And Why Not Me?
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 7, 1890,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Behold, there came a leper and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if You
will, You can make me clean. And Jesusput forth His hand and touched
him, saying, I will, be you clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed." Matthew 8:2,3.
MATTHEW has placed this miracle immediately after the sermon on the
mount. In all probability some little time intervened in which our Lord
had preached at Capernaum and had also healed the people in the street,
as we read just now in the first chapter of Mark. It was not the object
of Matthew to arrange his facts precisely in the order of time–he had
another end in view. After the sermon on the mount he gives us
remarkable miracles, as if to teach us that our Lord's Words were
confirmed by His works. Our Lord was mighty both in word and deed. His
kingdom comes not only with truth, but with power. He worked miracles
that men might see with their eyes that the power of God was upon Him
and might know that He spoke with Divine authority.
At this day, Beloved, it is even so. Power goes forth with the
preaching of the Gospel. The Words of the Lord Jesus are spirit and
life–they are in themselves full of authority and we ought to accept
them with ready faith–but since we are slow to believe, the Lord
continues to work as well as speak. The "signs following" are still to
be perceived–blind eyes are opened, deaf ears are unstopped, hearts of
stone are turned to flesh and the dead in sin are quickened. Conversion
by Divine Grace follows the proclamation of the Doctrines of Grace, for
the Word of God is with power. Beloved, we have beheld wonders of
regenerating power in our own midst and therefore we are bound to
believe in Jesus more and more. Blessed be the Divine power which
confirms the Word!
Jesus is never known in the full authority of His Word until the Holy
Spirit makes us feel the glory of His work within our hearts. We have
the Word and we pray for more of the work. The Lord speaks to us
graciously in the Gospel ministry. Oh, that He would now work with us,
also, to His own glory! When our Lord spoke, His Words were winged in
such a way that they flew far afield. He was heard, not only by the
nearer company of His disciples and by a great multitude who gathered
about Him, but His Words were carried home by the people as they
returned to their cottages among the hills, or to their dwellings by
the sea.
They flew abroad as doves whose wings were covered with silver and they
lighted in strange places. His Words had so much pungency about them
that they could not be forgotten. They had so much of force in them
that they worked mightily on the minds of men and were repeated by
those who heard them. Among the rest, the Words of the Lord Jesus came
to a poor leper who dwelt alone outside a city wall. We know little
about him–even his name is not mentioned– but to him, also, the glad
tidings of a Savior came. He spent much of his time in solitude, or in
begging, for he could not follow the pursuits of men, nor earn his
bread like other men. The disease of despair was upon him and none
could help him in his trouble. He had heard of Jesus and, perhaps, on
the edge of the crowd had heard Him speak. He felt that there was
something Divine about the Preacher who spoke as never man spoke–this
aroused hope within him–he came to Jesus and was healed. What was his
name, or his descent, or previous history, we do not know. He ranks
among the notable anonymous of earth whose names are written in Heaven.
No one among you knows where God's Word will fly this day–it may be
blessed to some outcast in the bush who will read it and find mercy of
the Lord. Our congregation is a singular one–made up of persons of
every condition of life–from almost every country under Heaven! And in
it there are specialties of character unknown to the preacher, but the
Lord can bless all who hear it. God has brought them here and since the
word that shall be spoken is a repetition of Christ's own Word and is
the same Gospel which Jesus preached, we expect that it will fly far
and wide and will call many a sin-sick soul to the great Physician's
feet. The Lord grant it!
As I have often preached upon this leper, you are well acquainted with
the story and must almost wonder that I should speak upon him again. I
do so that I may dwell upon one single point of it which, I trust, may
encourage souls to come to Jesus. I have a burning thirst upon me for
the salvation of souls! Where is the man or woman who will give me
drink by coming to my Lord? Note the special object of
observation–"Behold, there came a leper." Upon this I have to say, in
the first place, that he came of himself. Secondly, that he came by
himself, having no comrade to cheer him in the venture. And thirdly,
that he was in himself regarded for coming.
