The Scottish Pulpit

sin.

over justice? Is the honour of the divine | own sakes, we beseech you to be reconciled
law neglected, or are the rights of the to God. Let every man who hears the
divine government sacrificed? No; God message of peace consider that he is deeply
is just when he justifies the sinner; concerned, and that upon the cordial re-
for he pardons him from respect to the ception of it his everlasting well-being
great atonement in which he smelled a depends. Let the terrors of the Lord
sweet savour of rest. It was so precious rouse you to flee from the wrath to come,
in his sight, and was offered with such and let the promises of the gospel encour-
zeal for his glory, that it reconciled him age you, for they proclaim peace, and secure
forever to the sinner, although not to his it to those who believe. Being justified
by faith, you shall have peace with God,
The reconciliation on the part of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by him
is fully effected. Nothing farther is ne- have access into that grace wherein be-
cessary to remove the grounds of his dis- lievers stand, and rejoice, and hope in the
pleasure. No other sacrifice is required, glory of God. But there is no peace, saith
as if there were some defect in the sacri- my God, to the wicked; there remaineth
fice of Christ. We are by nature the en- to unbelievers, those who persist in unbe-
emies of God, and cannot expect, while lief, no more sacrifice for sin, but à certain
we continue in this state, to derive any fearful looking for of judgment and fiery
advantage from the dispensations of grace. indignation to devour the adversaries of
There must be a mutual reconciliation. God. Blessed is the man whose iniquity
As God is appeased to us, so we must be is forgiven, and whose sin is covered.
well affected to God; and it is with this Blessed is the man to whom the Lord
view that he has committed to his servants imputeth not sin. His blessedness is to
the ministry of reconciliation. Now, then,
we are ambassadors for Christ, as though
God did beseech you by us, we pray you,
in Christ Jesus, be ye reconciled to God.
The preachers of the gospel are ambassa-
dors sent by the King of Heaven to call
upon his rebellious subjects to return to
their allegiance, and to encourage them by
a promise of pardon. And how should we
discharge this important duty of our office?
We beseech you, not for our own sakes,
and still less for the sake of God, who is
independent and all sufficient, but for your

be estimated by the evil from which he
is delivered, and the good of which he is
put in possession. He is delivered from
the wrath of God, of which it is sufficient
to say "It is a fearful thing;" and is put
in possession of all the privileges and bless-
ings of the righteous. This blessedness
belongs by covenant to those who receive
the reconciliation; and it is sealed in the
holy Supper; for Christ says of the bread

"This is my body, broken for you; and of the wine-" This is my blood, shed for you, for the remission of sins."

ON THE MIRACULOUS CURE OF THE LEPROSY.

LECTURE ON LUKE v. 12–15, DELIVERED IN THE UNITED SECESSION CHURCH, LOTHIAN
ROAD, EDINBURGH, ON THE EVENING OF SABBATH, 25th MARCH, 1832.
By the Rev. DAVID MARR.

AMONG the numerous and very striking concerning this disease, such as we find
peculiarities of the Jewish dispensation in the 13th and 14th chapters of Leviticus,
which have excited the sneer of the infi- without exclaiming,-"What great mys-
del, the wonder and admiration of the tery must lie hid under these apparent
Christian, and the astonishment of all, absurdities? We have, in the passage be-
none seems more remarkable than the law
of leprosy. Who can contemplate the
Almighty creator of heaven and earth
condescending to give various minute and,
to us, at first sight, unmeaning directions

fore us, an opportunity of discussing that
question, for we have the great physician
himself treating it. Whether we consider
the violent disease of the body, or the
moral guilt of the soul which it was in-

