1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,120 It's wonderful to be here with all of you today. 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:05,600 It's good to see the presence of all that have come to be with 3 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:07,080 us. And we have a great crowd here 4 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:09,160 for which we're thankful. It's good to see all the 5 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:11,200 Osbournes. We got Osbournes everywhere. 6 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:16,239 It's like old times. It's good stuff that visitors 7 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:19,000 from the community with us. And we're so thankful for your 8 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,080 presence also. And I hope that we have some 9 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:25,720 things to consider that would be encouraging and edifying to you 10 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:27,480 in some way. Just to kind of set up what 11 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:28,760 we're going to talk about this morning. 12 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:33,520 I just finished with you a year and a half series on the 13 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:36,920 greatest sermon ever preached. It was the Lord's masterpiece 14 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:39,520 preached so long ago in Matthew 5-6 and seven. 15 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,200 It was the greatest sermon ever preached because Jesus dealt 16 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:47,280 with relevant issues. He brought about new 17 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:49,720 authoritative law and things that they had never heard 18 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:51,160 before. He taught about life. 19 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:55,120 He taught about having the proper relationship with God and 20 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:57,560 he taught about having the proper relationship with each 21 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:02,120 other, even with our enemies, and he taught us about actions 22 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:05,400 and he taught us about behavior. Big stuff. 23 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:08,880 When the Lord finished his masterpiece, and this is the 24 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:12,440 last sermon that I preached here, he got down to the very 25 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:14,280 end and this is what he said in his conclusion. 26 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:19,320 He said he that hears these sayings of mine and does them is 27 00:01:19,320 --> 00:01:22,600 like a wise man that builds his house on the rock. 28 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:28,280 And the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, 29 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:30,720 but the house stood because it was founded on a rock. 30 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,640 On the other hand, he said he who hears these sayings of mine 31 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:37,520 and does not do them, I will liken him and do a foolish man 32 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:41,160 that builds on the sand. Same storms coming his way, by 33 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:46,400 the way, same rain, same floods, same wind, but because it wasn't 34 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:48,960 built on the proper foundation. And that is the rock. 35 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:51,200 And the Rock You remember, is the word of God. 36 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:54,480 That is the rock that we lay the foundation for our spiritual 37 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:55,960 lives and our spiritual existence. 38 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:01,440 If our life is not founded on that rock, then we are the 39 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,680 unwise or foolish man that builds on the sand. 40 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:09,160 And when the storms of life comes, it will not hold up and 41 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,280 you will crumble from a spiritual perspective and even 42 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:13,960 in life, that's the way that it is. 43 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:17,000 And by the way, just to kind of add something, you remember the 44 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:19,200 word foolish. There is not a strong enough 45 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:22,760 word in our English vernacular today as it was in its origins. 46 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:24,720 The word comes from the word morose. 47 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,120 It's where we get the English word moron. 48 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:30,560 Jesus was saying if you hear these things in mind that you do 49 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:32,440 not do them. You're like a moron that builds 50 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:34,480 his house on the sand. We don't want to be that guy, 51 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:36,560 right? So let me just say this about 52 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:38,200 building on the rock and we are moving on. 53 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:44,280 Don't ever let it be that you base a religious position or you 54 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:48,680 form a religious practice on somebody's opinion, whether it's 55 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,600 your opinion or the opinion of someone else. 56 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:56,720 If you, if you found or you build a, a spiritual foundation 57 00:02:56,920 --> 00:03:00,320 on somebody's opinion, you are building on the shifting sand. 58 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:02,600 All right, Jesus said all that stuff. 59 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,440 And Matthew records this. He said when the Lord finished, 60 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,720 the people were astounded or astonished at His teaching 61 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:13,080 because He taught them as one having authority and not as one 62 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,480 of the scribes. Then we come to Matthew chapter 63 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:20,440 8, and Jesus continues His work among the people, and He does it 64 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:24,240 with miracles to confirm His authority and His teaching. 65 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:26,360 And here we come. Here's the first miracle. 66 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:31,920 When he had come down from the mountain, great multitudes 67 00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:34,120 followed Him. I want to talk about the 68 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:37,400 multitudes for just a moment. I don't know how many people 69 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,680 were in this group of people that's called multitudes, but a 70 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:43,520 lot a mass number of people. If you look up with the 71 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:45,480 definition of multitude, it's a lot of people. 72 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:49,200 Let me just say this, I think there's three kinds of people 73 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:51,480 that were in that multitude. And I think those same three 74 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:55,080 kinds of people exist today. Number one, there were those 75 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:57,120 that were really genuine and really sincere. 76 00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,520 And I think there's a lot of people today that followed Jesus 77 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,640 because they're genuine, they're sincere, and they follow Jesus 78 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,400 because of what he taught and because of who he is. 79 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,280 And that's great. And I hope that everybody here 80 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,440 and under the sound of my voice today falls into the category 81 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:16,000 that you're here because you are genuine and you are sincere. 82 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:19,360 But #2 there's a second kind of person that I think was in that 83 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,520 crowd and that were those that were curious. 84 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:25,640 You know, I'm going to say something. 85 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:27,640 You know, that phrase. Curiosity killed the cat. 86 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,920 OK, sometimes curiosity is a bad thing. 