1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,320 Well, my name is Eric. If you don't know me, I am glad 2 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:06,400 you're here with us today. We are in the book of Matthew. 3 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:11,840 We've been in the book of Matthew, I believe for, I don't 4 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:16,880 know, maybe 9-10 months, something like that. 5 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:21,800 And we've now reached chapter 8. We're in chapter 8. 6 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:25,160 We've finished the Sermon on the Mount, which was chapters 5 7 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:27,960 through 7. And the book of Matthew kind of 8 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:31,040 shows us some interesting things. 9 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:37,480 The author compiles kind of lumps of scripture together in 10 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:39,800 Matthew. Some of the stories will be in 11 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:42,920 Mark, also in Luke. But you can you can see that 12 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:45,400 there are differences in the way that they compiled their 13 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:50,160 information. And Matthew chooses to compile 14 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:53,880 like he did the Sermon on the Mount in this big narrative. 15 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:57,280 And now we've reached this section where we're talking 16 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:01,840 about miracles of Jesus. So in chapters 8 and 9, many 17 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:05,120 miracle stories of Jesus are kind of compiled together. 18 00:01:05,519 --> 00:01:10,080 Not all of them are necessarily in chronologic logical order, 19 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,000 because that's not the point of the author. 20 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,600 He's trying to make a point through how he writes this down 21 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:22,240 inspired by the Holy Spirit. And so that kind of brings me to 22 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,760 a question I'd like to ask as we start talking about the miracles 23 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,880 of Jesus is what are they for? What's the meaning of them? 24 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:37,200 Is it just that, oh, Jesus does miracles and so miracles are 25 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:41,000 normative in in the believer's life and we should be looking 26 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,280 for them all the time trying to do them? 27 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:50,440 Or is it pointing to something, maybe an illustration of a 28 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:55,680 deeper spiritual truth? I believe that, yes, God still 29 00:01:55,680 --> 00:02:01,720 does miracles today, but these aren't written so that we seek 30 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,720 them out all the time and we're looking for signs and wonders. 31 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,479 We've actually seen in Scripture where people are rebuked because 32 00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:11,680 that's all they're looking for. They need, they need proof. 33 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,840 And yes, Jesus in this narrative and these eyewitness accounts, 34 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:21,240 it does prove his power. It does prove his authority. 35 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,960 It does confirm who Jesus is, that he's God in the flesh. 36 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:28,880 It shows us that he's a compassionate God as well, that 37 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:34,720 he cares about not only just our salvation, but even in the time 38 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:37,720 that we have here on earth, He cares about every little malady 39 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,800 and sickness and pain that we have going on. 40 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:47,280 It shows us that he's brought something with them when he 41 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,560 stepped on earth 2000 years ago. Our series is called The King 42 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,200 and His Kingdom. He's bringing a spiritual 43 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:58,480 Kingdom on earth and he's slowly taking ground and, and while 44 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:02,480 he's walking around, he's showing what heaven looks like 45 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,280 where there will be no more sickness or crying or pain or 46 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:13,920 mourning sadness anymore. But ultimately these are also 47 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:19,120 illustrations of some deep spiritual truths that I think 48 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,440 that Matthew wants us to know, the Holy Spirit wants us to 49 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:23,480 know. And, and Jesus is doing these 50 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:27,800 things knowing that we're going to be reading about them later, 51 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,680 trying to figure out what does this mean for my life? 52 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:34,800 What does it mean that Jesus is doing miracles? 53 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:37,840 So I want to get into that. And so today we're going to be 54 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:43,000 in verses one through 4 of chapter 8, and I've titled the 55 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:51,120 message the Great Physician. The Great Physician because he 56 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:55,760 is a healer. Ultimately Christ healed many 57 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,640 people. And today we're looking at how 58 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:03,760 he heals A leper. And it's a little bit about 59 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:10,120 leprosy. This 2000 years ago and beyond 60 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:17,200 was an incurable disease and it would be considered that only a 61 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:21,600 miracle could help a leprous person. 62 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,960 And what we find out is that the great physician, the only one 63 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:28,960 that has the power, comes in with a compassionate touch and a 64 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:32,120 word and heals this man. So let me read these verses to 65 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:33,800 you and we're going to get into it. 66 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:39,080 It says when he came down from the mountain, great crowds 67 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:42,160 followed him. And behold, A leper came to him 68 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:45,960 and knelt before him, saying, Lord, if you will, you can make 69 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,400 me clean. And Jesus stretched out his hand 70 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,240 and touched him, saying, I will be clean. 71 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,320 And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 72 00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:00,160 And Jesus said to him, See that you say nothing to anyone, but 73 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,160 go show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses 74 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:12,320 commanded for a proof to them. I've got three points as we walk 75 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:15,120 through this section by section or verse by verse. 76 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:20,400 And I want to show you how there is a deeper spiritual truth 77 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:27,240 underlying in this story of Jesus healing this leper. 