All Things Are Ready. Come!
A Sermon Delivered on Lord's-day Morning, May 13th, 1877, by Charles Spurgeon
"Come, for all things are now ready!" Luke 14:17
This invitation was first of all made to the Jews, but it seems to me to have a peculiar appropriateness to ourselves. It is later in the day than when first the Lord was here, and therefore the supper time is evidently closer at hand. The shadows lengthen, the sun of the present dispensation is nearing its setting; by nearly nineteen hundred years has its day been shortened since first the Lord sent forth his servants at supper time. The fullness of time for the marriage supper of the Lamb must speedily arrive, and therefore it behooves us to be more than ever earnest in delivering the message to the invited guests.
And if all things could be said to be ready even in our Savior's day, then we may say it with still greater emphasis now; for when he delivered this parable the Holy Spirit was not yet given, but Pentecost has now passed, and the Spirit of God abides with us to accompany the Word, to fill it with power and to bless our souls as we feed upon the truth. Very emphatically then at this time all things are now ready, and the supper awaits the guests. I pray you do not begin to make excuses, but be prepared to follow us when we bid you to come, to go with us when we seek to bring you in, or at least to yield to our entreaties when with all the sacred violence of love we would compel you to come in. We will not grudge the use of all the three increasing modes of persuasion so long as you are but led to "Come, for all things are now ready."
There are two things clearly in the text, and these have a close relation to one another.
A plain invitation, "Come!"
and then a forcible argument, "for all things are ready."
The argument is fetched from the divine preparations, gathered from among the dainty viands of the royal feast. "My oxen and my fatlings are killed, come to the supper." The readiness of everything on God's part, is the argument why men should come and partake of his grace: and that is the point upon which we will dwell at this time--the readiness of the feast of mercy is the reason why men should come to it at once.
I.
We will begin our meditation by laying down the first statement which shall make our first division of discourse, namely, that IT IS GOD'S HABIT TO HAVE ALL THINGS READY, whether for his guests or his creatures. You never discover him to be behindhand in anything. "When the guests come there is not a scramble to get the table arranged and the food prepared, but the Lord has great forethought, and every little point of detail is well arranged. "All things are ready."It was so in creation. He did not create a single blade of grass upon the face of the earth until the soil and the atmosphere had been prepared for it, and until the kindly sun had learned to look down upon the earth. Imagine vegetation without a sun, or without the alternation of day and night. But the air was full of light, the firmament upheld the clouds, and the dry land had appeared from out of the sea, and then all things were ready for herb, and plant, and tree.
Nor did God prepare one single creature that has life, nor bird that flies in the midst of Heaven, nor fish that swims the seas, nor beast that moves on the dry land--until he had prepared its habitat, and made ready its appointed food. There were no cattle before there were meadows for their grazing; no birds until there were trees for their nests, no, nor even a creeping insect until its portion of food had been provided. No creature had to wait in hungry mood, while its food was growing; all things were ready: ready first for vegetation, and then afterwards for animal life.
As for Adam, when God came to make him as his last and noblest work of creation, all things were ready. The garden was laid out upon the banks of flowing streams, and planted with all kinds of trees, the fruits were ripe for his diet, and the flowers in bloom for his delight. He did not come to an unfurnished house, but he entered upon a home which his Father had made pleasant and agreeable for his dwelling. The world was first fitted up, and then the man who was to govern that world was placed in it. "All things are ready," the Lord seems to say, "Spring up, O herb yielding seed"; and then "All things are ready, come forth you roes and hinds of the field!" and then "All things are ready, stand forth, O man, made in my own image!"
In after times we may gather illustrations of the same truth from the ways of God with men. The ark was first of all built, and the various creatures were gathered into it, with all their necessary provender, for that strange voyage which they were about to take: and then the Lord said to Noah, "Come and all your house into the ark," "All things are ready, come," was his voice to the chosen eight as they entered into the ark. There was no need to tarry any longer, every preparation was made, and therefore God shut them in. Everything is done with punctuality and exactness by the only wise God. The same day that a thing is needed, then it is prepared.
Take another event in providence, such as the going down of Israel into Egypt. God had determined that Jacob and his seed should sojourn awhile in the land of Ham, but how wisely he prepared the whole matter. He sent a man before them, even Joseph, and Joseph was there upon the throne clothed with power to nourish them through the famine. He had been there years before, all in good time to store the wheat while the seven years of plenty lasted, that they might be well fed during the seven years of famine. Goshen also was at the disposal of Joseph, so that the flocks and herds of Israel might dwell in that fat land. Not into Egypt shall God's Israel go, until all things are ready; and when all things are ready they will come out again with a high hand and an outstretched arm.
So was it when the tribes migrated into Canaan itself. God took them not to the promised land until all things were ready. They were made to wait for the fitting time, for the Lord said, "The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." Not until the inhabitants of the land had passed the bounds of mercy, and were condemned to die, were the Israelites brought upon the scene to be at once their executioners and successors; and when the tribes came to the river Jordan, God had prepared everything for them, for he had sent the hornet before them to drive out the people, and a pestilence also, for the spies said, "It is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof."
The Lord God had gone before them to fight their battles before they came, and to prepare a place for them, so that when they entered, then they dwelt in houses which they had not built, and they gathered the fruit of olives which they had not planted. They came to a land that flowed with milk and honey, a land in a fine cultivated condition, and not a wilderness which with hard labor must be reclaimed. Israel came to a country which was as the garden of the Lord, whose fruit might at once be enjoyed, for they ate of the old grain of the land almost as soon as they passed the Jordan. So you see "All things are ready" is a proclamation which the Lord has often in spirit made to those whom he chooses to bless.
Now the fact that in the great gospel supper, all things are ready, teaches us first, that God's thoughts go before men's comings. "Come, for all things are ready." Not "If you come, all things will be ready," but "they are ready, and therefore come." Grace is first, and man at his best follows its footsteps. Long before we ever thought of God, then he thought of us; yes, before we had a being and before time itself began, in the bosom of the Eternal, there were thoughts of love towards those for whom the table of his mercy is now spread. He had planned and arranged everything in his august mind from of old, he had indeed foreknown and predestined all the provisions and all the guests of his supper; all things were settled in his eternal covenant and purpose before ever the earth was. Never think, oh sinner, that you can outstrip the love of God--it is at the end of the race, before you are at the beginning. God has completed, before you have begun. His thoughts are before ours, and so are his acts, for he does not say, "All things are planned and arranged," but "All things are ready." Jesus, the great sacrifice, is slain, the fountain for our cleansing is filled with blood: the Holy Spirit has been given, the Word by which we are to be instructed is in our hands, and the light which will illuminate that sacred page is promised us through the Holy Spirit. Things promised ought to encourage us to come to Christ, but things already given ought to be irresistible attractions. All things are already completed by the sacred Trinity before we come to cry for mercy; this should make us very hopeful and eager in our approaches to the Lord. Come, sinner; come at once: this ought to encourage you, since all that God has to do in your salvation, is done before you have a thought of him or turn one foot towards his abode. All things are ready. Come!
This also proves how welcome those are who come. If you are invited to see a friend, and when you reach the place you find the door fast locked, and after knocking many times no one answers, for there is no one at home, you reckon that there is some mistake, or that the invitation was not a sincere one. Even if your host should come to the door and admit you, but should evidently be embarrassed, for there is no meal provided, and he has made no arrangements for your rest at night, then you soon detect it, and like a wise man you quickly move off somewhere else, for if you had been welcome, things would have been prepared for you. But oh, poor soul, if you come to God, then all things are ready for your entertainment.
