A World of Lepers

[00:00:00] Let's get our Bible and go to the Book of Matthew, chapter number eight. [00:00:05] As I said on last. As I said last Sunday, we are pivoting away from so much teaching in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. Now we're going into some of the events that took place in the life and ministry of our Lord. [00:00:19] Of course, we're starting in Matthew chapter eight, which begins immediately with these first four verses with a specific event. The event we want to look at regards this leper that came to the Lord Jesus. It has several parallel passages in Mark chapter one and in Luke chapter five that cover the same event. [00:00:40] And so I want to read verses one through four. We'll peek at Mark and Luke perhaps to see a little bit more detail on what happened with this conversation between Jesus and. And this leprosy. Let's look at verses 1 through 4. The Bible says, when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. [00:01:02] And behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. [00:01:12] 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. [00:01:27] That's interesting how remarkably different our Lord is from the standard. You know, the standard answer that pretty much any person would say that had the ability to heal the leper. The very, in fact, the very opposite of what anyone would say. He says, don't tell anybody, but go thy way and show thyself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. Let's pray together. [00:01:59] Our Father, first of all, we thank you for your word. And Lord, we also thank you for the. The events and the life that this word records of our Lord and Savior. Lord, we love to read about him and what he did, what he said. Lord, we hang on every word we examine. We seek to at least examine every movement, every description. Lord, we just want to learn and know you better. And so, Lord, we pray that you would help us to know you better here this morning as we see what you've done and how that you healed this leprous man. [00:02:41] I pray that you bless our church here, all the people listening to the scripture, Lord, speak to them, teach them, help them. [00:02:49] Show them your truth. Help us to see it, help us to receive it, help us to apply it. [00:02:55] And so, Lord, we just commit this time to you. Lord, I confess I have no power to help your people, Lord, but depend upon you speaking to them. [00:03:03] And so we Pray for your blessing upon our time here this morning. In your word, in Jesus name, Amen. [00:03:10] So this leprous man, Jesus comes down from the mountain where he gave the sermon on the Mount, and he comes down to. And he's met with this man who was a leper. Just a little bit about leprosy as an introduction. We actually won't spend a lot of time talking about leprosy in particular. But the word leprosy, I mean, in our modern use, refers to a very specific disease, Hansen's disease, which is caused by a very specific bacteria, which, of course, was unknown at this time. But it's the word in Scripture. Leprosy kind of describes a broad set of ailments that affect the body. It deals with things dealing with your skin and wounds and sores and things like that. That, of course, if you look back at Leviticus, I think it's chapter number 13 deals with all the rules and regulations. It even deals with things that we would call in modern day called mold or fungi and different things like that in the house and all those things. So we won't spend a lot of time talking about that. Just know that when you read leprosy in the Bible, it's not necessarily exactly what we call leprosy now, but it's something kind of. Although that would probably be included. But this man, we don't know a lot about his condition specifically, but we do know that he was a leper and that generally speaking, anyone that had any kind of skin condition, a chronic skin condition like this, would have been ostracized because that was the Old Testament law regarding it. And it had to do with the health and the hygiene, but it also had to do with the rituals and purification regarding the Jewish law and those kinds of things as well. And as a result of that, a man in this case would be. [00:04:57] Would be an outcast, would dwell in, like, outside of the camp, outside of the city, in a colony of sorts, and would not be allowed in with his family. He would be shunned personally by those he came in contact with. And one thing I read said that the families of those afflicted with leprosy would have to take food out to them and basically set it at a distance. And they would come and get it sort of like an animal. And so it was a very. A very, very sad situation. And of course, the Lord puts forth his hands and touches him. And interestingly enough, I've heard my whole Christian life, I've heard people say that Jesus wasn't permitted to touch a leper. But there's no scripture that actually says that the lepers, they could be. They could cause other people to be unclean. But there's no direct scripture that says they weren't