2. Those nine ungrateful ones did not receive more, they lost even what they had. They did not become leprous again, the gift of bodily health was not withdrawn from them, but they lost their faith and their good conscience. They were now cured, and were free to go to their homes, but they did not carry a joyous heart in their bosom like the Samaritan ; they were rather pursued by the consciousness of having acted wickedly towards Him who had re- stored them to health. So it always is ; he that gives thanks to God receives more and more, but the ungrateful loses that he has ; as the Lord says, " Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance ; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath."
^ Only one hears the gracious words, " Thy faith hath made thee whole," or, as the Greek means, " Thy faith hath saved thee." For a man is neither " saved," nor " made whole," by being made sound in body. Whatever his " faith," no man is a whole or a saved man until faith has unsealed the fountains of wonder and thankfulness and love within him. Better that the body be consumed by the most loathsome disease, so that the soul be in health and prosper, than that the soul dead to wonder and gratitude and love should dwell in the healthiest of frames and the happiest outward conditions. For the soul has the power of weaving a body, and even many bodies, for itself, and is always, I suppose, busily weaving for itself the " spiritual body," in which it will abide when once it has "shuffled off this mortal coil." Sooner or later the body must come right if only the soul be right with God. So that these nine thankless lepers — cleansed, but not saved ; healed, and yet not made whole — had far better have remained lepers, if their misery would have helped to make whole or complete men of them, if it would have helped to "save" them, by making them feel their need of God, a,nd by drawing them nearer to the Fountain of all love and goodness.^
* H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, By Word and Deed, 130. ^ S. Cox, Expositions, iii. 398.
2,z6 INGRATITUDE
But one alone Turns back that gift of God's great love to own,
His thanks and praise to tell;
Son of Samaria's race, In him is seen a fuller, worthier grace,
Than ausjht in Israel.
And is it not so still ? Are not we slow to own the Mighty Will
That works to save and bless ?
We, who so much receive, The speech of joy and praise to others leave,
Whom God endowed with less.
We lose what God has given, The prize for which our feeble faith has striven
Because we thank Him not ;
Though healed the leprous taint. Yet still the head is sick and heart is faint;
We crave we know not what.
Wilt thou full health attain, Let thy heart utter joy's exulting strain ;
To Christ who cleansed thee turn;
Then shalt thou know, at last, A fuller bliss than all thy unblest past,
High thoughts tliat cleanse and burn.'^
1 E. H. Plumptre.
The Coming of the Kingdom,
ST. LUKE — 22
Literature.
Ainsworth (P. C), The Silence of Jesus, 75, 85.
Assheton (R. 0.), The Kingdom and the Empire, 107.
Balmforth (R.), The New Testament in the Light of the Higher Criticism^
89. Brooke (S. A.), The Gospel of Joy, 357. Davies (J.), The Kingdom Without Observation, 1. Dawson (G.), Sermons on Daily Life and Duty, 120. Goulburn (E. M.), Sermons on Different Occasions, 98. Griffith -Jones (E.), The Economics of Jesus, 111. Inge (W. R.), Faith and Knowledge, 187. Jeffrey (G.), The Believer's Privilege, 144. Kingsley (C), Sermons on National Subjects, 373. Lee (R.), Sermons, 103. Liddon (H. P.), Present Church Troubles, 1. Macleod (D.), Christ and Society, 67. Manning (H. E.), Sermons, i. 172. Murray (A.), Within, 13. Newman (J. H.), Parochial and Plain Sermons, ii. 107.
„ „ Sermons on Various Occasions, 47.
Rashdall (H.), Christus in Ecclesia, 3. Tomory (A.), in Alexander Tomory, Indian Missionary, 43. Trench (R. C), Sermons Preached for the Most Part in Ireland, 299. Watson (A.), Christ's Authority, 158. Whitehead (H.), Sermons, 269. Whyte (A.), The Walk, Conversation, and Character of Jesus Christ our
Lord, 258. Wilberforce (S.), Sermons, 61. Williams (T. M.), Sermons of the Age, 1.
Cambridge Review, xv. (1893) Supplement No. 363 (E. Bickersteth). Christian World Pulpit, xlix. 42 (G. Littlemore) ; Ixxiii. 43 (P.
McPhail). Church Family Newspaper, Nov. 25, 1910 (S. A. Alexander) ; Dec. 2,
1910 (H. L. Goudge). Church of England Pulpit, li. 133 (R. E. Baitlett). Churchman's Pulpit : Mission Work, xvii. 212 (J. L. Latham). Good WordSf 1894, p. 354 (W. T. Gairdner).
The Coming of the Kingdom.
And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God cometh, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation : neither shall they say, Lo, here I or, There I for lo, the kingdom of God is within you.— Luke xvii. 20, 21.
1. There are few sayings of our Lord whose meaning has been more disputed. What did our Lord mean ? Did He mean, as we at first are sure to understand Him to mean, that the Kingdom of God is to be looked for, not in the outward scene of man's life but in the heart of man himself ? That is no doubt, in one sense, most true. The Kingdom of God, as St. Paul says, is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, and it is within ourselves, though not only within ourselves, that these things are found. Or, secondly, did the Lord here speak of His own presence in the world ? Did He mean that the Kingdom, or reign, of God was already realized in His own Person, and in the little band which was living under His direction ? That also is, no doubt, most true. In Jesus and His little company the Pharisees had already " in the midst of them " those in whom God was indeed ruling. Or, thirdly, was our Lord's meaning, as we should now say, eschatological ? Did He mean that it was idle to watch for the dawn of the Kingdom of God, since that Kingdom would come suddenly, and in its noontide glory, without any gradual dawn to herald its coming ? A moment before its arrival we shall detect no sign of it. And then, as the hour strikes, " Lo ! the kingdom of God is in the midst " of us ! Each of these meanings is possible, and each is attractive ; how shall we decide between them ?