Sermon 3016. Good Cheer From Forgiven Sin

(No. 3016)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1906.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"And, behold they brought to Him a man sick ofthe palsy lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick ofthe palsy; Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you." Matthew 9:2.

"And they come unto Him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come near unto Himfor the press, they uncovered the roof where He was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sickof the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, your sins are forgiven you."

Mark2:3-5.

"And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay himbefore Him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon thehousetop and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when He saw their faith, He saidunto Him, Son, your sins are forgiven you." Luke 5:18-20.

[Other sermons upon this miracle are as follows-No. 2,337, Volume 39, THE PHYSICIAN PARDONS HIS PALSIED PATIENT and No. 2,417,Volume 41, FIRST FORGIVENESS, THEN HEALING]

THIS man was paralyzed in body, but he was very far from being paralyzed in mind. From the little we know of him, he wouldappear to have been earnest, resolute, energetic and persevering. You very seldom find persons attempting more for you thanyou, yourself, desire-and if the four men who carried this paralytic person were so zealous in getting him under the Lord'snotice, we may be morally certain that he, himself, was even more set upon it. His bearers would never have gone the lengthof breaking up the roof and letting him down upon the heads of the crowd unless he had urged them to do so. He was somethingmore than passive under such heroic treatment! If he did not suggest the plan, he evidently entered into it most willingly.

Suppose it to be your own case, my dear Hearer. Are you not persuaded that if, broken in spirit, you were to say to your friends,"let me alone, my case is hopeless," few would dream of exciting themselves to desperate efforts on your behalf, but wouldlet you lie in your apathy, according to your request? It is a rule that you must, yourself, be energetic if you are to makeother people energetic on your behalf and, therefore, it seems to me that this man had a resolute and intense spirit-and hadsuch influence over his friends that he inspired them by his eagerness, having first won them by his importunity. He besoughtthem to aid him in what had become a necessity of life-he must see Jesus. He must be brought before the great Healing One,somehow or other, and because of his personal eagerness and pressing importunity, his friends made up their minds to helphim.

We may yet discover a little more about this palsied man and it will not be mere conjecture, for, by certain rules establishedby observation and experience, we may often learn much of a character from very small circumstances. Our Lord Jesus was accustomedto address the persons who came to Him very much according to their mental condition. When one poor man, half imbecile inspirit, was brought to him, He asked him, "Will you be made whole?" He was so listless as barely to have the will to be restoredand Christ's saying, "Will you be made whole?" is evidence to us that even the poor creature's wishes had begun to slumber.Take it as a general rule that while Christ regarded the onlookers and

spoke with some view to them, yet, in the main, His first thoughts were concerning His patient and He generally spoke withan eye to that patient's case. I gather, therefore, from the fact that Jesus said to this man, "Son, be of good cheer," thathe was very greatly depressed in spirit and unhappy-and when He added not, "Your palsy shall be removed," but "Your sins areforgiven you," we are quite safe in concluding that the cause of the man's sadness was his sin, for which beyond all thingselse he desired pardon! Our Lord went straight to the root of the mischief-the man was sad, and so He cheered him. The manwas sad about his sin and so He granted him forgiveness. His palsy would, secondarily, be a fountain of bitter grief to thesick man and, therefore, the Savior dealt with it in the second place. But first and foremost, over and above all grief forhis infirmity, was his painful sense of unforgiven sin. It is not likely that he told his bearers about that, for they mightnot have been able to sympathize with such a spiritual necessity-to them he spoke of his affliction, not of his repentance,for while they would pity him for his palsy, they might have ridiculed him for his guilty conscience. The Lord, however, knewthe heart's grief without telling-He read it in the sufferer's looks. The great Sin-Forgiver knew right well that earnestgaze which meant, "Be merciful to me, a sinner," and He met that wistful glance with a smile and the cheering words, "Son,your sins are forgiven you."

I suppose that the patient was a young man, for the word, "Son," would hardly have been spoken by our Lord to a man olderthan Himself. I gather that he was a man of childlike faith, for Jesus did not call people His "sons and daughters" unlessthere was something of the childlike spirit about them. He was evidently a man of simple-hearted faith who fully believedthat Christ could forgive his sin and so it happened to him, after the rule of the Kingdom, "According to your faith, be itunto you."

