 Matthew chapter 8 and what we're looking at today is the cleansing of a leper and You see that in verses 1 through 4 And so let me read to you Matthew chapter 8 verses 1 through 4 and we'll get into our study the cleansing of a leper And and really what this is this is a message that that is saying to us as people today. We can be clean We can be clean beginning at verse 1 Matthew 8 reading to verse 4 When he had come down from the mountain great multitudes followed him And behold a leper came and worshipped him Saying Lord if you are willing you can make me clean Then Jesus put out his hand and touched him saying I am willing be cleansed and immediately his leprosy was cleansed And Jesus said to him see that you tell no one but go your way Show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony to them So in order for us to understand what's going on. We need to do a bit of a review. We need to remember certain things Because if you'll notice with me in verse 1 it makes a statement When he speaking of Jesus had come down from the mountain great multitudes followed him And so the question we would begin with is why we're multitudes following the Lord Jesus Christ The answer would be found earlier in Matthew in chapter 4 where in verses 23 through 25 Matthew had written Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues preaching the gospel of the kingdom and Healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people Then his fame went throughout all Syria and they brought to him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and Torments and those who were demon possessed Epileptics and paralytics and he healed them great Multitudes followed him from Galilee from Decapolis Jerusalem Judea and beyond the Jordan So people were following the Lord Jesus Christ because of his ministry because of his His ability to heal and the miracles that had been performed They were also following because of his powerful preaching and his presence because of his authority We had seen in chapter 7 verses 28 and 29 How Matthew said so it was when Jesus had ended these saints that the people were astonished at his teaching for he taught them As one having authority and not as the scribes So they were following him because of the power that was evident in his ministry in his preaching and in the miracles that were Performed they would hear him as he preached they heard him as he taught and they were astonished They were dumbfounded by this man It reminds me of what it says in the Old Testament book of Isaiah chapter 50 verse 4 related to Messiah How it says in Isaiah 50 verse 4 the Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned That I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary He awakens me morning by morning He awakens my ear to hear as the learned and so Many people were following him and for many the question would be but where does this authority come from? Now that is a question that was actually asked of him when he cleansed the temple in Matthew 2123 it says when he came into the temple the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted him as he was teaching in said By what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority? And so though he's speaking with authority still within them is the question Where did he get it who gave him this authority? Well, the answer is he received his authority from his father The authority that Jesus preached with is is established By his words as well as his works his words and his works were consistent and as he would speak he would tell them This is where my authority comes from in John 3 34. It says he's sent by God He speaks God's words for God's Spirit is upon him without measure or limit in John 14 10 He said the words that I speak to you and do not speak on my own authority But the father who dwells in me does the works and again in John 14 verse 24 He who does not love me does not keep my words and the word which you hear is not mine But the fathers who sent me my words and my works verify or establish my credentials So Jesus's ministry was revealed through teaching preaching as well as healing and the impact of his ministry Great multitudes followed him Now again, we know that miracles were a large part of the work Jesus Christ They were part of how his ministry credentials were authenticated When you read the gospel of John for example in chapter 9 John 9 records the healing of a man who was born blind It was such an amazing miracle that even his neighbors couldn't believe that this is the man that they knew So the Pharisees the religious leaders didn't want to believe that this had really happened And so they asked this man a question. How did he open your eyes? And in John 9 we read in verse 32 and 33 the man's response He said since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind If this man were not from God he could do nothing and so Jesus's miracles Authenticated his ministry as we get into chapters 8 and 9 here in the gospel of Matthew We're going to be seeing several examples of miracles performed by Christ And so I want to lay a foundation for you so that as we enter into chapter 8 and we see all of these miracles You can see how they're built on a platform Because the question has to be asked. Why did Jesus perform miracles? I mean it wasn't for entertainment's sake It wasn't because just because he could There were reasons behind his miracle working and they weren't done in in such a way as to Entertain people in in that sense because there was a particular false gospel that was written You know after the true gospels had been written in and in one of those false works It speaks of how Jesus as a child would fashion birds out of dirt and then cause them to fly and they used to Give stories like that concerning Jesus, which