Morning  “He that was healed wist not who it was.”   John 5:13

Years are short to the happy and healthy; but thirty-eight years of disease must

have dragged a very weary length along the life of the poor impotent man. When

Jesus, therefore, healed him by a word, while he lay at the pool of Bethesda, he

was delightfully sensible of a change. Even so the sinner who has for weeks and

months been paralysed with despair, and has wearily sighed for salvation, is

very conscious of the change when the Lord Jesus speaks the word of power, and

gives joy and peace in believing. The evil removed is too great to be removed

without our discerning it; the life imparted is too remarkable to be possessed

and remain inoperative; and the change wrought is too marvellous

not to be perceived. Yet the poor man was ignorant of the author of his cure;

he knew not the sacredness of his person, the offices which he sustained, or the

errand which brought him among men. Much ignorance of Jesus may remain in hearts

which yet feel the power of his blood. We must not hastily condemn men for lack

of knowledge; but where we can see the faith which saves the soul, we must

believe that salvation has been bestowed. The Holy Spirit makes men penitents

long before he makes them divines; and he who believes what he knows, shall soon

know more clearly what he believes. Ignorance is, however, an evil; for this

poor man was much tantalized by the Pharisees, and was quite unable

to cope with them. It is good to be able to answer gainsayers; but we cannot do

so if we know not the Lord Jesus clearly and with understanding. The cure of his

ignorance, however, soon followed the cure of his infirmity, for he was visited

by the Lord in the temple; and after that gracious manifestation, he was found

testifying that “it was Jesus who had made him whole.” Lord, if thou hast saved

me, show me thyself, that I may declare thee to the sons of men.

 

Evening  “Acquaint now thyself with him.”   Job 22:21

If we would rightly “acquaint ourselves with God, and be at peace,” we must know

him as he has revealed himself, not only in the unity of his essence and

subsistence, but also in the plurality of his persons. God said, “Let us make

man in our own image”–let not man be content until he knows something of the

“us” from whom his being was derived. Endeavour to know the Father; bury your

head in his bosom in deep repentance, and confess that you are not worthy to be

called his son; receive the kiss of his love; let the ring which is the token of

his eternal faithfulness be on your finger; sit at his table and let your heart

make merry in his grace. Then press forward and seek to know much of

the Son of God who is the brightness of his Father’s glory, and yet in

unspeakable condescension of grace became man for our sakes; know him in the

singular complexity of his nature: eternal God, and yet suffering, finite man;

follow him as he walks the waters with the tread of deity, and as he sits upon

the well in the weariness of humanity. Be not satisfied unless you know much of

Jesus Christ as your Friend, your Brother, your Husband, your all. Forget not

the Holy Spirit; endeavour to obtain a clear view of his nature and character,

his attributes, and his works. Behold that Spirit of the Lord, who first of all

moved upon chaos, and brought forth order; who now visits the chaos of your

soul, and creates the order of holiness. Behold him as the Lord and giver of

spiritual life, the Illuminator, the Instructor, the Comforter, and the

Sanctifier. Behold him as, like holy unction, he descends upon the head of

Jesus, and then afterwards rests upon you who are as the skirts of his garments.

Such an intelligent, scriptural, and experimental belief in the Trinity in Unity

is yours if you truly know God; and such knowledge brings peace indeed.