Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his fight, and followed JESUS in the ́ way."

My defign is, First, to make some obfervations on the matter of fact, as recorded by the evangelifts. And then,

Secondly, To point out the improvement that may be made thereof. May JESUS fo blefs this following difcourfe, that every spiritually, blind hearer may receive his fight, and, after the example of Bartimeus," follow JESUS in the way!"

If we would take a view of the whole ftory, we must go back to the 46th verfe of this chapter. "And they (our LORD and his difciples, who, we find by the context, had been converfing together) came to Jericho," a place devoted by Joshua to the curfe of GOD; and yet, even this place yields converts to JESUS; Zaccheus had been called there formerly; and Bartimeus, as we fhall hear by-and-by, in all probability, was called now, For fome good may come even out of Nazareth. CHRIST himself was born there, and his fovereign grace can reach and overcome the worst of people, in the very worft of places. JESUS came to Jericho. Let not his minifters, if providence points out their way, fhun going to feemingly the most unlikely places to do good, fome chofen veffels may be therein. JESUS and his difciples came to Jericho. They were itinerants; and, as I have frequently obferved, feldom ftayed long in a place; not that this is any argument against the ftated fettlement of particular paftors over particu lar parishes. But however, our LORD's practice, in this respect, gives a kind of a fanction to itinerant preaching, when perfons are properly called to, and qualified for, fuch an employ. And I believe we may venture to affirm (though we would by no means prescribe or dictate to the Holy One of Ifrael) that, whenever there fhall be a general revival of religion in any country, itinerant preaching will be more in vogue. And it is to be feared, that those who condemn it now, merely on account of the meanness of its appearances, would have joined with the self-righteous Scribes and Pharifees, in condemning even the Son of God himself, for fuch a practice.

of

And as he went out of Jericho with his difciples, and à great number of people;" λave a great number of mob, or rabble, as the High-priests of that generation termed them: for thefe were the conftant followers of JESUS of Nazareth; it was the poor that received his gofpel, the common people heard him gladly, and followed him from place to place. Not that all who followed him, were his true difciples. No, fome followed him only for his loaves, others out of curiofity; though fome undoubtedly followed to hear, and be edified by the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth. JESUS knew this, and was alfo fenfible how difpleafing this crowding after him was to fome of the rulers of the Jewish church, who, upon every occafion, were ready to fay, "Have any the Scribes and Pharifees believed on him?" But, notwithftanding, I do not hear of our bleffed LORD's fending them home but once; and that was, after they had been with him three days, and had nothing left to eat, he faw they were as fheep having no fhepherd, and therefore had compaffion on them, and taught them, A fufficient warrant this for gospelminifters to preach to poor fouls that follow to hear the word, whatever principle their coming may proceed from. At the fame time, they should caution people against thinking themfelves chriftians, because they follow CHRIST's minifters. This our LORD frequently did. For there are many that followed JESUS, and now follow his minifters, and hear them gladly; nay, perhaps do many things, as Herod did, who, it is to be feared, will never follow them into the kingdom of heaven. Much people followed JESUS out of Jericho, but how many of them were offended in him; and afterwards, it may be, cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him." Who would depend on popularity? It is like the morning cloud, or early dew, that paffeth away. But what a prefs, and feemingly continued hurry of business did the bleffed JESUS live in! he could not be hid; go where he would, much people followed him. He had scarce time to eat bread. Happy is it for fuch who are called to act in a public ftation in the church, and to be more abundant in labours, that their JESUS has trodden in this dangerous path before them. Popularity is a fiery furnace, and no one, but he who kept the three children amidst Nebuchad pezzar's flames, can preferve popular minifters from being hurt

by

by it. But we can do all things through CHRIST ftrengthening us. And I have often thought, that there is one confideration fufficient to extinguifh, or moderate at least, any excess of joy and felf-complacence, which the most popular preacher may feel, when followed even by the greatest multitudes; and that is this," How many of thefe hearers will go "away, without receiving any faving benefit by my preach"ing; nay, how many, it may be, will only have their dam"nation increafed by it!" As we find many will fay at the great day," haft thou not taught in our streets;" to whom JESUS fhall anfwer, "Verily, I know you not."