were not true. Jesus didn't do things like some magician to entertain he didn't do them so that that people would look at him and and Misunderstand his mission. There were reasons that he performed miracles. Let me give you four reasons I want to lay this as a foundation We will be looking at the cleansing of the leper in a moment, but I want to give you this as a foundation For reasons for Jesus performing miracles one They proved that he wasn't simply an ordinary man The miracles that Jesus performed proved that he was not simply an ordinary person in John 14 verse 11 He was speaking to one of his men Philip and he said believe me when I say that I am in the father and the father's in me Or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves The evidence of the miracles themselves they prove he's not an ordinary man Second they demonstrated the nearness of the kingdom of God in Luke chapter 11 verses 19 and 20 Jesus said if I by Beelzebub cast out devils by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they therefore shall they be your judges But if I with the finger of God cast out devils no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you So one he's not an ordinary man to they demonstrate the nearness of the kingdom three they demonstrate the compassion of God a Lot of people don't understand the love of God. They don't see it The world that we live in in many ways Actually mitigates against you believing that God is actually compassionate and loving Jesus's miracles Demonstrate that God is compassionate and God is merciful in Matthew 14 verse 14 Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion Toward them and he healed their sick and so he was not an ordinary man They demonstrated the nearness of the kingdom they revealed God's incredible compassion and again They established his divine credentials and John 5 36 Jesus said the works that the father has given me to finish The same works that I do bear witness of me that the father has sent me And so the Lord Jesus Christ performed works and in the performing of these works established his credentials and Reveal the compassion of God Demonstrated the nearness of the kingdom and revealed. He's not just an ordinary man What we have here in Matthew chapter 8 verses 1 through 4 is the cleansing of a leper and So notice with me in verse 1 it says he had come down from the mountain So Jesus has come down from this mountain where he had given the sermon on the mount and the result is the Multitudes are following him now more than likely. They're simply curious They've never seen anyone like him and so they're pursuing him out of curiosity Not necessarily because they want what he has to offer as much as this is a very unusual man And they want to know more about him And it says as this is taking place verse 2 behold a leper came and worshiped him saying Lord If you're willing you can make me clean Behold now that should cause us to take a moment to think because when he says and behold he's simply saying this is something Unusual this isn't something that you would expect behold is another way of saying this is out of the ordinary Behold a leper now Why would he say a leper came and worshiped him but preface it by saying behold a leper came and worshiped him Well lepers had nothing to do they could have nothing to do with those who did not have leprosy themselves leprosy was the most feared disease in the ancient world and this form of leprosy was incurable Because they had this kind of leprosy God actually gave commands relating to the disease in the Bible and The commands that he gave the nation of Israel that related to this form of leprosy are found in the Old Testament book of Leviticus chapter 13 Somebody wrote of the 61 defilements in ancient Judaism leprosy Was second only to touching a dead body So the thing that would make you unclean first and foremost is if you came into contact with the dead body But the second would be is if you had leprosy Now the Old Testament teaches when leprosy was present that lepers were to do certain things You see it again in Leviticus 13. They were to tear their clothes They were to cover their mouths because it was a contagious disease so that the disease would not spread And they were also to go about crying out the words unclean unclean and so if you had leprosy You were to do those things you had torn clothes you'd cover your mouth And if you saw anybody within a certain distance you were to warn them by crying out. I'm unclean I'm unclean During the time of Christ the Pharisees who are so self-righteous Some is recorded that there were times when some would pick up rocks and throw it at the leper to keep them from approaching them Here comes somebody you have to see this here Somebody would be coming into the village or whatever and or come into contact really with you and You'd see him at a distance and they would have to by law cry out and say to you I am unclean There was a man by the name of LS Heisinger. He wrote a book on leprosy. It's called unclean Unclean and this is how Heisinger describes leprosy. He said leprosy generally begins with pain in certain areas of the body Numbness follows Soon the skin in such spots loses its original color It gets to be thick glossy and scaly as The sickness progresses the thickened spots become dirty sores and ulcers due to poor blood supply The skin especially around the eyes and ears begins to bunch with deep furrows between the swellings So that the face of the afflicted individual begins to resemble that of a lion Fingers drop off or are absorbed Toes are affected similarly eyebrows and eyelashes drop out By this time one can see the person in this pitiable condition is a leper By a touch of the finger one can also feel it One can even smell it for the leper emits a very