I
The man mentioned in this chapter was born blind. We find the Lord"s disciples asking Him:
"Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
Jesus answered, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of G.o.d should be manifest in him."
When He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him:
"Go wash in the pool of Siloam."
The blind man went his way and washed, and his eyesight was restored.
Observe what that man did. He did _just what Christ told him to do_.
The Savior"s command to him was to go to the pool of Siloam and wash; and "he went his way therefore, and came seeing." He was blessed in the very act of obedience.
Another thought: G.o.d does not generally repeat Himself. Of all the blind men who were healed while Christ was on earth, no two were healed in exactly the same way. Jesus met blind Bartimeus near the gates of Jericho, and called him to Him and said:
"What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?"
The answer was: "Lord, that I might receive my sight."
Now, see what He did. He did not send Bartimeus off to Jerusalem twenty miles away to the pool of Siloam to wash. He did not spit on the ground, and make clay, and anoint his eyes; but with a word He wrought the cure, saying:
"Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole."
Suppose Bartimeus had gone from Jericho and had met the other blind beggar at the gate of the city of Jerusalem, and asked him how it was he got his sight; suppose they began to compare notes--one telling his experience, and the other telling his. Imagine the first saying:
"I do not believe that you have got your sight, because you did not get it in the same way that I got mine."
Would the different ways the Lord Jesus had in healing them make their cases the less true? Yet there are some people who talk just that way now. Because G.o.d does not deal with some exactly as He does with others, people think that G.o.d is not dealing with them at all.
G.o.d seldom repeats Himself. No two persons were ever converted exactly alike, so far as my experience goes. Each one must have an experience of his own. Let the Lord give sight in His own way.
There are thousands of people who
KEEP AWAY FROM CHRIST
because they are looking for the experience of some dear friend or relative. They should not judge of their conversion by the experiences of others. They have heard some one tell how he was converted twenty years ago, and they expect to be converted in the same way. Persons should never count upon having an experience precisely similar to that of some one else of whom they have heard or read. They must go right to the Lord Himself, and do what He tells them to do. If He says, "Go to the pool of Siloam and wash,"
then they must go. If He says, "Come just as you are," and promises to give sight, then they must come, and let Him do His own work in His own way, just as this blind man did. It was a peculiar way by which to give a man sight; but it was the Lord"s way; and the man"s sight was given him. We might think it was enough to make a man blind to fill his eyes with clay. True, he was now doubly blind; for if he had been able to see before, the clay would have deprived him of his sight. But the Lord wanted to show the people that they were not only spiritually blind by nature, but that they had also allowed themselves to be blinded by the clay of this world, which had been spread over their eyes. But G.o.d"s ways are not our ways. If He is going to work, we must let Him act as He pleases.
Shall we dictate to the Almighty? Shall the clay say to the potter, "Why hast thou made me thus?" Who art thou, O man, that repliest against G.o.d? Let G.o.d work in His own way; and when the Holy Ghost comes, let Him mark out a way for Himself. We must be willing to submit, and to do what the Lord tells us, without any questioning whatever.
"He went his way, therefore, and washed, and came seeing. The neighbors, therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, "Is not this he that sat and begged?""
"Some said, "This is he"; others said, "He is like him.""
Now, if he had been like a good many at the present time, I am afraid he would have remained silent. He would have said:
"Well, now I have got my sight, and I will just keep quiet about it.
It is not necessary for me to confess it. Why should I say anything?
There is a good deal of opposition to this man Jesus Christ. There are a great many bitter things said in Jerusalem against Him. He has a great many enemies. I think there will be trouble if I talk about Him; so I will say nothing."
Some said, "This is he"; others said, "He is like him." But he said, "I am he." He not only got his eyes opened, but, thank G.o.d, he got his mouth open too!
Surely, the next thing after we get our eyes opened is for us to open our lips and begin to testify for Him.
The people asked him, "How were thine eyes opened?"
He answered: "A man that is called Jesus made clay and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight."
He told a straightforward story, just what the Lord had done for him. That is all. That is what a witness ought to do--tell what he knows, not what he does not know. He did not try to make a long speech. It is not the most flippant and fluent witness who has the most influence with a jury.
This man"s testimony is what I call "experience." One of the greatest hindrances to the progress of the Gospel to-day is that the narration of the experience of the Church is not encouraged. There are a great many men and women who come into the Church, and we never hear anything of their experiences, or of the Lord"s dealings with them. If we could, it would be a great help to others. It would stimulate faith and encourage the more feeble of the flock.
THE APOSTLE PAUL"S EXPERIENCE
has been recorded three times. I have no doubt that he told it everywhere he went: how G.o.d had met him; how G.o.d had opened his eyes and his heart; and how G.o.d had blessed him. Depend upon it, experience has its place; the great mistake that is made now is in the other extreme. In some places and at some periods there has been too much of it--it has been all experience; and now we have let the pendulum swing too far the other way.
I think it is not only right, but exceedingly useful, that we should give our experience. This man bore testimony to what the Lord had done for him.
"And it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes; Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, "He put clay upon mine eyes; and I washed, and do see." Therefore said some of the Pharisees, "This man is not of G.o.d, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day." Others said, "How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?" And there was a division among them.
They say unto the blind man again, "What sayest thou of Him, that He hath opened thine eyes?""
What an opportunity he had for evading the questions! He might have said: "Why, I have never seen Him. When He met me I was blind; I could not see Him. When I came back I could not find Him; and I have not formed any opinion yet." He might have put them off in that way, but he said:
"He is a prophet."
He gave them his opinion. He was a man of backbone. He had moral courage. He stood right up among the enemies of Jesus Christ, the Pharisees, and told them what he thought of Him--
"He is a prophet."
If you can get young Christians to talk, not about themselves, but about Christ, their testimony will have power. Many converts talk altogether about their own experience--"I," "I," "I," "I." But this blind man got away to the Master, and said, "He is a prophet." He believed, and he told them what he believed.
"But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight. And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? How then doth he now see?" His parents answered them, and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: but by what means he now seeth, we know not: or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself." These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had agreed already that if any man did confess that He was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore said his parents, "He is of age; ask him.""
I have always had great contempt for those parents. They had a n.o.ble son, and their lack of moral courage then and there to confess what the Lord Jesus Christ had done for their son, makes them unworthy of him. They say, "We do not know how he got it," which looks as if they did not believe their own son. "He is of age; ask him."
It is sorrowfully true to-day that we have hundreds and thousands of people who are professed disciples of Jesus Christ, but when the time comes that they ought to take their stand, and give a clear testimony for Him, they testify against Him. You can always tell those who are really converted to G.o.d. The new man always takes his stand for G.o.d; and the old man takes his stand against Him. These parents had an opportunity to confess the Lord Jesus Christ, and to do great things for Him; but they neglected their golden opportunity.
If they had but stood up with their n.o.ble son, and said, "This is our son. We have tried all the physicians, and used all the means in our power, and were unable to do anything for him; but now, out of grat.i.tude, we confess that he received his sight from the prophet of Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth," they might have led many to believe on Him. But, instead of that, they said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: but by what means he now seeth, we know not."
Do you know why they did not want to tell how he got his sight?
Simply because it would