Los Angeles herald., 1906-07-23

ARE DENOUNCED
LATTER DAY APOSTLES SHOW
INGRATITUDE
Rev. Mr.. RyIand critioises Those Who,
With Centuries of Christian Heri-
tase, Originate Their Own
Systems

At Trinity M. r.. church South, Pas
tor e. p. Ryland spoke at the evening
service as follows, from THE Good
Samaritan" Luke 17!11-19:
"He might we'll be called a good
Samaritan, for he gave evidence of
that characteristic that always marks
true goodness, gratitude. 1t was on the
way to Jerusalem with his disciples
that Jesus entered into a village and
ten lepers met him. who stood afar OFT
One could hardly imagine more pitt
full sight than these ten men, brought
to a common level by their foul dis
ease, separated from society and by the
law made to cry out as though they
were mourning for the dead. Rev. VIII
liam Thomson, d. D., gives a modern
picture of lepers when he writes thus;
LAS 1 was approaching Jerusalem
was startled by the sudden appari-
tion of a crowd of beggars, sans eyes,
sans nose, sans hair sans everything.
They held up their handless arms, un-
earthly sounds gurgled through throats
without palates-in a word, 1 was hor-
rifed.'
Their Cry Needed
"And so long ago our Lord was met
by a band of ten lepers as he was
afar off and lifting up their voices,
they cried: Master have mercy on u.s.
The heart of the Master is storehouse
of mercy, and he heard and answered
their cry He told them to go and
show themselves to the priest. That is,
he told them to do what the law de-
manded of all who were healed. They,
although yet unheaied hurried to obey
him, and as they went they were
1aI 80 NIArN he
saw that he was healed. turned back,
with loud voice glorifying God; and
he fell upon his face at his feet, giving
him thanks, and he was q Samaritan.
And Jesus answering said, were not the
ten cleansed? But where are the nine?
Were there none found that returned to
give. glory to God, save this stranger?
This incident was Of deep meaning
to our Lord. The Scriptures, through
out their whole length, make leprosy to
be type of sin. At this very time
Jesus was under the shadow of the
cross-was going up to Jerusalem to be
crucifed in order that he might make
men free from sin. The failure of the
nine was a foreshadowing of the in
gratitude of mutitudes who were to
receive the benefits Of his sacrifice.
The return of the Samaritan, a stran-
ger and a fit type of many who hear
of Christ in foreign mission. fields and
believe and give him all glory, was a
promise that there were men and wo-
men who would receive his blessings
and salvation with gratitude and
praise. Our own day witnesses the in
gratitude of many toward Jesus the
Christ but 1t also witnesses the graft
tude and love and obedience of an
ever increasing multitude.
Some Are UngratefuI
MAY l first point out some of the in
gratitude of our day. There are those
who are the recipients of the blessings
of centuries of Christian teaching-who
are the children and grandchildren of
men and women who were redeemed
In the blood of Christ, and who are
belittling the character and work of
the Saviour by denying the awful fact
of sin from which he redeems, while
they pretend to honor him by keeping
hold of his name The Judas-like in
gratitude that betrays with a kiss is
the basest. The basest ingratitude of
our day is that that receives the bene-
fits of Christ and at once denies the
value of his coming to redeem from
SIM
There is an ingratitude to Christ
shown by those who, with two thou
sand years of Christian ethics as a
heritage, are themselves assuming to
be originators of such systems. The
volume entitled The A B c of True
Living and that deals with anger and
worry as germs of trouble, and that
lightly denies the Deity of our Lord
and fails to confess him as the giver
of the very truth with which the VOL
ume deals, is an example of such in
gratitude. Jesus, in a sentence in the
sermon on the mount, says all the truth
of that volume And thus we find in
our day the nine lepers, receiving bene-
fits from Christ and yet failing even to
confess their source.
But there is an ever increasing null
titude of grateful Samaritans, men and
women, who are conscious of their need
and have it supplied in Christ and
whose lives become constant express
sions of gratitude. They look upon the
realities of things. They do not deny
the fact of sin, but confess it and look
to him who came to save. for freedom
from it's guilt and dominion. They re-
ceive his benefits, but they love him
and try to obey him and seek dill
gently to bring their fellow men to him
for saving. The gratitude of the
Samaritan is beautiful. Would that it
might be also In your heart"