Spurgeon: July PM
* 07/28/PM
"Who went about doing good."
--Acts 10:38
Few words, but yet an exquisite miniature of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There are not many touches, but they are the strokes of
a master's pencil. Of the Saviour and only of the Saviour is it
true in the fullest, broadest, and most unqualified sense. "He
went about doing good." From this description it is evident that
He did good personally . The evangelists constantly tell us
that He touched the leper with His own finger, that He anointed
the eyes of the blind, and that in cases where He was asked to
speak the word only at a distance, He did not usually comply,
but went Himself to the sick bed, and there personally wrought
the cure. A lesson to us, if we would do good, to do it
ourselves. Give alms with your own hand; a kind look, or word,
will enhance the value of the gift. Speak to a friend about his
soul; your loving appeal will have more influence than a whole
library of tracts. Our Lord's mode of doing good sets forth His
incessant activity ! He did not only the good which came close
to hand, but He "went about" on His errands of mercy. Throughout
the whole land of Judea there was scarcely a village or a hamlet
which was not gladdened by the sight of Him. How this reproves
the creeping, loitering manner, in which many professors serve
the Lord. Let us gird up the loins of our mind, and be not weary
in well doing. Does not the text imply that Jesus Christ went
out of His way to do good ? "He went about doing good." He was
never deterred by danger or difficulty. He sought out the
objects of His gracious intentions. So must we. If old plans
will not answer, we must try new ones, for fresh experiments
sometimes achieve more than regular methods. Christ's
perseverance , and the unity of His purpose, are also hinted
at, and the practical application of the subject may be summed
up in the words, "He hath left us an example that we should
follow in His steps."