THE FAITH AND PRAYER OF BARTIMEUS

A SERMON

Preached on Sunday Morning July 28th, 1861

By Mister JAMES WELLS

At the New Surrey Tabernacle, Borough Road

On the occasion of a Collection for the Christian Blind Relief Society

Volume 3 Number 136

“And Jesus said unto him, Go your way; your faith has made you whole.

Mark 10:52

“And Jesus said unto him, Go your way; your faith has made you whole.

And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way.”

Mark 10:52

THE Lord was pleased so to order it that miracles, visible, tangible miracles, that should do good to the bodies of men, should attend the establishment of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. But while the Lord ordered this, there were ends he had in view, and when those ends were answered the miracles ceased. And one great reason I apprehend, was to make men without excuse for persecuting that dispensation, and persecuting Christ and his apostles. The very persons who killed Jesus Christ knew that they were doing wrong; they knew that he had by his miracles established the divinity of his mission. And we find Nicodemus himself bore testimony to this effect; he came secretly out of the Sanhedrim, and, unknown to any but the Lord himself, found his way to the Savior in the dark, and said, “Master, we know,” that is we among ourselves, “that you are a teacher come from God; for no man can do these things that you do except God be with him:” we are all wrong together in persecuting you. So that they were without excuse. It, therefore, left the Jewish world without excuse for persecuting and for crucifying Christ; it left them without excuse for persecuting and putting to death as many as they could of the apostles, and the saints that followed. Now when this kingdom was established, it was needful that these literal miracles should cease; otherwise the New Testament dispensation would have been more like a great miraculous medical establishment than like an establishment of vitality and spirituality, delivering the soul from the powers of darkness and bringing it into everlasting life. Had those miracles continued, we should have had men all pressing into the dispensational kingdom of God, for the sake of the bodily and the temporal advantages, while those very same persons would have held spiritual things peradventure in greater contempt; like those very persons who had been fed by the miracle of the loaves and fishes, when they followed the Savior because they did eat and were filled; and when he laid before them, as described in the 6th of John, the solemn realities of eternity, they treated the whole with contempt, they went back and walked no more with him. Therefore it is, then, that miracles were made to cease, that is temporal miracles; and without contradiction the less has ceased and the greater has continued, for there was not one temporal miracle that Christ wrought that was so valuable in itself as the regeneration of a soul, because those miracles were but temporal, their advantage passed away; but when a soul is regenerated, that advantage and the advantages connected therewith never pass away. We see which men would have appreciated the most, but we see at the same time that which was, and is, the most essential to our welfare.

