p. 14 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 45. (11/7/1900)

Earlier text: ARE YOU DISSATISFIED WITH YOUR PHYSICAL CONDITION?

LESSON VII.—SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1900.

THE TEN LEPERS CLEANSED.

Lesson Scripture, Luke 17:11-19, R.V.

11 "And it came to pass, as they were on the way to Jerusalem, that He was passing through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as He entered into a certain village, there met Him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off; and they lifted up 13 their voices, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when He saw them, He said unto them, Go and show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, as they went, 14 they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, with a loud voice glorifying God; and he fell upon his face at His feet, giving Him thanks; and he 15 was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were not the 16 ten cleansed? but where are the nine? Were there none 17 found that returned to give glory to God, save this stran- 18 ger? And He said unto him, Arise, and go thy way; thy 19 faith hath made thee whole."

NOTE.—The lesson section includes the lesson and all references to leprosy in the New Testament.

Golden Text: "Be ye thankful." Col. 3:15.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

(1) Through what portions of the country was Jesus passing on His way to Jerusalem? V. 11. Note 1. (2) Who met Him as He entered a certain village? What were they required to do when persons approached them? V. 12. Note 2. (3) What did they cry out to Jesus? V. 13. (4) In replying to their supplication, what did Jesus tell them to do? What occurred as they went on their way to obey the Saviour's command? V. 14. Note 3. (5) How many of them turned back, when they saw they were healed? What did he do? V. 15. Note 4. (6) In what way did he express his gratitude? What was the nationality of this man? V. 16. (7) What questions did Jesus ask him? V. 17. (8) What other question follows the two which He asked the Samaritan leper? V. 18. (9) What did Jesus then tell the restored man to do? What did He declare in reference to the leper's faith? V. 19.

NOTES.

1. Passing through the midst.—The country through which Jesus was passing was a country infested with lepers, and many colonies of lepers exist there to the present day. "No towns, and few large villages in the central region, are without the little lazar colony, the denizens of which sit by the roadside all day, crying aloud for help, and lifting up their voices as they hear or see each traveler approach. It seems as tho the curse of leprosy had continued to overshadow those districts especially."

2. Stood afar off.—Leprous persons were forbidden by law to approach others. It was a sort of quarantine which they were compelled to maintain against themselves. If persons approached a leper, he must give them warning of his condition by the sad cry, "Unclean, unclean."

3. Go and show yourselves unto the priests.—This command was in accordance with the law laid down in Leviticus 14. The person who was cured of leprosy must show himself to the priests and make an offering, after which he was officially pronounced clean. The lepers to whom Jesus gave this command understood what it meant, that Jesus had answered their prayer. It meant the same to them as His reply to the leper recorded in Mark 1:41, "I will; be thou clean," and yet the record indicates that their healing did not manifest itself until they began to carry out the Saviour's command. They showed their faith in that they started while the evidence of leprosy was still upon them.

4. Glorifying God.—There was no disobedience in this turning back, but a sincere desire to render praise to God for a great blessing. There was no disobedience in the other nine going on; but between the course of the one and the nine there was a great difference. The one must show his gratitude before anything else; the others must have their cleansing recognized and themselves reinstated among their people. But the one who was more anxious to glorify God than to please himself received a blessing which the others never knew. This is indicated by verse 19. Being made whole was more than having his disease removed. What leprosy does for the body sin does for the soul. Being primarily a result of sin, it illustrates in an outward form what sin is doing in the inner man.

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Flesh Eating and Health

Dr. Alexander Haig, the eminent specialist, of London, England, says: "The less animal flesh that people take, the better they come out in trials of force production, and especially in endurance;" and medical authorities everywhere are agreed that the eating of flesh meats is a prolific source of cancer, chronic rheumatism, and gout.

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THE TALENTS

By M. C. Wilcox

By M. C. Wilcox. A brief essay on "The Parable of the Talents," showing that the talents represent the various gifts of the Spirit which God bestows as he will upon those who are consecrated to him, with the duties and blessed privileges involved therein. Bible Students' Library, No. 77; 16 pp., price 2 cents.

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Hearing and Giving.

Said Jesus: "Take heed what ye hear; with what measure ye mete it shall be measured unto you; and more shall be given unto you. For he that hath, to him shall be given; and he that hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath." Mark 4:24, 25, R.V. From this these conclusions are clearly evident: (1) We are to be careful to hear only that of good quality, which will bear perfect fruit. (2) We are to hear that we may give. This is the law of Christian growth,—hearing, witnessing; receiving, giving. He who hears but to keep, loses what he hears and dies of stagnation. He that hears in order that he may give to others, shall receive—"to him shall be given." (3) We are to give liberally. "With what measure ye mete, it [that same measure] shall be measured unto you." Give, and you shall receive. Give more, and more shall be given unto you. The monopolist of earth seems in his hoarding of uncounted millions to have secured a great harvest; but in reality he has had the use for only a little while of sordid gold, and he has bartered in his selfish hoarding the eternal riches of the glorious inheritance of God. The true gain is the long gain, and the eternal riches begin now in a heaven-wrought character, which holds communion with the Highest.

The Lord destroys nothing but sin. When He destroys men, it is when men have so identified themselves with sin, have so committed themselves to an evil course, as to prefer it to righteousness. Then death is but the fruit of their own choice; for "sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death."

WHAT SOME PROTESTANT CREEDS SAY.

THE thirty-nine articles of the Protestant Episcopal Church declare:—

"Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation."—Article 6.