78 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:33,640 And my first point is this. I want to look at the sinners 79 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,960 infection again. We go back to the first 2 verses 80 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:41,280 that says when he came down from the mountain, great crowds 81 00:05:41,280 --> 00:05:44,560 followed him and behold A leper came to him and knelt before him 82 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:50,160 saying if you will you can make me clean. 83 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:55,120 Now as I said you know leprosy was something somewhat of an 84 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:59,080 incurable disease. What I want you to understand in 85 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:05,880 this point is that leprosy is an analogy or analogous to sin. 86 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:13,480 It too is an incurable infection that affects every part of our 87 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:17,360 lives. So let me tell you a little bit 88 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:20,320 of what I know about leprosy. Now, I'm not a doctor by any 89 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:23,640 means, but the studies that I know from what I know in 90 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:27,800 Scripture and and there are leprosy still exists today. 91 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:33,120 Many have called it, renamed it Hansen's disease because of the 92 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:36,880 stigma that comes along with leprosy or being a leper from 93 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:39,000 the Bible. They they thought we need to 94 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:44,200 have some compassion and rename it so that people aren't holding 95 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,800 those stigmas. But what is the big deal or what 96 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:52,000 is leprosy? It, it, it, it's where the nerve 97 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:58,600 endings in your skin and in your organs don't really have any 98 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:03,760 feeling anymore. And So what ends up happening is 99 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,600 the skin gets all kinds of rashes, it becomes unhealthy, it 100 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:12,720 becomes dry, scaly. And also when it gets injured or 101 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:19,400 cut and infected, it goes unnoticed for so long that 102 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:26,240 spots, if not whole areas of the body become hideous, disgusting, 103 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:30,760 even with a, a stench of an of infection and pus. 104 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:34,480 I know it's a gross kind of a, a picture I'm painting in your 105 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:37,840 mind, but I'm trying to show you that, that this is supposed to 106 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:43,640 be painting a picture for us of how, how, how infectious and 107 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:45,640 hideous sin is in our lives as well. 108 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:49,960 But most of us, you know, when we get a cut or when we feel 109 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:54,480 some kind of pain in our body, we're able to go see a doctor 110 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:57,080 or, you know, put some first aid on it or whatever. 111 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:02,760 But in this case, what happens is, you know, infections get so 112 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:09,000 bad that you lose extremities. Fingers, toes, hands, arms, 113 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,680 legs, parts of your nose are falling off. 114 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:19,080 And it's it's not a pretty sight. 115 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:26,320 And So what happened to someone who had leprosy was that they 116 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:28,360 were banished outside of their community. 117 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:33,799 They were, they were supposed to go live outside the city because 118 00:08:33,799 --> 00:08:37,640 people didn't want to see them. And people definitely didn't 119 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:41,600 want to come into contact with them, afraid that the the the 120 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:46,640 disease would pass on to them. In fact, they were called 121 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:49,600 unclean. It's very interesting, by the 122 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:54,560 way, that that God made laws all the way back in the first five 123 00:08:54,560 --> 00:09:01,200 books of the Bible that Moses wrote about leprosy with it 124 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:06,440 being an incurable disease. And here's what it says in in 125 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:11,400 Leviticus 13. It says the leprous person who 126 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:15,560 has the D disease shall wear torn, torn clothes and let the 127 00:09:15,560 --> 00:09:19,240 hair of his head hang loose and he shall cover his upper lip and 128 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:23,240 cry out unclean, unclean. And he shall remain unclean as 129 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:26,400 long as he has the disease. He is unclean. 130 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:31,160 He he shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside 131 00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:34,920 the camp. I when I first read this many 132 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,720 years ago, I'm, I'm wondering it was a funny picture I had in my 133 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:39,040 head. What does it mean that he 134 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:42,320 covered his upper lip? Unclean, unclean. 135 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:44,600 Why would he have to do that? But then I realized, you know, 136 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,120 when you're going to shout at people from far away, you 137 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:49,760 actually do this, right? You, you cover your mouth and 138 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:53,240 kind of make a, a little horn, you know, so that the sound 139 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:57,440 extends and, and, and this is the picture of this guy who is, 140 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:03,600 who is desperate and lonely. And when any human being comes 141 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:08,800 within a certain amount of of of feet from him, he from far away, 142 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:13,600 he has to by the law of God, say I'm unclean. 143 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:20,040 Don't come near me. Now imagine the loneliness, the 144 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:24,400 hopelessness, the the self loathing that a leper would feel 145 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:28,040 because of this. He wouldn't have been able to 146 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:33,200 have any close relationships. And in fact, this disease 147 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:39,720 ultimately kept him from being able to worship God the way in 148 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:44,400 which the community was prescribed to gather together to 149 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:49,640 go to the temple. He would have to be outside and 150 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:55,200 alone, and ultimately his relationship severed from God 151 00:10:55,200 --> 00:11:00,640 and the people because he's unclean, ceremonially unclean, 152 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:05,720 to approach God. You see, that's what sin does to 153 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:10,000 us as well. The Bible says that we're born 154 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:15,160 with sin. We're born inheriting the nature 155 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:21,000 that the first human beings brought into humanity. 