The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1890-04-23


walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the
deaf hear"
/ notice this Surgeon had fondness
for chronic cases. Many q surgeon,
when he has had a patient brought to
him, has said: "Why was not this at
tended to five years ago? You bring
him to me after all power of recupera-
tion is gone. You have waited until
there is complete contraction Of the
muscles, and false ligatures are formed,
and Justification has taken place. ft
ought to have been attended to long
ago." But Christ the Surgeon seemed
to prefer inveterate cases. One was q
hemorrhage of twelve years, and He
stopped it. Another was curvature OF
eighteen years, and he Strengthened 1t.
Another was a cripple Of thirty-eight
years, and he walked out well. The eigh-
teen year patient was woman bent al
most double. II you could call con-
vention of all the surgeons Of all the
centuries, their combined skill could not
cure that body so drawn out Of shape.
Perhaps they might stop it from getting
any worse, perhaps they might contrive
braces by which she might be made
more comfortable, but 1t is, humanity
speaking, incura BILE. Yet this Divine
Surgeon put both His hands on her, and
from that doubled-up posture she began
to rise, and the empurpled face began to
take on healthier hue, and the mus
cles began to relax from their rigidity,
and the spinal column began to adjust
itself, and the cords Of the neck began
to be more supple, and the eyes, that
could see only the ground before, now
looked into the face Of Christ with graf
itude, and up toward Heaven in trans
port Straight! After eighteen weary
and exhaustive years, straight The
poise, the gracefulness, the beauty of
healthy womanhood reinstated.
The thirty-eight years case was man
who lay on a mattress near the mineral
baths at Jerusalem. There were five
apartments where lame people were
brought, so that they could get the ad-
vantage OF these mineral baths. The
stone basin Of the bath is still visible
although the waters have disappeared,
probably through some convulsion Of
nature, the bath. one hundred and twen-
ty feet long, forty feet wide and eight
feet deep. All, poor man; If you have
been lame and helpless thirty-eight
years, that mineral bath can not
restore you. Why, thirty-eight years
is more than the average OF hui
man life! Nothing but the grave
will cure you. But Christ, the Surgeon,
walks along these paths, and / have no
doubt passes by some patients who have
been only six months disordered, or a
year, or five years, and comes to the
mattress OF the man who had been nearly
four decades helpless, and TO this thirty
eight years invalid said: "Wilt thou be
made whole?" The question asked not
because the Surgeon did not understand
the protractedness, the desperateness,
Of the case, but to evoke the mans
pathetic narrative. "Wilt thou be
made whole?" "Would you like to gel
well?". 20 yes" says the man, shat Ii
what came TO these mineral baths for
have tried everything. All the sur
geons have failed, and all the prescrip
tions have proved valueless, and have
rot worse and worse, and can neitheI
move hand or foot or head. o, II
could only be free from this pain o
thirty-eightyearsl" Christ, the Surgeon
could not stand that. Bending over th'
man on the mattress, and in vote
tender with all sympathy, but stronl
with all omnipotence, He says, "Rise!
And the invalid instantly scrambles h
his knees, and then puts out his righ
foot, then his left foot, and then stoo'
upright as though he had never beel
prostrated. While he stands looking o
the doctor with q Joy too much to hold
the doctor says: "Shoulder this mat
|, tressl for you are not only we'll enougl
to walk, but we'll enough to work, AM
start out from these mineral baths
Take up thy bed and walkr' o what
Surgeon for chronic cases then, and 10
, chronic cases nowl
, This Is not applicable so much TO thos
I who are only little hurt OF sin, an
!. only for short time, but TO those prot
a trated Of sin twelve years, eightee
years, thirty-eight years. Here is
Surgeon able TO give immortal health
4 10" you say, ~ am so completely ovel
b thrown and trampled down OF sin that
a can not rise." Are you fiatter dow
l. than this patient at the mineral bathi
q No. Then rise. In the name OF jest
a Of Nazareth, the Surgeon who offers yo
4 His right hand OF help, bid thee ris
J No cases Of acute sin, but Of chronic 81
4 those who have not prayed for thirt
y eight years, those who have not been
h church for thirty-eight years, those wi
!. have been gamblers, or lbertines,
n thieves, Or outlaws, or blasphemers,
i infidels, or atheists, or all these :
u Rether, for thirty-eight years. A Chri
q for exigenciesi A Christ for dead-lii
a A Surgeon who never loses easel
d In speaking Of Christ as surgeon,
70 must consider Him as an oculist, or @
10 Doctor end an aurist, or ear doctor w
A. there ever such another oculist? IN
a. He was particularly sorry for the blii
tol folks, take from the fact that the mo
4, Of His works was With the diseas'
m opsic nerves. 4 have not time 10 ceu
,r up the number Of blind people me
10 toned who got His cure. Two bill
es men in ono house, also one who "
ID born blind; so that II was not remov
r. Of visual obstruction, but che creati
10 Of the cornea, and ciliary muscle, Al
"a crystalline lena and retina, and I, op'