"Spread for you the festal board,
With his richest dainties stored."
The couch of rest and quietness is prepared for you. All things are ready. How freely does Jehovah welcome you, how genuine is the invitation, how sincere the desire is, that you should come to feast with him.
So much upon our first remark, it is the habit of the Lord to have all things ready for his guests.
II. Our second statement is that THIS READINESS SHOULD BE AN ARGUMENT THAT HIS SAINTS SHOULD COME continually to him and find grace to help in every time of need
. O children of God, I will lift the parable away from the immediate use which the Savior made of it, to employ it for your good. You know, beloved, that whenever the Lord Jesus Christ invites his people to come to him, and to taste of his bounty, then all things are ready.It was a beautiful scene by the sea of Tiberias when the Lord spoke to those who had been toiling on the lake at fishing, and said to them, "Come and dine." They were willing enough to dine, but they were busy dragging to the shore those great fish. Remember, when they did land, they found the invitation to be no vain one, for it is written, "They saw a fire of coals there and fish laid thereon, and bread." How the coals came there, and the fish, and the bread--the evangelist does not tell us, but our Lord would not have asked them to dinner if he had not been able to give them a warm reception; there was the fire of coals, and the fish laid thereon, and bread. Whenever therefore your Lord and Master, by his blessed Spirit, calls you to come near to him, you may be quite sure that all things are ready for your immediate enjoyment: you need never pause or hesitate, but approach him without delay.
I want to caution you against replying, "But, Lord, I do not feel ready." That is most true, but that is not an argument which you should use to excuse yourself in holding back. It is his readiness that is the main thing, not yours, and as all things are ready, then do you come whether you feel ready or not.
I have heard of some Christians who have said, "I do not feel in a proper frame of mind to pray." My brother, pray until you do.
Some have said, "I do not think I shall go up to the house of God today--I feel so unhappy, so cast down." When should you go so much as then, in order that you may find comfort?
"Still," says one, "you would not have me sing a hymn when of heavy heart?" Yes, I would indeed, I would have you sing yourself up from the depths of the sea where all God's billows have gone over you. David full often did so, when he began a psalm, in the deeps--and then gradually rose, and rose, and rose, until he was in a perfect rapture of delight before the psalm was over. All things are ready with your Lord, therefore come whether you happen to be ready or not.
Note the times when this truth ought to have power with you. All things are ready, therefore come to the storehouse of divine promise.
Are you in spiritual poverty? Come and take what God has provided for you, for all things are yours, and all the blessings of the everlasting hills belong to all the people of God.
Are you needing strength? There is a promise, "As your days, so shall your strength be." It is ready, come and take it.
Are you needing consolation? Do you not know that all things are ready for your comfort, that two immutable things, wherein it is impossible for God to lie, are already set before you? Come, and take your solace. Yes, remember that all that God has promised belongs to all those who believe the promise, and that you may therefore come at all times, however deep your need, and if you have but faith, then you shall find the special supply for the special need. All things are ready, therefore come with holy confidence, and take what is ripe enough to gather, ripe for you.
Come next to the mercy seat in prayer, all things are ready there. The mercy seat is sprinkled with the precious blood of Christ. The veil also is rent in two, and from between the cherubim Jehovah's glory now shines forth with mildest radiance. Let us therefore come with boldness unto the throne of heavenly grace, because everything there is ready for the pleading suppliant. You have no need to bring anything with you there. You have no need of making preparations other than the Holy Spirit waits to give you in the form of groanings which cannot be uttered. Come, child of God, notwithstanding your carelessness and indifference, or whatever it may be that you have to complain of, for though you are unready, the throne of grace is ready, and therefore draw near to it and find the grace you need.
If at this time we feel strong promptings towards communion with Christ, then what a blessing it is that Christ is always ready to commune with his people. "Behold," says he, "I stand at the door and knock." We think that we stand at the door and knock, but it is scarcely so; the greater truth with regard to his people is that Jesus asks for fellowship with us, and tells us that if we open the door, and that is all he bids his people to do, then he will enter in and sup with them, and they with him. Suppose there is no supper, he will provide it--he has all things ready. The Master says, "Where is the guest-chamber?" He does not say "Where is the feast?" If your heart will be the guest-chamber, he will provide the supper, and you shall sup with him and he with you.
At whose door did Christ knock according to the Scriptures? It was at the door of the Laodicean church, at the door of the very church concerning which he had said, "Because you are neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth." Therefore you poor Laodicean believer that are here this morning, if you have any promptings towards Christ, then arise, for all things are ready, and before you are aware, your soul shall be as the chariots of Amminadib. He is ready to receive us to his heart of hearts. How sweetly this ought to constrain us to fly into the arms of Jesus.
I think the same thought ought to cross our minds with regard to every daily duty. We wake up in the morning, but we do not know exactly what lies before us, for God's providence has constantly new revelations: but I like to think in the morning that all things are ready for my pathway through the day, that if I will go out to serve God in my ministry, then he has prepared some ear into which I am to drop a gracious word, and some heart in the furrows of which I shall sow some blessed seed effectually. Behold all providence with its mighty wheels is co-working with the servant of the living God; only go forward in zeal and confidence, my brother, and you shall find that every step of your way is ready for you. Your Master has trodden the road and marked out for you the houses of refreshment where you are to tarry, until you shall come to the celestial city itself, and the hallowed spots where you shall bring glory to his blessed name. For a useful life, all things are ready for us.
Yes, and if beyond the daily service of life we should feel a prompting to aspire to a higher degree of holiness, if we want to grow in grace and reach the fullness of the stature of a man in Christ Jesus, then all things are ready for us. No Christian can have a sacred ambition after holiness, which the Lord is not prepared to fulfill. You that will to be like your Master, you that desire to make a self-sacrifice that will show the power of his grace in you; the Holy Spirit waits to help you, all things shall work for you, for all things are ready. Come therefore without fear.
One of these days it may be that you and I shall either be grown very old, or else disease will lay hold upon us, and we shall lie upon the sick bed watching and waiting for our Master's coming. Then there shall suddenly appear a messenger from him, who will bring us this word, "All things are ready, come unto the supper!" and closing our eyes on earth, we shall open them in Heaven and see what he has done who so sweetly said, "I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place for you, then I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also." Oh, it will be a joyous moment when we shall hear the summons, "All things are ready, leave your house of clay, your farm, your merchandise, and even her who lies in your bosom, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and you must be there; therefore, rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. The winter is over and past, the time of the singing of birds has come for you, all things are ready, come!" I feel tempted to linger here, but I must tear myself away from that point to pass on to the next.
III. THE PERFECT READINESS OF THE FEAST OF DIVINE MERCY, IS EVIDENTLY INTENDED TO BE A STRONG ARGUMENT WITH SINNERS WHY THEY SHOULD COME AT ONCE.
To the lost sinner, then, do I address myself.Soul, do you desire eternal life? Is there within your spirit a hungering and a thirsting after such things as may satisfy your spirit and make you live forever? Then hearken while the Master's servant gives you the invitation: "Come, for all things are ready"--all, not some, but all. There is nothing that you can need between here and Heaven, but what is provided in Jesus Christ, in his person and in his work. All things are ready:
life for your death,
forgiveness for your sin,
cleansing for your filth,
clothing for your nakedness,
joy for your sorrow,
strength for your weakness!
