Let's pray together. Our Father,
we thank you tonight that you've allowed us to come together in
the name of the Lord Jesus to hear the Gospel. Grant, we pray,
an understanding of the Scriptures Teach us of yourself. Lord, forgive us where we fail
you. For Christ's sake, we ask these
things. Amen. All right, I'm going to ask you
to take your Bibles and turn with me to Luke 17. Luke chapter
17. As I was thinking upon the subject
of Thanksgiving. This scripture came to my mind,
and having come to my mind, I continued to think on it. And after thinking
on it for a while, I thought, I need to look at that. You know,
if you get a passage of scripture on your mind, It's a blessing
to you. The Spirit of God teaches through
the Word of God. So let's look at Luke chapter
17. I'd like to look at verses 11
to 19. The Scripture says in verse 11,
And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed
through the midst of Samaria and Galilee, now just starting
That scripture, and it came to pass, sets forth that surely
whatever is getting ready to be revealed was ordained by Almighty
God from before the foundation of the world. That the Lord Jesus
Christ was going to be doing exactly what He was doing. It
came to pass. The Lord had purposed that this
event was going to happen. And here is the faithful servant
of Jehovah, finishing the work of redemption, the work that
the Father had sent him to do. And he was going to Jerusalem.
Now he's on his way to lay down his life. He's going to go to
Jerusalem. All of the events that are going
to take place in Jerusalem, he's going to be tried before Pilate,
and he's going to have to hear the false accusations. This man
said, if you destroy the temple, he'll build it back in three
days. They were just talking about literally tearing down
a stone structure. And they ridiculed him, but all
of these things were ordained of God Almighty and He's going
to do just exactly what He's about to do. But while He was
going to Jerusalem, as He went to Jerusalem, that He passed
through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. He just walked through them. He didn't stop. He didn't say
anything to anybody. He just walked through. Obviously,
there were, at that time, no sheep in that place. Had there
been, he'd have stopped. Had it been the time of love
for those sheep, at that time, he would have stopped. He was
going through Jericho. And as he was going through Jericho,
You remember what happened? He was entering Jericho and there
was a blind beggar on the side of the road named Bartimaeus. And Bartimaeus heard that it
was Jesus of Nazareth walking by. And the Spirit of God spoke
to that man, that blind beggar, and said, this is He. This is
the one. And blind Bartimaeus cried out,
Jesus, thou son of David, you who are the Messiah, have mercy
on me. And Jesus, the scripture says,
he stood still at the cry of mercy. And he called blind Bartimaeus
to him. What would you have that I do
for you that I might receive my sight? And he healed him. Scripture says as he was leaving,
he walked through Jericho, and he was coming to the other side
of Jericho, and there was a fellow that was short of stature, wasn't
very tall. And he heard that Jesus was passing
by that way, going to be walking down the road coming out of Jericho,
and he climbed up in a sycamore tree. You know, there was grace
before grace. I love these glorious stories
of the grace of God before grace. Zacchaeus thought that the reason
he had to get up in that tree was because he couldn't see.
That's what he thought. But he was exactly where the
Lord of Glory had ordained from before the foundation of the
world. that he was going to be, because when the Lord got to
that very spot, he stopped and looked up. And he said, Zacchaeus, how did you know him? He always
knew him. He knew Zacchaeus from before
the foundation of the world. He said, this is the son of Abraham.
This is one of my own. He said, Zacchaeus, come down,
for I must Go to your house today. Why? Because this is one of the
sheep. This is one of the sheep. John
6.39 says, This is the Father's will which has sent me that of
all which He has given me, I should lose nothing. But you'd raise
it up again at the last day. Don't you just love it when the
Spirit of God moves upon the writer? One of the writers of
Scripture, that was John that wrote that. But the Spirit of
God moved on John to write down that God has a people. And He's
coming to this world to save His people. But so the scripture
says, it came to pass as he went to Jerusalem that he passed through
the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain
village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood
afar off. Now, what a pitiful sight. Ten
men, all united by a common problem. They were lepers. And they were
standing afar off. Now leprosy in the scriptures,
you know, is always a picture. It's a type of sin. And these
ten lepers, providentially, Almighty God who worketh again all things. How'd they get there? The Lord
moved on them to be right there. All ten of you are going to be
standing in that one spot. You're going to be standing afar
off because of your condition, your lepers. And now here's the
spiritual significance. All ten men, or lepers, separated. Separated from society. Can't
be around. That's what the law says. You're
outcast now. But what is that a picture of?
Sin. Sin. Isaiah 59.2, But your iniquities
have separated between you and your God, and your sins have
hid His face from you that He will not hear. But though they
were separated, that's what it says, he entered into a certain
village and there met him ten men that were lepers that stood
far off. Though they were separated, they
did the only thing that they possibly could do. The scripture says in verse 13,
they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy
on us. Now there's something very marvelous
about what they said. They obviously all ten of them
knew because it says that they lifted up their in the In my
Bible here, the word there, T-H-E-I-R, there, is in italics, so it wasn't
there. It was added. But the word voices
is there, so they lifted up voices. So it wasn't just one of them.
Obviously, they were all crying out to the Lord. Now, his fame,
obviously, he's on his way to Jerusalem, and the fame of the
Lord has pretty well spread throughout that region, and they knew, obviously,
from reports, they've heard of healings, he's walked on the
water, and they've heard something of this man, this Jesus. And they heard of Him, His fame
of walking on water, healing people, raising the dead, taking
five loaves, two fish, and feeding 5,000 people. And they cried
out to Him, Jesus, Master, Master. Now that title right there, that
word Master, it's a word that actually means, it means teacher,
God? Instructor? And it's a word that
could be generally used. Well, it was generally used. Just like in the case of Nicodemus.