The case stood thus-The paralyzed man was burdened with sin, weighed down and oppressed in conscience. This urged him to seekthe Savior. "I must see the Christ," he said. His passionate earnestness extracts a promise from the neighbors that they willtake him to Jesus. He begs them to do it now. But the Lord could not be reached, for a dense crowd shut Him in. "I must seeJesus," cries the man. His friends reply, "You cannot rise from your bed." "Carry me upon it," cries he. "But we cannot getin." "Try," he says. They reached the door and they cried, "Make room. Here is a man sick of the palsy who must see Jesus."They are gruffly answered, "Plenty of other poor men want to see Him. Why should everybody give place to you? What is theuse of pushing? There is no room for that bed here! What folly to drag a sick man into all this pressure and heat! The Prophetis speaking-you will interrupt Him. Away with you!" The bearers cannot enter. They plead and they push, but all in vain.

"Then," cries the resolute man, "take me up the back stairs. Get me to the top of the verandah and let down the bed throughthe ceiling. Run any risk for I must get to Jesus." Possibly his friends object and state the difficulties of the proceduresuggested. "Why," says one, "you will be hanging over the people's heads, for there will be no room for you when we let youdown." "Try it," he cries. "If I am let down from the top, there will be no fear of my not reaching the ground! They cannotpush me up again, or keep me on their heads! They must make room for me." His earnestness having been ingenious, now becomesinfectious! His bearers smile at his eagerness and enter into it with zest. He will give them no rest till his desire is accomplished-andso they break up the tiling, and let him down before Jesus, with the glad result described in the Gospel, "Jesus said to him,Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."

We have before us, first, a doctrine-the doctrine that it is one of the grandest comforts in the world to have your sins forgivenyou! "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you." Secondly, we have before us a question. May everyone of you havethe honesty to ask it and to answer it in your own case. The question-Have I had my sins forgiven me? For, if so, I have aright to be of good cheer and to be as merry as the birds in spring. But if not, I am destitute of the greatest comfort whichChrist, Himself, can speak to a sinner's heart.

I. Dear Hearer, let us give our hearts at once to THE DOCTRINE. It is plainly taught us here that the pardon of sin is oneof the richest comforts which the Lord can give to a man.

It is so, first, because the pardon of sin removes the heaviest sorrow which a man can feel Some know little about this grief.May the Lord cause them to mourn with broken hearts or they will perish in their sins! Those of us who have known the burdenof sin can tell you that it is a crushing load. Thoughtful persons who have seen things in their true light-honest personswho refuse to be flattered, pure-minded people who long to be right with God-all these will tell you that a sense of sin is,of all miseries, the most sharp and disquieting. To know that you have sinned against light and

knowledge with special aggravations is as a hot iron to the flesh and as a serpent's venom in the blood. There is no restday or night to a soul which carries this Hell within it-

"Sin, like a venomous disease

Infests our vital blood!

The only balm is Sovereign Grace,

And the Physician God."

I speak what I know from personal experience and I only say what many a hearer knows, too, within his own soul. Once let convictionflash in upon the soul and the world loses its fascinations-the music hall, the ballroom and the theater are robbed of theirenchantments-even business wearies and domestic joys are deprived of sweetness. A sense of sin spoils all. Guilt on the consciencehangs over everything like a funeral pall. It drowns all music with its prophetic knell and withers every green herb beneathits burning feet.

Sin, sin-what direr ill than you are, can even Satan, himself, beget? A man infected with a deadly disease is never at ease.Whatever garments he may put on, or at whatever tables he may feast, he is still unhappy because he has the arrows of deathsticking in him! Such is a man conscious of sin. Nothing can please him. Nothing can ease him till his sin is removed. Butwhen sin is gone-when he knows that he is pardoned, he is as a bird set free from its cage!

