with 
 this announcement, " The book of the genera- 
 tion of Jesus Christ." But until this sound of 
 an avenging Law has rung dreadfully in the 
 sinner's ears, little will he care for the glad 
 tidings of the gospel. 
 
 Would to God our message might ever 
 sound in music and not in thunder ! that we 
 might stand evermore on the green top of sun- 
 lit Gerizim, and never again on the stormy 
 height of gloomy Ebal!" that our doctrine 
 might drojD as the rain, and our speech distil 
 as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender 
 herb, and as the showers upon the grass P 
 But what care they for refuge who have not 
 heard of wrath ? for Calvary, who have never 
 trembled under the blaze and roar of Sinai ? 
 for pardon, who are not convinced of sin ? for 
 the treasures hid in Christ, who say, I am rich 
 and increased with goods, and have need of 
 
 ' Deut, xi. 29. ^ Pent., xxxiL 2. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 171 
 
 nothing; and know not, alas I that they are 
 wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, 
 and naked !' 
 
 If our hearers were all like Bartimeus, our 
 message might always begin, " Be of good 
 comfort." If men felt their burdens, we would 
 gently say, Come unto me, all ye that labor 
 and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' 
 If they were conscious of their thirst, how 
 joyfully would we cry. Ho, every one that 
 thirstctb, come ye to the waters I^ If they 
 were already cut to the heart with sharp con- 
 victions, and were crying to us, Sirs_, what 
 must we do to be saved ? most gladly would 
 we answer, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and ye shall be saved.'' 
 
 The gospel w joyful, though it has one note 
 of terror — He that belie veth not shall be 
 damned.* It announces that there is no need ot 
 damnation. We may all be saved, if we will 
 but believe. It does not create our condem- 
 nalion,* we are condemned already.'' It finds 
 us in chains and tells us how we may escape. 
 
 ' Rev., iu. 17. = Mat, xi. 28. = Isa., Iv. 1. 
 
 4 Acts, xvi. 29-31. 5 Mark, xvi. 16. « Jolin, iii. 17. 
 
 ' Jolui, iii. 18. 
 
172 BLIND BAETIMEUS. 
 
 Am I not still the bearer of glad tidings, if 
 I burst into tlie cell of the doomed man and 
 cry, Here is jonr pardon ! Come out at once, 
 and you shall live ! even if, as I see him con- 
 tentedly hugging his chain, or sinking back 
 into his stupid sleep, I seize him with rough 
 kindness, and cry out to him with an energy 
 of love that seems like fierceness, Rise- and 
 flee, or you perish I All who are found within 
 these walls, when the bell of doom begins to 
 toll, must die ! 
 
 The ancient heathen had this saying; " The 
 feet of the avenging deities are shod with 
 wool." Shod with wool ! Yes, they crept with 
 noiseless steps, that the touch that aroused, 
 might be the blow that destroyed. It is not 
 so with our merciful God. He sounds an 
 alarm that we may seek a refuge. His thun- 
 der rolls along the distant horizon, that we 
 may take in sail and be ready for the storm, 
 the storm which would have burst upon us no 
 less surely, without this gracious warning. 
 
 As Bartimeus rose to hasten to Jesus, he 
 " cast away his garment," his loose upper 
 robe. He would suffer no hindrance. He 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 173 
 
 may have thrown it aside unconsciously, but 
 it was the action of nature — nature in earnest 
 for some great end. 
 
 Let us take the lesson. If we would win 
 Christ, we must lay aside every weight, and 
 the sin which so easily besets us' — the sin we 
 have daily wrapped about us like our gar- 
 ment. We must forget those things which 
 are behind, and reach forth unto those things 
 which are before.^ Hearken, O daughter, and 
 consider, and incline thine ear; forget also 
 thine own people and thy father's house. So 
 shall the King greatly desire thy beauty ; for 
 He is thy Lord, and worship thou Him.^ 
 
 Cain sacrificed unto the Lord, but he could 
 not cast off his envy, and it soon constrained 
 him to murder.* Balaam sighed for the death 
 of the righteous ; but when he saw the wages 
 of unrighteousness, they seemed so goodly a 
 garment, that he drew it around him, and 
 died a very different death indeed — slain by 
 the aveuging sword of Israel, and mingling 
 his blood with the blood of those he had se- 
 
 ' Heb., xil 1. " PhD., iii. 13. ' Pa. xlv. 10, 11, 
 
 * Gen., iv. 3, 5, 8. 
 
 15* 
 
174 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 duced into licentiousness and idolatry.' Felix 
 trembled as Paul preached ; but procrastina- 
 tion was so wrapped about him that he could 
 not cast it off, and so he never came to Christ." 
 When Herod heard John the Baptist, he did 
 many things, and heard him gladly ; yet when 
 the stern prophet put forth his hand to tear 
 away the robe of lust, whose clinging poison 
 was eating into his soul, Herod bound him in 
 prison and murdered him,^ and died, at length, 
 in exile and shame.^ The young Ruler came 
 even running to Christ, such was his eager- 
 ness for salvation ; but a searching word about 
 his possessions suddenly stopped him. He 
 hesitated, he yearned for the blessing of eter- 
 nal life. He was so guileless, so full of virtue, 
 so ingenuous, so warm in his aspirations for 
 immortal purity and blessedness. He looked 
 upon Jesus with longing ; Jesus looked upon 
 him with love. Is it too much to believe that 
 they both wept ? But ah ! that cloth of gold 
 in which he had arrayed himself, and which 
 tie wore in his high station with such grace 
 
 ■ Num., xxiii. 10; 2 Pet., ii. 15; Num., xxxi. 8, 16. 
 
 2 Acts, xxiv. 25. ' Mark, vi. 17, 20, 27. " .Tesephus. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 175 
 
 and pride — tliat jewelled robe seemed too i3re- 
 cious to rend and scatter to the poor : so lie 
 drew it slowly around him, and went sorrow- 
 fally away, and it became, I fear, his poor 
 soul's winding-sheet!' Ananias and Sapphira 
 professed the faith of Christ, joined the Church, 
 and even made a great sacrifice of their pos- 
 sessions for it ; but unable to cast off the gar- 
 ment of lying ostentation, God touched it with 
 His wrath, and consumed them.'' Judas was 
 numbered with the twelve apostles, and ob- 
 tained part of their ministry ; but he still wore 
 the secret robe of avarice, and it grew to his 
 very flesh, and ate into his heart as a canker, 
 and when his heart was gone, he betrayed his 
 Master,* and hurried to perdition.^ 
 
 How do these cases search and condemn 
 many professors of religion ! Cain shows 
 that professed worshippers of God may perish ; 
 Balaam and Felix, that holy aspirations and 
 fearful convictions may yet end in destruc- 
 tion; Herod, that those who hear joyfully the 
 
 ■ Mark, x. 17-22. ' Acts, v. 1-11. 
 
 ^Acts, i. 17; John, xii. 6; Mat, xxvi. 14-16, 47-49' 
 xxvii. 5. 
 
176 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 most faithful preaching aod go far in their 
 obedience, may yet be lost. The young man 
 ■whom Jesus loved proves the utter insuffi- 
 ciency of human virtue without the grace of 
 God. Ah, more ; how much it is to be feared 
 that that same word about the possessions 
 spoken to many in this day, who are " run- 
 ning" most complacently in their profession, 
 would give them a check from which they 
 would never recover. And as to the sin of 
 Ananias and Sapphira, it would seem that 
 many modern Church members think that 
 the essence of the sin was in selling the land 
 at all, and laying any part of the price at the 
 Apostles' feet! Oh, how should they be 
 afraid, who are content that souls now in hell 
 should have surpassed all their proofs of love 
 to Christ and His poor ! Lastly, the perdition 
 of the traitor rings an alarm-bell in the ears, 
 not only of all professors, but all ministers, 
 crying out that they, who have preached the 
 gospel to others, may themselves be cast 
 away.' 
 
 There is yet one garment, which more than 
 
 ' 1 Cor., ix. 27. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 177 
 
 all others men bug about tbem, and tbat is 
 Self-rigbteousness. It is a miserable and filthy 
 affair, a thing of patcb-work and rags.' But 
 the blind sinner tbinks it fair and comely. 
 He draws it about him in pride, and his soul 
 has comfort. 
 
 Some men toil all tbeir lives to make it 
 large and clean and beautiful, and to set it 
 richly with gems of virtue and good works. 
 Paul was a diligent worker at this, and for a 
 while be thought himself very successful, and 
 used to survey himself in the glass of the law 
 with great complacency. He counts over to 
 us seven fair colors tbat were woven into it, 
 making it, in his estimation, like a rainbow for 
 beauty ; — If any other man thinketb he hath 
 whereof he might trust in tbe flesh, I more ; 
 circumcised the eightb day, of the stock of 
 Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew 
 of tbe Hebrews ; as touching tbe law, a Phari- 
 see ; concerning zeal, persecuting tbe Cburcb ; 
 touching the righteousness whicb is in the 
 law, blameless P On all tbese be looked witb 
 great satisfaction, little knowing how blind he 
 ' la, Ixiv. 6. 2 pijii^^ jij_ 4_Q_ 
 
178 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 was, nor what a poor, unsiglitlj wretcli in the 
 eyes of God. But when the great hght from 
 heaven shone upon him, and God opened his 
 eyes/ he saw that he was vile, and had no 
 righteousness at all.^ He poured nothing but 
 contempt on the glory of his old pride.^ As 
 he grew older he seemed to delight to stain it 
 more and more.^ At last, many years after, 
 he wrote a letter to his son Timothy, and con- 
 fessed that all that time he was a blasphemer, 
 and a persecutor and injurious, and the chief 
 of sinners/ 
 
 This garment must always be renounced 
 when a sinner would come to Jesus Christ. 
 But it is very hard to do. The old ploughman 
 was right when he told Hervey that it was 
 harder to get rid of righteous self than of sin- 
 ful self. Hervey thought it a very ridiculous 
 speech at the time, for he knew little of grace 
 then ; but afterwards he learned in the school 
 of Christ that it was so indeed. 
 
 Some remainders, of it, however, — some 
 shreds and patches, -hang about all saints on 
 
 » Acts, ix. 1-18. s Phil, iii. 3. = Phil., iii. 7-9. 
 
 * 1 Cor., XV. 9, with Eph., iii. 8, and 1 Tim., i. 15. 
 5 1 Tim., i. 13 15. 16. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 179 
 
 earth. And what is very marvellous, even 
 after thev have seen and abhorred its filthi- 
 ness, if God would suffer, they would all 
 make haste and weave these rags together 
 again, and think them comely, and wear them 
 in pride I 
 
 Job, who was one of the best of men, was 
 once found doing too much of this, (as you 
 may see in the twenty-ninth and thirty-first 
 chapters,) when God suddenly gave him a 
 sight of himself in the mirror of infinite ma- 
 jesty and sovereignty,' and the sight so over- 
 whelmed him that he exclaimed, I am vile.'^ 
 Once more God flashed tlio light of that terri- 
 ble mirror upon him,^ for He meant to make 
 thorough work, and Job cried out, I have 
 heard of Thee by the hearmg of the ear ; but 
 now mine eye seeth Thee ; wherefore I abhor 
 myself, and repent in dust and a^es.* 
 
 Oh that God may give us all grace to cast 
 this wretched garment away, tearing it and 
 stamping it in the dust, that we may win 
 
 » Job, chapters xxxviii., xxxix. and xL 1, 2. 
 
 " Job, xl. 3. ^ Job, xl. 6-24, and chapter xli. 
 
 * Job, xhi. 5, 6. 
 
180 BLIND BAKTIMEUS. 
 
 Christ, and be found in Him, not having our 
 own righteousness, which is of the law, but 
 that which is tlirougli the faitb of Christ, the 
 righteousness which is of God bj faith 1* 
 
 ' Phil., iii. 8, 9. 
 
Vll. 
 
 " And when he was come near, Jesus asked him, "What ■wilt thou 
 that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto Him, Lord 
 that I might receive my sight I'' 
 
 AETIMEUS is at length at the feet of 
 Jesus. He cannot see Him yet, but 
 .^ he feels it good to be there — there in 
 the dust, there in darkness. 
 
