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DISCOURSE XXIV.

SAINT LUKE, xvii. 18.

THERE ARE NOT FOUND THAT RETURNED TO GIVE GLORY TO GOD, SAVE THIS STRANGER.

OUR blessed Lord was on one of his journeys to Jerusalem; when, in a certain village, ten men presented themselves before him. Being lepers, and therefore unclean, according to the law of Moses, they stood afar off, that they might not pollute him or his attendants. And, having heard of his power of healing diseases, they lifted up their voices, and said: “" Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." Have mercy on us, and heal us of this afflictive distemper, by which, we are shut out from society; and from which, no art of man can deliver us. And when he saw them, He who went about doing good, was moved with compassion of their case, and said unto them: Go, show yourselves unto the priest."

This command he gave, that they might perform what Moses had ordered to be done, in the

cleansing of a leper; and thereby plainly signified, that, by the time they could present themselves to the priest, or even before it, they should be healed of their leprosy. Accordingly, it came to pass, that, as they were going, they were cleansed. This was certainly a marvellous blessing; that their flesh, covered with so loathsome and infectious a distemper, should suddenly come again like unto the flesh of a little child: and it is probable, that they had not long departed, before the miraculous power of Christ thus overtook them. Yet on they went, rejoicing, no doubt, at the change which they saw and felt in themselves; but without looking back to their gracious Benefactor, or thinking of him.

One, and only one, was of a better mind: he, when he saw that he was healed, quitting his companions, instantly returned to Christ; and, with a loud voice, made a free and open declaration, of the great mercy he had received; and fell down on his face, at the feet of his Deliverer, giving him thanks. The Jews and Samaritans, at this time, had no dealings with each other: but partnership in misery had removed such distinctions from these men, who, on account of their leprosy, were shut out from all other society; and had united them in one company, notwithstanding their difference of

nation and religion; for, whereas the other nine were Jews, this man was a Samaritan. On this occasion, our blessed Lord, first asked the question: "Were there not ten cleansed, but where are the nine?" and then subjoined, "There are not found, that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger:" and he dismissed him with the following commendation and blessing : —“ Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole."

If we consider this Gospel history in its uses we shall find it profitable, by the grace of God, for instruction and reproof; and I shall treat of it in both these views.

I. And, first, as to instruction in righteousness. Let us begin with praising God, as did this grateful Samaritan, for the glory manifested in his blessed Son, Jesus Christ: whose power and goodness were so visibly displayed, when the blind received their sight, and the lame walked, — the deaf heard, and the lepers were cleansed, - at his only speaking the word, that it should so be.

But these miracles, which were one part of his glory, were, at the same time, a proof and evidence, which He himself sometimes alleges, of another power residing in him; a power, in which we are more nearly interested, of forgiving

sins, and healing the maladies of the soul. The relief which, in his own person, he afforded to bodily infirmities, was confined to the land of Judea; for he was not sent, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel: but the relief which he offers to our spiritual wants, is universal. In this, he is the Sun of Righteousness, arisen with healing in his wings; whose blessed beams are not centered and drawn together to one favoured spot of ground; but are spread abroad, wherever there are men to see the light, and feel its holy influence: so widely extensive is the healing power of Christ. And, as the light and heat of the sun are entwined together, where his power is, there is his goodness also; present with all men, who will allow it to operate upon them; present with us, here assembled; and as graciously inclined, to heal the diseases of our souls, as it was to heal the bodily disorders of these lepers.

But, that we may be justly sensible of our want of such a Saviour to heal us, let us seriously inquire, how far our case resembles that of these men. Their malady was a leprosy; a disease that descended to, and tainted, the posterity of him that was infected with it: and which was of so inveterate a nature, that the cure of it was deemed impossible by the skill of man; and was

held to require the immediate finger of God. A disease, which was further attended by this melancholy circumstance, among the people of God, that the leprous person was debarred from all society, but that of his brethren in misery.

View now, our own case, and that of human kind; and with this outward condition of the unhappy lepers, compare our inward and spiritual state; our state, I mean, without the covenant of grace, and as we are the natural descendants of fallen Adam. He, by his disobedience to God, contracted a taint and disorder, which, like the leprosy of Gehazi, the servant of the prophet Elisha, cleaves to him and his seed for ever. He begat his sons and his daughters, in his own image; and entailed upon them all, the misery of his infected nature: for who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. And as little, can any art or power of man, cure us of a malady, that we bring with us into the world; and which is so rooted in the constitution of our nature, that it grows as we grow, and as we strengthen it strengthens also; but, alas! does not decay with our decay. For the sinfulness of our youth is not healed, (I speak of the natural man, unsanctified by Divine grace,) but only shows itself under other forms and appearances, as we grow old. And when Death has destroyed