A great fire raged one night in a village and a large thatched mansion, in which a man of God resided, caught fire. It blazedfuriously, but he and his wife and the most of his children escaped. Judge of their horror when they counted them over, todiscover that one little one was missing. Nothing would content them while that dear child was in the burning house. "Mr.Wesley," his neighbor might say, "we have saved your chest of drawers. We have saved your valuable books from the house.""Ah, but," the good man would have said, "my boy is in danger." What his wife thought of it, when she recollected that littleJohn would be burned to death, I need not tell you. But when, at last, he was lifted out of the window and brought to hisparents' arms-then be sure that the good man would gather his whole family about him and bless the Lord, even though all hissubstance was consumed. Now, when a sensible man's soul is in danger, nothing can content him. He prospers in business, hishappy children play around him-but what of these while his soul remains in deadly peril? When once, through pardoned sin,his soul becomes like a brand plucked from the burning, then his daily troubles lose all their weight and his heart is fullofjoyful song! It is clear to every experienced man that the pardon of sin is an immense comfort because it removes the bitterestcause of distress and alarm.

Next, forgiveness of sin is a comfort of the first order, for, indeed, it is altogether indispensable. You may possess everyluxury, but you cannot be solidly happy until sin is forgiven. "Why!" says one, "I am really happy and yet I am not pardoned."Yes, but it is a remarkable thing that happy people of your kind are never pleased while they are quiet. They must get upan excitement and dance, or fiddle, or drink, or play the fool in some sort-or they are not happy. I call that real happinesswhich I can enjoy by the hour together in my room, alone, calmly looking into things and feeling content. I call that realjoy which I feel when I wake up at night and, though full of pain, can lie still and bless God for His goodness. It was saidof old, "Philosophers can be merry without music" and so can the saints of God! But the ungodly, as a rule, cannot enjoy themselveswithout external objects to raise their spirits. The truly happy man is satisfied from himself. A spring within him of LivingWater quenches his thirst so that he never feels the drought.

A man cannot be really happy till his sin is pardoned, because sin brings, more or less, a sense of condemnation. Picturea man in the condemned cell. Try to make him comfortable. We provide him with a dainty supper, we sing him gladsome glee,we exhibit fine pictures to him-but he is condemned to die tomorrow and he loathes our feast and our fineries. Bring in athousand pounds and make him a present of it. He looks at the golden sovereigns and he says, "What is the use of these tome?" Tell him that a rich man has left him heir to a wide estate. "Yes," he says, "but how can I enjoy it? I am condemnedto die." He is always in his dreams hearing his death-knell and picturing to himself the dreary scene when he is to be launchedinto eternity. If you could only whisper in his ear, "Her Majesty has granted you a free pardon," he would say, "You may takeaway the feast, I feel too happy to eat! All the gold in the world could not make me more delighted than I am now, as a pardonedman." When men have come out of prison, after they have been shut up for years, everything has been a joy to them. Thoughthey went home, perhaps, and found everybody dead whom they once knew, and saw their own hair turned gray through having lainso long in a moldy den, yet the sweets of liberty made the stones of the streets shine as if they were made of gold and thefields seemed like fairyland to them! Such is the

joy of pardon when it comes from our God. A man must have forgiveness, or else everything will be emptiness to him- but whenhe is absolved, he goes forth with joy and is led forth with peace!

Pardon of sins makes all our sorrows light If a condemned man is permitted to live, he will not ask whether he is to livelike a gentleman or like a peasant. When some kind-hearted men struggle to get the life of a condemned criminal spared, theman's friends think of nothing but his life. When a judge sentences a man to penal servitude for life, it may be thought ahard sentence, but you never hear of complaints when a condemned criminal has his life spared-if we find that he is to bekept a prisoner as long as he lives. The heaviest punishment seems nothing if life is spared. You heave a sigh of relief tothink that the gallows will bear one less sad fruit and you forget all about the servitude or the imprisonment which the convictwill have to endure. So, depend upon it, if you get sin pardoned and so are saved from the eternal wrath of God, you willmake no bargain with God whether you have meat to eat and raiment to put on, or are left hungry and naked! No, Lord, I willshiver in a beggar's rags with full content if I am but pardoned. I will dwell in prison with a dry crust for my food if Iam but delivered from Your wrath! Thus it is clear that the blotting out of sin takes the sting from every other sorrow.

