Sunday Morning Worship Service October 11, 2020

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Sunday Morning Worship Service from Faith Baptist Church

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Well, it is good to be in the house of the Lord. Amen. Amen. And the psalm call to worship is in Psalms chapter 65 verse 4.
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The Bible says, Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in the courts.
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We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even thy holy temple. Take your song books, if you would, and turn to number 97.
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Number 97. The mercies of God.
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We'll sing all three verses together. Let's all stand together, please. The mercies of God, number 97.
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The mercies of God, what a theme for my song.
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Oh, never could number them all.
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They're more than a star in a heavenly dawn, or the sands of the way beaten shore.
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For mercy so great, what return can I make?
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For mercy so constant and sure.
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I'll love as my life, they greet me at morn with sleep.
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They bow, labor is done.
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Mercy so great, mercy so constant.
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As long as my life shall I be still, even unto the mercy cannot fail, that his mercy is mine every day.
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Constant and sure. I'll love him on...
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Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for your grace and your mercy this past week.
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Father, we're so thankful for the truths of God's word, which gives us hope, gives us peace, gives us direction.
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And Father, would you guide Pastor Taylor as he brings your word this morning, Father. May the spirit of God just work in our hearts, convicting us, directing us, and guiding us.
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We pray as we sing these praises unto your name, Father, that we would just lift our voices to you, praising your holy name.
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We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. On the back of your bulletin, the
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Psalms reading for today is Psalms 37. I'm going to read that, follow along as I read that together.
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Psalms 37, starting in verse 10. It says,
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Turn, if you would, to page number 94 in your hymnals, number 94.
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Joy will come in the morning. We'll sing all three verses together. Joy will come in sorrows adorning.
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Tears will vanish at dawning. Through sorrows deep, a cooling spring.
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From that stream, parting is.
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And tears of sorrows adorning.
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As far as the announcements and before we come to prayer together and share some of these things,
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I do want to mention, in the coming week here, teens will meet, of course, at 645 on Wednesday.
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There's a 7 o 'clock Bible study to follow. And Pastor Taylor will bring that Bible study message.
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Looking forward to that. And sharing with us in Sunday school and Wednesday services, also the study of the
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Holy Spirit. And it's really been a blessing to me. I know it has been to you, too. Looking forward to that and more of that.
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And the working of the Spirit in our lives. And then in the following two weeks of October, Ron Burnett will be with us.
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And then also looking forward to the November issues, the eternal issues with the
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Bible conference with Chuck Kemp. And we do need to continue to pray for them as well.
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Pastor sent a letter. Excuse me, I won't read all of it. But he expresses his missing us.
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And it's likewise as well. I'll just read part of that.
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He says, Pastor says, We are finally beginning to really feel rested. I sense a welcome return of some creative energy and overall strength.
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So this time away is bearing positive fruit. Yet we miss our church family. You are ever on our hearts and minds.
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We trust and pray you have seen the blessing of the Lord this past week. On our part, we rejoice in some wonderful answers to prayer, seeing the
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Lord work in amazing ways. We are most grateful for your prayers for us. I thank the
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Lord for Pastor Taylor's ministry among you today. May the word of the Lord dwell in you richly and bring forth fruit abundantly.
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May God be with you till we meet again, Pastor and Chris. I want to keep them in our prayers.
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Also, we want the missionary of the week is Dwayne Ott in Malaysia.
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That's Dwayne and Susan Chee, his wife, in Kewang, Malaysia.
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They have a wonderful ministry there over 40 years. And Singapore and then
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Malaysia and the church is there. And also the
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Bible Institute that he teaches. Pray for them this week as we focus on these, our missionaries.
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Also, keep in prayer, Connie Fox's daughter, Sherry, is undergoing suffering and pain with stomach infection and kidney stones.
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Ask if you would pray for her during this time, these days ahead.
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Doctor's wisdom. And also keep in prayer
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Kathy McAllister as she goes through the therapy.
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Progress is being made. And also for Bob Klein as the treatments and chemotherapy that he endures.
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And Jerry with him. And we praise the Lord for answered prayer with him and the treatments and the
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Lord's hand of healing and blessing upon them as well. So let's unite our hearts together and pray together.
