Let us turn again to God's Word
turning now to the New Testament Scriptures and the Gospel of
Qantas and Matthew and reading in chapter 8 Matthew chapter
8 I'll read the first four verses When he was come down from the
mountain great multitudes followed him and behold there came a leper
and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand,
and touched him, saying, I will. Be thou clean. And immediately
his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said unto him, See
thou tell no man, but go thy way, show thyself to the priest,
and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto
them. one of the many miracles performed
by the Lord Jesus Christ. And we remember the significance
of these works of wonder. The miracles, of course, are
signs. In fact, as we've said many a
time, that is the word that's actually used repeatedly in the
Gospel according to St. John. Every time we read there
of a miracle, It is literally a sign that is being spoken of. And what are these signs, these
great works, these miracles, that are given to authenticate
the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and we certainly see that
in the context here because in the previous chapters we have
the accounts of what we call the Sermon on the Mount from
chapter 5 through 6 and 7 and then here at the beginning of
this 8th chapter we're told when he was come down from the mountain
great multitudes followed him and as he's been preaching there
to his disciples upon the mount. So now we read here in chapter
8 of a number of miracles. We have the opening verses where
we see Christ healing the leper. But then at verse 5 through 13
we see how he also heals the centurion's servant. And then
again, verse 14 through 17, we see Christ ministering miraculously
to the mother-in-law of Simon Peter. So there are immediately
these three miracles recordings. And they're science, authenticating
the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. And what are they signs of? Well,
they are signs that point to Him as that One who is indeed
the Messiah. He is the Christ that was promised
in the Old Testament Scriptures. We see this later in chapter
11 where we read of John the Baptist And some doubt really as to whether
or not Jesus is that promised Messiah. In chapter 11 verse
2, when John had heard in prison the works of Christ, he sent
two of his disciples and said unto him, Art thou he that should
come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto
them, Go and show John again those things which ye do. Hear
and see the blind receive their sights, and the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed and the dead hear, the dead are raised up,
and the poor have the gospel preached to them." Here is the
answer then that's given to the Baptists that the ministry of
the Lord Jesus is indeed the authentic ministry of the Messiah
that was to come, He is truly the Christ of God. It's a sign
then of His Messiahship, but the miracles are also more than
that, they're a sign of His majesty, His deity. Remember when Later
in chapter 16, Simon Peter confesses and acknowledges that Jesus is
the Christ. He says more than that. Now what,
the Christ? He says the Son of the Living
God. And the miracles then authenticate
him as the Son of the Living God. One who is equal to the
Father. He is God, manifest in the flesh. And in John's account, there
in the second chapter, where we read of that first miracle
that he performs at Cana in Galilee, this beginning of miracles, did
Jesus, it says, and manifested forth his glory, and his disciples
believed on him. Oh, there was such a manifestation
of his glory in the miracles that he repeatedly is performing
throughout this account that we have in the fourfold gospel. But then also with regards to
the portion that we read this morning here in the beginning
of this eighth chapter, there is a mystery. There's a mystery
certainly in this particular miracle. And it's a significance
of leprosy. It's the significance of leprosy.
