DID you ever look upon a Leopard? If you did, he must have been caged, for his nature is so fierce, that if he had the chance he would have torn you in pieces. But notwithstanding his ferocity, his outward appearance is beautiful. The black spots upon his coat are very vividly shown in contrast with the bright yellow of the rest of his body. He is found in several parts of the world, and makes the deep forest his home, where, however, he is not unfrequently molested by the penetrating power of man, who loves adventure, even though it lead him to encounters with wild beasts. It was a great protective power which God gave to Noah, after the flood, when He said to him and his sons, “The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth.” Genesis 9:22And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. (Genesis 9:2). And doubtless this fear and dread will’ continue so long as wild beasts retain their present nature. But it is blessed to notice, that one of the effects of the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ over the earth during the millennium, will be to change the fierceness of such creatures into harmlessness and tranquility; and that this will be the case with the Leopard we know, for it is written of him, that he “shall lie down with the kid.” Isaiah 11:66The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. (Isaiah 11:6).
The reference which is made, however, to the Leopard in Jeremiah 13:2323Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. (Jeremiah 13:23) is that which most concerns us in this time of the grace and salvation of God. The prophet, speaking in the name of the Lord, says, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?” To the first part of this question the answer would be, “Of course he cannot: a black man cannot make himself white.” To the other part of the question, “Can the leopard change his spots?” the answer must be, “Certainly not: he cannot change himself from what he is.” If, however, you will turn to Acts 8, you will there see how “a man of Ethiopia” did not, indeed, “change his skin,” but how he became “whiter than snow,” through believing the word of the Lord which was preached unto him by Philip the evangelist; and how then “he went on his way rejoicing.”
Can the Leopard change the spots
Woven in his coat of skin?
Can he move those color’d dots
Which from all attention win?
No; however much he tried,
All his efforts would be vain;
He with spots would still be dyed,
Everyone would yet remain.
Can the sinner — vile within —
Cover’d o’er with evil blots,
Cleanse himself from shame and sin,
And efface his sinful spots?
Nay; there’s not a thing of earth
That can cleanse a sinner’s stains
All he tries is nothing worth,
He polluted still remains.
Sinner, be not then enticed
Such a folly to begin;
Nothing but the blood of Christ
E’er could take away thy sin.
Wash’d in His most precious blood,
Which in love did freely flow,
Bath’d in that all cleansing flood,
Whiter thou shalt be than snow.