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Our Father, we are grateful and thankful for your goodness to us in all ways.
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We thank you for yourself, who you are to us, and who you've declared to be your very image.
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Are we created? And yet we are created to honor you, to glorify you.
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Oh Lord, our Creator, our Redeemer, our Lord and our Savior, our Father, and the
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Son of God who you sent, that we might know him for eternal life, is to know
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Jesus Christ. We thank you for the Word of God. That which encourages, challenges us and shows us who you are, what you like and what you are like.
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We thank you, Father, for this church that you've raised up and the many members, the body of Christ.
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Father, we do pray for the aughts that you would minister, continue to minister to them, faithful missionaries who have surrendered their lives, that others might find life in Christ and have it more abundantly.
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Thank you for their work in Malaysia, the teachings in the Bible Institute and the sharing of the
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Word of God, the Gospel of Christ, to many that might be saved and come to know him as their personal
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Savior as well. Their work. Father, we pray for Connie's daughter,
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Sherry, and that you might heal her, might touch her with your healing hand,
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O God, and also use the doctors and their wisdom as well.
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Father, that whatever means you desire to heal her, we pray.
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Thank you for Pastor and Chris, and thank you for their time, that they can be together and to be refreshed and strengthened.
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Certainly miss them as they do us, and we know that you would bring us together again.
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And we do look forward to the hope that is in Christ that day, when you would come for us,
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O Lord, that we could be with you forever. The hope of eternal life, the hope in glory.
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Thank you for that promise in Christ. Father, we pray for this hour.
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We pray for Brother Taylor, as he would come soon, and bring us the Word of God, that which we desire, we look forward to, which encourages us and challenges us as well.
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We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Take your hymnals and turn to number 57, if you would, and we'll sing just, there's two verses, we'll sing them both together.
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Let's all stand together, please. Number 57, Worship the Lord. Do I have that?
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I'm sorry. It's number 57 in your song book. Didn't quite jive when
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I was comparing things there. It's number 57 in your blue books. Why?
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We sing today in our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
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Speak, O Lord, fulfill in us all your purposes for your glory.
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Teach us, Lord, obedience, holy reverence, true humility.
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Taste your thoughts and our attitudes in the radiance of your purity.
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Cause our faith to rise, cause our eyes to see your majestic love and authority.
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Words of power that can never fail, let their truth prevail over unbelief.
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Speak, O Lord, and renew. Our minds help us grasp the heights of plans for us.
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Truth unchanged from the dawn of time that will echo down through eternity.
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That he, and by grace, will stand on your promises.
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And faith will walk as you walk with us.
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Speak, O Lord, till your church is built and the earth is filled with your glory.
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Thank you. You may be seated. Pastor Taylor, would you come this time, please? There are three texts that I want to read in your hearing.
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They are parallel texts, but I want to read each of them so that we have the full account of what our
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Lord did here. I'm talking about the healing of the leper. So the first one we'll read is Matthew 8, verses 1 through 4.
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Then we'll turn over a few pages to Mark 1, 40 through 45. And then finally
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Luke 5, 12 through 16. We'll begin at Matthew chapter 8.
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And you might note in your mind some of the same, well much of the same words are used.
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But some of the significant words that are used repeatedly in the three gospels. And then the fuller explanation in one of the gospels that is not in the other two.
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We'll start with Matthew 8. And you'll notice that Matthew gives us the timing of this miracle.
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It says when he had come down from the mountain. And chapters 5 through 7, we have the record of the
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Sermon on the Mount. So it was Jesus coming down from the mountain where he had taught multitudes that this miracle takes place.
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Right in that same time frame. And when he had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
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And behold, a leper came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.
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Then Jesus put his hand and touched him, saying, I am willing, be cleansed.
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Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, See that you tell no one, but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony to them.
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So the reading of God's word is recorded by Matthew. Now over to Mark chapter 1.
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Mark chapter 1 and verses 40 through 45.
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Now a leper came to him, imploring him, kneeling down to him and saying to him,
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If you are willing, you can make me clean. Then Jesus moved with compassion, stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him,
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I am willing, be cleansed. And he strictly warned him and sent him away at once and said to him,
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See that you say nothing to anyone, but go your way, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing those things which
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Moses commanded as a testimony to them. However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the matter so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places, and they came to him from every direction.
