Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 841
Delivered on Lord’s-Day Morning, November 13, 1868, by C. H. SPURGEON, at Bloomsbury Chapel..
“For He had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon Him for to touch Him, as many as had plagues.” Mark 3:10.
OUR Lord had been persecuted and therefore He put forth many proofs of His power. When opposition attends the Gospel it will be the more triumphant. The warnings of the devil predict the success of the Word of God. When our Lord Jesus had done much, He was under a sacred necessity to do more—for everyone who was healed busied himself in spreading abroad the fame of the Beloved Physician—and others laboring under similar infirmities hastened at once to receive the like cure. The more we do for Christ the more we may do, and I think usually the more we must do. If we hold back from Christian labor we may think that little is required of us, but as soon as we once enter, heart and soul, into the Master’s service, we shall feel as if we needed a thousand hands and a hundred lives to overtake the growing demands upon us.
I gather from the case before us in the text, that as it was with the Master so will it always be with the servants. Their pace of usefulness will increase in geometrical proportion, like that of a falling stone. Healed multitudes will act as willing decoys to attract multitudes of their unhealed friends. If there are any here who have received the Grace of God, it will be natural for them to induce others to listen to the Word of Life so they, also, may find salvation in our exalted Savior. Thus it is that the kingdom grows more and more, until the strongholds of sin are overthrown and the gates of Hell are shaken. The little cloud, no bigger than a man’s hand, increases till it darkens all the skies and at last deluges the earth with blessings. Let us take care that we prove not an exception to this blessed rule! Never let us, by unholy silence, rob our Master of one of His best weapons, and the Church of her greatest joy. You who are healed should publish abroad in every place the fame of the Friend of Sinners! It is your privilege and your duty.
In calling your attention to the text, I shall notice the parallel, which actually exists, and the fuller parallel which might be expected between the present times and those of the text. I shall then briefly notice the sins which prevent the parallel being carried out. Thirdly, I shall dwell a little upon Divine Grace which invites us to complete the likeness. And then, lastly, utter some cautions which may be useful.
I. First, the PARALLEL which exists at this moment between these times and the text, and which might be expected more fully to exist. Thus it is in the text Jesus had healed many. These had informed other afflicted ones, and these afflicted ones, anxious to obtain the gift, pressed around the Savior in a mighty throng—everyone striving to touch Him that he might obtain immediate healing.
The Gospel has had free course in the slums of St. Giles! It has worked graciously in the mansions of Bloomsbury! The Gospel has been found mighty in Bethual Green, and it has been victorious in the West End. A few have been saved of the highest in the land, and not some only, but many of the poor in these last days have found Jesus mighty to save! Many who were lost to all spiritual things have been saved of late. During this last week many believed and were changed in heart. Every Sunday, by God’s Grace, souls are saved! We may not blazon it in the newspapers, nor parade the work of the Lord in magazines, but, for all that, God is allowing us, week after week, to see evil men made good!
We can assure you that those of us who are pastors, and watch for souls, constantly see Jesus at His gracious work with sin-sick souls. He is today healing men of the maladies of their souls. Those whom Jesus has healed have been most thoroughly and effectually restored. The drunkard has not merely been reclaimed for a time, but he has become throughout life a sober, excellent citizen. The depraved and the debased have not been lifted up into a transient hypocritical profession of a religion which they did not understand, but we confidently testify that they have been made new creatures in Christ Jesus and are now among the most honorable members of society!
Looking back upon our own observation during a course of years, those of us who are occupied in preaching the Gospel earnestly bear witness that in these degenerate times, as men usually call them, Jesus Christ, exalted in the highest heavens, is still delivering men from spiritual infirmities, saving them from gross vices and inveterate habits! So far the parallel exists, and it would be natural to expect to see it completed. Since many diseased in soul have been healed, it might be reckoned that great multitudes of men would desire to be saved, too. There are crowds of sick folk in every direction. There are many here this morning who are spiritually sick. They have eyes that see not God, hearts that throb not with love to Him, knees that bow not in earnest prayer, hands withered for all holy service, consciences seared, judgments unbalanced, imaginations perverse.