156 00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:25,680 When they went against God, they decided, I don't want to follow 157 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:28,080 God's commands. I'm going to go my own way. 158 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:31,520 My way's a little bit better. I don't trust his words 159 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:33,960 necessarily. I'm going to do what feels 160 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:36,400 right. And so they did that. 161 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:41,120 They followed that feeling, and they brought sin into the world. 162 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:46,200 And now we all have this natural bent to want to do the same 163 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:51,280 thing as our our mother and father from the beginning. 164 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:56,200 And so does it sound familiar to you when we know what God's word 165 00:11:56,200 --> 00:12:00,160 says or we've heard what it says and we say, well, I don't really 166 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,040 trust that. I don't really like that. 167 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:06,080 There's probably things in Scripture that all of us 168 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:11,320 naturally, when you hear it, you're like, I don't know, that 169 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:15,880 doesn't really fit my sensibilities or my my standard 170 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:24,800 of morality or that just seems harsh or not fun or controlling. 171 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:30,880 And so anyway, that is the nature that we have as this 172 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:35,480 separation from God, unable to worship him properly. 173 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:40,400 And not only that, but our sin, not just our sin nature that we 174 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:50,040 inherited, it's an infection that affects how we treat other 175 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:53,240 people. So we we sin against other 176 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:55,840 people. And now just like the leper, our 177 00:12:55,840 --> 00:13:02,680 relationships are broken, right? Like our sin effects our 178 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:08,800 marriages. Like when we hurt other people 179 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:12,360 because of what we do from the natural man or the natural 180 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:15,720 woman. The the the things that we do 181 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:20,600 that are offensive or hurtful or selfish even causes that broken 182 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:26,360 relationship with our spouse. Don't we hate that? 183 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,880 Don't we wish that this part of us wouldn't do things to 184 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,400 displease the other person that we love, that we could be the 185 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:37,520 servant what we want to be without failing? 186 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:43,080 Don't we hate it when we when we mess up with that thing that 187 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:47,240 we're addicted to? We have these addictions in life 188 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:48,800 that God has said, no, don't do that. 189 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:54,480 That's going to be bad for you. I remember in my own life I had 190 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:58,280 broken so many relationships and hurt people because of my sin 191 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:03,840 and my addiction, and rightfully nobody wanted to be around me 192 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:10,600 except for my mom. Praise God for the grace of 193 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:14,560 Jesus Christ that she didn't want to banish me outside the 194 00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:17,840 camp, but everybody else wanted to. 195 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:24,440 That is the analogy of our sin. This leper, then we need to look 196 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:29,120 at this guy and say that that that he's a picture of us. 197 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:35,080 This incurable infection that separates us from God and it 198 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:39,560 causes problems in our physical lives. 199 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:42,880 Our bodies aren't working properly anymore. 200 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:48,880 We get sick. There are diseases and illnesses 201 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:54,160 that are ever present in our world, in our communities, in 202 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:58,240 our in our bodies. Mental health issues are more 203 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:03,000 common than not anymore because of this infection. 204 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:07,160 There are trains that drive behind me when I'm preaching. 205 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:12,680 It's not supposed to be that way. 206 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:23,400 I heard that Satan is a train engineer maybe. 207 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:25,360 Is that in a song? I think so. 208 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:30,080 Anyway, there are mental health issues. 209 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:33,640 We and then we just not only, just all of that, again, we hurt 210 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:35,440 people. We hurt the people that we love 211 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:37,760 the most. So the people that are closest 212 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:41,000 to us are the ones that we hurt the most when we're they're 213 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:43,000 supposed to be the ones that we love the most. 214 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:46,080 And maybe we do love them the most, but we also hurt them 215 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:49,160 almost as equally as much as we love them. 216 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:57,840 We are in a desperate state, brothers and sisters in in this 217 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:02,440 world, we are desperate. The there's a theological term 218 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:04,880 for this. I'd call it total depravity, 219 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:08,800 total inability. We are completely depraved. 220 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:12,680 Even the good things that we want to do are tainted with 221 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:15,920 evil. Jeremiah 17 says even our, our, 222 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:18,480 our, our hearts are deceitfully wicked. 223 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:23,600 Isaiah says that our, even our good works are like filthy rags. 224 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:28,640 I mean, and so we have no goodness that can come to God 225 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:32,480 and say, Hey, you should choose me or you should forgive me 226 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:35,280 because of some of the good things that I do. 227 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:38,640 No, because why? Because Romans 3 says is that 228 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:42,320 there's no one who does good. There's no one righteous, no one 229 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,840 seeks, no one understands. No, not one. 230 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:51,480 That's the human condition. We can't even come to God 231 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,240 because of this broken state. We can't even seek Him. 232 00:16:54,320 --> 00:17:00,720 We don't even understand his words in this broken human state 233 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:04,599 that we live in. In fact, favorite quote of mine 234 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:10,319 is from Jonathan Edwards. It says you contribute nothing 235 00:17:10,319 --> 00:17:14,040 to your salvation except for the sin that made it necessary. 236 00:17:15,839 --> 00:17:19,520 The only reason we've we're qualified for salvation is that 237 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,280 we're a Sinner, that we are in this desperate state. 