Yes, more than all that ever you can want, is stored up in the boundless nature and work of Christ. You must not say, "I cannot come because I have not this, or have not that." Are you to prepare the feast? Are you to provide anything? Are you to be the provider of even so much as the salt or the water? You know not your true condition, or you would not dream of such a thing. The great Householder himself has provided the whole of the feast, you have nothing to do with the provision, but to partake of it. If you lack, then come and take what you lack; the greater your need, then the greater reason why you should come where all things that your need can possibly want will be at once supplied. If you are so needy that you have nothing good at all about you, all things are ready. What would you provide more, when God has provided all things? It would be foolish if you were to think of adding to his "all things"; it would be but a presumptuous competing with the provisions of the great King, and this he will not endure. All that you lack--I can but repeat the words--between the gates of Hell, where you now lie, and the gates of Heaven, to which grace will bring you if you believe--all is provided and prepared in Jesus Christ the Savior.
And all things are ready, dwell on that word. The oxen and the fatlings were killed; what is more, they were prepared to be eaten, they were ready to be feasted on, they smoked on the table. It is something when the king gives orders for the slaughter of so many bullocks for the feast, but the feast is not ready then; and when beneath the axe the victims fall, and they are stripped and hung up ready for the fire, there is something done, but they are not ready. It is when the joints are served hot and steaming upon the table, and all that is needed is brought forth and laid in proper order for the banquet, it is then that all things are ready, and this is the case now; at this very moment you will find the feast to be in the best possible condition; it was never better and never can be better than it is now. All things are ready, just in the exact condition that you need them to be, just in such condition as shall be best for your soul's comfort and enjoyment. All things are ready; nothing needs to be further mellowed or sweetened; everything is at the best that eternal love can make it.
But notice the word, "now," "All things are now ready" just now, at this moment. At feasts, you know, the good housewife is often troubled if the guests come late. She would be sorry if they came half-an-hour too soon, but half-an-hour too late spoils everything, and in what a state of fret and worry she is if when all things are now ready, her friends still delay. Leave the food at the fire awhile, and it does not seem to be "now ready," but something more than ready, and even spoiled.
In the same way, does the great householder lay stress upon this: all things are now ready, therefore come at once. He says not that if you will tarry for another seven years all things will then be ready: God grant that long before that space of time you may have got beyond the needs of persuasion by having become a taster of the feast, but he does say that they are all ready now, just now. Just now that your heart is so heavy and your mind is so careless, that your spirit is so wandering--all things are ready now. Just now, though you have never thought of these things before, but dropped in this morning to see this large assembly with no motive whatever as to your own salvation--yet all things are ready now.
Though your sins are as the stars of Heaven, and your soul trembles under an awful foreboding of coming judgment--yet "all things are now ready." After all your rejections of Christ, after the many invitations that have been thrown away upon you; come to the supper.
And if they are ready now, the argument is come now, while still all things are ready. While the Spirit lingers and still does strive with men, while mercy's gates still stand wide open, that "whoever will may come," while life and health and reason still are spared to you, and the ministering voice that bids you come can still be heard, come now, come at once--all things are ready--come! Delay is as unreasonable as it is wicked, now that all things are ready.
Notice that all things were ready for those who were bidden. They did not come, but they were not mocked when they were bidden to come. The fact of all things being ready, proved that the invitation was a sincere one, although it was a rejected one. There are some who will not have us give an invitation to any but to those whom we believe are sure to come, nay, in a measure have come; that is to say, they make a minister to be a mere superfluity. Why need he come and invite those who have already begun to come? But we believe it to be our duty and our privilege to invite the whole mass of mankind; and even those who will not come: if we knew they would not come, then we would not therefore exempt them from the bidding, for the servant was sent to bid them to the wedding who nevertheless all with one consent began to make excuse. They were invited, and earnestly invited, and all things were ready, though they came not. O my dear hearers, if you do not come to Christ, then you will perish--but you will never be able to say you were not bidden, and that there was nothing ready for you. No, there stands the feast all spread, and you are sincerely and honestly bidden to come. May God grant that you may come, and come at once.
IV.
Now I am going to pass on to my fourth and last point, which may God bless to the comfort of some seeking soul. THIS TEXT DISPOSES OF A GREAT DEAL OF TALK ABOUT THE SINNER'S READINESS OR UNREADINESS; because if the reason why a sinner is to come is because all things are ready, then it is idle for him to say "But I am not ready." It is clear that all the readiness required on man's part, is a willingness to come and receive the blessing which God had provided. There is nothing else necessary; if men are willing to come, then they may come, they will come. Where the Lord has been pleased to touch the will so that man has a desire towards Christ, where the heart really hungers and thirsts after righteousness, then that is all the readiness which is wanted. All the fitness he requires, is that first you feel your need of him! (and that he gives you), and that secondly in feeling your need of him you are willing to come to him. Willingness to come is everything. A readiness to believe in Jesus, a willingness to cast the soul on him, a preparedness to accept him just as he is, because you feel that he is just the Savior that you need--that is all; there was no other readiness, there could have been none, in the case of those who were poor and blind, and halt, and maimed--yet came to the feast.The text does not say, "You are ready, therefore come," that is a legal way of putting the gospel; but it says, "All things are ready, the gospel is ready, therefore you are to come." As for your readiness, all the readiness that is possibly needed, is a readiness which the Spirit gives us, namely, willingness to come to Jesus.
Now notice that the unreadiness of those who were bidden, arose out of their possessions and out of their abilities. One would not come, because he had bought a piece of land. What a great heap Satan casts up between the soul and the Savior! What with worldly possessions and good deeds, he builds an earthwork of huge dimensions between the sinner and his Lord. Some gentlemen have too many acres ever to come to Christ: they think too much of the world, to think much of him. Many have too many fields of good works in which there are growing crops in which they pride themselves, and these cause them to feel that they are people of great importance. Many a man cannot come to Christ for all things, because he has so much already.
Others of them could not come, because they had so much to do, and could do it well--one had bought five yoke of oxen, he was going to prove them; a strong man quite able for ploughing; the reason why he did not come, was because he had so much ability. Thousands are kept away from grace, by what they have and by what they can do. Emptiness is more preparatory to a feast than fullness. How often does it happen that poverty and inability, even help to lead the soul to Christ. When a man thinks himself to be rich he will not come to the Savior. When a man dreams that he is able at any time to repent and believe, and to do everything for himself that is needed, he is not likely to come and by a simple faith repose in Christ. It is not what you have not, but what you have, that keeps many of you from Christ.
Sinful self is a devil, but righteous self is seven devils. The man who feels himself guilty, may for awhile be kept away by his guilt, but the man who is self-righteous will never come; until the Lord has taken his pride away from him, he will still refuse the feast of free grace. The possession of abilities and honors and riches keep men from coming to the Redeemer.
But on the other hand, personal condition does not constitute an unfitness for coming to Christ, for the sad condition of those who became guests did not debar them from the supper.
Some were poor, and doubtless wretched and ragged; they had not a penny; their garments were tattered; and perhaps worse, they were filthy, they were not fit to be near respectable people, they would certainly be no credit to my lord's table; but those who went to bring them in did not search their pockets, nor look at their coats, but they fetched them in. They were poor, but the messengers were told to bring in the poor, and therefore brought them. Their poverty did not prevent their being ready; and oh, poor soul, if you are poor literally, or poor spiritually, then neither sort of poverty can constitute an unfitness for divine mercy. "The poorer the wretch, the more welcome here."