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So the scriptures from the gospel of Mark. Now over to the gospel of Luke chapter 5.
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Luke chapter 5 and verse 12 through verse 16.
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And it happened when he was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw
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Jesus, and he fell on his face and implored him saying, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.
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Then he put out his hand and touched him saying, I am willing, be cleansed.
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Immediately the leprosy left him. And he charged him, tell no one, but go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded.
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However, the report went around concerning him all the more, and great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by him of their infirmities.
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So he himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. So the reading of God's holy and inspired word.
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Let's pray. Oh, blessed Holy Spirit, we have your words before us today.
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Words which you gave to Matthew and to Mark and to Luke.
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Now help us as we look at them to find much light and help as we meditate upon them.
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And as you've revealed Jesus to us, may we see him in more of his beauty and glory.
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We pray in the name of our Savior. Amen. Leprosy is a disease that received some special attention in the
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Old Testament. In Leviticus chapters 13 and 14, there are 116 verses given to this disease.
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I heard just this morning that the book of James has 83 verses total. And some of the other epistles have even fewer numbers of words or verses.
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So there's a great emphasis. Chapter 13 gives a detailed description for the priest to identify what was leprosy.
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Now all skin diseases were leprosy. And he had these detailed instructions whereby he could determine whether or not the disease that the person had was leprosy or whether it wasn't.
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Chapter 14 gives a detailed instruction on the sacrificial procedure to follow when it was determined that the disease was not leprosy but some other skin disease.
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And in that kind of condition, the leper was told what he must do as far as his sacrificial responsibilities, which really covered a period of some seven days.
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Now we know leprosy today as Hansen's disease. Hansen's disease is the leprosy that no doubt existed in biblical times, but wasn't the only leprosy, quote -unquote, that would have been known in that day.
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Everything was identified as leprosy that was even less than Hansen's disease. Hansen's disease in its advanced stages eats away at the extremities, which may attack the nose, the ears, the hands, and the feet.
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Leprosy. To understand the significance of this miracle that's recorded for us in Matthew and Mark and Luke, we need to put leprosy in its
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Old Testament context. God used leprosy, as I said, it receives this unusual amount of attention in the
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Old Testament. And the reason that it receives this attention is because God used leprosy to illustrate vividly what sin is like.
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This was the disease that he specifically selected to illustrate the nature of sin, which, of course, is our worst enemy.
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Sin is. In the Old Testament, when a man had leprosy, it was determined that he had leprosy, which was incurable.
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There were a number of things that he had to do, which we'll speak of a little later. But at the very essence of things, he was separated from his family.
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He was separated from the nation. He was separated from the worship of God. Such was the lot of the leper.
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And you see, this is exactly what sin does. Sin separates us from God. It deforms the human soul and eats away at a man until it finally, if not cured, kills him.
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Eternally kills him. So since leprosy was the outward sign of the inward corruption of sin, it's no surprise that we have
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Jesus cleansing a leper here. And we know that there were other times that he cleansed lepers. In fact, one time he cleansed 10 of them all at one time.
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And he makes this leper whole, as we read in each of these accounts.
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So in doing so, Jesus is picturing the cleansing which he is able to give to the most deformed sinner.
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And all sinners are deformed, of course. But this illustrates that. And in doing this healing, really,
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Jesus reveals so much about himself in this miracle. And it is the revelation of Jesus to which
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I want to direct your attention this morning. And I'm going to be using five words to show how it is that Jesus revealed himself in the cleansing of the leper.
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We're going to look, first of all, at the compassion of Jesus, as illustrated in this account.
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Secondly, we're going to look at the willingness of Jesus, as revealed in this account. And thirdly, at the power of Jesus.
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And that's what we'll consider this morning. Now, you heard me say five, didn't you, if you were listening?
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The other two, Lord willing, we'll consider tonight. And I don't want to give them to you now, because I'll give them to you tonight.
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So this morning, we just look at the first three of these words which reveal Jesus. His compassion, his willingness, and his power.