priests and shut up, if diseased, for seven days, remote from every human beingfor no one would come near him till he was again inspected. And if at the end of seven days, the symptoms increased he had to return to his doleful solitude for seven days more. And if, at the end of Let us consider the nature of this pe- another week, he was found to have the culiar affliction called leprosy. It was a disease, the law pronounced him unclean cutaneous disease, although it did not op--a leprous man-the plague is in his perate altogether on the skin. The in- forehead. And as to the leper in whom terior of the system is so deeply affected the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, with it, that it is called by the Arabs by and his brow made bare, and his upper a name which signifies" the lion's breath," lips covered, and he shall cry out, "Unbecause of the offensive breath peculiar clean! unclean! All the days wherein to the lion and the leper; but its most the plague shall be on him, he shall be deformidable influence is exerted on the out- filed. He is unclean, he shall dwell alone: ward surface. The Oriental leprosy is without the camp shall his habitation be." représented as so loathsome a disease and Behold the camp of Israel with its pillar so infectious as to taint the garments of of cloud by day and its pillar of fire by the leper, and the house in which he night, significant emblems of a present lived. The Hebrew word signifies " a Deity, every man enjoying the sweet circle stroke," as if the person was smitten from of his own friends. But behold, beyond heaven; but the Greek word signifies the camp, far remote from the dwellings "whiteness." Hence the Hebrews speak of Israel, a little shed or booth, constructof a leprosy white as snow, for their ed not for the inferior animals, as from its bodies were covered over with white appearance you might suppose, but for scales. Herodotus tells us that it was com- diseased man; for, behold, there comes mon among the Persians, and that he had out of it a wandering and solitary individseen several whose faces had the appear-ual, mourning over his melancholy condiance of hoar-frost. It has been concluded, tion, his upper lip covered, while, in the and not without reason, that the leprosy language of the law, he cries out, “Un

over justice? Is the honour of the divine
law neglected, or are the rights of the
divine government sacrificed? No; God
is just when he justifies the sinner;
for he pardons him from respect to the
great atonement in which he smelled a
sweet savour of rest. It was so precious
in his sight, and was offered with such
zeal for his glory, that it reconciled him
forever to the sinner, although not to his

sin.

own sakes, we beseech you to be reconciled to God. Let every man who hears the message of peace consider that he is deeply concerned, and that upon the cordial reception of it his everlasting well-being depends. Let the terrors of the Lord rouse you to flee from the wrath to come, and let the promises of the gospel encourage you, for they proclaim peace, and secure it to those who believe. Being justified by faith, you shall have peace with God, The reconciliation on the part of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by him is fully effected. Nothing farther is ne- have access into that grace wherein becessary to remove the grounds of his dis- lievers stand, and rejoice, and hope in the pleasure. No other sacrifice is required, glory of God. But there is no peace, saith as if there were some defect in the sacri- my God, to the wicked; there remainet h fice of Christ. We are by nature the en- to unbelievers, those who persist in unbeemies of God, and cannot expect, while lief, no more sacrifice for sin, but à certain we continue in this state, to derive any fearful looking for of judgment and fiery advantage from the dispensations of grace. indignation to devour the adversaries of There must be a mutual reconciliation. God. Blessed is the man whose iniquity As God is appeased to us, so we must be is forgiven, and whose sin is covered. well affected to God; and it is with this Blessed is the man to whom the Lord view that he has committed to his servants imputeth not sin. His blessedness is to the ministry of reconciliation. Now, then, be estimated by the evil from which he we are ambassadors for Christ, as though is delivered, and the good of which he is God did beseech you by us, we pray you, put in possession. He is delivered from in Christ Jesus, be ye reconciled to God. the wrath of God, of which it is sufficient The preachers of the gospel are ambassa- to say "It is a fearful thing;" and is put dors sent by the King of Heaven to call in possession of all the privileges and blessupon his rebellious subjects to return to ings of the righteous. This blessedness their allegiance, and to encourage them by belongs by covenant to those who receive a promise of pardon. And how should we the reconciliation; and it is sealed in the discharge this important duty of our office? holy Supper; for Christ says of the bread We beseech you, not for our own sakes, "This is my body, broken for you; and still less for the sake of God, who is and of the wine-" This is my blood, shed independent and all sufficient, but for your for you, for the remission of sins."

ON THE MIRACULOUS CURE OF THE LEPROSY.

LECTURE ON LUKE v. 12–15, DELIVERED IN THE UNITED SECESSION CHURCH, LOTHIAN
ROAD, EDINBURGH, ON THE EVENING OF SABBATH, 25th MARCH, 1832.
By the Rev. DAVID MARR.

