Tomorrow is a holiday, Thanksgiving. And as a general rule, I don't have holidays celebrated in my mind concerning messages. But tomorrow is a holiday in
which We give thanks. And I began to think on that. I want you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to Luke 17. And I began to think on this
subject of being thankful. And the more I thought and read
and searched the scriptures on thankful and thankfulness. I
realize that a heart made thankful unto the Lord is the evidence of being born
again. A heart of thankfulness. Man, by nature, is not thankful
unto the Lord. He's not truly thankful for anything. 2 Timothy 3, I'll read this for
you. 2 Timothy 3, 1 and 2, says, this
know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. Men
shall be lovers of their own selves. Covetous, boasters. proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, just not thankful. That attitude
of unthankfulness is the carnal man's refusal to ascribe appreciation
unto the Lord for anything, anything. We have our very life from the Lord. The health that
we have from the Lord. Food that we eat, that's the
Lord's food. The earth is the Lord's. and the fullness thereof, the
world, and all they that be in it." This is His. Just unthankful. But thanks be unto God that Almighty
God is merciful. This is an amazing passage of
scripture. Here again, I'll read it. It's
Luke 6, verse 35 and 36. Luke 6, 35 and 36. I was looking at this concerning
the mercy of God. Luke 6, 35, 36. Listen to this. But love your enemies, and do
good, and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall
be great, and you shall be the children of the highest. For
He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as
your Father also is merciful." I thought, what an amazing passage
of Scripture. He's merciful, to the unthankful. Obviously, the Lord, revealing
through His Spirit, makes much of being thankful, thankful,
thankful. Man by nature is not. And that
is the, humanly speaking, That's the easiest thing in the world
that someone could do. Now I'm going to just ask you
something. You ever held the door for somebody?
Somebody come in, you open the door, they just walk past you.
They don't say anything. What do you think? Same thing
I do. You're welcome. You couldn't even say thank you?
I mean, it's so, but man by nature is unthankful. Now I want us to look at a passage
of scripture, Luke 17, a passage that we've looked at before.
And the Lord set forth the importance of being thankful, thankful. Luke chapter 17, I'm gonna look
at verses 11 to 19 for just a few minutes. Here again, we've looked
at this before. I want us to look at it again
for just a few minutes. It says, Luke 17 verse 11. And it came to pass as he went
to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria
and Galilee. It came to pass, it was brought
to be, is what that meant, came to pass. He who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will is on his way to Jerusalem. He's going to be crucified. He's
on his way. And in that journey of going
to Jerusalem, where he was going to lay down his life for the
sheep, he comes through a couple of cities. He goes through Samaria.
Galilee. And the scripture says in verse
12, and as he entered into a certain village, it doesn't say which
village it was, he'd gone through, he'd passed through the midst
of Samaria and Galilee, and he entered into a certain village
and there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar
off. Ten men. That's all that's said
about them. 10 men. Now, I don't know. I don't know. Were they lawyers?
Were they street sweepers? Were they senators? Were they
paupers? Doesn't matter. Here's the only
thing that mattered. They were lepers. They were lepers. That leprosy is a picture. spiritually speaking, of sin. That which has separated man
from God, Isaiah 59, 2, but your iniquities have separated between
you and your God and your sins has hid his face from you that
he will not hear. Ten men, bound together. Now, it doesn't matter what they
were. What difference does it make?
They're outcasts now. They put them out of the camp.