87 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:38,240 But curiosity with religion as that is the origins or the basis 88 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:40,760 or the foundation or the beginning of why you come to 89 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:43,400 Jesus. That isn't necessarily a bad 90 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,280 thing. There's a lot of people that are 91 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:47,800 curious. Here's the problem. 92 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:52,320 Don't stay curious, Get convicted at some point in time, 93 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:55,320 it can't just be about curiosity or I'll kind of see how it goes. 94 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,400 You got to get convicted. So no doubt there were people 95 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:00,600 that were genuine and sincere. No doubt there were those that 96 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:02,960 were curious. Hopefully they turned into 97 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:05,680 conviction in their life. Hopefully that was the case. 98 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:09,800 But #3 what about this one? Those that were after some kind 99 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:13,000 of material gain, in other words, something that they could 100 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,120 get or gain from it. I'm going to tell you something 101 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:18,680 that is not Christianity. I know that there's a lot of 102 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,560 people that are looking for something that they can get when 103 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:24,680 they come to Jesus. In other words, I like my life 104 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,320 exactly the way that it is, but I want to add a little Jesus to 105 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:29,760 it because there's something that I want to get from it. 106 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:33,720 And Christianity is all about what you give and not what you 107 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:34,800 get. What do we get? 108 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,400 Oh, we get great stuff. We get a promise of heaven. 109 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:39,040 We get spiritual blessings in Christ. 110 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,000 That's not the sermon here. We get a lot of great stuff. 111 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:45,520 But the motive is this. We come to Jesus out of service 112 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,360 to him, and that's what the motive is, not because we're 113 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:50,600 looking to gain something materially. 114 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:56,800 Let me give you a Bible example. When Jesus fed the 5000, there 115 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,960 were also great multitudes of people there that day too, and 116 00:05:59,960 --> 00:06:03,840 they had a little bit of money. I think it says 200 denarii and 117 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:06,800 they said 200 denarii is not enough money to feed all these 118 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:11,360 people. And Andrew says, well there's a 119 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,680 lad, I don't know how close he was, but there's a lad over here 120 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,000 and he's got 5 barley loaves and two small fishes. 121 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:20,840 Now by the way, a barley loaf, it's not a big old loaf of 122 00:06:20,840 --> 00:06:22,920 bread. Barley loaves were small. 123 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:25,000 You could pretty much say it like this. 124 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,200 He had five crackers and two little sardines, OK. 125 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,880 And the and Jesus the Master fed 5000 people with five of those 126 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:34,760 little barley loaves and two small fishes. 127 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:37,040 And by the way, that fish, and GAIL can tell you this. 128 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,520 She was there. In fact, you talked to me about 129 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:44,160 that one day. But in the Sea of Galilee, the 130 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:47,960 kind of fish in the Sea of Galilee were skinny little fish 131 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,480 that looked like sardines. In fact, that's what they had. 132 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:54,880 That's what this boy had. He had 5 barley loaves and two 133 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:57,160 small fishes and Jesus feeds 5000. 134 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:00,640 Then notice what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 6. 135 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:03,000 And by the way, GAIL wasn't there back on that day. 136 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:04,600 She was there on a trip later on in life. 137 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:09,160 Just thought I'd throw that in. In John 6 and 26, Jesus answered 138 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:13,560 them and said most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me, not 139 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,120 because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and 140 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,960 were filled. And I think that's a lot of 141 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,120 people today looking for something that they can get or 142 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:24,840 gain. But you know what, later on in 143 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:29,480 this chapter, Matthew chapter 8, verses 18 through 22, Jesus says 144 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:33,840 and teaches the principle that Christianity and following Jesus 145 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:39,160 is a very expensive process. It's an expensive endeavor. 146 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:42,040 In fact, you may have any, you may even have to give up the 147 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:46,240 basic necessities or the comforts that you enjoy in life. 148 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:53,200 All right, verse 2 and behold, a leper came. 149 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:56,000 You know, it's kind of ironic here. 150 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,960 No sooner that Jesus had finished preaching some of the 151 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:05,280 beauties of God's word, on the scene comes a despised, rejected 152 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:12,400 man, somebody that's been ostracized and cast out, an 153 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:14,520 outcast. And he comes in his feet and he 154 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:16,520 comes to Jesus in humble adoration. 155 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:20,720 In fact, Luke says the man is full of leprosy and it comes to 156 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:25,000 Jesus imploring him, which means an earnest or desperate appeal. 157 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:28,960 He comes to Jesus with an earnest and desperate appeal. 158 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:33,159 Now it's hard to know exactly the extent of the man's leprosy. 159 00:08:33,159 --> 00:08:35,640 You know why? Because in Leviticus chapter 13, 160 00:08:36,159 --> 00:08:40,640 Leviticus chapter 13 describes the word leprosy to describe 161 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:43,679 various forms of different skin ailments. 162 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:46,440 I don't know how deep this guy had with leprosy. 163 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:48,200 I don't know. To that extent it really doesn't 164 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:50,800 matter. All we do know is the Greek word 165 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:55,480 lapos means scaly, describing one of the 1st and most obvious 166 00:08:55,480 --> 00:09:00,440 characteristics of the disease. OK, now I did a little research 167 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:04,480 and many scholars say that the disease that this man had in 168 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:08,720 Matthew is probably similar or probably the modern disease that 169 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:11,400 is called today Hansen's disease. 170 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:14,400 Maybe you know all about Hansen's disease. 