Now having made these two or three remarks, I shall notice our text and its connection spiritually; for I am sure there is no difficulty in spiritualizing the circumstances of the eyes of a man literally blind being opened, as a figure of that illumination by which the Lord distinguishes those that are saved from all other people. “You,” said Peter, “are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Here is, then, that spiritual illumination. And when a man is called into this light, you see from what Peter says there, he is called into the light of eternal election, the light of eternal priesthood, the light of eternal consecration, the light of eternal peculiarity, the light of eternal service; “the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now I shall not divide my text this morning exactly in my usual way, but shall take it up under two main branches; first, the nature, and secondly, the practice of faith; of the faith of God's elect, as set before us in this text. “Jesus said unto him, go your way, your faith has made you whole,” or as the margin renders it, “your faith has saved you;” fairly implying that many have faith unconnected with this healing, many have faith unconnected with this salvation. Devils believe, but there is no salvation; and thousands of others believe, but there is no salvation. So, that it is he that believes unto salvation that shall be saved. Now in order to get at the nature of this faith, I must first notice the object of it, before I come to notice the practice of this faith. Faith in this case, as in others, came by hearing. “And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me.” I notice, then, first the object of faith. What are we to understand by the Son of David? I will show to you from the word of God that the son of David means the Son of God, that it means a complex person; that it means Emmanuel, God with us¹. This is the person whom this man called the son of David. First, it means, and that one idea, perhaps, is the best to commence with, it means a complex person. I take, first, passing by a great many Scriptures upon this beautiful subject; I pass by the 89th Psalm, the 4th and 11th of Isaiah, and many other Scriptures where the Savior is referred to in the same form as he is referred to here in the prayer of this blind man; I pass by those, and notice, first, the 23rd chapter, or some verses of the 23rd chapter of Jeremiah. “I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.” Here is the Branch; a branch means an offshoot; a branch refers to Christ's Sonship. Before I go any further, let me prove this. Take the 1st chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, where the apostle tells us of his mission, that it was concerning Jesus Christ, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. So that same offspring that is declared to be the seed of David, is declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness. Now you observe that holiness and power are here put together. If Christ had sinned, he would have lost his power. Adam lost his power by sinning, and the Jewish nation lost its power by sinning; but Christ did no sin, and therefore never lost his standing, never lost his power, but always had power with God and man as the Son of God, because he did no sin. “Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness.” He was holy, his life was holy, his death was holy, his person holy, and all he has done is holy; never lost his power; “declared to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead.” Now pray, Mister Eternal Generationist, what was it rose from the dead, because the Holy Ghost declares there that that which rose from the dead was the Son of God. “Declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.” And yet we are to be put off with the notion, and sent I don't know where, and because we dare to stand out for our principles, are called men of a bad spirit, and I don't know what all, while they themselves are sending us to un-nameable places, because we simply do as they do, stand out for what we believe. Now here, then, that which rose from the dead is called the Son of God. Did infinite Deity rise from the dead? We all know what rose from the dead; we know that he who rose from the dead was God; that which rose from the dead is there declared to be the Son of God; as said Peter in the 3rd of Acts, “God has glorified his Son Jesus, whom you crucified, whom God has raised from the dead.” Here, then, is the Son of David, the Son of God, upon whom this man called. The angels worshipped the Son of God when he lay in the manger of Bethlehem; and this man is taught to call upon the Son of God, and to worship the Son of God; and he knew the whole of it was included in the relative character in which he thus appeals to the Savior; “Jesus, you Son of David, have mercy upon me,” I know some of you don't like this, but you shall like it; you shall have it whether you like it or not. I am ashamed of any man or woman either that professes to be interested in eternal things, and at the same time wish their minister to be made up of such tame material as never to advocate conscientiously and decidedly what he solemnly believes from the word of God to be the truth, and to stand opposed to that which he most solemnly believes lowers the Godhead of Christ, makes him out a demi-God, an Arian God. Now in the 23rd of Jeremiah, there is the Branch of Righteousness; there is Christ as the offspring. “And a King shall reign and prosper.” There is a threefold reign of Christ, his humiliation reign, his exaltation reign, and his eternal glorification reign. Only one of these I dwell upon for a moment. “A king shall reign and prosper.” Let us take this to mean his humiliation reign; for if he did not reign in his humiliation, if he did not prosper there, then he could not reign in exaltation, and he could not reign in glorification. If Christ did not reign in his humiliation, then you and I can never reign in exaltation, much less can we ever reign in eternal glorification.

Now the 53rd of Isaiah: “When you shall make his soul an offering for sin,” here is the Son of David; “he shall see his seed;” see for whom he died; “he shall prolong his days.” Adam cut his days short, and the days of all his posterity; the. Jews cut their days short by sin. Christ did no sin, and so has prolonged his days and the days of his people; for what he did was not for himself, but for his people; and he has said, ‘Because I live you shall live also.” “He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” Now one part of the pleasure of the Lord was to put Christ to death. It pleased the Lord to bruise him, it pleased the Lord to make him an offering for sin. Shall Jesus Christ prosper in that? Did Jesus Christ prosper in that? He did finish transgression; he did make an end of sin, he did make reconciliation for iniquity, he did bring in everlasting righteousness. Such is the Son of David, such is the Son of God; the Son of God that prospered sacrificially, and as he prospered sacrificially he will prosper intercessorily, and as he prospers intercessorily he will prosper gloriously through the countless ages of eternity. The object of this man's faith then you see from the Old Testament; the Holy Ghost evidently opened up the Old Testament to this man. “You, Son of David, have mercy upon me.” Ah, man! what do you believe? Do you believe that this Person, has eternal mercy at command? I do. Do you believe that this Person can execute justice and judgment, and yet show mercy? I do. Do you believe that this Person is sent thus into the world by the everlasting God to show mercy to sinners? I do. The Holy Ghost opened up all this unto him; he saw there was mercy with Christ, and mercy in Christ, and mercy by Christ; he recognized his saving character, his mediatorial character, and I believe the dignity of his person.

