New-York tribune., 1875-11-01
CRrIICIsus upon CHRISTIAN HELPERs.
me REV. Henry Htt B.ses.r fgaoaa ChaeA congrrya
i0aqi.)

The congregation at Plymouth Church yes
te.Gay morning showed no signs of dim.ndtiou ac
count o, tc gatherings at the hnS every s'at ana ige
aists being crowded An interesting part - the sermon
gs air BoocheI's aglOl TO the abors Of tna evansc
sts in Brooklyn. which in The Endest spirit and &C
comvanicd by little emotion. Mr. Bcccber preached
from the text found in Matthew IL, -: "And
behold iey biough. 10 Him siek o The asy y Ing
Ola bed aud Jesus seeing Their faith said uno the sick
~ le psy s5u DC Of good cheer thy sins be forgiven
thee" This scene was described by llr Boecher With n
nis usual yisor Of emphasis and clcarncss Of language
and nc .bon proceeded with his comments 20 follows:
When Jesus irst saw the paraytic and told him, "son
De OF good cheer. tby sins be forgiven thee" it Mss
great disappointment al around. There Is 10 evidence
that the man himself was able TO ask anything. He was
therefore brought 20 Christ upon the faith of those who
loved hliu-a thing that parents and friends will do
weu 10 remember; that although upon earth the
Savior ordinarily demanded faitn in subject
whom II0 blessed by some miraculous act, yer when
tile subject was not himself able TO eXcnIse faith. there
WAS ycarous iaith and lie acted beagnly IN behalf OF
those who wero brought upon tho iaih of others. Htho
man himself was conscious and able 10 appreciate that
which was said, without doubt he was greatly disap
pointed He came 20 be healed Of his miserable paraly-
SIS Ic was Of no use ~ Enscf or 20 his friends. He
had right to lcng for something better than tlat and
when he came 10 Christ aud received spiritual blessing
instead OF physical help, he felt doubtless. If he Was
cOnscOjis, great disappointment ~ one ha0 should
say "What Is a spiritual banelictiou good for TO me
that am in such 4 condi,iOnf His friends without
doubt would have said, II they had spoken, Why nnt
heal him Why preach 10 him the grace OF iorsNeheSSl
Why not make him grateful ana heal hm hfs ana theh
But rsre was third party that more ii con
tented and that was t men who felt that they hJi been
orlaiucd TO take OF eyerybodys religion bnt ther
own who felt that trey had he came relation 10 her
cay as hound has 10 hare. Thee were the DOCTORS the
scr,bes and the pharses. who had gathered to hear
Cnris preach. Mhen Jesus said, % Thy oas are for
given thee" as II He had given him perfect crown,
thess lnen didn't say word, but smiled and nodded 10
each other. know they were thinking that IT was
lie bade The man 10 take up his bed aud walk. Now
wien o did this they held their tongues. bat from an
otEor motive That did strike them as evidence When
Jesus wrought miracle OF the soul when He brought
the daylight OF hope TO the heart; when he sad;
there Was no evidence in that but they saw the
mans neelonts elastic agan-j thing that Their eyes
that they had seen a manifestation OF Divine power
COnsld,r another point. These men OF lesuaI ana
metnodical religion vent suppose, ON the superstition
TINT ied very frequently IN our day, tBe constant
anaqOllSh existing in mems hearts in the admin'tra
ti0n oi laws and Oi hsitutohs rs asans' n. I.e a
irregular humauites that developed IN human soci-
ey. II Christ had done thng according Ia the canon
and according TO e Ii,n ana tae ne 1 tsn les,
there would have been less exception taken bnt here Was
an irregular humanity aud rs n was ont OF The regular
way and seemed TO them to he somewsit Violation OF
H. ~ any rate doctrine thai inpugne their teachings
they didn't care fer the humanity. Ihoy cared Tor the
law, Tor the custom for he usage, Tor the heh0d ana
not Tor that for which custom, law and method were IN
apples They cared for rel2oooting FOR The rult OF
religion. Nov, Christ WAS constant Nnrshef on We
sabbath day nnd always onSrrfr te rdppAlh ual, pu
ho stuck for humanity, and felt te value o man ana OF
man I'm lis interior aud highest mature.
Let u anaykc that which Christ did He offered nrst
s1il gift, and that didat seem TO them to ne any
thing, iIo offered them body gilt, ana beyond all q,i-
ton the Jewish teachers and the man himself 10 the ht
Instance FELT ihat ihe coli,er gut because afttlpe
ry the scnfas tho h;gher But Christ offered
him the highest gift which God can give % man lie
offered hui bacl, soul made white 10y red blood that
yet O bo shed, employing nguc dear 10 the Jewish
mind. fOrdyene pfaco between him and God and
therefore heigern God and All tho laws which he had
broken I'm Gods realm rnnesty and efaoem'nt both OF
memory of the ret and ~ the consequences OF the act;
forgiveness which wipes out tran sgrcSslOn In oil fs
damnatory feauresthaf the thing first granted by
the Savior. ~ begypr boy should come
20 my door aud ask or pair of shoes and lit o bread
and should look enignany upon hiIn. remembering.
perhaps of mine who had wandered and might be