171 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:19,040 I never even heard of it, but Hansen's disease was the term. 172 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:23,480 Hansen's disease came from a man by the name of AG Hansen, and in 173 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:28,160 1874 he discovered the microbes causing the ailment, according 174 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,160 to Mr. Fowler. Fowler went on to say about this 175 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:34,600 disease. Hansen's disease is contagious 176 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:36,920 and it's spread by direct contact. 177 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:41,240 However, recent studies confirm it may also be passed on to 178 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:42,880 others when inhaled through the air. 179 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:47,080 This information may explain why Levitical law required a leper 180 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:50,200 to cover his mouth. By the way, let me give you a 181 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,400 Bible for that. Picture this in Leviticus 13 and 182 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:54,960 45. This is if you were a leper. 183 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,280 The leper on whom the sore is his clothes shall be torn and 184 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:01,360 his head bare, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, 185 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:03,960 unclean, unclean. Can you imagine that running up 186 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:05,920 and down the street, covering your mouth, screaming out 187 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:07,640 unclean, unclean so people would stay away? 188 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:14,600 That's what the guy had. This disease, by the way, 189 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:19,520 appears to have originated in Egypt so long ago. 190 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:23,360 In fact, it's a very common disease, or was a very common 191 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:26,520 disease in Egypt. And because of the climate and 192 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:28,640 the temperature and all that, it was actually conducive to 193 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:32,280 aggravate the disease. So I read when a person was 194 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:36,520 suspected of having leprosy, he was taken to the priest under 195 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:40,000 the old Law of Moses for inspection, and if the leprosy 196 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,960 was detected, he was pronounced unclean on the spot. 197 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:47,040 Leviticus 13 and one and two, and he was then ostracized 198 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:50,800 indefinitely. OK, under the old law of Moses 199 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:56,360 there were 61 defilements, 61 defilements under the old law. 200 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:06,120 In ancient Judaism, leprosy was number 2, second only to a dead 201 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:10,000 body when it came to defilements. 202 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:12,760 And we know about dead bodies right under the old Law of 203 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:14,280 Moses. By the way, if you want to touch 204 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,400 a dead body now, no big deal. Under the old Law of Moses, not 205 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:19,640 so fast. In fact, that's why, and you 206 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:22,200 remember this from my sermon a long time ago. 207 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:26,680 I'll be very brief, but that's why after the spring rains in 208 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:29,760 Jerusalem and everything was clean, they would whitewash the 209 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,720 tomb so that people, when they came into Jerusalem at 210 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:35,960 springtime for the Passover, didn't touch a grave. 211 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:38,200 You know why? If they touched a grave, if they 212 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,040 touched the bones of a dead person or they touched a dead 213 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,200 person himself, they were considered unclean. 214 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:46,960 And nobody wanted to be unclean during the Passover. 215 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:48,920 So death, obviously, or dead body. 216 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:50,760 Yeah, pretty big defilement under the Old Law. 217 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:55,680 Moses, Guess what? Leprosy #2 only number two or 218 00:11:55,960 --> 00:12:00,080 second only to that. I so also noticed in the Talmud, 219 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:05,400 which is a collection of Jewish tradition and scripture, it said 220 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:10,640 this, that a Jewish person could not come within 6 feet of a 221 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:14,080 leper and if the wind was blowing, they couldn't come 222 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:17,080 within 100 feet. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm really 223 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:18,320 setting the stage here for a reason. 224 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:27,000 OK, One ancient rabbi wouldn't buy an egg on the street if a 225 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:30,800 leper had ever been there. That's how people thought about 226 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:32,640 it. That's the idea of how leprosy 227 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:34,280 was and how people reacted to it. 228 00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:36,120 Notice what happens here, though. 229 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:40,760 This leper comes to Jesus knowing all the things that I 230 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:45,360 just said and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if you are 231 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:49,880 willing, you can make me clean. Even though the man was an 232 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:53,680 outcast, he recognizes the Lord's power and he believes the 233 00:12:53,680 --> 00:12:55,400 Lord can help. And he's desperate. 234 00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:57,520 And even though he's desperate, I'm going to ask you this. 235 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:01,320 Have you ever been desperate? Yeah, you have. 236 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:05,600 Have you ever gone to God in prayer because you were 237 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:09,640 desperate, because of some circumstance that was so bad or 238 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:12,960 so awful that you desperately came to God and all you wanted 239 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,240 was relief? Have you ever been sick? 240 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:19,920 Have you ever had a loved one that was sick? 241 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:23,240 Have you ever had a loved one that was sick? 242 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:28,160 And the sickness was unto death and you were desperate and you 243 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:32,080 prayed to God. This man was desperate. 244 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:35,160 This man had leprosy. He was desperate. 245 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:38,800 But you know what he says? He puts it all in the hands of 246 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:40,800 the Lord's will. I love this. 247 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:44,280 He said, Lord, if you are willing. 248 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:48,160 Now I'm not going to preach on God's will. 249 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:49,560 You've heard me preach that many times. 250 00:13:49,560 --> 00:13:51,320 I'm not going to do that. I'm just going to say this. 251 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:54,680 Our mindset should always be that right there. 