Again, this Son of David that has done all this, “shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.” When the Lord gave the land of Canaan to the Israelites it was Joshua's business to obtain victory and give the land to the people for whom it was intended. God the Father has given an eternal kingdom to the people. “Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” And it was the work and is still the work of Christ to conquer all opposers of this kingdom, and to give his people entire, full, and eternal possession of it. And so the time came when the saints of the Most High possessed the kingdom; and “they got not the land into possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them, but your right hand.” that is Christ; “and your arm;” that is Christ; “and the light of your countenance,” that is your approbation of them in Christ, “because you had a favor unto them,” that is in Christ. Here then the Savior prospers, here he executes justice, by justly giving the kingdom to those for whom it is prepared; by justly pardoning, justly sanctifying, justly justifying, and justly saving those that are given to him. “In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely.” Ah, then he has taken the danger away: yes; taken sin away, and death away, and taken all uncertainty away. It is only for us to know this Jesus Christ, and to know what mercy there is in him, and as sure as he answered Bartimeus's petition, so will he ours, for he is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think.

Now I have said this Son of David is the Son of God. Let us hear the Old Testament account of it. I have said that he is a complex Person, when he is called the Branch you cannot doubt that that must mean his manhood, and that he should reign and prosper, that he has done in his humiliation, and that he should execute justice, maintain the rights of all his people, that is the idea. “And in his days Judah shall be saved,” and where do we find salvation? in the Lord Jesus Christ; “and Israel shall dwell safely.” What can touch my life there? you may grind my body to powder, that would not touch the life I have in Christ, nor the holiness I have in Christ, nor the righteousness I have in Christ. Why, the man that is thus brought to stand in Christ may defy the wreck and ruin of worlds; he may laugh at his mightiest foes. “The daughter of Zion has despised you; she has shaken her head at you, she has laughed you to scorn.” “What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lord has founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.” Ah, what is the Son of David then? Mark the next words in the 23rd of Jeremiah, “And this is the name whereby he shall be called, Jehovah,” a begotten divinity? Heathen fable, contemptible doctrine to apply to the absolute godhead of the Mediator of the everlasting covenant. “This is the name whereby he shall be called, Jehovah;” just now it was the Branch of Righteousness, there is his manhood, now we find by going on, that this same Person who is the Branch, this same Person, not the same nature, but the same Person who is made of the seed of David according to the flesh, the same Person who is declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, this same Person is Jehovah. “This is the name whereby he shall be called, Jehovah our Righteousness.” There is his majesty, there is his self-existence, there is his eternity, there we get Emmanuel, Jehovah with us, Jehovah our Righteousness, see then who but the Almighty Spirit of God could so have led Bartimeus? Bartimeus, means “perfect.” “precious.” “honorable” and so the man that has this faith, is perfect in Christ, precious to God, and honorable in his sight. Who but the Holy Ghost could have thus led him? And if you are led, and I am led into real acquaintance with this complex Person in what he has done, then the same Spirit that taught him, the same spirit has taught us. “Every one that has heard and learned of the Father,” said the Savior, “comes unto me.” And then after bringing us thus; to the complexity, a subject dearer to my heart than I can ever describe; oh, I am happy there, I am at home there, I have an anchorage there firmer than heaven and earth, I have an anchorage there as firm as the eternal existence of the great God himself; no failure there, tempest tossed, knocked about and tossed about, in and of myself, a poor autumnal leaf, a poor piece of stubble, a poor moth, a poor worm of the earth, a poor nothing and worse than nothing; but ah, when Jehovah Jesus appears in his complexity, with his infinity and eternity of mercy, my soul looks with approbation and longing eyes upon this complex Person, my heart is with Bartimeus here; “You son of David, have mercy upon me.” Why, Eternal Generationists give hardly so much honor to Christ's godhead as the scriptures give to his manhood. The scriptures declare his manhood to be above angels, he has obtained a better name than they. But Eternal Generationists make his godhead but a few degrees superior to angels. Again, the Holy Ghost would be careful to distinguish also in this complex person of Christ the difference between a temporal and an eternal salvation. In that 23rd of Jeremiah, “They shall no more say, The Lord lives, which brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt:” no, something more than that, “but the Lord lives, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land.” Understand you this? I do not think some of you do. Listen to me now and I will say a word or two to you plain upon it. Take the north country there mystically to mean the law of God. We are all by nature under the law, exposed to the blasts of God's eternal wrath, that is where we all are, though we know it not. And to be delivered from the law and its curse is to be delivered from hell, and this is an infinitely greater deliverance than was the deliverance from Egypt; because the deliverance from Egypt was a mere transition of the body from bondage to freedom, but the deliverance here by Jesus Christ is the transition of the soul from death, to life, from darkness to light, from the law to the gospel, from Satan unto God, from hell to heaven, from everything that is wrathful, devastating, and destructive, to everything that is blessed and glorious. This transition of the soul is that coming up from the north country. And, then, notice another clause, “And from all countries whither I had driven them.” Now, understand that properly, the idea is this: the fall of man took place, and men became scattered, it is true they did in post-diluvian ages build a tower, and intended to have a Popish center of unity, that they might not be scattered; but it was not God's unity; and therefore he confounded their language/and scattered them abroad upon the face of the earth. Now, then, “I will bring them from all countries whither I had scattered them.” So, it is let his chosen be born wherever they may, in whatever land, they shall hear the gospel; the gospel shall come to them; Christ shall come to them. “Other sheep I have,” said Christ upon this very subject, “which are not of this fold,” this Jewish fold, “them also I must bring and there shall be one-fold and one shepherd.” “And they shall dwell in their own land.” Do you ask what their own land is? Their own land is God the Father, in his love to them, choice, of them, and provision for them; their own land is Christ, who is made unto them wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. That is a land that flows with milk and honey. Their own land is the Spirit of the blessed God; they are brought out of the flesh and brought into the Spirit; their own land is the land of the gospel, the land of freedom. That is the land that God has given them; that is the land that Christ dwells in; that is the delightsome land. The earthly Canaan is gone, and gone forever, but this heavenly land, God himself. Here we have an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you. “You Son of David.” So much, then, for the complexity of the dear Savior. Now, look at it in the 23rd chapter of Jeremiah, beginning at the 5th verse, to take notice of what the Lord has there revealed concerning the Son of David. Is it not beyond all dispute that he is a complex Person? Can anything be clearer? The same Person in that chapter that is called the Branch of Righteousness in that same chapter is called Jehovah our Righteousness, And because we will not worship poor old Athanasius, we are to be served, as I do solemnly believe some of the Eternal Generationists; they are actually gone so far, I believe they would be true Calvinists if they could in one peculiar sense. And what is that? Why, Calvin had a man burnt alive because the man did not see as he did; just as though burning a man's eyes out would get the man to see better. And some of these Eternal Generationists, if I may judge from their language, are so bitter, that I really question, if they had the power, whether they would not burn us alive; and I don't think they would leave me to the last; and I shouldn't care much about that.