 And who ever found it otherwise? 
 Ob, what sorrows have been brought to the 
 Saviour's feet — shame, disappointment, be- 
 reavement, sickness of heart and flesh, the 
 stings of remorse, the inward burning of di- 
 vine wrath, the pains of utter despair! But 
 who that ever came in wretchedness did not 
 here find blessedness ? 
 
 I do not mean now the blessedness of the 
 final and great relief, when heavenly light has 
 streamed through all the broken heart and 
 healed it; but the blessedness, simply, of 
 having come to Jesus, the blessedness of be- 
 ing consciously near Him. 
 16 
 
182 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 All coming to Christ is good. While only 
 the Law works, the sinner only suffers. The 
 cliflfs of Sinai are falling. Heavy bolts from 
 the thick darkness where God is, break the 
 heart.* But the Gospel gives peace. We joy 
 in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by 
 whom we have now received the atonement.' 
 The sun brightens and warms all who look 
 upon it, though they come from cold, foul 
 caverns. And Christ is a Sun. He gives 
 grace and glory to the most miserable of sin- 
 ners and His bitterest enemies, if they look to 
 Him in faith.^ If the bruised and aching 
 heart be brousjht within the shining of the 
 Cross, its beams will glide into it, and fill it 
 with secret refreshments. There is comfort in 
 resolving to flee to Christ, comfort in fleeing, 
 comfort in falling at His feet. I trow Barti- 
 meus was never so truly happy before, and 
 yet he is still a beggar, lying in unrelieved 
 blindness in the dust at the feet of Jesus of 
 Nazareth. 
 
 The feet of Jesus ! There the sinner finds 
 
 ' Rom., viL T-13. 2 Rom., v. 11. 
 
 ' Ps-lxxxiv. 11, with ilal., iv. 2. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 183 
 
 all that the needs of his own soul, all that the 
 demauds of the Law, all that the Perfections 
 of God require. There he sees the Antitype of 
 all the types, the Substance of all the shadows, 
 the Fulfilment of all the promises. There his 
 guilt is pardoned, his foulness cleansed, his 
 person accepted. For there is at once the 
 Priest and the Sacrifice, the blood of sprink- 
 ling and the way into the Holiest of all.' 
 There is the true Mercy-seat and the She- 
 kinah, — the visible glory of the Divine pre- 
 sence between the cherubim.^ There God is 
 manifest in the_^e67i.' 
 
 At the feet of Jesus none need be afraid. 
 This beggar drew " near." In Him we have 
 boldness and access with confidence through 
 the faith of Him.^ It is impossible to press 
 too near to Christ. In the Song the Spouse is 
 seen coming up from the wilderness leaning 
 upon her Beloved.^ Like John at the Supper 
 we may rest upon His very breast.^ The good 
 Shepherd loves to see His sheep lying neai 
 
 ' Heb., ix. 11-14; x. 19-22 ^ Ex., xxv. 22. 
 
 3 1 Tim., iii. 16. * Epb., iiL 12. 
 
 * Song, viil 5. ^ John, xiii. 23. 
 
184 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 His feet, and when the lambs are weary He 
 carries them in His bosom.' 
 
 In the days of His flesh His invitation was 
 evermore, Come unto me !° The exiled leper 
 heard, and burst through all to come into His 
 presence and fall at His feet.' The multitudes 
 heard, and again and again did they "throng" 
 Him, " press" upon Him/ 
 
 But so far was He from being offended, that, 
 though they were poor and covered with dis- 
 ease, loathsome to sight and touch, He healed 
 them all.^ Publicans and sinners heard, and 
 even while He and His disciples sat at 
 meat, they came and sat with them.' So 
 freely did He receive them and mingle with 
 them, that He was sneeringly called. The 
 Friend of publicans and sinners.'' They meant 
 it for shame, but He took it for glory. The 
 ruined outcast heard — ah ! who can ever forget 
 that tender scene of grace, in which He so 
 vindicates and blesses the polluted woman, 
 who, in the bitterness of her contrition, came 
 unbidden to the feast of the haughty Pharisee, 
 
 ' Is., xl. 11. 2 Mat, xi. 28 ; Mark, x. 14 ; John, vu. 37 
 
 3 Luke, V. 12. ■* Luke, viii. 19, 45: 
 
 » Mat, xii. 19. « Mat., ix 10, 11, 7 Mat., xi. 19. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 186 
 
 and regardless of surprise and contempt, began 
 to wash His feet with her tears, and did wipe 
 them with the hairs of her head, and kissed 
 His feet, and anointed them with the ointment 
 of her broken alabaster box!' And who can 
 cease to remember, with grateful amazement, 
 those words by which the vilest may draw 
 near to His heart ; Whosoever shall do the 
 will of God, the same is my brother, and my 
 sister and mother.* 
 
 But do you say, Christ is no longer on 
 earth, and we cannot go to Him thus ? 
 
 He has indeed passed into the heavens, and 
 they have received Him until the times of the 
 restitution of all things.^ But His tender 
 heart went with Him. He hath an unchange- 
 able Priesthood, and He is the same yesterday, 
 to-day and for ever, still a merciful and faith- 
 ful High-Priest, still touched with feeling for 
 our infirmities,* When of old the children of 
 Israel watched the high -priest on the Day of 
 Atonement, did their comfort die when he 
 disappeared behind the veil ? Did they not 
 
 ' Luke, vii. 36-50. = Mark, iii. 35. 3 Acts, iii. 21. 
 * Heb., vii. 24 ; xiii. 8 ; ii. 17 ; iv. 15. 
 
186 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 remember with joy that he was there com- 
 pleting his great work of propitiation for 
 their sins ? that their names were graven on 
 the breast-plate which he wore on his heart ? 
 and that while he stood before the blood- 
 sprinkled mercy -seat, in the presence of that 
 awful glory, covered but not stricken by it, 
 he stood as the Eepresentative of a freely jus- 
 tified people?' Even so Christ has entered 
 into heaven itself, the true Holy of holies, now 
 to appear in the presence of God for us." 
 Wherefore He is able to save them to the 
 uttermost that come to God by Him, seeing 
 He ever liveth to make intercession for them.^ 
 Years after He had taken His seat on His 
 Throne, when He was closing the Canon of 
 Scripture, when all seemed finished and ready 
 for the final seal of God's dreadful malediction 
 against him who should add to the words of 
 the Holy Ghost, or take from them,^ He 
 stretched forth His hand and held back the 
 curse until one more invitation, full, blessed, 
 universal, poured from His heart. The Spirit 
 
 ' Lev., xvi. * Heb., ix. 24. 3 Heb., viL 25. 
 
 * Rev., xxii. 18, 19. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 187 
 
 and tLe Bride say. Come. And let him that 
 heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst 
 come. And whosoever will, let him take the 
 water of life freely.' 
 
 " And when he was come near, Jesus an- 
 swered." Bartimeus now, for the first time, 
 receives the word immediately from the lips 
 of his Lord. He is at the Well-head of life, 
 and as he stoops to drink, the stream gushes 
 toward him. 
 
 It is always so. If we would commune 
 with Christ, we must draw near to Him. If 
 we would hear His voice, we must fall down 
 before Him. It is only there that heaven and 
 earth may meet in peace. Christ is the true 
 Tabernacle of the Congregation,' or, as that 
 Old Testament expression may be more lit- 
 erally and instructively rendered. The Taber- 
 nacle of Meeting, — the divinely appointed 
 Meeting-place ; first and chiefly where God 
 would meet His people, and they should meet 
 Him, and so meet one another. Coming from 
 all the vast circumference of Israel, there they 
 met and found themselves one, at that holy 
 
 ■ Rev., xxii 17. * Ex., xxxiii. 7. 
 
188 BLIND BARTIMEU3. 
 
 centre, bright with the visible glory of the 
 Godhead and the clear types of atoning 
 grace. 
 
 Calvary is a little hill to the eye, but it is 
 the only spot on earth that touches heaven. 
 The Cross is foolishness to human reason, and 
 a stumbling-block to human righteousness ;' 
 but there only do Mercy and Truth meet to- 
 gether, and Righteousness and Peace kiss each 
 other.^ Jesus Christ was a man of low con- 
 dition, and died a death of shame on an ac- 
 cursed tree; but there is salvation in no 
 other. ^ There is no Mercy -seat in the uni- 
 verse but at His feet. 
 
 But, lying there, we shall not only be ac- 
 cepted, but shall not lack some gracious word 
 from His lips. There the broken heart shall 
 hear its best music — a still small voice,* it 
 may be, but God will be in the voice, and the 
 contrite spirit shall be revived.® 
 
 "What wilt thou that I should do unto 
 thee ?" A goodly word, indeed 1 What would 
 not a soul, struggling in the depths and en- 
 
 ilCor., i. 23. 2 Ps. ixxxv. 10. ' Acts, iv. 11, 12. 
 
 * 1 Kings, xix. 12. ^ Is., Ivii. 15. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 189 
 
 tanglements of sin, give once to hear it from 
 his Lord ? Let us admire, 
 
 I. The fulness of the grace. The tender 
 love of Christ to lost souls is a great deep, 
 without bottom and without shore. The wing 
 of no angel can bear him so high that he can 
 look over all its extent. The guilt of no sin- 
 ner has been able to sound all its depth. The 
 countless multitudes, who have been washed 
 in its waters, have not diminished its abund- 
 ance nor impaired its virtue. 
 
 King Ahasuerus said unto Queen Esther 
 at the banquet of wine. What is thy petition ? 
 and it shall be granted thee ; and what is th v 
 request? even to the half of my kingdom shall 
 it be performed.^ And so the monarchs of the 
 East delighted to speak. But their utmost 
 promise was lialflhQ kingdom, and their king- 
 doms were earthlj*, bounded and unsubstantial, 
 and their pompous generosity often but the 
 flourishing rhetoric of lust, pride and wine. 
 
 But Jesus puts no limit to His offers. Ask, 
 it shall be given you. Ask, and ye shall re- 
 ceive, that your joy may be full. Whatsoever 
 
 " Esther, v. 6, 
 
190 BLIND BAETIMEUS. 
 
 je shall ask in my name, that will I do.* In 
 Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom 
 and knowledge.'' All power is given unto 
 Him in heaven and in earth.' He is the head 
 of all power, ^ All things were created by 
 Him and for Him.^ In Him dwelleth all the 
 fulness of the Godhead bodily.* His word 
 can open heaven to the vilest sinner : yea, His 
 smile can make a heaven in the saddest heart. 
 A crust from Him is a feast, and the feast 
 which He shall spread in heaven for His saints 
 shall banquet the soul through Eternity. He 
 is Heir of all things,'' and, at the believing call 
 of the meanest beggar, He will make that beg- 
 gar a joint-heir with Him/ to an inheritance 
 incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not 
 away' — an exceeding and eternal weight of 
 glory.'" When we are Christ's Christ is ours ; 
 and then all things are ours — apostles, Scrip- 
 tures, dispensations, ordinances, life and death, 
 this world and the next, things present and 
 
 ' Mat., vii. 7 ; John, xvi. 24; xiv. 13. ^ Col., ii. 3. 
 
 ' Mat., xsviii. 18. ^ Col., ii. 10. ' Col., 1 16. 
 
 « Col., ii. 9. '' Heb., i. 2. « Rora., viii. 1 1. 
 
 » 1 Pet, i. 4. '" 2 Cor. iv. It. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 191 
 
 things to come ; all are ours.' Well might 
 the Apostle count all things loss for Christ/ 
 Such loss is infinite gain. With the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, afflictions are blessings, shame 
 is honor, sickness is health, and death is life 
 for evermore ; out of weakness we are made 
 strong,' in solitude we have the best compa- 
 ny ; our poverty turns to the true riches, our 
 crosses, to the sweetest comforts ; nature gives 
 way to grace, and grace issues in eternal glory. 
 
 II. Let us also admire the freeness of Christ's 
 offers to lost sinners. The freeness of the 
 offer springs from the fulness of the grace. 
 " What wilt thou ?" Choose for thyself, Bar- 
 timeus. If thou dost not carry away a noble 
 gift, it is thine own fault. I do not set bounds 
 to thy desires. The treasure is infinite, and 
 thou hast it all to choose from. 
 
 The Spirit of the Lord is not straitened, 
 and if we are, it is in ourselves.' The Lord's 
 hand is not shortened, neither is His ear heavy; 
 but our iniquities* — ah, there is the trouble ! 
 And no sin hides God's face sooner, or behind 
 
 ' 1 Cor., iii. 21-23. " Phil, iii. 1. 3 Heb., xi. 34. 
 