238 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:26,359 But praise God, it doesn't just stay there, but this 239 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:32,480 compassionate God, this loving God looks down on us in our 240 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:38,120 state and says, I want to do something about that. 241 00:17:39,120 --> 00:17:42,960 I want to heal them. So what is the hope of mankind 242 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:48,040 if we're all like lepers and this is an incurable infection? 243 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:53,000 There's only one person that can help us. 244 00:17:54,000 --> 00:18:00,360 And so now I want to look at the Savior's cure, verses 2 and 3. 245 00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:03,480 And behold, A leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, 246 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:06,640 Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. 247 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:11,720 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, I will 248 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:16,480 be clean. And immediately his leprosy was 249 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:22,520 cleansed. Only the Great Physician could 250 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:27,480 heal this disease. It would have taken a miracle 251 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:34,000 for anyone to be cured and clean from leprosy at this point in 252 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:36,480 time. Now, one could argue that yes, 253 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:39,080 there are forms of leprosy enhancements, disease that are 254 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:43,760 curable or there's there's ways to help it now with modern 255 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:46,520 medicine. But the point is, is that back 256 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:51,880 then, 2000 years ago and prior, this was considered only by a 257 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,720 miracle of God. That's why we read that story, 258 00:18:54,720 --> 00:19:00,880 by the way, the the Scripture reading of Naman the Syrian, he 259 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:05,120 was a Gentile man who had leprosy and his only hope was 260 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:10,160 that he heard about the God of Israel and said, I'm going to go 261 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:13,320 seek out this God because that God seems powerful. 262 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:17,920 He needed a miracle. And what happened was he came 263 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:21,400 and got healed. That was a story in the Old 264 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:25,520 Testament. So only the great Physician, 265 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:29,800 Jesus Christ could heal this disease, and only Jesus, the 266 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:35,200 great Physician, could take away our sin and make us clean. 267 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:42,000 It's interesting here in this passage, nobody would ever touch 268 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:46,440 a leper because that would make you unclean in the Old 269 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:47,920 Testament. Levitical law. 270 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:54,280 But Jesus, He doesn't break the law here because Jesus upholds 271 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:57,880 the law. Because Jesus is God, He is the 272 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:05,640 only one qualified to reach out and touch this man, to risk 273 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:08,640 touching this man. You see why others wouldn't 274 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:11,760 touch him is because they feared that this would transfer to 275 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:14,600 them. But Jesus being sinless? 276 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:19,160 God in the flesh, when he reaches out and touches nothing 277 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:23,200 of our sin could transfer to him and his body because he's 278 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:27,400 powerful enough, but all of his power actually transfers to this 279 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,360 man. That's a picture of our 280 00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:36,160 salvation, by the way. And in a sense you could say 281 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:40,360 that Jesus did take on our sin for a moment on the cross. 282 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:49,440 He who knew no sin, Christ was made to be sin for us so that we 283 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:51,200 could become the righteousness of God. 284 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:54,760 And then the power is transferred to the man and the 285 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:57,160 healing power of the great Physician. 286 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:02,120 Jesus Christ touches this man and he is healed. 287 00:21:02,120 --> 00:21:06,640 Mark 141 tells the story and it says moved with pity. 288 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:13,760 He did this out of compassion. I don't know about you, but you 289 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:19,040 know, it's been quite a, you know, intense few months as 290 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:22,240 we've been preaching through the Sermon on the Mount and here I 291 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:29,240 find this wrasp this this kind of exhale of here's the 292 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:33,840 compassion of Jesus. I don't know if that brings you 293 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:39,040 any joy or or relief that that your Savior, Jesus Christ, 294 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:43,920 although you come to him with your brokenness, with your sin, 295 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:51,440 the sin that you did this week, the uncleanness, where in the 296 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:55,200 Old Testament you wouldn't have been able to approach this God. 297 00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:03,440 But God came to earth because he was moved by compassion in yours 298 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:09,000 and my desperate state, knowing that we can't do anything about 299 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:13,120 the sickness that we have apart from a healing touch of Jesus 300 00:22:13,120 --> 00:22:19,480 Christ. What's that thing that you need 301 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:21,840 that compassion for from Jesus right now? 302 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:28,400 Maybe as John said and asked us in that part of our service that 303 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:32,600 we do every time the confession of sin part where we can confess 304 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:36,080 to the Lord as we're as we're praying God. 305 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:39,600 I trust that you can clean me. That's what that verse said. 306 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:43,480 It's faithful and just to cleanse us from all 307 00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:47,800 unrighteousness in first John verse 9. 308 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:52,880 What is that thing? Did you know that you can just 309 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:56,080 confess that to you and him alone. 310 00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:03,000 You don't need to confess that to a priest, even a pastor. 