I will now just hasten for a moment to the 33rd of Jeremiah; there is this same Person presented to us; and now, mark, the same things said of him, only a little farther revelation made. It is there repeated that “Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely.” But what does he do? what does this complex Person do? Does he deck his bride in a robe? does he array her in a robe having inscribed upon it a begotten divinity, “Son of God by eternal generation?” which is nothing else but eternal nonsense, that's what it is. No; “Jerusalem shall dwell safely, and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, Jehovah our Righteousness.” And if you are taught of God you will receive Christ in this complex character, and glory in the fact that while one scripture declares him to be Jehovah our Righteousness, the other scripture gives his own name to the bride, she takes his name, “This is the name wherewith she shall be called, Jehovah our Righteousness.” In that same 33rd of Jeremiah the Lord goes on dwelling upon this subject, this Son of David, that “David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; neither shall the priests, the Levites, want a man before me.” In succession there were twenty sons, from Solomon to Zedekiah, that followed David, and they all sinned, left the thrones vacant. Ah, David could pass by all these, and go forward to the Babe of Bethlehem; and there David would see his anti-typical throne filled; there he would see an eternal priesthood and would rejoice therein. Ah, then this Son of David is not only a complex Person, but King in Israel, Priest of the Most High God. And by these truths, by this complexity of Jesus Christ, mind, sinners are to be converted; and if they are not converted by that, and converted to it, they are not savingly converted at all. I would that I had gifts as well as grace to set this point forth with all the power which it deserves. 33rd of Jeremiah: “As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David my servant.” There is Christ's servitude, you see. If you are not converted to this complex Person, if you are not converted by him, and to him, the name of whoso very church is “Jehovah our Righteousness,” then it is no conversion at all. “I will multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.” What does it mean? It means that by this complex Person, by this imputation of sin to Christ, and by this imputation of his righteousness to them, sinners shall be justified. Their sins were imputed to Christ; he took them away, and he is Jehovah their Righteousness. That is the position in which God has placed them. So that when the gospel first touched you and taught you what you were as a sinner, little did you then think what God had done for you; you saw men as trees. Walking then, and you don't know much now, at least I don't; the longer I live the more I see my own ignorance, and the more I see what a vast ocean of mystery there is yet to be explored in the wonders of this complex Person, Christ Jesus the Lord. “If you can break my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season, then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne,” not before. Now, I need not, perhaps, say more to prove that the Son of David is a complex Person, that by him sin is taken away, that by him we stand righteous, that by him we are eternally saved.

Now let us look at the prayer of this mam ‘You, Son of David, have mercy upon me.” “And many charged, him that he should hold his peace.” You might imagine an old Pharisee standing there and saying, what right have you to pray without a prayer-book? I have got the prayer-book under my arm. You are praying the wrong prayer, the prayer for today is in page 157, or somewhere there, you must not pray without the-prayer book. “But he cried the more,” a great deal. You may imagine another gentleman coming and saying, you must not pray there; I have just consecrated apiece of ground for you to pray upon, and you must not pray anywhere else. So, they charged him that he should hold his peace. But he felt that Jesus was there, it was the presence of Christ that gave such fervor to his prayer. When you and I kneel down in private, and we cannot feel the Lord's presence, there is no fervor. But if we have the Lord's presence, it opens our hearts, our minds, our souls, our sins may come, devils may come, powers of hell may come, and charge us to hold our peace, and tell us it is no use to pray, but we can see that this complex Person is infinitely greater than all, and the more our sins, and circumstances, and doubts, and fears seem to charge us to hold our peace, the more we pray, and pray we must, and pray we shall