 Mic, ii. 7 ; 2 Cor., vi. 12. * Is., lix. 1, 2. 
 
192 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 a darker cloud, than our unbelief. God's 
 grace is always larger than man's desire, aad 
 freer than his faith." We continually need 
 His exhortation to Israel, Open thy mouth 
 wide and I will fill it." One prayer should be 
 ever on our lips, Lord, increase our faith V If 
 this day our fleece is drj^, it is not because 
 there is no dew in heaven, nor because none 
 fell last night.^ If we take little pitchers to 
 the well, we shall carry little water away. 
 Though the golden bowl be full of golden 
 oil, the lamp will burn dim, if the golden 
 pipe be narrow or choked.^ The ocean itself 
 can pour but a scanty stream through a slen- 
 der channel. And when sinners cry, I have 
 no grace, it is because unbelief has shut up 
 their bosoms. Or when the people of God 
 cry. My leanness I my leanness !* it is because 
 their narrow faith suffers them only to taste 
 where they might drink ^ — only to snatch 
 crumbs with the dogs, while they might sit 
 down with the children at the table, and feast 
 on all the savory things with which Christ 
 spreads His board. 
 
 ' Eph., iii. 20. = Ps. Ixxxi. 10. ' Luke, xvii. 5. 
 
 ^ Judge."?, vi. 40. ° Zech., iv. 2, 12. ^ Is.^ xxiv, 16. 
 
BLIND BAETIMEUS. 193 
 
 "Whosoever" aud "whatsoever" are two 
 precious words often in the mouth of Christ. 
 Whosoever will may come.^ Whatsoever ye 
 shall ask in my name, that will I do.^ " Who- 
 soever" is on the outside of the gate, and 
 lets in all who choose. "Whatsoever" is on 
 the inside, and gives those who enter the free 
 range of all the region and treasury of grace. 
 "Whosoever" makes salvation free, "Whatso- 
 ever" makes it full. 
 
 III. See how Christ's grace condescends to 
 every soul's peculiar need. He will suit His 
 granting to our asking. To every soul He 
 says, " What wilt thou P 
 
 It is marvellous and beautiful to observe 
 how various are the voices of free grace. " I 
 am thirsty," says one. " Come to the waters," 
 she cries.' " I am hungry," says another. 
 " Then eat ye that which is good," she says, 
 " and let your soul delight itself in fatness."^ 
 "But I am poor, and have nothing to buy 
 with." "Come, buy wine and milk without 
 money, and without price.'" " We are weary," 
 
 ' Eev., sxii. 17 ; John, vii. 37. ' John, xiv. 13. 
 
 Ms., Iv. 1. Us., Iv. 2. 5Is., Iv. 1. 
 
 17 
 
194 BLIND BAETIMEUS. 
 
 sigli the laborers in the sun-beaten fields. 
 "Come unto me," breathes her answer like a 
 breeze from the waters, " and I will give you 
 rest.'" " Oast thj burden on the Lord and He 
 will sustain thee,"* she whispers to the pilgrim 
 ready to faint on the highway, " Behold the 
 Fountain," she cries to the guilty, " the Foun- 
 tain opened for sin and uncleanness."' To the 
 lost she cries, " I am the Way ;" to the igno- 
 rant, "I am the Truth;" to the dying, "I 
 am the Life."* How large her welcome to the 
 sinner, how soothing her consolations to the 
 mourner, how inspiring her tones to him that 
 is faint of heart ! ' There is no disease for 
 which she has not a remedy, no want for 
 which she has not a supply ; and everyone 
 who applies to her shall confess at length, " It 
 is enough ; I am blessed as if all the methods 
 and riches of grace were for me alone !" 
 
 TV. This question teaches that, though Christ 
 knows what we want and what He will do, He 
 will have us express our wants. 
 
 Prayer is not giving information to God ; 
 
 ' Mat, xi. 28. ^ Zech., xiii. 1 
 
 == Pa. Iv. 22. * John, xiv. G. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 195 
 
 that His Omniscience does not need :* nor does 
 it change Hjb will ; that His Immutability 
 cannot suflfer.* It does not awaken His grace, 
 for it is from everlasting ; nor increase it, for 
 it is infinite. But it opens a way for grace to 
 flow according to its own eternal plan. It is 
 faith's answer to Christ's question, " What wilt 
 thou?" It lives only as grace quickens it, and 
 speaks only as grace teaches it. There is no 
 true prayer till God pours out His Holy Spirit 
 — the Spirit of grace and supplications.' He 
 is first the Spirit of grace, imjjlanting holy 
 affections, and then the Spirit of supplications, 
 turning these affections into earnest desires, 
 which breathe from the heart in prayer, even 
 as the same Spirit helpeth our infirmities.'' 
 
 Through all the cold, dark night the petals 
 of the flower were shut. So the sun found it, 
 and poured his rays upon it, till its heart felt 
 the warmth. Then it yearned to be filled 
 with these pleasant beams, and opened its 
 bosom to drink them in. And so it is with 
 man's prayer and God's grace. 
 
 • Mat., vi. 8. ' Zecti., xii. 10. 
 
 2 James, LIT. 4 Rom., viii. 26. 
 
196 BLIND BARTIMKUS. 
 
 " The blind man said unto Him, Lord, that 
 I might receive my sight !" How prompt and 
 to the point is this answer ! Let sinners and 
 saints learn from it to distinguish among their 
 "wants, and keep their greatest needs upper- 
 most. Bartimeus lacked many things, and 
 Christ's question has given him a wide range, 
 but we hear only, " My sight ! my sight !" 
 
 How pointless are the prayers we often hear ! 
 They scatter weakly over the whole ground. 
 They have no aim and do no execution. It 
 may be a time of declension or revival, a day 
 of thanksgiving or fasting, it may be family 
 worship or a church-business meeting — it 
 matters not ; you shall hear pretty much the 
 same prayer. And if you come back five 
 years after, you shall find the good man still 
 going over his old beat, as if the Church and 
 the world and he had made no progress, and 
 suffered no change. 
 
 If we would pray well, we must have some- 
 thing to pray for — sometbing we really crave. 
 We must know our wants, feel our wants, ex- 
 press our wants. We must have " an errand 
 at the Throne." I learned that expression 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 197 
 
 from a -pious old slave. He was asked tLe 
 secret of the fervor and spirit with which 
 he always prayed. " O," said he, " I always 
 have an errand at the Throne, and then I just 
 tell the Lord what I come for, and wait for an 
 answer." Thus, too, shall we wait for an an- 
 swer. Suppose Bartimeus, after kneeling in 
 the dust, and raising his bitter cry, " Lord, 
 that I might receive my sight," had then 
 turned from Christ and said, " Well, I have 
 prayed ; now I will beg a little ;" and so, ris- 
 ing from his knees, he goes begging through 
 the whole crowd. Would he not deserve that 
 the insulted Saviour should spurn his prayer, 
 and seal his blindness to him for ever ? But 
 what else do we, when after the false fervors 
 of our shallow prayers, we dry our eyes, and 
 go wandering after every earthly gain and 
 pleasure ? when we do not watch for an an- 
 swer and wait for its coming? Even the 
 sportsman, who cares not for his game, fol- 
 lows the arrow with his eye, till he sees it 
 strike. But how many never cast a second 
 glance after a prayer which has left their lips ! 
 But Bartimeus did not, could not, turn 
 17* 
 
198 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 away from Christ. If his lips do not still cry, 
 "My sight! my sight!" a mightier prayer 
 than lips can utter is going forth from his 
 heart. You may see it in the wliole attitude 
 — the clasped hands, the out-stretched neck, 
 the up-turned face in a very agony of long- 
 ing, the panting breast, beaten inwardly by 
 the tumultuous heart, the sightless balls " roll- 
 ing in vain" to find the day, and straining 
 toward Jesus, as if they would force a path- 
 way for light ! 
 
 Not long " in vain," blind man, not long I 
 The morning cometh. The Sun is about to 
 rise upon thee with healing in His wings 1' 
 » Mai., iv. 2. 
 
VIII. 
 
 " So Jesus had compassion, and touched his eyes, and said 
 unto him, Receive thy sight : go thy way : thy faith hath 
 saved thee." 
 
 Jesus had compassion ;" surely not 
 then for the first time, but then it 
 was more manifest — its proofs were 
 given. There was fragrance in the 
 alabaster box before it was broken by 
 the violence of love, but then its ointment 
 poured forth, and its precious odors filled 
 the room/ Such holy violence there is in 
 prayer, and so God's treasured blessings are 
 obtained. Christ's secret pity begets our 
 petitions, which then His open compassion 
 accepts and crowns. Jesus loved Martha and 
 her sister and Lazarus, when far away; but 
 when He stood at the grave He wept.'' And 
 we may believe that, whenever the sad fruits 
 of sin were thus before Him, His face gave 
 
 ' Mark, xiv. 3. " John, xi. 5, 35. 
 
200 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 token of His heart. Then the love, which 
 brought Him to die that He might redeem, 
 would stir more mightily within His soul, and 
 overflow in looks and words and deeds of 
 pity. It was at such a moment that Matthew 
 was moved to make the record, "Jesus had 
 compassion." 
 
 " And touched his eyes." This was not of 
 necessity, as if His blessing could not flow 
 without a medium, but in lowliness and kind- 
 ness. 
 
 He could have healed with a word merely, 
 or, if He had pleased, without a word, and far 
 off as well as near. But He generally chose 
 some outward instrumentality. He put clay 
 on the eyes of the man blind from his birth, 
 and sent him to wash in the pool of Siloam.' 
 He had the stone taken fi-om the sepulchre of 
 Lazarus before He cried " Come forth !"" He 
 multiplied the loaves and fishes already at 
 hand, instead of astonishing the multitude b}^ 
 a pure creation.^ 
 
 His lowly spirit is seen in this; for thus 
 His miracles were shorn of some of the rays 
 
 ' John, ix. 6, 7. " John, xi. 39. " John, vi. 11 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 201 
 
 most dazzling to sense. He remembered that 
 though He was the Fellow of Jehovah,' He 
 had now become His Servant, and He dealt 
 prudently.'^ Though He was over all, God 
 blessed for ever, He was now manifest in the 
 flesh/ and, as became Him,* He veiled His 
 uncreated splendor, and modestly wrought His 
 glorious works. 
 
 But while there was the hiding of His 
 power* from the multitude, He the more re- 
 vealed His kindness to His patients. When 
 the leper found that Christ dreaded no pollu- 
 tion, even ceremonial, from his touch ;« when 
 the deaf man, who could not hear His words, 
 felt His fingers in his ears ; * when the poor 
 woman, whom Satan had kept so cruelly bent 
 for eighteen years, felt the hands of One 
 mightier than the old Tyrant, laid lovingly 
 upon her ; '' doubtless their very flesh thrilled 
 at the touch, and their faith was made strong 
 to believe all that He had promised. 
 
 Who does not envy Bartimeus that gentle 
 
 ' Zech., xiii. 7. ^ Is., lii. 13. 3 Rom., ix. 5; 1 Tim., iil 16. 
 * Hab., iiL 4. ^ Mark, i. 41. « Mark, vii. 33. 
 ' Luke, xiiL 13, 16. 
 
202 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 resting of tlie fingers of Jesus on his eyes ? 
 Eather let us strive to feel His blessed Spirit 
 in our hearts, and we shall taste a sweetness 
 which will leave no room for envj. 
 
 *' And said, Receive thy sight." An echo 
 from within the Yeil ! " Lord", that I might 
 receive mj sight 1" cried the suppliant with- 
 out. "Receive thy sight!" answers the Sov- 
 ereign within. Weak and tremulous, with 
 its burden of anguish, is the voice from the 
 dust. Clear and joyous, -with power and 
 blessing, is the Voice from the Throne. I 
 call that goodly music, O friends ! The 
 Eternal Spirit is its Author. He searcheth 
 all things, even the deep things of God,' and 
 finding there what the Father designs to give, 
 He teaches us to desire and ask accordingly. 
 His intercession within us is " according to 
 God/' says the Apostle; that is, "according 
 to the will of God," rightly supply the trans- 
 lators.^ And so, if Christ suits His granting 
 to our asking, it is because the Spirit has first 
 shaped our asking to His granting. The pur- 
 pose of grace is the foundation of the prayer 
 
 ' 1 Cor., ii. 10. « Rom., viii. 27. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 203 
 
 of faith. Eternal Grace is the mould into 
 which faith is cast. Therefore there is har- 
 mony between faith and grace. " Grace crowns 
 what grace begins." 
 