Let me add that it makes death, itself, light! I remember the story of a felon, in those days when they used to hang peoplefor very little, indeed. A poor man, who had committed some offense, was condemned to die. While he lay waiting for the sentence,the Lord sent a choice minister of the Gospel to him and his heart was enlightened so that he found Christ. As he was on theway to the gallows, what, do you think, was this man's cry? He was overwhelmed with joy and, lifting up his hands, he saidmany times, "Oh, He is a great Forgiver! He is a great Forgiver!" Death was no terror now that he had found forgiveness throughJesus Christ! Poverty repines not when sin is removed! Sickness frets no longer when conscience is at ease! It may cost youmany a pang to feel yourself melting away in consumption, but what does it matter, now that your transgression is forgiven?Every breath may be a labor, every pulse may be a pang, but when sin is forgiven, the Lord has created such a spring ofjoywithin the heart that the soul can never faint!

Yet again, dear Friend, remember that the pardon of sin is the guarantee of every other blessing. When Christ said, "Yoursins are forgiven you," was there any question at all as to whether that paralytic man would be healed? Certainly not, forthe love which had forgiven the sufferer's sin was there to prompt the Savior to say afterwards, "Arise, take up your bed,and go unto your house." So, dear Friend, if your sin is pardoned, it is true concerning you that no good thing will God withholdfrom you who walk uprightly, and that all things work together for good to you who love God, to you who are the called accordingto His purpose. Everything between here and Heaven is secured by the Covenant of Grace for your best benefit. And you cansing-

"If sin is pardoned, I'm secure! Death has no sting beside- The Law gives sin its damning power But Christ, my Ransom, died."You shall never have a need but God will assuredly supply it since He has already bestowed on you the major blessing- theall-comprehending blessing of forgiveness! Covenant mercies follow each other like the links of a chain-"Who forgives allyour iniquities; who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving kindnessand tender mercies; who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." Do you thinkthat God forgives men their sins and then leaves them to perish? Such cruel "mercy" would be more worthy of a demon than ofthe Deity! Pardon is the pledge of everlasting love and the pledge will never be forfeited!

"Alas," cries one, "perhaps, after the Lord has forgiven me, He may yet turn again and punish me!" Listen-"The gifts and callingof God are without repentance." That is, God never repents of what He does in the way of Grace. If He forgives, He forgivesonce and for all and forever! It would be blasphemy to represent God as making a transient truce with men instead of an eternalpeace! The Lord casts the iniquities of His people into the depths of the sea and their transgressions He remembers againstthem no more forever. Is not this a blessed act of Grace? It secures the removal of all the evil results of sin and is theguarantee of all that will be needed this side of Heaven, yes, and of Glory, forever! If you do but hear Jesus say, "Yoursins are forgiven you," you may also hear Him say, "Be of good cheer," for there is everything in the fact of pardon to makeyour heart dance for joy!

We will not linger longer upon the doctrine, but make our meditation personally practical by pressing home the work of self-examination.

II. So, now, let us consider THE QUESTION, Are you forgiven?

Has God, for Christ's sake, forgiven you? "Ah," cries one, "do not judge us!" I shall not attempt to do so, but I would begyou to judge yourselves. "We cannot be sure of our salvation," answers another. Can you not? Then you ought to never be happy,for a man who is in doubt about a matter so vital as this, which involves his all, ought never to enjoy a moment's peace!How can we rest in fear of Hell, in danger of eternal wrath? Do you not long for certainties? A great novelist began a favoritestory with the sentence, "What I need is facts." In that short sentence, he expressed the longing of many a thoughtful soul-manyof us feel that we need indisputable facts. Our proverb has it, "Fast bind, fast find." Prudent men will take double careabout this weightiest of all concerns and will not be content till they are infallibly cured. I will help you to answer thisquestion by remarking that there is a way by which we may know if we are not forgiven.

We may know that we are not forgiven if we have never felt that we need forgiveness. Where guilt has never been perceived,it has never been removed. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." If I feel thatI am as good as most people and, perhaps, a little better. If I try to justify myself and think of gaining Heaven by my ownendeavors, then I am under condemnation! God has never healed the man who was never wounded, nor has He made the man alivewho was never dead. If you have never been humbled before God so as to acknowledge your sinnership, then you are still abidingunder His wrath. Think of that, I pray you, you who are at ease, wrapping yourself about in the garments of your own merits!"Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing," you may be sure that, in God's sight, "youare wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Dear Friend, I hope it is not so with you.

