Newport weekly independent., 1903-10-30
haunts where sin has drawn him. I

haunts where sin has drawn him. He must will to see Jesus, and, leaving the desires of his own sinful heart. he must come and find Jesus. And how Jesus draws the sinner who is sick of sin and willing to turn from it! What compas. sion Jesus has upon the one who real izes his sinful condition; how ready He is to receive and heal the moral outcast the wreck from sin, the man full of sin! This is strikingly and beautifully brought out in the incident before us when it is remembered that the leper came with such confidence and boldness to Jesus, but dared not approach a Jew ish rabbi, the religious teacher and lead CT of his day. It was the latter who pronounced him a leper; it was the rabbi who banished him heartlessIy to the deserted places outside of the town and then forgot all about him. But when Jesus, Rabbi, Master, came He drew the lepers, the poor and weak and halt and blind to Him. And it is the same loving, compassionate Jesus who is drawing all sinners unto Him, as His disciples hold Him up to the world and cry:
 There is life for look at the Crueified
 There is life at this moment for thee:
 Then look sinner looK! unto Him an( be saved,
 Unto Kim who was nailed to the tree"
 D UT the leper not only came where
 U Jesus was, but he threw himself upon his face at His feet and poured his poor, afflicted soul out in earnest pray CT. A good many people never obtain salvation because they are too proud to kneel. They want salvation. but they want to get it in what they call dlgnlfed way But the soul that wants deliverance from the conse- quences and power of sin must want 1t bad enough to get right down in the dust of humiliation and self-surrender ln order to get it. Mir. Moody used to tell the story of a boy who was used to Methodist ways and who, after a re- vival meeting, went home to his moth CT and said: Mother, John So-and-so is under conviction and seeking peace but he will not find it tonight, moth CT. Why William ?" said she. "Be- cause he is only down Cn one knee mother, and he will never get peace until ne gets down on both knees" And until conviction of sin brings us down on both knees before the Saviour, until we are prostrated in the dust of humiliation, we cannot obtain from Je- sus pardon and salvation. But hear the prayer of the poor leper: Lord. if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean" There was faith, there was per feet submission. No doubt as to Jesus power. Willingness to rest his case in His hands and receive from Him what was best. And the sinner who is not willing to place himself unreservedly in the hands of Jesus does not know what real faith and submission are. Perhaps there was some doubt as to what Jesus might do in the case of the leper, but in the case of the sinner there is no doubt, for Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He is able and willing this moment to save. i, DUT HOW long will He keep the sin- D ner waiting? An, how long did Jesus keep the poor, wretched leper in the dust at His feet? As quickly as that gracious hand could be raised and stretched forth and laid upon that foul leper, that quickly was it done And as the hand touched, the voice spake: Il will; be thou clean" And immedi- ately the leTrosy departed from him. Even as the Gospel invitation is in the present, so is the promise of forgive ness and salvation God never deals in futures with the sinner. God never says to the sinner: Tomorrow is the day of salvation" And He never says to the sinner when he comes: "To-mor- row I will consider your case, and grant your prayer" We cannot con- ceive of the Lord doing that way. But God calls to the sinner to-day, and to- day Jesus stands ready with cleansing touch and forgiving word to deliver the sinner. What if the leper had waited to present his case to Jesus? Suppose he had reasoned that tomorrow he would be better prepared to meet Him? Perhaps Jesus never passed that way again, and if he had missed his oppor- tunity that day it would have been gone forever. And so it is with the sinner. There is danger in delay.
 The story is told of a certain woman who had a case of litigation which she delayed putting in the hands of her lawyer. He, of all others, was able to handle her case successfully. His abil- ities and his knowledge of her case made it almost necessary that he act for her. But she kept putting the mat ter off. until at last one day, when de- lay was DO longer nOssihle che ro,,oL4