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SERMON I.

JESUS OF NAZARETH PASSING BY.

MAT. XX. 29-34.*

And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude 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 rebuked them because they should hold their peace; but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O 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 eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.

From comparing the accounts of the different evangelists, it appears that one of these unhappy men was Bartimeus,-that they sat by the road to ask alms,—that hearing the noise of the passing multitude they inquired the cause, and found that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by,-that when they raised their cries of suppliant distress, he sent messengers to call them,—that when their eyes were opened they "followed him, glorifying God,"

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and that "all the people when they saw it, gave praise unto God."

The time of this transaction was awfully critical. He who came into the world to open the eyes of the blind, was now on his last journey to Jerusalem, where in a few days, he was to suffer death. He was at Jericho, but twenty miles from the scene of his sufferings. His stay in that city was ended, and he had just set out for the spot from which he was to leave the world. His work on earth was nearly finished. He never was to come that way again.

The bodily cures which Christ performed in the days of his flesh, were designed to announce him to the world as the great Physician of the soul, and to teach sinners how to apply to him for spiritual healing. I am therefore authorized to employ this piece of history for such a purpose.

My first remark is, that it was necessary for these blind men to be by the way side while Jesus was passing by. Had they been any where else, they could not have received their sight. However fixed the event was in the counsels of heaven, their being by the way side was an established link in the chain leading to the happy change. Without that means, the end was never to be accomplished. And it was necessary for them to be there at the very punctum of time when Jesus was passing by. They might have sat there for years at any other time without effect. So it is necessary for ruined men to attend solemnly and earnestly and sincerely on all the means of grace, without which, they are not in the

neighborhood of any way by which the Saviour is wont to pass. It is in the person of his Spirit that he passes, while the Gospel and its institutions are the chariot on which he rides or the way by which he goes. And it is specially important that men should keep by this way in those solemn seasons when the Saviour is passing in the more abundant power of his Spirit.

Being near the road, the blind men caught the first sound of the approaching Saviour, and wondering what it should mean, learnt, to their infinite advantage, that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. So men who are solemnly attentive to the means of grace, perceive in such a day as this, that the Saviour of sinners is passing by, and are far more likely than others to apply and receive their sight; while those who are buried in their farms and their merchandize, know not that a Saviour is passing, and lose the opportunity to make their applica. tion to him.

It was not enough for these blind men to sit idly by the way side while Jesus was passing, without faith or application to him. They might have sat thus till they died, and no benefit would have ensued. So men may carelessly attend on the means of grace, and for want of an earnest and believing application to the Son of David, may die blind.

These unhappy men, knowing themselves to be wholly unworthy of the Saviour's notice, made no demands, but only sued for mercy. And sinners, if they would succeed, must be far from thinking themselves justly entitled to salvation, and that they

should be injured if refused. They must feel infinitely unworthy of this grace. They must abhor themselves, and repent in dust and ashes. They must get down into the deepest dust. They must look up, like Jonah, from the bottom of the mountains. They must send up their cry as from the bowels of hell,—and never name any thing but mercy,-free, rich, and amazing mercy,-boundless, self-moving mercy. On this they must cast themselves,-cast all their weight,-rest all their hopes,-ground all their confidence. Mercy, mercy, mercy, this must be their only plea,-this must be their exclusive trust.

In the earnestness of these unfortunate men we see an affecting example for us. Hearing that the wondrous man was near who had healed so many, their hearts flutter with joy and great expectations, and go forth in the impassioned cry, "Have mercy on us, O Lord thou Son of David." a few faint words between jest and earnest. In all the fervor of heart-felt distress, and with no hope resting on any other, their bursting prayer still is, "Have mercy on us, O Lord thou Son of David."

You hear not

Nor could they be silenced by all the frowns of the multitude, who, either considering them too mean for the Saviour's notice, or disgusted at their earnestness, commanded them to hold their peace. But they cried so much the more, "Have mercy on us, O Lord thou Son of David." And thus sinners who have discovered their guilt and perishing need of a Saviour, and who see that on him depends their eternal all, will not be silenced

by all the frowns and criticisms of the world. Feeling that no other hand in heaven or earth can relieve them, that the success or failure of their application will make or undo them for eternity, they are not to be kept back by the fastidiousness of the formal or the scoffs of the profane.

We cannot but notice the great difference between those who feel their necessities and those who are whole and know not their needs. How much more precious did Jesus appear in the eyes of Bartimeus than in those of his proud rebukers.

These blind men would not have been so pressing had they not deeply felt three things;-that they were blind and wretched, that Jesus was the Saviour, with full power to open their eyes, and that he was the only helper. Nor will sinners apply to him till they discover that they are utterly lost in themselves, that he is the very one appointed to deliver them and is able to save to the uttermost, that there is no other name given under heaven whereby they can be saved, that all the men on earth and all the angels in heaven cannot relieve them, and that their eternal all depends on the Son of David.

It is affecting to see the difference between the unfeeling multitude and the compassionate Saviour. No sooner did he hear the cry of these unfortunate men than he sent messengers to bring them to him. These messengers, like the preachers of the Gospel, bade them be of good cheer for he called them. The same blessed words do I this day proclaim in your ears. Is there a poor sinner in all those seats

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