We read that chapter in the Levitical Law. In chapter 13 of Leviticus
we are told something of the symptoms that were to be looked
for as indicative that one was indeed a leper. And then in the
portion that we read in chapter 14 we have the cleansing of the
leper. And it is interesting that leprosy
was a matter that was not to be dealt with by the physician
but it was the duty of the priest there in Israel. In chapter 13 at verse 9 we are
told, When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then shall he be
brought unto the priest. It's a matter for the priest
there. Why? Because leprosy is a type
It's a type of sin in many ways. It's a fearful disease. Sometimes
we see it as very much a mark of God's wrath. We can think
of various individuals upon whom, in judgment, God visits this
awful disease. Miriam and Gehazi, the prophet's
servant. Uzziah, the king. How these were
struck down. with this fearful, this awful
disease of leprosy. It's associated with sin. It's
really to be understood when we think of it as a type of that
sin that has been opened up in some measure in the experience
of a man. He's aware of what he is. He's
aware of his sinnership. It's a type. And when we come
to the New Testament, of course, we see the antitype. The antitype
in the sin that's associated with leprosy, the antitype in
the priest. It's the priest who attends to
the leper. And here in the New Testament, of course, we see
him who is the great high priest of our profession. always, of
course, to remember that the anti-type is so much richer,
so much fuller than what we see back in the type in the Old Testament,
and I trust that we will be able to observe something of that
as we continue with this particular theme for a little while this
morning. I want to really take up the
theme of the compassion of Christ in cleansing the leper. That's
the subject matter that I want to try to address as we consider
these verses at the beginning of this 8th chapter. When he,
that is the Lord Jesus, was come down from the mountain after
preaching there, As we have it recorded in chapters 5, 6, and
7, great multitudes followed him. And behold, there came a
leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst
make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand
and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately
his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See
thou tell no man, but go thy way, show thyself to the priest
and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto
them." The first thing to observe here is the significance of the
commandment of Moses. And the Lord honors and respects
that. Offer the gift that Moses commanded,
he says, for a testimony. And in many ways it's those things
that we were reading previously there in that 14th chapter. The
law of the leper in the day of his cleansing, it says that he
was to be brought unto the priest. And then what the priest is to
do, and amongst other things there at verse 4, the priest
commands to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive
and clean and cedar wood and scarlet and hyssop. There were
certain rituals that were to be observed in the cleansing
of the leper. And the Lord Jesus here in the
New Testament is aware of the law and he honors the law. Had
he not said as much during the course of his preaching There
in chapter 5, verse 17, think not that I am come to destroy
the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but
to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till
heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle, shall in no wise
pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore
shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach
men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.
But whosoever shall do and teach them The same shall be called
great in the kingdom of heaven. Christ is in the process, of
course, of fulfilling all that law. He will fulfill all the
ceremonial law in the course of His life and by His death
and resurrection. And He will also honor and magnify
the Lord of the Ten Commandments by the obedience of His sinless
life. And then that great sin atoning
sacrifice is the end of the law for righteousness. But now the
Lord very much here is honoring the law of Moses, recognizing
it. And we have that law concerning
the leper declared in Deuteronomy 24 and verse 8, take heed, in
the plague of leprosy that thou observe diligently. And do according
to all that the priests, the Levites, shall teach you, as
I commanded them, so shall ye observe to do, says the Lord.
And the Lord Jesus, you see, is teaching the man then to observe
what the Lord God had commanded. Christ is honoring the law. And yet, here at the same time,
do we not see that the Lord Jesus Christ is that one who is above
the law. He's above the law. The law says
do not touch the leper. His disease is a contagious disease. He's a man unclean. He's a man
cut off. We certainly see that in that
previous chapter. We read chapter 14 in Leviticus
but in chapter 13 And there, at verse 45, Leviticus 13 and
verse 45, the leper, in whom the plague is, his clothes shall
be rent, his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his
upper lip, and shall cry, unclean, unclean, all the days. When the plague shall be in him,
he shall be defiled. He is unclean, he shall dwell
alone. Without the camp shall his habitation
be. None are to come anywhere near
the leper. But what do we see the Lord Jesus
doing? Verse 3, Jesus put forth his
hands and touched it, saying, I will be thou clean, and immediately
his leprosy was cleansed. Oh Christ is that one then who
is above the law. Far from Christ himself becoming
unclean when he touches the leper, on the contrary, he is the one
who cleanses the leper by his mere touch. the Lord touches
him and then simply declares the words I will be thou clean
and immediately immediately the leprosy has departed from the
man and so Christ then gives him
that instruction to show himself to the priest And he says, put
a testimony on to them. Here is the testimony of who
this man is. Who is this Jesus of Nazareth
who is able by a touch to cleanse the lepers? Well, you see, the
unbelieving Jews, they reject him. He comes to his own. They
do not receive him, but here is the testimony. Now the miracle
testifies to his Messiahship testifies to his majesty as that
one who truly is God manifest in the flesh. Christ is that
one of course who has come not only made of a woman, not only
the fulfillment of that original gospel promise concerning the
seed of the woman who shall bruise the serpent's head, in Genesis
3 where we read of the very entrance of sin, the fall of our first
parents. He's not only made of a woman,
he's made under the law. And he comes as that one who
himself will satisfy all the demands of that Lord of God.
