Spurgeon: September AM
* 09/29/AM
"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.