 Oh, to hear more of that music! If all 
 sinners and all saints would thus cry together 
 to heaven, our earth would hear such voices 
 ringing in the air above it, as if the heavenly 
 host had again come down, harping and prais- 
 ing with the notes of " Peace," and " Glory," 
 as of old above the plains of Bethlehem,' 
 
 "Go thy waj'." There is but one word in 
 the Greek for these three. It is a mere form- 
 ula of dismission in peace. 
 
 " Thy faith hath saved thee." In our Eng- 
 lish Bibles we read this expression in Luke, 
 but in Mark, '* Thy faith hath made thee 
 whole." Both answer, however, to one phrase 
 in the original, and should not differ in the 
 translation. Yet there is little to choose be- 
 tween them. " Save" is the exact rendering of 
 the Greek word, but " making whole" is one 
 form of saving. There are many kinds and 
 degrees of salvation, even as the evils vary 
 
 ' Luke, ii. 13, 14. 
 
204 BUND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 from which we need deliverance. This man's 
 malady was physical, and he was saved by the 
 healing of his flesh. If this was all, the more 
 general word, "save," would here take its spe- 
 cial meaning, "to make whole." If, however, 
 he was also, up to this moment, an unpar- 
 doned sinner, he needed a great spiritual de- 
 liverance and healing. And if this, too, was 
 granted as his eyes were opened, then he was 
 "made whole" in the highest sense, saved 
 wholly and for ever from the double curse 
 under which he suffered. 
 
 However this may have been, it is enough 
 for us that his salvation was by his faith. God 
 has linked faith and salvation together by 
 more than "hooks of steel," even by His un- 
 changeable decree. No decrees of God are 
 more certain than these ; He that belie veth 
 shall he saved, and, He that believeth not 
 shall be damned.' He that believeth is passed 
 already from death to life," while he that be- 
 lieveth not is condemned already.' The mo- 
 ment of faith is the moment of stepping from 
 the region of the curse to the region of the 
 
 « Mark, xvi. 16. ' John, v. 24. ' John, iii. 18. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 205 
 
 blessing. The region of unbelief is black 
 with God's frown, and filled with plagues and 
 wrath ; but the region of faith is as the floor 
 of heaven for brightness. Christ's righteous- 
 ness shelters it, the graces of the Spirit beau- 
 tify it, and the eternal smile of God comforts 
 and glorifies it. These regions may be near 
 together and touch like circles ; and while a 
 man is stepping from one to the other, he may 
 feel both joy and anguish ; — Lord I believe ! — 
 help Thou mine unbelief!' 
 
 Unbelief is a devil. He was born in hell 
 and reigns there. With one hand he ever keeps 
 his hold on hell, while with the other he has 
 seized the earth and wrenched it from its 
 sphere, and he is always striving to drag it 
 down into his own blackness and ruin. But 
 the hand of faith takes hold of heaven. What 
 wonder, then, that our poor world ever trem- 
 bles and wavers so, in the struggle of these 
 mighty powers ? 
 
 And thus it is that "faith saves." There 
 was nothing in this blind man's soul that 
 could open his eyes, but thro^igh grace there 
 
 ' Mark, ix. 21. 
 IS 
 
206 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 was something in him that could take hold of 
 Christ. 
 
 And so " faith saves " and grace saves •/ 
 faith as the instrument, and grace as the di- 
 vine efficiency ; faith the channel, and grace 
 the heavenly stream : faith the finger that 
 touches the garment's fringe, and grace the 
 virtue that pours from the Saviour's heart.^ 
 Faith cannot scale the dreadful precipice from 
 which nature has fallen, but it can lay hold 
 on the rope which grace has let down even 
 into its hands from the top, and which it will 
 draw up again with all the burden faith can 
 bind to it. And this is all the mystery of 
 faith's saving. Christ reaches down from 
 heaven, and faith reaches up from earth, and 
 each hand grasps the other ; one in weakness, 
 the other in power. Yea, the hand of faith is 
 often but a poor, benumbed hand, stretched 
 out in anguish from the dark flood where the 
 soul is sinking. 
 
 Neither faith nor grace saves alone; grace 
 will not, faith cannot. Therefore is salvation 
 by faith, and salvation by grace. Yet grace 
 
 1 Eph.. ii. 5. ' Luke, viii, 44, 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 20'J 
 
 has the highest place. When brought to- 
 gether, grace is the efficiency and faith the 
 medium for its flow ; saved, says Paul, hy 
 grace through faith.' And even faith is of 
 grace. Salvation, (or the promise which con- 
 tains it,) says Paul again, is of faith, that it 
 might be of grace, and to the end, he argues, 
 that it may be sure."* That all may be sure, 
 all must be given. Whatever is of me is 
 uncertain ; whatever is of God cannot fail. 
 Therefore my faith, which receives salvation, 
 is not left to be my wor\ ; it is one of the 
 fruits of the operation of God. Thus, while 
 there must be faith, there will be, if there is 
 grace. And so it turns out, after all, that 
 salvation is all of grace. Blessed be God for 
 that ! Of myself I had no more power to be- 
 lieve than to love, or be holy, or clothe my- 
 self with righteousness and walk into heaven. 
 For my carnal mind was enmity against God. 
 It was not subject to the law of God, nor, in- 
 deed, could it be.3 But God, who is rich iu 
 mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved 
 us, even when we were dead in sins, hath 
 quickened us together with Christ." 
 
 ' Eph,, ii. 8. ' Eom., iv. IG. 2 Rom., viii. 7. * Eph., ii. 4, 5- 
 
IX. 
 
 •' Immediately lie received his sight." 
 
 ISr these words we reach that point ia 
 this history where all its lines of inter- 
 est meet — that wonderful moment when 
 fthe power of Jesus wrought miracu- 
 lously on the ,.eyes of Bartimeus, and he . 
 was blind no more. 
 
 How much was crowded into that moment ! 
 The accomplished purpose of loving-kindness, 
 and the answered prayer of misery ; the true 
 Light shining, and the darkness not failing, 
 now, to comprehend it ;' the Saviour's power 
 and grace victorious, and the helpless sinner 
 the subject of a change so immediate, so amaz- 
 ing and so blessed, that from this moment he 
 rejoiced to • be bound in the free captivity of 
 Jesus ; while so clear was the shining of Deity 
 in all that was done, that not only was the 
 Son of Man glorified thereby, but the beams 
 
 ' John, i. 5. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS, 209 
 
 shot far up and rested on the invisible Throne. 
 For " Bartimeus followed Jesus in the way, 
 glorifying God, and all the people, when they 
 saw it, gave praise unto God." 
 
 Nor shall we, I trust, be able to refrain 
 from " glorifying" with Bartimeus, and "prais- 
 ing" with the multitude; saying, Surely this 
 is fruit worthy of the Tree of Life, on whose 
 boughs it shall for ever hang, mirrored by the 
 River of God and admired by all who sing of 
 the work and death of Jesus. 
 
 Oh, for a breath upon my soul from that 
 eternal shore, that I may not utterly fail in 
 speaking of this gracious mystery ! 
 
 I. What, then, does this healing stand for 
 in the higher, spiritual world ? 
 
 Surely, nothing less than Regeneration — 
 the new birth of the soul. Of the many 
 images employed by the Holy Ghost, to set 
 forth our natural state, perhaps none is more 
 frequent than blindness. Darkness is ever the 
 chosen symbol of the kingdom of Satan, and 
 light of the Kingdom of God. Darkness, 
 corruption and death are used interchange- 
 ably; and so are light, purity and life. Satan 
 
210 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 is the Prince of Darkness, liis dwelling is 
 under darkness/ his power is to blind all who 
 follow him,^ and thej too are at last cast into 
 outer darkness, 3 a land of darkness, as dark- 
 ness itself, where even the light is as dark- 
 ness.* But God is light, and in Him is no 
 darkness at all.'' He is the Father of lights. 
 He dwelleth in the light whicli no naan can 
 approach uiito.' His children are children of 
 light.' They walk in the light, even as He is 
 the light/ and are themselves light in the Lord.* 
 Christ's mission, therefore, is often set forth as 
 an opening of the eyes of the blind.'* He 
 came that they which see not, might see." 
 
 Most naturally therefore is the new birth 
 described as a transition from darkness to 
 light, 'i translation from the kingdom of Satan 
 to the Kingdom of God's dear Son.'" Thus 
 Paul sets the natural and gracious states of 
 the Ephesians in vivid contrast; Ye were 
 some time darkness, but now are ye light in 
 
 ' Jude, 6. 2 2 Cor., iv. 4. s Mat., xxii. 13. 
 
 * Job, X. 22. s 1 John, i. 5. « 1 Tim., vi. 16. 
 
 ' 1 Thes., V. 5. 8 1 John, i. 7. » P]ph., v. 8. 
 
 '» Is., xUi. 7. " John, ix. 39. '■' Col., i. 13. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 211 
 
 the Lord.' Thus, too, Christ connects the 
 symbol with its reality, in sending Paul to 
 the Gentiles, to open their eyes, and turn 
 them from darkness to light, and from the 
 power of Satan unto God.* 
 
 The suitableness of these symbols needs no 
 vindication. Every heart feels their fitness. 
 They have gone into all languages and all 
 mythologies. I have forgotten whose thought 
 it is, that no man ever set forth purity or 
 blessedness, truth, glory or God, under the 
 image of darkness, nor could light ever have 
 seemed the fit image of evil or death. 
 
 By Christ's constant miracles of healing the 
 blind, and by the constant use of them in set- 
 ting forth tbe mystery of regeneration, the 
 Holy Ghost teaches us three important lessons. 
 
 1. That the new birtb is from God. If 
 the harp be broken, the hand of the maker 
 may repair it, and wake the chords again to 
 their old power and sweetness. There is hope 
 of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout 
 again, and that the tender branch thereof will 
 not cease. Though the root thereof wax old 
 
 » Eph., V. 8. •■' Acts, xxvi. 18 
 
212 BLIND RARTIMEDS, 
 
 in the eartli, and the stock thereof die in the 
 ground, yet through the scent of water it •will 
 bud and bring forth boughs like a plant/ 
 
 But who can restore the shattered crystal, 
 so that the sunbeams shall stream through it 
 without finding a flaw, and flash, once more, 
 as of old, in the ever-chauging play of their 
 splendor ? 
 
 And who can open the eyes of the blind ? 
 Who can restore to that most lustrous and pre- 
 cious of gems, its expression and power, when 
 distorted and blotted by disease or violence ? 
 Who shall open again those delicate pathways 
 for the light of two worlds — the outer world 
 shining in and filling the soul with images of 
 beauty, and that inner world shining out in 
 joy, love and thankfulness ? Surely none but 
 the Maker of this curious frame, who, when 
 sin had so cruelly marred it, came in compas- 
 sion as infinite as His might, to be Eedeemer 
 and Eestorer where He had already been 
 Creator. Only He can open the eyes of the 
 blind. The power of God is in that work. 
 
 But if a man die shall he live again V Oh, 
 
 • Job, xiv. 7-9. 2 Job, xiv. 14. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 213 
 
 if the soul be dead, dead in guilt and corrup- 
 tion and tlie curse of Almighty God, can it 
 revive ? Yes, thanks be to God, by reason of 
 the working of His mighty power, which He 
 wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from 
 the dead,' (after He had been delivered for our 
 offences,^) we, also, may be quickened, who 
 were dead in tresspasses and sins, and children 
 of wrath ; we may be quickened together with 
 Christ ; for we are His workmanship, created 
 in Christ Jesus unto good works.' 
 
 Then let men beware how they disparage 
 God's glory in the regeneration of human 
 souls. If it was blasphemy without forgive- 
 ness to ascribe the miracles of Jesus to the 
 working of Satan,* their sin is not easily mea- 
 sured, who ascribe this higher work on man's 
 ruined soul, of which those bodily cures were 
 but types, to any power but that of God. Not 
 by eloquence, not by ordinances, not by the 
 soul's own resolution, not by God's holy truth 
 itself, without the added and immediate power 
 
 I Eph., i. 19, 20. 3 Eph., iL 1, 3, 5, 10. 
 
