The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1902-06-06

lying before Him, thanks to their |
| faithfulness, and said unto him, |
| Man, thy sins are forgiven thee"
| All, how these words of Jesus throw |
new light into the picture of this |
mans need, and we realize that He |
| sees not as man seeth. The strain |
! ing eyes of the pressing throng in |
| the courtyard and the doorway see |
| only a poor paralytic needing heal |
ing. Jesus looks deeper and search |
| ing the depths of the human heart |
| sees sin there and need of cleansing. |
| The man is conscious of but one |
need. He desires above everything |
else strength in his wasted limbs
and new vigor in his nerve centers.
His thought is conferred in this life
and all hope is bound up in the sum
of the years he may live this side
the grave. But the words of Jesus
awaken within him new sense of
need, and the way is paved for a
double blessing.
This double blessing is that to which
Jesus referred when He said: "Seek
first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness, and all these things
shall be added unto you" The para
lytic as he is being borne to the pres
ence of Jesus realizes but one need and
has but one supreme desire, that of
| physical and temporary blessing, but
when face to face with Jesus he be-
comes conscious of greater need, that
of cleansing from sin.
Face to face with Jesus. 1t is heart
searching position to be in. No trying
to make the dark places in the hidden
recesses of the heart look clean and
presentable. Then is borne in upon
the soul that decIarat ton of Gods Word
that the "Heart is deceitful above all
things and desperately wicked, who
can know it." Yea, who can know 1T
but God? Who can fathOm its depths
of iniquity but the searching eye of the
. omnipotent God? When Peter came
, face to face with Jesus on that morn
; ing after the weary night of toll with
; | his partners and had taken nothing,
: and launched out into the deep at the
, bidding of Jesus and let down the net,
and the miraculous draught of fishes
almost brake the nets. the first thing
he became conscious of, as he realized
: he was in the presence of the Son of
God. was that he was a sinful man. In
the agony of his lost condition, he cries
, out: Depart from me, for / am sin
= full man, o Lord" And when a soul
: gets into that broken condition, then is
= when Jesus does not depart, but comes
very near and with the loving touch
p of His nail-pierced hands covers the
r sin spots and wipes them out forever.
= Jacob. the usurper, with the black
stain of the lie still fresh upon his
r lips, comes to Bethel, as he fees from
9 the murderous wrath of his brother.
7 When he wakes in the morning after
the visit of God to him in that wonder
Z full vision he exclaims: "How dreadful
, is this place." Yes, it is a dreadful
place to come, into the presence of
! God. There is where the hidden sins
q of the heart begin to parade them
q selves. All. what an array of them
o there are. Sins unknown to our best
: friends. and which we have hidden
:, away from mortal eyes; but the pene-
= trating eve of the all-seeing God
4 searches them out. He knows they are
q there. You cannot escape Him.
O As John the Baptist prepared the
+ way for the coming of Jesus what was
d the burden of his message? Repent
: ye.' The Jewish nation was watching
n for and expecting a king. but it first
+ needed a Saviour from sin. They are GO
d ing to have a King some day, blessed
+ be the faithfulness of God, and He will
q be "this same Jesus which is taken up
n from YOU into Heaven" But like null
o. titudes in the world to-day, they were
/ seeking "alI these things" instead OF
n the Kingdom of God and His righteous
= ness and lost everything. Jesus began
Is His ministry with the same message:
i "Repent ye." And Repent We" is the
n message that is needed in the world to-
h day. Face to face with Jesus brings
If agony of soul. but it leaves behind the
g blessing which sends one forth, like
IL the paralytic, clarifying and praising
the Lord.
- Friend, have you been face to face
~ with Jesus?
10 The man of our text was brought t6
=, Jesus, desiring deliverance from palsy
of the body. Jesus gave him first de
!, liverance from palsy of the soul No
- tice the implication in the words o.
:; the text: whether is easier to say
-, THY sins are forgiven thee or to say
- Rise up and walk?'" A question of the
- greater power required in forgiveness!
of sin or in the healing of the body
One held up against the other in con
trast. "But that We may know tina
- the Son of Man hath power upon eartl
= to forgive sins Gle said unto the sicl
y of the palsy, say unto thee, arise
y How patient the Lord is with us IL
&c our unbelief. He leads us step b,
3 step from the seen to the unseen, from
III the material to the spiritual, not will
ing that one should perish, but tina
Oh all should come unto the knowledge o
al the truth. "And Immediately h
u rose up" And as the gathered multi
rs tude opens up a passageway to tn
III street and sees the man go back to hi
al home clarifying God, it knows
~ mighty miracle has been wrought, ant
ne vet mightier and more glorious mir
'u acle had been enacted but a momen
OF before, which was just as immediat
Is, in its accomplishment. The instan
ly the heart of that sin-scarred ma,
reached out after Jesus and the Lor
ed spoke the words: MAN, thy sins ar
ed forgiven thee" that soul had passe
ed from death unto life. a transforma
ch ton scene had taken place in the pres
ad ence of the Father, the God of the uni
lie verse, and the mans record in tn
he Judgment book of Heaven was blotte
lie out for ever, a clean page was turne
to for him, and at its head was write,
of the name of Jesus, and with tina