Morning
Time: 3:19 AM PST
"Behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him
clean that hath the plague." --Leviticus 13:13
Strange enough this regulation appears, yet there was wisdom in it, for the
throwing out of the disease proved that the constitution was sound. This morning
it may be well for us to see the typical teaching of so singular a rule. We,
too, are lepers, and may read the law of leper as applicable to ourselves. When
a man sees himself to be altogether lost and ruined, covered all over with the
defilement of sin, and no part free from pollution; when he disclaims all
righteousness of his own, and pleads guilty before the Lord, then is he clean
through the blood of Jesus, and the grace of God. Hidden, unfelt, unconfessed
iniquity is the true leprosy, but when sin is seen and felt it has received its
death blow, and the Lord looks with eyes of mercy upon the soul afflicted with
it. Nothing is more deadly than self-righteousness, or more hopeful than
contrition. We must confess that we are "nothing else but sin," for no
confession short of this will be the whole truth, and if the Holy Spirit be at
work with us, convincing us of sin, there will be no difficulty about making
such an acknowledgment--it will spring spontaneously from our lips. What comfort
does the text afford to those under a deep sense of sin! Sin mourned and
confessed, however black and foul, shall never shut a man out from the Lord
Jesus. Whosoever cometh unto Him, He will in no wise cast out. Though dishonest
as the thief, though unchaste as the woman who was a sinner, though fierce as
Saul of Tarsus, though cruel as Manasseh, though rebellious as the prodigal, the
great heart of love will look upon the man who feels himself to have no
soundness in him, and will pronounce him clean, when he trusts in Jesus
crucified. Come to Him, then, poor heavy-laden sinner,
Come needy, come guilty, come loathsome and bare; You can't come too
filthy--come just as you are.