The Penn's Grove record., 1914-05-01
few GIVE THANKS
Gods Special Mercy and Favor
So Freely Bestowed Meets
With Ingratitude.

AS the master entered a certain vii
lage he was met by ten men that were;
lepers, who lifted up their voices, bel
seeching him to have mercy upon
them. Their prayer was answered.
They were all cleansed and cured!
from their dread malady. But only
nj Of the ten showed gratitude for
the mercy received. He, when he
realized that he had been healed,
turned back, and with a loud voice
glorifed God and gave thanks; but
the others, who were equally bene7
flied, did not return to give glory to
God.
In the plaintive words of disappoint1
ed love, the master exclaims, Were.
there not ten cleansed? But where
are the nine?"
Ingratitude is a grievous disap-
pointment to benevolence-yet it Us a
common experience in life. Of all
the multitudes who are shown mercy
and special favor, how few give recog-
milton by grateful acknowledgment
and thanksgiving. The instance given
of nine out of ten being ungrateful
shows that the proportion of the I'M
grateful is very great. How great
God alone knows.
Leprosy represents the extremity of
calamity that may befalI men. Lep-
rosy is a painful, loathsome and an
incurable disease by any natural
means known. It's cure has never
been effected, except through super
natural agencies. It is a type Of sin
in the fact that it is hereditary, in
fictitious. loathscme and incurable by
ordinary means. The sin-sick soul,
like the malady of leprosy, cannot be
cured, except by the divine physician
of both soul and body.
Instinctively Turn to God.
The lepers found themselves in the
extremity of physical peril, and they
called upon God for help. All men at
a time of great calamity turn instinc-
lively to the supernatural for deliver
ance. In the hour Of great trial
wicked men recognize the existence
and ability Of God. They call upon
God for mercy, though in the times of
prosperity they have no reverence or
respect for his name.
Sometimes the prayers of the un-
godly are answered. All of the ten
lepers were healed, yet only n of
them was a good man. How often
men who in distress cry unto God and
are delivered forget or ignore the obli-
cation Of gratitude, the ~deliverance
imposed upon them!
Ten were healed, but one only gave
thanks. Where are the miner" The
question teaches that gratitude is ex-
pected from all, and is an obligation
resting upon all. The one leper who
showed it was made whole and sent
on his way rejoicing. Gratitude never
fails of reward.
The one in our narrative promptly
showed his gratitude. AS soon as he
saw that he had been healed he
turned back, and with a loud voice
glorified God and gave thanks. His
action was voluntary, and every ex-
preston of true gratitude must spring
spontaneously from the heart in a
spirit Of humility.
He fell down on his face at the
feet of his healer, giving him thanks.
Humbly and independently of what
others might do or think, he came
alone.
There were ten cleansed, but there
were not found any that returned"
save this one, yet the presence of
others would not have made hi- graft
tude less independently his own.
Only Acts That Count.
Had the whole ten returned, glorify-
ing God and giving thanks, with each
it would have been a voluntary, hum
BILE and Independent expression of
gratitude. Some people manifest ap-
probation of an act of kindness be-
cause they see others praising it:
such a spirit has no element Of graft
tude in It, 1t is not what others do
in return for mercies, but what we
do, that counts In our lives.
Most men, like these ten lepers, call
upon God In time of great physical
distress. Realizing that there is no
help from any visible means. they
turn to the invisible power for relief.
There is an innate belief in the exist
ence and ability of God. 1t may not
be recognized until confronted by
some great af1ictiop or evil. Many
have this belief at all times, but even
the hardened sinner in the hour of
dread trial has awakened in his soul
some response to its creator.
But there is a distress greater than
the greatest temporal affection. Lep-
rosy in the soul is far more dreadful
than leprosy in the body. There is no
remedy for it. except what has been
provided by the divine physician who
healed the ten lepers.
He is ever ready and anxious to ap-
ply the remedy to all who seek it.
oh, that the sin-sick souls Of men
might cry to him as the lepers did,
Have mercy upon us!" 1t Is the way.
and the only way, by which men may
be made whole