THE MAN WITH TEN LEGS
By George W. Sinquefield
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HomewithGod.com
By George W. Sinquefield
Mark 2:1 through Mark 2:5 (KJV)
1 And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. 2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. 3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. 4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
These four men brought a man to Jesus -- a man who was paralyzed and could not help himself. One has said, "What about this man with ten legs? Yonder he comes down the street on his way to a gospel service. Two of the ten legs are his own but he is not using them. He would if he could but he can't -- they are both paralyzed. The other eight are borrowed legs, eight legs that he has borrowed from four friends until he is able to use his own and those eight legs are bringing him to a gospel service where the world's greatest preacher is the attraction?"
This poor man could not help himself and this is true of a lost person. He is spiritually dead and what can a dead person do?
Eph. 2:1 (KJV)
John 5:24 (KJV)
Jesus came to give life to the dead and that includes all of mankind.
John 1:4 (KJV)
John 3:36 (KJV)
John 6:33 (KJV)
John 10:10 (KJV)
Rom. 4:17 (KJV)
To quicken is to make alive and that is what Jesus does when one repents of sin and accepts Him as Savior.
I. These Four Men Loved Him.
Love motivates us to help those in need. A couple once asked a well known Christian woman how they could reach people for Christ in their neighborhood. She wisely responded. "When someone has a need, be the first to fill it." That is the love of Christ in action -- something each of us can do.
A lady once said to an artist, "I look at the same scene but I cannot see in it all that you see. Why is that?" He replied, "You will not see with your eyes until you see with your heart."
They had compassion on him and that always drives one to do what he can for the needy.
Luke 10:30 through Luke 10:37 (KJV)
Some time ago a revealing experiment was performed at the Princeton Theological Seminary. Twenty theologians were instructed to go to a recording studio and make a tape recording of their interpretation and understanding of the story of the Good Samaritan. Twenty students in a second group were told to go to the same recording studio to participate in a career study program. They were to give a talk on their future career and their idea of ministry. Unknown to the students, a professional actor had been hired to stage an act for them as they walked along the route from the dormitory to the recording studio. As the students passed by he clutched his heart and gasped, "Oh, this is a big one!" With that, he toppled over. Sixty percent of the students did not stop. They trudged right on to keep their appointments with the tape recorder. The article, published in a magazine call Human Behavior, comments: "Some who were planning their dissertation on the Good Samaritan literally stepped over the slumped body as they hurried along."
The priest and the levite passed by on the other side. No doubt but that they were busy with their "religious duties" but the real reason why they passed by without helping this poor man was they had no compassion for him.
We need to be concerned about others. If we are Christians we will be. Once when Gen. Wm. Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, wanted to send an inspiring greeting to his troops all over the world, the cost was too great so he sent one word, "others."
Many of us are afraid of dogs. It is a common fear. The immortal scientist Louis Pasteur was far more frightened of dogs than most people. Even a distant bark would terrify him. In his mind he could still see a mad wolf which raged through his boyhood village bringing agony and death to many of his neighbors. "I have always been haunted by the cries of those victims," he said time and again. Yet in 1882, past the age of 60, Pasteur gave up all his other studies in an intense search for a cure for rabies. For three long years, in spite of his deepseated fears, he risked his life living with mad dogs. At last he came through with a vaccine to cure the victims of rabies. On a July night in 1885 he tried the first injection on a little boy whose life seemed doomed. The boy lived. The remembered agony of his neighbors spurred Louis Pasteur to find a cure for this dread disease.
Some years ago Geo. Holmes, of the State Sunday School Department in Alabama spake in Huntsville and told this true story. "One rainy Sunday night, just at the beginning of the service a man handed me a note. I finished my message and then read the note. An elderly lady, whose mind was not right, had wandered away from her home and was lost. Men were needed to search for her. Every man went home and got into his boots and raincoat and joined in the search. The hunted all night and when morning came some of them went to their jobs without any sleep. One was lost and they were concerned."
Chapter 13 of First Corinthians is known as the love chapter of the Bible. It declares that "love never fails." It never fails to do what can be done for the needy and suffering.
Matthew 5:44 tells us to love our neighbor. The lawyer asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus answered him with the story of the Good Samaritan. Our neighbor is not always the person sho lives near us. He is anyone who needs our help. Time and again the Bible tells us to love one another.