allowed to touch. [00:05:52] The people weren't allowed to touch a leper. But anyhow, so Jesus touched him and heals him. And verse three, the end of verse three, says this, and immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Now, this is one of many, many, I mean, probably in the life of Christ, I have no idea, but hundreds, maybe thousands, tens of thousands perhaps in his ministry of people that the Lord Jesus healed their physical ailment. [00:06:23] Now, let me just be clear before I get into it a little bit further, that a physical healing. And listen, when we receive physical healing, I've been sick, you've been sick. You know what that's like. And some of you have had serious physical illnesses and ailments. But physical healing is not equal to spiritual healing. It's not the same thing. Just because God has mercy on you on a physical matter, and we thank God for that and we rejoice in that. That does not mean that somehow we're made right with God by virtue of that. And a lot of people get that confused. I've heard it personally myself. But I want to say a little bit about the miracles of Christ in general, because this is the first healing we come to in Matthew where the Lord heals someone of a physical ailment. And you see, we're going to see it many, many more times as we go through Matthew. Christ performed miracles for basically two reasons. For two reasons in Scripture, at least. [00:07:22] The first reason was to provide visible evidence of who he was and that he had come from heaven. That's the primary, probably the single and the most important reason that Jesus healed people physically. It wasn't. Although Jesus did have compassion, that was not the primary driver. There were many people in the time of Christ who weren't healed. You know, there were many and we'll see it in a minute. But there were many people who did not come to him to be healed. Now, many, many did and many, many were healed. And there were people that were healed and then later got sick. And of course, those people were healed, later died like Lazarus raised from the dead and then later died. [00:08:04] But his purpose in doing the miracles, especially in public was. And in private, because he healed people in private as well, was it provided evidence both to his disciples and to the multitude at large that he indeed came from God. He was God in the flesh. And it was visible evidence of that. And listen to some of these verses that demonstrate this truth. John 3:2 says this. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. So even Nicodemus, with the rulers of the Jews, understood Jesus, you are not like everybody else. You cannot do this, except you have a divine origin. Now, he didn't fully understand all the implications of that, but. But at least acknowledges that truth. Why the miracles? John 5:36. Jesus says, But I have a greater witness than that of John for the works which the Father hath given me to finish the same works that I do. Bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me. John 9:16 says this. Therefore, said some of the Pharisees, this man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day. Others said, how can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. And then in Acts 2, verse 22, this is of course, after Christ rose from the dead and ascended. Peter speaking, says, ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you. And as ye yourselves also know. [00:09:53] So you can see from these verses that the purpose of Christ's miracles are clearly articulated. And you know that this followed into the Book of Acts for at least the beginning part of Acts. [00:10:04] What you might not be, you know, fully cognizant of, if you're not paying close attention, is that it tapers off as you get go through the Book of Acts. As you get further, closer to the end and time passes, there's fewer and fewer miraculous events that happen. But at the beginning there's many. [00:10:20] And the problem with this is some people have taken the miracles as a thing in and of itself. [00:10:26] They've taken this as a doctrine they've embraced and they've manufactured, essentially manufactured, what they see in Scripture. And it's a charade, it's fraudulent, it's fake, and it's paraded around as Christianity and that kind of thing. But we got to remember, why were the miracles given? The miracles were given regarding Christ and his identity and his origin. That's the primary reason. The second reason, which we'll see in just a second, is that oftentimes with the miracles you see that Christ describes and puts kind of feet to his compassion. [00:11:09] Many of the miracles are associated with Christ's Compassion. And the scripture actually says that this is no exception. In fact, in Luke, it says that Christ healed this man out of compassion. [00:11:24] But notice, notice just this is. I know this is one example of the miracles, but did you know this? There is not one miracle that Christ performed anywhere in the New Testament. There's not one where he healed a person who was ill. [00:11:40] That was done gradually, that was done in steps, or that was done by human intervention. [00:11:50] Every single miracle that Jesus performed was instantaneous. [00:11:55] It was whole and entire. [00:11:59] And it was done without the aid of any human being. No doctor, no nurse. The man, the woman that was cured was cured instantly, wholly and with only the word of Christ. And that's a key thing you have to make sure that you understand about miracles. The miracles that Jesus performed were not treatments that might be compared to doctors and nurses. In fact, we thank God for doctors and nurses. I'm sure Brother Sonny and Sister Pam thanks the Lord for doctors and nurses. And that's wonderful. Many of you or several of you in here are nurses, but that's not what Jesus did. He was not giving people medicine. He was not performing surgery. He was showing his power over illness, over sickness. [00:12:52] Now, so that means that Jesus miracles were indeed miraculous. And nothing that doctors and nurses do is miraculous. It's natural. It's good, but it's natural. What Jesus did was different. Now, the problem with that is that sometimes over time, people have come to see the miracles of Christ and have taken that to mean that Christians and the work of Christ, the work of the church is or should be medicinal. It should be about the healing of the body. And really that's not what the miracles are about at all. The miracles were about showing who Christ was. [00:13:32] It is very important also to understand the nature of Christ's miracles, that people were not made better naturally or gradually or partially. They were not treated by physicians. Because there are a lot of people that now claim the power, this very power, to heal the body, like Christ healed the body. [00:13:52] And they say that they do it in the manner of the Lord Jesus Christ. But it is not found to be in the way that Jesus performed miracles. [00:14:03] And probably the biggest way you can pick up a fraud is that there is no proof, there is no verification. You know, you see on the Internet or on TV these preachers who claim to have this power. And you see the lady or the gentleman comes up in the, you know, maybe he's holding a cane or maybe he's in a wheelchair or with a walker. And, you know, all of these things and he says, well, I've been this and I've been that and for this long, I've been sick or I've been, you know, disabled or whatnot. You don't know that guy. You don't know that guy. You have no way to verify that. But in this case, these people, Jesus was flesh and blood in front of them. It wasn't a TV preacher. It wasn't an Internet preacher. Jesus was flesh and blood. That leper was flesh and blood. He would have been known to the people in his area, especially. Especially when the world was so much smaller back then. They knew him. They knew him. It wasn't a mystery. There was no question. Yes, he was a leper. You think of the blind man. You remember the man who was born blind. And his parents were called in to give testimony to his healing. And they said, this is our son, and we know he was born blind. You know what that is? That's a verification that the man's history was true. And then what you see with. With this, with the leper, is he tells the leper, after he is healed, when he's no longer a leper, to go his way and show himself to the priest in Jerusalem, which was quite a walk. This was in Galilee. And he had to go all the way to Jerusalem. But he told him to do that, first of all, because the law said to. But secondly, for a testimony unto them, which means that when this man presented himself and he said, I've been a leper for so and so years. This is my life. I want you to examine me to see if I'm healed. And they had to. Maybe, maybe not at this point, but they had to reluctantly say, well, he is healed and certified to that fact. [00:15:59] You know what that is? That's proof. [00:16:02] That's not a TV preacher having some guy you never heard of who comes in. In a wheelchair and then all of a sudden jumps up and starts. And then he goes out the door and you never hear from him again. There's no way to verify it. Listen, we can't be so gullible. [00:16:16] We cannot be so gullible. Do you believe that God can heal people? Yes. But they are claiming what Jesus did, that's the key. If they have what Jesus had, they ought to do it like Jesus did it. It's not gradual. It's not. You pray and he lays his hands and then he goes home and goes to the doctor and gets a few meds and all. And then after a couple weeks, he's better. That is not the way it worked. That is not the way it worked. And it is important to see that distinction because it might be just a. It might seem on the surface to be just a little bit different. [00:16:49] But if you're claiming what Jesus did, then it should be what Jesus did, right? That's what gives us, that helps us to have discernment in this. What we also see is that Jesus healed in private. You never see that with TV preachers or Internet preachers that do this, that claim to do this. Jesus healed Peter's mother in law in verses 14 and 15. That was in private. No spectacle, no cameras, no TV, no broadcast, no prayer rug, no anointing oil, no send us a seed offering. None of that stuff, did it free of charge. [00:17:25] It was not a spectacle. And he certainly did not do it for filthy lucre's sake, for money. [00:17:31] And again, if someone claims this power but does not follow this pattern, you know it's fraudulent. So that's just a way for us to be, for us to be wise. [00:17:43] Now the next thing I want you to see is how the Lord responded to sickness. Again, this is the beginning. This is at the early part of his ministry. And this is where one of the first examples where Jesus interacts with sickness. And so I want us to kind of examine what was his attitude toward it, how did he feel about it, what did he do about it? [00:18:09] Because much of we know that a lot of Jesus ministry involves sickness. It was just everywhere, Everywhere. You know, we are so blessed. You know, I know we think, we think we know a lot of people that have sickness. And that's all obviously true and real and legitimate. But compared to this period here, we are well in body at this period. Like there were no antibiotics, bacteria didn't even, weren't even known to exist, viruses, all of those things, didn't know how to treat them. There was no, you just suffered. You just suffered and you asked God to heal you and you just, if he chose to or didn't you just suffer? [00:18:47] That was it. Let's just take a moment and say thank you, Lord, that we live in a time where there's ways to be treated. If you have strep throat or if you have leprosy, in fact, Hansen's disease, modern day leprosy is curable. With a six month round of antibiotics regimen, it's curable, it can be completely healed. And that was not the case back in this time. But notice this. [00:19:13] This man comes to Jesus. Leprous. Why is he leprous? [00:19:18] From a biblical perspective, his Illness, ultimately, as well as all illness is a result of sin, is a result of sin. Now, this man might not have sinned to cause him to be ill, to have leprosy. He might himself personally not have sinned. But you have to understand that all sin, all sin exists in the world. [00:19:47] And therefore sickness due to the effects of sin on the race of Adam, right? So that's why sickness is here. This is not the way God made the world. God made the world perfect. He made the world right with life. And sin entered into the world. In fact, Romans 5:12 says this. You know this verse. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, that man is Adam and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. So it is a grave mistake to say, well, if someone is sick, they've sinned. That's dumb. That's just dumb. Now, it can be a result of personal sin, but that is a grave doctrinal error to say. But we do know that all sickness results from sin which has been passed down to us, and we inherited it when we came into this world. [00:20:48] And as a result of sickness, some people have come to question God and his goodness, right? [00:20:56] People with leprosy, people like that, and, you know, cancers. And many of you have dealt with that. And I guarantee you, if you've dealt with a serious illness, you have had thoughts go through your mind that question, why God? Why are you doing this? Why have you allowed this to happen? Why am I suffering like this? [00:21:19] Why am I sick and not another person? And that's caused questions about God and his character to come up in your mind. And that's not unusual. That's not unusual at all. But often people lay blame on the Lord for sickness and sometimes even get bitter at the Lord because of it. But we have to understand this is not the way God created the world. [00:21:43] This. This idea that God's smiting people down and coldly infecting people with sickness, you know, you know, without compassion and with no regard for their desires, sickness exists because of sin. That sin has entered into the world, the world that God created that was beautiful and perfect. And without sin and without sickness is no more. [00:22:11] And sin, which is, remember a violation of God's law, brought all of that into this world when sin came into the world. And this is a good practical reminder for us as well. When sin came into the world on the global scale, with it came sickness, with it came suffering, with it came death. [00:22:33] But even in your life, practically individually, when sin comes into your life. [00:22:40] It destroys and infects and kills everything around it. It is not innocent. [00:22:47] It will hurt you. It will hurt me. [00:22:51] It is not something that can be done without the effects being felt. And see, that's a. We are. We are little examples of that truth that we saw. We've seen in the Garden of Eden in the past. [00:23:06] It was not God that brought sickness into the world. [00:23:10] It was not God that brought death into the world. It was mankind. [00:23:15] It was mankind. And all of us are descended from those. And even if. Listen, I know we think well, okay? Adam and Eve sinned. So why am I sick? [00:23:26] Even us? Did we obey the Lord? [00:23:31] We look at Adam and Eve and say, this stupid couple, what's wrong with them? But have we obeyed the Lord? [00:23:38] Indeed, we've received far less than we deserve. [00:23:43] We received far less than we deserved. And so Jesus. I know that's kind of a broad picture, but when Jesus approaches this issue, here's a man who has been afflicted by sin in the form of sickness. The Lord knows that. [00:24:00] You know, sometimes, you know, if you've been around somebody that has a serious illness and you see them wasting away and even pass away, you know, one thing that comes to my mind is just, why? [00:24:12] Why does it have to be this way? [00:24:15] Why does it. Why do. Why does people have to be sick and die? And listen, I know the answer, but I still feel that way, right? And you've been that way, too. Give me a nod. You felt that way. Why does it have to be like that? But remember, it's not the way God intended it, and it is not the way he wants it to be, and it is not the way that he desires it to be. And it will not be this way forever. [00:24:36] So the Lord approaches a man who is an example of this truth. [00:24:43] And when Jesus. When Jesus meets with people who are sick, which is connected directly to sin, he reveals what is God's perspective because he is God in the flesh. So whatever we see, however we see Jesus interact with sick people, we can see God's perspective because he is God in the flesh. How did Jesus react to the effects of sin in this case, in a leprous man? Take a peek at Mark one. I want to show you the parallel passage here. [00:25:22] Mark 1, verse number 40. [00:25:33] Mark 1:40 says this. And there came a leper unto him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, if thou wilt, thou canst, make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand and touched him, and saith unto him, I will be thou clean. So this tells us something that Matthew doesn't mention, which is the reason Jesus healed him. You know, the reason. Jesus saw a man who was afflicted with a disease. And that grieved him. [00:26:07] It grieved him. Of course, our Lord knew, knows that that was a direct result of sin, the fall of Adam, which has infected all of us like one big infectious disease, like Covid, but times a gazillion. [00:26:25] And he saw that. He saw a man who had been afflicted with sin, even though it might not have been him personally. [00:26:33] And he's moved with compassion. [00:26:37] Our Lord shows God's perspective. It grieves the Lord that sin has entered into the world. It doesn't please him. He did not cause that. [00:26:48] He did not want that. That's why he warned Adam and Eve. He did not want. And yet here it is. So how does the Lord respond to it? Compassion. [00:27:01] Our Lord showed that even contrary to some people's view of God, he is indeed troubled and moved by the effects of sin upon mankind. And this includes sickness. And this should, as a people of God, this should translate into a compassion that we show for people who are ailing as well. [00:27:21] That means visiting them when they're ill. And this is a firm scriptural truth. Visiting those who are afflicted, going to the hospital, taking a gift, taking a symbol of your love and praying for them. This is biblical, and it's based upon the example our Lord gives. [00:27:40] And we have to remember this as we think about how our Lord responded to sickness. That the Lord Jesus will, in his time, he will totally eradicate sin from this world. He will totally eradicate sin from those that trust in him as well. And by eradicating sin, you know what goes with it? [00:28:02] Suffering and death and sickness. [00:28:07] Now, he has already, if you are born again, the Lord Jesus Christ has already, as a done deal, eradicated sin from you partially. You know that because your inner man has been made alive, has been given eternal life. Now, the flesh is not that way. The Lord is not. He hasn't saved the outside of us yet. He has done it on the inside to begin. That's what we were talking about in Sunday school. And of course, on the outside, physically, we still feel the effects of sin and, and suffering and sickness and death. [00:28:44] But sin's most terrible effect, and the one that people avoid the most, which is our condemnation before God, the N word, the worst part. [00:28:56] Listen, you can get cancer, or you can have an accident or whatnot, and your life end but if your soul is saved, you're okay. But if your soul is lost and you live to be 100 years old, what doth it profit? And so what the Lord did is he took that most important part and he said, I will eradicate sin from those that believe in me inwardly first, so they can be right with me and know me. And we do. We know God. We have been made. Inwardly, we are clean and white. And yet we have this flesh on the outside we have to deal with. And it gets sick and it eventually will die. But Romans 8:23 says this. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit. Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. And when the Lord comes and the body is redeemed, sin will be eradicated from entirely. Entirely. Have you ever felt that groaning? [00:30:07] I'm not talking about because you've been. Of course, we've all grown because we've been sick. But I'm talking about the groaning that comes from the burden of knowing that you are going to be tempted every day and you're going to have to suffer that. The burden of having sin in your life and the constant draw to it that exists in this body. [00:30:29] Have you ever felt that kind of groaning? Lord, I just want to be free of this. You know where that desire comes from? We saw it in Psalm 26, right on Wednesday. That desire to be right with God is something God puts there. That inward desire the world knows nothing of. [00:30:45] Just find me a way to sin and get away with it. Find me a way to indulge what I want to do and get away with. But to a believer, it's not that way. Inside, he's clean. That sin's gone, it's eradicated. [00:30:58] And yet the outside still is troubled. [00:31:03] But you know what? When Christ comes, the body's redeemed, we receive a new body. It'll be totally eradicated. And then eventually one day he's going to eradicate it completely from the world. There will be none at all. [00:31:17] But another thing we see in this passage in Matthew is this. [00:31:22] We see the sick as a picture of the sinner. [00:31:27] So many times Jesus interacted with sinner, with sick people. And of course, as I said, there's a connection between illness and sin doctrinally. Now, okay, take a peek at Matthew chapter nine, just one chapter over. I want to show you something Jesus says that makes this connection clear. [00:31:45] Matthew 9, verse 11, verse 10 says this just to get a running start here. And it came to pass as Jesus sat at meat in the house. Behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? [00:32:17] But Jesus, when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. [00:32:27] But go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice, For I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Lord uses a proverb, right? [00:32:38] But what is the proverb? What's the basis of the proverb? The proverb is, like a sick person seeks, a physician needs a physician. So a sinner needs a Savior. You see, the connection made the picture here between the illness and the sin. [00:32:59] I want you to note that this is our Lord saying this. [00:33:04] Those who came. So when we look at Matthew, chapter eight, those who came to Jesus sick like the leper, they kind of picture an individual who is affected by sin with that connection, that comparison. [00:33:19] And this man, he came to Jesus. Why did he come to Jesus? He came to Jesus because he was sick. And he knew it. [00:33:28] In fact, it was undeniable. It was written on the outside of him. It wasn't an internal illness. It was an external illness in his skin, in his flesh. [00:33:36] And he came to Jesus because he knew that he was sick. Sin had affected him, and he was aware of it, and that's why he came to Jesus. Now, this man came as a matter of his physical condition. But do you know who comes to Jesus on spiritual matters? You know who it is. It is those who come to understand that they are sick. That's what Jesus said. They that are sick need a physician. Not, nay, that are well. [00:34:04] And when you as an individual finally come to understand what the Lord has said of you, that you are sick, you are sick, it is only at that point that you will come to Jesus. [00:34:24] This leprous man would not have come to Jesus until his illness was such that he knew he needed to be cleansed. [00:34:37] Now, the reality is that many people do not come to Jesus because they don't feel sick. [00:34:47] That's just the cold truth. Why do people that know about Jesus and know that he offers forgiveness and know that they have a problem with sin and know that they're not righteous. They maybe in their life, they have people in their life that are believers and have a transformed life and evidence of this new birth. And it might be mysterious or whatnot, but they know there's something that God has done in those people. And then they look at themselves and think, well, I don't know. I can't explain all that. But you know why that person doesn't come to Jesus? There's one reason, one reason only. Because he or she does not believe he's sick. [00:35:25] He thinks he's well and he's not. [00:35:32] Because just like this leprous man, this world is a world of lepers. [00:35:37] Everybody has leprosy, right? Everybody is sick with sin. Sin has affected every one of us. It's just some of us have deluded ourselves into thinking that somehow we are not sick and we actually are very sick. And the thing is, just like this leprous man, it's evident. It comes out. It's. It's a disease that's visible, just like the leprous man. But we tell ourselves, I'm good. I'm going to still. I'm going to try to go to my physicians. I'm going to try to do this and solve the problem myself and take the medicine, all that stuff. And they never get to the point where they're like, there's no hope. I need to be cleansed. [00:36:12] But that's the way they view sin. [00:36:17] The world is a world of lepers. Everybody's a leper, but not everybody realizes it. [00:36:24] Everybody has it. And so when you see this leprosy, just take, for instance, this modern leprosy and these putrefying sores and the limbs all hands all gnarled up because it loses the nerve endings. And then they burn themselves and cut themselves and have to amputate because they can't feel when they touch things that are hot and all of that. And then their nose rots off and their ears and they have all these sores and all that stuff. Sorry, Sam, if it's making you turning green on me, but here's the thing. The world is a bunch of lepers. And they look around and they see. Well, everybody's like that. [00:37:01] They're just like me. It's normal, right? [00:37:06] In a leper colony, everybody looks the same. [00:37:11] And in this world, that's the way sin is. Everybody looks at each other, compares themselves to one another. Well, I'm just as good as that guy. I mean, he has the same problems I've got. [00:37:22] And God's saying, you're sick, you're sick. [00:37:26] But when we look around, we don't seem any more sick and any more sinful and any more. You know, our life seems just as. Just as anybody else's. And God's saying, you're sick, you're sick. [00:37:39] But we say, I don't really need the physician. [00:37:44] I'm not that sick. [00:37:48] The only people that came to Jesus for healing like this leprous man are the people who realized they were sick. [00:37:57] Right? [00:38:00] Right. That's the only people. There were other sick people that didn't go to Jesus. I'm sure the thousands that did come. There were probably thousands and thousands that didn't. You know what? They weren't healed. [00:38:12] You know why? Because they didn't come to Jesus, didn't think they needed to. And so they went. They just lived their life and remained sick. Then they died. [00:38:24] I want you to understand something. [00:38:27] This matter of salvation is first and foremost a matter of sin, about a sin against God and the dread effects of sin. The primary issue in this matter is sin, and all of us are sick with it. [00:38:41] There is no cure. [00:38:43] There is no remedy. There is no medication that will heal you of the sickness of sin. Ultimately, it will be fatal. [00:38:54] What I'm trying to say is you need Jesus. [00:38:59] Just like this leper physically needed Jesus to heal him and had no other hope. [00:39:04] So he came to Jesus. [00:39:07] You see that? It's so simple, isn't it? He just came to Jesus. [00:39:14] The Bible says in Luke 5 of this man, not only was he a leprous man, but he was full of leprosy. And, you know, listen, that's how God describes us. You read Romans chapter 3. You cannot walk away. I dare you. If you're listening to me and you're skeptical, I appreciate you listening. But if you're skeptical of what I'm saying, I challenge you to take. Go home and read Romans Chapter three. And in that chapter, God describes to you and to me what he sees in mankind. And that's in me, and that's in you. And it's not flattering. [00:39:47] It's full of leprosy. That's what it is. It's full to the top. [00:39:54] You know, I was thinking, when I read that, I was thinking about the song. Jesus, lover of my soul, says this. Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find. Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick and lead the blind. Just and holy is thy name. I am all unrighteousness, vile and full of sin I am. Thou art full of truth and grace. [00:40:25] That's why at its very core, this is really just a matter of when we talk about repentance. It's just coming face to face with what God says. You're sick, you're sick. [00:40:38] Look at others. You think, I'm not too bad. But God says, you're terribly sick. You're full of leprosy. [00:40:46] You gotta have Jesus. [00:40:48] He's the only one that can heal you. And then they criticized him. [00:40:54] As we saw in the previous verses we looked at in Matthew 9, Jesus sat with the lepers. He sat with the sinners. Rather, he sat with the sinners. He associated with the sinners, but his association with them did not defile him, just like his touching this leper did not defile him. [00:41:13] Jesus association with sinners does not defile him, but his association with sinners cleanses them, just like it cleansed the leper. [00:41:26] Now, this leper, you know, I just contemplating here. This leper wasn't just complaining about certain spots that had come up, you know, like we do, little spot here and there. [00:41:37] He wasn't concerned about an individual problem, like, oh man, I have a problem. This problem of sin and that problem of sin. If you would just take care of this, I'm good otherwise. But just this spot, no, he was