unpleasant odor It's a leprosy Leprosy in Scripture is a graphic illustration of sin You see like sin leprosy infects the entire person It starts as a small sore, but it spreads. You see that in Leviticus 13 2 through 8 So it's a type of sin Psalm 51 verse 5 says that like this I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me It begins small, but it consumes you as part of your nature And so leprosy was ugly. It was corrupting contaminating smelly and it desensitized people as well as alienating them which is like sin now obviously babies are born with a sin nature and Eventually the nature of that baby is revealed in their activity and when unchecked it becomes a thing that identifies a person I mean we have babies and our babies are born and we bring them home from the hospital And we think they're the cutest sweetest thing in the world and indeed they are But they have a sin nature and Eventually that baby sin nature is going to erupt you're going to see what that baby is all about if you don't think your Baby is a monster just withhold something from it If it wants something it'll let you know if it's unhappy with you that baby may even reach out and hit you I mean if you know the little snarling monsters I mean if they could consume you sometimes they would do that and and it's funny because I took a lot of classes one of My majors in school with sociology and psychology and so when I was going to college one of our classes They would they would argue about the origin of bad behavior most of them were saying these are blank slate at that time or Perhaps what you learn to this behavior and and those who theorize that you're learning these behaviors because you're a blank slate They're not parents They're not parents. You know some of the best parents. I've ever met some of the best parents I've ever met are those who don't have children They have all their theories some of you are parents and you've had people who have no children Telling you how you should raise yours, haven't you? Oh, you ought to do this and it all you how do you know? You don't have a kid. Well, I'm an uncle doesn't matter You don't have a kid you don't understand and that's a fact and so a lot of times people will say oh This is what you ought to do and oh that baby is just a sweet little now We're that little monster get their disposition. It's their sin nature It's their sin nature and when unchecked That's in nature takes over and demonstrates its presence and it may even identify that person by the behavior because it's going to produce fruit So that person that baby that is so sweet and lovely and all May one day be an alcoholic may one day be caught with drugs Maybe one day promiscuous May be one day a very angry angry Child who grew into an angry adult You see this leprosy was contagious to others and it was spread through contact It was spread through contact, which is again similar to sin Because you can actually teach others to learn new sins Or you can help them to sin and not get caught somebody may tell a lie and An accomplished liar is there listening to him tell the lie and they'll say you know what you shouldn't have embellished your story The way that you did if you'd only said this you can actually teach people how to lie Some of you when you were young and you're in high school or whatever You taught your friends how to get away with doing things by telling them all if you'd have done this or you should have done that We as sinners can actually teach other people how to sin and it actually can be encouraged in other people You know there are websites that have been set up to provide alibis for those who are cheating on their spouses Some of you are aware of that others may not be I'm not going to give you the names of them But there are where if I pay a certain fee to a particular website and I plan on having an affair over the weekend I Can contact this particular organization give them the information that they need Then I give my wife the supposed name of the hotel I'm going to be staying in for that weekend and I give her the phone number and if she needs me She calls this particular phone number which is not a hotel or motel at all that I'm staying in for business But actually is just this organization and there's somebody there who has the information on on record So when the phone call comes in they open up the record They see my name and they're able to say oh he's not here right now And they act as if they're the hotel or motel that I'm staying in for business purposes when in reality I'm not there at all and they actually help people to sin and commit adultery by providing alibis for cheaters It's something that spreads Like sin leprosy results in isolation Because those with leprosy were not to be around other people in Leviticus 13 verse 46 This is all the days. He has the sore. He shall be unclean He is unclean and he shall dwell alone is dwelling shall be outside the camp Sin makes separation sin separates First it separates me from God Isaiah 59 to your iniquities have separated you from your God sin makes separation But not only am I separated from my God. I am also separated from other people Sin does that sin will actually cause me to be isolated from other people You know how sin works even in your home if you're again if you're a married person and you have an argument with your spouse There's a separation a relational separation that occurs until that sin issue is dealt with Maybe you got mad about something and you had an argument and you both get quiet And then you then you're going to show them so you sleep on the couch And and all and boy I'll show you I'll sleep on the couch Which is actually doing them a favor because they don't want you in the room anyway You're banished to the room with the big TV