Ten men. Lepers. Makes me think of Naaman. You remember that? This is an
amazing passage. 2nd Kings. 2nd Kings chapter
5. and in verse 1 you read the credentials
of Naaman and here he was, Naaman captain of the host of the king
of Syria. Great man with his master and
honorable because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto
Syria. He was also a mighty man in valor But he was a leper. He was a
leper. Had a disease that no cure, no
known cure. There was no doctor that could
cleanse leprosy. That disease that just consumed
the flesh, Just rotting is what it was. It was rotting of the
body. And that leper, as I said, was
put out. He was put out of the camp. We
practice. This right here, I think about
what we're going through now with the COVID thing like this. And we practice. by means that
the Lord has provided. You know, putting a mask on and
if you're in a place somewhere. If I knew that you have the flu,
I'm not gonna get around you. I'd rather you not come. You
know, if you've got something, but listen what scripturally,
what did the Lord do for lepers? Leviticus 13, 45, and the leper
in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent. That's just, that's
a picture. That's a picture of our filthy
rags of righteous, filthy rags. That's what our righteousness
is. So his clothes shall be rent, his head bare. He's uncovered,
spiritually speaking. Exposed, no atonement, no pardon. And put a covering upon his upper
lip. That's just like, put a mask
on. That's what we have. You put
a covering over his upper lip and she'll cry, unclean, unclean. Here is what man is by nature,
from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot. Putrefying
sores, not been bound up. But here's the Lord back in Luke
chapter 17. He's entered into a certain village
and there met him 10 men that were lepers, which stood far
off. They met him. They were there
on purpose. When it says met him, they went
to meet. Now, without a doubt, they'd
heard of this Jesus of Nazareth, that lepers had been, healed
and for them, he was the only hope that they had because again,
leprosy was incurable. No known, humanly speaking, cure. A leper was never sent to a doctor. You didn't go to a doctor for
leprosy. What they did was they went to
the priest, and here's the priest, picture of the law. Here's what
you did, Leviticus chapter 13, Leviticus 13, verses one through
three. This is what you could do for
leprosy. Leviticus 13, one to three, and
the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, when a man shall
have in the skin of his flesh a rising or a swelling, a scab,
bright spot, and it be in the skin of his frit, a flesh, like
the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought unto Aaron the
priest, or unto one of his sons, the priest. And the priest shall
look upon the plague in the skin of the flesh, and when the hair
in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper
than the skin of his flesh, it is the plague of leprosy. And
the priest shall look upon him, and here's what he can do for
him. He can pronounce him unclean. That's what the law does for
us. The law pronounces us unclean. The law can't heal us. By the
law is the knowledge of sin. The law can't cleanse us because
we can't keep it. If we could obey the law, But
we can't. But the law, what it does, it
pronounces us unclean. So here's the Lord. He enters
into a certain village and there met Him ten men that were lepers. And they stood afar off. In verse
13, they lifted up their voices and said unto Jesus, Master,
have mercy on us. Now here was ten lepers. And these lepers knew. They were
standing afar off. They were waiting on Him. Obviously,
they knew that He was coming that way. Now, it doesn't say
how they knew it, but there were ten men that met Him. They were
there waiting. They went to meet. That's what
it means. And they're standing far off,
and they see Him, and they cry out to the only one that could
help Him. And all ten of them, the Scripture
said, Ask for mercy. They said, Jesus, master, have
mercy. Jesus, savior, savior, master,
or chief, chief overseer, have mercy. They cried unto Him who
was the only one, I said, that could help. Matthew 23, the Lord
speaking, they cried unto Him, Jesus, Master, Master. Matthew 23, verses 9 and 10. The scripture says, the Lord
speaking, call no man your father upon the earth. For one is your
father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters,
for one is your master, even Christ. So father, master, reverend. These men, they like to tack
father on in front of their name. They don't deserve that name.
We have one father, master, one father, reverend, holy and reverend
is God's name. Anytime you see a man, he's got
reverend in front of his name, shouldn't have it. These men
cried out, cried out unto the Lord. They said, Jesus, master,
Have mercy upon us. In verse 14 it says, And when
he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves to the priest. Go show yourself to the one that
can tell you what you got. Well, they knew what they had.
But also, the priest was also the one that could pronounce
one clean. Well, now these men are lepers.
And here's the Lord commanding them in perfect obedience to
what the law says. You go to the priest to be pronounced
unclean, you go to the priest to be pronounced clean. He said, you go to the priest.
