Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2731
“And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, Have brought unto You my son, who has a dumb spirit; and wherever he takes him, he tears him: and he foams, and gnashes with his teeth, and pines away: and I spoke to Your disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. He answered him, and said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me. And they brought him to Him: and when he saw Him, straightway the spirit convulsed him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming at the mouth.” Mark 9:17-20.
I DO not intend to speak so much upon the whole of this text as to use the latter part of it as a sort of motto for an appeal to Christian people to be diligent in the service of their Lord. If we wish to do good to our fellow creatures, the best thing that we can do for them is to bring them to the Lord Jesus Christ. At the feet of Jesus we ourselves obtained salvation if we are saved—we never had any true peace of heart until we came to Christ—and we never would have had any if we had remained apart from Him. The great Physician, who healed our soul-sickness, was Christ Jesus the Lord! And if we are to be the means of blessing to the sons of men, we must recommend to them the Physician whom we have proved to be so exceedingly useful to ourselves. They cannot be blessed, any more than we could be, until they are brought to Jesus!
When any of us desire to be of service to others, it is well for us to learn the best way of setting about our task, for if we do not know how to go to work, all our earnestness may be expended upon that which is useless. But when we understand what we are doing and concentrate all our powers upon wise and proper efforts, then are we likely to succeed. To my mind, the first thing that we have to strive after, in the name of God, and by the help of the Holy Spirit, is to bring men to Jesus Christ—and God forbid that we should ever lift even a finger to point them anywhere else for salvation! Each true Believer, as well as every Christian minister, should say—
“‘Tis all my business here below To cry, ‘Behold the Lamb!’”
We are to point sinners to Jesus— all the while looking at Him and praying that they, also, may look unto Him and live.
I think I need hardly remind you that every Christian is bound to give himself to the blessed work of bringing sinners to the Savior. Common humanity should lead us to attempt this task. Is it necessary for me to bid you love your fellows and seek their good? Why, even they who have no Christianity are often exceedingly generous, humane and kind. Some persons whose religious opinions are full of error have, nevertheless, manifested great tenderness and sympathy towards the sick, the suffering and the poor—and they have set a noble example of what others might do for the needy. Much more, then, ought the followers of the loving Christ to have tender, sympathetic hearts, and anxiously desire to do the most they can for their fellow men. I shall take it for granted, my dear Hearers, that you who are members of this Church, or of any other true Christian Church, are desirous to be the means of blessing to those who are about you and that you also believe that the surest way to bless them is to bring them to Christ!
I. So, coming to our text, I begin by remarking that PARENTS ARE THE FIRST PERSONS WHO SHOULD LABOR TO BRING THEIR CHILDREN TO CHRIST.
In the 17th verse, we read that the epileptic youth was, in a sense, brought to Christ by his father. “Master,” said the poor man, “I have brought unto You my son, who has a dumb spirit.” He hardly knew how to set to work, for he somehow confused Christ with His disciples. So, as the Lord Jesus was away upon the mountain, he brought his son to the disciples. They could not cast out the devil, yet it was a right thing, on the part of the father, to bring his child to them. It showed a loving spirit and a desire to see him cured. I am afraid there are some fathers, who even call themselves Christians, who have not yet done as much for their sons and daughters as that father did for his boy, for they have not asked for the sympathy and help of Christian people on behalf of their own children. I am utterly ashamed of some professors of religion who say that they really must leave that matter to their children. I have heard of one man who said that he did not like to prejudice his boy, so he would not say anything to him about religion! The devil, however, was quite willing to prejudice the lad, so very early in life he learned to swear, although his father had a foolish and wicked objection to teaching him to pray! If you ever feel it incumbent upon you not to prejudice a piece of ground by sowing good seed in it, you may rest assured that the weeds will not imitate your impartiality, but they will take possession of the land in a very sad and shocking manner! Where the plow does not go, and the seed is not sown, the weeds are quite sure to multiply— and if children are left untutored and untrained, all sorts of evils will spring up in their hearts and lives!