Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1315
“And it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout all quarters, he came down, also, to the saints which dwelt at Lydda. And there he found a certain man named Aeneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy. And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ makes you whole: arise, and make your bed. And he arose immediately. And all that dwelt in Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord.” Acts 9:32-35.
Upon the occasion of the regular hearers vacating their seats to allow strangers to fill the house.
I MAY not hope that I shall see you all again, and so, as I have the opportunity of only preaching one sermon to you, I must make it as full as I can of the essence of the Gospel, from beginning to end. We have heard of a chaplain who preached in a jail, who selected a subject which he divided into two heads. The first part was the sinner’s disease. This he took for his topic on one Sabbath and closed the sermon by saying that he would preach upon the sinner’s remedy upon the following Sunday. Now, there were several of the prisoners hanged on Monday, according to the custom of the bad old times, so that they did not hear that part of the discourse which it was most necessary for them to hear.
It would have been well to have told out the great news of salvation at once to men so near their end. And I think that in every sermon, if the preacher confines himself to one subject, and leaves out essential Gospel Truths under the notion that he will preach salvation by Jesus another day, he is very unwise, for some of his congregation may be dead and gone—alas, some of them lost—before he will have the opportunity of coming to the grand and all-important point, namely, the way of salvation!
By the Grace of God we will not fall into that evil tonight! We will try to shoot at the very center of our target and preach the plan of salvation as completely as we can. And may God grant that His blessing may rest on it, the Holy Spirit working with it. I shall only preach this one sermon to some of you. You will, therefore, have the greater patience with me as I shall not inflict myself upon you again. But, if we are to have only one communication with each other, let us come to real practical business and waste no time. A good deal of sermon-hearing is mere trifling—let us come to matter-of-fact preaching and hearing at this time!
I am afraid that some sermon preaching is playing, too—fine words and oratorical fireworks—but no agony for souls. We mean business tonight! My heart will not be satisfied unless many of you who came in here without Christ shall go down those steps saved by His atoning blood! Bitter will be my disappointment if many do not lay hold of Jesus and realize in their own souls, Peter’s words, “Jesus Christ makes you whole.” I have faith in the great Physician that many of you will go away whole tonight though you were sin-sick when you came into this House of Prayer. Much supplication has gone up to Heaven for this and the Lord hears prayer—therefore do I reckon that miracles of healing will surely be worked in this house on this occasion!
To the point, then! Peter came to Lydda and found one who bore the classic name of Aeneas. He was no mighty warrior, however, but a poor paralyzed man who had been confined to his bed for eight long years. Touched with a sight of the man’s feebleness, Peter felt the impulse of the Spirit upon him and, looking at him as he lay there, he said, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ makes you whole: arise, and make your bed.” Touched by the same Spirit who inspired the Apostle, the man believed the message—believed that Christ had healed him—at once rose and made his bed and in an instant was perfectly restored!
Now let us hear something about this man. We are not to hear Virgil sing, “arms and the man,” but we are to let Luke tell us of the man and his Savior.
I. In the first place, then, it is very clear that THE MAN WAS TRULY SICK. Had he not been really sick, the incident before us would have been all a fake—a feint and a pretence from beginning to end—but he was hopelessly infirm. He had been anxiously watched by his friends for eight years and was so completely palsied that during all those years he had not left his bed, which had grown hard as a stone beneath him. Now, as there is no room for a great cure unless there is a great sickness, so there is no room for God’s great Grace unless there is great sin! Jesus Christ did not come into the world to save sham sinners, but real sinners—neither did He descend from Heaven to seek those who are not diseased with sin, for the whole have no need of a physician—but He has come to seek those who are deeply diseased and to give them real healing.
This man’s sickness was no imaginary ill, for he could not move. His hands and feet were quite paralyzed. If in any limb there was a measure of motion, it was only a tremulous quiver, which rather indicated growing weakness than remaining force. He was bereaved of all strength. Are you such by nature, my Friend, in a spiritual sense? Certainly you are so—but have you found it out? Has the Spirit of God made you feel that you can do nothing aright apart from Him and that you are altogether ruined and palsied unless Jesus Christ saves you? If so, do not despair because you feel how terribly your soul is smitten!