Again, he has never been forgiven who does not at this moment hate sin. Jesus never came to save us in our sins, but to saveus from our sins-and wherever He takes away the guilt of sin, He also kills the love of it. Sin never seems so black as whenwe see it put away by Jesus' blood. At the sight of the Cross, we grow angry with ourselves for having slain our Lord by ourtransgressions. Never dream that you can be pardoned and then be allowed to live as you did before- the very wish to do sowould show that you were still under condemnation.

Again, you are not forgiven if you have never sought Christ and His atoning blood. If you have labored by other means to procuremercy, you have not found it, for no one else can give it but the one appointed Mediator. Can your "priest" grant you pardon?Did you offend the priest? Then the priest can forgive you for offending him, but he cannot forgive you for offending God!None but God in Christ Jesus can blot out sin and you must go to Him-and if you do not, you are not forgiven, whatever youmay dream.

Once more, have you forgiven everybody else This is a home question to some minds, but remember how necessary it is to answerit. If you do not forgive everyone his brother his trespasses, neither will your Heavenly Father forgive you. There it stands,"Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us." If you cannot pardon everyone, no matter how grievousthe offense, neither has God pardoned you. A malicious heart is an unrenewed heart. A revengeful spirit is clean contraryto the Spirit of God who passes by transgression, iniquity and sin. This Truth of God may be little preached, but Holy Scripturemakes it very prominent and you will be most unwise if in any measure you ignore it. You are not forgiven if you cannot forgive!

Let me now help you, by some positive test, to see whether you are forgiven. Only one is needed-you are pardoned if you area true Believer in Jesus Christ. It is written, "Jesus seeing their faith"-that is, the faith of the four bearers, and thefaith of the man who lay upon the bed-said unto him, "Your sins are forgiven you." The poor palsied man so believed in Jesusthat his very face beamed with confidence when he came into Christ's Presence and so Jesus, seeing his faith, said to him,"Your sins are forgiven you. "Do youbelieve in Jesus? I know that you believe that Jesus Christ is God and a great Savior,but is this a mere matter of doctrine to you, or do you really believe in him? You know what it is to believe in a man sothat you can trust him and leave your affairs in his hands-do you believe in Jesus in this way? That is the faith which saves.When a man believes in Christ so as to commit himself to Christ for salvation, he believes rightly, for believing is but anotherword for trusting, relying, depending upon!

Do not trifle with this question. It is my hope that you can answer, "Yes, unless I am awfully deceived, I am trusting theblood and merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I am so trusting Him that I endeavor to follow in His footsteps and to copyHis example." Then you are saved, for "there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus."

Dwell on that word, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God." If you really trust Christ, though you haveonly done so during the last hour, your transgressions are put away and your iniquity is covered, for He immediately pardonsthem who come to Him. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from allunrighteousness." If you have confessed your sin to Him and trusted in Him, you are most assuredly cleansed by His blood!

Now for my last word. It is this. Jesus said, "Be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you." Come, then, let us be of goodcheer for our sins are forgiven. Let us be happy. Let us be merry in the Lord. Let us begin to sing for very joy of heartsbecause our sins are forgiven us for Christ's sake! We are very poor, but our sin is forgiven us. We are very weak, but oursin is forgiven us. We are, perhaps, getting very old, and near to our end, but our sin is forgiven us. We are full of infirmityand vexed with temptations, but our sin is forgiven us for His name's sake! "Son, be of good cheer," said the Savior, andshall we be otherwise? What if our room is a very small one-what does it matter-if our sin is forgiven? "Ah, but there isa sick one at home!" "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you." You know how the Master, when the disciples foundanother source of joy, turned them back to this, "Notwithstanding in this, rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you,but rather rejoice that your names are written in Heaven." And so, when you find a multitude of troubles, follow the samegood advice!

