Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2761
“And He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him ifhe saw anything. And he looked up and said, Isee men as trees, walking. After that Heput His hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw everyone clearly.” Mark 8:22-25.
THERE is a very wonderful variety in the miracles of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the variety is apparent even in the way in which men come to Him to partake of His blessing. With regard to the blind men to whom our Lord gave sight, we read of some that they were brought to Christ by their friends, as in the case of this man at Bethsaida, who was almost passive all the way through. His friends appear to have had more faith than he had and, therefore, they brought him to Jesus. There were other cases in which the blind men cried to Christ and, as far as they could, came to Him of themselves. Some of them even came to Him in the teeth of stern opposition, for, when the disciples upbraided one of them for crying out so loudly, he cried out the more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me.” So that, you see, some were brought to Christ by their friends and others came to Him in spite of much opposition.
Then there is that notable case which many of you must remember, of that remarkable blind man who had been blind from his birth, to whom Jesus came uninvited. Jesus saw him and anointed his eyes with the clay which He had made, and then bade him go and wash in the pool of Siloam. “He went his way, therefore, and washed, and came seeing.” Thus, from the very commencement of our Savior’s earthly ministry, there were differences in the way in which one class of characters, the blind, came to Jesus Christ.
I. The lesson for us to learn from this undoubted fact is just this—that THERE ARE GREAT DIFFERENCES IN THE WAY IN WHICH MEN COME TO JESUS CHRIST—and differences even in their first desires. Some will begin to seek the Savior like merchantmen seeking goodly pearls and when they have found Him, He will be the Pearl of Great Price to them. Others will be like the plowman whose plow struck against a crock of gold—they will know Christ’s value as soon as they stumble upon Him, as it were, and will be ready to sell all that they have and buy the field so that the treasure may be theirs. Some of you who are here may get a blessing instantaneously, though you have not come especially seeking it. Others of you may have come here for months and years, seeking the Savior—and you may nowfind Him.
Some may begin to seek even while the sermon is progressing, but may not find Christ for a while—while others will no sooner seek Jesus than they will at once find Him. Some will be brought by the example of the godly. Some by the preaching of the minister. Some by a kind word from a friend. Many by parental exhortations. Some by a holy book. Some by no outward means at all. Some simply by their own thoughts in solitude, or at the dead of night—all led by the one gracious Spirit of God—but each one brought to Christ in a different way and by different means from all the rest.
I think that the same differences will be found, not only at the beginning of the Christian life, but also all the way through that life in all who are the subjects of Divine Grace. All Christians are like each other in some respects, but no one Christian is exactly like another in all points. There is, often, a great family likeness in the children in one family. Sometimes, you might go where there are 10 or twelve, and you might pick them all out and say, Yes, we are quite sure
that they all belong to this family—there are certain distinctive features which evidently show that they belong to these parents.” After you have noticed that resemblance, take the 10 or 12 children, one by one, and look at them individually. Perhaps, at first sight, you might say that you did not know one from the other, but those who see them day by day will tell you that there are distinct differences of countenance and contour about each one—and idiosyncrasies of character which distinguish them from one another—so that there is not one of them who is exactly like the rest.
Now, it would be a great pity if they should all begin to wish that they were exactly like someone in the family whom they set up as a model. It would be a right and proper ambition that every son should wish to be like a godly father, and that every daughter should seek to imitate a lovely and gracious mother, but that one girl would wish to be just like her sister, or a boy to be exactly like his brother would be absurd. Yet I have often seen that absurdity in the Church of God! One is depressed because his experience is not quite like his neighbor’s. Another because he sees that there are points in his experience that are unlike anybody else’s—and I have even known them go and try to remove their names from God’s register and “unchristianize” themselves! And, what is worse, sometimes unchristianize one another because they are not all exactly run into the same mold—like so many shot, precisely alike in form and shape—as manufactured articles are when they come quickly from under the die! No, we fall into grievous error when we entertain this kind of idea! God’s ways are diverse—from the beginning to the end, God the Father, God the Holy Spirit and our Lord Jesus Christ act sovereignly and do not choose to follow one particular mode of action in every case.