252 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:58,960 When you pray, you pray with the mindset or you pray with the 253 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:01,440 provision if it be your will. And what you're saying is you're 254 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:03,520 not trying to bend God's will toward you, you're trying to 255 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:05,880 bend your will toward God. And that's what our mindset 256 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,720 should be. You know why say one more thing 257 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:13,200 and I'm moving on. Here's the reason why, because 258 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:17,360 everything is God's will. Whether God makes it happen, 259 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:20,120 whether God allows it to happen, or whether God stops it from 260 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:23,040 happening, it's still God's will. 261 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:26,880 So we need to have the mindset or the attitude of the heart 262 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:30,920 that that leper had so long ago when he said, Lord, if you are 263 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:37,280 willing, OK, Some people question whether or not he knew 264 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:41,960 exactly the about the deity of Christ or the extent of the 265 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:43,720 deity of Christ. And I don't know why we got to 266 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:44,880 argue about that. And I don't know why 267 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:46,880 commentators are back and forth about that. 268 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:50,280 But let me tell you why some deduced that they that this man 269 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:53,080 probably didn't know the extent of the deity of Christ. 270 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:57,920 And here's why. The word worship, the word 271 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:01,800 worship today that we're doing right now means to kiss the hand 272 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:04,400 toward. That's exactly what we're doing. 273 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:06,960 We're coming together. And as Jesus said, we worship in 274 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:10,080 spirit and in truth, OK, that's what we do here. 275 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:13,720 And we are literally kissing the hand toward and God is the 276 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:16,120 object of our worship. We understand what that word 277 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:19,200 worship means. This word worship is a lesser 278 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:22,200 word. And because of that, it causes 279 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:24,160 people to think, well, the guy didn't really know about Jesus, 280 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:27,080 but think about it. The word actually means to give 281 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:31,400 obeisance or respect to somebody that is greater than you are. 282 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:34,400 That's what that word worship means in this passage. 283 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:38,040 What he's saying is the leper came and he recognized that 284 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:40,920 Jesus was greater than he was. So here's my point. 285 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:45,920 What's the big deal? He recognized that Jesus was 286 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:49,360 greater than any man. He recognized that Jesus was 287 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:52,120 greater than he was, and he recognized that Jesus had the 288 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,960 power to heal him if he so chose, if he was willing. 289 00:15:56,360 --> 00:16:02,520 OK, why would we spend time talking about leprosy? 290 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:04,280 And why did I do that all the way up to this point? 291 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:08,920 Leprosy represents something, doesn't it? 292 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:11,600 Can you? Can you guess what it might be? 293 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,160 Leprosy is a symbol of something. 294 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:25,640 Notice leprosy is to the physical body what sin is to the 295 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:30,280 spiritual body. Let that soak in for just a 296 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:35,520 minute. In fact, as leprosy renders its 297 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:41,800 victims numb to pain as it eats the flesh and hideously 298 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:44,400 disfigures the body, that's leprosy. 299 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:50,600 Sin numbs the heart, gnaws the spirit, and destroys any 300 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:56,200 semblance of godliness. I want to say something here. 301 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:03,520 There's a difference between leprosy and sin, though, and 302 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:07,200 here it is. Leprosy comes to a victim 303 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:13,359 without his choice. Sin is all about choice. 304 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:21,839 I'm going to say it again. Sin is all about choice. 305 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:26,480 I'm going to do something now and I'm going to be very kind 306 00:17:28,079 --> 00:17:31,480 and I'm going to do my best here because I'm going to step on 307 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:33,360 something that is above my pay grade. 308 00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:35,160 And I'm going to tell you that in advance right now. 309 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:41,520 I know that there are people in our life, maybe you are, I have 310 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:45,960 no idea, that have been victimized at some point in your 311 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:50,080 life. And if somebody victimized you 312 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:52,800 in any way, shape or form, I'm saying shame on them for doing 313 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:53,560 that. And that's awful. 314 00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:00,360 If somebody, a child for example, was victimized by a 315 00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:03,680 horrible person, that is terrible. 316 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:10,440 And if somebody is victimized, this is the part that's above my 317 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,560 pay grade. They need to get the help that 318 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:15,560 they need in order to get through that. 319 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:19,160 By the way, I'm going to use a phrase here when people say you 320 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:21,360 got to get over it. That's the dumbest bit of advice 321 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:23,240 in the world, telling somebody to get over something. 322 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:24,760 You don't get over it, you get through it. 323 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:27,280 You handle it. You get through it. 324 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:29,400 You don't get over it. You just need to get over it. 325 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,800 Whatever, man. No, you get through it, you 326 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:36,720 handle it. Saying all that, please hear me. 327 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:44,200 Just because somebody at one time was a victim does not give 328 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:47,000 them the license to make sinful choices for the rest of their 329 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:50,600 life. It's like that book. 330 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:53,800 The title of the book is Bad Childhood, Good Life. 331 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:57,920 We are still. It doesn't take away from our 332 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:01,600 accountability and our responsibility in our life to 333 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:03,200 make better choices in the future. 334 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:07,320 And we don't have to let the fact that we once were a victim 335 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:09,120 define us for the rest of our life. 336 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:11,480 We can be better and we can move forward. 337 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:16,040 And by the way, may I just throw in from the human side, don't 338 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:19,520 let somebody that did something to you or you were once a victim 339 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,400 have that kind of power over you for the rest of your life. 340 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:23,960 Turn that loose. Who are they? 341 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:25,040 Don't give them that kind of power. 342 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:27,760 Don't give him that kind of power. 343 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:39,920 Leprosy hits a victim. Sin is a choice and that's the 344 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:44,800 difference between the two. This man comes to Jesus 345 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:48,800 recognizing Jesus was a greater than he was said you can do it 346 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:51,240 if you're willing. And then notice what does Jesus 347 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:52,800 do? He puts out his hand and he 348 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:56,680 touched him. Now, I think the Lord's response 349 00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:59,360 here is both beautiful and significant. 