That's what he told them. You go to the priest. Now in
what he just told them to do, perfectly according to the law,
he came to fulfill the law. But also what he's getting ready
to do is he's getting ready to manifest himself. Acts chapter
two, that's what Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost. Peter
was preaching and he said, Acts chapter two, verse 22, you men
of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles, wonders, signs, which God did
by him in the midst of you. as ye yourselves also know. God
did those things. But who is he? He's God. The Lord God himself did those
miracles and he tells these ten men you go show yourselves to
the priest and the scripture declares it The latter part of
verse 14, and it came to pass that as they went, they were
cleansed. They were cured. That's what
the word means. They were cured. As they were going, their skin was clean. It was
clean. They were cleansed. And the scripture declares that
what they did was an amazing thing. Ten men, all of them,
they cried unto the Lord. Jesus, Master, have mercy. We're being eaten up. We've got
leprosy. We're standing over here like
we're supposed to be. Have mercy on us. And the scripture says
that latter part of verse 14 that came to pass, that as they
went, they were cleansed, they were cured. And verse 15 says,
and one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back and with a loud voice
glorified God. One of them. All ten of them
now, cleansed. All ten of them cured of leprosy. But one of them turned around. The scripture says, verse 37
of John 6, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. One of them turned around. One of them turned back. He turned
from going to the law. He was going to the priest just
like the scripture, like the Lord told him to do. But he turned
from going to the priest to the law and came to the fulfiller
of the law. He's about to reveal something.
He was made whole, the Lord getting ready to tell him that. He turned
from the shadow to the reality. He turned from the picture to
the open revelation. And the scripture says, he turned
back and with a loud voice, he glorified the one to whom he
spoke. He glorified God. He knew. Lord had opened his
eyes. He glorified, he honored, he
praised, and he magnified. He magnified, glorified the Lord. Glorified him as God. I'm not
an outcast. God has saved me. God has summoned
me. And he wasn't ashamed. With a
loud voice, he proclaimed the one to whom he looked, this is
God, this is the Lord. That Old Testament priest could
pronounce him clean, but here was the great physician. This
is the one that cleansed me. The priest could but tell me
what this one would do. This is the one that did it.
He had heard the voice of the shepherd. And he called out with
a new heart out of spiritual darkness that had been removed
and he came to Him. And this healed leper, now it
says in verse 15, He called out with a loud voice,
he glorified God, and he fell down on his face and his feet,
giving him thanks. Thank you. Thank you. He gave him thanks. What else could he do? What else could he do for the
Lord? Here was a delivered leper. And the Lord had given him a
new heart. Nine of them were unthankful. That's the way man's born. He's unthankful, unthankful. And for the first time in this
leper's life, for the first time in his life, he was thankful. So many times I have something happen and I realize for just a moment,
Lord, I don't know how to be thankful. I don't know how to
be thankful. I'm thankful, but I don't know
how to be. I wish, I desire to be, I want
to be. Michael John Newton, sin is mixed
with all I do. And I don't doubt for one second,
this leper right here, he was just like any regenerated sinner. He was warring within. He wanted to be thankful as he
ought to be thankful, as he wished he could be thankful. And he
couldn't, but he was thankful. He gave him thanks. And the scripture
says that this one that fell down on his face at his feet,
giving him thanks. And here's where he stayed. He was a Samaritan. He was a Samaritan. One that
was an outcast. from the Jews, one that was the
scripture actually talking about a Samaritan, one from another
tribe, one not looked upon by the Jews as being worthy. But he fell down on his feet,
giving him David said in Psalm 116, 12, what shall I render
unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? What shall I render? What can I give? What can I do? He says in Psalm 116, 17, I will
offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon
the name of the Lord. What can a regenerated sinner
give the Lord? Thanks. Thanks. I thought to myself, how often,
Mitch, do I just forget? I just forget. I forget. I'm so thankful for that scripture
I read a while ago. He's merciful. He's merciful,
listen to this, to the unthankful and to the evil. It rains on
them, sun shines on them just like it shines on us. But he's
merciful to the unthankful. Right here. Oh, if I could just
remember. I just took a breath of air. Kevin, I don't even know how
to be thankful for that, but I tell you what, if the Lord
withheld it from me, I'd think about it then. I don't know how
to be thankful. I don't know how to be, that
I can look at you. I can see you. I don't know how
to be thankful because I can see, because I can hear. because
I can speak. I don't know how to be thankful
that I know him, that he's given me a heart, that I can read these
scriptures, that it's a blessing to be able to read these scriptures,
that I can meet together with God's people. You know, I thought
for a while there I'd start making a list of things to be thankful
for. Well, that's just an unending list. What am I going to render
unto the Lord? Lord, thank you. Thank you. The scripture says in Psalms
100 verse 4, enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his
courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless
his name. When I try to approach the Lord,
I ought to start thanking him. Lord, thank you. Thank you that
I want to pray. Thank you that I have heart to
pray, but oh, forgive me. Bored when I don't know what
to say. 1 Thessalonians 5, 18, in everything,
everything. Give thanks, for this is the
will of God and Christ Jesus concerning you. He fell down on his face at his
feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan, an ignorant
heathen. Worthless according to the Jews,
a worthless one. Just thank you. Thank you for
cleansing me. And listen to the importance,
and I'll wrap this up. Listen to the importance. of
thanks, of thanksgiving. The Lord made mention of this. And Jesus answering said, were
there not 10 cleansed? But where are the nine? There are not found that return
to give glory to God save this stranger. Wasn't there 10 of
you? Man by nature, you want to see
the nature of a man. I'm talking about all of us now.