I. First, then–and this is the main point of this morning's
discourse–HE CAME OF HIMSELF. Read in Scripture concerning the
miracles of Christ and you will be struck with the way in which many
were led to Him. A friendly hand conducted the blind, or conducted the
little children. Some were bodily brought to Christ. We read of a
paralyzed man who was "borne of four" and they let him down by ropes
through the ceiling to the place where Jesus stood. Others could not
come or be brought, but the Lord went to them where they were, on their
beds, or waiting at the pool. But here is a case of a man who came by
himself, on his own account.
I want you to note this because I am persuaded that we have around us
those who have nobody to lead them to Christ. Nobody to pray for them.
Nobody to persuade, exhort, or entreat them–and these may come through
the direct operations of the Holy Spirit upon their souls. These are
left outside the pale, dwelling on the other side of the line of
Christian effort–but they are not beyond the Grace of God! This leper
came of himself. Though none called him, he plucked up courage and it
is written as a wonder–"Behold, there came a leper and worshipped
Him."
Note well that this man knew in himself that his case was a terrible
one. I do not intend to describe the dreadful disease of leprosy. We
have, on other occasions, viewed it as God's appointed picture of sin.
It was a living death, a source of misery, a center of defilement–and
such is sin. Medical men are not clear as to whether the leprosy was
ordinarily infectious. It is now believed that it is contagious to a
certain degree, but there was no pressing sanitary reason why lepers
should have been shut out from all society. The Lord, who intended
leprosy under the old theocracy to be the picture of sin, ordained that
when once a man was a leper, he should be regarded as unclean in
himself and so polluting that every person and thing that he touched
became unclean.
Hence the leper was dreaded in his every approach to his fellows. He
was looked upon as dead while he lived and his case was viewed as
beyond human help. Remember how the king of Israel cried out, "Am I
God, to kill and to make alive, that this man does send unto me to
recover a man of his leprosy?" If a leper did recover it was regarded
as a making alive, a resurrection from death. This man knew, even
better than anybody else, in what a wretched and loathsome state he
was. His disease was ever before him. Leprosy is awful to look
upon–what must it be to feel? Leprosy is terrible in description–what
must it be in actual endurance?
He knew that now, at last, he had come to the last stage of his malady,
for Luke describes him as "full of leprosy." He had come to the final
stage and the disease was conspicuous upon him. His skin was foul and
his joints were rotting. Very likely his fingers, his teeth and hair
were gone and soon he must die. Such was the mass of moving death of
which we read, "Behold, there came a leper to Him." But he was not kept
back by the fact that he was hopelessly and loathsomely diseased. Let
us learn the lesson well. I earnestly pray that some poor guilty one,
conscious of sin, horrified of himself, may now venture to come to
Jesus! Though he feels the foul disease within him and fears that it
has come to its worst, yet may he be emboldened to approach Him who can
at once make him clean!
If you feel yourself to be a mass of loathsomeness and corruption, or,
worse still, hardened and insensible in conscience, yet come to Jesus
for healing! Even though you are truly described in our hymn as
"self-abhorred," yet come to Him who will not abhor you! Come at once,
saying, "Lord, if You will, You can make me clean." Let desperate cases
come! Let hopeless cases come! I am imploring the Lord to let it be so.
O my Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, I entreat you, plead with me!
Note with regard to this man, that others gave him up as hopeless.
Persons hurried past him if he stood near the city gate. He was bound,
himself, to warn them off by crying, "Unclear, unclean." To him the
sweets of friendship and all the comforts of domestic life were
unknown–he was a castoff and a castaway. The rulers of his people had
looked upon him and pronounced him unclean and, therefore, he was
banished from among men!