John 15:12 (KJV)
Rom. 13:8 (KJV)
1 John 3:11 (KJV)
1 John 3:18 (KJV)
Some anonymous writer has given us this wonderful advice. "Be a spend thrift in love. Love is the one treasure that multiplies by division; it is the one gift that grows bigger the more you take from it. It is the one business in which it pays to be an absolute spend thrift. Give it away, throw it away, splash it over, empty your pockets, shake the basket, turn the glass upside down and tomorrow you will have more than ever."
II. These Four Men Helped Each Other.
Much can be accomplished when people work together. As a Ethiopean proverb put it, "When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion."
Three of them might have gotten him there but it would have been difficult. Two of them through much struggle, might have gotten him there but it was much easier with all four helping.
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
All have a share in the beauty,
All have a part in the plan.
What does it matter what duty
Falls to the lot of man?
Someone has blended the plaster,
And someone has carried the stone;
Neither the man nor the master
Ever has builded alone.
Making a roof from the weather,
Or building a house for the King,
Only by working together
Have men accomplished a thing.
III. They Helped The Lord.
Some tell us the Lord does not need our help. He'll save the lost when He wants to. The Bible tells us differently.
Matt. 5:16 (KJV)
Over an English pulpit are these words, "Christ alone can save the world but alone Christ cannot save the world for He needs you."
A physician said when he was a medical student, he attended an operation where a great surgeon did the work. His assistant failed to come and he chose me to help him save that life. "How proud I was to be chosen to help this great man."
Spurgeon said, "I realized that God could save the world without me, but when He told me that I might help Him, I praised Him for the honor and priviledge." The Lord appreciates what we do for Him and promises to reward us for such service.
Matt. 10:42 (KJV)
1 Cor. 15:58 (KJV)
Do you think that when we see Jesus He'll thank us for helping Him? He'll say, "Well done good and faithful servant" and what a reward that will be.
IV. They Let Nothing Discourage Them.
We often become discouraged and quit. I've known pastors, deacons, teachers and others throw up their hands and quit because of discouragement. But not these four men. The situation was such that many would not even attempt to get this man in the persence of Jesus but these men were determined to find a way and they did.
A woman in China was saved. She wanted her mother to come to church so she too could hear about Jesus and be saved. But her mother had a hip disease and couldn't walk. So every Sunday this woman carried her mother on her back many miles to the church.
I know a man who has many times prayed, "Lord, send the lost to church so they can hear the gospel and be saved. He didn't believe in visitation. He said the church building was there and they know they are welcome. He didn't see why it was necessary to visit them.
One pastor had this to say to his people; "I'll ask you, dear people, if it is not sheer presumption asking God to do the job He has given us to do? Why ask God to send the unsaved in when He has told us to go out and bring them in? How do we expect God to send them in? He has no legs but ours; no hands but ours; no voice but ours. Whom will He use to invite sinners to come to church? He can't use angels. They would scare sinners to death. He has given this task, not to angels, but to men. If our compassion for the lost is genuine it will lead to action. Dr. Torrey said; "No prayer is sincere unless we do our utmost to get our prayer answered." A man might as well whistle to the moon as ask God to save souls while he does nothing to save them. Christ never told His disciples to stay at home and wait for sinners to come to them.
V. They Succeeded In Their Efforts.
Jesus honored their faith and healed and saved the man. Oh, the joy of seeing someone you've prayed for and witnessed to for years come to Jesus.
Psa. 126:6 (KJV)
Who in that crowd got the biggest thrill that day when Jesus healed and saved that man?
Yes, it was these four men who brought him to Jesus. One has said, "When you help someone up a hill, you are that much nearer to the top." I say that when you help a lost soul to come to Jesus and find salvation, you are nearer to heaven than you have ever been. Jesus gave us the recipe for a full and joyous life.
Matt. 16:24 through Matt. 16:25 (KJV)
Anthony Campolo tells about a young woman who made a commitment of her life to Christ but still found life depressing and boring. She went to a psychotherapist for help, but after several sessions with him, felt that the effort was futile. Then one day she came into her therapist's office with her face radiant with excitement. "I've had the most wonderful day, " she said. "This morning I could not get my car started, so I called the pastor and asked him if he could drive me to my appointment with you. He said he would, but on the way he had to stop by the hospital and make a few calls. I went with him and while I was in the hospital I visited some elderly people in one of the wards. I read from the Bible and prayed with them. By the time the morning was over, I was higher than a kite. I haven't felt this good in years."
16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
