Jasper County Democrat, Volume 14, Number 97, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 March 1912 — BROOKLYN TABERNACLE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BROOKLYN TABERNACLE

SIN-FORGIVENESS AND HEALING. Mark ii, 1-12—March 17. "B/e-js (he Lord, O my soul, and forget not all, Bis benefits: who forgiieth alt thine iniquir tics; who healeth all thy diseasea.”—Psalm ciii. t, 3. ' . X I HEN later the Savior return- ■ ■ I ed to Capernaum there was a crush to see and hear Him, and to bring the sick for His healing words and touch. The miracles which our Lord performed were specially with a view of getting the ear of the people for His Message—* the Gospel of the Kingdom—the goodnews of the privilege of becoming sons of God and joint-heirs with Jesus in the Messianic Government which would bless Israel and all nations with light, knowledge, and uplift from sin and death It was while He was thus preaching that sojne earnest ones brought to Him a palsied man for healing. Unable to come into the house or its court because of the throng, they removed some

of the tiling stones of the roof, and lowered the sick man into the presence of the preaching Savior. Such implicit faith, manifested by such heroic effort, could not fail to be appreciated by the Redeemer. But the unexpected happened. Instead of heal-

ing the man of his disease, Jesus exclaimed, “Thy sins are forgiven thee.” Under God’s arrangement with the Jews, under their special Law Covenant, original sin was typically atoned for by the typical sacrifices, and the people were held to account for their transgressions of the. Law. Hence, amongst the Jews, serious sickness implied serious sins. We are not to forget that such special dealings were with the Jews only —that they never applied, to Gentiles nor to Christians. God has no such Covenant with the Church, nor with the world in general today. Hence, the righteous are often sick, and sinners healthy.

Authority to Forgive Sine. There aye certain great, basic principles relating to God’s dealings with humanity which should be recognized. Jehovah's Government is based, not upon mercy, but upon Justice; as we, read, “Justice is the foundation of Thy Throne.” In one sense of the word Divine Justice never forgives and never can do so, as we will explain. We read, “All His work is perfect.” Man was thus created perfect, in the image and likeness of the Creator, and therefore needed no provision for mercy so long as he was in relation with his God. U When temptation came, man fell from Divine favor and life into disfavor and under the death sentence. But Another feature of the Divine character, Love, was brought into exercise for man’s relief. But Divine Love or Mercy could not override or interfere with Divine Justice. In other words, God could not forgive a sinner whom He had sentenced to death. What He could and did do, was to provide in due time for man’s redemption. All of Divine Mercy, therefore, flows through the channel of redemption. The Philosophy of the Forgiveness of Sins. Applying this principle to our Savior and His teachings, we ask, How could He forgive sins when Divine Justice could not forgive, sins, nor set aside the penalty of sin? The answer is, Jestis was the representative of Divine Mercy, and was at that time amongst men for the purpose of giving His life as a sacrifice on man’s account, and therefore to Him belonged the distinctive honor of forgiving sins. However, His surrender of His all did not give Him the authority to forgive sins. It was the heavenly Father’s acceptance of His consecration— His sacrifice, that counted. God’s acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice was mani-

fested in His impartation of the Holy Spirit, whl c h lighted upon Jesus like a dove, as was testified by John the Baptist, and also testified by Divine power which thereafter operated in and through Jesus for the healing of diseases. The -text for this study comes

from the Psalms and is most interesting. The Prophet David may have appropriated the words to himself as a Jew and may have thought of his own physical healing and blessing as evidences of the Lord’s favor under the Law Covenant But the prophetic application of this Psalm to spiritual Israel is still more interesting. The spiritual Israelites are new’ creatures, spirit-begotten, and have this treasure in earthen vessels. With these it is the new creature that recognizes his healing, his for giveness. and, according to God’s promise, all things are working togeth er for good to him, because he loves God and has been called according to the Divine purpose.

"Thy sins be forgiven thee."

“Justice is the foundation of thy throne."