The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-02-13
 INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY-SCHOOL LESSON
Copyright, Davis W. Clark.)
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wv " - S~ sS~ ~~~ Save for my daily range
 Among the pleasant fields of Holy Writ, might despair. -Tennyson.
 First Quarter. Lesson VII. Mark if,
 1-12. February IA, 1904.
 Jesus Forgives Sins.
 Capernaum was by adoption Jesus own city. He made it the center of his missionary tours. He wrought more mir acles. preached more sermons there than in any other one place He recognized 1t as his residence by paying his tax there-"usinS," as a quaint writer says. "a fish's mouth as the purse from which | he took the coin for the tax-gatherer. It was no matter of caprice that Jesus | went there. It was the center of popu- lation. And the combined population of the district approximated three million souls Comparatively remote from the ecclesiastical center of Palestine, the prejudice to the new Teacher and his doctrine was correspondingly less. There | Jesus reached the masses" There was an irresistible attractiveness in Jesus. People flew to him like iron-hlings to | magnet. He drew men to himself. He could not be hid. He Is still the most at- tractive and conspicuous parsonage of 1 all nlStOrys anu, naVIhB Deen lIteO up' is drawing an ever-increasing multitude to himself. But each must determine for himself whether this attraction shall re- suit in a permanent attachment to the Master. Alas for Capernaum! 1t was for the most part curiosity, or mere bodily healing. or loaves and fishes, that brought the populace to Jesus; and so a city exalted to heaven Is brought down to hell. It Is an utter desolation. as in- | ia ha vvh Igy boat floats on Galilee, where once a good ly fleet rode at anchor. Jesus, words. | Woe unto thee, Capernaum!" seem to wake the echoes of a complete desola- ton. Once when Jesus, in the very house where he was seeking repose, was besleged by an audience that completely choked up the courtyard and the very | approach to it, stirring incident occur l red. Four men, one or more of whom may have had a personal and happy ex- perience of Jesus power to heal. picked up an afflicted friend as he lay upon his J mat. and brought him joyously and con- fdently to the great Healer. They were not dashed when they found the ordi- nary approach hopelessly blocked. They did not lay the sufferer down in the street. or even return with him to his dwelling They wero the kind who take the kingdom of heaven by storm. They carried the paralytic up the outside stair case to the fiat roof They dug up the hard. sun-drled. earthen roof, enough to admit of their lowering their friend into the room below. There were helping hands reached up from the astonished auditors below. and the sufferer was gently and safely landed at Jesus feet. A mute, but powerful appeal, that! Jesus first words were indescribably comfort ing: Son, be of good cheer" But there is a surprising change in the formula. It is not A rebuke to disease. It IS a cate sorical. authoritative remission of sin. Lne startling words could not escape the notice of the inQuisitorial coterie of scribes and Pharisees. It was not intend ed they should. It was Jesus gauntlet at their feet They picked 1t up, but not in audible words of dissent. Omniscience unveiled their unspoken words as Jesus said: "Omnipotence knows nothing of de- grees. One thing Is not easier or l. lrder to it than another. It is equally as easy to forgive as to heal, and vice versa. But that you may know that have au- thority and power to do both. I will also say to this utterly powerless person, Arise" He spake, and 1t was done. No wonder the people said, as the au- dience dispersed: We have seen strange things today" "our eyes never beheld anything to match this scene" We never saw 1t on this fashion,
 The Teachers Lantern.
 An admirable example, this. of strong and practical human sympathy.
 "Art thou stricken in life's battle?
 Many wounded round thee lie.''
 This gathering up of those who have been felled to earth by diversity, dis ease. and sin; this carrying them in the arms of a strong faith to Him. who is mighty to save-'t is angelic work!
 Power of combination-see that, too. in this stirring word-pdcture. No one of carried his friend to Jesus. The four to- gether did 1t with ease. The children of this world are wiser in this respect It Is the age of combination in every sphere. Much spiritual force is frittered away in sporadic effort. Let Christians get together" for the accomplishment of definite ends.
 Persistence Is finely illustrated here. No one of the four got weary in we'll doing, or let go his corner of the mat tress Faint hearts would have failed at sight of such obstacles. But these be- lievers were not made of such stun. They did not once look back. They ran their furrow to the end of the field. This IS ehO qAoANy hAdN AtlS III every sphere. in religion no less than in art. iitera- ture. commerce. exploration, and all.
 Conventional rules wers broken and set at naught that day. The sermon was in- terrupted. Plaster came rattling down on the heads of the auditors. Property was injured But what of that, so a sinner was saved? Welcome any mode that really brings the unsaved to the golden mercy-seat. Public =ss>rshipl Ia a