 « Rom., iv. 25. 4 Mai-k, iii. 22-30. 
 
214 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 of the Holy Ghost, is the soul born again. 
 To Him then be the undivided glory ! 
 
 2. In the light of this miracle we also learn 
 that, whatever activities the sinner may put 
 forth before and after his regeneration, in the 
 great change he is passive. Under the mov- 
 ing of the Spirit, he may, like Bartimeus, cry 
 for the blessing before it comes ; like him he 
 may rejoice when it does come, and be ever 
 after constrained to a grateful holiness ; but in 
 effecting the change, like Bartimeus, he does, 
 simply, nothing. 
 
 All the agonies of the blind man, all his 
 tears and cries, all his rolling and straining 
 his sightless balls, had just nothing at all to 
 do with the act of restoration. That was 
 Christ's alone. Only His activity availed or 
 even entered there. The blind man was the 
 passive recipient of the miraculous power. 
 
 And so in the new birth ; — " born of God," ' 
 tells it all. It is the '.' unparticipated work"' 
 of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 In this, regeneration is distinguished from 
 conversion. God turns the man, but the man, 
 > John, i. 13. 2 Professor Butler. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 215 
 
 SO moved, turns with his whole heart. It is 
 the day of God's great " power," but also of 
 the sinner's great " willingness." * " Conver- 
 sion," says Fisher, in his Catechism, "is the 
 spiritual motion of the whole man toward God 
 in Christ, as the immediate effect of the real 
 and supernatural change that is wrought in 
 regeneration." The fire which the sun has 
 kindled mounts toward it at once. The kin- 
 dling of the heavenly flame is regeneration ; 
 its upward motion, conversion. Regeneration 
 is the divine cause, conversion the sure effect. 
 Where there is the grace of life, there will be 
 a life of grace. 
 
 3. Light did not open Bartimeus's eyes, nor 
 does truth alone regenerate the sinner. Pour- 
 ing light on blind eyes will not heal them. 
 Flashing truth, even God's glorious truth, on 
 the sinner's mind will not regenerate him. 
 Bartimeus was as blind at noon as at mid- 
 night. The sinner is as blind under the blaze 
 of the gospel, as amid the glooms of heathen- 
 ism. The sinner hates the light. It is not a 
 question of less or more with him, he hates 
 
 ' Psaim ex. 3. 
 
216 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 the very element. He hates God, and God is 
 light. Truth is but the image of God, and is 
 hated where He is hated. The carnal mind 
 is enmity against God, say the Scriptures.' 
 Then follows by necessity the declaration, 
 that it is not subject to the law of God, neither 
 indeed can be. How strong the statements ! 
 How dreadful their connection! Absolute 
 enmity against God, and necessary insubor- 
 dination to His truth 1 Therefore before God 
 or His holy law can be loved, the carnality of 
 the soul must be destroyed, and that is the 
 work of the Holy Ghost alone. Whatever 
 part the truth may play, it cannot create. 
 Only God does that. 
 
 n. Let me now speak of the greatness and 
 glory of this change. I again speak simply 
 of the bodily change wrought by the miracle 
 in Bartimeus. 
 
 The bursting forth again of the sun from 
 the clouds after many days of storm is as 
 nothing to it, though a hundred landscapes 
 are flooded with the splendor, and birds break 
 out in song, and innumerable hearts leap ujj 
 ' Rom., viiL 7 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 217 
 
 to hail the clear heavens. Our thoughts rather 
 go back to the day when God said, Let there 
 be light/ and at once disclosed, to the gaze of 
 the jubilant angels, a new world glowing with 
 His unshadowed smile. This is the truer 
 comparison. For here^ too, in the breast of 
 this suffering beggar, was a world of sensation 
 and consciousness, a world even in its night 
 and ruin nobler than earth or sun ; for what 
 is matter, in quantities however vast, and 
 forms however excellent, to an immortal 
 soul ? Darkness has, indeed, long wrapped it, 
 and wisdom been " from one entrance quite 
 shut out." But now the same mighty word 
 has spoken, and this living world is suddenly 
 lighted through all its wondering, grateful 
 depths. Think ye the angels had no song for 
 this also ? 
 
 Then who shall dare speak lightly of that 
 work, in which God, who commanded the 
 light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in 
 our hearts, to give us the light of the knowl- 
 edge of tlie glory of God in the face of Jesus 
 Christ? ' Are we not using language most 
 
 * Geu., i. 3. '2 Cor., iv. 6. 
 
 J9 
 
218 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 accurate!}', when we call the new birth The 
 Great Change? Is it not an event to be look- 
 ed upon with astonishment? ever to be spoken 
 of with reverence? Is it not a thing for ever- 
 lasting amazement, that a guilty Avretch, dead, 
 under the curse of God, should receive a com-' 
 munication of the divine life, be made a par- 
 taker of the divine nature,^ and be adopted 
 into the divine family? that he should be 
 lifted from the dust of death to sit with princes 
 on the heavenly hill ? that from the pollutions 
 of a hellish slavery, he should be exalted to 
 Ihe liberties and dignities, to the sanctity and 
 blessedness of sonship with the Most High? 
 yea, that he should be a joint-heir with 
 Christ," and sit with Him in His Throne,' and 
 reign with Him, in indissoluble union with 
 Him^ and participation with Him evermore 
 in the honors and offices of His everlasting 
 kingdom and priesthood?^ Oh, if there were 
 but one instance of this, would it not be for 
 the glory of God and the wonder of heaven 
 for ever ? And shall it be less, when we have 
 
 ' 2 Pet, 1. 4. * Rom., viiL 17. 
 
 • Rev., iii. 21. • Rev., i. 6 ; v. 10. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS, 219 
 
 but to lift up our eyes, and lo, a great multitude 
 which no man can number, of all nations, 
 and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stand- 
 ing before the throne, and before the Lamb ? ' 
 
 Well may the Apostle of love cry out with 
 an admiration which even he cannot all ex- 
 press, Behold what manner of love the Father 
 hath bestowed upon us, that we should be 
 called the sons of God ! And as his soul 
 kindles along the line of our coming glory, 
 exclaim again, confessing too how it passeth 
 understanding, Beloved, now are we the sons 
 of God, and it doth not yet appear what we 
 shall be ; but we know that when He shall 
 appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see 
 Him as He is !' 
 
 Well may the saints, for ever beholding, in 
 the Lamb that was slain, the ground of their 
 acceptance and the image of their sonship, 
 sing in song for ever new, Unto Him that hath 
 loved us, and washed us from our sins in His 
 own blood, and hath made us kings and priests 
 unto God and His Father, to Him be glory and 
 dominion for ever and ever !* 
 
 • Eev^ vii. 9, « 1 John, iii. 1, 2, ' Rev., L 5, 6. 
 
220 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 And shall we not bless, with equal praise, 
 the good Spirit of our God, of whom we were 
 born again/ in whose leading we have proof 
 ^)f our sonship,^ and bj whose effectual work- 
 ing we shall be changed into the very image 
 of the glory for which we sigh ?' — oh, shall 
 we not bless Him, who is at once the Spirit 
 of grace/ of life,^ of adoption/ of help,' of 
 prayer,' of liberty,* of comfort,* of sanctifica- 
 tion,"* of access," of glory and of God?''' Can 
 we praise with a too boundless admiration 
 that work, on which the energies of the whole 
 Godhead are expended, and by which the Per- 
 fections of Father, Son and Holy Ghost are 
 chiefly seen for ever? Neander does not 
 speak too strongly when he calls " the com- 
 munication of the life of God to men," "the 
 greatest of all miracles, the essence and aim of 
 all, the standing miracle of all ages." 
 
 HI. As "Bartimeus immediately received 
 his sight," so in regeneration, the great change 
 
 > John, iii. 6. 2 Rom., viii. 14. s 2 Cor., iii. 18. 
 
 * Zech., xii. 10. s Rom., viii. 2. * Rom., viii. 15. 
 
 ' Rom., viii. 26. » 2 Cor., iii. It. » John, xiv. 16, 17. 
 
 " 1 Cor., vi. 11. " Eph., ii. 18. > 1 Pet., iv. 14.. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEU3. 221 
 
 is instantaneous. There is some one moment 
 when the vision of the blind man, and the new 
 life of the sinner begins. It may be feeble, but 
 it has begun, and for the faintest beginning the 
 creative act is needed. The case of that other 
 blind man, who, at first, saw men as trees 
 walking,* is not an illustration of gradual re- 
 generation. Whenever it could be said that 
 he saw, no matter how dimly, the great change 
 was implied. However confused and weak 
 his vision, it was real. Before he was blind ; 
 now he sees. His whole state is changed, and 
 is to be described by directly opposite expres- 
 sions. Then he saw nothing, he could not 
 see ; now he can and does see. No farther 
 change in the degree of his power to see can 
 equal this, that from utter blindness, he should 
 see at all. 
 
 And so in spiritual things ; the kingdoms of 
 darkness and light have no neutral frontier 
 where their dominions mingle.^ They are in 
 deadliest opposition and sharpest contrast. 
 One cannot be the subject of Christ and of 
 Satan at the same time, nor in neutrality, sub- 
 
 » Mark, viii. 24. " Mat, vi. 24. 
 
 19* 
 
222 • BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 ject to neither. He must be under either 
 ■wrath or grace, either dead or alive. None 
 can be both dead and alive ; none can be nei- 
 ther dead nor alive. 
 
 But lest any draw a mistaken and discour- 
 aging inference, the case of that other blind 
 man' ih to be carefully regarded. Men may 
 come slowly to their evidences of regenera- 
 tion. Mists and darkness may still wrap the 
 new creation. The sinner often frames for 
 himself an ideal of conversion which leads 
 to disappointment. His own imagination and 
 the glowing accounts he has sometimes heard, 
 cast a golden flush over his expected expe- 
 rience. But the Spirit sometimes grants only 
 an experience of such a plain and common- 
 place character, that for a loDg time it never 
 occurs to the sinner that this is the work for 
 which he has waited in such high anticipation. 
 In many cases, especially where grace reigns 
 in early life, the Spirit's work, in its various 
 stages from conviction to conscious enjoyment 
 of pardoning love, is quiet, gradual, and al- 
 most imperceptible. At other times the Sov- 
 
 1 Mark, viii. 22-26. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 223 
 
 ereign Spirit may direct the sinner's eyes, at 
 the moment of his illumination, chiefly to the 
 guilt of his past life, or downward into the 
 abysses of his own heart, or to the terrible 
 majesty and exactions of God's holy law, and 
 so fill him with renewed anguish. Comfort is 
 not always the immediate result of the new 
 birth. The sound of weeping may be the 
 first that is heard. 
 
 Sometimes, too, the gloom disperses very 
 slowly, and many a blacker cloud sweeps 
 through it, till the soul is ready to despair. 
 But in none of these cases is the soul left 
 without sufficient attainable evidence that it 
 is born of Grod. 
 
 Many are the souls who must say with holy 
 Joseph Fletcher of Stepney, " it has often been 
 the cause of much distress that I could not 
 particularize the place, the time, the means of 
 my conversion." 
 
 To know these things would indeed be 
 
 pleasant, but let none be too anxious about 
 
 them. Let them give all diligence to make 
 
 their calling and election sure,' but be also 
 
 ' 2 Peter, i. 10. 
 
224 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 careful not to waste time and comfort in these 
 fruitless inquiries, and embarrass the great 
 question by that which does not concern it. 
 The main thing for every sinner is, to be 
 able on good ground, to say, Whereas I was 
 blind, now I see.' If he can say this, and 
 have the witness of the Spirit to its truth,'' it 
 matters little whether he is able to add, On 
 such a day, in such a place, by such and such 
 means, my eyes were opened. 
 