Is there such a one before me? Do your relatives shun you? Do people in
decent society avoid you? Oh, that you had Divine Grace and faith to
come to Jesus just as you are and fall at His feet and worship Him,
for, rest assured, He can
make you clean and give you a name and a place among His people! The
hopeless are the very people that Jesus loves to save!
No one could or would take him to Jesus. He was too foul to be touched,
too far gone to be the subject of hope. Here and there we meet with
persons who have so often disappointed their friends that it is small
wonder that they now keep them at a distance. Even an affectionate
mother has said, "We have tried him many times, Sir, but it is of no
use. We cannot help him any more for he has drained the family." The
father almost prays to forget the prodigal and the elder brother wishes
never to see him again. It is a hard case when it comes to that–but
such hard cases there are. The world has in it men of whom society is
sick. The profligate has been to this charitable person and to the
other benevolent individual until everyone is weary of the
peter-do-well and no one feels that he could associate with him without
becoming himself suspected of vice.
By common consent he is judged to be unfit for a reformatory, but well
worthy of a prison. No one reasons with him, entreats him, or prays for
him. He floats over the ocean of life as an abandoned wreck. He has
turned infidel, lately, and even his loving sister, who used to plead
with him with tears in her eyes, now shudders when he comes near
because his language has grown so sarcastic and blasphemous that the
dear girl cannot bear it. Now that no man cares for your soul, how
earnestly do I wish that you would care for it yourself! Oh that you
would form the singular and saving resolve that you will go to the Lord
Jesus on your own account and so frustrate all the evil prophecies
which have been uttered concerning you!
Why will you perish, poor Soul? Why will you die? If there is such a
person now before me, I pray from the bottom of my soul that he or she
may now, with fixed determination, come to Jesus! O you angels, may you
now have cause to cry out again, "Behold, there came a leper and
worshipped Him!" There is one hand which would gladly lead you to
Jesus– I stretch it out to you this morning. There is yet one heart
that would plead with you to seek salvation–and if there is not
another in the world, yet come along with you, come just as you
are–and show your misery to the Lord of Mercy! Men have written out
your death warrant, but the Lord Jesus has not signed it and therefore
it cannot be executed.
They call you a castaway, but the Lord gathers together the outcasts of
Israel. His longsuffering in sparing your life means your salvation–
"While the lamp holds out to burn, The vilest sinner may return."
Come, then, with all your sin about you! Repent of your transgressions
and believe in Jesus, and you shall be clean! In this man's case there
was no precedent to encourage him. I do not find that our Lord had
healed a leper up to that time. I do not think there was a case of the
sort. Many diseases He had dealt with, but the Blessed One had not yet
encountered "a man full of leprosy." When there are plenty of
precedents, there is a kind of paved way for us to travel–but this man
had to make his own track. We can reason–"My father and my brother
came to Jesus and were saved–why should not I?" This man could use no
such argument. I wonder whether the poor creature had heard what Jesus
said in the synagogue at Capernaum–it could not have been long
before–"Many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the Prophet,
and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian."
I wonder whether he drew any kind of comfort from that utterance?
Perhaps not. In any case, he must boldly lead the way and be the first
leper that came to Jesus. O my Hearer, if never such a sinner as you
are has been saved, make bold to lead the way! Dare to approach the
living Lord who can make you clean! Do not despair, even though you may
not have heard of another sinner of your sort that ever was forgiven.
As to the most of you, my dear Hearers, you and the leper must part
company on this point. He had no precedents, but you have very many.
You know that Christ has saved sinners all around you. Some of you have
at home a brother who was as bad as yourself, but he is now converted.
You have heard your father tell how far he went astray and yet the Lord
brought him to Himself.
Many of us now present can assure you that, "This Man receives
sinners," for He received us. We can witness, assuredly, that He is
abundantly able to save, for He has manifested that power in our cases.
