Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-02-25
SUNDAYS SERMON TODAY


Jesus7' His face fairly shines as he
says: Why It was Jesus who opened
| my eyes and gave me sight, and that
gave me all the beauty there is In the
world But how long had you been
blindT All my life. I had been In dark
ness always, for / was born blind And
how much did you have TO pay Him for
opening your eyes, and how long did Il
take Him to do it7' oh, nothing at all.
! ] was a poor beggar, and could have done
nothing had He wanted me TO pay. And
| He gave me my sight very quickly, too.
"'Tell us about it. Where was He and
how did you find Him and get to HimV
| j didn't find him. He found me. l was
begging near the temple, at the place
where | had been begging for years. and
| one Sabbath day He came to me, and
/ said He was going to give me my sight:
didn't know what He meant. and
| showed very little interest In the mat
ter But presently He made clay and
put II on my eyes, and then 1 began to
! think that something was going to hap
pen. Then He told me to go to the pool
Of Sloan and wash off the clay. 1 went
and washed and received sight
"The next witness 1 would like to call
Is woman; matron who has silver In
her hair, but her face is peaceful, and
has n look of happy content Let me
ask her the great question: Who was
Jesus" and at the name great light
|
of JOY in her eyes: Who was Jesus?
Why, sir II was Jesus who brought my
son again to life when he was dead, and
all was so dark and desolate In my poor
heart. The boy was all ] had, and he had
been tho support and stay of my life He
was so strong and manly; so noble and
SO brave, and was always good TO me
lie filled our home with sunshine and
tried to save me from all care and anx-
iety by taking all the burden of our af-
fairs upon himself.
"'But one day he was brought home
very i'll by some of his friends. who were
with him when he was stricken. He grew
worse from hour to hour and in three
days he was dead I was heart-broken
and desolate and little dreamed that
could ever see the sun look bright again
The time came for his burial and we were
taking his poor body out to the mace Of
the dead. many people going with us, for
he was known and loved by all
{. .,tr.,,. ,.o,,,,.- -, - -.
,o,r,,u = i III ~ VI III, t's oMi, nEe were
~ re -, ,''9 ,. a.. a. oel, "''u wiel' "e
-. i,',u .oie u,5,.. uo't u tne siaNe we met
,,,s5 .o.p%ns; -, anu MAN caine AFTER
Ward VINO looked upon me with great
compassion and SAID Weep not Then He
came came ana toucned the bier, and they that
pore II stoou sun, Tor they knew not what
W u1' sucn tnihg having never hap
peneu petore' Ihen lie that halted 1t
saiu' Loung man, say unto thee,
arise! Ihen he that was dead sat up and
began TO speak. and then he was restored
10 me ana we returned to our home with
great JOY. And, sir that was Jesus who
gave me back my boy. and my son who
was dead Is alive again, became one of
His most earnest disciples from that
hour'
Next I see a strong man of large sta
ure, of broad shoulders and tall who |
comes with quick and ringing step, in the
midst of group of happy, noisy little
children. One little fellow with SUNNY
hair is perched high on his shoulder, two
or three others are clinging to his hand
"All the rest are laughing and sbout-
ing in great glee Let ns half tbis
great giant of a fellow and see what
answer he will make to the question
Who was Jesus?' The same gio5 Iooi, |
we have noted in all the others brighton, |
his face at the name, and then no saws
Why, SIR It was Jesus who drove n |
legion of devils out of me-deviIs On |
violent that when they entered into a |
herd of 1000 swine that were ouietl,, |
feeding nearby, they ran frantIcaIIv down
a steep place into the sea and nerIsboJ
in the waters.
"'Before that day I had long beer
known as wild man of whom avary
body was afraid. / made nv dwelling
among the tolnbs, and 1 was so fierce
that no man dared to come NV waW
Sometimes in my torment would becon,e
so wild and frenzIed. and the terrors I
created were so terrible that armed men
in great numbers would hunt me dowr
and overpower me and bind me with
chains and shackles, but sooner or later
the strongest fetters and the safest
prison would be unable to hold me. and
] would escape again to the tombs where
would be more terrible than ever In
my frenzy I would tear into shreds tbe
clothes they had put on me. and these
scars you see on my hands and face are
from wounds where the devils made me
cut myself with stones, and there are