The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-03-19
SABBATH SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
MARCH %.
Lesson Text: "Christ Forgiving Sin, A
Luke w., 17-26-GoIden Text: n
Luke ", 21-Commentary.

II. AQu IL came 10 pass on b Certaln QAy
as He was teaching" Dur lesson to-day finds
filled with people, and such crowd about
the door that no one can come near Mark
it,, ], q, and Jesus is preaching the Word
unto them. Just what He talked about we )
may infer from His discourses, which ARD
more fully recorded; let each one search and
see.
There were Pharisees and doctors of the
law sitting by, which were come out Of every
town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem
the leading and influential religious people Of
the land, and they were being addressed by
this humble carpenter Of Nazareth upon
topics with which they ought to be very Ia
miliar, and Of which the wonder in their eyes
was that He should know anything . 81
And the power Of the Lord was present to
heal them" But they had come for no such
purpose. physically they were not sick, and
spiritually were they not perfect and did not
Why shouldit be written that there was
healing for them? The answer is fully given
in the eight woes of Matt. xiii, where the
Great Physician describes their case as He
saw it. But they arc deaf and blind, they
will not hear nor see, they come seeking no
favors from Him, and they go as they came
deriving NO benefit from the power Of the
Lord.
1S. "And, behold men brought in bed
man which was taken with palsy Mark
says that four men carried him. His trouble
was paralysis; he was utterly helpless, all un-
done, not thing could he do for himself. ~
"And they sought to bring him in, and to
lay him before Him." They realized their:
friends helpless condition, they were sorry
for him, they believed Jesus could heal him,
their sorrow for him took very practical
turn and they determined to bring him TO !
Jesus.
let him down through the tiling, with his
couch, into the midst before Jesus.n The,
discouragements were many and great. It
seemed simply impossible to get their friend
to Jesus, and it would not be strange if some
of the four urged a return, hoping for an
other opportunity; but some one or more OF
the four had the right spirit, the spirit which
laughs at impossibilities and cries: ut shall
be done" The way to the fat housetop was
not blocked, and this grand soul says: III
we can't get there in the natural way,
through the door, we'll get there in an un-
natural way, through the roof" When we
attempt to come to Jesus or bring any one
else to Him, how often we encounter what
seem to be insuperable hindrances, and how
seldom we see the perseverance Of these four;
but theirs is the right way. .sSs
90. "And when He saw their faith, He said
unto him, Man. thy sins are forgiven thee.H
The great people present may have felt like
objecting very decidedly to this rude inter-
laughed in their hearts at the meeting being
thus disturbed; but the quiet calmness and
dignity Of Jesus would oyerawe them, and as
all was still again, the helpless man lying ON
his couch in their midst, these most unexpect.
ed words fell from the preachers lips: "Man,
thy sins are forgiven theep As the skillfu
physician seeks carefully the source Of the
more manifest symptoms, the seat Of the dis.
ease, and attends to that knowing that II the
cause is removed all will be well, so Jesus
goes at once to the cause Of all sickness and
suffering and death, aud in the case OF this
man grants him first his greatest need, the
forgiveness Of his sins. At the same time he
indicates to the Pharisees their need.
81. "Who is this which speaketh blasphe.
mics? Who can forgive sins but God aloneT
Thus these sin-sick Scribes and Pharisees be-
gan to reason in their hearts, not knowing
that God Himself stood in their midst and
uttered these words.
81. Jesus perceived their thoughts (R. W.,
reasonings) said unto them: What reason ye
in your heartsw They must have been
startled at having the thoughts OF their
hearts thus told out before all, and one would
Jesus was more than man. -
90. whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be
forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and WaIky
Each was equally easy to God manifest in the
flesh, but from their standpoint simply to
heal the man Of his sickness would not imply
the same power of God as to grant forgive
ness Of sins, ana would not have led them to
accuse Him Of blasphemy. To remove the
source Of the difficulty was certainly more
difficult than to remove some OF the outward
SYMPTOMS. The Pharisees then and now are
well content to let the inward rottenness con-
tinue if only the sepulchre is kept we'll white
washed: but Gods way is, give life where
there has been death and cleanse the tomb OF
its foul contents.
"a. sThe Son Of Man hath power upon
earth to forgive sins" And He will have
them to know it. But who is this Son Of
Man? This is the first time we find the title
in this Gospel, but we shal! find it about
twenty-five times as we go Oh. 1t IS at LEAST
thirty times in Matthew, fourteen times In
Mark and ten times in John. 1t seems to be
our Lords favorite title Of Himself. and is
1ounu OUTSIDE OF the Gospels only in Acts vii,
Sc; Heb. H., 9; Rev. j., 10; xiv, ID. or the
eighty times He uses it in the four Gospels,
He uses it in reference TO His resur-
rection and future glory about thirty
times, and that reminds us Of Ps.
viii, 4: Xxx, IL; Dan. vii, 13. where the Son
of Man is the one to whom dominion ON
earth is given. He has power to remove sin
and sickness. and does it even now i'll the case
of individuals. lie removes sin rs to its con-
sequences and power from every one who
truly seeks Him. He removes sickness and
suffering whenever it is for our good and bis
glory, but not until the resurrection will He
give His people bodies forever free from all
infirmity The time will come when He shall
have removed from the earth forever all
traces of sin and the curse; and He shall 90 1t
rs Son of Man, Davids Son. Abraham's Son,
in association with redeemed Israel and tue
glori6ed church.
25 "And Immediately he rose mp before
them. and took up that whereon he layssI
and departed to his own house, glorifying
God" The Word Of the Son Of Man, God
manifest in the flesh, did it, He forgave his
sins, He healed his body. We would, as
rule, have healthier bodies If we had healthier
souls, purs-hearts, hearts in which the
Word Of God dwelt richly. ..,n
2G. "Amazed--glorfaed GodIhlled WIN
fear-we have seen strangg thing to-day,
Jesus is the Lord God Of the holy prophets
(Rey. xii, 8, 1Cl. and if our hearts looking
up to Him in childlike faith should say "Ah,
Lord God! Behold, Thou hast made the
heaven and the earth by Thy great power and
stretched out arm, and there is nothing too
hard for Thee (Jer. xxi, ~, we too would
be amazed at the results Of faith, and should
be compelled to glorify God every day because
of the strange things we would see. The
empty would be filled, but the rich and self
satisfied would still go empty away: Ihe
Lord gives us to see our paralysis that We
may in our helpfulness come and cling to the
Mighty One.-LeSSon HeLper.
SOME of the ordinary expressions OF
3ho rl;poca ora worry sarcastic and