Made of a woman, made under the law, we're told to redeem them
that were under the law, that they might receive the adoption
of sons. He is the end of the law. for
righteousness to everyone that believes. He's altogether above Moses. The law was given by Moses. Grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ. Do you remember how Paul asked
the question in that third chapter, that remarkable third chapter
of Galatians, wherefore then serveth the law? What's the purpose
of the law? It was added because of transgressions. To the seed should come, to whom
the promise was made. Who is the seed? Oh, to Abraham
and his seed were the promises given, and to thy seed which
is Christ. Oh, Christ is that one, you see,
who answers all that the Holy Lord of God commands and accomplishes
that great work of salvation. And so we see him here. Yes,
he honors Moses' law, but he's also one who is above Moses'
law as priority, really, over the law. The Gospel must always
have that first place. And so In the second place, turning
from the commandment of Moses to what we have here of the commandment
of the Lord Jesus Christ, because he does give a commandment to
this leper that he has cleansed, tells the man exactly what he
is to do. See thou tell no man, but go
thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that
Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. He's not just commanding
the man to have regard to the Lord of Moses, he also says there
at the beginning of that verse, see thou tell no man. Why is he given this particular
commandment? The Protestant reformer Calvin
makes a simple remark here that Christ is concerned of the miracles
completely swamping his teaching. And that's why he tells a man
to tell no man. Because the people are so taken
up with the miracles, and of course, as signs, the miracles
are really very secondary to the ministry of the Lord. He
is a prophet. is that one who is the great
prophet, the final prophet, no prophet after the Lord Jesus
Christ? Of course not. We know that the
so-called prophet Muhammad is a false prophet. Christ is the
prophet. The prophetic office has its
fulfillment in him just as the priestly office. is fulfilled
in him. There's no priest after Christ.
Well, there's the priesthood of all believers, but we're not
sacrificing priests. We're spiritual priests. We offer
the sacrifice of Christ continually to God. But there are no prophets. The important thing here, you
see, is the preaching of the Lord Jesus. And he doesn't want
this to be lost. He doesn't want this to be buried,
as it were, under the people's preoccupation with the miracles
that he is performing. What are we told concerning this
man? Is he obedient to what the Lord
says? See, they tell no man. But in
Mark's account, Mark 1.45, he went out and began to publish
it much and to blaze abroad the matter in so much that Jesus
was no more able openly to enter into the city but was without
in desert places and the people came on to him. So the man is
disobedient. Or you see how the Lord is so
concerned about the role of the miracles, the main purpose, to
authenticate his own ministry. And as was the case with the
Lord, so we see also with the apostles. In a sense, those men,
those twelve chosen apostles, they continued the ministry of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and their preaching also, as we see in
the Acts. was authenticated by the miracles. And doesn't Paul speak of these
things, writing to the Hebrews there in the second chapter?