Does someone say, "I am head over heels in trouble, for I am in great straits"? Let me lay my hand upon your shoulder andsay, "Brother, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you." "Oh, but I have very little to live upon!" True, but you havethis comforting message, "Your sins are forgiven you." Be of good cheer-your Lord bids you to be so, for your sins are forgivenyou!

If you are not happy, it will be disobedience to Christ, for He commands you to "be of good cheer." It will look as if youdid not value the blessing that cost Him His blood. "Your sins are forgiven you." It cost Him His life to buy you this redemption-areyou going to groan when you get it? No doubt you are pleased to give good things to poor persons and, if so, you like to seetheir gratitude. I gave something, not many days ago, to a man and he just put it in his pocket and walked off without a word,as if he would say, "I thought you would have given me at least ten times as much." I thought, "If I had seen the way youwould take it, my Man, I would not have been in such a hurry with your gift." When you give your children a little treat,you like to see them pleased and thankful. But if they sit down and fret over your kindness, you are disappointed and arein no great haste to indulge them again! Our Heavenly Father's gifts must be valued and delighted in-if He has forgiven usour sins, let us be happy!

"Son, be of good cheer." Have some regard to the outside world, for, if they are pardoned men and women with gruesome countenances,they will infer that there is not much comfort in the Grace of God, after all. "My wife," says one, "declares that her sinsare forgiven her, yet I am sure when there is a little trouble in the house she is more downhearted than I am." "There," criesa woman, "my husband tells me that his sins are washed away, but he grumbles and murmurs till we are all made miserable byhim!" Do not let it be so. If you have a cross to carry, let us bear it joyfully for Christ's sake. If we have work to dofor Christ, let us do it with delight. Let us live to music. Let us march to Heaven to a gladsome tune, rejoicing in the Lordbecause our sins are forgiven! And let each one of us say-

"All that remains for me Is but to love and sing And wait until the angels come To bear me to the King!"

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MARK 2.

Verse 10. And again He entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was heard that He was in the house. And straightawaymany were gathered together, so that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and He preachedthe word unto them. It is a very singular fact that although man, in his natural state of heart, is opposed to the Gospel,yet he is drawn to hear it. Even though he abhors it, yet oftentimes he cannot help listening to it. Wherever Jesus Christis, whether He is present in Person, or in the preaching of the Word, it will be certain to be heard

abroad and multitudes will come to hear. The grandest attraction either in or out of Heaven is still the Savior, the LordJesus Christ!

3-5. And they came unto Him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And then they could not come near untoHim for the press, they uncovered the roof where He was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed whereon thesick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of thepalsy Son, your sins are forgiven you. In Luke'saccount of this gathering, we read that "the power of the Lord was present to heal them," and when we ask, "Why was that powerso remarkably present?" we think that one reason was because there were persons present who were anxious about the good ofothers. And, today, wherever four persons come together praying for some poor soul, you may rest assured that the power ofthe Lord will there be present to heal. I do not think that so much of the success of sermons depends upon the preacher asupon those model hearers who are all the while praying for a blessing and who are making other members of the congregation-thosewho are converted-the constant subject of their supplication. Christ blessed this man because of the faith of the four whocarried him and, possibly, because of his own faith.

Notice that our Lord did not at first say to the sick man, "You are healed of your palsy," but He said, "Your sins are forgivenyou." This was laying the axe at the root, because sin is at the bottom of sorrow-and where sin is pardoned, even the effectsof sin will be removed.

6-9. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts. Why does this Man thus speak blasphemies?Who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they so reasoned within themselves,He said unto them, Why reason you these things in your hearts? Which is easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Your sinsare forgiven you; or to say, Arise, and take up your bed, and walk? Whichever is spoken, Omnipotence is implied. The Presenceand Power of God, alone, could give efficacy to either sentence, but to Him, the one is as easy as the other.