If you are brought to your last penny, yes, if that is spent, and if you have pawned all, and you are left in debt over head and ears, and think that there is nothing for you but to be laid by the heels in prison forever, then nevertheless you may come, poverty and all.
Another class of them were maimed, and so were not very lovely in appearance: an arm had been lopped off, or an eye had been gouged out. One had lost a nose, and another a leg. They were in all stages and shapes of dismemberment. Sometimes we turn our heads away, and feel that we would rather give anything than look upon beggars who show their wounds, and describe how they were maimed. But it did not matter how badly they were disfigured; they were brought in, and not one of them was repulsed because of the ugly disfigurements which he had received.
So, poor soul, however Satan may have torn and lopped you, and into whatever condition he may have brought you, so that you feel ashamed to live, nevertheless this is no unfitness for coming; just as you are, you may come to his table of grace. Moral disfigurements are soon rectified when Jesus takes the character in hand. Come to him, however sadly you are injured by sin.
There were others who were halt, that is to say, they had lost a leg, or it was of no use to them, and they could not come unless they had a crutch and crawled or hopped upon it; but nevertheless that was no reason why they were not welcome. Ah, if you find it difficult to believe, it is no reason why you should not come and receive the grand absolution which Jesus Christ is ready to bestow upon you. Lame with doubting and distrusting, nevertheless come to the supper and say, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief."
Others were blind people, and when they were told to come they could not see the way, but in that case the messenger was not told to tell them to come, he was commanded to bring them, and a blind man can come if he is brought. All that was needed was willingness to be led by the hand in the right direction. Now you that cannot fully understand the gospel as you desire to do, that are puzzled and muddled, give your hand into the hand of Jesus, and be willing to be led, be willing to believe what you cannot comprehend, and to grasp in confidence that which you are not able yet to measure with your understanding. The blind, however ignorant or uninstructed they are--shall not be kept away because of that.
Then there were the men in the highways, I suppose they were beggars; and the men in the hedges, I suppose they were hiding, and were probably thieves; but nevertheless they were told to come, and though they were highwaymen and hedge-birds, even that did not prevent their coming and finding welcome. Though outcasts, off-casts, spiritual gypsies, people that nobody cared for--yet, whatever they might be, that was not the question, they were to come because all things were ready: come in rags, come in filth, come maimed, come covered with sores, come in all sorts of filthiness and abomination--yet because all things are ready, they were to be brought or to be compelled to come in.
Now, lastly, I think it was the very thing, which in any one of these people looked like unfitness, which was a help to them. It is a great truth that what we regard as unfitness, is often our truest fitness. I want you to notice these poor, blind, and halt people. Some of those who were invited would not come because they had bought some land, or five yoke of oxen--but when the messenger went up to the poor man in rags and said, "Come to the supper," it is quite clear he would not say he had bought a field, or oxen, for he could not do it, he had not a penny to do the thing with, so that he was clean delivered from that temptation.
And when a man is invited to come to Christ and he says, "I do not want him, I have a righteousness of my own"--he will stay away; but when the Lord Jesus came along to me, I never was tempted in that way, because I had no righteousness of my own, and could not have made one if I had tried. I know some here who could not patch up a garment of righteousness, if they were to put all their rags together, and this is a great help to their receiving the Lord Jesus. What a blessedness it is, to have such a sense of soul poverty that you will never stay away from Christ because of what you possess.
Then, next, some could not come, because they had married a wife. Now, I think it is very likely that these people who were maimed were so injured that they had no wife, and perhaps could not get anybody to have them. Well then, they had not that temptation, to stay away. They were too maimed to attract the eye of anybody who was looking for beauty, and therefore they were not tempted that way. But they found at the ever-blessed supper of the Lamb, an everlasting wedlock, which was infinitely better.
Thus do souls lose earthly joys and comforts, and by the loss they gain supremely: they are thus made willing to close in with Christ and find a higher comfort and a higher joy. That maiming which looked like unfitness, turned out to be fitness.
One excuse made was, "I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them." The halt could not do that. When the messenger touched the lame man on the shoulder and said "Come," he could not say, "I am going out tonight to plough with my new oxen." He had never been over the clods ever since he had lost his leg, poor soul, so that he could not make such an excuse. The blind man could not say, "I have bought a piece of land and I must go to see it;" he was free from all the lusts of the eye, and so far was all the more ready to be led to the supper. When a soul feels its own sinfulness, and wretchedness, and lost estate, then it thinks itself unfit to come to Christ, but this is an assistance to it, since it prevents its looking to anything else but Christ, kills its excuses, and makes it free to accept salvation by grace.
But how about the men who were in the highway? Well, it seems to me that they were already on the road, and at least out of their houses, if they had any. If they were out there begging, then they were the more ready to accept an invitation to a meal, for it was that they were singing for. A man who is out of the house of his own self-righteousness, though he be a great sinner, is in a more favorable position and more likely to come to Christ than he who prides himself in his supposed self-righteousness.
As for those who were under the hedges, well, they had no house of their own, and so they were all the more likely to come and fill God's house. Men do not take to hedges to sleep under them, as long as they have even a hovel where they may rest their head, but oh, poor soul, when you are driven to such distress that you would gladly hide under any hedge, when you have nothing left, but a fearful looking for of judgment, when you think yourself to be an outlaw and an outcast before God, left to wander like Cain, a waif and stray, lost to all good, then you are the very man to come to Christ. Come out of your hedges, then. I am looking for you. Though you hide yourselves away, yet God's own Spirit will discover you, and bring you, I trust this very morning, to feed on love divine.
Trust Jesus Christ, that is all, just as you are, with all your unfitness and unreadiness. Take what God has made ready for you, the precious blood to cleanse you, a robe of righteousness to cover you, eternal joy to be your portion. Receive the grace of God in Christ Jesus--oh receive it now. May God grant that you may, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.
Portion of scripture read before sermon--Luke 14:12–35.
August 25, 2025. Very good.
Our Lord's Question to the Blind Men
A Sermon Delivered on Lord's-day Evening, May 13th, 1877, by Charles Spurgeon
[On this occasion, the members of the regular Congregation left their seats to strangers.]
Matthew 9:27-30 (KJV) And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.
Matthew 9:27-30 (ESV) And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, "See that no one knows about it."
In our own streets we meet here and there with a blind beggar, but they swarm in Eastern cities. Ophthalmia is the scourge of Egypt and Syria, and Volney declares that in Cairo, out of a hundred people whom he met, twenty were quite blind, ten lacked one eye, and twenty others were more or less afflicted in that organ. At the present day every one is struck with the immense number of the blind in oriental lands, and things were probably worse in our Savior's times.
We ought to be very grateful that leprosy, ophthalmia, and certain other forms of disease have been wonderfully held in check among us in modern times, so that the plague which devastated our city two hundred years ago, is now unknown, and our hospitals are no longer crowded with lepers.
Blindness is now often prevented, and frequently cured; and it is not by any means an evil of such frequent occurrence as to constitute a leading source of the poverty of the country.