and the refrigerator just a few steps away But you're going to have that isolation It's going to be there or if you're a parent and your kid does something There's a there's a distance that occurs until the resolution until the I'm sorry's and the reconcili Reconciliation comes about if you have a friend that you have an argument with and you stop speaking for a while There is a separation sin makes separation Separates you from God separates you from other people leprosy Resulted in isolation and sin does in the same way you feel Alone not only that but like sin it desensitize a person to pain Do you know that somebody with this form of leprosy? could actually stick their hand in a fire without knowing it and Burn their hands terribly but because they have no Sensors no way to feel pain. They would injure themselves without even knowing that they were it desensitize them to pain They could be cutting something for a meal and actually cut their own finger off and they wouldn't feel it because the nerves had all been killed You know that sin makes you desensitized Here's something for you that some will say oh, that's an old-fashioned thought But let me give to you it because it's a biblical thought not simply an old-fashioned thought Somebody once said this and I agree with them. They said this is a society This is a society That we're living in right now By the way, I have great hope for the society the gospel changes lives But the bottom line is This is a society That doesn't know how to blush That's true We live in a time when people are not ashamed They're doing the things that they do they're not ashamed of it We actually give awards to those who really should be ashamed the way that they're living We give them awards We say you're very courageous for coming out and telling us what you really are and how you really feel Whereas at one time we'd have said to them, you know, I my heart goes out to you. I have compassion for you How can I how can I help you to deal with this because you're obviously greatly troubled now? We simply award them we reward them we give them TV shows where they can do their lifestyle on TV and and that's what this society does we have Today and again, I don't want to come off in such a way to sound like oh, you know This guy here is you know, he he wants to live in in the 50s No, the 50s were bad too what I'm trying to say is We as a society have stopped blushing. We don't even know what the word shame is anymore We don't feel ashamed we do things and you know what even? Christians will do things that they ought to be convicted and feel bad about but if you say what you've done is It's not honoring to the Lord. What's the first thing that they'll tell you they'll say to you stop judging me Stop judge. This is the grace of God And no no no sweetheart the fact is you're not reading your Bible. Are you because Jesus said if you love me you keep my commandments You obviously are not keeping his commandments because you're in this particular sin he wants to set you free from it, but he's not going to reward you while you're in it and Leprosy Desensitized the person they no longer felt pain and like sin You can practice sin and become good at it to the degree that it becomes your lifestyle And there is no shame all you need to do is remember one of the sins that you were told never to do and You finally did that sin and try to remember what you felt like after you did it the first time Did you feel proud that you did that? No, what you felt was shame that you did that you felt shame because you should feel shame But if you did it the first time and you seem to have gotten away with it You'll do it a second time when you do it the second time You'll do it a third when you do it the third time It becomes a habit when it becomes a habit it becomes a lifestyle when it becomes a lifestyle It's just the way it is and that's how a lot of people are they don't sense any shame According to Hebrews 3 13 the writer said they're exhort one another daily Well, it is called today lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin hardened through the deceitfulness of sin and Finally Leprosy was incurable outside of a touch by God There's no medical cure all the priest could do is wait and see if it cleared up You see that in Leviticus 14 Sin is also incurable outside of a touch by God And so what we have here is a leper taking a chance and approaching Christ and it is because He knew That the Lord would welcome him notice how it says in verse 2 behold a leper came and worshipped him saying Lord if you are willing you can make me clean This man came and he worshipped him he showed great reverence to him It's a picture the word in the original language is a picture of a dog Bowing before its master licking its hand. That's what the word means and so he's humbling himself And he's showing reverence to him and dependence on him And so what we see here with this is though leprosy is a type of sin We see that this man knew that he could come to Jesus and not be Rejected by him you might want to mark that in your heart you can come to Christ and not be rejected by him so a man by the name of Simon Has a dinner party and he's well known in the community And he invites this up-and-coming rabbi to his house So that he can speak to him See some things about this man called Jesus He has Jesus in a special place place of honor there at the table as they're reclining in their meal And as they're communicated and Jesus is ministering to this man named Simon the Bible tells us there's a woman who comes in Whenever there was such an affair The community would be welcome and So this woman as part of the community Was not to be rejected. She was to be allowed to come in and she did and As she walks in and she goes to the area where