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The compassion of Jesus is highlighted in all three of the Gospels by simply the fact that all three of these
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Gospel accounts says that Jesus reached out and touched him. He touched him.
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He touched a leper. Now, there was nothing in the Old Testament that said a leper could not be touched.
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However, we know that it was not appropriate to touch a leper, simply because he was separated from the family, from the community, and he was to cry, unclean, unclean, all the time.
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Now, Mark gives this interesting explanation of the emotion that was behind the touching of the leper.
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It says, Mark records that Jesus, as he observed him, was moved with compassion.
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And then he reached out and he touched him. It wasn't just that he touched the man.
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It was that his whole emotional being was so moved as he saw this man and pitied him that he touched him.
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It's a very interesting word that is used in the New Testament to express this compassion or being, and it's translated appropriately, so it's just one word.
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Moved with compassion, smlogna, the smlogna. That means nothing to you, but I'll try to explain it.
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The smlogna was the bowels, his stomach, his intestines were moved.
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They were, as it were, gurgling. So great was his emotion that Jesus had that he reached out and he touched him.
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Now, the significance of the compassion of Jesus and the significance of him touching this leper is something that must not escape us this morning.
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Think again of the place of the leper in society. It was socially unacceptable to touch a leper.
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The leper was separated from his family. He could not attend the temple.
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He could not attend the services of the synagogue. The leper is one, according to the
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Old Testament record, who had to wear distinctive mourning clothing. So whatever that looked like in that day, you've seen funerals and you've been at funerals and you know that there is often a distinctive type of clothing, usually in black, that men and women wear at the funeral.
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I saw the funeral, I guess it was, of Ruth Gitter Ginsburg and I saw all these people and they were all dressed the same except for one was in brown.
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I thought, oh, that's strange. And perhaps you thought the same thing. But the leper had to wear distinctive clothing that indicated that he was in a mournful condition.
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Also, the leper had to leave his hair uncombed. Now, for those of you who are bald, that doesn't matter a whole lot, does it?
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But he could not comb his hair. He had to leave it a mess, frankly. Just leave his hair a mess.
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And then in addition to that, as if that weren't enough, where his appearance would have been so distinctive, mourning clothing and hair uncombed, looking a mess, he had to walk through the streets where there were people and cry, unclean, unclean, unclean.
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What a life to have to live in that condition.
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Why did God require this of a leper? Well, again, I say it wasn't because the disease could be spread by close contact.
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It's generally known today, and I assume probably known back in those days, that if someone did have contact with a leper, they wouldn't necessarily get leprosy at all.
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That's not how it spread. At the very least, they could wash their hands and go on without contracting the disease.
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Well, again, I say it's because the biblical answer is that leprosy was a picture of sin. So we learn about, if we know just a little bit about leprosy, and the only thing
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I know about leprosy is what I read in the encyclopedias. So I'm no expert on leprosy.
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Don't come to me and talk to me. Now, if you know more about leprosy, please tell me after the service, and I can add it to my sermon.
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I'll be happy to do that. Leprosy. You see, leprosy is something that was systemic.
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That is, rather than being a localized disease, it was just systemic throughout the whole body.
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There are diseases that are localized. You may need a hip replacement.
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Some people get older, and some people get younger. They get things that aren't working right, bone -on -bone.
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They have to have a hip replacement. Well, that's localized. So today, with modern medicine, of course, you can go in, have the hip replacement, and be up and at them within 24 hours.
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A lot different than it was 20 years ago. But that's a localized thing. But not leprosy.
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Leprosy can be in the body, I'm told, five years before it ever shows itself.
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But you see, that too is an illustration of what sin is. Sin is in us from our infancy, at birth.
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King David said, In sin did my mother conceive me. And we're told in the
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Bible, For as by one man's sin entered the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned.
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All have sinned. All have sinned in Adam. We come with the guilt of original sin, and we come with a sin nature.
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Those of you who have ever had children, if you think about it, you may not want to admit it right away.
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They're cute little babies, aren't they? Oh, how we rejoice in infants. But it doesn't take long before you find out that they can say no easier than they can say yes.
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Why is that? Well, they inherited your nature. That's the problem.
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And you inherited the nature from your parents and all the way back to Adam. That is the problem.