AMONG the numerous and very striking concerning this disease, such as we find
peculiarities of the Jewish dispensation in the 13th and 14th chapters of Leviticus,
which have excited the sneer of the infi- without exclaiming,-"What great mys-
del, the wonder and admiration of the tery must lie hid under these apparent
Christian, and the astonishment
of all, absurdities? We have, in the passage be-
none seems more remarkable than the law fore us, an opportunity of discussing that
of leprosy. Who can contemplate the question, for we have the great physician
Almighty creator of heaven and earth himself treating it. Whether we consider
condescending to give various minute and, the violent disease of the body, or the
to us, at first sight, unmeaning directions moral guilt of the soul which it was in-

tended to represent, we have this physi- of the Jews was a peculiar disease, and
cian in the very act of putting forth his that they were smitten by God as an im-
healing power, before which misery, and mediate judgment for some great sin.
death, and disease, and sin were quickly And Josephus, the Jewish historian, speaks
dispelled. This miracle is recorded both of it as altogether incurable except by the
by Mark and Luke, as having been interposition of Heaven. It is worthy of
wrought when on a tour through Gali- remark that the great majority of the
lee. But Mark relates one, the cir- cases in Scripture, are instances directly
cumstances of which are similar, although from the hand of God, as an immediate
it appears to have been wrought at a dif- judgment inflicted for the punishment of
ferent period of our Lord's history. When great and aggravated sin. Miriam re-
we consider the antiquity of the sacred proached her brother Moses, and the anger
Writings, how they refer to manners and of the Lord was kindled, and the glory
customs foreign to our own, we wonder departed from the tabernacle, and behold
that they are so very interesting and in- Miriam became leprous. Because Gehazi
telligible that even a child can understand told lies to his master Elisha, the man of
them, and that the Bible is a book that God, he was struck with this disease and
comes home to every man's own circum- went out from his presence as white as
stances and heart. But, while we have here a snow. Because king Uzziah presumed to
striking proof of the wisdom and divine offer incense in the tabernacle of God, he
grace which moved the sacred writers, we was struck with this awful malady, and
must not forget that the Holy Spirit of the leprosy arose in his forehead.
Inspiration designed this book to be the The treatment of this disease prescribed
constant text from which discourses in the law, appears severe and rigorous.
should be delivered by those who devoted As soon as any person was suspected of
their lives to the study of its sacred pages, it, he was immediately examined by the
and that much, therefore, is left to be un- priests and shut up, if diseased, for seven
folded by diligent research. Many a pas- days, remote from every human being-
sage may appear to the casual reader of for no one would come near him till he
little importance, but when attended to was again inspected. And if at the end
by others, by the prayerful and diligent of seven days, the symptoms increased he
student, a flood of light is often poured had to return to his doleful solitude_for
out upon it.
seven days more. And if, at the end of
Let us consider the nature of this pe- another week, he was found to have the
culiar affliction called leprosy. It was a disease, the law pronounced him unclean
cutaneous disease, although it did not op--a leprous man-the plague is in his
perate altogether on the skin. The in- forehead. And as to the leper in whom
terior of the system is so deeply affected the plague is, his clothes shall be rent,
with it, that it is called by the Arabs by and his brow made bare, and his upper
a name which signifies "the lion's breath," lips covered, and he shall cry out, "Un-
because of the offensive breath peculiar clean! unclean! All the days wherein
to the lion and the leper; but its most the plague shall be on him, he shall be de-
formidable influence is exerted on the out- filed. He is unclean, he shall dwell alone:
ward surface.
The Oriental leprosy is without the camp shall his habitation be."
represented as so loathsome a disease and Behold the camp of Israel with its pillar
so infectious as to taint the garments of of cloud by day and its pillar of fire by
the leper, and the house in which he night, significant emblems of a present
lived.
The Hebrew word signifies "a Deity, every man enjoying the sweet circle
stroke," as if the person was smitten from of his own friends. But behold, beyond
heaven; but the Greek word signifies the camp, far remote from the dwellings
whiteness." Hence the Hebrews speak of Israel, a little shed or booth, construct-
of a leprosy white as snow, for their ed not for the inferior animals, as from its
bodies were covered over with white appearance you might suppose, but for
scales. Herodotus tells us that it was com- diseased man; for, behold, there comes
mon among the Persians, and that he had out of it a wandering and solitary individ-
seen several whose faces had the appear-ual, mourning over his melancholy condi-
ance of hoar-frost. It has been concluded, tion, his upper lip covered, while, in the
and not without reason, that the leprosy language of the law, he cries out, "Un-