full. He came to Jesus and says, it's not this spot, it's me. [00:41:57] And that's one place that a lot of people don't feel comfortable going. You know that it's easy to acknowledge our sin on an individual level of a certain sin, this sin and that sin that we're willing to acknowledge. But it's a horse of a different color to say, but really, those things really tell about me, me from top to bottom. I'm sick. [00:42:26] That's the part people don't like to admit. But yet that's exactly what the Lord says. All the outward things, the little spots on this leper, you know, what it did, all the little spots was what a doctor would use to diagnose an illness that was systemic. Right? [00:42:46] Now, as I finish up, I want you to go back to Matthew 8, if you would, and look in verse 2. [00:42:55] You know, the various accounts of this in Matthew 8, Mark 1 and Luke 5 are a little bit different. Just a little bit. Little details are different. There's one aspect of these three accounts that is verbatim exactly the same. [00:43:10] Look at this, verse two says, and behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, here it is, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And then Jesus answered, he says, I will be thou clean. [00:43:29] That conversation, the words of that dialogue is the one thing that is exactly the same in all three. [00:43:39] Must be important, right? [00:43:44] And when it comes to this matter of sin and salvation. [00:43:48] There are two questions that arise. [00:43:52] Number one, is God able? [00:43:55] Number two is God willing. [00:43:58] The first question deals with God's power. The second deals with his desire. [00:44:04] In Matthew 9:28, Jesus asked blind men if they believed he was able to heal them. In Mark 6, verses 5 and 6, Jesus did not do many mighty works because of their unbelief. They did not believe that he could. So he didn't. [00:44:23] If you take a peek at Mark chapter nine, I want to show you this real quick. Mark, chapter nine, verse number 22. [00:44:42] This Father brings his child who has a devil, and the devil cast the child into the fire and all these things. Verse 22 says this and ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him. But if notice what the Father says to Jesus. If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us. [00:45:07] Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the Father of the child cried out and said with tears, lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. That belief mixed with unbelief. This. This weird contradiction paradox that exists in us. But that's what Jesus says. Do you believe that I can. But some people, like this leper, it was not a question of can you? If he didn't believe Jesus could, he would never have approached Jesus at all. But he did believe Jesus could. The question was not can you? The question was, will you? It's a question of Jesus heart, a question of Jesus compassion. [00:45:48] Here's the thing. When we're talking about sin and salvation, many people never get to the point, please hear me. I'm almost finished. I promise. Many people never get to the point where they know they're even sick. And so they don't approach Jesus. [00:46:08] Many people know they're sick and then try to go about and heal themselves with their good works or their religion or whatever. [00:46:16] And so they also never approach the Savior. [00:46:20] No need. [00:46:22] Many people are too proud to humble themselves to approach the Savior. [00:46:27] But like this leper, of those that remain who do approach the Savior, some of them wonder if he is willing to save them and forgive them. [00:46:45] Here's the thing. When the weight of sin gets heavy and you come to understand what you truly are, as God has said it, that weight is heavy. [00:46:56] And it might raise questions of whether God would forgive you. [00:47:02] It might. [00:47:05] But of those that remain and approach the Savior, like this leper, they always, always, always, always find he is willing. [00:47:20] He is willing to save. He is willing to forgive. He is willing to show compassion. The problem has never been Christ's willingness. [00:47:31] The problem has never been his power and ability. [00:47:36] This problem is twofold. [00:47:40] Am I going to go to Him? [00:47:47] Am I going to go to him? Do I believe that he can forgive me? Do I believe that I need it? And do I believe that he can save me, that I need saving and that he can save me? [00:48:03] Jesus said this John 6:37 all that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me, the leper him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out every sinner every single sinner who has been willing who has seen how sick he is and has acknowledged his need to be healed and cured and who has been willing to come humility to the Savior. [00:48:42] Everyone has been healed because he's able and because he has a heart full of compassion. The Lord Jesus Christ wants nothing more than to heal what sin has done to us. [00:49:00] He does. [00:49:01] Let's pray.