Because there were so many blind folk in our Savior's day, and so many gathered around him, we very commonly read of his healing the blind. Mercy met misery on its own ground. Where human sorrow was most conspicuous, there divine power was most compassionate.
Now, in these days it is a very usual thing for men to be blind spiritually, and therefore I have great hope that our Lord Jesus will act after his former manner, and display his power amid the abounding evil. I trust there are some here at this hour who are longing to obtain spiritual sight, longing especially, like the two blind men in our text--to see Jesus, whom to see is everlasting life.
We have come tonight to speak to those who feel their spiritual blindness and are pining for the light of God--the light of pardon, the light of love and peace, the light of holiness and purity. Our eager desire is that the pall of darkness may be lifted, that the divine ray may find a passage into the soul's inner gloom, and cause the night of nature to pass away forever. O that the moment of day-dawn may be just at hand to many of you who are "inly blind." Immediate illumination is the blessing I implore for you. I know that truth may abide in the memory for years, and at last produce fruit; but at this time our prayer is for immediate results, for such alone will be in accordance with the nature of the light whereof we speak.
At the first, Jehovah did but say, "Let there be light," and there was light; and when Jehovah Jesus sojourned here below he did but touch the eyes of the blind, and immediately they received sight. O for the like speedy work at this hour! Men who were led by the hand to Jesus, or groped their way along the wall to the place where his voice proclaimed his presence, were touched by his finger and went home without a guide, rejoicing that Jesus Christ had opened their eyes.
Jesus still performs such spiritual marvels; and, depending upon the Holy Spirit, we will preach His Word and watch for the signs following, expecting to see them at once. Why should hundreds of you who came into this Tabernacle in nature's blackness, not go forth from it blessed with the light of Heaven? This, at any rate, is our heart's inmost and uppermost desire, and at this we aim with concentrated faculties. Come with us, then, to the text, and be at once friendly enough to yourselves to be willing to be affected by the truths which it will bring before you.
I. First, in explaining the passage before us, we must call your attention to THE SEEKERS themselves--the two blind men.
There is something about them worthy of imitation by all who would be saved.We notice at once that the two blind men were in downright earnest. The word which describes their appeal to Christ is, "crying," and by this is not meant mere speaking, for they are represented as "crying and saying."
Now, crying implies earnest, energetic, pathetic imploring, pleading, and beseeching. Their tones and gestures indicated that theirs was a deep, passionate craving. Imagine yourselves in such a case. How eager you would be for the blessed light, if for years you had been compelled to abide in what Milton called "the ever-enduring dark." They were hungering and thirsting after sight. In the same way, we cannot hope for salvation until we seek it with equal vigor, and yet how few are in earnest about being saved.
How earnest most men are about their money, their health, their pleasures, or their children! How devout they are upon politics and church business; but the moment you touch them upon matters of true piety, then they are as cool as the Arctic snows.
O sirs, how can this be? Do you expect to be saved, while you are half asleep? Do you expect to find pardon and grace, while you continue in listless indifference? If so, then you are woefully mistaken! Death and eternity, judgment and Hell are not toys to play with! The soul's eternal destiny is no small matter, and salvation by the precious blood of Christ is no trifle. Men are not saved from going down into the bottomless pit, by a careless nod or a wink. A mumbled and insincere, "Lord, have mercy upon me," will not suffice.
These blind men would have remained blind, had they not been in earnest to have their eyes opened. In the same way, many continue in their sins, simply because they are not in earnest to escape from them. These men were fully awake. Dear hearer, are you? Can you join with me in these two verses?
"Jesus, who now are passing by,
Our Prophet, Priest, and King you art:
Hear a poor unbeliever's cry,
And heal the blindness of my heart:
"Urging my passionate request,
Your pardoning mercy I implore,
Whoever rebuke, I will not rest,
Until you my spirit's sight restore."
The blind men were thoroughly persevering in consequence of being in earnest, for they "followed" Christ, and so continued to urge their suit. How did they manage to follow the movements of the Lord? We do not know: it must have been very difficult, for they were blind, but they no doubt asked others the way which the Master had taken, and they kept their ears open to every sound. Perhaps they said, "Where is he? Where is Jesus? Lead us, guide us. We must find him." We do not know how far our Lord had gone, but we know this, that as far as he had gone they followed. They were so bravely persevering that having reached the house where he was, they did not stay outside waiting until he came out again, but they pressed into the room where he sat. They were insatiable for sight. Their earnest cries took him off from his preaching, he paused and listened while they said, "Son of David, have mercy on us." Thus does perseverance prevail: no man shall be lost who knows the art of importunate prayer. If you will resolve never to leave the gate of mercy, until the porter opens to you, then he will assuredly unbar the door. If you do grasp the covenant angel with this resolve, "I will not let you go except you bless me," you shall come forth from the place of wrestling more than a conqueror. A mouth open in never-ceasing prayer, shall bring about eyes open in full vision of faith. Pray, therefore, in the darkness, even if there is no hope of light; for when God, who is light itself, moves a poor sinner to plead and cry out before him with the solemn intent to continue so to do until the blessing comes, he has no thought of mocking that poor crying heart. Perseverance in prayer is a sure sign that the day of the opening of the eyes is near.
The blind men had a definite object in their prayers. They knew what they wanted, they were not like children crying for nothing, or greedy misers crying for everything; they wanted their sight, and they knew it. Too many blind souls are unaware of their blindness, and therefore when they pray they ask for anything except the one thing needful. Many so-called prayers consist in saying very nice words--very pretty, pious sentences, but they are not prayer.
True prayer is communion with God, and to people seeking salvation it is asking for what you want and expecting to receive it through the name of Jesus, whose name you plead with God. But what sort of prayer is that in which there is no sense of need, no direct asking, no intelligent pleading?
Dear hearer, have you in distinct terms, asked the Lord to save you? Have you expressed your need of a new heart, your need of being washed in the blood of Christ, your need of being made God's child, and adopted into his family? There is no praying, until a man knows what he is praying for, and sets himself to pray for it, as if he cared for nothing else. If being already earnest and importunate, he is also instructed and full of definite desires, then he is sure to succeed in his pleading. With a strong arm he draws the bow of desire, and fits upon the string the sharp arrow of passionate longing, and then with the instructed eye of perception he takes deliberate aim, and therefore we may expect that he will hit the very center of the target. Pray for light, life, forgiveness, salvation, and pray for these with all your soul, and as surely as Christ is in Heaven he will give these good gifts to you. Whom did he ever refuse?
These blind men in their prayers honored Christ, for they said, "Son of David have mercy on us." The great ones of the land were loath to recognize our Lord as being of the seed royal, but these blind men proclaimed the Son of David right lustily. They were blind, but they could see a great deal more than some with sharp eyes; for they could see that the Nazarene was the Messiah, sent by God. They gathered from this belief that, as the Messiah was to open blind eyes, Jesus, being the Messiah, could open their blind eyes; and so they appealed to him to perform the tokens of his office, thus honoring him by a real, practical faith. This is the manner of prayer which will always speed with Heaven, the prayer which crowns the Son of David. Pray, glorifying Christ Jesus in your prayers, making much of him, pleading much the merit of his life and death, giving him glorious titles because your soul has a high reverence and a vast esteem of him. Jesus-adoring prayers have in them the force and swiftness of eagles' wings, they must ascend to God, for the elements of heavenly power are abundant in them. Prayer which makes little of Christ, is prayer which God will make little of; but the prayer in which the soul glorifies the Redeemer, rises like a perfumed pillar of incense from the Most Holy place, and the Lord himself smells a sweet savor.
