The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1902-07-03
A DOUBLE BLESSING.
Forgiveness of Sins and Bestowal of
Temporal Blessings.
Sermon by the "Highway and Byway'
Preacher on the Cleansing and
Healing of the Man Sick.
with the Palsy.

| VIII tAc NUASSs
copyright, 1902, by A. N. Kellogg Newspa-
per Col
| Chicago,
Text: whether is easier, to say: Thy
sins be forgiven thee or to say: Rise up
| and walk?' But that ye may know that
| the Son of Man hath power upon earth to
| forgive sins (Fie said unto the sick of the
palsy, say unto thee: Arise. and take up
| thy couch, and go into thine house. And
| Immediately he rose up before them, and
| took up that whereon he lay, and depart
ed to his own house. glorifying God. Luke
$685..
Take your Bible and read the beau
tiful and stirring story of the healing
of the man sick with the palsy, as re-
corded by Luke, in the fifth chapter
of his gospel, from the seventeenth to
the twenty-sixth verse. Jesus has re-
| turned to Capernaum, the center OF
some of His mightiest works. 1mmedi-
ately the news of His coming is noised
! abroad. The sixteenth verse tells us
that just previous to this He had with
drawn himself to the wilderness, there
| to commune in secret with the Father
and obtain from Him the strength and
refreshing that was necessary to the
carrying out of His great mission. He
has been missed. On previous Sab
bath day He had cast out the devil
from a man in the synagogue, had
healed Peters wife's mother, and had
| spent the closing hours of the busy
day in laying His hand on all who were
brought to Him sick with divers dis
eases and healing them.
And now, on His return, those in
need flock to this great Healer and
Teacher and later go away and say:
1--WE have seen strange things to-
day" Blessedly strange because He
gave So differently from the way in
which the world gave, and spake as
never man spake before. And it Is
| ever thus. Where Jesus is in mani
fest power there are strange things
wrought, and souls are blest. But
the critics of our Lord were there,
Pharisees and doctors of the law.
You will always find them where the
Lord is at work. There, to hinder
and not to help. There, not to glori-
fy God for His mighty works, but to
criticise the manner in which the
work is done. The Lords methods
did not quite fit into the cold formal
ism, and ritualism, and traditional
ism of the leaders of the Jews. Nor
| can church, or denomination, or
creed, or ritualism, or fanaticism, or
conservatism dictate to-day the times
and seasons of Gods visitation, or
monopolize the ways and channels
through which the Holy Spirit shall
| operate.
| The power of the Lord was present
to heal them, and they came. From
all over that thriving, bustling city
of Capernaum the people gathered
until the court of the house where the
Lord was became crowded, and the
| street without was filled with the
eager throng. Behind the rest, be-
cause hindered by the burden they
were carrying, came the men bear
ing the bedridden paralytic. Could
we have been there, we might have
overheard him wearily protesting to
those who were bearing him that
the crowd was blocking the way, and
he would never be able to see Jesus,
and so they had better carry him
back home. But no, they knew that
hope lay ahead, and that faith would
find way. All, loyal, persistent
friends, what an example they have
been throughout the centuries to
those who are laboring to bring
some friend to Christ. There is al
ways some way of getting them into
the presence of Jesus, even if all for
mality has to be cast to the winds
and the frown Of the modern Phari-
sees and doctors of the law. has to
be faced. To the roof they go with
their helpless burden, and their
eager hands soon have the things
thrown to one side and way made
to the presence of Jesus.
It is always possible to get into
the presence of Jesus, but it is not
always easy. Sometimes the people
are between you and Jesus. You
know you ought to come. The con-
victing power of God has wrought in
your heart and convinced you that
| you need to see Jesus, but you hesi-
tate. The people are between you
and Jesus. You have not the cour-
| age of your convictions to pass
| them. You cannot endure their gaze,
and their sneer, perhaps, or their
chatting. The crowd got between
Jesus and Zacheus, but he needs
must see Jesus, and he climbed up
into the sycamine tree and that day
became the butt for all the rude
| jokes of the passing, motley throng,
but he saw Jesus, and the Lord went
and took dinner with him, and. de-
clared before He left that salvation
had come to Zacheus' house. That
was blessed reward for all the hu-
initiation of the sycanine tree. Yours
may be like experience if you will
| put aside pride and endure the trial
of the effort to see Jesus. You may
have to climb to the roof and become
gazing stock for the world, you
may have to tear away the tiles OF