this dinner party is and there's Jesus there reclining at meal with Simon As she's looking at him She begins to think within herself Some things about what Christ had recently done and it causes her to begin to become emotional She starts to weep and as she's beginning to weep and she's starting to walk towards Christ All the sounds of this dinner party and all the people who are standing around watching this as it took places Almost like there was a gallery of people watching as Jesus is there reclining at meal having communication with Simon and the other guests Here comes this woman pressing herself through this crowd of people the crowd begins to notice her and the crowd noise begins to dull And finally ends and here she comes she stands over the feet of Christ as he's reclining and Begins to weep and as she weeps the tears begin to drip down her chin onto his feet And she kneels down and she takes her hair and she dries his feet because she has noticed that she has Taken her tears in and drip those tears on her feet and as she does so and she's holding his feet out of love for him She kisses his feet and Simon is watching this and he says if this man truly were a prophet He would know who in what manner of woman this is that's touching him for she's a sinner Simon was a Pharisee Then he was basically saying this is a woman that everybody in this community knows this is a prostitute Everybody knows that she's a sinful sexually promiscuous woman Everybody knows it and how can this man who's supposedly a prophet? How could he not know? what she is Simon Jesus says I have something to ask you say on Well, there was a man who had two men who owed him some money one owed a great sum the other less or some But the man who was owed the money completely forgave both of those who owed him money I want to ask you a question Simon Who would love him more? Well, I suppose the one who was forgiven more in this you have rightly or correctly Responded you see this woman which to me it's important to see what Jesus is saying because as a quote He said you see this woman because to Simon she wasn't a woman at all. She was an it She was a thing. She was a sinner. She was a test case see this woman and Then he says you didn't give me a kiss of greeting. You didn't anoint my head You didn't wash my feet the three basic customary things that Jews will do to guests You didn't do a single one of those things and yet she's anointed my head. She has kissed my feet Simon though she has great sins They have been forgiven Because the one who is forgiven much Loves much Here's your question. How much have you been forgiven and how much do you love? How much have you been forgiven? Listen, here's something for you. All of us should remember this. I try to remember this often do not Do not forget where you came from Do not forget where you came from Do not forget that you may very well have been the person that others are saying that person can't be saved That's such a mess that that is a hot mess that person cannot be saved They're just too far God because guess what there may have been people who were saying that about you And now you're saying that about somebody else There's nobody so far from the love of God if they will come and receive what he has to offer and a leper like this Man came up to him and he saw that he would not be rejected He came to Christ because the Lord welcomes those who had come to him in Matthew 11 28 He says come unto me all you who labor in our heavy laden. I will give you rest He was drawn to Christ as we are drawn to him And so a second thing is he humbled himself by bowing before the Lord and called him Lord Remember pride will always result in you remaining in a broken condition But humility will result in healing if if I were to say oh, I'm okay the way that I am It's just who I am I cannot be healed But when I get to the point of saying I need help I can be help It's like that time when when Jesus is there and and Matthew has made him a meal and and there are people there are friends of Matthew The only people who had come to such a meal by this man were were people like him And so here come these publicans and here come these sinners But once again the Pharisees are there they see what's taking place and they speak and say why is your master? Have a meal with publicans and sinners and and the Lord Jesus responds only the sick will go to a doctor I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance You see the Lord has a way keep that in mind always of reaching into the lives of the sinners the self Righteous ones who think they're okay the way that they are They can't be helped He can't be helped He didn't go to work. You need to recognize That you need help or you won't be you're gonna just Continue on and by the way to be helped requires a humbling of your own heart God be merciful to me. I'm a sinner Proverbs 3 34 says surely he scorns the scorners But he gives grace to the lowly so he humbled himself and that's what we need to do We need to come to him and we need to humble ourselves and then he said Lord if you're willing I Have a confidence in you and I know that you are capable But I also know that you need to be willing to if you're willing you can make me clean in First John 5 14 John said it like this This is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will He hears us Lord. I'm coming to you as a sinner and if you're willing you can cleanse me of my sin and Jesus Can do that notice he placed his faith in him you can make me clean When you think about it, you need to remember again that in the Old Testament a priest could not cleanse a priest could only Pronounce that cleansing had taken place a priest isn't the one who cleanses because they all knew that only God could cleanse a leper They knew that