Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1918-01-20


faith Is OF that quality that recognizes
no obstacles and triumphs over an
parent dlSappoln,ments Such was the
faith OF tho palsied man and his
friends In this lesson. They knew
by reputc that Jesus had the power
OF healing and they were convinced
he had the Willingness 10 heal this
particular ease IL II could be brought
no his attention. They did not ask
the Great Physician 10 come to the
crippled man ana cure him, but went
after the remedy. In this they are
much different from many OF us who
think ourselves NJ SO much Importance
In Gods sight that we expect his
blessings to be all cut and dried like
"a piece OF machinery that Is ready To
bo assembled and that all we have to
do is to receive. IL we have a proper
estimate OF divine favor we can well
afford 10 so after the blessing and,
llko Jacob wrestlo nightly until 1t IL
granted
The outstanding merit OF these
imens faith was its persistence. They
were not turned aside by obsta cles,
When they found the house whore
Jesus vas SO crowded they could not
gain entrance thru the door, they
promptly went up on the roof and
I lot his bed down before the Master.
have mid, 20 well, we tried To get To
Jesus. but the crowd would not let
uS u H. not our fault that the-I
lpnralNtic Is not cured, for We trl.d
and failed because OF obstacles over
which we had no control" This IL the
common attitude OF great many
people nowadays In cNcustng their
failures a method which rs known In
colluqulnl pnrlnnCe as the 'ulibi" 10
j. the tavorlto resort of the coward.
ne has faith enough 10 make "A feeble
'attcNpt but not faith enough to carry
him over hstaulcs And IN this very
thing many of us fan short not simply
|uf our d0tS, but of the realization of
our most glorious privileges. Because
Jesus n always ready az in this les.
SOP To recognize genuine faith ana
prompt to reward It, J
/ What astoushcd Tie flult-flndcrs
prcscut.Was thot, instead OF giving the
expected physical relief he proceeded
90 heal first The mana soul This man
lprubnhly shared the prevalent belief
of THIS time that he Who was the VIC
tina Of any mlFfortune was simply pay
iTg tlfc penalty OF some sin, Tor siclc-
ness ma death were regarded hs
divine punishmcuts rather Nan the
course of natures laws So to ease
the mans prime anxiety he first FOR.
lGlVes his Sins, and leaves The physical
healing Tor later characterization of
his divinity to astound the critical
Ibcrihcs. BCgldes, the great Idea that
possessed the throngs VT people who
followed lhG Savior about was
largely a selfish and matcrlnlistic CON
I Ccption. They followed him more for
he healing aud feeding than for any
icNPcCtaiiOn or understanding of his
, IHpirlual mission. Here then was an
object l6%On to these matcrialists.
Jesus had Nhe power to forgive sins
, ana heal the soul as well AZ the body.
, The first conception Of the scribcs
/ seems to have been ono OF horror at
what they considered blasphemy the
, fact that Jesus by inference laid claim
, 10 powers that belonged To God only,
Like many Il pious man OF the present,
, their minds had run SO long In one
, rut that they were unable 20 under
| stand truths that had the quality OF
novelty, Il at disturbed their hard and
fast lotions of what was right and
J Luuc. II s wen for us To remember
that. eyen as these scrihes. we have
not come into possessi0n of all truth.
There Is bound 60 he from time TO
, time new demonstrations Of the grace
land power of God. and some OF these
, may upset the notions we now con-
, slider settled fncts. IL We would learn
! of Cod we must recognize that the
! revelations Of his grace are not closed
because the inspired word has reached
r. It's final page. or because some fathers
/ in the church have set bounds and
| limitations of their own making upon
| our knowledge OF God Otherwise
| I've are liable to be IA far from God
as were these scribes and be guilty
4 like them OF trying to oppose the
progress Of Gods eternal purposes.
| More than this. the ,scribes were
| there particularly To find fault, rather
| than to learn, and when he pronounced
| forgiveness of sins they thot among
| themselves that here was an instance
where ~ was going to fail In the ex-
crcise of his miraculous power OF heal
| ing They were already jealous of the
| Influence Christ had acquired over the
! common people and saw their own
| domination OF the Jewish race fading
| away before the great light Ut the new
| teacher Like many OF our Jealous
| lreligionists who think more of the ims
| portance OF maintaining the dignity OF
| crecds and-sects than OF doing tho Will
| of cod. they were/con&erned. not about
| the salvation of Israel. but about hold
| ing their Jobs. II this Galileean W,
| start should wean away the epeopie
| from the hierarchy OF Jorsualcm, these
scrlhcs woull have nosmore power or
| dignity than any othef self appointed
| CtdrdiHflS of the people. Nltt thls
| motige at the back; they followed
| Jesus relentlessly uutll the end They
! wonId have rejolced to catch him in
| n failure. and for this reason the
| grcater was their chagrin when Jesus
| read their hearts and answered their
| objections before they were spoken,
J Thelr petty fault finding looks
dcspicublc 10 us. yet It was prompted
! lby motives Just as high as many OF
o~ present. day methods Thph
| spiritual eyes were blinded by long
| Years Of iron-cla allegiance TO an un-
| spiritual theology. religion Of dry
forms and Of heartless subservieace to
| taW. Instead Of worshipping Jehovah
| ltbev wurshipped the forms he had
ordYIned Instead OF looking for the
| "a @ation Of Gods chosen people they
were consumed with anxiety for the
preservatiou of the forms and cere-
monies upon which they depended to
1 Il. - al