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So you see, sin affects every part of the soul.
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Like leprosy is systemic. It affects every part of the man's being.
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So sin. Sin affects a man's mind. He doesn't think like he ought to think.
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Paul says in Ephesians chapter 4, They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.
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They are darkened in their understanding. And that's the way we come.
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We come with a darkened mind. We don't think the thoughts of God. We're consumed about ourselves.
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Sin affects a man's emotions. You remember what Jesus said. And this is the judgment.
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The light has come into the world and people loved darkness rather than light. Here is light.
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Here is Jesus. He's come into the world. He is the light of the world. And what do they do?
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They crucify Him. Because men love darkness. Recently, a few months ago, there was this new nation that was started out in Portland, Oregon.
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I'm sure you're all aware of it. And how it's going to be a summer of love. It's going to be great. Everybody's going to love each other.
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And you know how that all turned out. But what I found most fascinating and troubled me the most,
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I mean, it's troubling to see that they burned businesses, that they didn't let the ambulance come in and get people.
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All that is very, very bad, isn't it? I mean, that's really bad. But on one newscast, I saw that just inside this new nation they set up, there were some people who went in there to share
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Christ and to preach the gospel. And they kicked them out. Because they said, well, that would cause a disturbance.
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Oh, my friend, men love darkness rather than light. The very gospel, the very person,
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Jesus Christ, who could have brought a summer of love, they want nothing to do with Him. And that's the way it is with men.
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They want nothing to do with the light of the world. So men's emotions are affected by sin.
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Man's will is affected by sin. So he doesn't choose what he ought to choose. Jesus said in John 5, 40,
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You will not come to me that you may have life. The worst possible choice is to reject
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Christ. And men reject Christ unless the Spirit of God opens their heart. I had this vividly illustrated to me.
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I suppose I was maybe 10, 11 years old at the most. And on Sunday morning,
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Pastor Henry Short, I attended and was a part of First Baptist Church in Eldora, Iowa. Pastor Henry Short was an ordinary preacher, but sometimes he preached extraordinary sermons.
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And he announced on Sunday morning that Sunday night service was going to be an evangelistic message and to invite your friends, to get people there that you could.
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And actually, there were quite a few people that came Sunday night. As I recall, at least as much as you can recall when you're 10 or 11 years old, the auditorium seemed full.
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And I was so delighted because the next door neighbor to my grandmother, Ellen, lived
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Mrs. D and her son, Dennis. And Dennis and I were good buddies.
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When I was at my grandmother's, we always played together. When I was there for the week of fair, we rode our bikes together, making ramps and going up over them without helmets, which was foolish,
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I know, but we didn't know any better in those days. And we did all those wonderful things together.
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And he came to the same church I went to, but his father would not come to church. He was not a
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Christian. But that Sunday night, he was there. And I was so delighted, and I'm sure everyone else was, to see
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Dennis' father present. And Pastor Short preached in a moving, powerful, evangelistic message.
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As I recall, as much as you can recall when you're 10 or 11 years old, it was just a great sermon, lifting up Christ and telling people,
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And I'll never forget that he said, Now it's important that you come to Christ tonight because you never know if you're going to have another day.
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Now, Mr. D was not all that old. Pastor Short talked to him at the end of the service.
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And he said, Well, you know, I'll think about this, but I'm going to wait some time.
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Well, on Monday morning, when I went downstairs, my mother told me that Mr.
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D had died in his bed overnight. He didn't have another day, friends.
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This is what sin does. Men reject the truth and choose evil instead of choosing
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Christ. That's how powerful sin is. You see, sin, like leprosy, causes this separation.
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It takes us away from God. Isaiah 59, too.
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But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have not hidden his face from you.
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The sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. Sin, like leprosy, causes sorrow and death, for the wages of sin is death.
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And eventually, leprosy, if left unchecked. Thankfully today, there are medications that can stop its progress, but there's nothing that can reverse its progress that has been discovered yet.
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But it ultimately leads to death. It's uncurable. It's uncurable by any human means.
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Men have tried since the beginning of time to cure sin. So far, they've not succeeded.