Observe, also, that these two blind men in their prayer confessed their unworthiness. "Son of David, have mercy on us." Their sole appeal was to mercy. There was no talk about merit, no pleading of their past sufferings, or their persevering endeavors, or their resolves for the future; but, "Have mercy on us." He will never win a blessing from God, who demands it as if he had a right to it. We must plead with God as a condemned criminal appeals to his sovereign, asking for the exercise of the royal prerogative of free pardon. As a beggar asks for alms in the street, by pleading his need of it and requesting a gift for charity's sake, so must we apply to the Most High, appealing by our misery, and his mercy--and directing our supplication to the loving-kindness and tender mercy of the Lord. We must plead after this fashion, "O God, if you destroy me, then I deserve it. If never a comfortable look should come from your face to me, I cannot complain. But save a sinner, Lord, for mercy's sake. I have no claim upon you whatever, but oh, because you are full of grace, look on a poor blind soul that gladly would look on you."
My brethren, I cannot put fine words together. I have never occupied myself in the school of oratory. In fact, my heart abhors the very idea of seeking to speak finely, when souls are in peril. No, I labor to speak straight home to your hearts and consciences, and if there is in this throng, any who are listening in the right manner, God will bless the word to them. "And what kind of listening is that?" you say. Why, that in which the man says, "As far as I perceive that the preacher delivers God's Word, then I will follow him, and I will do what he describes the seeking sinner as doing. I will pray and plead tonight and I will persevere in my entreaties, laboring to glorify the name of Jesus, and at the same time confessing my own unworthiness. Thus, even thus, will I beg mercy at the hands of the Son of David." Happy is the preacher if he knows that such will be the case.
II. Now, we will pause a minute and note, secondly, THE QUESTION WHICH WAS PUT TO THEM.
They sought to have their eyes opened. They both stood before the Lord whom they could not see, but who could see them and could reveal himself to them by their hearing. He began to question them, not that he might know them, but that they might know themselves. He asked only one question: "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" That question touched the only thing which stood between them and sight. On their answer depended whether they should go out of that room, seeing or blind. "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"Now, I believe that between every seeking sinner and Christ there is only this one question, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" and if any man can truly answer as the men in the narrative did, "Yes Lord!" then he will assuredly receive the reply, "According to your faith be it unto you."
Let us look, then, at this very weighty question with very serious attention. It concerned their faith. "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" He did not ask them what kind of characters they had been in the past, because when men come to Christ the past is forgiven. He did not ask them whether they had tried various means of getting their eyes opened, because whether they had or had not they were still blind. He did not ask them even whether they thought there might be a mysterious physician who would effect a cure in a future state.
No! Curious questions and idle speculations are never suggested by the Lord Jesus. His inquiries were all resolved into a trial upon one point, and that one point, faith. Did they believe that he, the Son of David, could heal them? Why does our Lord everywhere, not only in his ministry, but in the teaching of the apostles, always lay such stress upon faith? Why is faith so essential? It is because of its receptive power. A purse will not make a man rich, and yet without some place for his money, then how could a man acquire wealth? Faith of itself could not contribute a penny to salvation, but it is the purse which holds a precious Christ within itself; yes, it holds all the treasures of divine love. If a man is thirsty, then a rope and a bucket are not in themselves of much use to him, but yet, sirs, if there is a well near at hand, then the very thing that is needed is a bucket and a rope, by means of which the water can be lifted. Faith is the bucket by means of which a man may draw water out of the wells of salvation, and drink to his heart's content.
You may sometimes have stopped a moment at a street fountain, and have desired to drink, but you found you could not, for the drinking-cup was gone. The water flowed, but you could not get at it. It was tantalizing to be at the fountain-head, and yet to be thirsty still for want of a little cup. Now faith is that little cup, which we hold up to the flowing stream of Christ's grace: we fill it, and then we drink and are refreshed. Hence the importance of faith.
It would have seemed to our forefathers a foolish thing to lay down a cable under the sea from England to America, yet the cable itself is now of the utmost importance, for the best inventions of telegraphy would be of no use for purposes of transatlantic communication, if there were not the connecting wire between the two continents. Faith is just that; it is the connecting link between our souls and God, and the living message flashes along it to our souls. Faith is sometimes weak, and comparable only to a very slender thread; but it is a very precious thing for all that, for it is the beginning of great things.
Years ago they were wanting to build a suspension bridge across a mighty chasm, through which flowed, far down, a navigable river. From crag to crag it was proposed to hang an iron bridge aloft in the air, but how was it to be commenced? They shot an arrow from one side to the other, and it carried across the gulf a tiny thread. That invisible thread was enough to begin with. The connection was established; by-and-by the thread drew a piece of twine, the twine carried after it a small rope, the rope soon carried a cable across, and all in good time came the iron chains and all else that was needed for the permanent way!
Now, faith is often very weak, but even in that case it is still of the utmost value, for it forms a communication between the soul and the Lord Jesus Christ. If you believe in him, then there is a link between him and you; your sinfulness rests on his grace, your weakness hangs on his strength, your nothingness hides itself in his all-sufficiency. But if you believe not, you are apart from Jesus, and no blessing can flow to you. So the question that I have to address in my Master's name tonight to every seeking sinner, has to do with his faith and nothing else. It does not matter to me whether you are a hundred thousand pounds man or whether you earn a few shillings a week, whether you are a peer or a pauper, whether you are royal or rustic, learned or ignorant. We have the same gospel to deliver to every man, woman, and child, and we have to lay the stress upon the same point, "Do you believe?" If you believe, then you shall be saved, but if you believe not you can not partake of the blessings of grace.
Notice, next, that the question concerned their faith in Jesus. "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" If we were to ask the awakened sinner, "Do you believe that you can save yourself?" his answer would be, "No, that I do not--I know better. My self-sufficiency is dead." If we were then to put the question to him, "Do you believe that ordinances and means of grace and sacraments can save you?" if he is an intelligent, awakened penitent, he will reply, "I know better. I have tried them, but in and of themselves they are utter vanity." Truly it is so, there remains in us and around us, nothing upon which hope can build, even for an hour. But the inquiry passes beyond self, and casts us upon Jesus alone, by bidding us hear the Lord himself say, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"
Now, beloved, we are not talking concerning a merely historical person when we speak about the Lord Jesus Christ; we speak of one who is above all others. He is the Son of the Highest, and yet he came to this earth and was born a babe at Bethlehem. He slept upon a woman's bosom, and grew up as other children do. He became a man in fullness of stature and wisdom, living here for thirty years or more, doing good. At the last, this glorious God in human flesh "died the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God," standing in the room and place and stead of guilty man, that he might bear man's punishment--that God might be just, and yet the justifier of him who believes. He died and was buried, but only for a short time could the grave contain him; early in the morning of the third day, he rose and left the dead, no more to die. He tarried here sufficiently long, for many to see him alive and really in the body. No event in history is so well authenticated as the resurrection of Christ, he was seen by individuals alone, and by twos and twenties, and by over five hundred brethren at once. After having lived here a little while he ascended up into Heaven in the presence of his disciples, a cloud receiving him out of their sight. At this moment he is sitting at the right hand of God in human flesh: that self-same man who died upon the tree is now enthroned in the highest heavens as Lord of all, and every angel delights to do him homage.