 A good ship has been broken by the tem- 
 pest. Mast and rudder and compass, all are 
 gone. The storm is over, but the wreck is 
 drifting away blindly through night and fog. 
 At length all is still, and the wondering sailors 
 wait for the day. Tardily and uncertainly it 
 dawns, and as the heavy mists slowly dissolve, 
 all eyes are busy trying to discover where 
 they are. At length one descries a cliff which 
 seems familiar, another a pier in which he can 
 hardly be mistaken, a third the old church 
 spire, under whose shadow his mother is sleep- 
 ing, and now, as the sun breaks forth, they all 
 cry out in joyful assurance that they are in the 
 
 ' John, ix. 25. « Rom., yiii. 16. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 225 
 
 desired haven ! Mysteriously and without 
 their aid, the Ruler of wind and wave has 
 brought them there, and all are exulting in 
 the great deliverance. 
 
 Nay, shall we say not all? Can you im- 
 agine one poor melancholy man refusing to 
 rejoice, and even doubting these evidences, 
 because he cannot tell the hour and angle of 
 his arrival, nor whether he was borne chiefly 
 by currents of air or ocean ? 
 
 rV. On the blessedness of this change in 
 Bartimeus — image of the spiritual blessedness 
 of him who is first tasting that the Lord is 
 gracious' — I can hardly bring myself to com- 
 ment. The words of the evangelist, "imme- 
 diately he received his sight," are the calm 
 record of rapture beyond conception. Well 
 does Addison call our sight the most perfect 
 and most delightful of all our senses.^ Well 
 does Solomon exclaim, The light of the eyes 
 rejoiceth the heart, ^ and cry out again, like 
 one on whom a morning without clouds was 
 dawning,* Truly the light is sweet, and a 
 
 » 1 Pet., ii. 3. 2 Spectator, No. 411. 
 
 ' ProT , XV. 30. * 2 Sam., xxiii. 4. 
 
226 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the 
 sun ! * Is it not beautiful that the ejcs of a 
 babe are scarcely opened on this world, before 
 they follow the light and gaze on it as an 
 absorbing wonder? After its needful nur- 
 ture, its first joy is light — soft nurture, too, 
 and stimulus, is it not? — for its little new- 
 born soul. And why is it that we gaze uncon- 
 sciously, but inevitably, on the ray that steals 
 to us through chink or crevice, as we sit in 
 reverie in a darkened room? Turn away 
 as often and as resolutely as we will, if we 
 forget again, the strong instinct of nature pre- 
 vails, and our eyes fasten again upon the 
 light. And who has not felt his soul bliss- 
 fully swimming on the glories which pour, in 
 amber and gold and crimson, from the setting 
 sun? Though we have seen it a thousand 
 times, we seek it again, and gaze, with ador- 
 ing thankfulness, on the boundless canvas of 
 transparent ether, on which the hand of God 
 is spreading the colors of heaven. Our sense 
 of joy is fresher, if not deeper, when even for 
 a night the sight has been shadowed, and the 
 
 ' Eccl., xi. 7. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 227 
 
 '■* 
 ejes open on the advancing splendoi's of 
 
 morning. And when after long imprisonment 
 in the chamber of suffering, we go forth again, 
 leaning, perhaps, on the arm of a congenial 
 friend, to breathe once more the fresh air, and 
 rejoice in the measureless freedom of nature, 
 she seems to have clothed her green fields and 
 forests, her blue skies and waters, in a brighter 
 pomp of " summer braverj" than ever before, 
 and the strange beauty fills and almost op- 
 presses the soul. In what affecting terms does 
 Dr. Kane describe the almost adoring rapture 
 with which the return of the first sunshine 
 was hailed, after the long horror of an Arctic 
 night — the frozen blackness of months' dura- 
 tion, when he eagerly climbed the icy hills 
 " to get the luxury of basking in its bright- 
 ness," and made the grateful record, " To-day, 
 blessed be the Great Author of light ! I have 
 once more looked upon the sun ;" while his 
 poor men, sick, mutilated, broken-hearted, and 
 ready to die, crawled painfully from their dark 
 berths to look upon his healing beams ; when 
 " every thing seemed superlative lustre and 
 
228 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 unsurpassable glory," wlien they could not 
 refrain ; they " oversaw the light." ' 
 
 But what was this, what were all these, to 
 the wonder and joy of Bartimeus's first vision 
 of the mighty works of God ? They already 
 had the sense of sight, and had enjoyed many 
 pleasureahle exercises of it. To him the very 
 sense was new, unimagined before. And now, 
 at the word of Christ, the glorious element 
 comes streaming, suddenly and for the first 
 time, and in its fulness, with thrills of incon- 
 ceivable bliss, upon the sense and soul buried 
 from birth in utter darkness. Surely, on that 
 day the light of the moon was as the light of 
 the sun, and the light of the sun as the light 
 of seven days.* 
 
 And what did he see first ? Jesus, his best 
 friend, his Saviour! Jesus, chiefest of ten 
 thousand and altogether lovely;' O enviable 
 lot ! The first image which the light of heaven 
 formed in his soul was the image of that dear 
 face ; rich recompense for the long pains of 
 blindness ! The first employment of his eyes 
 
 * Arctic Expedition. Yol. IT. "^ Is., xxx. 2G. 
 
 => Song, V. 10 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 229 
 
 was in beholding Him that opened them ; O 
 blessed consecration of his new powers and 
 pleasures ! He is still on his knees, fixed by 
 the blessed vision where he had lately sunk 
 in anguish and darkness. The eyes of Jesus 
 are looking kindly down into his eyes, dilated 
 and radiant with ecstacy. Gaze on, old man ! 
 Thou canst not look too ardently or too long. 
 Never can thine eyes have nobler or purer 
 joy on earth. "Well mayst thou forget even 
 sun and moon while He is before thee. In 
 heaven itself all eyes are turned to Him. In 
 heaven they need no sun nor moon, for He, 
 the Brightness of the Father's glory, is the 
 light thereof.^ 
 
 But is the joy which attends spiritual illu- 
 mination answerable to this ? Not always (we 
 have seen) as the immediate result. Bat it is 
 attainable, and very soon the believer ought 
 to have it, and, unless through ignorance, 
 error, or guilt, will have it and that abun- 
 dantly. 
 
 That this is so, the Scriptures every where 
 prove, by their commands which make joy in 
 
 ' Rev., xxi. 23 ; Heb., i. 3. 
 20 
 
230 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 the Lord a duty ;' by their frequent and most 
 hearty exhortations, especially in the Psalms, 
 — that book of religious experience ; by their 
 abounding declarations as to the blessedness 
 of the righteous;^ and by their exceeding 
 great and precious promises,* full of the very 
 cordial of heaven.* 
 
 Moreover the Bible is the sole Eevealer of a 
 conception of joy, in comparison with which 
 every other idea of it, wherever found, is poor, 
 earthly, and already darkened with the taint 
 of death. It is a conception in which every 
 best element of every earthly delight, by what- 
 ever name known — all the serenity of peace, 
 all the exhilaration of hope, all the satisfaction 
 of fruition, all the liveliness and sparkle of 
 joy, all the mellower radiance of gladness, all 
 the flush and bound of exultation, all the 
 thrill and movement of rapture, are wrought 
 into one surpassing combination, which chas- 
 tened by holiness, softened by charity, dig- 
 nified by immortality and transfused by the 
 
 ' Phil, W. 4. '^ Ps. xxsiii. 1. 3 Ps. i. ; Mat., v. 3-12. 
 
 < 2 Pet, i. 4. s Ps, ciii. Many pages of referencea 
 
 would not exhaust the Scriptures embraced under these 
 heads. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 231 
 
 beams of the all-encircling glory of the God- 
 head, is Blessedness. 
 
 It elevates the soul to know of such a state as 
 possible for itself; it purifies it to hope for it; 
 strengthens it to strive after it. What then must 
 it be to taste it, as we may on earth, and drink 
 it to the full, as we shall for ever in heaven I 
 
 Blessedness begins when the divine life has 
 consciously begun, and progresses just as it 
 is vigorous and unobstructed. For pleasure 
 must spring from the flow of healthy life. K 
 the life is from God, the pleasure must be 
 godlike. As God is the Living One and the 
 Blessed One, just as we participate in His life, 
 we must also share His blessedness. 
 
 The soul is supremely blessed when it rests 
 perfectly in God. That rest begins when He 
 is seen by faith reconciled in Jesus Christ. 
 It is consummated when faith is lost in sight. 
 It begins on earth. It is perfected in heaven. 
 But let it not be thought that either here or 
 there it is a sluggish or even passive rest. It 
 is inevitably active from the unceasing stir of 
 energies for ever stimulated, for ever unex- 
 hausted. Yet, indeed, there is a blessed pas- 
 
232 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 siveness too. Ever desiring, it is ever satisfied ; 
 and so, looking and loving, enlarging and fill- 
 ing, blessed and blessing, it goes on for ever. 
 
 This is the Bible idea of happiness. It is 
 the perennial flow of the fountain into which 
 the currents of the Infinite Ocean are pour- 
 ing ; the eternal going forth to God in love, of 
 the life which He hath implanted in grace, and 
 which He ever nourishes bj perpetual com- 
 munion in glory. 
 
 It has two elements, no more. It receives, 
 it gives. If it cannot give, or will not, re- 
 ceiving is in vain. The active is a higher ele- 
 ment than the passive. It is more blessed, sajs 
 Christ, to give than to receive.' Yet is the 
 passive first in necessity and order. Were 
 there no receiving, there could be no giving. 
 
 Finally, if the new relations of a spiritually 
 enlightened and renewed soul be considered, 
 we cannot doubt the reality and greatness of 
 its blessedness, both in the life which now is, 
 and that which is to come.^ The believer has 
 been freed from the curse of the broken law, 
 the wrath of God, the bondage of Satan and 
 
 Acts, XX. 35. " 1 Tim., iv. 8. 
 
. BLIi^T) BARTIMEUS 233 
 
 the doom of bell. God lias, in free grace, 
 pardoned all his sins and accepted him as 
 righteous in His sight^ for the righteousness 
 of Christ imputed to him. He has been re- 
 ceived into the number, and has a right to 
 all the privileges of the sons of God. He is 
 renewed in the whole man after the image 
 of God, and enabled more and more to die 
 unto sin, and live unto righteousness. He 
 may in this life partake in the unspeakable 
 benefits of assurance of God's love, peace of 
 conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of 
 grace and perseverance therein to the end. He 
 knows that his soul shall at death be made 
 perfect in holiness, and immediately pass into 
 glory ; while his body, being still united to 
 Christ, shall rest in its grave till the resurrec- 
 tion ; and that then, being raised up in glory, 
 he shall be openly acknowledged and ac- 
 quitted in the day of judgment, and made 
 perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God 
 to all eternity. 
 
 With these words, sublime as they are well 
 known, I conclude what I had to say of the 
 blessedness of the new birth. 
 20* 
 
X. 
 
 " And followed Jesua m the way." 
 
 :=o HOUGH Jesus stood still at the beg- 
 gar's call, He may stay no longer. 
 This work is finished, and His might- 
 ier work on Calvary urges Him on. 
 
 But what shall Bartiraeus do? Must 
 they part so soon ? Are his eyes no 
 more to see His Lord? Have they been 
 opened that he may know his gracious Friend, 
 and taste the brief bliss of one moment's gaze, 
 and then bid Him farewell ? He would still 
 see, indeed, but the day would lack the warmth 
 and glory it had before. Ay, his Sun would 
 be set, and all that remained would be but 
 as the stars gleaming coldly on the darkened 
 earth. It cannot be. As Jesus turns to de- 
 part, he spiings from the dust, and follows 
 Him in the way. 
 
 Draw me, cries the Bride in the Song, as 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 285 
 
 soon as slie catclies sight of the royal cliariot 
 which bears her approaching Lord, Draw me, 
 and we will run after Thee.* One glimpse of 
 His beauty ravishes her soul with holy ad- 
 miration. She would fly to His presence, and 
 there she would abide. K He stands, like 
 Mary, she would sit at His feet. If He re- 
 moves, she would run after Him. 
 
 This simple phrase, " following Jesus," is 
 comprehensive of the whole Christian life, and 
 the many examples in the New Testament of 
 following Him bodily are given, that we may 
 understand what it is to follow Him spirit- 
 ually. Christ has left us an example, says 
 Peter, that we should follow His steps." 
 Archbishop Leighton, commenting on this 
 passage, well reminds us that the word " ex- 
 ample" is "copy" in the original — such a copy 
 as children write after; whereof, he adds, 
 " every step of His is a letter." Oh that the 
 Holy Spirit may teach us to dip our pens in 
 His dying love, and write after the blessed 
 lines with a skilful hand ! 
 
