The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1889-01-17
FORGIVENESS AND HEALING.

Sunday School Lesson for
= January 81, 1880.
Especially arranged from g. S. Quarterly.l
LESSON TExr--Mark 2:1-12.
GOLDEN TExT-Who forgiveth all their
iniquities. Who healeth all thy diseases.
CENTRAL TRUTH-Jesus Christ forgives
the sins of all who come to Him in faith.
T1ME-Summer of A. ID. %. Some days
after the last lesson.
PLAoE-The city of Capcrnaum in Cali
lee.
PARALLEL ACcoUNTs-Matt. Oils; Luke
5:17-26. Jesus between 81 and SO years old.
Near the middle of His ministry.
INTRoDuCTioN-No long after the heal
ing Of the leper, in our last lesson, Jesus
returned to His hone IN Capernaum,
where tho miracle of to-day's lesson was
performed.
HELPS OVER HARD PLAcEs-1. Entered
Cdpernaum. on the return from His first
tour of Galilee. In the house. either His
own home Matt. 4:13J or that of Peter. q
The trord: the word of message from God.
8. Sick Of the palsy. palsy is short for par
dlDyis, disease of the nerves which de-
stroys the power of motion or of feeling,
or both.
Tho palsy is a disease which dcprives the
part affected of sensation or the power Of
motion, or both, according as the sensory
or the moter nerves, or both,
are attacked. A fearful form Of
this disease is known In Eastern
countries. The term palsy, or paralysis, Is
used by the ancient physicians IN much
wider sense than by our modern men Of
science. 1t included not only what we call
paralysis, which is rarely very painful, but
also catalepsy and tetanus, l. Q cramps and
lockjaw Cdta,epsp is caused by contrac-
ton Of the muscles in the whole or part Of
the body, and is very dangerous. The Of
fects upon the parts seizod are very violent
and deadly. For instance, when person
is struck with it, II his hand happens TO be
extended, he is unable to draw it back.
The cramps in Oriental countries Is o fear.
full malady, and by no means infrequent It
is caused by the chills of the night. The
limbs when seized by it remain immovable
sometimes turned in and sometimes out, in
the same position as when they were first
seized. The person afflicted resembles O
man undergoing the torture, and cxpe-
riences nearly the same exquisite suffer-
ings. 4. Could not come nigh unto Him for
the press, or crowd, which filled not only the
room but the court or area around which
the house was built. The crowd extended
even into the street. They uncovered the
roof: the common houses, such as this prob
ably was, were low, with fiat roofs, covered
with tiles of earth, and with no stairways
from the street to the roof What these
four did was not uncommon in the East.
The bed: A small mattress, or blanket, per-
haps, upon a low light frame. 5. Their
faith: the faith of the man and his friends.
Jesus saw their hearts, and they proved
their faith by overcoming difficulties. Thy
sin.s be forgiven: his first need and desire.
Q. Scribes: leading men and teachers among
tho Jews. These had come up from Jerusa-
lem and elsewhere duke s:1O to soc what
Jesus was doing. z. Blasphen,ics: evil
speaking of God and religion; acting as il
He could do what God only does. o.
Whether Is easter to say: not which is easier
to do, but to prove the truth Of what you
say. As, for instance, it is not as easy to
speak Chinese as French, but 1t is easier
for one who is ignorant to say that he can
speak Chinese, for few could detect his pre-
tensions; but multitudes could detect his
pretensions to French. TO- But that ye may
knoc: by Divine act which they could see
He proves the reality of the other Divine
act they could not see.
CoMMENrs-This sick man received from
the Saviour tico gffts. His body was healed,
and his sins were pardoned. Which of these
two gifts did the multitude appreciate mostl
Was it not probably the gift of healingi
That they would see with their bodily eyes.
1t was something tangible. All through the
life of our Master OH Garth, men rushed
after Him to receive bodily healing. They
came from afar for this purpose, and at
times the crowds were so great that they
trampled on each other in their eager haste
for this kind Of blessing. Now ask again
what was the chief errand that brought
Jesus from Heaven to earths Did He come
mainly to heal mems bodies, or foed their
stOmachs with loaves and fshesl 10 ask
this question is to answer it. He came to
seek and save lost sinners. That was His
chief errand on earth. His healing of the
body was only u kind of type of His larger
healing of the soul. If any one had asked
Jesus that day which gift was the greater,
the bodily healing or the pardon Of sins,
can we doubt for one moment what His
answer would have been2 And il
now, after 1900 years, this healed man
could come back from the other world, and
we should ask him which Of the two gifts
he received that day was the more valuable,
can we doubt what he would answer? For
bodily blessing is for o few years at the
most, but soul healing brings blessings for
eternity Alas that the people of those DAYS
did not realize this! We nowhere read of
their rushing to Jesus for pardon and
purity. No crowds surrounded Him, say
ing: "What must ge do TO be sapcdS'' So to-
day, men would travel far for temporal
blessings, who would not spend half an
hour in seeking Gods forgving grace.
Whcn these four friends came for the
sick man, how strange it would have been
had he said: "Oh, let me alonei am ,oeU
enough or Gs ! am. Besides, there are plenty of
people Uho are poyse than Yam" Yet this is
exactly what many sinners do and say when
their brothers or friends want to talk to
them about Jesus, and carry them to Him
in prayer. They repel them and say: "No;
let mo alone! ! am as well as many whom
see around me. am satisfied with nv
condition" The great difference between
this palsicd man and the sinner is, that he
knew he was sick, while the sinner thinks he
il well. Not until the sinner confesses that
he needs Saviour is there any hope for
him.-Rev. a. =. Schar6er.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.
/. 1t Is great blessing to have Jesus In
our homes.
g. Sin is like paralysis-a wealxness NJ