With these precedents, wherein the Lord Jesus has saved persons like
yourself, come to Him, I pray you, and prove that He is the same now,
as ever. Are you a drunkard? Many drunkards have been rescued from
their degrading vice! Are you a thief? A liar? A Sabbath-breaker? Such
were some of us–but we are washed and made clean! Yes, if you have
been an adulterer, or a
murderer–can I say worse?–"all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be
forgiven unto men." Men of the vilest sort have been saved! Why not
come to the Lord with confidence, even as this leper came, and put your
trust in Him?
Furthermore, this man had no promise. I do not find that Jesus ever
said, "Come unto Me, you lepers, and I will heal you." I do not know
that any of His Apostles had been sent forth to preach, saying, "Come
to Jesus, all you lepers, and He will cleanse you." There was no
promise to that effect, save that our Lord Himself is a consolidated
promise. The very fact of His being here below is a mountain range of
promises to our fallen race! Without any verbal promise, this man came
and said, "Lord, if You will, You can." My dear Hearers, I cannot say
to any of you that you may not come to Jesus because there is no
promise for you. Far from it! If there were no promise, I would exhort
you to seek mercy as the Ninevites did when they said, "Who can tell?"
But the promises are plentiful as the stars. "Let the wicked forsake
his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto
the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will
abundantly pardon." "Whoever confesses and forsakes his sins shall find
mercy." "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved." "Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." Will you not be drawn by
these promises and will you not come when such a promise as this stands
before you–"Him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out"? The
blessed doctrine of Election does not hinder you, for all who come are
elect! The sacred Truth of the new birth does not bar you, for he that
believes is born again! I pray you, come and show yourself to the great
Healer and He will not turn you away.
Again, this man had no invitation. Our Lord had not called him. He had
never said, "Come, you lepers; come, and be healed." There was nobody
to command or persuade him to come. There was nobody to cheer him in
coming, much less any to compel him to come! Of himself, constrained by
a Divine impulse unknown to anybody else, this leper resolved to come
and found himself welcome though he had not been expressly bidden. To
you, my dear Hearers, I cannot say that you have no invitation, for we
are always crying to you, Come, you weary and heavy laden. Come, for
Jesus calls. "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. Whoever will, let him
come and take of the Water of Life freely."
The invitations of mercy are sent out on a broad scale since we are bid
to "preach the Gospel to every creature." "Whoever will, let him come."
Yes, they of the hedges and the highways are to be compelled to come
in! What shall I say? If you are lost, it will not be for lack of an
invitation! If you turn your back on Christ, you shall not say in Hell
that you were not entreated to come to Him! I implore you to come to
Jesus even as this leper came and I pray the Holy Spirit to make my
entreaties effectual with you.
This leper was bold in coming to Jesus because, having nobody to
encourage him, he must have felt himself ashamed as a lone man in the
midst of the multitude. Well he might, for he had no right to be there.
Does anybody this morning say, looking round on this great audience,
"Here am I, a stranger to everybody. Nobody knows me and if they did,
they would not associate with me. I am out of place among the people of
God"? Are you laboring under an awful sense of sin? Are you bowed down
under your own unworthiness? Do you feel as one lost in a crowd? The
crowd there was nothing very remarkable, but the leper's coming to
Jesus was a very notable fact, a scene worth looking at. Hence we see
the word, "Behold!" He is coming! Yes, he dares to come! The crowd
makes way and the leper falls at Jesus' feet and worships Him, saying,
"Lord, if You will, You can make me clean."
Glory be to God, the leper is at the feet of Jesus where infinite love
and power are bending over him! O my Friend, will you not make a dash
for it at this moment? You need not rise up and make any manifest
demonstration–but you can in spirit bow at the feet of our Lord! Oh,
that the Spirit of God would move you to come to Jesus now! Never mind
the crowd! You are put apart by your own feelings. Your broken heart
has driven you into a solitary condition. Now come to Jesus before the
crowd disperses! Though angels will see it and devils will see it, yet
come! Oh, that I could cry– "Behold! Here is a sinner who now, at
once, and in this place, casts himself at Jesus' feet!"
