Evening journal., 1916-02-10
Sight To the Blind
sermon preached in TIE T.bernae last night BY Dr. Lyon


the imagination to beautify the
world.
Now look az Rembrandts portrait
Of himself only twenty years later
The artist determined 10 deny him
self no pleasure. He sought out
every delight. lie became a sybarite.
and one by one the torches Of his
soul went out Having been untrue
10 himself. he lost faith in others for
the penalty Of dishonesty and impur-
ity is the belief that everyone else is
equally dishonest and impure. SO IN
middle age we see the artist, shruken,
an old rag around his throat. weak
ness Ia his chin. the mark Of the
beast upon mis- brow the ewes heavy
and dull. without vision. for the lights
have gone out In his youth REM
braudt lived for his ideals. his dreams
of love and country. Of beauty and
God. Then he seems like some pal
ace on a winters night. when all the
windows are blaze Of light and
laughter and music and perfumed
beauty hll the halls. and happiness
exhales like a cloud Of incense tow
ard God. Oh that glorious palace OF
sight and sound, mans soul But.
Rembrandt. after sin has marred him.
is 10 be compared TO a mansion de-
serted by those angelic guests. The
lights have gone out from the win
dOws that once we're full OF rich
glass; the halls are empty. the spld-
er'f web is woven over the keyhole OF
a closed door, the weeds and thistles
have grown up In the rocks; the steps
are rotten, the rose garden Is a tangle
Of thorns. all the foundations are
nolsome with mice and vermin. and
things that creep and crawl Now and
then an old gibbering caretaker goes
IN and out The noble mansion is in
ruins. given over TO darkness and dc
cay And the ruined mansion is the
house OF a mans soul"
IN this story. AZ recorded in Luke's
gospel, we find this blind man. Bar
timous. sitting outside the gates OF
Jericho begging. All he hopes TO oh
lain was merely enough to buy a sup
per and a nights lodging His only
thought was to satisfy temporary
need. Is not this blind beggar a clear
picture Of a large part Of mankind to-
day? The average man has little or
no spiritual vision. He Is noar-sight-
ed. seeing only the things that are
close at hand He does not look at
life from the longer range. from the
viewpoint OF the eternal He is con-
tent, like the cattle OF the field. to get
enough 10 satisfy his immediate
wants. His only thought is for ma
terial benefits
What was II that brought the
change into the life OF this blind man?
II was the coming OF Jesus. There is
always transformation when Christ
comes What has our civilization to-
day that the nations Of the past did
not have? You say, "We have inven-
tions. art music. literatures" SO did
they. IN fact IN some OF these spheres
they even surpassed us. and yet their
civilization went down 10 rs death
In the last analysis. the only import
ant factor the world has today. that
the nations Of the past did not have.
is Jesus Christ lie Is tho one hope
for the permanancy and stability OF
our civilization
SEQ this blind Bartlmeus sittlne
outslde the walls Of Jericho. hopeless.
helpless. enshrouded IN the gloom Of
mental and physical darkness Now
he hears commotion He inquiries
what ls the cause. and they tell him
that Jesus OF Nazareth Is coming
Whenever and wherever Christ
comes. there Ia always a commotion.
The unRodly call Il excitement" the
Christians call Il revival Satan Is
willing that people be earnest and
enthusiastic about anything else. 10
is all right To put enthusiasm into
your business. into politics. into so
ciety but the devil is very adverse to
your putting zeal into religion His
desire FOR the spiritual life Is that It
be lust lat, bleak barren desert.
When Bartlmeus heard that Il was
Jesus OF Nazareth that was coming.
he began to cry out and say. Jesus.
thou son Of David. have mercy ON
mel" We are told that the people
around about tried TO make him be
quiet But the moro they endcavored
20 silence him. the more earnestly and
loudly he called. "Son Of David. have
mercy ON me-" Right here we note
one secret OF his success. lie was
dead In earnest He persisted I'm spite
of opposition II seems sometimes
the Lord tests us 10 find whether or
not We are sincere. He permits all
sorts Of difficulties 10 obstruct our
pathway You may be certain. my
friend. the devil Is not going TO let
go his hold upon you without a strug-
gle. n YOU are 10 win a spiritual
victory. Il viii be In the face OF Bit
ter opposition. ridiculo. criticism. evll
reports, prejudice and false friends
As long as a swimmer IN content to
float down the stream. he does not
realize the force OF the current, but
let him turn about and start up
stream. and then he viii realize the
currents power AS long as you are
willing 10 drift along, the old way.
things may seem easy. but when you
decide TO turn about. aud begin the
higher life, you may naturally ex-
pect 20 encounter opposition. Some
one will try 10 stinc your good in
teniions. lf the devil can keep you