 Whoever has looked unto Jesus as the 
 
 ' Song, i. 4. '1 Peter, ii. 21. 
 
236 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 Author of his faith, will look unto Him as the 
 Finisher/ If the eyes be opened truly to see 
 Him, the heart will be opened truly to love 
 Him; and when the heart is thus enlarged, 
 like David, we will run in the way of His 
 commandments." This is the test of disciple- 
 ship ; If any man serve Me, let him follow 
 Me.' It is a mark found in all the saints; 
 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, 
 and they follow Me.^ The Psalmist speaks 
 not for himself alone, but for all sound be- 
 lievers, when he cries, My soul followeth hard 
 after Thee.^ It was the salvation of Caleb 
 and Joshua in the day of wrath, and is re- 
 corded as their glory for ever, that they 
 wholly followed the Lord their God.^ They 
 found it, as all true pilgrims shall, the only 
 path of safety, and the only one that, coming 
 out of Egypt, stops not short of Canaan. To 
 follow Jesus is the antidote of all error, doubt 
 and despondency ; it ensures our soundness 
 in doctrine, our growth in grace, and our 
 comforting, perpetual, and life-giving illumi- 
 
 ! Heb., xii. 2. * Ps. cxix. 32. = John, xii. 26. * John, x. 27. 
 • Psalm Ixiii. 8. « Num., xxxii. 11, 12 ; Josh., xiv. 6-14. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 237 
 
 nation. All this is in the words of Christ ; I 
 am the Light of the world : He that followeth 
 Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have 
 the light of life.' And here, too, we find the 
 high, eternal service and blessedness of the 
 saints. It is the glorj and joj of the one 
 hundred and forty and four thousand, re- 
 deemed from the earth as the first fruits unto 
 Grod and the Lamb, that they follow the Lamb 
 whithersoever He goeth.^ 
 
 O friends, let us follow Him whithersoever 
 He goeth. Let us follow Him "in the way" 
 — the way laid down in His Word, the way 
 opened by His Providence, the way of which 
 the Spirit whispers, This is the way, walk ye 
 in it.^ It may lead thee into great and sore 
 troubles ; but when thou passest through the 
 waters, He will be with thee, and through the 
 rivers, they shall not overflow thee ; when 
 thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not 
 be burned; neither shall the flame kindle 
 upon thee." It may be a way of which we can- 
 not see the end, nay, in which we must walk 
 
 ' John, viii. 12. " Rev., xiv. 4. 
 
 Is., XXX. 21. 4 la.j xliil 2. 
 
238 BLIND BAETIMEUS. 
 
 softly/ groping and wondering. Let us be 
 of good heart, and still hope in God ; for we 
 shall yet praise Him for the help of His coun- 
 tenance. At evening-time, it shall be light.' 
 
 Sometimes His way is in the sea, and His 
 path in the great waters, and His footsteps are 
 not known. Then the voice of His thunder 
 is in the heavens, the waters are afraid, the 
 depths also are troubled. But it is only 
 His enemies who need be in fear and dread. 
 These tremendous preparations may, indeed, 
 intimidate even His own people for a while, 
 and they may tremble as they find that His 
 awful pathway must be theirs. But soon 
 even the women of Israel are exulting, with 
 timbrel and dance, on the shore of liberty, in 
 the glorious triumphing of their God.^ 
 
 The path of many of us may lie much in 
 the Valley of Humiliation — a life of obscurity, 
 poverty and lowly toil. We may be Christ's 
 hidden ones * all our days. Or, we may be 
 brought down to dwell here, after having 
 walked in high places. Now, the descent to 
 
 * Is., xxxviii. 15. * Pa. xliL 5 ; Zech., xiv. 7. 
 
 » Ps. Ixxvii. 16-20 ; Ex., xv. 20, 21. * Ps. Ixxxiii. 3. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 239 
 
 this valley, says Bunyan, is " steep," and " the 
 way slippery ;" and who bath not found it so? 
 Yet it was among its green meadows ** beauti- 
 ful with lilies," that Mr. Great-heart and the 
 pilgrims heard the cheerful song of the Shep- 
 herd's boy, who wore so much of " the herb 
 called heart's-ease in his bosom." And here 
 " our Lord formerly had His country-house ; 
 He loved much to be here ; He loved also to 
 walk in these meadows, and He found the air 
 was pleasant." 
 
 Yes, humble pilgrims I be sure ye shall find 
 your Lord's foot-prints set thickly here. There 
 you may see the stable in which He was born/ 
 the humble home in which He lived,' the 
 shop in which He toiled,' the mountain-side 
 where He prayed through all the long night.* 
 See the paths going all over the valley, all 
 worn by His feet, and stopping so often at the 
 abodes of the suffering and poor.® There He 
 sat and wept over the guilty and lost,* and 
 there He took the little children and blessed 
 
 1 Lukei ii. 7. a Luke, ii. 39, 51 
 
 " Mark, vi. 3. ' Luke, vi. 12. 
 
 * Mat., iv. 23 ; xi. 5. • Luke, xix. 41 
 
210 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 them.' See, too, the place of His anguish, of 
 His trial, of His bloody death I'* And there 
 is His tomb, but with the stone rolled away, 
 and empty now P And there is the upper 
 chamber, where He breathed that peace which 
 still hovers over this valley like an air of 
 balm.* And there He lifted up His hands and 
 ascended to His Father and your Father, His 
 God and your God.^ 
 
 So thy way, believer, must lie by the Gross 
 and the grave. But* beyond the grave is the 
 resurrection, and then the crown of life for ever. 
 Fear not then to follow the Good Shepherd. 
 Let the Twenty- third Psalm teach thee, in a 
 gracious summary, how and where He will 
 lead thee, and what He will do for thee by the 
 way ; and I think thou wilt be ready to say 
 with Mr. Standfast, as he stood in the River of 
 death, " Wherever I have seen the print of 
 His shoe in the earth, there I have coveted to 
 set my foot too." Look, then, evermore to 
 Jesus, thy Precursor, and therefore Examplar, 
 
 1 Mark, x. 13-16. " Mat., xxvi. 36, 57 ; xxvii. 2, 33. 
 
 » Mat., xxviii. 2, 6. * John, xx. 19. 
 
 ^ Joliu, XX. 17; Luke, xxiv. bO. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 241 
 
 in all the way of faith and obedience/ and 
 cry unto Him, even as He cried, in the days of 
 His flesh,' to His Father, Thou wilt show me 
 the path of life ! In Thy presence is fulness 
 of joy ; at Thy right hand are pleasures for 
 evermore P 
 
 ' Heb., xii. 2, 3. * Heb., v. 1. = Psalm xvi. 11 
 
 21 
 
XL 
 
 " Glorifying God." 
 
 ^^)HEN his ejes found their noblest 
 joy, his tongue was put to its no- 
 blest use. It is the glory of the 
 tongue that it can glorify God.' 
 Filled with, irrepressible gladness, 
 he broke forth in loud thanksgivings and 
 praises. He began to sing in the ways of the 
 Lord^ as soon as be entered them. He had 
 reached the fourth and brightest link of that 
 gracious succession revealed in Psalm 1. 15; 
 trouble leading to prayer, prayer issuing in de- 
 liverance, and deliverance in glorifying. As he 
 looked around on the goodly frame of nature, 
 and felt the streams of Grod's gracious benig- 
 nity flowing into his consciousness, he was con- 
 strained to 
 
 "bear some humble part 
 In that immortal song," 
 
 which is sung in that world, in which both 
 
 ' James, iii. 9. ' Psalm cxxxviii. 6. 
 
BT.IND BARTIMEUS. 243 
 
 creation and redemption are glorified; Great 
 and marvellous are Thy Works, Lord God 
 Almighty ! Just and true are Thy Ways, 
 Thou King of saints I Who shall not fear 
 Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name?* 
 
 Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me, says 
 God.' There were three ways in which Bar- 
 timeus glorified Him, and none can glorify 
 Him in any other way ; — in thought, word and 
 deed ; by his heart's secret gladness and ador- 
 ation, by his audible and public praise, and by 
 his following Jesus in the way. The first was 
 the fruit of the soul, the second the fruit of 
 the lips, the third the fruit of the lif\ The 
 first was visible to God alone, the second and 
 third were manifest to men. The first was 
 the hidden spring of both the others ; for the 
 thanksgiving of the soul is the soul of thanks- 
 giving, and where it is wanting, the profes- 
 sions of the mouth and the works of the life 
 are dead and offensive ; — the loathsome offer- 
 ing of hypocrisy. But if the lips and life 
 have not their offerings also, the praise of 
 the soul is without its needful outlets and 
 
 1 Eev., XV. 3, 4. 2 Psalm 1. 23. 
 
244 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 evidences, and like faitli without works, is 
 dead, being alone.* If through sloth or cow- 
 ardice in speaking and acting for God, a bushel 
 is put over the light,'' it will not only be 
 concealed but smothered. The true light, 
 the light of God's kindling, will; indeed, ac- 
 cording to the proverb, burn through the 
 bushel.^ If there is abundance in the heart, 
 the raouth loill speak.^ Art thou still dumb ? 
 Then thy lieart's fancied abundance is empti- 
 ness, Eeligion not in the soul is mockery. 
 Eeligion in the soul only, is impossibility. We 
 must first he light, ourselves lighted from the 
 Sun of Eighteousness, and then our light 
 must shine before men, that they may see our 
 good works. So only can we lead others to 
 glorify our Father who is in heaven, and there- 
 b}^ ourselves most effectually glorify Him.'* 
 
 Dr. Doddridge once exerted himself to pro- 
 cure the pardon of a man condemned to die. 
 When he succeeded and hastened to the cell 
 with the glad news, and the prison door was 
 flung open, the poor man cast himself to the 
 
 ' James, ii. IT. 2 Mat, v. 15. 
 
 " Stier, "Words orthf Tjorrl Jesns." * Mat., xii. 34. 
 
 ^ Mat., V. U-ia. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 245 
 
 earth, and clasping the feet of his deliverer, 
 exclaimed, " Every drop of my blood thanks 
 you, for you have saved them all I" 
 
 Such full-voiced expression of the heart's 
 gratitude was heard from the men also whom 
 Christ delivered from their plagues. The 
 dumb began to sing, the lame to leap, and 
 all to testify, in some open, lively way, how 
 thankful they were for such mercies. Only 
 once do we hear that mournful question and 
 complaint, Were there not ten cleansed ? but 
 where are the nine? There are not found 
 that returned to give glory to God, save this 
 stranger ! * 
 
 The piety of the primitive church was of 
 the same cheerful, out-spoken type. And 
 when we go back to the more ancient ages, 
 and climb the hill of Zion, what bursts of 
 jubilant music greet us ! What ringing of 
 harps, what pealing of organs, with the voice 
 of psalms, like the swell of the sea ! Hearken : 
 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I 
 will declare what He hath done for my soul." 
 I will bless the Lord at all times ; His praise 
 
 ' Luke, xvii. 17, 18. ' Psalm Ixvi, 16. 
 
 21* 
 
24(3 BLIXD BARTI.MEUS. 
 
 sliall continually be in my mouth. O magnity 
 the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name 
 together ! ' sing unto the Lord a new song ! 
 Sing unto the Lord ! Bless His name ! " For 
 it is a good thing to give thanks unto the 
 Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy name, 
 most* High ! for it is pleasant, and praise is 
 comely.^ Let the children of Zion be joyful 
 in their King I * 
 
 Alas, how many who profess to be Zion's 
 children in our day, seem even ashamed of 
 their King ! They have no glad sto-ry to tell 
 of His dealings with their souls, no harp to 
 sweep in His praise, no apostrophes to heaven 
 and earth, to field and flood and the saints of 
 God, challenging them to mingle their voices 
 in celebrating redeeming grace. 
 
 But why do I speak of harps and apostro- 
 phes ? There are men and women who pro- 
 fess to have been healed by the Lord Jesus of 
 their soul's deadly malady, and yet can hard- 
 ly bring themselves to speak a word in His 
 praise in any conjpan3\ Is He evil-spoken of? 
 
 ' Ps. xxxiv. 1, 3. " Ps. xcvi. 1, 2. 
 
 s Ps. xcii. 1 ; cxlvii. 1. ■• Ps. cxlix. 2. 
 