Grant it, O God! O God the Holy Spirit, work it and work it now, we
pray You! And unto the name of Jesus shall be glory evermore! This is
our first head–the leper came of himself, though no one aided or
encouraged him.
II. Secondly, THE LEPER CAME BY HIMSELF. This is very unlike the case
of the 10 lepers who came to Jesus in a company, concerning whom He
asked the question, "Where are the nine?" It is easy to go where 10 are
going, but harder to go alone. There are many things which people
readily do in company with others that they would not venture upon as
separate individuals. My Hearer, there is only one of you and when that
one feels himself to be loathsome and vile, it seems a daring thing for
him to come to Jesus by himself. Yet I trust you will so come.
Here I would enlarge by observing, first, that no doubt the leper
thought out this matter by himself. Being often alone, he meditated
upon what he had heard concerning this great Preacher and he considered
both His doctrine and His miracles and drew his own conclusions. There
is always hope for a man when he begins to think about the Lord Jesus–
the worst of it is that so many hearers of the Gospel put their
thinking out and do none of it at home. This man thought over the
matter calmly, candidly and hopefully. And he drew from it a solid,
manifest and practical conclusion with reference to himself. He did not
rest in a general theory about all the world, but he found out a Truth
of God which concerned himself.
Having done so, he came to the conclusion that our Lord was Omnipotent
to heal. Mark well that he came to this conclusion with regard to
himself. Is it, "Lord, if You will, You can make lepers clean"? No, it
was a far more personal conclusion. "If You will, You can make me
clean." That was the crucial point. Jesus could save him, even him!
Long ago I believed that Christ could save my brothers and sisters–I
never had a doubt about that. I never doubted our Lord's power to save
anybody until I thought of myself–and then there seemed to be just one
case which His Omnipotence did not cover. I did not see how Jesus was
to save me. Singular as it may seem, when a man is under a sense of sin
he will not deny the Omnipotent power of God's Grace as to all the rest
of mankind–but secretly he will shut himself out from the range of
mercy.
Strange cruelty to the self he loves so well! He thinks himself to be
just over the border–just beyond the reach of Divine Grace. This man
was not so foolish! He argued, "I am a leper. Yes, but God has healed
lepers. I am a leper in the worst state, for I am full of leprosy–and
with God all things are possible. This Man is sent of God and the power
of God is with Him. Therefore I conclude that He can cleanse me if He
will." It was well done of the leper. It is a fine thing to have come
to such a rational and just conclusion. I wish every person here would
come to that conclusion about his own soul! Though you must condemn
yourself. Though the harshest expression I could use would not slander
you in your own esteem, yet it comes to this, thinking it all
over–"Christ can save you if He so wills." You are not shut out by any
Word of Scripture, or by any lack of love or power on the part of the
Savior! If you are worse than others, the Infinite Grace of God will be
seen all the more in your salvation! Jesus can save you–even you!
Still thinking the subject over, he saw where the matter hinged.
Everything depended on our Lord's will. Some say that the leper doubted
the willingness of Christ–I greatly doubt this interpretation of his
words. He simply stated a great Truth of God. If Jesus only willed it,
the leper could be made clean without His saying or doing anything! The
whole work depended on the Lord's will that it should be done. His will
was the spring of the healing power. Does anybody doubt this? In the
work of salvation certain preachers are continually insisting upon the
freedom of the human will. Truly with these I raise no quarrel–but I
would have them equally insist upon the freedom of the Divine will.
Christ has a right to save whom He pleases and though He saves all who
trust Him, this, also, is not without His will. He said to this man, "I
will," and there is no instance in Scripture of a suppliant for healing
to whom He said, "I will not." Yet His saving Grace lies under the
control of His own Sovereignty–He is no man's debtor–He may do as He
wills with His own. It is most certain that, "it is not of him that
wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy." "He will
have mercy on whom He will have mercy." This man, in his lonely
thoughts, had struck upon this golden nugget of Truth! He saw that his
hope lay in the will of Christ and where could it lie better?