until, we prevail and get all we want, and more than we ever dreamt of. Bless the Lord, true prayer cannot be stopped, will go on. What a difference between this feeling of the soul, real prayer, and a cold formality, religious sort of round of machinery prescribed by man. And did he prevail? Yes. “And Jesus stood still;” your time is nearly gone, I must not amplify these other parts, or else there is a great deal in that, Jesus standing still, and commanded him to be called. “And they,” not the same that told him not to pray, I should think, but others, “called the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise, he calls you.” And he rose, casting away his encumbrance, he sat begging by the wayside, some old garment just to keep the poor man warm. If I can get my sight, I will not sit here begging. Ah, wonderful is the providence of God, and how we dread poverty; and yet by means of circumstantial privation, what numbers have been brought to so number their days and apply their hearts unto wisdom. I have met with many the conversion of whose soul stands connected with some providential trial, some bereavement, some loss, some cross; they have felt, their need for the first time of God to befriend them, of Jesus Christ to be their Savior. Hitherto they had spurned, or at least made light of everything of a gospel kind; but now they are brought, into real trouble, Ah, now I feel I am forlorn, outcast, wretched, no man cares for me, here I am, an object rather repulsive to everyone than not, and everyone that knows me wishes he had never known me, will God befriend me? is it any use to pray to him? Yes, my hearer, it is of use to pray to him. Just so sure as this man there sitting by the wayside begging cried unto Jesus, Jesus had then, what he has now, a heart meek and lowly. He did not say to one of his disciples, Now just go secretly and tell that man that if he will meet me after dark tonight, where nobody will see us, I will open his eyes; but I should not like to be very public about this, because it wouldn't look respectable for me to own a beggar and admit him to our company, for he is sure to follow us afterwards. This is the way the flesh would reason. But, ah, the dear Savior stood still in public; he cared nothing for the gaze of angels, angels would admire; he cared nothing for the gaze of devils; he cared nothing for the gaze of men; he stood perfectly still. “And Jesus said unto him, What will you that I should do unto you? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go your way; your faith has made you whole. And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way.” Immediately his visual power was in existence, the man could see everyone clearly, but no one so clearly as he saw Jesus; for he followed Jesus. And that is a good pair of eyes that can see Jesus Christ. When his eyes were opened, he made a good use of them; he looked unto Jesus and followed Jesus in the way. Thus, then his faith centered in the right object; his faith was a praying faith, a persevering faith, and, as we see here, it was a prevalent faith. What more could be said than this? “Your faith has made you whole.” I apprehend this means not merely the favor of natural vision, of natural eyesight, that is a precious gift, a precious possession; we all feel it is a precious possession; but I apprehend there is something more meant than this, because the margin reads it, “Your faith has saved you;” so that his faith stood connected with eternal salvation, and he followed Jesus. I can't close without one more word, I haven't half-finished the subject. He followed Jesus. Just now it was the Son of David, now it is Jesus. Why, how is this? See, if we take the marginal reading, how beautifully it corresponds with the text; “Your faith has saved you.” Jesus means a Savior. I am a poor lost sinner, I shall want saving every day; I shall need his care, every day, his salvation all the time I live, and, like good old Simeon, I shall need it when I die, and I shall need it when I rise, and I shall need it forever, and so I will follow him as a Savior. “Look unto me and be you saved.” So, the poor man blessed with sight looked unto Jesus, and followed Jesus. This is what I have been doing through grace now for more than thirty years, following Jesus. Can't get me away, no. Present anything detrimental to the dignity of his complexity; my sword is drawn in a moment don't care who you are, every one of you might resign your sittings today, and say, we will never hear you again; wouldn't move a single inch for that. There is not anything can be a substitute for a good conscience before God, in love sincere for the complex Person of Christ.

