Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-08-15

Luxe XVII, ls-Commentary ny heV. De
NJ. stearns.
Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per-
mission of H. s. Hoffman, publisher Philadel
phia.
H. And it came to pass, as He went to
Jerusalem" The time draws nigh for
Him to be offered up and ito Jerusalem"
is His daily thought, for He Himself said,
at cannot be that prophet perish out of
Jerusalem" (chap. xiii, 33); when the
time was come that He should be received
up He steadfastly set His face to go to Je-
rusalem;" He went through the cities
and villages, teaching and journeying to-
ward Jerusalem' Behold, we go up to
jerusalem and all things that are written
by the prophets concerning the Son of Man
shall be accomplished" CHAP. tx, 81; xiii
%; xviii, 81. At Jerusalem He was to
finish the work which the Father had
given him to do, and He was pressing on to
finish that work. His grand and faithful
follower, the apostle Paul, had the same
spirit when he said concerning bonds and
Affections, None of these things move me,
neither count my life dear unto myself,
so that might finish my course with joy"
Acts XIX, "a. We do not know just where
our work shall end, nor when it shall be
finished, so that the only safe way is to be
always found doing unto Him, and with
our might, what our hands find to do.
/ IL. And as He entered into certain
village, there met Him ten men that were
! lepers, which stood afar of" Utterly
unclean, dwelling alone, without the camp
! Tor village, or city, how sad was the condi-
ton of these poor men Qev. xiii, 44-i6).
Afar off from human help, and sympathy,
and friendship; living and yet dead to all
/ hn olnt, hi Of "a
slider the leprosy of Miriam, Naaman,
Gehazi Uzziah and the four men at the
gate of Samaria (Num. xii; II Kings V,
:; XIV 81, Perhaps there is no more forci-
bic representation of sin and the sinner in
the whole Bible than that of the leper and
his leprosy. Let the teacher who would,
with the greatest profit, present this lesson
study carefully Lev. xiii and xiv and read
Mackintosh's notes on the same.
b. And they lifted up their voices and
said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on usp'
They made no professions they made no
PROMISES they knew they had nothing but
leprosy, and as poor, unclean, cast out
lepers they could only beg for mercy, and
this they did. What a happy day it was
for them when Jesus came their way.
They had heard of Him; they heard of the
healing of other lepers by His gracious pow
ers. This was their opportunity, and they
seize it. How wise they were. What a
contrast to the man in our lesson who, like
many today, believed in a larger hope-a
possibility of salvation after death-and so
after he died cried, Father Abraham, have
mercy on men' How vain was his cry.
A. go shew yourselves unto the priests.
And it came to pass that as they went,
they We're cleansed" Thus He spake unto
them, not disregarding nor setting aside
the law, for He came not to destroy but to
fulfill the law, but told them to do us COM
manded in the law Q-ev. xiii, .; xiv, b. They
might have reasoned and argued and have
said: Master, the priests cannot help us,
the law cannot heal us; we do not need to
find out whether we are lepers or not we
know we are; it is mercy we ask for from
Thee. who alone canst heal us. But they
did not argue, they obeyed and went: His
word was sufficient; and as they went they
were cleansed. Reasoning and arguing
would have only hindered; obedience
brought the blessing.
10. And one of them, when he saw that
he was healed turned back, and with a
loud voice glorifed God" As obediently
he went at the Lords command, he finds
himself new man as to his body; he is
clean, he is whole, he is no longer a leper;
and friends; that very day he becomes a
part of the world again, with its pleasures
and employments, instead of being an out
cast. And what is now his first thoughts
Gratitude to the Lord who healed him. The
goodness of God has led him to repentance
(Rom ii, A., and with loud voice he makes
it known. His heart is full, and with his
voice he utters its abundance. He seems
to believe that Jesus is God, and he gives
God the glory He is neither afraid nor
! ashamed to make it known with a loud
voice that God has wrought great work
ON him.
Ii. And fell down on his face at His
feet, giving Him thanks: and he was q
Samaritan" Here is humility gratitude
reverence and worship. Here is the proper
place for every penitent sinner-"on his
face, at Jesus feet" And the proper place
for every saved sinner who is teachable is
i lat the feet of Jesus hearing His word
(chap. X, 39). The fact that this man was
! Samaritan reminds us of the statement
that The Jews have no dealings with the
; Samaritans" John iv, o. But that, NJ
p doubt, refers to self righteous, moral, clear
n Jews. When Jew found himself leper
Il he saw himself no better than IA Samaritan
. leper; they were all in the same sad case
e with nothing to boast of but their leprosy
nothing to make one think himself better
e than another. A deep conviction of sin il
one of the grandest things to take away al
5 pride, and makes us see that in Gods sigh
all are sinners together.
II. And Jesus answering said, Wer
there not ten cleansed? but where are thu
= nine?" Is it possible that with returning
j., health there came also old prejudices ant
Jewish pride of birth, and as they saw thi
y poor Samaritan clarifying God did they de
!, spise him as they kept on their way to thei
IS priests? 1t certainly looks that way.
e Is. There are not found that returne,
l. to give glory to God, save this stranger.
:. He came unto His own, and His own re
n ceived Him not but as many rs receives
a. Him to them gave He the right or privileg
u to become the sons of God John i, H. ~
0, Out of all the multitudes upon whom H
d conferred healing of the body we are no
told how many or how few truly receives
t. Him and gave glory To God, but when w
remember that only about l20 of all thos
gathered in Jerusalem at the passoye