I am afraid that in this matter he excelled some of you, for his own
will was right enough, but I fear that, in the cases of some of you,
your own will is not yet right with God. It goes without saying that
the leper's will was in a right condition and therefore he appeals to
Jesus. Is Jesus willing? There was no fear as to that matter! I want
all seekers to know that your salvation can now be worked by the will
of Jesus. He has made you willing to receive and He is assuredly
willing to give. If you are saved it will not be because you deserve
it, but because He freely gives where He pleases, according to the
royal bounty of His heart. This man had found out a grand Truth of God
when he saw that his healing depended upon the will of the Savior.
Then he submitted himself to that will with joyful hope. He could not
know, of a certainty that he would be healed, for Jesus had not as yet
spoken of healing leprosy–but he was positive that He could do it if
He would. It is a great thing to believe in the Omnipotence of Jesus in
the matter of salvation. We have a great advantage over the leper, for
we know that He wills to save all sinners who come to Him. The leper
set himself before Christ and said, in effect, "Here I am. You
see what a wretched creature I am–no worse can ever come to You. But
yet, if You will, You can make me clean. I leave my case with You." He
prayed intensely, but it was rather in dumb show than in words–but
Jesus knew what he meant.
This was the man's practical conclusion from his lonely thinking and he
expressed it before the Lord in words all his own. In the few words he
used he borrowed nothing from any book of prayers, or manual of
devotion. He was, in fact, a man of his own order, standing apart from
all others. The result of his private thoughts was a brave avowal of
his faith in the Omnipotence of Jesus. He did homage to Jesus. He
kneeled before Him and worshipped Him. I believe that he did this with
the full persuasion of His Deity, for I do not think he could have
said, "If You will, You can make me clean," unless he had believed that
Jesus was God.
Our Savior did not say, "Rise up! You must not worship Me, for I am
only a man and to worship Me would be sheer idolatry." No. Our Lord did
not repudiate Divine honors when they were offered to Him by His
followers! He accepted them as a matter of right, since He counted it
not robbery to be equal with God. This man trusted Him whom He
worshipped and worshipped Him whom he trusted. With reverent, humble,
importunate prayer he set forth his case and left it in the Savior's
hands. Oh, that my Hearers would imitate him! I groan in spirit till
this is so. The leper came alone. He came not through persuading
friends. I am afraid that some people join the Church because other
people press them to do so–this is a mistake.
Some will say that they believe in Jesus because it will give pleasure
to earnest friends–this is mischievous. The leper was under no
excitement. He was not the fungus of a revival, but the fruit of Divine
Grace! He did not go into an inquiry room and see all the rest zealous
about Jesus and therefore become subject to a like feeling. No! He came
alone and came deliberately! And he bowed himself at Jesus' feet. I
want any here who are quite unused to religious influences, who have no
mother to put her arms around their neck and pray for them, no friends
to explain the things of God to them, nevertheless to come to Jesus!
You need a Savior! Do you feel that you do? Though not accompanied by
others, yet come to Jesus! Come alone, and by yourself. Come at once to
Christ and cast yourself at His feet.
The thoughtful individual Believer is often one of the best of
converts, for he is most to be relied on. I like much those who are not
imitators, but take their own course in coming to Jesus. Some are
carried off their legs during a time of religious excitement and think
they are converted when they are not. Some profess faith because their
brothers and sisters and friends are doing so–but it is not
sufficiently an individual matter of heart with them. I set the leper
before you as an example of the courage which comes to Jesus by itself,
whether others will come or forbear. I have kept to my one point up to
now and I have all the while been praying the Lord to bring all my
unconverted hearers to Jesus now.
