be givon you," be reAolvee tho.t he will o.sk that a new life may be given him; be will seek: what if he shoukl find? We have never made to man any request on which so mnch has bung as that which was now hanging on the answer he should receive at the lips of Jesus Christ. 'fo him it was not success or failure merely; it was life or death that was at stake. How must the most eager expectation have wrestled in his heart with tremulous and agonizing fear I with what faltering voice must he have uttered those prayerful words, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean"! II. Trrn TOUCH OF THE DIVINE HAND. "Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him." All three evangelists record this significant fact. There were three reasons why he should not do this. 1. Strong instinctive human aversion. 2. The risk he ran iii so doing. 3. 'l'he prohibition of the Law combined with social usnge disaJlowing it. I:lut our Lord set aside all these objections. Why? Was it not to show by instant action the kindness and compassion of his heart, to place himself practically by his side ne One who felt deeply for and with him, and to teach us that, if we wish to heal the worst disorders, we must do that, not standing afar off, but, coming into close personal contact with the men we are seeking to save, by " laying our hand upon them"? We, too, must be ready, like our Lord, to do that which is distasteful, to run some risks, to disreg~rd conventional proprieties, if we would remove from the land the leprosies which still afll ic t it. III. THE RESPONSE OF DIVINE LOVE. That leper must have known, when Jesus laid his hand kindly upon him, that he meant to heal him; yet sweeter to his ear than are the most melting strains of music to the lover of melody and song were these words of the Lord when he said, "I will: be thou clean;" and then he who "speaks, and it is done," spoke the unheard word, and forces of nature came into play, and the life-blood leapt in •.he leper's veins, "and immediately his leprosy departed." Sin is the leprosy of the soul. L It is loathsome. 2. It is diffusive, spreading from faculty to faculty over the whole uature. 3. It exiles; it separates man from God, and man from man also. 4. It ie deathful; it is death in life. When the sinful soul, though he be far gone m sin, " full of leprosy," makes his application to the great Physician, he has nothing to fear as to the result of his appeal. (1) Be not troubled, far less hindered., because hope is streaked with fear; there may be an "if" in the heart, as there was in that of this leper; the very intensity of the hope arising out of the magnitude of the issue at stake will per- fectly accoUDt for that-such fear is only the shadow of a prevailing hope. (2) Be assured that you have no need to fear. Christ's readiness to save is beyond the shadow of a doubt; if we are only in real earnest to be saved from the leprosy of sin, it is cer- tain that the hand of Divine love will be laid upon us, and that the voice of Divine mercy will address us, saying, "I will: be thou clean."-C. Ver. 16.-0hrist at prayer. The fact that our Lord did withdraw into the wilder- ness to pray, and that this was not at all a solitary in,tance of his devotion, may suggest- !. THAT PRAYER BECOMES THE STRONG AND THE HOLY AS WELL AS THE WEAK AND THE GUILTY. Jesus prayed; the One who was holy, harmless, UDdefiled, he in whom was no sin, He had no guilt to confess, no mercy to implore, no cleansing of heart to seek of the Holy Spirit. Y6t he prayed; and prayer was beGoming in him because he could: 1. Render adoration to the God whom he reverenced and whom he revealed. 2. Offer gratitude to the Father who ministered unto him even as unto us. 3. Utter bis love and his devotedness to him in whom he rejoiced and on whose great errand of mercy he had come. 4. .Ask for the guidance and support he needed at the Divine band for the future that was before him. For such purposes as these prayer will become us as much in the heavenly kingdom as it befits us now. When we have no sins to acknowledge and no forgiveness to obtain, we shall still need to approach the Divine Spirit to express our adoration, our gratitude, and our love; also to ask for the maintenance anrl the guidance of that strong hand on which, in every age anu in every sphere, we shall be dependent as we are to-day. ll. THAT PRAYER IS PECULIARLY APPROPRIATE BEFORE AND AFTER ALL SPECIAL IIERVICES. We have good reason to think that these were the circumstances unJer which our Lord spent much time in prayor. It is probable that he, un<ler the li111it.\- tions to which he stooped, found it highly des_!!able if not needful then. Certaiu 1y it 128 THE GOSPEL !.CCORDING TO ST, LUKE. [on. v. 1-39.
Ii; 8<1 ft1r us. 1. Berore special services we &re in greatest need-need or etrenath and inspirntion for the work immedi11,tely confronting ue. 2. After special servicC: we are in f!rmf-est danger ; f~r the human spirit ie n~~er so exposed to its spiritual ad versariee RI! m thRt hour when 1t relaxes after great spmtual excitement. III. THAT IT 1B NEEDFUL TO SF.FI!: AND TO FIND 0PP0RTUNrrrne FOB PRAYER, Jesus Christ could not have poure~ out _Lis heart to his Father as he did, and gained the refreshmrnt irnd st.rength he gamed m prayer, if he lrnd remained in the midst of the curious 1rnd exacting throngs who waited upon him. Ho withdrew himself into the wilderness. We have intimation that he had to make a very strenuouselTort to escape from the multitudes and to secure the seclusion be desired. But he made it. And we 1,ball ~ wise if we do tho same. If we only draw near ~ God and have fellowship with him when we happen to be left alone, and when occasions offer themselves to us we shall be very lacking in our devotion; the flame of our piety will languish on th~ altar of our heart. ,ve must make occasion; we must seize opportunity; we must compel our life to yield the still hour, when, withdrawina0 ourselves into solitude we are alone with God. •
IV. 'l'HAT IF :1,.'EEDFUL TO OUR LORD, HOW MUCH MORE NECESSARY MUST BUSTAINEl> DEVOTION BE TO OURSELVES I If purity ne,·dcd to pray, how much more need has guilt I if strengt.h, how much more weakness! if wisdom, how much more ignorance and folly! lf our Master did not go forth to great trials or temptations without first attun- ing his spirit a.nd rene,vin~ his strength in the near presence of his Father, how much less shall we venture into the a.rdnous a.nd perilous future without first equipping our- selves at the sacred armoury, without first casting ourselves on God and drawing sus- ta.ining a.nd overcoming vigour from his infinite resources!-O.