Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1897-01-19

TM}INEY est has, for the time
being turned in 9TH
er directions. me
disciples are yet as thorough Hebrews III
creed as they are Christians. and so they
steadily attend the services of the temple,
while they see. probably, new meaning
in the offered lamb, and feel a new power
in the choral song.
Lessons from This Lesson.-l. Jesus,
though assembled up on high is. as ne
promised to be, still present with his peo-
pie and in his Church. Peter believed II
and proved it, He is with us in our pray
ing, our striving against sin. and all our
Christian work. We want faith that
will make him our strength, and lay hold
OF him continually. Matt Is. ~; % ~;
John IA. p: 2 Cor. IL. 3; Col. l. q. =. Bad
as IL is to be born lame, it is far worse
to be born in sin. A lame soul is worse
than lame feet, and no human power can
cure it. Jesus can. TO heal guilty souls
and give a new heart is his work, ana
every sinner may prove it so upon the
asking Psalm IL. 5, 10; Cor. 8. IL; Johh
!. 3; Acts 10. 8, 9.
We should have set times and places for
the worship of Coda laboring man
needs his three meals of nutritious 1000
each day; a genteel idler may not relish
even one meal; but he who tolls with
Drawn and brain requires a regular sup
ply OF food properly prepared and denp-
erately eaten. And surely healthy
Christian will care for the soul at least as
well as this. Regularity in the time and
place of private devotions is as needful
as regularity in public services; and the
example of Peter and John teaches us
that not even eminent piety can thrive
without systematic worship of God.
Nearly all the charitable institutions Of
the world and the benevolent movements
of society depend on those who so to the
temple at the hour of prayer. When
money is needed TO relieve the world
distress men go straight to the gate of the
temple to beg. 1t is an irrefutable testi-
mony TO the worth of Christianity. The
suffering and sad have right to look for
sympathy and help from Gods people.
But the chief interest of the passage
centers around the lame man.-Consider
his probable past history. Evidently he
was we'll known to the people oversees 3.
lO). so it Is likely that his being laid
daily at the Beautiful Gate was no new
thing. If so. he had certainly seen Jesus,
perhaps often. In such a place OF con-
course he must have heard of the great
miracles wrought at or near Jerusalem
the cure of the cripple at Bethesda and of
the man born blind, and the raising of
Lazarus. Very likely he lay there on that
memorable day dt was only few weeks
before) when. after Jesus drove out the
cattle dealers and money changers. the
blind and the lame came to him in
the temple; and he healed them" Matt.
Il. 1D. How was ii he had not himself
been healed? Doubtless the obstacle was
in himself. Perhaps he actually disliked
Jesus, and sympathized with his oppo-
nents. Or perhaps he cared for nothing
but the aims he got. and was so wrapped
up in his greediness forsit as to think of
nothing else. This last supposition is sup
ported by the narrative.
The visible world is a reflex of the spir
itual. From the seen we trace our way
up to the unseen. In this lesson are four
pictures:
The picture of the sinner is shown in
the man crouching at the gate. l. He was
cripple. not a sound. complete man. The
child of God has FULL evenly developed
nature: the sinner rs one who has been
distorted, warped from completeness: and
only God can rectify him. 2.'He was
beggar Beggars abound at the doors of
churches i'm the Old World. for worship
ers oftener than intidels are apt to be
charitable. Sin is want. The sinner,
whether conscious or unconscious OF his
condition, is in the deepest need. 3. He
was outside of Gods house. There Is
some reason for believing that deformed
people were shut out of the temple q
Sam. 8. -. This man saw others entering
to commune with God, while he stood
without: and so stands every sinner.
In contrast Peter and John show US
a picture of the disciples. I. They have
fellowship. Notice how close was the in
timacy between these two men, while in
traits they were very different. They had
loving communion together; and the bond
that united them was the love of Christ.
q They have sympathy. Others passed
the cripple with shudder of disgust.
These men looked at him with love, for
whom Christ died. True charity is not a
mere almsgiving, but love of men awak-
ened by a love of Christ. 3. They have
power. AS Peter looks on this man he
feels that he can impart something to
him. We may not be able to heal mems
bodies, but we can bring salvation to their
souls. of which bodily healing is only a
shadow. Let us say. such as l have
give unto thee"
Find I'm this story picture of salvation.
I. There is human fundamentally. God
never saves men alone, He always uses
men as his workers. There is always a
Peter through whom the power of God
comes. 2. There is a moment of opportu-
nifty. No one knows how many years
that man had been brought TO the gate;
but one day he met his hour of opportu-
nifty. SO IL was with the Samaritan wom-
an, with Matthew. with the Ethiopian
nobleman. Success Is to grasp the oppor-
tunity; failure Is TO let IL pass. 3. The
power lay not i'm Peters hand. but in
Jesus's name, that is, in Jesus himself,
invoked by name. Only a divine power
can heal the cripple or make the sinner
whole L. There was effort required on
the part of the man himself.
There liz also the picture of the saved
man |. Transformation: one moment a
crouching cripple. now leaplng on the
marble floor. Greater is the change in the
converted sinner. 2. Privilege: his first act
is TO enter the Beautiful Gate and go into
Gods house for worship. .. Gratitude;
praising God, and clinging TO the apos-
ties Every saved soul should make
thankful confession. 4. Prominence; a
crowd gathering around to see the healed
man. Every convert is an advertisement