Spirit Jesus

Jesus intended to heal the paralyzed man, but he did so by first of all saying, “Thy sins are forgiven thee.”

There are some in this house of prayer this morning who are spiritually paralyzed. They have eyes and they see the gospel; they have ears and they have heard it, and heard it attentively too; but they are so paralyzed they will honestly tell you, that they cannot lay hold upon the promise of God; they cannot believe in Jeuss to the saving of their souls.

If you urge them to pray, they say ‘We try to pray, but it is not acceptable prayer.’ If you bid them have confidence, they will tell you, though not in so many words perhaps, that they are given up to despair. Their mournful ditty is:

“I would but cannot sing;
I would, but cannot pray;
For Satan meets me when I try,
And frights my soul away.

I would, but can’t repeat,
Though I endeavor oft;
This stony heart can ne’er relent
Till Jesus makes it soft.

I would, but cannot love,
Though woo’d by love divine;
No arguments have power to move
A soul so base as mine.

O could I but believe!
Then all would easy be;
I would but cannot — Lord, relieve
My help must come from thee!”

The bottom of this paralysis is sin upon the conscience, working death in them. They are sensible of their guilt, but powerless to believe that the crimson fountain can remove it; they are alive only to sorrow, despondency, and agony. Sin paralyzes them with despair.

I grant you that into this despair there enters largely the element of unbelief, which is sinful, but I hope there is also in it a measure of sincere repentance, which bears in it the hope of something better.

Our poor awakened paralytics sometimes hope that they may be forgiven, but they cannot believe it; they cannot rejoice; they cannot cast themselves on Jesus; they are utterly wihtout strength…

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