and so if God were to have cleansed them all the priest was to do was pronounced that he's cleansed So when he comes and says to the Lord Jesus Christ Lord if you are willing he's saying you are much more than simply a man You are the person that can do that work on my behalf Psalm 103 verses 1 through 3 says it like this bless the Lord Oh my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name Bless the Lord. Oh my soul and forget not all his benefits who forgives all your iniquities who heals all your diseases And so we know that no man can forgive me of my sins No, man can cleanse me It takes God it takes the Lord to forgive me of my sins no man, but God himself We remember the story of a man who was crippled he was on a cot and He had four friends who brought him to Jesus They couldn't get into the place that Jesus was teaching us in this house And so they climbed the stairs on the side of the house. They went to the top of the roof and there was a Flat roof area there that they broke open and Then they lowered him they put ropes on each one of the corners of this cot And they they lowered the man down working in unison Till the man was lowered into the presence of Christ and then Jesus looking at the man said son your sins are forgiven you Now wait a minute He didn't even ask for forgiveness of sins. This is a man who's on a cot He needs to be healed so that he can walk and yet the first thing that Jesus does is forgive his sins And so there are those who are there listening to this take place. You all know the story They begin to speak amongst themselves. Who is this man who can forgive? Only God forgives sins and in that theologically They're a hundred percent right Only God can forgive sins Which is easier Jesus says to say to this man rise and walk or Say your sins are forgiven you But so that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins He turns to the man and he says I say into your rides take up your pellet and walk The man walks Wraps up that pellet and walks out healed by God who can forgive sins but God alone The clutch the leper was cleansed By God and so you need to see the connection that's being made here when the leper is saying if you are willing You can make me clean You can make me clean Notice with me leprosy isn't spoken of as being healed. It's spoken of as being cleansed You can make me clean If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and That's what God does if you're willing and You know what the Bible tells us Jesus's response. I am willing to be cleansed You mean you didn't make him jump through a lot of ritual hoops a lot of religious mumbo jumbo you mean You mean you just said yes, I'm willing and Then what does he do? Well verse 3 says he puts out his hand and he touches him. I'm willing to be cleansed in this gentle loving Compassionate way of Christ take this home with you today Please take this home with you today. This will keep you in times of struggle Always know one thing God hates my sin, but he loves me He loves me He hates my sin so much. He sent his son Jesus to die and across to set me free from its bondage He hates it. He is holy. He cannot look upon sin with pleasure Thus he had to do something in order to to eradicate the gulf that was between God and me The that separation that issue of separation was my sin My sin has made a separation and God doesn't want to be separated from me He created me that I might enjoy him and have fellowship with him But my sin made a separation and so what the Lord did is he reached down through the hand of Christ And and when I said to him you can clean me you can cleanse me you can do the work in me He said I am willing if anyone comes to the Lord He will not cast him aside If you come to the Lord when the Holy Spirit is drawing you and you come to the Lord He will not cast you aside. He's not going to say. Oh, no, there's somebody over there more important somebody I like much more than you Frankly you irritate me, but I like that person. He's not going to do that He loves you Please walk out knowing that today Please understand that God so loved the world in that world includes you Does he love your sin? No, he hates your sin. It put his son on the cross Jesus died on the cross because he hates your sin Because it results in death and eternal separation. He's there Jesus at at at the at the tomb of a friend by the name of Lazarus And the Bible simply says it's a short word Jesus wept Jesus knew what he was going to do He knew when they came and told him your friend Lazarus whom you love is ill Jesus knew what is going to happen. He knew all of that. Why are you weeping Lord because of what sin does to people? Look at the sorrow. Look at the pain. Look at the loss Look at all of these tears that are because of sin. He hates sin We ought to hate it too by the way When we play with our sin, it has been said it's like kissing the tip of the spear that was plunged into the side of Christ When we enjoy our sin And so, oh, you know, it's no big deal. It's it is a big deal. It's why Jesus died on the cross to set you free from it If you're willing you can cleanse me and Jesus's response I am and he reaches down and touches and why because our God is merciful and compassionate Isaiah was writing prophetically of Messiah The Old Testament book of Isaiah in chapter 53 verses 3 and 4 and speaking of Messiah He was despised and rejected by men a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering Like one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised. We esteemed him not Surely he took up our infirmities carried our sorrows Yet we considered him stricken by God smitten by him and afflicted Lord I feel rejected Jesus says I understand Lord I feel pain Jesus says I understand anything I go through because he's his man