John 5:1-18 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.… This is the parting advice of a physician. It is not ordinary medical advice. It utters no warning against the night air, exposure to infection, irregular habits, or indigestible food. Let us inquire into — I. THE PRINCIPLE ON WHICH THIS WARNING IS FOUNDED. This; that we are under the moral government of God. 1. Evils are divinely inflicted on men on account of sin. God is holy, which means that He hates sin and seeks to destroy it; that He is good, and delights in the happiness of His subjects; that He is wise, and contemplates the highest ends, and selects the most effectual method to carry them into effect. But there are no purposes higher than those of perfect holiness and infinite love, and there are no means more effectual than to link sin with suffering, and purity with happiness. 2. When one stroke of God's hand is not followed by the end desired, He may inflict a heavier; just as human governments have graduated punishments. God is in no want of resources. All the agencies of nature are at His command, and if His first stroke has been too light, the second will be heavier; and if gentleness has failed, severity will be tried. II. ITS PRACTICAL BEARING ON OURSELVES. What his sin was we are not informed; but possibly it was just what many of you young people are guilty of every day, a general godlessness of heart and life. And so the stroke came as much as to say, "If that is the use you are going to make of your powers, it is well that they should be for a while taken from you." In long weary years he learnt the lesson, and the gifts of God were restored. So some of you have been blessed by a curse; take care that you are not cursed by means of a blessing. 1. It is a shame if we should need a worse thing to come upon us. (1) In the course of our affliction we were made to feel the connection of our suffering with our sin. Then is it not shameful that, having been taught this once, we should need to learn it again in still deeper sorrow? (2) Our souls have also been touched by the lovingkindness of God — then ought not the current of our grateful impulses to carry us in a course of duty? 2. Are we prepared for this worse thing? God has given His people a succession of calamities as an example of what He can do in this way — Amos 4., Pharaoh, etc. 3. There is not only a worse, but a worst thing impending over the impenitent sinner — the final loss of the soul. (Prof. Charlton.) Parallel Verses KJV: After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.WEB: After these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. |
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