The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-03-18
Digit
/GhhAS Rutland, VT
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
TIE KING OF THE
SPIRIT UAL WORLD.
international Bible Lesson for Mar.
20, 'to.-(Mstt. e:1-t3).

'HAIlHdNOHaI biple Lesson TOT MAR /
20, 'to.-(Matt. 9:1-t3).
The open sore Of the world is sin.
Sin is the chronic disease OF every
nation. every tribe. on this terrestrial
ball. 1t is the one universal and al
conquering curse which has bafYed
oil the physicians and deied all he
remedies. From the first man uul
nov there has not been an accoun q.
bic human being who could lay his
hand upon his heart and say, This
he-rt has never sinned
The Ase-Long Problem.
The problem Of the ages las been,
How to get rid of sin. ueatheu m
asks it as well as civilization. Ma.
tioas in darkness and in death hive
knaiD on the banks OF rivers. and IN
tho shores Of seas, and in the GeHar-
ing iungies, and on the mountain tors.
stretching out pleading hands to ,ue
stars and to the waters and to lie
shadows, wailing forth the uuivc al
cry, What shall we do to be ssy ?
But the rivers have rolled on ind .r-
emily, and the waves have spit Fir
spray into their faces, and the g 70
have sent not one ray of light into re
darkness of the soul, nor healed the
wound Of the world
The old Romans had a horrible pun.
ishment sometimes inflicted upon
murderer They bound the body Of
the victim to the assassin's back and
compelled him to carry that loathsoMe
object until life or reason fed 1t was
in reference to this custom chat F lul
represents the man who is conscious
of his inability to escape from his sins
| as crying out, o wIetched man that |
am. who shall deliver me from tnis
| body of death?.
| A New Creation.
1t is into such world as this that
the King comes to institute a kingdom
! into which there shall enter nothing
| that defleth. Where then will he find
! his subjects if he expects to build that
kingdom out of human hearts, sine
all have sinned and come shor, Ji
the glory of God? There is only one
alternative He must prove Himself
the king OF the spiritual world
forming a new kingdom on earth ii f.
was to be no improvement over tnose
already in existence Change Of rll-
ers would be of no value if the sch.
jeCts were not also changed. To mere
ly teach men without affecting their
hearts is to add to their ability TO sin.
Enlightenment without righteousness
Is a curse. What is needed is a pI.i-
tication of the stream of life at tie
fountain head, so that the current
will flow pure and sweet.
He must be able to accOmpl sh
practically a new creation. We have
seen that He is King of the physical
wOrld.-He can reconstruct the body.
We have seen that He is King OF .he
material world, He can control tnc
= laws of nature. Is He also the * ng
of the spiritual wOrld-has the son
of Man power on earth to forgive sin
The answer is not far to seek. The
time has now come to show that He
can deal effectually with the dark di So
ease of sin, and when man Sick of
the palsy" is brought to Him, he looks
into the patients heart, touches tho
springs of His conscience, discovers
that the sufferer is troubled about his
sin more than about his disease, and
recognizing the broken and contrra
spirit, announces His absolution IN
the words, Be of good cheer thy sins
are forgiven. Then having healed .ne
wound Of the soul. the Saviour goes Oh
to give the lesser blessing of phys cal
healing and the palsied man goes
home to his house, every whit who e.
The Divine Method.
From that time forth Jesus never
failed to claim and exercise the power
to forgive sins. Whenever and wher-
ever He found a penitent He pro
nounced the divine absolution. "rhy
faith hath saved thee, go in peace.
Neither do | condemn thee, go 'rd
sin no more" ] came not to coll he
righteous, but sinners 70 repeuJau O.. -
-'Tbat ye may know, that the Sol If
Man hath power on earth TO to- g
sins This is the method the J. 1g
adopted to secure candidates for tLe
spiritual kingdom. He took all sC"rs
of sinners, men and women great rul
small Nicodemus and Mary nagj--
lene-the publican, the Pharisee the
harriet, the protane fisherman, the eui-
tured, intellectual giant, Paul. nd
He made out Of such material. v7'e
! saints, great-hearted Christians ,o--
ner stones in the spiritual temple "a
commonwealth of kings and queeoc.
lie not only forgaye their iniquJie3
/ but He gave them power to walk
henceforth unspotted from the world.
| They lived their lives thereaf or
among men, advocating the very high
est standards, and were known and
real Of all men. The world has been
obliged to confess of them as of their
/ Master, We find no fault in them
Evidence Conclusive.