Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 645
Delivered on Sunday Morning, August 20, 1865
“And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon me! And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Son of David, have mercy on me.” Mark 10:47,48.
WHEREVER Jesus Christ is found, His presence is marvelously mighty. The disciples, when Christ was absent, were like sheep without a shepherd—they were foiled in argument and even defeated in attempted miracles—but as soon as our Savior made His appearance among them, they returned to their strength. When a valiant general suddenly hastens to the rescue of his routed troops, the sound of his horse hoofs reassures the trembling, and the sound of his voice transforms each coward into a hero. May the glorious Captain of our salvation show Himself in the midst of our churches and there will be a joyous shout along our ranks!
You will have no need to exchange ministers, or to wish for a better class of Christians—the same officers and the same soldiers will suffice to win splendid victories! If Jesus is present, the men will be so changed that you will scarcely know them. They shall be filled with power from on high and do great exploits in His name and by His strength. Nor does the Divine energy of His Presence confine itself to those who are already disciples of the Savior! Strangers, neighbors, wayfarers and even blind beggars feel the effect of His nearness! This sightless beggar hears the good news that Jesus of Nazareth passes by and straightway he begins to pray!
My Brethren, there shall be no lack of praying hearts where there is a present Savior. If there are no conversions in the congregation, it must be because Christ is not dwelling there by His Spirit. You have grieved Him and He is gone— you have forgotten Him and He has left you so that you may come to know your own weakness and learn to glorify His power in the future. If the Lord shall graciously return to His Church, cries of penitents will be frequent and the songs of those who have found peace by faith in Him shall go up to Heaven in blessed chorus! Oh, that the Lord Jesus would appear among the churches of this, our age!
We have much to mourn over. Infidelity audaciously seats itself in the chief seats of the synagogue. Romanism secretly eats out the very vitals of our national religion. Broad and liberal views act as a moth upon Gospel doctrine. Inconsistency of life dishonors the profession of practical godliness. O Lord, how long, how long! If the Lord Jesus shall graciously work by His Spirit among us, we shall soon have our languishing churches revived! Errors will fly as the bats and owls betake themselves to their hiding places when the sun arises! And every sweet flower of Christian Grace shall yield its blessed perfume under the genial influences of His celestial rays.
I thank God we have had Jesus here. We have often been able to say, “The Son of David passes by.” He is here still. Believing hearts who recognize His Presence and lament when He is absent tell us that they often find Him sweetly manifested to them here in the preaching of the Word, in the breaking of bread, and in the fellowship of prayer. He is here now! But oh, we want to recognize His Presence more fully! We want to see the Divine influences, like streams from Lebanon, refreshing all our garden! We desire to see Jesus working more effectually in making poor sinners feel their need of Him and drawing them to Himself.
Providence at all times co-works with Divine Grace in the salvation of the chosen people. You have an instance of it here. It was Providence which brought the blind man where Grace brought Jesus Christ. The Lord might have been passing by, but if this blind man had not happened to live at Jericho—or if at that particular moment he had not been pursuing his avocation of begging just on the particular road along which the Savior marched—he would never have heard that Jesus passed by! Consequently he would never have cried out to Him and never have obtained the necessary cure!
Providence brings sinners under the hearing of the Word and moves the preacher to select topics suitable to their minds. Providence prepares them, as the plow prepares the soil. And Grace guides the minister’s mind to act as the hand which throws the wheat broadcast over the field. I am thankful for many of you that you are here this morning, for I know that “Jesus passes by.” And though it may be that you are still without the heavenly light, it is a circumstance for which you ought to thank God that many have here received sight from the Lord Jesus.
It may be a singular Providence which induced you to come here at all—I pray it may prove to be the white horse on which Christ rides forth—conquering and to conquer—that He may win a victory in your souls now. Permit me, however, to remind you that such a circumstance involves responsibility. Jesus passes by—the blind man sits by the way-side—if he does not cry, his blindness will, therefore, continue. And there will be an addition to all its gloom in the thought that he did not use the one means within his reach, namely, that of crying to the physician for healing!