Now he followed “Jesus in the way.” That is easily spiritualized; he followed Jesus in the way of Jesus' own truth, I was going to say something else, but it is a bad time perhaps, because we are going to have a collection this morning for the Christian blind, I may as well say it, too, or else you will wonder what I mean; he followed Jesus in the way, in the way of his ordinances, that is what I was going to say. “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Ah, says one, I shall not be baptized, I know the apostles were sent to baptize; baptism is an ordinance; but I do not care about it. Ah, say you I do not say that. If you do not say it in words, you do in works though.

He says of the Supper, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Oh, I do not much care about it. Ah, say you, I don't talk like that. But you do like it. He followed Jesus in the way. Now some like to follow him out of the way; have a path of their own devising and follow him out of the way. Now that's a very dangerous way to follow, because if we go and walk out of the way, we don't know where it might lead to. He followed Jesus in the way. May it be our happy lot then, if we are blessed with a knowledge of our state by nature, and blessed with a knowledge of his complex person, and have a heart to pray to him, and unbounded confidence in his ability, then I am sure, at any rate, in every essential to eternal salvation, we shall follow Jesus in the way, and I am sure we shall desire to follow him in every good word and work.

¹

In including this and similar sermons which deal with the Sonship of Christ, it is not my intention to stir up controversy and dissension. I have remarked on this in several such sermons already. It is however my firm belief that we must examine, to the best of the grace we are given, the scriptures and submit to the truth as God has revealed it to us. Each must study and decide for themselves. Blind belief without biblical foundation is not true faith and will not honor God. It should also be noted that Wells did not over state the situation when he said later in this sermon that there were those who would like to burn him alive. May God have mercy on all those that profess to love his name yet are at war with the body of Christ. - Richard Schadle