There's none exempt. I mean, this is all of us. There's
a whole lot of talk today about being healed. Being healed. Come
to a healing service. Be healed. Now, I get it. I get it. If you ask me, you know, sickness
over health, I'll tell you what I'm going to pick. I'll pick
health, you know. Charles Spurgeon was the one
that said the only greater blessing than health is sickness. That's when we learn, we're taught
something about calling on the Lord. But that the Lord would
give us health. But there was nine of them and
this is what they were interested in. They were interested in getting
rid of their leprosy. And that's the natural man. I
understand that. I understand that. But one of
them, there's not found that return to give glory to God save
this stranger. And listen to verse 19, last
verse right here. And he said, arise, go thy way,
thy faith hath made thee. Now here's a different word.
The others were cleansed. They were cured of leprosy. This
man right here, he was made whole. Arise and go thy way, thy faith
hath made thee whole. Now, I know this. I'm quite aware
we're not saved by our faith. I know that. We're saved by the
object of our faith. We're saved by the Lord Jesus
Christ. We're saved by grace through
faith. But that faith by which we trust
the Lord is our faith. He's given us faith, the Lord
gave this man faith to believe. He said concerning the woman
with the issue of blood, this is what he said, Thy faith has
made thee whole. The Lord gave her faith. She
believed by the faith that was given her from above and the
Lord honored it as her faith. He gave her that which she needed. He said to blind Bartimaeus,
same thing, the Syrophoenician woman, he cried for her daughter,
Thy faith hath made thee whole. And I understand, I understand. It's not because of our faith.
If faith was the reason for our salvation, then it would be by
our works. But I'm going to tell you something. I'm not going
to take anything away from the words of the Lord. It's what
the Lord said. We're not saved by works, I know
that. But he said, that which he gave
her, he honored it. He gave her that faith. And he
honored that faith. Thy faith hath made thee whole. He gives it, he blesses it, he
honors it. Thankfulness. Oh, that the Lord
might cause us, and I realize again, I realize tomorrow, Thanksgiving
Day. Thanksgiving Day, a holiday that
raised up in this country. And I don't doubt for a second
that when it was originally raised up, there was probably some men,
some women that truly Had a heart. They may have been believers,
but probably I would say what it's degenerated to is nothing
more than just a get together. I get it. I'm gonna get together. We'll have some time with our
family. We'll eat, enjoy. But may the Lord cause us, bring
back to our memory the necessity the responsibility and the privilege
to be thankful unto the Lord for that which he's given us.
You think about it, we're here tonight. It will all be 65 years since
God raised up this little assembly right here. 65 years, right at it, that we've
had this blessed privilege to be able to meet together in this
little place of Katy, West Virginia. I thank God for that. I thank
Him. I thank God for you. I thank the Lord for the privilege.
I thank God for allowing me to be your pastor, for giving me
a heart to want to be here. I pray that God be pleased to
maintain this assembly for His glory and our good.