Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-01-17

to the world that his superhuman pow.
err could accomplish anything, since 1t
could cure one born blind.
If we use blindness or any other in
durable physical inflrmity MS the sym
Dol of sin we have right to infer that
the power which can give sight or re-
move the in6rmlty is superhuman
power and that the same power can
eradicate sin. An old legend tells us
that Martin Luther when he was torn
by remorse and anguish over his
past sins had strange dream. At that
time he was very sick. While he lay
in his bed he saw the evil one enter
his room with a huge scroll upon his
back.
With a demoniac leer he suddenly
began TO unroll It, The scroll seemed
to grow larger and larger rs it unfold
ed before Luther's eyes. Then as the
fiend began to unroll this scroll Luther
began to read. And as he read OIL he
found out that this long scroll was the
record of his past evil life There nre
thy sins" the fiend chuckled Aha,
Sec the record of them is all there."
But MS Martin Luther read on sudden
ly n passage of Scripture flashed into
his mind. He raised himself upon his
sckbed and said: ooh, 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 list.
Write it there. Write 1t there now
The blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanseth lis 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
a wild cry of defeat, fled into the dark.
ness of the night" That may be only
legend, but it Is the consolation of
many n 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 and
touched our eyes. Jesus has cleansed
us. Jesus has made test case out of
our sins. On account of his shed blood
he has spoken to our repentent souls
Thou art whole. Thou art whole"
Oh. the wonderful miracle of the kim
died eyesight of the blind man Of the
cast! Oh, the divine grace which can
cleanse us from all sin.
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 not
a disciple of Jesus Christ at all. Up to
the time Peter asked, Master, who did
was born blind?" | do not believe he
had ever heard Of Jesus or he had ever
spoken to Jesus or that Jesus had ever
spoken to him. He was just one Of
those miserable beggars of the east
who live on charity.
There these beggars may be met on
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 Mt every street cor
ner. They are cursed at and spat up
on. Get out OF the way there, you
beggar" you can hear the cry ON al
most every hand. They are the vam-
pires, the offscourinGs OF the east.
Like the poltroons o. Rome, who used
TO cut off their thumbs 50 they could
not shoot a bow and arrow and would
ton in the Roman army. some of
these beggars Of the east mutilate
themselves in order to escape work and
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-
perience 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 n
gentle word of love. The softest touch
pressed his eyellds. This strange be-
Ing came and put some salve 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 he
must be either God or the repre-
sentative of 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 n
foolish way Of getting cured. The
blind man obeyed Christ, even though
he could not tell who he was.
Trust and Belief.
"Oh," you answer, 81 do want Jesus
for my Saviour, but cannot under
stand how he could be co-equal with
God and yet be born Of Mary the yir-
gin! l want to believe it, but l can
not. l don't understand how this Jesus
could be resurrected from the dead.
do not understand how he could per
form those miracles" Don't you, my
brother? Perhaps you do not see his
face as Paul saw it on the Damascus
road. But that does not prevent your
trusting him like the blind man OF the
east. Even though you cannot under
stand all about him, cannot you hear
his sweet voice' Cannot you feel the