The one question which he asks of you tonight, through these poor lips is this, "Do you believe that I am able to save you--that I, the Christ of God now dwelling in Heaven, am able to save you?" Everything depends upon your answer to that question. I know what your answer ought to be. Surely, if he is God, then nothing is impossible or even difficult to him. If he has laid down his life to make atonement, and God has accepted that atonement, by permitting him to rise from the dead, then there must be efficacy in his blood to cleanse me, even me. The answer ought to be, "Yes, Lord Jesus! I believe that you are able to do this."
But now I want to lay stress on another word of my text, and I want you to lay stress on it too. "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"
Now, it would have been of no use for these blind men to say, "We believe that you can raise the dead." "No," says Christ, "the matter in hand is the opening of your eyes. Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They might have replied, "Good Master, we believe that you did staunch the woman's issue of blood when she touched your garment." "No," says he, "that is not the question. Your eyes have now to be attended to. You need sight, and the question about your faith is, believe you that I am able to do this?"
Ah, some of you can believe for other people, but we must bring the question more fully home to you and say, "Do you believe that Christ is able to save you--even you? Is he able to do this?" Possibly I address someone who has gone very far in sin. It may be, my friend, that you have crowded a great deal of iniquity into a short space. You went in for a short life and a merry one, and according to your present prospects, you are likely enough to have a short life, but the merriment is pretty nearly over with you already; and as you look back upon your life, you reflect that never did a young man or a young woman throw life away more foolishly than you have done. Now then, do you desire to be saved? Can you say from your heart that you do? Answer me, then, this further question: Do you believe that Jesus Christ is able to do this, namely, to blot out all your sins, to renew your heart, and to save you tonight? "Oh, sir, I do believe he is able to forgive sin." Do you believe that he is able to forgive your sin? You yourself are the case in hand; how holds your faith on that point? Let the cases of others alone just now, and consider yourself. Do you believe that he is able to do this? This--this sin of yours, this misspent life, is Jesus able to cope with this? On your answer to that question, everything depends. It is an idle faith which dreams of believing in the Lord's power over others, but then declares that it has no confidence in him for itself. You must believe that he is able to do this--this which concerns you, or you are for all practical purposes an unbeliever.
I know I am speaking to a great many people who never did go into the vices of the world. I thank God on your behalf that you have been kept in the ways of morality and sobriety and honesty; yet I have known some of you almost wish, or at least it has occurred to you that you might almost wish--that you had been great, open sinners, that you might be preached to as open sinners are, and that you might see a change in yourself equal to what you have seen in some of them, about whose conversion you can never doubt. Do not indulge so unwise a wish, but listen while I put this question to you also. Your case is that of a moralist who has obeyed every outward duty, but has neglected God--the case of a moralist who feels as if repentance were to him impossible, because he has been so long eaten up with self-righteousness that he knows not how to cut out the gangrene. The Lord Jesus Christ can as easily save you from your self-righteousness, as he can save another from his guilty habits. Do you believe that he is able to do this? Come now, do you believe that he is able to meet this, your own peculiar case? Give me a "yes" or "no" to this question.
"Alas," cries one of you, "my heart is so hard." Do you believe that he can soften it? Suppose it to be as hard as granite: do you now believe that the Lord Jesus can turn it into wax in a moment? Suppose your heart to be as fickle as the wind and waves of the sea: can you believe that he can make you stable-minded and settle you upon the Rock of Ages forever? If you believe in him, then he will do this for you, for according to your faith shall it be unto you. But I know the pinch lies here. Everybody tries to run away to the thought that he does believe in Christ's power for others, but he trembles for himself; but I must hold each man to the point which concerns himself, I must button-hole you and bring you to the real test. Jesus asks each one of you, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"
"Why," says one, "it would be the most surprising thing that even the Lord Jesus ever did, if he were to save me tonight." Do you believe that he can do it? Will you trust him to do it now? "But it will be such a strange thing, such a miracle!" The Lord Jesus works strange things: it is his way. He was ever a miracle-worker. Can you believe him able to do this for you, even this, which is now needed to save you?
It is wonderful which the power which faith has--power over the Lord Jesus himself. I have often experienced in my little way how confidence will master you. Have you not frequently been conquered by the trustfulness of a tiny child? The simple request was too full of trust to be refused. Have you ever been grasped by a blind man at a street crossing, who has said to you, "Sir, would you take me across the road?" And then, perhaps, he has said somewhat cunningly, "I know by the tone of your voice that you are kind. I feel I could trust myself with you." At such a time you have felt that you could not let him go.
And when a soul says to Jesus, "I know you can save me, my Lord: I know you can, therefore in you do I trust," why he cannot shake you off, he cannot wish to do so, for he has said, "Him that comes to me I will never cast out." I sometimes tell a story to illustrate this; it is a simple tale enough, but it shows how faith wins everywhere.
Many years ago my garden happened to be surrounded by a hedge, which looked green, but was a poor protection. A neighbor's dog was very fond of visiting my garden, and as he never improved my flowers, I never gave him a cordial welcome. Walking along quietly one evening I saw him doing mischief. I threw a stick at him and advised him to go home; but how did the good creature reply to me? He turned around and wagged his tail, and in the merriest manner picked up my stick, and brought it to me, and laid it at my feet. Did I strike him? No, I am not a monster. I should have been ashamed of myself if I had not patted him on the back and told him to come there whenever he liked. He and I were friends directly, because he trusted me and conquered me.
Now, as simple as the story is, that is just the philosophy of a sinner's faith in Christ. As the dog mastered the man by confiding in him, so a poor guilty sinner does, in effect, master the Lord himself by trusting him, when he says, "Lord, I am a poor dog of a sinner, and you might drive me away, but I believe you to be too good for that. I believe you can save me, and lo! I trust myself with you. Whether I am lost or saved, I trust myself with you." Ah, dear heart, you will never be lost, if you thus trust. He who trusts himself with Jesus, has given the answer to the question, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" and there is nothing now left but for him to go his way and rejoice, for the Lord has opened his eyes and saved him.
III. Now, thirdly, THAT QUESTION WAS A VERY REASONABLE ONE.
"Do you believe that I am able to do this?" Just a minute, let me show that it was a very reasonable question for Christ to put, and equally reasonable for me to urge home upon many here present. Our Lord Jesus might have said, "If you do not believe that I am able to do this, then why did you follow me? Why did you follow me more than anybody else? You have been after me down the streets, and you have come into this house after me. Why have you done this, if you do not believe that I am able to open your eyes?"So a large proportion of you who are here tonight attend a place of worship: you like to be there; but why, if you do not believe Jesus? What do you go there for? Do you go to seek a Savior who cannot save you? Do you foolishly seek after one in whom you cannot trust? I have never heard of such madness as for a sick man to run after a doctor in whom he has no confidence. And do you come here tonight and attend your places of worship at other times without having any faith in Jesus? Then why do you come? What inconsistent people you must be?
Again: these blind men had been praying to Jesus to open their eyes, but why did they pray? If they did not believe that Jesus could heal them their prayers were a mockery. Would you ask a man to do a thing which you knew he could not do? Must not prayer always be measured by the quantity of faith that we put into it?
Now, I know that some of you have been in the habit of prayer ever since you were little children; you scarcely ever go to bed at nights without repeating the form of prayer that your mother taught you. What do you do that for if you do not believe that Jesus Christ can save you? Why ask him to do, what you do not believe he can do? What strange inconsistency--to pray without faith!