He says, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things
which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression
and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall
we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first
began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by
them that heard him, God also bearing them witness both with
signs and wonders and with diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy
Ghost according to his own will. The apostolic ministry then was
one that was also very much authenticated by the performance of miracles. And of course, there are no more
any apostles. The church is built upon the
foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone. But now there's no apostles,
We have the word of God in its entirety, the complete scriptures,
and all our authority rests in this book. We don't appeal to
miraculous signs, wonders, as was the case then, to authenticate
what is said, but we appeal to the word of God, to the law,
to the testament. If they speak not according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them. But the
points that the Lord is making surely here as he gives this
particular command to the man, not to tell anyone of what had
happened to him, is because the Lord is emphasizing the primacy
of the ministry, the preaching. That must have the principal
place. And so we have in the previous chapters this account,
this remarkable account of the of the preaching there on the
mount how it opens in chapter 5, seeing the multitudes he went
up into a mountain and when he was set his disciples came unto
him and he opened his mouth and taught them and then we have
the Beatitudes and following that of course we have the whole
sermon recorded through chapters 5, 6 and 7. And when we come
to the end, what remarkable words we have at the end of chapter
7. It came to pass when Jesus had
ended these things, the people were astonished at his doctrine,
or his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority
and not as the scribes. And when he was come down from
the mountain, Great multitudes followed him, he performed these
miracles. As we said, these three miracles
follow immediately. But now secondly, the preaching
is first. It has that principal place.
But all the importance of the Word of God and the preaching
of the Word of God. And we remember how historically
it was that that was in many ways rediscovered at the time
of the Protestant Reformation. What was the Reformation? It
was very much a preaching. movement. We see it with the
great reformers, when we think of the ministry of Luther, we
have so many of his sermons that were printed and published and
are still in print today, and then Calvin also. And Calvin's
expositions, all those commentaries, they were all preached there
at Geneva. And it's interesting, I think,
when we consider the Reformation here in England because we don't
think of the Reformation in terms of a particular individual. We might do that with regards
to the German Reformation and Martin Luther. There were others
of course, but Luther so much the principal man or Calvin there
in Geneva or John Knox in Scotland. But here in England What was
a significant thing? In many ways it was Tyndale's
translation of the Bible. It was the Bible that was so
paramount. But not just the Bible, there
was also the preaching. And there was a dearth of men
who could preach, and so there was the publication of the homilies,
so that good sermons could be read in all the parishes throughout
England. But there were those who were
faithful ministers and preachers of the Word. We can think of
a man like you, Latimer. He was, of course, a bishop there
at Worcester and a great preacher. And it was Latimer who said concerning
the preaching, this is the only office that God has ordained
to save us by. Or let us maintain this, the
preaching, the preaching of the Word of God. Faith cometh by
preaching, and preaching by the Word of God, the language of
the Apostle there in Romans chapter 10. And again, doesn't he remind
us Corinthians, he pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. What is the foolishness of preaching?
Well, It's not just the act of the preacher standing and proclaiming
the message, but in many ways men might say the foolishness
is the message. What is the message? Well, we
preach Christ and Him crucified. Oh, this is the message, the
Lord Jesus Christ in His person. The wonder of that person who
is God and yet man, the God-man. And then the work, Christ crucified. But not only Christ crucified,
the Christ who came, who lived, who died, who rose again. What
is the subject matter? It's the person, it's the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in the preaching, should
we not desire that we might be hearing the voice of Christ in
a sense? Not literally of course. but
the Lord Jesus Christ is to be in the preaching. He is the chief
subject matter of that ministry. Besides the Sermon on the Mount
we have other ministry of Christ recorded. We're familiar with
those chapters in John, those valedictory discourses as we
call them. 14, 15 and 16, there we see him
as a prophet. And then we come to chapter 17
in John and we have Christ's high priestly prayer. We see
him as a priest praying and then of course after that in the remaining
chapters we have the record of his crucifixion. We see him as
a sacrificing priest. But thinking of those three chapters,
those valedictory discourses, what does the Lord say in the
course of those chapters? John 15 verse 3 he says, Now
are ye clean through the words which I have spoken unto you.
Now are ye clean through the words. All this cleansing you
see in the preaching of the Lord Jesus. He simply says the word,
doesn't he? To this man. He touched him saying,
I will be thou clean. Oh, there's the Word of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is that Word, of course,
that was there at the beginning. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him.
