And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.   And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.   And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.  ~~Mark 1:40-42

     Leprosy, more than any other disease, is used as a symbol of sin, and a good symbol it is; for as no other disease it disfigures the countenance and makes the person ugly and repulsive.   In China I have seen a leper begging by the wayside whose fingers on his hands and whose nose on his face had dissolved away into running sores.   His feet, wrapped in rags, were no doubt in the same condition.   There was also the horrible odor about him.   No one would want to touch him.   However, I am convinced that when God and the Holy Jesus look upon us as we are covered with our sins, we are just as ugly and repulsive in His sight as was that leper.   We too actually stink.   "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags."   Isaiah 64:6

     In some countries the lepers are required by law to call out, "Unclean! Unclean!" wherever they go, to let others know that they are lepers.   But we have seen that all mankind is unclean in God's sight, and we, too, should be calling out before God, "Unclean! unclean!"

     In almost all countries leprosy brings about separation.   The leper can no longer live in the home, the city, or the town.   The U. S. has two leper asylums to which those with leprosy are taken, and they are separated, kept apart by themselves.   In Isaiah 59:2 we read, "But your iniquities (sins) have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."   Your sins have separated you from God, and you can't go near Him, for you are too ugly.   You stink too much.   That is a sinful man's condition.   But here we have the holy Lord Jesus reaching forth His hand to touch a filthy leper.   Will He not reach out and touch you also?   I'm sure He will, if you will only come to Him as the leper did.

     First, the leper came to Jesus realizing his need.   Most any leper knows he is in a miserable condition, that he's not beautiful to look upon, that he needs help; but there are multitudes of lost sinners running around who still think they are doing fine, who think they are mighty nice looking and that it ought to be quite a treat to God to have them around.   They are so deceived and so in darkness that they know not that they are "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked."   Revelation 3:17.

     Lost friend, you need to realize your need, and you need to come to Jesus just as the leper did.   He came "beseeching him."   That is begging him, praying Him, "O Jesus, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.    Will you do it, Lord?   Will you do it, please?   Can't you come to the Lord in the same way?   If you really want all those vile filthy sins washed away, you will.

     And you need to come to Jesus as the leper did, "kneeling down to him," down on your knees.   No one need be ashamed to kneel to Jesus, especially when they understand who He is and what He has done for them.   He is the very Son of God from heaven's glories, come out of God's love for lost sinners to die for our sins, to shed His precious blood to wash away our sins, so that any sinner that comes in repentance and faith to Him becomes clean as the new fallen snow.   Jesus is worthy of all our worship, Honor, and love.   If you are too proud to kneel, then I doubt there is any repentance or faith that you might expect anything from Him.   I believe in an old time, mourner's bench where sinners come and kneel down and pray.    I was saved on my knees at a bench like that.   Others I've known were saved beside a log in the woods, and others were saved at home by their bedside.   The Lord Jesus is everywhere, and you can repent and come to Him, kneeling down to Him in your heart, if necessary.

     When you come to Jesus and call out to Him, He will answer.   He is easily moved with compassion.   He loves you more than father or mother, sister or brother.   He who touched the leper will also touch you.    He was not afraid of the leprosy, for He is the true Holy One of Israel.   The false holy person is always afraid of being contaminated and made unclean.   They say that the holy, high caste Brahman of India feels he has become unclean, if only the shadow of a low caste untouchable should fall upon him, and he must go and immediately bathe himself.   But not so with the Lord Jesus.   Uncleanness could not touch Him, rather whatever He touched became clean.   Sin could never touch Him, rather whomsoever He touched was made righteous, his sins were all cleansed and taken away: for Jesus said, "I will, be thou clean."

     "And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed."   Have you ever come to Jesus and humbly kneeling before Him asked Him to make you clean, to wash away all your dirty sins?   If you do, He will touch you.   (O what a glorious experience, to be touched by the Son of God, unworthy sinner though I am!)   And He will say, "I will, be thou clean," and immediately you are saved, all your sins washed away, and immediately you are a child of God, born again by faith in Him, and immediately you have eternal life, immediately you have peace with God, and you have Jesus with you all the way throughout this life.   Death is no longer the fearful unknown, but is become the door into His presence and the beginning of new joys and glories that we cannot even imagine now.

     If you would have such blessings and assurance, go to Jesus now down on your knees calling out to Him, and He will save you.   The preacher cannot save, nobody else can save, for only Jesus Saves.

     Any fool can run a car down hill, but it takes gas to run it up hill.   So you have to have grace to lift you out of the road to hell.

     Sin takes you down to hell, but grace takes you to heaven.   Accept His grace now.

     Heaven is above, hell is below.   Which way are you going?

     ~~"Figs and Thistles" by R. Y. Blalock.

Once I was lost in sin's dark flood;
     I wandered blind and could not see.
Christ bought my soul with His own blood;
     On Calvary's cross He purchased me.

The web of sin my soul ensnared;
     By satan bound, no longer free.
My blessed Savior loved and cared,
     With His own blood He purchased me.

Since Jesus took me in His arms
     And gave me love beyond degree,
The world for me has lost it's charms,
     Prase His dear name, He purchased me!

By Mabel Byrd in "VICTORY NEWSLETTER."

When you enter that beautiful city,
And old friends to greet you appear,
Will you hear these joyful words spoken,
"It was you that invited me here."?

     It's not what you left behind but what you sent ahead that counts.

     Don't let yesterday use up too much of today.

     "We only see a little of God's loving,
A few rich treasures from His mighty store,
But oh!   Out there beyond the life's horizon
There's more, there's more."

~~Copied.

     The massive central door in the side of Noah's Ark was opened to the first crowd of curious townsfolk to behold the wonder.   Of course, it's only a replica of the biblical Ark , built by Dutch creationist, Johan Huibers, as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible.

     The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide.   That's two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house.

     Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras, bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold.

     A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine.   Biblical Scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been.

     Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, using modern tools and with occasional help from his son, Roy.   Construction began in May 2005. On the uncovered top - deck not quite ready in time for the opening - will come a petting zoo, with baby lambs, chickens, goats and one camel.

     Visitors on the first day were stunned.   'It's past comprehension', said Mary Louise Starosciak, who happened to be bicycling by with her husband while on vacation when they saw the ark looming over the local landscape.

     'I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big.'   There is enough space near the keel for a 50-seat film theater where kids can watch a video that tells the story of Noah and his ark. Huibers, a Christian man, said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands , where church-going has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years.

     Now that I am old and Gray...give me the time to tell this new generation (and their children too) about all your mighty miracles.   Psalm 71:18

Letters To The Editor

     Still there have been no letters to the editor.   Folks if you want to respond to something you have read in "Baptist Landmarks" please E-Mail your response to edit@BaptistLandmarks.org   Your response will be printed here.

     I would like to have a cartoon in each issue if possible.   If there is someone reading this paper who can draw cartoons that will cause us to laugh at the foolish things we sometimes do and cause us to think of how we could better serve our Savior, please E-Mail me and let me know.

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