St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1938-01-28
Lesson for January 80
MINISTERING TO SPIRITUAL
NEEDS

i PRIMARY TOPIC-When the House
Was Crowded.
!! JUNIOR ToPIc-Who Can Forgive
SinP
J INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOP
/ IC-Bringing People to Christ.
/! YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOP.
| Christianity Concern for Spiritual
Health.
! Man is so constantly concerned
! with his physical nature, the needs
1 and interests of his body, that he II
! prone to forget that there Is within
him spiritual nature which is In
l. fact his real self. The body which
! is the temporary dwelling place OF
the soul is most important-but rel
atively it is Of but slight signif-
canoe when considered alongside Of
the spiritual life Of man.
Our lesson presents the Lord Je-
sus as being rightly concerned with
the needs Of the palsied mans body,
but his act of healing was incidental
to the infinitely more important act
of forgiving his sins. Consider him,
for his was indeed
la Hopeless Case ". 81.
Incurably afflicted and helpless
physically, but far more deeply af-
nicted spiritually was this poor
man, for he was still in his sins. No
man was able to heal his body, only
God could heal his soul. He was
indeed hopeless until he met Jesus.
, He knows no hopeless case. With
God all things are possible, and
Jesus Christ is God.
We are even as was this man,
for without God we too are without
hope (Eph. 2:12). Let us face the
facts and admit that unless we are
saved through Christ we are eter-
nally and completely lost.
II. Impossible Conditions wv. l,
2, ~.
We say that the circumstances
surrounding this man were such as
to make it impossible for him to
reach the Lord, for so they would
have been apart from the spirit Of
divine urgency which impelled his
helpers to cut through every excuse
and brush aside every hindrance.
where there's will there's
way" Had these men been con-
trolled by convention they would
never have put their friend at the
feet of Jesus. But note that before
taking up the roof they tried the
door. They tried to use the proper
entry, but it was blocked. It often
is-sometimes by customs, some
times by religious ceremony, often
by vain philosophy.
III. Immediate Conversion ". 50.
At once Jesus sees their faith and
forgives the man his sins. God al
ways welcomes and honors faith.
Note that Jesus-who as God had
the power to forgive sins-immedi-
ately cleansed him from all un-
righteousness.
. This mans affliction proved to be
his greatest blessing. If he had not
had the palsy he might never have
met the Lord. Suffering properly
borne may be a means Of grace.
That may sound like a pious plati-
tude, but we have proved its truth
in the school Of experience. Thank
God for even the hard and trying
things that bring US to himl
". Secret Criticism wv. 6, y.
What a serious thought it is that
the unspoken word which we think
we have hidden away in the heart
or mind is known to God. "An
things are naked and opened unto
the eyes of him with whom we
have to do" (Heb. Alb. There is
nothing hid that shall not be known"
! duke 1879. What does the Lord
see when he looks into your heart
and mine?
Their theology was faultless-
their reasoning was logical, but
their premise was wrong. They
were right in saying that only God
could forgive sin. But they were
wrong in assuming that Jesus was
not God, and therefore a bias
phemer. Be careful, young man or
young woman, that the fluent
smoothness of some philosophers
logic may not make you 60 astray.
The reasonings of men apart from
the wisdom of God are often q
snare and a delusion.
v. Miraculous Confirmation wv.
8-12).
Forgiving sins was harder than
healing the body, but these enemies
of Jesus lived so much in the realm
of the physical that they missed
that important truth. He meets the
challenge of their unbelief by going
into their own limited field Of OBJ
servation. They were not able to
test the effectiveness of His forgive
ness Of sins. They did not believe
in Him, hence they would not re-
ceive it by faith. They were, how
ever, entirely able to Judge a
physical miracle, and as a miracle
Of confirmation Jesus healed the
man Of his palsy.
Let us remember that the Incl
dent took place in the early days Of
our Lords ministry. While we do
not condone their hostility to the
tender and loving service of our
Lord to humanity, we can under
stand their slowness to accept his
claims to. divine power. In our
day we have no such excuse, for
all gospel history is available to US.