And without Him was not anything made that was made. Oh, He is
the Word of God, and we see Him in creation. By the Word of the
Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath
of His mouth. He spoke and it was done, He
commanded, He stood fast. Oh, when we come to hear the
Word, this is what we want, we want to hear the authority of
the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as He speaks to us, so He
communicates life, so He communicates cleansing virtue, the virtue
of that precious blood that was shed, that fountain that's been
opened for sin, and uncleanness. Now are ye clean through the
word which I have spoken unto you." And he is in the preaching. He was certainly there in the
preaching of the Apostles. Many a time we've referred to
those words in Ephesians 4 where the Apostle is addressing the
church at Ephesus. Ephesus there in Asia Minor where
the Lord never went. He was sent to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. His ministry was confined very
much to Palestine. And yet what does the Apostle
say to those in Ephesus? You have not so learned Christ.
You have not so learned Christ, if so be ye have heard Him and
been taught by Him. How did they hear Christ? How were they taught by Christ?
It was through the Word, through the preaching of the Apostle. And then we have that word also
in Romans 10. We've made some reference to
it. He pleases God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. That's what we read in Corinthians.
But that word in Romans 10.17, Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. But who is heard? We have that
word in verse 14, How shall they believe in him of whom they have
not heard? But there is a sense in which
the word of there is quite superfluous. More literally, what it says
in the middle of that 14th verse is, How shall they believe in
him whom they have not heard? It's not just hearing of Christ.
there is here in Christ, in the preaching. Oh, He comes, you
see. He comes by His Spirit, He comes
in His Word. And here, this is why the Lord
gives His commandments to the man. See thou tell no man. He doesn't want the people to
lose sight of the significance of the Word that He is speaking. He is that one who has come to
give that full and final revelation of God. He is the image of the
invisible God. He speaks the words of God. And so we see how the Lord, yes,
He directs a man to the commandment of Moses. He honors the Old Testament
law, but He is above that Old Testament law. He is the fulfillment
of it all. and he comes as that one who
is primarily concerned about his preaching ministry. But then
finally, this morning, to say something with regards to the
leper himself. Consider what the Lord said,
but what does the leper say? What does the leper do? We have
the request of the man. Here in the second verse, behold,
there came a leper. and worshipped him, saying, Lord,
if thou wilt thou canst make me clean. What do we have here? We have the language and the
action of real faith. All this is real faith in this
man. He acknowledges the Lord Jesus in
that he worships him. He worshipped Christ. He acknowledges
the Lord Jesus Christ also in that he recognizes his authority. If thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean, he says. And how does the Lord answer
him? I will, says Christ. I will be thou clean. Here we see that the Lord Jesus
is really the fulfillment of all that we were reading in Leviticus
14. All that was entailed in the
cleansing of the leper is type. And I've already said that we
have the significance of that first action of the man when
he obtains his cleansing. Those things that are spoken
of there in chapter 14 at verse 4 following then shall the priest
command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive
and clean and cedar wood and scarlet and hyssop but not only
that later verse 10 the man a week later on the eighth day shall
take two he-lambs without blemish, and one ewe-lamb of the first
year without blemish, and three tenths deals of fine flour for
the meat offering mingled with oil, and one log of oil. Now,
there are various sacrifices involved here of course. There's the two birds, one is
to be sacrificed, the other is to be released. But there's also
the lambs, to be offered, the trespass offering, one Helam
is to be taken as a trespass offering, the other Helam and
the Ulam are also to be sacrificed as sin offerings and burnt offerings. There's a multitude of sacrifices
that were to be made in order for the cleansing of the lep.
and all points to one sacrifice, really, the one great sacrifice
for sins, the Lord Jesus Christ. But just to look for a while
at what's said right at the beginning concerning those two verbs, we
haven't time to go into all the sacrifices, but there's such
a fullness in Christ's one sacrifice at the end of time, that in the
types we have to have a multitude of sacrifices to bring out the
glories and the fullness of the work of the Lord Jesus. But just
look at what's said here concerning these two birds. Verse 5 in Leviticus 14, The
priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an
earthen vessel over running or over fresh water. As for the
living bird, he shall take it and the cedar wood and the scarlet
and the hyssop and shall dip them and the living bird in the
blood of the bird that was killed running over the fresh water.