And experience those things He relates to Whatever I go through there. They're gossiping about me Jesus. I Understand that's the Savior That's one of the reasons why when I come to him I I know he understands my heart What kind of life had this man lived as a leper? Well, we know he was alone. He was isolated from others. He was fully aware of his diseased condition Leviticus 1345 and 46 says the person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes Let his hair be unkempt cover the lower part of his face and cry out unclean Unclean as long as he has the infection. He remains unclean. He must live alone. He must live outside the camp Now because of the Lord no longer is this man isolated and no longer is he alone The symbol of living death has been dealt with He has now restored to community to sacrifices to the right relationship that he wants with God Again, that's what happened to us when God touched us like a leper We were once the living dead Ephesians 2 1 and 2 says it like this as for you You were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and The ruler of the kingdom of the air the spirit was now at work in those who are disobedient you were dead We were zombies of you were the living dead Going through life rotten Putrifying smelly rejected but We heard Jesus and We cried out and we said if you're willing you can make me clean He heard us And he cleansed us and now we're new If any man be in Christ is a new creation old things are passed away behold Once again that word behold isn't this amazing any man in Christ is new creation Old things are passed away behold all things are becoming you Was in a class in college Classes yet to start we're waiting for the professor. I was in the in the classroom Another student sat across from me. We didn't know each other. We began to converse The man speaks to me and he says to me That he's an alcoholic that he's been going to alcohol alcoholic anonymous kinds of classes and all and he says you know and I've been sober for for a while and I smiled at him and I said I was an alcoholic too He says so once an alcoholic always an alcoholic. I said no If any man be in Christ is a new creation old things are passed away Behold all things are become new. I said I once was an alcoholic But now I'm new in Jesus Christ and he says to me. Oh, you've had the conversion experience because it was a secular college Conversion experience. I said conversion experience. I was born again. It's not a conversion experience. I am converted I am brand new in Christ. You see, I don't call myself a recovering alcoholic. I am a recovered alcoholic I am a covered by the blood of Jesus Christ new creation Because I was the leper who fell on my knees before Christ and said God if you're willing you can cleanse me And he did because that's what God does He washes you and makes you new you don't go back to it like the dog returning to the vomit You follow Jesus Christ because he gives you newness of life. That's Christianity And so Jesus speaks to him and says to him in verse 4 see that you tell no one But go your way show yourself to the priest offer the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony to them In other words, don't hesitate along the way do exactly what the law of Moses commands You need to do the law you need to fulfill the sacrifices because in doing so You're going to have to explain to the priest how you were cleansed and you will be able to tell him Jesus cleansed you and that's going to force the priest to acknowledge a miracle has been performed by Jesus Christ which is why when somebody has a miracle a miraculous healing It's always wise for them to go to the doctor and to have a checkup so that the doctor will say well This you you had cancer or you had this condition or that it's gone I can't understand how that happened and then you say I can't either But I asked the Lord to touch me and it appears to me that God did it's a witness to them about what God can do And so as this former leper was to offer sacrifice and to force the priest to acknowledge a miracle had been performed Even so we are living evidences of the cleansing power of God We are living evidences The only people this leper actually knew if you had any community at all or other lepers So I'm certain That he after having his cleansing validated and all as a testimony I'm certain that he told the other lepers. There's one who can cleanse you everyone in this room Who's been saved every one of us who's been cleansed by the blood of Christ? We have the same responsibility to be a living testimony of the work that God does Does that mean that we're perfect? No, does that mean that that we're not going to fail every day in word or thought indeed? No You know, I've been walking with the Lord for for some time As a matter of fact this month this month September I celebrate 40 42 years I started teaching the Bible in September of 1973. I've been teaching the Bible now for 42 years I've been a Christian since December of 1970. I'll be celebrating 45 years of walking with the Lord. 45 years of being a Christian and and no and no I am Nowhere near what God wants me to be so please Please never think that I think I'm better than you because I am like you I am like all men and all Human beings. I'm a leper in need of a cleansing hand from Jesus I just haven't forgotten it and I never want to I always want to give praise to the one who cleanses us Don't you I want to give praise to Jesus Christ for the work that he does So tell somebody else Let people know In this world that has no hope and it shouldn't because it has no God We have hope because we have God we have Jesus Christ God has sent you out As a cleansed leper As a cleansed leper to be a testimony of his grace may we live in such a way that he is honored