"Here a great number of disabled people used to lie — the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there — had been an invalid for thirty-eight years!" John 5:3-5
That was a long time to be sick! It is very hard to be an invalid year after year!
This day's lesson may come to some who have been thus afflicted, and we should stop a minute to think about their case. Christian invalids have many comforts, if they will but take them to heart. God makes no mistakes in dealing with His children! He knows in what school they will learn the best lessons — and in what experiences they will grow best.
Richard Baxter has a strange note on this passage: "How great a mercy it was to live thirty-eight years under God's wholesome discipline! O my God, I thank You for the like discipline of fifty-eight years; how safe a life is this — in comparison with full prosperity and pleasure!"
The furnace-fires of sickness burn off many a chain of sin and worldliness! Many who are now in Heaven, will thank God forever for their invalidism in this life — which kept them from sin. We may be sure that God never calls any of His children into sickness — without a purpose of blessing them. There is some lesson — which He wants to teach them; some new glimpse of His love — which He wants to show them; some spiritual beauty — which He wants to develop in them.
Sick-rooms should always be to us sacred places, as we remember that God has summoned us there for some special work upon our souls.
We need to be very careful lest we miss the good which He wants us to receive. It is only those who trust Christ and lie upon His bosom — who are blessed by sickness. Too many invalids grow discontented, unhappy, sour and fretful. Sickness ofttimes fails to do good to those who suffer. There are few experiences in which we so much need to be watchful over ourselves, and prayerful toward God. Be sure to keep the sickness out of your heart — and keep Christ there with His love and peace.
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J.R. Miller (1840 - 1912)
Prolific author and pastor of Presbyterian churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois, Rev. James Russell Miller served the USCC as a field agent in the Army of the Potomac and Army of the Cumberland.J.R. Miller began contributing articles to religious papers while at Allegheny Seminary. This continued while he was at the First United, Bethany, and New Broadway churches. In 1875, Miller took over from Henry C. McCook, D.D. when the latter discontinued his weekly articles in The Presbyterian, which was published in Philadelphia. J.R. Miller D.D.'s lasting fame is through his over 50 books. Many are still in publication.
James Russell Miller (March 20, 1840 - July 2, 1912) was a popular Christian author, Editorial Superintendent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, and pastor of several churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois.
In 1857, James entered Beaver Academy and in 1862 he progressed to Westminster College, Pennsylvania, which he graduated in June, 1862. Then in the autumn of that year he entered the theological seminary of the United Presbyterian Church at Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Mr. Miller resumed his interrupted studies at the Allegheny Theological Seminary in the fall of 1865 and completed them in the spring of 1867. That summer he accepted a call from the First United Presbyterian Church of New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. He was ordained and installed on September 11, 1867.
J.R. Miller began contributing articles to religious papers while at Allegheny Seminary. This continued while he was at the First United, Bethany, and New Broadway churches. In 1875, Miller took over from Henry C. McCook, D.D. when the latter discontinued his weekly articles in The Presbyterian, which was published in Philadelphia.
Five years later, in 1880, Dr. Miller became assistant to the Editorial Secretary at the The Presbyterian Board of Publication, also in Philadelphia.