III. I close by saying that THIS MAN HIMSELF WAS REWARDED FOR COMING.
Our Lord saw to it that he
came not in vain. Poor Soul! Suffering as he was and in dread of a
terrible death, he no sooner began to come to Christ than our Lord
regarded him with His sympathy. He looked at him with a different look
from what the leper had ever received before. When others glanced at
the leper they went by as quickly as they could. And if some came face
to face with him they turned away their eyes from the ghastly
spectacle. Nobody pitied lepers in those days, for they judged them to
be smitten of God. They were the objects of horror among men because
they were viewed as objects of the wrath of the Most High.
But when Jesus saw the afflicted man, we read in Mark that, "He was
moved with compassion." I do not think I could fully interpret the
Greek word into English. I could hardly pronounce it, since there is
such a complication of consonants in it. Did you ever see a man
overcome with emotion? His heart seems to swell. His bosom heaves and
tears burst forth. In our Lord's case His whole being was stirred. The
depths of His spirit were agitated. He was moved– moved with a
fellow-feeling. As soon as He saw the leper at His feet His very look
said, "Alas, poor Soul, what have you suffered! Into what a state of
loathsomeness are you brought! You are to men as a living dung hill,
but I do not despise you, I love you. I sympathize with you."
Now, my Hearer, if you will come to Christ that is how He will meet
you. If you sorrow, He sorrows for you. If you loathe sin, He loathes
it more than you do and He has pity for the sinner. He is moved with
compassion over your miserable state. As the man came, his lone coming
was rewarded by our Lord touching him. Nobody else would have touched
this man. Peter, James, John and all the rest would have drawn back
their garments lest they should come into contact with a leper. As for
the crowd, he had no difficulty in making his way, for they gave way
before him and he had a ready gangway for himself. But now the Savior
touched him! There was something wonderfully cheering in that touch!
I have heard of a lady who cared for poor crippled children. She found
one which was so deformed, diseased, ill-humored and continually crying
that no one felt able to love it. She was nursing the child, but the
task was no pleasure to her, for, do what she would, the poor child
seemed always to cry and always to act an unlovely part. The good woman
pitied the child but could not love it. As she had the poor creature in
her lap, she dozed and dreamed that Jesus came and bowed over her and
told her that, as to her soul, she, also, was sick and loathsome in His
sight–but yet He loved her and would manifest Himself to her.
When she came to herself, she looked at the poor, misshapen child and
again felt an aversion to it because it was so wretchedly deformed, so
disgustingly full of sores and so passionate and peevish. Under the
power of the vision she had beheld, all her feeling of disgust went
from her. She felt great tenderness of soul. She pressed the little one
to her bosom and kissed its poor, blotchy face. The child opened its
eyes with wonder, for it had never been kissed before–and by that kiss
a new world was opened to it! The little one became a grateful, happy
patient, and was no longer a burden to those who cared for it. How much
may come of so little!
Even thus our Lord's personal touch of us heals us! His touch, in
effect, said to the leper, "I do not loathe you–I will not keep away
from you. I will come very near to you. I will bring a heavenly
contagion to you and, instead of your communicating disease, you shall
receive of My health." Jesus Christ the Lord will come to you, poor
Seeker, and touch you and prove Himself to be your Brother and your
Friend! Dear Soul, if you will touch Jesus, He will touch you! If you
believe in Him, He will manifest Himself to you! And this morning, you
that saw no image but your leprous selves when you came here, shall go
home seeing no image but the Incarnate God glorified in saving you!
The Lord rewarded his submission with the Sovereign Word, "I will." As
I have already told you, Jesus never says to a seeking soul, "I will
not." If you but cast yourself at His feet and believe that He is able
to save you, He will say, "I will." The, "I will," of an emperor may
have great power over his dominions, but the, "I will," of Christ
drives death and Hell before Him! It conquers disease, removes despair
and floods the world with mercy! The Lord's, "I will," can put away
your leprosy of sin and make you perfectly whole! Let there be no
mistake about it–I mean you, my Hearer, even you upon whom I look at
this moment. To you is the Word of this salvation sent!
