Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1917-05-17

hope of seeing. lie was without sym
suspected and despised wv. z,
34). PoOr-he was a beggar. He Is
also a type of the nation of Israel
3:17). We must not attempt to
explain all sickness ". -. God fire.
quently uses 1t for the advancement
Of his kingdom (John II :4). Jesus
not only passed by but he saw" The
of the crowd was that of curl
osity and contempt. His feeling was
that of compassion wv. 2. 4 and 81.
Sickness sometimes manifests Gods
sustaining grace III Cor. II :S-1O). 1t
Is doubtless true that q large percent
age of sickness is the direct result Of
sin (John 5:14; Nix. 2:5; Acts 1928,
some. of course, indirectly (Job 23:14-
3O).
II. The Cure wv. 4-11). The word
must" in verse four is q strong one.
The time for us to do our work Is
This word must" carries with
It the idea of a divine imperative, and
the reason for that imperativeness Is
the approaching might" Night Is
fast, when no man a work.
the works we are to do are not
our own, but 1.-THE works of him that
sent me-" Compare carefully verses
two and four, and see that Jesus con-
sidered delivering the man from evil
far more important than specializing
about the origin of his complaint. Too
much time is spent in investigation.
Let us have more of action. The
means used in this cure were clay and
The miracle was performed In
plain view of all who might see. The
man did not ask Jesus to help him, but
Jesus had gone where he was ". 81.
His words, go wash" were a test of
the mans faith (II Kings 5:1O-14),
and his part in the transaction was a
testimony that it was Christ who
worked the cure. The use of the
material e in this ceremony made
the man more willing to go and wash.
1t gave him something to do, and doing
is always an end to faith Sloan
means "sent," and was a type Of Jesus
himself ". 4; John 10 :36; Rom. S:3;
Gal. 4:4). If we wish to receive sight
for our blind eyes, We should 60 to
him and battle (John S:12). Prompt
was the best evidence of the
mans faith. The nature of this cure
was that it was complete ". y.
Christ's work always arouses discus
sion, and causes division wv. S-12). In
answer to an inquiry the man showed
his manliness by saying, II am the one
that was cured" Tile that sat and
begged). His frank testimony about
Jesus was not well received.
III. The Controversy ". II to end Of
chapter). This controversy gave OPP
portunity for testimony, IS we have
already seen, first Of all upon the part
of the man whose testimony was pro-
gressive. At first he merely spoke Of
the fact. He was not acquainted with
Jesus, for he calls him 1.-THE man
called Jesus" Later on he is moved
to call him a prophet" He is n
prophet ". ~, and later still he
recognizes him as 1.-THE Son of God"
wv. $3.50. This controversy estab-
lished beyond question the fact Of the
cure. 1t brought out the deity of
Christ ". 33). The man was excom-
m%unicated, but for that matter he was
already outside because of his physical
intirmity, but, best Of all, he became
truly Christ's disciple. Those who
heard him testify wanted to see Jesus
". 12). The man did not dodge the
issue when he was brought before the
enemies of Christ. His question, "How
can Il man that Is a sinner do such
signs?" was an unanswerable one, and
when he saw their hesltancy,and con-
sternation he boldly proclaimed Of
Jesus-"He is a prophet"
". Comments. This lesson with its
vivid contrasts Of belief and unbelief
gives us a wonderful opportunity to
urge upon pupils a decision to live the
Christian life. Has Christ opened the
eyes Of our scholars to the love Of
God, to the awfulness of sin, to the
need Of a Savior, our divine Leader
and Brother2 Urge them. in the class
and out, to he as outspoken and cour.
ageous for Christ as was this man who
had e before perhaps seen or
heard Of Jesus, and whose gratitude at
once called forth this wonderful con-
fession. Conditions Of healing in this
s are twofold: First, faith, and.
second, obedience. AS we have already
indicated, all sickness Is not the result
of sin, nor are we convinced that all
healing is of firth, independent Of the
Use Of remedies. We do not question
Gods ability to cure with or without
remedies; According to your faith be
1t unto you," o do we consider heal
ing by faith the highest evidence Of
the grace and power Of God as we
often infer from the testimony Of some
Christians.
Being cast out by the rules Of the
synagogue brought this man into closer
and deeper fellowship and commun.
ion with Jesus.
He had believed far enough to obey
his bidding, and had thus been healed.