November 1930
T H E K i n g ’ s
506
B u s i n e s s
(vi ug - Where Are the Nine? B y T. M arshall RJ orsey (Los Angeles, Calif.)
loving Saviour. Their money would then be released for His service. But, as we would expect, the leper who “ turned back” to show his gratitude also shouted his thanksgiving with his voice. “ With a loud voice glorified God.” Shouting is proper when it is the outburst of a heart filled with grati tude. There was a time, our Lord tells us, when, if the people had not shouted, the very stones would have glori fied God. Also, in that future day, in the midst of terrific
J ESUS was passing through Galilee and Samaria when, at the entrance to a certain village, ten lepers met Him. Standing afar off they cried: “ Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Jesus sent them to receive legal cleansing, from the priest, ©¡£- and as they were on the way they were healed. The record tells us that of the ten only one turned back to thank the Lord for His mercy. Our Lord was surprised and evidently pained at ]||
judgments foretold in the book of Revelation, there shall be reverb era ting shouts of praise and there shall be voices singing in creasing doxologies. Moreover, we r e a d that this Samaritan “ fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks.” This is the worship of gratitude. The grateful child of God will not only live his appreciation and shout his thanksgiving, but he will go alone with God to spend time in loving adoration of the One who loved him enough to die for him. In the midst of this world’s rush we need to spend much time in the inner chamber, in grateful communion with our lov ing Lord. T h i s Samaritan re ceived something that the others d i d n o t receive. Our Lord was pleased with this gratitude shown to Him and He showed His pleasure by bestowing special blessing. He said : “ Thy faith hath made thee whole.” The original lan guage reads: “ Thy faith hath saved thee.” We have noticed that
the proportion of ingra titude. He e x c l a i me d : “Were t h e r e not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God save t h i s stranger.” Appar ently the rest were Gali leans, and this m a n a Samaritan. The Thanksgiving sea son gives a fine opportun ity for God’s people to show forth God’s wonder ful mercies, and to praise His name for the multi tude of His lovingkind nesses which are to us- ward. The whole nation’s business pauses by na tional proclamation f o r t h i s Thanksgiving day. What an opportunity for God’s people, instead of being absorbed in selfish pursuits, to join in such a shout of praise and grati tude as shall arouse the at tention of the world! T h i s S a m a r i t a n “ turned back” to praise the Lord. Real gratitude s h o w s itself in action. There is such a thing as thanks living. “ O Jesus, Lord, Thy dying love Hath pierced my contrite heart; Now take my life, and let me prove How dear to me Thou art."
“And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria, and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one o f them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole” (Lk. 17:11-19).
those who, by life and word, show their thanks giving to God are the ones for whom He does many wonderful things. Let us have on our lips the shout of praise at this Thanksgiving season:
The Lord Jesus has healed us of the leprosy of sin, that terrible blight which had doomed us to death. Those who are grateful in their hearts will “ turn back” to follow their Lord and to be near Him. We talk much of the need of money, but never was there a time when the cause of Christ so much needed men and women who would “ turn back” from the ingratitude and indifference that marks so many, to the complete surrender of a grateful heart to a
“ We praise Thee O God! For the Son o f Thy love, For Jesus who died, And is now gone above, Hallelujah! Thine the gl.ory, Hallelujah! Amen!”
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs