The Caucasian., 1907-01-15

| A Test Case.
The other day | saw a picture of the
new gallery of one of the largest audi
| tOriums of the west. 1t was filed with
| hundreds of bags of sand and lime
They were put there to test the
strength of the gallery, rs every rail
road bridge is testeD before passen-
ger train is allowed to go over it,
| Those sand bags We're practically say
ing, IF this gallery can hold up my
weight it can hold up the bodies of
hundreds of people who shall be crowd
ed into it." SO Christ by curing the
eyesight of one born blind was proving
to the worth that his superhuman pow
er could accomplish anything, since it
could cure one born blind.
If we use blindness or any other in
curable physical infirmity as the sym
bol of sin we have right to infer that
the power which can give sight or re
move the infirmity Is a superhuman
power and that the same power can
eradicate sin. An old legend tells us
that Martin Luther when he was torn
=
past sins had Il strange dream. At that
time he was very sick. While he lay
i'll his bed he saw the evil one enter
his room with a huge scroll upon his
back.
With demoniac leer he suddenly
began to unroll it. The scroll seemed
to grow larger and larger as it unfold
ed before Luther's eyes. Then as the
fiend began to unroll this scroll Luther
began to read. And as lie read on he
found out that this long scroll was the
record of his past evil life. There are
thy sins" the fiend chuckled. Aha.
see. the record of them is all there
But as Martin Luther read on sudden
ly a passage of Scripture flashed into
his mind. He raised himself upon his
sickbed and said: "Oh, demon, YOU
have forgotten to put something in
that record. The record is all true, but
You have forgotten the one promise
which cancels all that ghastly slst.
Write it there. Write it there now:
The blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanscth us from all sim"
No sooner did Luther speak thus, the
old legend says. than the fiend gath
cred up his long. heavy scroll and. with
wild cry OF defeat fled into the dark
ness of the night" That may be only
legend but it is the consolation OF
many Il sin burdened heart Like the
blind man Of the east. we have been
staggering along in the darkness OF
our sins But Jesus has come anG
touched our eyes. Jesus has cleansed
us. Jesus has made Il test case out OF
our sins. On account of his shed bl0OG
he has spoken to our repentent souls
Thou art whole. Thou art whole
Oh the wonderful miracle of the kin
died eyesight OF the blind man of the
east! Oh. the divine grace which can
cleanse us from all SIM
The Blinds History.
But it is not sufficient here to make
a general statement that this young
man, having his eyesight given to him
Is the symbol of our own lives being
cleansed of sin by supernatural pow
err We must go more into detail and
tell you how this young man came to
have his eyesight given to him. In the
first place, we would state he was no,
disciple of Jesus Christ at all. Up to
the time Peter asked Master, who did
sin, this man or his parents, that he
was born blindg" | do not believe h.
had ever heard of Jesus or he had ever
Il
spoken to him. He was just one of
those miserable beggars of the cas-
who live on charity.
There these beggars may be met OH
every street. Like the Jerusalem dogs
they crawl under the very hoofs of
your horses. They greet you in the
country. They follow you into the
city. They are at every street cor
ner. They are cursed at and spat up
on. Get out of the way there, yor
beggarv' you can hear the cry on al
most every hand. They are the VAN
pires, the offscourings of the east.
Like the poltroons of Rome, who used
to cut off their thumbs so they could
not shoot bow and arrow and would
therefore be immune from conscrip
ton in the Roman army. some of
these beggars of the east mutilate
in order to escape work ana
to be able to better ply their trade of
begging. All, yes, this poor blind beg
gar of the east must have been well
used to kicks and cuffs and upbraid
ments! But no sooner had Peter finish
ed talking than a most wonderful ex
pelience was his. The blind man could
not see, but he could hear. He could
feel And. oh. the softest voice began
to talk to him. Every word was a
gentle word of love. The softest touch
pressed his eyelids. This strange be-
ing came and put some salye upon his
eyes and then said, "Son, go to the
pool of Sloan and wash" The blind
man could not make out who this
strange being was, but he felt that b
must be either a God or the repre-
sentative of a God. Thus the blind
man went and came seeing. That is
the symbol of true conversion. 1t Is
obeying Christ as the blind man obey
ed him. 1t is just giving yourself up
to his WILL 1t is doing what he wants |
you to do, even though it may seem a
foolish way of getting cured. The |
blind man obeyed Christ, even though |
%.Tl h