But to proceed, "As our LORD went out of Jericho with his difciples, and a great number of people, blind Bartimeus, (the fon of Timeus) fat by the highway-fide begging." It fhould feem that he was a noted, though by no means what we commonly call, a sturdy beggar; having no other way, as he had loft his fight, to get his bread; his cafe was still the more pitiable, if he was, as fome think the name imports, the blind fon of a blind father. It may be, he begged for his father and himself too; and if fo, then this may give us light into that paffage of Matthew xx. 22. where we are told, that "two men spake to JESUS." It might be father and fon, though only one is mentioned here, because he only followed JESUS in the way. Thus that holy, judicious, and practical expofitor of holy writ, Mr. Henry. But however this be, he is not blamed for begging, neither fhould we difcommend others for fo doing, when providence calls to it. It was the unjust steward that faid, "To beg I am afhamed." It is our pride that often makes us unwilling to be beholden; JESUS was not thus minded, he lived, as it were, upon alms; the women that followed him, miniftred to him of their fubftance. Bartimeus, not being able to dig, begs for his living; and, in order to make a better trade of it, fat by the highway-fide, in all probability, without, or near the gate of the city, where people must neceffarily pafs in and out. But though he had loft his fight, he had his hearing perfect; and it fhould comfort us, if we have loft one fenfe, that we have the ufe of another, and that we are not deprived of the benefit of all. Happy was it for Bartimeus that he could hear, though not fee. For in all probability, upon hearing the noife and cla

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mour of the much people that followed after our LORD, his curiofity fet him upon enquiring into the cause of it, and fome one or another told him, "that JESUS of Nazareth was paffing by;" JESUS of Nazareth, called fo, because he was bred there, or out of contempt; Nazareth being either a very mean, or very wicked place, or both, which made guileless Nathaniel fay, "Can any good come out of Nazareth?” And what does Bartimeus do when he hears of JESUS? : We are told, ver. 47; "And when he heard that it was JESUS of Nazareth, he began to cry out." This plainly denotes, that though the eyes of his body were fhut, yet the eyes of his mind were, in fome degree, opened, fo that he faw, perhaps, more than most of the multitude that followed after JESUS; for, as foon as he heard of him, he began to cry out; which he would not have done, had he not heard of him before, and believed alfo, that he was both able and willing to restore fight to the blind. "He began to cry out." This implies, that he had a deep fenfe of his own mifery, and the need which he had of a cure; his prayers did not freeze as they went out of his lips; he began to cry out, that JESUS might hear him, notwithstanding the noife of the throng; and he began to cry out, as foon as he heard he was paffing by, not knowing whether he might ever enjoy fuch an opportunity any more. "He began to cry out, JESUS, thou Son of David, have mercy upon me." The people called him JESUS of Nazareth. Bartimeus ftiles him, " JESUS, thou Son of David." Thereby evidencing, that he believed him to be the Meffiah who was to come into the world, unto whom the LORD GOD was to give the throne of his father David, and of whose kingdom there was to be no end. "JESUS, thou Son of David;" or, as it is in the parallel place of St. Matthew xx. 30. "LORD, thou fon of David," of whom it had been long foretold, Ifaiah xxxv, that when he fhould come," the eyes of the blind fhould be opened." "Have mercy upon me," the natural language of a foul brought to lie down at the feet of a sovereign God. Here is no laying claim to a cure by way of merit; no proud, feif-righteous, GOD I thank ghee that I am not as other men are: no bringing in a reckoning of performances, nor any doubting of JESUS's power or willingness to heal him, but out of the abundance of the

heart,

heart, his mouth fpeaketh, and, in the language of the poor, broken-hearted publican, he cries out," JESUS, thou Son of David, have mercy on me." JESUS, thou friend of finners, thou Saviour, who, though thou be the true GOD, waft pleafed to become the Son of David, and to be made man, that thou mightest feek and fave thofe that were loft, have mercy upon me; let thy bowels yearn towards a poor, miferable, blind beggar!

One would have thought that fuch a moving petition as this would have melted the whole multitude, that heard his piteous. cry, into compaffion, and induced fome at least to turn fuitors in his behalf, or help to carry him to the bleffed JESUS. But inftead of that, we are told, ver. 48, that "many charged him." The word in the original feems to imply a charge, attended with threatning, and fpoken in an angry manner. They charged him to hold his peace;" and it may be threatned to beat him if he did not. They looked upon him beneath the notice of Jesus of Nazareth, and were ready enough to afk, whether he thought JESUS CHRIST had nothing else to do but to wait upon him. This was, no doubt, very difcouraging to blind Bartimeus. For oppofition comes closest when it proceeds from thofe who are efteemed followers of the Lamb. The fpoufe complains as of fomething peculiarly afflicting, that her own mother's children were angry with her. But oppofition only ferves to whet the edge of true devotion, and therefore Bartimeus, inftead of being filenced by their charges and threatnings, " cried out the more a great deal, thou Son of David, have mercy on me." Still he breaks out into the fame humble language, and, if JESUS, the Son of David, will have mercy on him, he cares not much what some of his peevish followers faid of, or did unto him. This was not a vain repetition, but a devout reiteration of his request. We may fometimes repeat the fame words, and yet not be guilty of that BaTToλoya, or vain fpeaking, which our LORD condemns. For our LORD himself prayed in his agony, and faid twice the fame words; "Father, if it be poffible, let this cup pass from me." Thus Bartimeus," JESUS, thou Son of David, have mercy upon me." And how does the Son of David treat him? does he join iffue with the multitude, and charge him to hold his peace? or does he go on, thinking him

beneath