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They have not succeeded. Just like leprosy has no known cure, so today men are able to retard certain aspects of sin through various psychological counseling and drugs and so forth, and we thank
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God for that. But it can't be reversed.
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It can't be reversed. Some men have tried desperately to reverse it. One of our
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American heroes, Benjamin Franklin, perhaps you're aware of the fact that he committed himself to being good.
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By the way, he loved to listen to George Whitefield preach, but he never believed the gospel that George Whitefield preached.
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He did say that he made sure he leaved his wallet at home because Whitefield had such power. He'd empty his wallet and give everything to the orphanages, which he started.
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But Ben Franklin never accepted the truth of the gospel that by faith alone in Jesus Christ one could be saved.
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But he did make a list of 13 virtues, and I have them in my folder here.
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I didn't bring them up to read to you. I didn't want to take the time to do it. But these 13 virtues, and he said he made these 13 virtues, 13 good things, because if he could do those, he was sure that God would be pleased with him.
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Well, he set himself diligently to keep these 13 virtues. Guess what happened?
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Well, he couldn't do it. He said it was a little harder than what he expected. A little harder than what he expected.
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And by the way, his 13 virtues were not as difficult as the Ten Commandments. And then he ended by saying, well, he says, you know, a benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself.
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So let me be excused that I couldn't keep all of it. Do you feel the weight of your sin?
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Do you see how serious sin is? It is your worst enemy.
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Your worst enemy. But Jesus touched him.
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Jesus had compassion on this man. Do you love sinners?
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Are you willing to reach out and embrace sinners, the worst of sinners? Sometimes there are people, even in good
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Bible -believing churches, who think themselves so good that they're not willing to have mercy and compassion on sinners.
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I hope you're not one of those. Because Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
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We must move on and look at our second word by which Jesus reveals himself in this miracle, compassion.
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We see the compassion of Jesus. Secondly, the willingness of Jesus. All three Gospels record this word.
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The word is in response to the leper. The leper says, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.
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Jesus touched him, saying, I am willing, be cleansed.
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The willingness of Jesus. What an example of faith this leper is. He knew that Jesus could cleanse him.
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He knew that Jesus could heal him. He knew that Jesus could solve his problem. Do you know that?
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Do you know that Jesus Christ can forgive your sin? Do you know that Jesus Christ can make you whole?
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Do you know that Jesus Christ is able to do that? He knew it. He knew it. The only thing you needed to know was whether or not
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Jesus was willing to do it. Not if he had the ability to do it, but if he was willing. And of course,
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Jesus' response is, I am willing. I was reading one of the commentators this week, and the commentator said this is the only place in the
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Gospels where Jesus says, I am willing.
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I thought, that can't be. So I decided to check it out. And as near as I can tell,
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I have this very powerful Bible program called Accordance. And I can just put in the word and bing, bing, bing, it comes up in seconds.
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And now the word will is used in regard to Jesus many, many times in the New Testament.
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In the future tense. And it's used generally as a helping verb, which we understand in English.
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It helps the real verb. But here, Jesus simply says, I am willing.
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And all three Gospel writers record this. The significance is so great.
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What is Jesus saying to us? He's saying, I'm willing to forgive sin.
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Isn't that good news? I am willing. I am willing.
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He loves sinners. He takes no delight in the death of the wicked.
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All that the Father gives me, Jesus said, will come to him. And he who comes to me, I will by no means, no wise, never, certainly not ever cast him out.
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There's not a single sinner who comes to Jesus like this leper who will ever receive a negative answer.
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I am willing. No matter how far advanced the sin is, no matter how deep into sin the sinner has fallen.
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Jesus says, I am willing. Not only is he willing, but he has compassion.
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He reached out and he touched the man. Oh, behold, a willing
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Savior. Behold, a willing Savior. Oh, does not this teach us who have already come to Christ because he was willing with us, how we need to be willing and open to others who have gone into sin?
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Does it not tell us and teach us that? Oh, I believe that it does.
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I believe with all my heart that it does. The third word that I want to call your attention is the word power.
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The word power. This is how Jesus reveals himself. He reveals himself as the compassionate
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Savior, as the willing Savior, and certainly as the powerful Savior. Again, all three gospels make this abundantly clear.