10-14. But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, (He said to the sick of the palsy,) Isay unto you, Arise, and take up your bed, and go your way into your house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, andwent forth before them all, so that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying they never saw anything like this before.And He went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto Him, and He taught them. And as He passed by,He saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the receipt of customs, and said unto him, Follow Me. And he arose and followedhim. There is a change in the method of displaying Christ's power, but His power is always the same. To the palsied man, Hesaid "Arise, and take up your bed, and walk." But to the man engaged in a calling which degraded him, Christ said, "FollowMe" and, "he arose and followed Him." Blessed be God, we still have in our midst the living Lord who is as able to work miraclesof mercy today as when He was upon the earth! And we have not merely to exhort, to persuade and to entreat, though we haveto do all that, but we have also to speak with authority in the name of this glorious Son of God and to command men to repentand believe in Him! He is with us, by His Spirit, to make His Word mighty, so that, to this day, palsied men do arise andwalk-and sinful men are led to turn from evil and to follow Christ.

15-17. And it came to pass, that as Jesus sat at meat in Levi's house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesusand His disciples: for there were many, and they followed Him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eat with publicansand sinners, they said unto Jesus' disciples, How is it that He eats and drinks with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heardit, He said unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous,but sinners to repentance. For ordinary Christians to associate with those who are like the publicans and sinners of Christ'sday might be dangerous, for, "evil communications corrupt good manners," and Christians should be careful as to the companyin which they are found. But for Christians to go among such people to try to do them good is Christlike! The Church of Christalways fails in her duty when she looks upon any class of persons as being beneath her observation, or too far gone for herto reach. Our Lord's mission was to find out and to supply the needs of mankind-and He seems to have paid particular attentionto the very worst of men because they needed Him the most. And His Church should always be guided in her choice of work bythe necessity of the objects that need her care. And Brothers, you and I who are in the ministry will do well to choose notthat sphere in which we may be most happy and comfortable, but that one in which we are most needed. If I were a lamp andhad my choice of where I

would be hung, I should prefer to be hung up in the darkest place in London where I could be of most service. And I thinkthat everyone of us would make just such a choice if we judged rightly and desired to be where we were needed and to do asthe Savior did when He was on the earth.

18-20. And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and said unto Him, why do the disciplesof John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridegroomfast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast But the days willcome when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. While Christ was with Hispeople in Person, they could not help having joy and gladness. But when He was gone from them, they must lament His absence.

21, 22. No one sews a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up takes away from the old andthe tear is made worse. And no man puts new wine into old bottles: else the new wine does burst the bottles and the wine isspilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles. The bottles were made of skin and thewine put into them must be of a suitable port. To prescribe fasting to His disciples while He was making them glad with Hispersonal Presence would have been incongruous and absurd. And there are some things that we ought not to expect from youngChristians-and other things that we ought not to expect from old and mature Christians. We should not expect to find new winein old bottles, nor old wine in new bottles. "A place for everything, and everything in its place," is not only a rule forthe home and the merchant's counting house, but it is also a rule which should be observed in the Church of Christ, for God,as a God of order, always puts things in their proper places and in due order.

23. And it came to pass, that He went through the corn fields on the Sabbath; and the disciples began, as they went, to pluckthe ears of corn. They had offended the Pharisees by not fasting and now they were offending them again in a similar way,though with reference to a different matter!

24. And the Pharisees said unto Him, Behold, why do they on the Sabbath that which is not lawful According to some Rabbis,you might pick an ear of wheat on the Sabbath, but if you rubbed it between your hands, they said that was a sort of thievingwhich was a kind of labor that must not be performed on the Sabbath. They made all sorts of ingenious restrictions, too ridiculousfor us to quote. These disciples were, therefore, according to them, chargeable with sin because they had plucked ears ofcorn and had performed the operation of threshing them on the Sabbath. And we have some of that sort of folk living now whotake the smallest matter, which is altogether insignificant, and in which there is neither good nor harm, and magnify anddistort it-and then make a man a grave offender all for next to nothing. We have learned not to be very much troubled by anythingthat they choose to say.

25-28. And He said unto them, have you ever read what David did, when he had fled, and was hungry? He and they that were withhim? How he went into the House of God in the days of Abiather the high priest, and did eat the showbread, which is not lawfulto eat but for thepriests, andgave also to them which were with him? And He said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man,and not man for the Sabbath: therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath. He has made it to be no longer a day ofbondage, but a day of blessed rest and holy service for God! Works of necessity, works of piety and works of mercy are notonly allowed to be done, but are commanded to be done upon the Sabbath.