The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1944-01-07

AESSON IGAI-MdTk 1so<-1Os
GOLDEN TEXT must work the works
Of him tina! sent me. while It is day: the
night comsth. when no man can work.
John ga.
Jesus raid that He s'must work
the works Of him that sent him"
(John 9:4). And so we find Him GO
ing straightway about His Fathers
business. 1t Is good example He
has set Tor us.
What Ee did and how He did II
will give US many lessons which we
may apply to our service. We cam
not do exactly what He did, but In
His power we may do mighty works.
We find our Lord doing four inn
portant things
I. Healing (vv. 32-34).
We will do well to include verses
1881 in our thinking, for there we
find our Lord tenderly sharing the
sorrow Of the home of a friend. One
can picture the anxious hush that
lowered over the home as distressed
relatives and friends sought to al
leviate the suffering of the one with
a fever. They knew the possibility
of a serious outcome Of the illness.
Many of us have gone through that
dark valley. All at once there was
new hope, and soon there was Joy.
Jesus had come and had brought
healing. Many of us have also
had that blessed experience.
Christianity is not a selfish faith,
IL it follows its Lord. We see in
verses 80 to "a that all the city
came to His door with the diseased
and demon-possessed, and He healed
them all.
The account of the kindly and in
telligent care Of the sick is written
large on the pages of the history of
the Christian church. We do not
have His divine touch Of immediate
healing, but we may have His COM
passion which served the multitude
with tenderness and kindness.
III. Praying wv. $3.50.
The Son of God sought out place
and a time for prayer communion
with His Father. How often we who
profess to follow Him fail to pray
at all. Certainly we need the grace
and power that prayer can bring far
more than Jesus did. But, we say,
we are so busy. So was He. We
are tired. So was He. People will
not let US alone. They also fol-
lowed Him. We make excuses, but
we have no real reasons for our UNI
fortunate delinquency.
All men were seeking Him ".
BY, but still He took the needed
time to pray. 1t has been said that
eff you are too busy to pray, you
are buster than God ever intended
you to be-" --e.t'''- s."'ses
When His disciples wanted Him,
they had to look for Him in the
place Of prayer. Christian workers
and pastors, do people find US there?
iii. Preaching wv. 38, 39).
Jesus said, "Let us 60 that /
may preach for therefore came
forth" It bears repetition that
while Jesus did many miracles (and
not for a moment would we detract
from their worth and glory, yet He
repeatedly, by word and act, empha-
sized the Importance of preaching.
Foolish though it may seem to the
natural man Il Cor. 1:18-25), preach
ing the gospel in the power of the
Holy Spirit is now, as it has been
through the centuries, Gods chosen
means Of accomplishing His pur-
pose. What pity that churches
and pastors are forsaking it for
book reviews, dramas, social hours,
forums, and what mott
God give us a revival Of great,
humble, and fearless preaching Of
the Word!
Nv. Cleansing wv. 40-45).
There is a sense in which the
cleansing Of the leper was another
act of healing, but leprosy is such
striking type of sin that the incl
dent calls for special consideration.
Leprosy is like sin in that it is a
destructive malady that pursues its
insidious way without revealing It's
true nature until it is far advanced.
It renders a man unclean, loath-
some to himself and dangerous to
others. At least such it was in the
days of our Lord.
Was there then no hope for the
leper? Yes; Jesus had come. The
smitten man cried out, eff thou
wilt, thou canst make me clean"
And Jesus said, 81 will and
he was cleansed."
So may the sinner be cleansed,
for "v'hosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved
(Rom. 1919. He win not turn the
vilest Of men away, for He came
''to seek and to save that which
was lost" (Luke 1910.
There Is another important lesson
here. The man who was cleansed
disobeyed the instructions of Jesus
". "a, with the result that the
Lords ministry in that place was
greatly limited.
We should obey the commands Of
God without question, and without
any deviation from them. Disobedi-
ence, even though it be by reason