The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1906-02-16

- . A<eoSShSi
Copyright, 1906 by Joseph b. Bowles)
! Scripture: Mark 1:21-34
: Golden Text: "He healed many that
were sick"
Some one has said that in this les
son we spend Sabbath with Jesus.
We go with, Him 10 church, listen to
His preaching, watch Him when inter
rupted by maniac cast out the evil
spirit, and then make the cure
powerful aid to preaching. After the
service we accompany Him TO Peters
house, and see Him cure Peters aged
mother of a fever, and there spend the
afternoon in quiet and rest. Towards
sunset we see the people of the village
bringing to Him a great number of
sick folk on whom He lays His hands
and heals. Thus Jesus spent one of
the days of His life. And busy day
1t was.
Christ as a Teacher
Our lesson sets Christ forth as zone
Who taught with authority, and not as
the scribes." The teaching of Jesus
struck the people like a panic. They
} had been used TO the dry-as-dust teach
ing Of the Scribes; Jesus spoke liv-
ing, not a mechanical message. He ex-
planned the Scriptures not as a COM
I mentator but as the author. Christ's
message was first-hand He spoke as
one who knew.
e Christ's Teachings Authoritative To-
Day.
Conscience is not the ultimate rule
of life, the final arbiter in the ques-
tions of the soul. While we recognize
j that the conscience is the viceregent
OF God in the soul, the religious in
stinct in man, yet we must also be
y aware that it is a faculty that can be
warped, d. .gged, misguided and ST.
e fenced Therefore it cannot be de-
=" pended upon as an absolutely correct
n criterion Of truth and conduct.
y Reason Is Not the Ultimate Author
:, ity.
: A man may say that he needs no
other revelation than his own reason,
y or that he will accept nothing in the
p" Bible saving what accords with his
ar reason. thereby making his reason
N and not the revelation Of God the cri-
terion of right and wrong. Inasmuch
~ however, as different men have differ
ent reasons" for doing, believing and
ID Judging things, we become at once IN
II volved in a maze of conflicting stand
rs ards of truth and we are left hope
On lessly in the dark. Reason therefore
cannot be the ultimate authority IN
90 matters of faith and practice.
Words of Jesus Final and Authorize
en- tive.
When Jesus Christ has spoken there
nb Is nothing more to be said. Wher
ii Christ has passed His judgment, Their
is no appeal from it, His words ar
~ final and authoritative. Jesus said
tn. HE that rejecteth Me, and receivet1
not My words, hath one that judget
Ter him: The word that I have spoken
ge the same shall judge him in the las
'U day" Thus we see that the words o
Christ are not only to be the stand
ard of our conduct here and now. bu
the standard by which we shall b
r judged hereafter
OF Jesus as q Miracle Worker.
e. Miracles were not the principal pal
IN of Christ's work. They were alway
te subordinate More than once Chris
ig expressed the fear that men might
ry tempted to make miracles the mo-
70 prominent part Of His work, and thu
u advertise Him as a healer of men
rs bodies rather than the saviour
ne their souls. That was the reason WI
We again and again He forbade tho
'd' Whom He had healed to advertise Il
ID healing. This is vastly different fro
rs certain sects to-day who make "he;
ings" the principal thing, and soul-sa
ing subsidiary. Miracles were mere
incidental to the soul-saving work
Christ.
Miracles Typical of Jesus Desire
on Help Men.
20 Jesus never wrought miracles
=, prove to the people that He was t
~ Messiah. Indeed the challenge to ca
- Himself down from the pinnacle
10 10 the temple was a temptation of t
10 devil to make Christ miraculous
:. prove to the waiting people in {
o, courts below that He was the Nj
Gu siah. This He resolutely refused
i'S do. Nor were the miracles perform
'u for the purpose of persuading me
They were tokens Of Christ's willir
ness to relieve the distresses of me
We Should Help Men.
a Christ's mission is ours likewi
ne. AS He was sent into the world
Ter the Father, so are we sent by
ed, Son. Our fellows are bowed doV
he with spiritual ailments far more sc
al Gus than the physically of Chris
of day. The soul has its diseases j.
nd as well as the body. The spiritua
IN blind. the moral leper, the man de
it'll to the things of God, all these ne
the healing touch of the Christ. 1t
the duty of the church to see to
that these are brought into conti
with the Great Physician.
,bit Christ Casts Out Demons.
am. Demoniacal possession was comm
If a in the day of Christ. Whether It
vvbotbo, not M