And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the
leprosy seven times and shall pronounce him clean and shall
let the living bird loose into the open field. Now, what remarkable details
these are. One of the birds is to be killed,
but the blood is not to fall to the ground. The blood is to
be caught in an urban vessel that contains running water,
living water, fresh water. The bird is to be killed in an
urban vessel, it says. over running water, not one drop
of the blood is to fall to the ground and the living bird is
to be taken together with the with the hyssop and the scarlet
and the cedar woods and they're all to be dipped in this bloody
water really now and then the living bird is to be released
Now, what is the significance? What is the significance here?
Well, surely we see the great doctrine of particular redemption.
The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ was not shed in vain. The Lord's blood doesn't just
fall fruitless to the ground, that's what we see in the type,
how the blood is caught and the blood is applied. It's applied
to this man, it's sprinkled upon him in order to his cleansing. But the other birds, there's
a second bird here, and that also is a type, as the one is
a type of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, so the other
is a type of the resurrection, the the living blood dipped in
the blood of its fellow is now released and does he not said
before us the resurrection of Christ, the liberty of the gospel
deliverance from sin when we go back into that book
of Leviticus of course it's a gospel book all those types, all those
figures, all those shadows Christ is there in the book of Leviticus.
And to those who were the true spiritual Israel in the Old Testament,
they must have been able to discern something of the truth. We know
they're not all Israel that are of Israel, but they were those
who understood something of what was being typified. And when
we come to the New Testament, we have Christ and the glorious
Antitype. And this man has real faith,
you see. As he comes to the Lord Jesus, he believes that Christ
can cleanse him from his sin. He acknowledges the Lord's sovereignty,
His ability, His omnipotence. If thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean. But also, as we said, he worshipped
Him. Oh, he worshipped Him. Reminds
us of another, that woman of Canaan with her daughter, as
she worshipped Him. saying, Lords, help me. Oh, she was there. She brought
her sick child, her daughter. Christ was in the Mount of Transfiguration. She goes to the disciples. They can do nothing for her.
The Lord returns from the mountain. She's still there, and she's
pestering them, and they want the Lord to dismiss her. The
Lord is ignoring her, but she will not be denied. And we're
told, aren't we, here in chapter 15 and verse 25 how she worshipped
him. Oh, what worship is that! To
utter those words, help Mary. That's the best worship. When
we come before God in all our weakness and all our sinfulness
and we simply ask the Lord to help or to save, that's worship. That's what this woman did, she
worshipped him. Saying, Lord, help and he receives
that worship. Remember at the end of Scripture
in Revelation 22 as John is shown things by the angel he would
worship the angel, but the angel says worship God. Or the Lord Jesus previously
in chapter 4 the account of his temptations in the wilderness
what does the Lord say to Satan? Get thee hence Satan it is written
thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve.
God only is to be worshipped and this man comes this leper
approaches the Lord Jesus Christ and worships him and the Lord
receives of his worship and we're together of course
to worship him even though we might feel at times we're such
leprous souls and we need and we need to know what it is to
approach the Lord Jesus as poor sinners and time and again to
plead for that precious cleansing if thou wilt
or we worshipped him saying Lord if thou wilt Thou canst make
me clean. There's a hymn, isn't there?
I'll close with the words of the Hymn 306. And that's the text really, the
head of the hymn here in the book, Lord, Thou canst make me
clean. And the last verse of the hymn,
Leprosaul, Press through the crowd in thy foul condition,
Struggle hard and call aloud, on the grave physician, wait,
till thy disease he cleanse, begging, trusting, cleaving,
when and where and by what means, to his wisdom leaving. May the Lord be pleased to bless
his word to us today. Amen. We're going to sing as
our closing praise the hymn 1076, Jesus, in whom the Godhead's
rays bend forth, with mildest majesty I see thee full of truth
and grace, and come for all I want to do. Enter thyself, and cast
out sin, more of thy purity bestow. Touch me, and make the leper
clean. Wash me, and I am white as snow. The Hymn 1076 of June Block,
Luke 304.