350 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:03,200 I really do. You know why? 351 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:06,560 Because Jesus could have healed this man by speaking the words. 352 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,520 In fact, the next miracle, the healing of the centurion 353 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:13,640 servant, He did so verbally. Why didn't Jesus do that? 354 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:16,720 Jesus could have healed this man by speaking the words into 355 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:20,040 existence, but he doesn't. He stretches out his hand and He 356 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:21,960 touches him. In this case. 357 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,800 He couples his words of compassion with actions with an 358 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,120 outstretched hand and touches him. 359 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:30,800 OK, you might say, what's the big deal about that? 360 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:34,320 OK, to fully appreciate what the Lord actually did, you got to go 361 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,160 back to Leviticus chapter 5, verses 2 and three and find out 362 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:40,960 that anyone that touched something unclean, like a leper, 363 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:46,920 you became unclean yourself. Now Jesus was living under the 364 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:49,720 Law of Moses at the time that He healed this man. 365 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:53,520 So Jesus was always going in accord with the Law of Moses. 366 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:57,040 So what was he doing here? You would think he was breaking 367 00:20:57,040 --> 00:20:59,840 the law of Moses by doing this, but not so fast. 368 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:06,040 Hang on, we'll get to that. He touches the man knowing that 369 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:08,400 Leviticus says if you do it, you're unclean. 370 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:13,440 And he also understood that if you touched a leper, it put you 371 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:16,120 under the inconvenience of having to go through legal 372 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:18,880 cleansing under the law of Moses too, with a priest. 373 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:26,160 So the question is this, why and how Jesus could touch this man 374 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,320 and still be true to the legislation of Moses? 375 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:33,600 First of all, understand this number one, Jesus was deity. 376 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:38,280 He is the Son of God #2 as the Son of God, He, along with God, 377 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:41,840 was the author of Mosaic law. They were the author of Mosaic 378 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:45,160 law. So therefore #3 his actions fall 379 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:49,240 within the divine prerogative of helping those who need healing. 380 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:52,160 In other words, kind of like when Jesus dealt with the 381 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:54,880 Sabbath, they helped. They hated how Jesus dealt with 382 00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:56,720 the Sabbath. You know what Jesus said, 383 00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:59,480 though, about that? I can do whatever I want on the 384 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:01,040 Sabbath because I'm Lord of the Sabbath. 385 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:04,720 I'm greater than the Sabbath. He also marked the transition 386 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,440 from the Sabbath day, which was a significant day under the old 387 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:11,320 law of Moses, which was the 7th day or Saturday, and the new 388 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:12,960 day. He brought that transition, 389 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:15,640 which is the first day of the week, which is Sunday. 390 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:20,440 But there's more. Just as his healing on the 391 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:24,600 Sabbath did not break the tenor of Mosaic commands of forbidding 392 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:29,240 to work, Jesus also did not place himself at risk by being 393 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:35,120 unclean by healing this leper. In both cases, as one scholar 394 00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:39,360 said, the Mosaic laws were designed to help man and not 395 00:22:39,360 --> 00:22:42,880 burden man. So Jesus cannot be defiled 396 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:47,040 because his mastery over uncleanness is so complete it's 397 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:49,680 impossible for it to be passed on to him. 398 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:52,960 And then notice what happens. Jesus says, I'm willing. 399 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:57,880 He touched him, and then immediately his leprosy was 400 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:02,240 cleansed. All right, this is 401 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:03,800 instantaneous. This is immediate. 402 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:08,400 I'm not trying to make fun. I'm really not. 403 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:14,280 And I, and I try hard not to be sarcastic, I really do. 404 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:19,960 But I saw a guy on TV not long ago that supposedly healed 405 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:24,000 somebody that had severe cerebral palsy. 406 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:27,840 And this little boy, this boy, I don't know, not a little boy, 407 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:33,400 but teenage boy was in a wheelchair and this so-called 408 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,040 faith healer came out and said that he healed him. 409 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:39,560 And the music started playing and the band was playing and 410 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,040 they were all excited. They said he's healed, he just 411 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,560 needs to go home and have a time of healing. 412 00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:53,040 Come on, come on now. You know what happened with 413 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:55,680 Jesus. A real miracle. 414 00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:00,720 An authentic miracle. Before everyone's eyes, this 415 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,400 leopard's skin was cleansed, his scales removed, his withered 416 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:05,920 limbs restored, his stench was gone, and his body was given a 417 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:08,840 new life. Done, done. 418 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:10,840 Deal. But you know what? 419 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:15,320 And just as quickly as Jesus cleanse that man, he's going to 420 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:16,880 do the same for those that are in sin too. 421 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:20,400 In fact, one scholar put it this way, no less a miracle is it 422 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,200 that the blood of the sinless Lamb of God purifies the souls 423 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:26,600 of those who cry out to Him? Isn't that great? 424 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:34,520 And that's instantaneous too. With a loving hand Jesus reaches 425 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:38,320 forth to us today. With a loving hand He's willing 426 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:41,360 and waiting to touch all that come in obedient faith to Him. 427 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,240 Jesus says, Come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, 428 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,360 and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn 429 00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:50,560 of me, for I am meek and lowly at heart. 430 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:52,400 And you shall find rest unto your souls. 431 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:55,440 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. 