clean! unclean!" This was to show that his very breath was pestilential. And we see from the cases recorded in the scriptures that this treatment was as strictly observed by the Israelites as the law of quarantine in our own country, when pestilential diseases invade the land. Even king Uzziah was not exempted from the law. He was separated from society, and excluded from his throne, and he was a leper till the day of his death and dwelt in a separate house. And when Miriam, the sister of Moses and of Aaron, was struck with it, she was shut up for seven days, and the children of Israel journeyed not till she returned to the camp.

Thus lepers were excluded from society. The Jewish Rabbins tell us, that if a leper entered a house, that house and every article in it became unclean. If a leper stood under a tree, and any person passed under that tree, he became unclean. But as these doctors of the law rendered it partly more severe than God himself did, so, in one case, they rendered it more lax, for they allowed a leprous person to attend the synagogue, provided he made a room for himself, ten cubits high and four broad, and came in first and went out last. It appeared from this that the leprous man was considered rather as a criminal than sympathised with as a sick person.

priest, he was found cured, very curious ceremonies were then prescribed, as you find in the 13th and 14th chapters of the book of Leviticus.

But, my brethren, we must ere this time have been convinced that something more in all this was meant than mere bodily disease. Even the Jews, extremely prone as they were to rest on external rites, saw something more intended here; for they speak of the leper as a sign or type of the sinner; and on this account, say they, it was not by medicine but by sacrifice that the leprosy was put away. Behold in this disease, therefore, the infinite evil and defiling nature of sin; how loathsome, deep, and incurable it is by any human power-how widely spreading and infectious. The bodies of the lepers, their garments, and even their houses, all tainted with this disease their bodies excluded from the touch of every othertheir garments to be burned-and their houses to be pulled down,-all this cries aloud how deeply rooted in our nature is the great disease of sin-how it defiles every thing-how it excludes the soul from communion with God and from communion with the redeemed-how it dooms the body to the great and infected house that must be pulled down; " for," says the apostle, " if Christ be in you, the There is something very remarkable in body is dead because of sin." In the cure the Word of God regarding its cure. All prescribed by law, we behold the Saviour other maladies were left entirely to the exhibited to our faith. Christ is the ordinary means of the physician. We priest to whom we must flee, and not to have no inspired prescriptions regarding any physician, for the cure of this disease; consumptions, fevers, dropsy, palsy, or for no medicine but the virtue of his any other of the ordinary diseases to divine sacrifice can effectually take away which the human frame is liable; but this this leprosy. The two birds employed in is taken out of the hands of the physician, this disease were figurative of sacrifice. and made an affair of religion alone. No The bird slain represented the death of external or internal application of medi- our Lord Jesus Christ, by which atonecine was prescribed. The leper was to ment is made for our sin, and the live bird be looked upon by the priest, and pro- let loose into the open field was intended nounced whole or diseased. It was the to show that as Christ died for our sin, opinion of the Jews, that all human means so he rose again for our justification, and were totally unavailing, and that nothing procures for the church, and sheds upon but the hand that smote could accomplish it the purifying influence of the Holy the cure. And perhaps at that period Spirit. Hence pleads the Psalmist," Wash there was no knowledge of any remedy me and I shall be clean; sprinkle me with that could effect a cure; and accordingly hyssop, and I shall be whiter than the we know that the cure came immediately snow.' from the hand of God. The priests were commanded to look on, to stand and see what God would do. When the person had submitted to the regimen prescribed by law, if, on presenting himself to the

But let us contemplate the miraculous healing power of the Saviour. He who gives these minute directions concerning this disease, ordained that the leper should meet Christ, in order that his omnipotence

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