311 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:07,920 The Bible does say that sometimes though it is good to 312 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:11,480 confess to another brother and sister sin, that they can pray 313 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:13,960 for you and you can be healed as well. 314 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:22,520 But you have access to Jesus Christ himself for that sin that 315 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:28,200 needs to be cleansed. Or maybe it's a physical, 316 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:33,600 mental, emotional state that you struggle with that's just a part 317 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:39,000 of who you are, that you've tried everything in this life to 318 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,440 get rid of it, to make it better, to fix it. 319 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:46,200 Just know that Jesus has compassion on you during that 320 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:50,400 time. I love this verse in in Hebrews 321 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:54,000 415. It says, For we do not have a 322 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,160 high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, 323 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:05,480 but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet 324 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:14,800 without sin. The sinless God comes to stand 325 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:20,440 in our place, to transfer His righteousness to us, but he 326 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,120 still sympathizes with us. Oh, man. 327 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:30,720 So he comes in compassion and also power and authority. 328 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:36,480 He comes to remove the religious rituals it would have taken for 329 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:43,560 this man to be made clean. If you go to Leviticus 14, and 330 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:46,760 I'm not going to, you know, read the entire thing to you, but it 331 00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:50,480 talks of all of the religious rituals that would have had to 332 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:54,400 have taken place in order for this guy if a miracle did happen 333 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,440 in his life and he did get clean. 334 00:24:56,760 --> 00:25:02,920 I mean we're talking birds need to be sacrificed, waiting 8 days 335 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:07,080 dunking yourself in water, then some Rams and lambs being 336 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:13,760 sacrificed and waiting around and priests, you know, doing all 337 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:20,000 these different things to satisfy that broken relationship 338 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:24,680 between you and God. And Jesus said, Nope, those all 339 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:30,720 pointed to to a particular way in which you needed to be 340 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:34,120 healed, again pointing back to the great physician, Only 341 00:25:34,120 --> 00:25:39,840 through him. So it's his authority and his 342 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:46,280 power alone. And so only through him can we 343 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:51,040 go to get healing from this disease. 344 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:57,840 Now this then is somewhat of an illustration of how a person 345 00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:02,560 comes to faith in Jesus Christ. I mean, what it looks like I we 346 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:06,440 can see it right in there. He had heard about Jesus. 347 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:10,160 He'd heard about the things Jesus been doing, you know, his 348 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:14,440 preaching, other people believing in him and, and 349 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:16,880 somehow word had got to this leper. 350 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:21,320 And So what does he do when he sees Jesus from far off? 351 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:27,480 He comes up and he kneels before him, kneeling before him. 352 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:30,480 That's a sign of worship. That's a sign of respect, That's 353 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:36,960 a sign of submission, surrender. And he says, Lord, he calls him 354 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:41,560 Lord Master, this is God. He, he believes that Jesus is 355 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:44,680 God, Lord Master. He wants to submit his life to 356 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:47,280 him. And then he, he believes in the 357 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:52,240 power. He says if you will, you can 358 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,640 make me clean. So he doesn't say if you can, 359 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,720 will you make me clean? He says, if you are willing, I 360 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:04,120 know that you can. This is faith. 361 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:09,880 This is faith in the Lord Jesus, the power, his authority of him 362 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:13,560 being God in the flesh. And the leper sees it. 363 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:19,720 That's what it takes to start a relationship with God, to repair 364 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:25,760 that sin, that broken relationship to make you clean. 365 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:27,600 It's we call it repent and believe. 366 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:30,720 Notice your own sin. Notice your need. 367 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:35,960 Be desperate like this leper who says I'm willing to bow down 368 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,200 before you. I know that you and you alone 369 00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:45,920 can heal me. We know that in Romans 10/9. 370 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:50,800 Again, it says if you declare that Jesus is Lord and believe 371 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,200 God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 372 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:59,400 It's almost a gift to this man that he's in this desperate 373 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:07,480 situation, because how else do you get desperate enough to cry 374 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:13,920 out to Jesus unless your situation has so many different 375 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:20,240 dire consequences and needs? If you haven't been humbled, 376 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,320 it's hard for a prideful person to come to the Lord. 377 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:28,840 It really is. Why would they need a savior if 378 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:32,280 they can do it all on their own, if life is good, if they're 379 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:36,920 content, it's a gift. Think of it that way. 380 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:43,120 Think of that, that that you even have the ability to see 381 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:46,120 your sin and be disgusted with it. 382 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:51,720 That's a gift and that's from the Holy Spirit. 383 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:54,360 The Holy Spirit comes and he convicts us. 384 00:28:54,360 --> 00:29:02,600 He convicts our hearts and he says you need to look internally 385 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:08,080 and compare your life with what God has said in His Word and 386 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:12,320 where you fall short. Don't worry, Romans 3 says all 387 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:15,800 have fallen short. So humble yourselves with a 388 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:21,520 broken and contrite heart, and he will come to you and heal 389 00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:23,760 you. And the Holy Spirit's doing this 390 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:25,640 work in us. It's such a beautiful thing. 391 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:28,720 First Corinthians 12/3 says Therefore, I want you to 392 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:33,240 understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says 393 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:38,080 Jesus is accursed, and no one can say Jesus is Lord except in 394 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:42,480 the Holy Spirit. Nobody can really get to this 395 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:48,920 place of true faith that Jesus is Lord without the Holy Spirit. 