The proximate cause of leprosy is impure blood. In a good sense, blood corresponds to truth; in the opposite sense, to truth falsified. Spiritual leprosy is, therefore, a most soul-destroying disease; it is the representative of the falsification of truth, and the profanation of all that is good and heavenly; and while men obstinately persist in denying the Lord Jesus Christ, and refusing him the divine honours which are his due, they are more or less afflicted with spiritual leprosy, from which dreadful disease they can only be relieved by following the example of the leper mentioned in the Gospel, and going to the Lord with the humble acknowledgment, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." The Lord is always willing; he waits to be gracious, and always accedes to the desire of the penitent. Then he pronounces the healing words, "Be thou clean," and commands us to shew ourselves to the priest, and present our offerings. The offerings of purification, of which the Jewish were symbols, shew that we are willing for the future to devote ourselves to God, even to the Lord Jesus Christ, and all our powers we devote to his service—the knowledges which lead to goodness and holiness of life, our cedar-wood; heavenly love and charity, grounded in innocence and purity, our scarlet wool; the purifying power of repentance, which serves as the purging physic of the soul, as hyssop is of the body; the one bird slain, or sacrificed, thus consecrated to heaven; and the other let loose to the active pursuits of charity;—unitedly represent the entire devotedness of the soul to the worship and service of the Lord Jesus Christ.
