Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-05-06
be full soui JOY may

i -.
be full. soui Joy may
me next instance IS that of tina
Ma 3 Dorn blind. It is an entfrelv
TIulnuelent case and yet a typical one.
hh aaa man IS hopeless. He has never
oe e. aoIeslo see. He has never heard
~ 9 case where a a born blind has
$50 Maoe to see. and so he does not
nsluer the question: He settles
DaA mo a grim acceptance of his
and because he does not ash Chris
oHers. Just because Of the mans hove
lessness and ignorance, Christ .Ies,1s
IoHers IN mercy. Here Is the charter
LOT our missionary work among tho
ignorant and hopeless. Manv n
tnen DO not know their need. ali are
nopeless, but that is no reason whv
7 Chrlstlan church should withhold
IT'S merc1ful mlnistrations. It Is of
.entlmes q man who laughs at re-
!ision and disbelieves In its mower
nat needs it most. and a. religion
based upon the quality OF mercy can
NOT refuse to give even that which
IS not wanted or asked for. The Saw
ious put clay on this mans ewes and.
Dade MIN go wash in the pool Of
SLOAN. The man was more humble
than Naaman. He made use Of tha
means Which Jesus suggested and re-.
celved his sight. He is a type of the
hopeless man who does not believe
mat his spiritual blindness (if it is
blindness, because he has never been
aDle 70 see and does not realize what
spiritual blindness really means).
tan ever De relieved by the simple
Things Whl.h Jesus provides, prayer.
worship and sacrament, and vet in
MS WILLINGNESS to try them makes his
act OF 1alth, n is ushered out into a
new world of glory and beauty of
which. HERETOFORE he has never been
able ever to dream. He becomes =
partaker of blessings for which he
has not asked, and of benefits nro-
v1ded freely by one whom he has not
KNOWN. On the other hand. the blind
man or Bethsaida is not only hone
less. but falthless. He is brought to
christ by others, and because Jesus
Ices not want to reject him, and can
not cure him. He takes him by the
hand and leads him out of the town.
He takes him away from his familiar
surroundings and daily associations.
He lifts him out of the rut from
which he had been unable to extri-
cate himself. He takes him into the
solitude, just as He takes men now
into h solitude and loneliness OF
sickness or trouble or poverty or un-
Just suspicion. or pain. and in the
solitude tries to build up their faith,
SO that they may be healed. This Is
the only miracle of healing which
Jesus performed where the
OF health came by degrees. and this
was caused by the mans slow devel-
opment OF the faculty of faith. Jesus
touched. his eyes, but sight did not
come; he saw men as trees walking.
1t was an earnest. however, of. what
Jesus could do, and it gave the man
confidence. and his faith became more
perfect. and Jesus touched his eyes
again and he saw things distinctly.
It Is the story Of the tenderness
and gentleness with which Jesus
deals with the spiritually blind, who
are fa1thless as we'll as hopeless.
And lastly. there is the story of the
Blind Bart1maeus which carries with
1t such a weight and wealth OF sug-
gest1on for ourselves. It is the story,
OF a man who wanted to come and be
healed. and was hindered by others.
How often that is true of those who
really want to be healed of spiritual
blindness. A mans foes are those OF
his own household. Jesus was
wounded in the house of His friends.
1t is often only. by persistent perse-
verance and by disregarding those
who should help him that a man is
healed by the Saviour Of his spiritual
blindness, as Bartimaeus was healed
OF his physical infirmity. I wonder
how many Christians realize the tre-
mpndOHc Vncnnncihi1ifu fhDv o.
when in any way they stand in the
light Of the min who is looking for
Jesus Christ.
The man or woman belonging to
a Christian church who deliberately
sets aside the methods Of that organ
lzation for deepening the spiritual
life is hindering others from becom-
ing Christians. What a wonderful
opportunity for good we are throwing
away when, on the ground OF cour-
tesy to others, we practically abandon
our principles and cause our brother
to offend. Blind +Bartimaeus was
healed in spite of hindrances of 9TH
ers. and men become Christians ii
spite of IL inconsistencies, but wnat
an opportunity we are casting aside,
and what responsibility we incur,
when we deliberately make truth APP
pear unreal or undesirable. To
preach recovering of sight to the
blind: to preach the Gospel to the
poor and deliverance to the captive,
read the Saviour in the Nazareth syn.
agogue, and as He read men were as.
tonished. But why astonished? It
was only a quotation. Yes, but He
spoke with power. That is, His
words were convincing; but why CON /
vincing? The same words had been
heard many times before. They were
the words Of truth, you say. Surely, |
but truth has been preached through
the ages. What then was it that as
tonisbed menu. We answer, the fact
that Jesus saw truth in such a way |
that other men coming in contact
with Him could not fail to see it also, (
and see it in it's completeness. We |
see truth, says Moze1ey, in a frag- |
mentary way. and fragments OF truth |
are not convincing. Jesus saw it in
its completeness, and when a man !
sees truth in its cQmnletaness he must |