The Lepers
B. Beddome, M. A. Luke 17:11-19 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the middle of Samaria and Galilee.… Affliction quickens to prayer; but those who remember God in their distresses often forget Him in their deliverances. 1. Observe the condition in which Jesus found the applicants. 2. Observe the state in which Jesus left them. 3. Their subsequent conduct. I. THE GREAT EVIL AND PREVALENCY OF INGRATITUDE. 1. It is a sin so very common that not one in ten can be found that is not guilty of it in a very flagrant manner, and not one in ten thousand but what is liable to the charge in some degree. It is a prevailing vice among all ranks and conditions in society. 2. Common as this sin is, it is nevertheless a sin of great magnitude. Should not the patient be thankful for the recovery of his health, especially where the relief has been gratuitously afforded? Should not the debtor or the criminal be thankful to his surety or his prince, who freely gave him his liberty or his life? (1) It is a sin of which no one can be ignorant; it is a sin against the light of nature, as well as against the law of revelation. (2) Ingratitude carries in it a degree of injustice towards the Author of all our mercies, in that it denies to Him the glory due unto His name, and is a virtual impeachment of His goodness. (3) Unthankfulness brings a curse upon the blessings we enjoy, and provokes the Giver to deprive us of them. II. CONSIDER THE MEANS BY WHICH THIS EVIL MAY BE PREVENTED. 1. Be clothed with humility, and cherish a proper sense of your own meanness and unworthiness. 2. Dive every mercy its full weight. Call no sin small, and no mercy small. 3. Take a collective view of all your mercies, and you will see perpetual cause far thankfulness. 4. Consider your mercies in a comparative view. Compare them with your deserts: put your provocations in one scale, and Divine indulgences in another, and see which preponderates. Compare your afflictions with your mercies. 5. Think how ornamental to religion is a grateful and humble spirit. 6. There is no unthankfulness in heaven. (B. Beddome, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. WEB: It happened as he was on his way to Jerusalem, that he was passing along the borders of Samaria and Galilee.