"No Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the commandments which are called moral."—Article 7.

"It is not lawful for the church to ordain anything that is contrary to God's Word written."—Article 20.

The Methodist Episcopal Church is to all intents and purposes the same in its articles 5 and 6; and in Catechism No. 2 of the same church, p. 38, the moral law is defined as follows:—

"86. What is the rule of our obedience? "The moral law. 'If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.' Matt. 19:17. "87. Where is the moral law given? "In the Ten Commandments.' Ex. 20:1-17."

John Wesley, on Matt. 5:17, says:—

"It was not the design of Christ to revoke any part of the law. It can not be broken. Every part of it remains in force upon all men in all ages. Neither time, place, nor circumstances make it liable to change."

Our Baptist brethren declare:—

"We believe the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its Author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us, and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried."—Baptist Convention of New Hampshire.

From the "Advance Almanac for 1894 and Manual of Congregationalism," we take the following:—

"5. We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the record of God's revelation of Himself in the work of redemption; that they were written by men under the special guidance of the Holy Spirit; that they are able to make wise unto salvation, and that they constitute the authoritative standard by which religious teaching and human conduct are to be regulated and judged."—P. 56 Creed of 1883.

The Presbyterian Confession of Faith thus speaks on the same point:—

"The Bible contains the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, or man's salvation, faith, and life. "The moral law doth forever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof; and that not only in regard to the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God, the Creator, who gave it. Neither doth Christ in the Gospel any way dissolve, but much strengthen, this obligation."—Article 5.

"Neither are the aforementioned uses of the law contrary to the grace of the Gospel, but do sweetly comply with it, the Spirit of Christ subduing, and enabling the will of man to do that freely and cheerfully which the will of God, revealed in the law, requireth to be done."—Article 7.

Other Protestant declarations are similar. The great fact is that Protestants are face to face with these principles in the Sabbath question. Will they follow the Word? or will they repudiate both that and their articles of faith?

True Christian Fellowship

True Christian Fellowship.—Onesimus, a servant of Philemon, ran away from his master and went to Rome. Paul was acquainted with Philemon, who was a devout Christian, but whether he was converted before or after his servant left him is not stated. When Paul went to Rome he met Onesimus, and the latter was converted. Then Paul sent him back to his master as bearer of a letter, in which the servant was highly commended as a Christian brother. His appeal to Philemon is very touching. He sent Onesimus, "not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved." Then the aged apostle, now in prison, gives his note of hand to pay whatever the former servant might have owed his master when he ran away. As a dissertation on practical Christian fellowship, the brief "Epistle of Paul to Philemon" is a rare specimen. Read it carefully.

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Declining Sunday-School Attendance

As shown by the "Church Year Book" there is a marked falling off in Sunday-school attendance in England. It is not only in the Established Church, but also in the Wesleyan and Calvinistic Churches that the decline is manifest. This, too, while the population of Great Britain shows an increase at the rate of 300,000 a year. Some of those who are most deeply concerned over the matter think the trouble lies in the classification along the line of the social status. Of course anything that shows a "respect of persons" is not Christian, and can not expect to succeed in really Christian work, whether it be in England, America, or in any other country.

God’s Blessings Are for Others

God plants no seed thought in the human heart which may be a blessing to mankind that man has any right to monopolize. Whatever God gives to any one which may in any way be a blessing, He gives that it may be ministered to others. The farmer hides the seed in the earth, not that it may be lost, not for earth's special blessing, but that earth may multiply it for blessing others. "For there is nothing hid, save that it should be manifested; neither was anything made secret, but that it should come to light." Mark 4:22, R.V. He who holds for his own delectation, profit, or honor, any of the gifts of God, is perverting God's blessings, and sooner or later the blessings will become a curse, the light darkness. But he who gives, multiplies God's blessings, and increases his own capacity to receive.

Extravagant

By Editor

"Extravagant."—The publishers of the Brotherhood Star have sent us an article from the October issue of that journal, entitled "Politics and the Christ Life." These first two sentences are all that any one needs to read in order to get the gist of the whole. Here they are:—

"Vital interest in politics is a marked evidence of the Christlike spirit. If that statement seems extravagant, it is because of the false notion men have of politics."

If interest in politics shows a Christlike spirit, it is strange that neither Christ nor His apostles took any interest in the politics of their day. The politics of their time needed reforming as much as in any age of the world, yet Christ consistently assumed the position that His kingdom was not of this world. John 18:36. The apostles maintained a like attitude; and the after history of the church shows that the more its members mingled in politics the more corrupt it became. The extravagance of the statement above quoted lies rather in the false notion men have of the Christlike spirit.

Our India Famine Fund

By Editor

Our India Famine Fund.—As we go to press we receive a letter from Brother W. A. Spicer, editor of the Oriental Watchman, Calcutta, acknowledging receipt of our second remittance of $700. We will give his letter next week.

The Strength of Character

The strength of any character is in its righteousness. Sin may appear strong, but its cables are ropes of sand. Sin is inherent weakness, existing only by virtue of the power in the righteousness it has perverted. "The strength of sin is the law."

God Is Not Arbitrary

God is not arbitrary in what He asks of man. All He commands is but the expression of His own nature, and for the eternal good of His children. We may not see it now, but do His will, and wait results. Did we not know of seed-time and harvest, we would say that he who casts his beautiful wheat into the ground is a fool. He would tell us to wait the harvest. So God speaks to us. But He tells us to "sow to righteousness, and reap in mercy." "To them that love God, God worketh all things with them for good." Trust Him and know.