The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1903-10-31

responsibility. or the sin which reeks
with the foulness of lust and passionate
desire Sin is sin In Gods sight, and
when It Is finished. 1t bringeth forth
DEATH" for "the wages Of sin is death"
sC> HIS man needed not to be told that
he was leper. He knew 1t. But
not all are willing to admit that they
are sinners. Notwithstanding that God
says: "All have sinned and come short
OF the glory of God" There is none
that doeth good. no rot one" And IF
we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth Is not In us. .
All, then, are sin lepers.
And IL sin lepers We need cleansing
and healing as much as did the leper
referred to In our text. The latter
realized that no human help could save
him. but 1t is not so easy to lead the sim
ner' to see that there is no hope for him
save in the Great Physician, Jesus
Christ. He may be willing to admit that
man is a sinner. but he will not be so
ready to cencede the point that there
is no hope for him In himself. But as
surely as no leper ever healed himself
of the terrible disease, so surely has no
soul ever been freed from the leprosy
OF sin by its own efforts or other human
aid. But Jesus could cure the leper, and
he can cure the sin leper. HE is able
to save unto the uttermost." The most
desperate case of leprosy had to yield
to His Divine power, and the worst
case OF sin leprosy can be cured by the
same marvellous touch. No leper need
have gone without healing in Palestine
during Jesus ministry, and no sinner
need go without cleansing and salvation
to-day. Jesus power was not exhausted
when this poor man was restored to
health and home and friends, and Jesus
is as mighty to save to-day from the
consequences and power of sin as He
was when He met the chiefest Of sinners
on the road to Damascus and delivered
him from the power of the devil which
was driving him through the land like
a mad man.
A MOTHER thing about this mans
"A leprosy: 1t separated him from
everything in this life worth having
home. friends, loved ones. and active
useful share In life's activities. And
turning to the sin leper we find that his
sin shuts him away from God. Sin. like
a thick cloud. rises between the soul
and its Creator, and shuts out the
brightness of eternal hope; ii shuts
out the Joy of real abiding happiness;
1t blinds the soul to that real success In
life which makes God its center and its
ultimate aim. Sin separates from God.
The sense of that separation may not
be present in the soul in this life, but
what that separation will mean through
out eternity, only eternity will reveal.
The rich man in hell, of whom Jesus
rich man and Lazarus, realized what
separation from God meant as the tor
ments of the damned laid hold upon his
soul. but while he sat within his sump-
tuous palace and Lazarus lay at his
gate, he was utterly unconscious of that
separation and Indifferent as to its con-
sequences. But the days of self-ease
and qualification were soon ended, and
his soul was at last forced to realize
what separation from God meant. And
the sinner. like the foul leper, Is an
outcast. His soul is separated from all
its highest and best possibilities. II is
feeding on the husks o. the world when
God made 1t with capacity for things
spiritual. things eternal and Heaven
ly. Jesus was glad to heal the leper
and restore him to his home, his family
and his friends. and 1t gives Him I'M
speakable Joy to cleanse the sinner and
restore him to right relations with God
and the world. for that is what He came
into the world to do.
IT WAS not ng-distance or absent
l treatment which Jesus gave to this
man. He put forth His hand and
touched him." All. what a picture we
have here of our Saviour! The foulest
leper upon appeal to Him could feel the
touch of His gracious, loving hand. and
the vilest sinner may cry with the pub
lican in the Temple: God, be merciful
to me, a sinner!" and the arms of the
Saviour are at once thrown around the
penitent. and the blood of Jesus cleanses
from all guilt. HE put forth His hand
and touched him." F. b. Meyer says
mo one else would have dared to do
as much. To touch that flesh, according
to the Levitical code. would induce I'M
cleanness. But Jesus shrank not. On
the one hand. He knew that the cere-
monial restrictions were abolished In
Himself: on the other, He desired to
teach that sin cannot defile the Divine
holiness of the Saviour Whatever be
the series of sin that are breathed into
His ear; whatever the bruises and prtre-
flying sores which are opened to His
touch: whatever the sights and scenes
with which He has to cope-none OF
these can leave a faint of evil In Hi.
sinlc-s heart. Ii would lie as jmros
sible for sin to soil Christ as for a
plague TO contaminate. flame. And HI
will heal thee. Dare to claim IT,"
TWO things are noteworthy In con.
/ nection with Jesus touching ant
healing of this leper. He came and threw
himself AT Jesus feet, and besought Hin
for the healing which he knew Jesus wal
able to bestow. II this leper had re