BLIND BAIMIMEUS. 247 
 
 They will not defend Him. Is He well- 
 spoken of? They have no word to add. Is 
 He not spoken of at all ? He never will be, 
 if they must begin. The beauty, excellency 
 and glory of His person, offices and work ; 
 all His condescension, grace and tenderness ; 
 all the events of His life, all the sufferings of 
 His death ; all His exaltation, reign and sec- 
 ond coming, seem not to be enough to loosen 
 their tongues, or give them anything at all 
 to say. 
 
 Nay, more : they see their blind neighbors 
 groping their way down to endless night, but 
 cannot go to them and recommend the Hea- 
 venly Physician. If an earthly physician is 
 needed, they are at once voluble and bold. 
 They can tell you how kind he is, what cures 
 he has wrought, and where he is to be found. 
 But let the soul be in danger, and they are 
 dumb. 
 
 Shall I go further ? Yes, there are fathers 
 and mothers, w'ho are ashamed to tell the 
 story of their healing to their own poor, blind 
 sons and daughters, who have inherited from 
 them the dreadful tcoo. They pitv them ; 
 
248 fiLlND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 thej know they will perish if they come not 
 to Christ; they will be glad if "the minister" 
 will speak to them ; but they cannot. They 
 are ashamed to be heard by their own families 
 speaking to Jesus. Even in the sanctuary of 
 home they dare not call their offspring about 
 them, and kneeling before His feet, bless Him, 
 in simplest words, for His mercy, and then 
 cry, " Lord, look now upon these poor blind 
 children, and heal them !" 
 
 Can we wonder that God withholds the 
 joy of His salvation' from such base cow- 
 ardice ? Oh, let us wonder that He withholds 
 His wrath ! Blessed Jesus, if Thou didst die 
 for me, shall I not live for Thee? If Thou 
 didst suffer for me, shall I not speak for Thee ? 
 H Thou wast not ashamed of my shame, shall 
 I be ashamed of thy glory ? If my sins once 
 laid on Thee made Thee dumb, like a sheep 
 before her shearers,'' shall not Thy graces 
 wrought in me, open my lips that my mouth 
 may show forth Thy praise, and my tongue 
 sing aloud of Thy righteousness ? ^ 
 
 » Ps. li. 12. ^ Is., liii. 6, 7. 3 pg. li. 14, 15. 
 
XII. 
 
 " And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto 
 God." 
 
 SINGLE beam of light becomes a 
 star on the bosom of a thousand drops 
 of the morning. The song of one is 
 ''^ followed by the chorus of many. The 
 rejoicing of Bartimeus has made the 
 highway to Jerusalem like the garden of the 
 Lord; joy and gladness are found therein, 
 thanksgiving and the voice of melody.' Just 
 now it was like the valley of Baca, that is, the 
 Vale of Tears or Lamentation ; but it has be- 
 come a well — a fountain of universal joy.'' 
 When God brought David out of the horrible 
 pit, out of the miry clay, and set his feet upon 
 a rock, and established his goings, then He put 
 a new song into his mouth, even praise unto 
 our God. And what then ? Did the blessed 
 work stand alone? Nay, many saw, and 
 feared, and trusted in the Lord.^ 
 
 ' Is., li. 3. 2 ps. ixxxir. 6. ' Ps. xl. 1-3. 
 
250 BLIND BAETIMEUS. 
 
 In wliat mournful contrast was David's ex- 
 perience in that saddest year of his life — the 
 year of unconfessed guilt and -a stupid con- 
 science ! He no more drew water with joy 
 out of the wells of salvation/ Day and night 
 God's hand was heavy upon him, and his 
 moisture was turned into the drought of sum- 
 mer,^ Eust gathered on his harp-strings, and 
 the palace no more resounded with his morn- 
 ing and evening song. 
 
 And what was the result ? It was then as 
 now. The guilty Christian is the dumb Chris- 
 tian, and the dumb Christian is useless. Guilt 
 paralyzed his tongue and sealed his lips. He 
 could not teach transgressors the ways of 
 God, and sinners were no more converted by 
 his instrumentahty.' 
 
 At length the voice of God broke the dis- 
 mal silence. By His prophet and His provi- 
 dence,* He both rebuked and chastened him,' 
 until he came bending and weeping to the 
 altar, and laid on it his broken spiritr-that 
 ever acceptable sacrifice, yea all sacrifices in 
 
 " Is., xu. 3. ■ Ps. xxxii. 4. = Ps. li 13-15. 
 
 * 2 Sam., xii, 1-23. 5 Rev., iii. 19. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 251 
 
 oire.' In the fiftj-first Psalm you may 
 read his confession, and in the thirty-second, 
 the history of the whole matter — the guilty 
 silence, the sore chastening, the ingenuous 
 acknowledgment, the free pardon, and the 
 overflowing thankfulness, confidence and joy. 
 Nor does he fail to express his assurance that 
 the usual result shall follow j that, because of 
 his forgiveness and blessedness, so obtained, 
 every one that is godly shall be encouraged 
 to pray. 
 
 Ebenezer ! Hitherto hath the Lord helped 
 us.* Let gracious souls, who have fallen and 
 been lifted up, who have sinned and found 
 pardon, who have wrestled hard and over- 
 come, be led to solemn and timely declara- 
 tions of their Eedeemer's grace. It is at once 
 a debt of love and a deed of mercy. 
 
 " Some forlorn and shipwrecked brother 
 Seeing, shall take heart again." 
 
 Blessed Paul says he was before a blas- 
 phemer and a persecutor and injurious ; but his 
 Lord's grace was abundant ; and it is a faithful 
 
 ' Ps. li. It. M Sam., viL !2 
 
252 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that 
 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sin- 
 ners, of whom Paul felt himself to be chief. 
 Howbeit, for this cause he obtained mercy, 
 that in him first Jesus Christ might show 
 forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them 
 which should hereafter believe on Him to 
 everlasting life,* 
 
 This is one great end of a public profession 
 of religion. We confess Christ that we may 
 commend Him. The Church is a golden 
 candlestick, which Christ has set on high to 
 give light to a dark world.'' When a new 
 light is kindled, how shall it not covet to 
 be set there too? Christ has commanded it, 
 and can we refuse? He means it for beauty 
 and for order ; for our honor and defence ; for 
 a guide to the lost, an encouragement to the 
 fearful, a testimony and rebuke to the carnal ; 
 for the comfort of the faithful; and for His 
 own glory. 
 
 Yet let us not exalt oui' grateful telling 
 above His gracious working. If the multi- 
 tude had not seen what Jesus did, little would 
 
 ' 1 Tim., i. 13-16. » Rev., i. 20. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 258 
 
 they have minded what Bartimeus said. 
 Their song began quicker and rose higher 
 for his joyful key-note ; still, it was of the 
 miracle they sung. They waited only for 
 proof that he actually saw, and when his 
 rapturous outburst gave that^ their hearts 
 flowed over. And so our professions are 
 nothing, except as true displays of Christ's 
 work. Their virtue is in their verity — theii 
 transparency, suffering the grace and power 
 of God to shine through them. They bring 
 glory to God as they are clear instances, and 
 so proofs, of His Almighty, healing love. 
 • 
 
 How profoundly interesting and suggestive 
 is this whole scene ! Jesus has just wrought 
 a work in which He has destroyed one of the 
 works of the devO. redeemed a wretched man 
 from his captivity and torment, and thereby 
 brought glory to the Father ; and now we 
 behold Him serenely walking at the head of a 
 vast multitude, who fill the air with acclama- 
 tions at the gracious deed. 
 
 It is an epitome of His work on earth, and 
 
 a foreshowing of His reward in heaven. 
 59 
 
254 BLIND BAETIMEUS. 
 
 He came down from heaven, not to do His 
 own will, but the will of Him that sent Him/ 
 This was His meat, — that without which He 
 could not live.* He sought not His own 
 glory.^ His Incarnation was for three great 
 ends — the destruction of the devil and his 
 works;* the salvation of the lost;* and the 
 manifestation of the Father/ But the last 
 was the great end, to which both of the others 
 were subordinate. His whole life, His whole 
 death breathed out this prayer, Father, glorify 
 Thy name ! He Himself announces this as 
 the sum of all He had done on earth. It was 
 on the night of His betrayal, but a few days 
 after this triumphal march from Jericho, but 
 a few hours before His^ death. Then the 
 thirty-three years of His life on earth passed 
 in solemn review before Him. They were 
 indeed covered with obloquy a'ud ignominy, 
 but they presented nothing for regret. No re- 
 pentance mingled with the contemplation, but 
 rather, calm, deep, sublime satisfaction. Sur- 
 
 ' John, vi. 38. 2 John, iv. 34. 
 
 ^ John, viii. 50. " Heb., ii. 14; 1 John, iu. 8 
 
 ' Mat., xvhi. 11. " John, i. 18; xii. 27 ?&- 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 255 
 
 rounded by chosen witnesses of His work and 
 representatives of His Church, He lifted up 
 His eyes to heaven, and exclaimed, I liave 
 glorified Thee on the earth, I have finished 
 the work which Thou gavest Me to do/ It 
 was for this He labored, for this He suffered ; 
 for this He saved, for this He destroyed. Zeal 
 for His Father's glory absorbed Him,^ con- 
 sumed Him,' and yet sustained Him/ And it 
 was only when this end was accomplished, as 
 far as v/as possible in His estate of humilia- 
 tion, that He thought of His own giorj^, and 
 prayed to be restored to it — His essential, 
 eternal, incommunicable glory, that which He 
 veiled so deeply when He undertook His 
 lowly errand. And now, Father, He prays, 
 glorify Thou Me with Thine own Self, with 
 the glory which I had with Thee before the 
 world was !* O what a life was His ! a whole 
 consecration, all worship, all praise, one golden 
 censer, full of divinest incense, ever burn- 
 ing and sending . forth its fragrant clouds to 
 heaven I 
 
 » John, xvii. 4. ^ John, iv. 34. ' John, il 17. 
 
 * John, xii. 27, 28. ' John, xvii. 5. 
 
256 BLIND BARTIMEUS. 
 
 Finallj, from this highway to Jerusalem 
 and the hallelujahs of its festal multitudes, 
 our thoughts are borne forward and upward. 
 
 " There all the heavenly hosts are seen. 
 In shining ranks they move I" 
 
 Bartimeus is there. Yea, every one of all 
 that countless throng ' was once a poor Bar- 
 timeus, blind, wretched, ruined, the helpless 
 captive of Satan, marred and accursed, until 
 Jesus passed by to pity and to heal. And so 
 each one is in turn the subject of the song and 
 joy of all the rest. 
 
 The multitude is there. Now there is no 
 chiding nor strife among them. They are 
 without spot, or wrinkle or any such tbing.- 
 They "shine in the light of God," and have 
 been made perfect in love.'' They are all 
 clothed in bright raiment of holiness and 
 righteousness, and can look full upon the sun- 
 shine of the Throne. They wear crowns upon 
 their heads, ^ and have harps and palms in their 
 hands.* This is the sacramental host of God's 
 
 » Eph., V. 27. = 1 John, iv. 18. 
 
 !> 1 Pet, V. 4. * Rev., viL 9 xiv. 2. 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 257 
 
 elect, the general assembly and church of the 
 first born.' An innumerable company of an- 
 gels' is also with them, rejoicing in their joy, 
 helping them to praise. 
 
 And Jesus is there. What would all this 
 be without Him? Nay, without Him, none 
 of this could be. The music would hush and 
 the light go out. The crown would fall from 
 the head, and the gold become dim.' Silence, 
 coldness and death would cover the heavenly 
 plains. But there He is, walking at the head 
 of all the glorious company. He has loved 
 them with an everlasting love,* and redeemed 
 them at an infinite cost," and now He sees of 
 the travail of His soul and is satisfied." It is 
 finished! He presents them before His Fa- 
 ther ; " Behold I, and the children which God 
 hath given Me !'" 
 
 " long expected Day begin !" 
 
 I Heb., xii. 23. 
 
 
 2 Heb., xiL 22. 
 
 3 Lam., v% 1. 
 
 
 * Jen, xxxL 3. 
 
 » L Pet, i. 18, 19. 
 
 ' Feb., iL 13. 
 
 THE END. 
 9 
 
 " Isa., liii. 11. 
 
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