Moreover, these two blind men had called Jesus Christ the "Son of David." Why had they thus confessed his Messiahship? The most of you do the same. I suppose that out of this congregation, there are very few who doubt the deity of Christ. You believe in the Word of God: you do not doubt that it is inspired; you believe that Jesus Christ has lived and died and gone into his glory. Well, then, if you do not believe that he is able to save you, then what do you mean by saying that he is God? God, and yet not able? A dying, bleeding, sin-atoning, sacrifice--and yet not able to save? Oh, man, your nominal creed is not your true one. If you were to write your true creed out it would run something like this, "I do not believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, or that he has made a full atonement for sin, for I do not believe that he is able to save me."
Well, then, I charge you by your frequent hearings of the Word, by your habitual prayers, and by your profession of being believers in that grand old Bible, answer me: How is it that you do not believe in Jesus? Sirs, he must be able to save you. Do you know it is some seven-and-twenty years or more since I put my trust in him, and I must speak of him as I find. In every hour of darkness, in every season of despondency, in every time of trial--I have found him faithful and true; and, as to trusting him with my soul, if I had a thousand souls, then I would trust them with him; and if I had as many souls as there are sands upon the sea-shore, then I would not ask for a second Savior, but would just put them all into that dear hand which was pierced with the nail, that he might grasp us and hold us fast forever. He is worthy of your trust, and your trust is all he asks of you: knowing that he is able--and you cannot doubt that he is willing, seeing that he has died--he asks you to act upon your belief that he is able to save you, and trust yourself to him.
IV. Now, I must not detain you much longer, and therefore I want to notice THE ANSWER which these blind men gave to his question.
They said to him, "Yes, Lord!" Well, now, I have been pressing that question upon you, and I again repeat it. Do you believe that Christ is able to save you, that he is able to do this, to touch your case in all its specifics? Now for your answer. How many will say "Yes, Lord!" I am half inclined to ask you to say it aloud; but I will rather beg you to say it in your secret souls, "Yes, Lord!" And now may God the Holy Spirit help you to say it very distinctly, without any holding back and mental reservation, "Yes, Lord! Blind eye, dumb tongue, cold heart--I believe that you are able to change them all, and I rest myself on you, to be renewed by your divine grace." Say it and mean it. Say it decidedly and distinctly, with your whole heart, "Yes, Lord!"Notice that the two men replied immediately. The question was no sooner out of Christ's mouth than they gave the answer, "Yes, Lord!" There is nothing like being prompt in your answers; for, when you ask a man a question and you say, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" and he stops, rubs his forehead, strokes his head, and at last says, "Y--yes," does not such a "yes" sound uncommonly like "no"? The best "yes" in the world is the "yes" which leaps forth directly. "Yes, Lord! As bad as I am, I believe you can save me, for I know your precious blood can take away every stain. Though I am an old sinner, though I am an aggravated sinner, though I am one who has gone back from a profession of religion, and have played the backslider's part, though I seem to be an outcast from society, though I do not at this time feel as I could wish to feel, and am the very reverse of what I ought to be--yet I do believe that if Christ has died for sinners, that if the eternal Son of God has gone into Heaven to plead for sinners, then he must be 'able to save to the uttermost those who come unto God by him,' and I come to God tonight by him, and I do believe that he is able to save even me." That is the kind of answer which I long to get from you all. May the Spirit of God produce it!
V. Then see OUR LORD'S RESPONSE to their answer.
He said, "According to your faith, be it unto you." As much as if he had said--If you believe in me, then there is light for your blind eyes. So true the faith, so true the sight. If you believe decidedly and fully, then you shall not have one eye opened, or both eyes half opened, but all your sight shall be given to you. Decided faith shall clear away every speck, and make your vision strong and clear. If your answer is quick, so shall my answer be. You shall see in a moment, for you at once believed.The Lord's power just kept touch with their faith. If their faith was true, then his cure was true. If their faith was complete, then his cure was complete; and if their faith said "yes" directly, then he gives them sight directly. If you are a long while in saying "yes", then you will be a long while in getting peace. But if you say tonight, "I will venture it, for I see it is so; Jesus must be able to save me; I will give myself up to him." If you do that at once, then you shall have instantaneous peace--yes, in that very seat, young man, you who are burdened tonight shall find rest. You shall wonder where the burden has gone, and look round and find that it has vanished, because you have looked to the Crucified One, and trusted all your sins with him. Your sinful habits, which you have been trying in vain to conquer, which have forged fresh chains to hold you fast--you shall find them fall from off you, like spiders' webs. If you can but trust Jesus to break them, and give yourself up to him to be renewed by him, it shall be done and done tonight; and Heaven's eternal arches shall ring with shouts of sovereign grace.
Thus I have put the whole matter before you. My only hope is that God the blessed Spirit will lead you to seek as the blind men sought, and especially to trust as they trusted.
This last word. There are some people who are specially diligent in finding out reasons why they should not be saved. I have battled with some such by the half-hour together, and they always finish up with, "Yes, that is true, sir, but, " And then we try and chop that "but" to pieces. And after a while they find another, and say, "Yes, I now see that point, but, " So they buttress their unbelief with "buts." If anybody here should be wishful to give you a thousand pounds, can you tell me any reason why he should not? Well, I imagine that if he were to come to you and present you with a bank note for that amount you would not worry yourself to discover objections. You would not keep on saying, "I would like the money, but, " No, if there were any reason why you should not have it, you would let other people find it out. You would not labor and cudgel your brains to try and find out arguments against yourself; you are not so much your own enemy.
And yet with regard to eternal life, which is infinitely more precious than all the treasures of this world, men act most absurdly and say, "I earnestly desire it, and Christ is able to do it, but, " What folly is this to argue against yourself. If a man were in Newgate prison and condemned to die, and had to stand upon the gallows tomorrow morning, and the sheriff came and said, "There is a free pardon for you," do you think that man would begin to object? Would he cry, "I would like another half-hour to consider my case, and find out reasons why I should not be pardoned"? No, he would jump at it. Oh that you may also jump at the pardon tonight. May the Lord grant that you may feel such a sense of danger and guilt, that you may promptly cry, "I do believe; I will believe in Jesus!"
Lost sinners are not half as sensible as sparrows. David said in one of the Psalms, "I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop." Well, have you noticed the sparrow? He keeps his eyes open, and the moment he sees a grain of wheat or anything to eat down in the street, he flies to get it. I never knew him wait for someone to invite him, much less to beg and beseech him to come and feed. He sees the food, and he says to himself, "Here is a hungry sparrow, and there is a piece of bread. Those two things go well together, they shall not be long apart." Down he flies, and eats up all he can find, as fast as he finds it. Oh, if you had half the sense of the sparrow you would say, "Here is a guilty sinner, and there is a precious Savior. These two things go well together, they shall not be long apart. I believe in Jesus--and Jesus is mine."
May the Lord grant that you may find Jesus tonight before you leave this house. I pray you may. In these very pews and aisles may you look to Jesus Christ and believe. Faith is only a look, a look of simple trust. It is reliance, a believing that he is able to do this, and a trusting in him to do it and to do it now. May God bless every one of you, and may we meet in Heaven, for Christ's sake. Amen.
Portion of scripture read before sermon--Matthew 9:18–38.