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We read, I'm in loop, but you can be in Matthew or Mark, you see the same thing.
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Immediately, the leprosy left him. Immediately, the leprosy left him.
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This is power. Now, especially when we know that the physician who wrote the gospel,
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Luke, Luke is the physician. And we know that when we read in Luke chapter one, that Luke was a man who was a historian.
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He researched and that's how he wrote his gospel. He, I don't know how he did his research.
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Probably talked to people, maybe had them write down things. Anyway, he researched all this.
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And when he heard about this leper, I can just imagine a physician would do this.
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A physician would do this. Any of you in the medical community, what's the first thing you would ask? Leper. Well, what kind of leprosy?
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What was the extent of it? How far it had gone? And as he listened to these various ones that he talked to, he said, oh, wow.
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And so when he writes his gospel, being succinct as he is, he says this man was full of leprosy.
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This was not some beginning leprosy in this man.
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He was full of it. So think with me what this means. It means if you'd have been there with the multitudes and this happened in the presence of multitudes, you'd have looked at this man who was full of leprosy and you have seen his nose.
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Partially or perhaps all gone. You'd have seen his eyebrows. Partially, probably fully gone.
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His ears eaten away with the leprosy.
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His hands, some of his fingers, stubs now. His toes and his sandals eaten away.
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Gone. And the marks of leprosy over his whole body.
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And then Jesus says, be cleansed. Immediately.
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Immediately. Immediately. All of a sudden his eyebrows reappear.
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His ears are full. His nose is full. His hands are completely restored. No more stubs.
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He is immediately cleansed. Now, I would expect
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Mark to use the word immediately because it's one of his favorite words. You probably know that if you read the book of Mark.
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You know that Mark actually uses the word immediately 37 times in his gospel.
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So I would expect Mark to say it. But Matthew uses the word immediately 19 times. Luke uses it 18 times.
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But all three of them use it here. Immediately. The power of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. He was restored. All the effects of leprosy were no more.
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They were simply no more. And my friend, this is exactly what
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Jesus Christ does when he saves a man. Cleanses him. Remember there are two great blessings of salvation.
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The one is the forgiveness of sins. And being clothed with the garments of salvation.
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We call that the blessing of justification. A declarative act from heaven.
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That you are perfect in the sight of God. The second great blessing is a new heart.
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Brand new heart. A new way of thinking. The Bible puts it this way.
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The law of God is written on the heart. A brand new person. Think of Saul of Tarsus where it's illustrated so vividly.
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Saul of Tarsus breathing threatenings and murders on his way to Damascus. And then the light from heaven.
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Saul, Saul. Why do you persecute me? Who are you Lord? I am
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Jesus. What do you want me to do? What do you want me to do?
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A man changed just like that. Or think of yourself.
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Think of yourself. Some of you perhaps here have been saved from. Talk about the change from being an alcoholic.
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Drunkard. Immorality. Thievery. Lying. And some of us will testify that we were saved from self -righteousness.
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We thought we were better than other people. Oh, I'm not an alcoholic. I haven't done these terrible sins.
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But then God revealed to us how wicked our hearts are. How so wicked our hearts are.
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And we saw that our self -righteousness was worse than the drunkard. And the adulterer or the fornicator or the thief or the murderer.
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As that may be. But the point is we're saved.
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Now as I reflected on this I thought you know this is a very interesting example.
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Because this leper was restored completely and holy. And I know that I'm a sinner.
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And I know that I've been cured of systemic sin. I know that I've been forgiven.
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I know that I've been given a pure heart. But I'm also very much aware on a very daily basis that there's still leprosy in me.
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I still have sin in me. Do you? I still not what
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I want to be. I still do things I don't want to do. I still think things
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I don't want to think. And then I thought you know that this miracle.
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What's Jesus telling us is this. Someday not only will you be forgiven.
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Not only will you be changed. But you will be glorified. And all the fingers will be restored.
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The nose will be restored. Your ears will be restored. You will have a perfect soul and a perfect body.
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Just like I gave this leper. Oh the power of Jesus Christ.
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But let us remember that this power is through suffering. I thought about Jesus touching this man.
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He touched him. Think of it. Now we know this happened with the multitudes surrounding that he touched him.
