nnwort.hincss, he exclaimed, with charl\cteristic candour of impulsiveness, 11 Deparl frorn me ; for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord." I. THE w Ay IN WHICH G-On NOW MANIFESTS HIMSELF' TO THE WORLD, That way is threefold. l. Nature and pi·ovidence. The heavens declare his glory, and so does this won,ierful and beautiful and frnil.ful earth. Not less so do the souls and the lives of men, created with all their faculties, preserved and enriched with all their joys llnd blessings. "The in,~~ible things of him . . . are ckarlr seen, being understood by the things that a~e made. But more than this was proved lo be needed by the sad, dark history of man- krnd. Hence we have: 2. Spec'ial revelation. "At snudry times and in divers manners God spake unto our fathers" by Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, etc.; but at a later time he spake unto us by his Son-by his life, bis truth, his sorrow, his death, b:a resurrection. But this did not suffice. Divine lovo appeared., and human hatred slew it. Divine truth spake, and human error determinP.tely rejected it. So God gives us what we need. 3. The direct influences of hi8 Holy Spirit, to arouse, t.o quicken, to enlighten, to renew us. It THE FIRST EFFECT UPON TIIE SOUL OF THIS VISION 011' Gon. What usna\ly happens is that the soul is smitten with a sense of its sinfulness, and desires to withdraw from the Divine presence. At this we need not wonder. If conscious ignorance shrinks from great lea.ruing, poverty from great wealth, obscurity from high rank, human guilt from human purity, well may the consciously sinful soul of man shrink from the near presence of the thrice-holy God. As Adam and Eve hid themselves when they "heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden ; " as Isaiah exclaimed, "Woe is me! I am a man of unclean lips," when he "saw the Lord" in tho temple ;-so do we shrink from the felt presence of the Lord in view of our own unworthiness and guilt. Remembering our spiritual estrangp,ment, our great undischargcd indebtedness to God, onr impurity of heart in his sight, our manifold transgressions of his righteous law,--our souls tremble before him ; and if we do not say, "Depart from me, 0 Lord! " as Peter did, yet our first thought is to escape from his felt presence, t.o put some distance, in thought and feeling, between oursel,es and that Holy and Mighty One in whose power we s1and so absolutely, and whose Spirit we have grieved so greatly. III. THE INTERPOSITION OF oun SA vrouR. The sacred record does not state what immediately ensued, but our instructed imagination will very readily 11upply the remainder of the incident. We are quite sure that our gracious Master, instead of acting on Peter's word, a.nd leaving him, drew nearer to him, and ".-took him by the hand," and so reassured him. Thus does he treat us now. Instead of withdrawing from us when we know and feel our guilt, he comes nearer to us. Instead of saying t.o us, "Depart from me!" he says, earnestly and emphatically, "Corne unto me!" He says to us," If, in my teaching and in my life and in my death, there is (as there is) the str0ngest possible condemnation of sin, so is there also in all these things, in my words 2.nd my actions and my cross, the greatest possible hope for the sinner. Come _u1_1to me; see in me the Propitiation for your sin, the Way back unt.o the Father, the D1vrne. Friend and Helper of the sorrowing and struggling human soul Do not leave me; come to me, and abide in me! "-C.
Vers. 12, 13.-77.e cleansed leper. Three points sug~est themselves to our thoughts. L THE WAVERING OF A STRONG BUMAN HOPE. Outside the outer circumference of that congregation was a man to whom pity would have drawn us, but from whom an instinctive repugnance would have repelled us. He was one in whom were not only si= and spots of that dire plague of leprosy, but in whom it was seen in its most ~ulent form-he was "full of leprosy." Suffering in body, and afflicted far worse in mind by the terrible isolation which that disease imposed, there suddenly enters his heart a new and bounding hope ; in the dense darkness of his night there rises that morning star. A new Prophet has come to the people of God. Ile hears of bis Name and fame ( eh. iv. 37); he comes to see; he witnesses the wonderful works which are wrought ( eh. iv. 40). Will not this g1 eat Healer have mercy upon him? Will not he who casts out the devil cure the leper? If the poor paralytic, at his bidding, could rise and walk away with his friends, why should not he, at the command of that strong Voice, be healed of bis foul disease, and go home to his family again? So he comes where Jt:sus is, and li.etcns ae he speaks, and when he hears him so.y, "Ask, and it shall 011, v. 1-39.) THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. 127