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

come and end Jesus. And how Jesus
draws the sinner who is sick OF sin and
willing to turn from Il! What compass
sion Jesus has upon the one who real
ICES 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
camc with such confidence and holiness
| to Jesus. but dared not approach Jew
ish rabbi, the religious teacher and lead
err Of his day. 1t was the latter who
pronounced him a leper; 1t was the
rabbi who banished him heartlessly 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 II 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 crucihed
There is life at this moment for thee;
| Then look! sinner look! unto Him ana bs
| Unto Him who was nailed to the tree"
D UT the leper not only came where
ID Jesus was, but he threw himself
upon his face at His feet and poured his
poor, afflicted soul out In earnest pray
err. A good many people never obtain
| salvation because they are too proud
to kneel. They want salvation, but
they want TO get 1t in what they call
dignified 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
in order TO get 1t. Mr.. Moody used to
tell the story of boy who was used
to Methodist ways and who. after re-
vival meeting, went home to his moth
er and said: Mother, John So-and-so
is under conviction and seeking peace.
but he will not find il tonight, moth
err" why, William" said she. Be
cause he is only down on one knee.
mother, and ne will never get peace
until nc gels down on both knees"
And until conviction of sin brings us
down on both knees before the Saviour.
until we arc Frustrated in the dust of
humiliation, We cannot obtain from Je-
sus pardon and salvation. But hear
the prayer Of the poor leper: Lord,
II 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.
DUT HOW long will He keep the sin
- ner waiting? All, 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 1t DONE And
as the hand touched, the voice spake.
II will; be thou clean" And immedi.
ately the leprosy 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 l 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 IL 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 II he had missed his oppor-
turity that day 1t would have been
gone forever. And so 1t is with tho
sinner. There. is danger in delay.
The story Is told OF certain woman
who had case Of litigation which she
delayed putting In the hands Of her
lawyer. He, OF all others. was able tc
handle her case successfully. His abiI.
tiles and his knowledge of her case
made It almost necessary that he act
for her. But she kept putting the mat
ter on. until at last one day. when de-
lay was no longer possible, she sought
this lawyer out, and asked him to be-
come her attorney. Madam" he said,
1T is too late. cannot now be your ad-
vocate and plead your case. You have
put Ii OF too long. I am now a Judge. =
Some day Jesus. who stands waiting 10
receive the sinner and is ready to forgive
and save, will become Judge and then Il
will be too late to submit the case into His
hands, but as Judge He will be forced to
condemn us for having neglected the day
Of salvation. Jesus is waiting to save, but
He will not keep the sinner waiting. AS
soon as the cry goes up 10 Him: Lord, II
Thou wilt. Thou canst make me Clean
His hand is outstretched to save, and His
voice speaks the words: twill; be thou
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