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And this was socially unacceptable. Now as I said as far as I know there's no law in Leviticus 13 and 14 as I read through it.
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It says it's a sin to touch a leper. But the leper was to be separated as we said.
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From family. From worship. In society. Crying unclean unclean.
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Can you imagine as the multitudes watched Jesus. And Jesus reached out and touched him.
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What do you think happened? I think there was. Oh my.
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He touched him. And I'll bet there was more than one in the crowd who said.
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Doesn't he know what he's doing? I'm sure there were some in the crowd that were so critical of him.
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And that was part of his suffering. But we know that in order to really cleanse leprosy.
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To cleanse and take away sin. It took a lot more suffering than just simply the gasp of the crowd.
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It took the death on the cross. It took the death on the cross. And so the power of Jesus Christ to save sinners comes through suffering.
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Have you heard about the crucifixion? Oh I know you have. I know you have.
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And to see our Lord there. Stripped naked. Nailed to the cross.
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The crown of thorns. The mocking. The jeering. If you are the son of God why don't you come down from there?
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Why? Why didn't he come down? He could have. It's because he was being obedient to his father and suffering for sinners.
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That's why. That we might be redeemed. And all that was horrible.
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A horrible death. But then there were these three hours of darkness. And Jesus cried out, my
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God, my God, why have you forsaken me? We know why.
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Because God has a pure eyes and a behold evil and he cannot look upon iniquity. As our sin was placed on Jesus.
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The father turned his face away from him.
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And he was forsaken. For people like us. For people like us.
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Why? So that he could save sinners like us. So that he could save sinners like us.
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And my dear friend. If you're outside of Jesus Christ this morning.
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If you've not come to him. He's able to save you. He is able to save you.
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He has compassion. He's willing. And he has the power. And he says come to me.
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All you that labor and are heavy laden. And I will give you rest. And he will. He will give you that rest.
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Blessed be our Lord Jesus Christ. Now there's two more important words. By which he reveals himself.
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But we'll save those for tonight. As we come back to the same text of scripture.
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Let's pray together. Our father. What a savior. What a glorious savior we have in Jesus Christ.
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We thank you for him. We pray. That any here this morning who are yet outside of Christ.
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Would see that they may come. And that you grant them, blessed Holy Spirit, the will to come.
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We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Number 157.
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157 in your hymnals. Grace greater than our sin. Have you seen
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Jesus this morning? It's pretty evident. Pretty very clear. Have you seen your sin if you're here without Christ today?
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Leprosy is a horrible disease. So is sin. And it doesn't get any better. Yet Jesus can take it all away.
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Praise the Lord. And he's waiting to do that if you are here without Christ. In this song of invitation.
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This closing hymn. If you're here without Christ. You come. Someone will meet you up front.
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And take you aside. And show you how you can be saved. And make sure of that today. Let's all stand together and sing.
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Two verses. The first two verses. Excuse me. The first and last verse. Verse 1 and 3 of 157.
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Marvelous grace of our loving Lord.
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Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt.
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Yonder on Calvary's mount appalled. There where the blood of the
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Lamb was spilled. Grace, grace,
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God's grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse within.
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Grace, grace, God's grace.
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Grace that is greater than all our sin. And in verse 3.
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Marvelous, infinite, boundless grace.
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Really bestowed on all who believe.
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All who are longing to see His face.
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Will you this moment His grace receive? Grace, grace.
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Grace that will pardon and cleanse. Grace. I encourage you to come tonight to the 6 o 'clock service.
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There will be an instrumental special. A little treat that we will have as well.
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That is besides the preaching of the word. Which I hope that you will come and anticipate.
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And be a blessing to you. As has been today and this morning. Let's pray.
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Father we do thank you for the word of God. We thank you for the spirit of God. That moves upon not only the face of the waters in creation.
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But in our hearts as well. That leads men and women to Christ. And that they may know the life of Christ.
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They may know Christ. And knowing Him is eternal life. Eternal life is through the word of God.
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That reveals Him to us. We pray Father that you would bless us as we go.
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Bring us back again safely this evening. To your house in Jesus' name we pray.
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Amen. Thank you. Amen. Amen. Amen.