432 00:24:55,680 --> 00:25:00,720 That is our Lord standing ready to heal us of our sin, too. 433 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,320 And you know what? At the end of this lesson, we'll 434 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:06,800 talk about exactly how you do that. 435 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:09,600 But when that happens, and when that occurs, guess what? 436 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:14,680 All the sins of your life that happened before are gone as 437 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:17,800 instantaneously as this man's leprosy was gone. 438 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,840 Just like that. Wow. 439 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:27,720 Remember our foundation though can't be about an opinion. 440 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:32,000 It has to be on the Word of God. Notice what Jesus says in 441 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:36,320 Matthew 8 and verse 4 though. Then after Jesus performed this 442 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:39,720 miracle, he said to him, see that you tell no one. 443 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:43,000 OK, why did Jesus tell this man? Don't tell anybody. 444 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:46,720 Well, first of all, the command is not peculiar to this verse. 445 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:49,240 In fact, there's frequent, it's frequently seen in the Gospel 446 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:50,720 narratives. Question is why? 447 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:58,120 I mean, after all, Jesus was coming to bring the light of 448 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:02,680 himself to the world. And you know, while that's true, 449 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:04,080 do you know there's something else that's true too? 450 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:11,000 Timing is everything. It wasn't time. 451 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:14,800 If you look at the landscape of what was going on back in those 452 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,280 days, there was a lot of people that misunderstood the Messianic 453 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:19,320 Kingdom. Even the disciples misunderstood 454 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:21,880 it. They thought he was going to 455 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:23,920 come and establish an earthly Kingdom. 456 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,240 Now, here's the point. I think this is exactly why he 457 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:29,160 told this man, don't go tell anybody about what I just did to 458 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,720 you. And we're going to find out, by 459 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:33,640 the way, what the man actually did in a moment. 460 00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:39,160 But Jesus said don't tell. I think the reason he said don't 461 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:41,800 tell is this. He didn't want people to think 462 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:46,760 that the Messiah was just about miracles and all about political 463 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:50,200 reform. I think that's exactly what he 464 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:52,720 was trying to do. I don't want people to follow me 465 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:55,720 at a political reform or because you think I'm going to establish 466 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,000 an earthly Kingdom, or because of the miracles that I'm 467 00:26:58,000 --> 00:26:59,920 performing. I want you to follow me because 468 00:26:59,920 --> 00:27:02,920 you have to understand what the nature of the messianic Kingdom 469 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:08,040 actually is. In fact, Fowler said it this 470 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:12,440 way, Galilee and Judea are particularly sensitive to any 471 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:16,520 messianic uprising and that Jesus wanted to instruct the 472 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:20,040 people about the kind of Messiah God has in mind before they 473 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:23,080 seize him and attempt to make his movement upfront for 474 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:27,960 deliverance from the yoke of Rome and Jewish expectation. 475 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:31,520 They believed in a Messiah. They just messed up on the kind 476 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:33,320 that they were going to get, and then they rejected the one that 477 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:37,080 they got. Wow, give you 1 little example. 478 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:39,000 I just can't let it go. I got to slip this in. 479 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:41,600 You heard me preach it in the last week in the life of Jesus 480 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:44,040 years ago when Jesus made his triumphal entry. 481 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:47,680 But I got to slip this in when they came in. 482 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:51,800 And the reason for this, by the way, when Jesus came in and made 483 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:54,400 his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, they said hosanna to 484 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:57,120 the highest. Remember that if you look up the 485 00:27:57,120 --> 00:28:02,200 word hosanna, it means a word of praise or it's a word of joy. 486 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:05,840 So it appears that they're saying, yes, we're praising 487 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:07,960 Jesus and we're so happy about it. 488 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:14,400 But the word hosanna comes from the Hebrew word hoshaya na, and 489 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,760 it was very common. And hoshaya na actually means 490 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:21,160 save now we pray or give victory. 491 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:25,120 That's what they were saying. They misunderstood the Messianic 492 00:28:25,120 --> 00:28:26,600 Kingdom. They were saying, give us 493 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,160 victory over what? Over Rome? 494 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:32,320 What else were they saying? Save Now we pray. 495 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:34,960 Save from what? They thought it was Rome not 496 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:38,000 realizing Jesus was there to save them from their sins. 497 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:44,600 And I think that's exactly why Jesus tells this guy, I just 498 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:46,280 healed you, but don't tell anybody. 499 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,920 It's not time. It's not time. 500 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:53,960 But then he says this, this is what you're going to do, though 501 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:57,120 He gave them specific commands. We're going to get back to the 502 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:01,760 tell no one in just a moment. But he says, go your way and 503 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:05,080 show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses 504 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:08,160 commanded. All right, Jesus obviously 505 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:10,240 delivering new law. He's still living under the old 506 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:13,800 law and he understands what that means. 507 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:17,520 And he also understands if you go to Leviticus chapter 14 and 508 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:20,800 and I can't read all 57 verses, I'm not going to bog you down on 509 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:22,560 57 verses, but I'm going to tell you something. 510 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:27,680 In Leviticus chapter 14, there's 57 verses that talk about what 511 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:33,240 you do with a leper or a leprous house for a ceremonial, 512 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:36,800 ceremonial cleansing of it. I'm just going to give you 9 513 00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:38,000 real quick verses. Here we go. 514 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,960 You'll get the gist. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, 515 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:44,920 beginning in verse one, saying, this shall be the law of the 516 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:46,800 leper for the day of his cleansing. 517 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:49,960 He shall be brought to the priest, and the priest shall go 518 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:52,240 out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him. 519 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:55,880 And indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper, then the 520 00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:59,200 priest shall command and take for him who is to be cleansed to 521 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,760 living in clean birds, cedar woods, scarlet and hyssop. 