396 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:54,040 And that's what we see here. It doesn't necessarily say it in 397 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:56,200 this text, but you have to interpret Scripture with 398 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:57,760 Scripture. You have to come to Scripture 399 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:01,400 with doctrine. And we understand that the Bible 400 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:04,680 tells us that God is doing that first initial work of the Holy 401 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:10,640 Spirit was working in this man to get to the place, using his 402 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:15,840 desperation to get to the place to call Jesus Lord. 403 00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:22,240 The two wills collide. We often misunderstand will. 404 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:26,720 There's often debates about will and does man have free will. 405 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:31,640 And what I would just say to you in this text is look at this. 406 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:37,640 It says if you will, Lord, if it's in your will. 407 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:45,400 And Jesus says it is my will. So by this man's will, he 408 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:48,840 himself chooses to come to the Lord to bow down to him. 409 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:54,000 But it was also the Lord's will that this would happen at the 410 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,600 same time. There are two wills colliding 411 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,440 here and it's happening at the same time. 412 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:04,760 And beyond that it is a mystery on how it works. 413 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:10,360 But it is a beautiful one that we, we have our own choices and 414 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:12,920 yet God is willing and working in the background and his 415 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:15,880 sovereignty. That's what happens in this 416 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:21,800 man's heart. And it was a gift, as I said, a 417 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:28,720 gift to him to get to this place because those who are stuck in 418 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:31,920 their pride won't get to this place. 419 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:39,240 Jesus later in Chapter 9 is answering some of the challenges 420 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:41,720 from the Pharisees when they start to come up and question 421 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:46,880 him and they're wondering why is he doing these miracles for 422 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:50,640 these people that are unclean? Why not come to the righteous 423 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:54,840 people and help them, the religious people and help them? 424 00:31:55,960 --> 00:32:01,080 Jesus answered so beautifully in Matthew 9 verse 12, but when he 425 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:04,240 heard it, He said those who are well have no need of a physician 426 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:09,720 but those who are sick. The reality is none of us are 427 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:19,040 really well apart from Jesus Christ, but Jesus will operate 428 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:25,640 as the great Physician on those who know they need Him. 429 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:30,600 He wants to give us all a heart transplant, and for many of us 430 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:36,120 He already has. And we can say it is well, it is 431 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,640 well with my soul. He is making us well. 432 00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:45,280 He's making us more complete, day by day, week by week, month 433 00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:53,010 by month. The hearts of the Pharisees were 434 00:32:53,010 --> 00:32:56,010 prideful and arrogant. They thought that salvation was 435 00:32:56,010 --> 00:32:59,570 in themselves following the law, not understanding that no one 436 00:32:59,570 --> 00:33:02,010 could measure up to the standards of God. 437 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:07,320 Salvation is by grace through faith alone. 438 00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:12,000 It is a gift from God that no man may boast about it. 439 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:19,080 So this man starts out in a relationship with God, and it's 440 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:22,520 a beautiful thing. This is an analogy of how a 441 00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:25,200 person comes to faith in our desperate state. 442 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:30,120 But let's see now as we end this, as we get to our last 443 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:34,800 point, if he'll be able to not only just trust Jesus for 444 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:38,600 salvation, but for further instructions on what to do next. 445 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:42,600 So I've called it the doctor's orders. 446 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:47,960 You know, when you go to the doctor and you know, you start 447 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:51,880 getting better and he gives you the prescription and and you 448 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:55,560 know, things are looking good, but he tells you, now go do 449 00:33:55,560 --> 00:34:02,520 this, you know, follow this diet or take this pill or change your 450 00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:06,520 lifestyle in this way. Get some sleep, better sleep, 451 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:14,199 start exercising. This is again an illustration of 452 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:18,719 if. We'll go on to podcasts and 453 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:23,920 YouTube and we will listen to all this type of research on 454 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:29,480 physical and mental health and and we'll follow the orders of 455 00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:32,920 a, an earthly Dr. on what to do for the most part. 456 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:37,960 Now, if you're anything like me, you know, I very skeptical of 457 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,199 modern medicine, but that doesn't mean I completely 458 00:34:41,199 --> 00:34:45,520 discounted either. There's lots of good graces from 459 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:47,400 God. I believe there is a common 460 00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:50,440 grace in modern medicine. This is a whole I'm getting off 461 00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:58,440 topic here, but much more so if we will follow and trust a 462 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:03,360 little bit human people who tell us to follow these orders that 463 00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:07,480 know better than us in many regards, why wouldn't we follow 464 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:10,720 the Great Physician and his orders to live out the rest of 465 00:35:10,720 --> 00:35:15,680 this life? So a relationship with God 466 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:19,760 doesn't just end at faith, it starts there. 467 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:25,240 Being obedient to his commands honors God and proves that our 468 00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:29,080 faith is genuine. And Jesus does care about how we 469 00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:31,320 lived after we come to faith. So let's look at the last 470 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:33,280 section. It says, and Jesus said to him, 471 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,800 see that you say nothing to anyone, but go show yourself to 472 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:39,680 the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a proof 473 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:46,320 to them. You see, this can be interesting 474 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:49,080 here because you're like, why doesn't Jesus want to want him 475 00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:51,840 to tell anyone? Aren't we supposed to go tell it 476 00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:55,440 on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere? 477 00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:01,280 Well, yeah, but in this case, remember, this is before the 478 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:04,240 church had started. Church doesn't start till Acts. 479 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:08,800 Jesus has a mission to complete. He's doing something. 