John 9:7

"The pool of Siloam."—John ix. 7.

It was a very gracious account given by the Holy Ghost, in the writings of his servants the prophets, that in the last days, meaning gospel days, "living waters should go forth of Jerusalem;" and saith the Lord, "it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth which moveth, whithersoever the river shall come, shall live;" Ezek. xlvii. 9. And in the day of Christ's flesh, we find Jesus giving life wheresoever he came: and not unfrequently, as if to testify the sovereignty of his power, he communicated his blessing in this life-giving principle of himself, by means altogether, to outward view, unpromising. The clay applied to the eyes of one born blind, and the pool of Siloam, are both directly in point. It is just so, blessed Jesus, that I would have recourse to ordinances and means of grace, and when I attend, I would desire to pass over them to the enjoyment of thyself, and the gracious influences of thy Holy Spirit. Were the: pool of Siloam always thus attended, and the several maladies of thy people thus brought before thee, that while using the means, we had an eye to the end, how should we find the diseased that were sent, returning healed. The imagination can hardly conceive any thing more interesting, than to behold souls under their different distresses, thus coming to the pool of Siloam, and thus receiving Jesus in the use-of it. Am I faint? "He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might, he increaseth strength." Is another walking in darkness and having no light? Jesus saith, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness." Are our bones dried, like the bones in the valley, "and our hope lost: are we cut off for our parts?"(Ezek. xxxvii. 11.) Behold, saith the Lord God, "I will open your graves, O my people, and cause you to come up out of your graves." And how doth the Lord accomplish it? He saith, "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die." Are they void of faith? Jesus is the Author and giver of faith. Are they backward to repentance? Jesus is exalted as a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins." Have they backslidden? Jesus saith, "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely." In short, at the pool of Siloam, neither the water nor the clay are the objects of faith, but he that sends to the pool: and while we lay our wants over against his fulness, and consider, in our need, the very suitability there is in that need for the display of Christ's grace in the supply, this is the very way of following up the divine appointments. And as every poor sinner is made blessed in receiving from Jesus: so Jesus is made glorious in giving out of his fulness; and the gracious purpose of salvation is-answered in the comfort of the sinner, the glory of the Saviour, and the everlasting praise of Jehovah, in the wonders of redemption! My soul! let thine evening meditation be thus sweet in viewing the pool of Siloam!