522 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:06,360 And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed 523 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,080 in an earthen vessel. By the way, an earthen vessel is 524 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,520 a clay pot. You're going to put it in a clay 525 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:16,440 pot and run it over with water. As for the living bird, he shall 526 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:19,800 take it and the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop, and 527 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,920 dip them in the living bird, in the blood of the bird that was 528 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:27,920 killed over the running water. And he shall sprinkle it 7 times 529 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:31,480 on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall 530 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:35,520 pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the 531 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,880 open field. He is to be cleansed who shall 532 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:43,840 wash his clothes, shave off his hair, and wash himself in water 533 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:46,720 that he may be clean. After that he shall come into 534 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,920 the camp and shall stay outside the tent seven days, but on the 535 00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:54,080 7th day he shall shave off his hair off of his head and his 536 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:58,840 beard and his eyebrows. All his hair shall be shaved 537 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:01,080 off. He shall wash his clothes and 538 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:04,520 wash his body in water, and he shall be clean. 539 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:08,280 Man, aren't you glad we don't live under the Law of Moses? 540 00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:12,800 Aren't you glad Jesus nailed all that to the cross? 541 00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:16,760 And by the way, after verse 10, he just keeps continuing all the 542 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:19,080 way through verse 57. Quite a process. 543 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:25,240 Jesus said this. Don't tell anybody, but show 544 00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:29,360 yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded. 545 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:31,240 Like I just read in the book of Leviticus. 546 00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:35,640 Why? As a testimony to them? 547 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:45,080 As a testimony to them, while this man was to show himself to 548 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:49,800 the priest, the healing was for the benefit of them. 549 00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:53,520 Who's them? Them are the priests at 550 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:56,360 Jerusalem who had not had the opportunity to witness first 551 00:31:56,360 --> 00:32:01,480 hand the miracles of Jesus. So and by giving the healed man 552 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:06,400 this command, Jesus also sends a message that the Messiah who he 553 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:11,360 was, was not coming to destroy the law or the prophets. 554 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:14,760 Matthew chapter 5 and verse 17 on the great Sermon on the 555 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:16,400 Mount. Jesus said that very thing. 556 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,600 Do not think that I came to destroy the law of the prophets. 557 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:22,560 I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 558 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:29,600 Please get this The Bible is one story. 559 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:36,320 It's one story. You know who the story's about? 560 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:44,360 Who's the one character the Bible's about Jesus in the Old 561 00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:49,440 Testament. The message is he's coming from 562 00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:53,440 Matthew to Acts. The message is he's here from 563 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:56,320 Acts to Revelation. The message is he's coming 564 00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:59,840 again. It's all one story and it's all 565 00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:02,080 about Jesus. And Jesus says, I didn't come to 566 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:04,560 destroy the law of the prophets. I came to fulfill it. 567 00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:09,920 And that's why he sent the man to the priest to offer the gift 568 00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:14,680 that Moses commanded as a testimony to them. 569 00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:17,880 OK, remember when I said Jesus said don't say don't tell 570 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:20,520 anybody? You want to know what really 571 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:22,720 happened? Now Jesus says don't tell 572 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:25,720 anybody. Notice what happened, however, 573 00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:28,840 He went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread 574 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:32,120 the matter so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, 575 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:36,520 but was outside in deserted places and they came to him from 576 00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:40,640 every direction. Here's stuff to consider. 577 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:43,120 The damage that we do when we repeat something that we're 578 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:47,400 asked not to. I'm going to tell you something. 579 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:50,680 This man could have justified his behavior by saying, I'm so 580 00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:52,400 excited. I just got to tell people about 581 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:54,120 Jesus. That's not the point. 582 00:33:55,920 --> 00:34:01,840 Jesus said don't tell. He said don't tell it. 583 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:16,440 I hope we all feel like this, but one of my pet peeves, So 584 00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:17,199 what? Who am I? 585 00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:22,000 Just saying, I'm a human too. Got all kinds of mistakes and 586 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:24,480 all kinds of flaws too. But one of my pet peeves is when 587 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:32,120 people are told something and asked not to repeat it, but they 588 00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:39,320 just go ahead and do it anyway. Sometimes they do it by way of 589 00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:43,760 gossip. And if you want to know again, 590 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:45,520 this is another old sermon. You've heard all this because 591 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:48,400 I've been here forever, you know. 592 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:52,960 But if you want to know whether you should repeat something, ask 593 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:54,719 yourself three questions. And I got this from a little 594 00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:56,080 sister. One time I was preaching to hold 595 00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:58,280 the meeting in the middle of Timbuktu, nowhere. 596 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:01,440 She walked up to me after service and she said, preacher. 597 00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:05,160 I said, yes, ma'am, I'm going to tell you what my Mama taught me. 598 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:06,760 I said, great, let me have it. I want it. 599 00:35:07,720 --> 00:35:09,520 She said. My Mama always said, if you want 600 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:11,880 to know whether you should repeat something or not, ask 601 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:14,320 yourself three questions. Question number one, is 602 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:19,320 repeating this going to help me? Question #2 Is repeating this 603 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:21,520 going to help the person I'm telling? 