480 00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:11,360 This also has meaning for us then. 481 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:17,120 Jesus doesn't want to just do a one time healing on us. 482 00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:20,160 He wants to continue to restore us. 483 00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:25,080 And even in this man's life, he's prescribing him a way to be 484 00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:27,520 restored to the community of God. 485 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:33,200 He's saying go to the priests first. 486 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:37,840 Don't go running around telling everybody else about what I've 487 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:41,200 done. Start living it out first. 488 00:36:41,240 --> 00:36:44,200 Actually, this makes a great case by the way. 489 00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:47,480 For yes, you have a testimony and you should go share it, but 490 00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:54,640 some of us in our zeal should probably hang on and start 491 00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:58,400 walking the walk for a little while they call it. 492 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:01,720 For some people, when you get this new found understanding of 493 00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:05,440 God's grace and His sovereignty, they call it the cage stage. 494 00:37:06,240 --> 00:37:09,480 You should be in a cage for a while and not be let out until 495 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:11,280 you get some maturity in you, you know? 496 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:18,680 But he's prescribing him away the way. 497 00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:21,760 Because remember, Jesus never breaks any of the law. 498 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:27,880 He's come to fulfill the law. And in Leviticus 14, there was a 499 00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:33,000 way, as I had said, when someone is healed of leprosy, they were 500 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:37,840 supposed to go to the priest and do this and that and all these 501 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:41,760 rituals, because it hasn't been fulfilled yet. 502 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:45,320 Christ hasn't died yet. We're still basically in the Old 503 00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:50,280 Testament in a sense, in the Old Covenant, until he dies and the 504 00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:54,600 the temple veil is torn and then we have no more need for a 505 00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:56,480 temple. But in this period of time, he's 506 00:37:56,480 --> 00:38:01,200 saying go to the priests and be a witness to them. 507 00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:05,520 Remember also that Jesus came to first and foremost come for his 508 00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:10,080 chosen people, Israel, and He was preaching the truth to them, 509 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:13,680 hoping that they would get it. Even the religious leaders know. 510 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:16,840 He also knew at the same time that they wouldn't, but it had 511 00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:20,520 to be preached to them first. So go to the religious leaders 512 00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:25,120 and say, and if He was to come and priests that know the Old 513 00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:29,720 Testament would know. This is a miracle, just like a 514 00:38:29,720 --> 00:38:32,640 lot of the other miracles that Jesus had done in front of the 515 00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:36,080 Pharisees. It was Him proving a point. 516 00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:37,920 He's come as King. Now. 517 00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:45,040 You guys were temporary guardians of God's house, but 518 00:38:45,040 --> 00:38:49,680 Jesus, God himself has come and he's come to take over and set 519 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:53,000 up his reign on earth. So here I am. 520 00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:58,480 That's supposed to be assigned to the scribes and priests and 521 00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:03,960 religious leaders that God came in and healed someone and and he 522 00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:07,720 was willing to even do it by following God's own law in the 523 00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:12,440 restoration of this man. Now, practically speaking, I 524 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:18,560 would say church isn't an individual or Christianity isn't 525 00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:23,880 an individual sport. God didn't just come save us so 526 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:27,200 that we could just only have an individual relationship with 527 00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:33,120 God, you know, but he wants us to be a part of a community. 528 00:39:33,720 --> 00:39:38,280 He wants us to be a part of the church, the assembly, the 529 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:41,440 regular gathering together. Because through the scripture 530 00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:44,640 reading and the prayer and the breaking of the bread and and 531 00:39:44,640 --> 00:39:50,160 and the hearing of the preached word and the serving and the 532 00:39:50,160 --> 00:39:58,000 worshipping, God is working out what He wants to do in you and 533 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:01,520 all of us when we come together. When we gather together to do 534 00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:15,070 this, So what does this guy end up doing? 535 00:40:15,910 --> 00:40:18,870 Well, it's not in this actual chapter. 536 00:40:18,870 --> 00:40:22,710 If the only way you can find out what how he responded to what 537 00:40:22,710 --> 00:40:26,390 Jesus said was you go to Mark chapter 1 and it says this. 538 00:40:26,510 --> 00:40:29,470 But he went out and began to talk freely about it and to 539 00:40:29,470 --> 00:40:33,390 spread the news so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a 540 00:40:33,390 --> 00:40:37,280 town, but was out in desperate places and people were coming to 541 00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:40,720 him from every quarter. So the guy failed. 542 00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:47,400 Before we get too mad at him, isn't that like us? 543 00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:53,160 Again, this is an illustration of us even after we got saved. 544 00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:56,160 And Jesus said, now I want you to go do it this way. 545 00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:00,720 We're like my way's a little better. 546 00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:05,920 Or hopefully you forgive me again, You know, isn't that how 547 00:41:05,920 --> 00:41:12,480 we think of it a little bit. Don't worry, that guy didn't 548 00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:17,760 become a leper again. We can't do enough to lose our 549 00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:21,560 salvation if Christ has truly come in and healed us from this. 550 00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:29,280 But what I would say is this, we hinder God's work when we don't 551 00:41:29,280 --> 00:41:33,000 do it his way. That's what I, I see right there 552 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:39,320 is that Jesus had a mission and it wasn't to become famous in 553 00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:44,760 the sense of before he got to the cross, he, he, he, his life 554 00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:47,440 was coming, setting up the Kingdom and he was going to come 555 00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:51,800 and die for the people. But because of the work that he 556 00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:55,880 was doing as he was getting to the cross, the three years that 557 00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:58,360 he was here, it caused a lot of commotion. 