The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-07-17

he was. They crowded in the front yard of his residence. On the outskirts of the crowd we see a couple of men carrying be- tween them one who was sick of the pal sy. "Oh," they say to each other, IT we can only bring our brother to Christ, he will cure him." l think, from read ing between the lines of this chapter, that the invalid himself did not care whether he saw Christ or not. He was too sick to care. His limbs hung limp and heavy. His eyelids dropped; the eyes were glassy. His skin was fiabby and almost dead. But because the inval- i'd was nine-tenths dead that made no diff ference with the two friends. As they could not push through the crowds that were jostling about the front door, they climbed up to the roof of the house. They then let down the ropes and pulled the sick man up, bed and all. Then with their axes they broke open the roof and lowered the sick man down through the roof to the feet of the Saviour, who, sec ing their faith, said unto the sick Of the palsy Son, thy sins be forgiven thee" :" And he arose. The loose muscles stiffen- ed. The eyes became alert. The blood again coursed rapidly through the clog ed arteries. He walked yea, the sick man walked. He was healed by being placed a hopeless helpless invalid, at the feet of Jesus Christ.
 Sickness has been a spiritual blessing to you. O man, as the palsy was to the invalid of old. It has placed you almost within touch of our Savior and King. For years and years you did not know what a pain meant When you heard people complaining about their invalidism you had no sympathy. You would petuantly say: ''Nine-tenths of these so-called in- valids are mere hypochrondiacs If men and women would only get up and stop their complaining and stop dosing them- selves with medicines they would be all right" When a minister in church would preach from the text, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee," you would settle back in your seat and smile. You would say to yourself: Per haps. Perhaps not. My ancestors were all long lived. l guess l will be also" Then you would complacently pat your chest as you expanded your lungs three or four inches, and you would say: Well, my ancestors never had a finer breath- ing apparatus than l have. Perhaps l shall die tonight. Perhaps not"
 But two years ago there came that sud- den attack of illness. It came almost without any warning at all. You remem- Der how your cheek became as white as that of a corpse and your lips turned blue and cold. You remember how that pneumonia stabbed at your lungs, or how that typhoid made you sink so low that for weeks and weeks yo lowered between life and death. You remember how asth- ma choked you until it seemed as though you would go mad with the agony. Aye, that sickness made out of you a changed man. When the minister now announces the text Luke, twelfth chapter and twen- tietb verse, Thou fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee" you do not flippantly say: Perhaps. Perhaps not" You know that it is not out of the range of possibilities that this night you may be brought face to face with God at the judgment seat of Christ man, even while l speak today all the good and the bad of your past life are flying swifter than the winds through your seething brain Aye they are flying as swiftly as the panorama of bygone years in second of time moves before the vision of a drowning man. Your past sicknesses have changed your feelings to- ward God. The pain at your heart is warning you that God shall bring every work unto judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil" This oay-aye, this very minute -on account of that past sick bed, thou art not far from the kingdom of God"
 Signs of the Time.
 Almost saved Yes. you are. I know it. Why? The many signs of the time tell us that hundreds and thousands of i'm mortal men and women are now enrolling themselves as Christian soldiers under the standard of the cross. And there is mighty propelling force in the power of numbers
 We all marvel at the wonderful ability of observation to which the trappers and the hunters of old were able to train their visual powers. For days and weeks the Indian scouts were able to follow their enemies across the western prairles By the twisted blades of grass and by other minute signs they were able to tell how many Indians were in the war party ahead. how many horses and cattle and squaws and papooses. During the Austro- Prussian war in 1866 Archduke Joseph of Austria was warned of an imminent night attack by gypsy soldier who was able to foresee the advance of the pursuing hosts by watching the birds fly over the Austrian encampment This soldier said to Prince Joseph: Your highness, birds sleep as well as men. These birds would not be flying about at this time of night If they had not been disturbed. The ene- my in large numbers is marching through the woods and has frightened them