er back in many
different ways. It was the reading of one text of Scripture which
turned Augustine from his evil life. It was the single word _Eternity_
printed in the tract which a man had torn scoffingly in two, and which
lay in a scrap of paper on his arm, that led him to repent. Sometimes
it is a word in a sermon, or a verse in a hymn; sometimes it is the
question of a little child, or the sight of a dead face in a coffin;
but whatever it is which brings us back to Jesus, that must be the
first step to finding pardon and healing.

And next, Jesus was _besought_ to heal the afflicted man. My brethren,
our plain duty, as Christians, is to intercede for our fellow men. We
are often far too selfish in our petitions. Whilst we humbly remember
our own sins, and pray for pardon, let us beseech the Lord also for
others. And then Jesus took the man aside from the multitude. The
Lord could have healed him with a word in the midst of that crowd; but
He took him aside. Why? Surely to teach us a lesson, that if we want
to be healed of our sins, we must go aside out of the crowd of our
everyday words, and thoughts, and companions. We must seek some quiet
time, and place, where we can get away from the world, and be alone
with God. So much of the religion of the day is thin and shallow,
because people do not think about it enough; they have never gone aside
out of the world. The multitude of worldly cares and pleasures, work,
money getting, politics, jostle them on all sides, so that they cannot
come near to Jesus and be healed. Have you never felt this when you
have knelt down to pray? You have not been able to tell your secrets
to God, any more than you would tell them to a friend, in the midst of
a multitude. You want to go aside out of the crowd, where you can
speak quietly. When you have knelt down, although it may have been in
your own room alone, yet there is a crowd with you--a multitude of
disturbing thoughts. To-day's work, and to-morrow's pleasure, the
money to be paid, or the money that is owing to you, the cares of
eating, and drinking, and clothing, the recollection of a trouble, real
or fancied, the remembrance of some sharp word that made us smart and
tingle, all these things make a crowd, and keep us back from Jesus. I
do not say that we can get away from the throng of thoughts entirely,
but I _do_ say that we should try every day of our lives to go aside
out of the crowd, and find a quiet time,