558 00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:02,280 A lot of people wanted healings and signs and wonders, and they 559 00:42:02,280 --> 00:42:08,400 wanted him to perform for him for them. 560 00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:13,880 But ultimately, Jesus had a mission to stick to. 561 00:42:13,880 --> 00:42:17,200 So part of him saying don't tell anyone. 562 00:42:17,240 --> 00:42:19,840 Don't tell anyone yet because it's not time yet. 563 00:42:20,640 --> 00:42:25,720 Because if you do this, it's going to set apart, set in 564 00:42:25,720 --> 00:42:28,600 motion some events that are going to make ministry more 565 00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:31,560 difficult for me. That's what Jesus was saying. 566 00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:40,440 And, and I guess how that would relate to us is we should just 567 00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:43,520 look at the word when we want to go tell other people because 568 00:42:43,520 --> 00:42:46,000 we're excited. We should do it the way he 569 00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:51,280 prescribed, right? We should go live like we 570 00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:55,040 believe for a while, start walking out the faith, be 571 00:42:55,120 --> 00:42:59,160 growing in maturity, join a church, get some holiness and 572 00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:02,240 sanctification and some accountability in our lives. 573 00:43:02,240 --> 00:43:07,480 And then we can go and preach the Word and we can share the 574 00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:10,120 Word and we can share our testimony and we can share what 575 00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:13,760 Christ has done for us. And I don't want to go into my 576 00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:18,040 pet peeve about how there are so many other people out there in 577 00:43:18,040 --> 00:43:21,000 the world in Christianity who think I'm going to make this 578 00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:22,880 more exciting. I'm going to spice it up. 579 00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:24,400 I'm going to add some emotionalism. 580 00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:26,240 I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, and I'm going to 581 00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:30,000 bring it all together because Christ's word isn't enough. 582 00:43:32,440 --> 00:43:36,520 Well, in a sense, when they do that, they hinder the mission. 583 00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:41,840 I wish we could all come together in unity under the 584 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:47,840 Christian umbrella and trust that God's word is enough to 585 00:43:47,840 --> 00:43:51,520 save sinners. Because it's only by the power 586 00:43:51,640 --> 00:43:54,520 of the Holy Spirit that we come to faith anyway. 587 00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:57,440 So manipulating people into it and coming up with all these 588 00:43:57,440 --> 00:43:59,560 creative ways isn't really going to work. 589 00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:10,040 But nevertheless, for us, we are better witnesses to the outside 590 00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:13,680 world when we will follow Jesus well after salvation. 591 00:44:16,200 --> 00:44:19,400 We all want people to be saved, but let's just do the clear and 592 00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:23,920 prescribed work of the Great Physician and trust the Great 593 00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:26,680 Physician to do the work that only he can do. 594 00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:35,240 And so I'll close with this. Jesus is willing to heal and 595 00:44:35,240 --> 00:44:39,920 cleanse from sinfulness all that would come to Him in faith for 596 00:44:39,920 --> 00:44:43,120 many. You and I have already 597 00:44:43,120 --> 00:44:46,240 experienced this life changing cleansing power. 598 00:44:48,000 --> 00:44:50,800 So then the challenge to the believer then is to find out 599 00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:53,040 what His commands are and then live them out. 600 00:44:53,360 --> 00:44:55,600 And one of them is to be a witness. 601 00:44:55,600 --> 00:45:00,400 When He said go make disciples, He said go into all the earth. 602 00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:05,360 We are to go and to tell other people what He's done in our 603 00:45:05,360 --> 00:45:09,120 lives by sharing and living out our testimony. 604 00:45:10,760 --> 00:45:14,120 Be faithful in doing the ministry that He's given you in 605 00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:18,080 His way. For the unbeliever here in this 606 00:45:18,080 --> 00:45:22,840 room, can you see the infection of sin in your life? 607 00:45:24,600 --> 00:45:29,360 Can you see the evidence of a broken relationship with God? 608 00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:37,200 If you will believe in who the Jesus of the Bible is and trust 609 00:45:37,200 --> 00:45:42,520 in His willingness to restore you, He has compassion on your 610 00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:44,240 state, where you're at right now. 611 00:45:44,840 --> 00:45:48,440 He wants to heal you. It may not be all physical 612 00:45:48,440 --> 00:45:52,760 healing, and He may not take away all of the consequences of 613 00:45:52,760 --> 00:45:56,680 decisions you've made in your sin, but what He can do is 614 00:45:56,760 --> 00:46:01,520 ultimately forgive you eternally and promise you a spot in 615 00:46:01,520 --> 00:46:05,960 heaven. But He does want to do work on 616 00:46:05,960 --> 00:46:09,800 you now as well, and it's a wonderful thing to be adopted by 617 00:46:10,080 --> 00:46:15,000 the Almighty Father who now can love us, watch over us, provide 618 00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:18,680 for us, and discipline us when necessary. 619 00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:24,840 Do you need to be made clean before God today? 620 00:46:24,840 --> 00:46:29,080 Trust in Jesus. He is the sacrifice that is 621 00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:34,400 greater than, more extensive than, more particular than, and 622 00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:39,200 more holy than all of the rituals in the Old Testament 623 00:46:39,240 --> 00:46:45,000 law. He is the one and only true God, 624 00:46:45,040 --> 00:46:48,960 the Great Physician who can heal you and save your soul. 625 00:46:49,040 --> 00:46:54,480 Let's pray, Father. Thank you. 626 00:46:54,960 --> 00:47:00,760 Thank you, Lord Jesus, for coming into our lives, for 627 00:47:00,760 --> 00:47:05,160 coming into our sight and in our hearing, giving us the ability 628 00:47:05,160 --> 00:47:11,600 to see you come down from the mountain so that we could come 629 00:47:11,600 --> 00:47:13,680 and kneel before you. What? 630 00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:17,760 What an opportunity. I pray it's not wasted among the 631 00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:20,240 people here today. I pray that there, if there is 632 00:47:20,240 --> 00:47:24,320 someone who does not believe in you, God, do the work that only 633 00:47:24,320 --> 00:47:28,080 you can do through the hearing of all the scriptures and the 634 00:47:28,080 --> 00:47:31,520 message, the singing, the praying, the preaching of your 635 00:47:31,520 --> 00:47:33,200 word. I pray that that person would 636 00:47:33,200 --> 00:47:36,800 come to faith in you. Do a miracle, Father, make them 637 00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:41,280 clean, heal them of their infectious sin. 638 00:47:42,240 --> 00:47:45,160 And Father, thank you for what you're doing in us. 639 00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:52,240 Thank you that we're no longer that that person, that Wretch 640 00:47:52,240 --> 00:47:56,080 that is separated from you, but you've made us clean and holy. 641 00:47:56,240 --> 00:47:58,480 And now when you look at us, Father, we have the 642 00:47:58,680 --> 00:48:03,560 righteousness of Christ. Thank you, Jesus, we worship you 643 00:48:03,560 --> 00:48:04,840 today. Amen.