As a reward to the man's faith, our Lord gave a cure and, to increase
the wonder, an immediate cure. "Immediately his leprosy was cleansed."
How so great a change could be worked we cannot tell. To dissect a
miracle is absurd! Every part of the body had been long out of order,
certain secretions had been poisoned and certain vessels destroyed. And
yet that one command, "Be you clean," restored the leper's ruined
frame, then and there! He that created can restore! Can God turn a
sinner into a saint in a moment? He can. Niagara comes crashing down
from the precipice of rock–could Omnipotence reverse those deeds and
make them leap upwards? God can do all things! In the moral world He is
as mighty as in the outer universe.
The heart is hard as adamant or as the lower millstone–can He make it
soft? Yes, in a moment He can make it tender as bleeding flesh. Do you
believe this? If so, submit yourself to the Divine energy and ask that
this be done unto you! Only believe, without any sort of doubt, that
Jesus is the incarnate God and therefore has all power over human
nature to pardon and to cleanse. Jesus can save you though you stand
between the open jaws of Hell! Jesus can save you though you are
foulness itself, through lying soaked in the filthy lye of lust and
unbelief. He can, with a Word, make you whiter than snow! Do you
believe this? If you believe this, I say, test it by submitting
yourself to Jesus that He may be a Savior to you. He will say, "I will,
be you clean."
Now to close. I have set the gate of mercy wide open, will you not
enter? Oh, that the secret power of the Holy Spirit may gently incline
you! By God's help I have thrown out a big net and I hope some of you
will be entangled in its meshes. I travail in birth for you this day
till you are born unto Jesus! One thing we may say about this poor
leper's case–he could not be any worse if he came to Jesus and was
refused–for already he was "full of leprosy." He could be no loser by
his appeal to Jesus! And you, my Hearer, if you will trust in Jesus,
you can be no worse. You can but perish if you go to Him. But, Beloved,
it is not possible for Jesus to repel a sinner who comes to Him! He has
said, "Him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out."
Though he is a leper. Though he comes without precedent, without
promise, without invitation–yet if he does but come the Lord can in no
way or manner cast him out! The Gospel cry is, "Come and welcome!"
Jesus loves to see men in health. He takes no pleasure in disease and
pain. It is a joy to Him to cleanse and to make whole the souls of men.
You
will be a happy man if Christ saves you, but Christ will have the
bigger share of the happiness, since this was the joy that was set
before Him–for which He endured the Cross, despising the shame. Our
Lord remembers well His wounds by which He procured our healing. He
remembers the cruel tree by which He lifts us up from Hell. He
remembers His agony and bloody sweat, His Cross and passion! And He has
pity on the guilty for whom He died.
I pray that you, also, remember the sufferings of your Lord and trust
Him–trust Him fully and alone. Look at once to Him that lives and was
dead, and is alive forevermore–by that look you will live! At this
moment worship Him! Bow at His feet! While yet in these seats prostrate
your hearts before the Son of God and leave yourselves with Him, that
He may give you eternal salvation! As surely as the Lord lives, if you,
poor lonely one, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are saved! Go in
peace and rejoice forever in the great salvation He has given you and
look to Him yet more and more all the days of your life!
I remember that on January the eighth, many years ago, I looked to
Christ and I am praying that this seventh day of September, I who
looked may be the means of leading others to look to Him and live. Why
not? Dear men and women out of Christ, why not look to Jesus now? My
heart breaks for your immediate salvation! Spirit of the living God,
draw them to Christ and to His name be glory forever and ever! Amen.
PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON– Mark 1:21-45. HYMNS FROM
"OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"–909, 509, 304.