604 00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:26,320 Question #3 is this If I tell it, is it going to help the 605 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:30,880 person I'm telling it about? If the answer to any one of 606 00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:35,320 those questions is no, then please keep your mouth shut and 607 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:39,920 don't repeat it. But this was a good thing, you 608 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:45,160 would think. But Jesus says don't repeat it. 609 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:48,800 And because he repeated it, no notice what happened. 610 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:53,320 Jesus couldn't openly move among the city because the people were 611 00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:56,640 drawn to him prematurely. In fact, you know what Luke 612 00:35:56,640 --> 00:36:00,720 said? Luke said that Jesus departed 613 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:07,880 and he went into the wilderness and he prayed about the crisis. 614 00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:14,080 And we learn a lot of stuff from this. 615 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:19,400 Don't we? Do what the Lord says, Don't do 616 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:23,120 what we think is best. And if the Lord says it, whether 617 00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:25,360 we can wrap our mind around it or not, or whether we think it 618 00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:27,080 makes sense, just do what the Lord says. 619 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:28,360 You know what Jesus said about that. 620 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:32,920 You're building on the rock when you do that and not the shifting 621 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:38,080 sand. In conclusion this morning, what 622 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:42,560 do we learn today in our study? We learned this from this 623 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:44,160 miracle. We learned that Jesus showed 624 00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:48,680 mercy to a man who had an awful disease of leprosy and Jesus 625 00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:51,840 cured him. The beauty of it is this. 626 00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:55,600 In like manner, Jesus will also show mercy to those who come to 627 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:59,880 Him in obedient faith and cure them from that terrible disease 628 00:37:00,240 --> 00:37:03,280 of sin that everyone has. What was the difference? 629 00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:06,840 Remember, leprosy was a disease where the recipient was a 630 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:10,880 victim, but sin is a choice. It's a choice. 631 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:13,280 It always is, always has been, always will be. 632 00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:19,640 The beauty of it is this. The one that healed this man is 633 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:26,440 Jesus and Jesus had not given the Commission to do it yet till 634 00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:30,560 Matthew chapter 10. He had not given His disciples 635 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:35,040 about miracles to do that and give them the Commission or the 636 00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:38,240 power to do it until Matthew chapter 10 beginning in verse 637 00:37:38,240 --> 00:37:40,920 one. That means when Jesus performed 638 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:43,080 this miracle, He was the only one that could have done it. 639 00:37:44,240 --> 00:37:47,560 In like manner, as we compare leprosy and sin, He's the only 640 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:49,040 one that could take away your sins. 641 00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:51,360 Only Jesus. He's the only one. 642 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:55,520 The question is how, and that's our invitation. 643 00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:58,720 Here's how you got to hear the word of God. 644 00:38:00,920 --> 00:38:03,520 Romans 10/17. So faith comes by hearing, and 645 00:38:03,520 --> 00:38:07,680 hearing by the Word of God. You have to believe with all 646 00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:09,240 your heart. Hebrews 11 and 6. 647 00:38:09,240 --> 00:38:12,160 Without faith it's impossible to please Him, for he who comes to 648 00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:15,680 God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those 649 00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:19,400 who diligently seek Him. But that also leads to a choice. 650 00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:20,800 Here we are about choices. Again. 651 00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:22,880 Got choose. I got to change my ways. 652 00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:24,560 I got to change my life. I got to change my mind. 653 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:26,400 I got to change my direction. Simple. 654 00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:28,840 Do it like that, right? Let's get that done. 655 00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:31,040 You got to repent of your sins. Acts 17 to 30. 656 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,840 Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands 657 00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:39,520 all men everywhere to repent. Then we must be willing to 658 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:41,800 confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God. 659 00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:45,800 Acts 837 And Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you 660 00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:48,240 may. And he answered and said, I 661 00:38:48,240 --> 00:38:51,760 believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 662 00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:53,960 That's the great, that's the great confession that we all 663 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:57,280 make. All right, all of these steps 664 00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:00,200 are leading toward or pointing toward the point of salvation. 665 00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:03,680 But the point of salvation is baptism for the remission of 666 00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:05,680 sins. Mark 1616. 667 00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:09,360 Jesus said he who believes and is baptized will be saved, but 668 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:11,280 he who does not believe will be condemned. 669 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:15,480 Another passage first Peter 321 the like figure where to even 670 00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:19,840 baptism death also now save us, not the putting away the filth 671 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:23,120 of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by 672 00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:24,680 the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 673 00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:28,440 It's baptism in water for the remission of sins that washes 674 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:31,040 our sins away. OK, what if you've done all 675 00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:34,920 that? That's how Jesus takes your sins 676 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:40,560 away the first time. What if you've done all that and 677 00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:44,600 maybe you've made some mistakes, Maybe you've drifted away? 678 00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:47,760 James 5, beginning in verse 19. Brethren, if any among you 679 00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:52,320 wander from the truth and someone turns him back, let him 680 00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:54,720 know that he who turns a Sinner from the air of his way will 681 00:39:54,720 --> 00:39:58,000 save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. 682 00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:01,280 How do you do it? First, John 1 and 9 confess our 683 00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:02,520 sins. He's faithful and just to 684 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:06,200 forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 685 00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:08,680 That's the Bible pattern for getting rid of your sin. 686 00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:12,200 One final passage. And it's the passage that that 687 00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:15,360 describes what we do when we have habitual struggles in our 688 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:17,000 life. Habitual sins. 689 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:20,680 James 516 Confess your trespasses to one another and 690 00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:22,760 pray to one another. Pray for one another that may be 691 00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:24,800 healed. The effective fervent prayer of 692 00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:27,040 a righteous man avails much.