Tke “N o Man”
A CKaracteristic Sermon Preached Several Weeks Ago at his Great Church in Seattle, ’Washington
B s Dr. MARK A . MATTHEW S
ing from locomotorataxia, b rough t on by disease th e resu lt of sin. Every phy sician h ere knows th e ch aracter of disease. He was suffering very much and every tim e th e w aters were dis tu rbed by th e Angel, he made an effort to reach th e pool. It is impossible for anyone afflicted w ith th a t disease to w alk w ith any degree of precision. It it only a question of tim e when the m ind and th e m ental power of th e man will be completely destroyed. So he made an effort to en ter th e w aters. He would arise in his faltering unsteady way. He could no t reach th e pool, because the men who were no t afflicted w ith th e same disease, b u t who had other troubles en tered th e w aters firs* and crowded th e pool, kep t him out, consequently he would recline, sit down, and wait. He had been afflicted for th irty -eigh t years and had grown accus tomed to his affliction and disappoints ment. A man can grow accustomed to disappointm ent. A man can bring his m ind down to th e condition of his body, and, th e re are people who actually luxu riate in th e ir sufferings. I have known people who were really happy when they were suffering and I have known people to get into a sta te of dis appointm ent th a t they would actually commercialize. Now th is man afflicted for th irty - eight years, had grown accustomed to his affliction and to his disappointm ent, because he h ad been going to th is pool for many years. It seems he was satis fied to try and try repeatedly, and when he had failed to reach th e w aters he
John 5:7'—“The im potent m an answ ered him , Sir, I have no m an w hen th e w ater is troubled, to p u t m e into the pool, b u t w hile I am com ing an o th er steppeth down before m e.“
SIS m iracle is in th e book a t th is place, no t because it is th e second m iracle, bu t because it m arks th e begin ning of th e anger of th e Jews, those in au tho rity , who finally concentrated
th e ir ang er in th e ir efforts to crucify Christ. F irst, le t me recite th e circum stances. This pool, called Bethseda by th e sheep m arket, was supposed to con ta in certain curative properties. P er haps it had in it salt, su lphu r and some of th e o th er things you find in some of th e m ineral springs th a t are today used by rheum atics and others who are afflicted w ith sim ilar troubles. It has been improved very much. Around it were four or five porches for the pu r pose of receiving and aiding those who were trying to en ter its w aters. These porches were crowded. People of all descriptions were there. People w ith all kinds of diseases were there. The lame, th e blind, th e h alt, th e diseased of every description w ent to th is pool, occupied these porches, rem ained th ere un til they had an opportunity of en ter ing th e w aters. Some frequented th is place often. They w ent day a fte r day before they had an opportunity of te st ing th e curative powers of these waters. The man in th is tex t h ad gone th ere for many weeks and months. He was th ere a t the opening of th e season. He was th e re in th e m iddle of th e season. He was th e re a t th e end. He was suffer
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