Now, here was Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. And
Nicodemus came to the Lord by night. You remember in John 3,
2. And the same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi,
we know that thou art a teacher. One that guides and instructs.
Come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest,
except God be with him. Now, Nicodemus was referring
to him when he called him, you know, teacher, rabbi, you know,
just a general term. Just a general term of an elevated
one, religiously speaking. And that title that he used,
you know, it was appropriate. The Lord said to his disciples
in John 13, 13, you call me Master and Lord. And you say, well,
for so I am. He is the Master. But that title,
Master, they called him Jesus, Master. Have mercy. And that title, one that was
correctly appropriate to the Lord Jesus Christ, was during
that time, and titles like that are applied ignorantly to many
today. And the Lord taught His disciples
concerning using these titles. I want you to listen to this.
In Matthew 23.10, The Lord said, neither be ye called masters,
for one is your master, even Christ. He told his disciples,
don't let people call you master. Now they called him master, and
what they knew concerning who he was at that particular moment,
we don't know. But they cried out to him at
just a title of respect. It was a right title, but how
much they knew about it, I don't know. That verse right there,
Matthew 23, 10, Neither be ye called masters, for one is your
master, even Christ. In that verse right there, the
Lord taught a very important lesson on how we address men.
You listen now. I'm going to read you some scriptures
that the Lord has made very, very clear. Believers must never,
according to the words of our Lord, give to any man the title
or honor that is due to God and to His Christ. Don't ever give a man a title
that is only to be given to God Almighty. We do esteem God's preachers. God called preachers. Preachers
of the gospel. I'm talking about faithful preachers. We esteem them for their work's
sake, but we do not give men honor, referring to them in terms
that don't belong to them. Now listen to me. There are no
priests in this world today. Not born a man, there's no priest.
Let me tell you what a priest did, what they pictured in the
Old Testament. The priest, they pictured in
type the Lord Jesus Christ. And you listen to me, let me
tell you what a priest did in picture, in type, according to
the law. They atoned for the people. When Aaron would go in and he
would slay an animal, and he'd take that blood, and Aaron would
go in to the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement and sprinkle
that blood on the mercy seat, that was a picture of Christ,
His blood being shed, Him entering in to the Holy of Holies, into
Heaven itself, to present His blood as the answer for the payment
that was due to His people. He is the Great High Priest.
There are no priests in this world today that atone for us.
They are not mediators who undertake the affairs of our souls with
God. And you don't owe any man an
explanation of what you've done or confessed to him. There are
no such things. They're liars. They're charlatans.
Men are not reverends. that title belonging only to
God Almighty. You listen to this scripture.
He sent redemption unto His people. He has commanded His covenant
forever. Holy and reverend is His name. And any man that puts reverend
in front of himself or allows someone to call him that, I say
that. I've had it happen to me and
I just cringe when I hear it. You're somewhere, you don't want
to embarrass anybody, but if I can get them off to the side,
I'll tell them, please don't call me that again. I did that
one time. I felt sorry for this young man.
It happened. I would go into this little store
when I was in Franklin, and I'd go into this store, and every
time I'd go in, he'd say, hey, Rev! Hey, Rev, how you doing,
Rev? Hey, Reverend. Hey, Reverend,
how you doing? Finally, one day, I just walked
up. I said, please, don't ever call me that again. I said, that
title belongs to God Almighty, and I'm not worthy of that title. And I just tried to do it as
discreetly as I could. I didn't want to embarrass him.
He was doing it ignorantly. But I'm telling you, men are
not reverends. They're not priests. Matthew
23, 8 and 9, But be not called rabbi. Rabbi means my master. For one is your master, even
Christ, and all ye are brethren, and call no man your father upon
earth. For one is your Father which
is in heaven. No man deserves the title Father. Father. There's one Father. Especially somebody referring
to a man as Holy Father. These lepers called him Master. And that was a right title for
the Lord. But time would tell what each
one of them meant. Was it just a title? Or just
a kind of a title of respect because of his position? Or did they see him as the Master? Well, the Scripture says Verse
14, "...when he saw them, they cried out to him, Jesus, Master,
have mercy on us. When he saw them, he said unto
them, Go, show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass
that as they went, they were cleansed." Go show yourself to
the priest. Now, no one would ever be able
to say that the Lord Jesus Christ had done anything contrary to
God's law. Now that, that, that, go and
show yourself to the priest, that was according to the law.
And that was, only the priest could pronounce one unclean. Look at a, look at a, you know,
the rising in the skin, and if he, there's real strict rules
on what they were to look for. And if one of the priests determined
that that was leprosy, the priest could pronounce you unclean. And only the priest could pronounce
you clean. That was according to the law.
And when the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world, He came,
the Scripture says, Matthew 5, 17, 18, Think not that I am come
to destroy the law, or the prophets, I'm not come to destroy, but
to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass
from the law till all be fulfilled. Why? Because you and I needed
a righteousness before God. We needed to obey the law of
God perfectly. And we couldn't. We're unable. Spiritually did, but it didn't
eliminate the need for us to fulfill the law. But He did. He came into this world not to
destroy the law. He said, I came to fulfill it,
and every jot and tittle of God's law, the Lord Jesus Christ perfectly
fulfilled. He obeyed God to the letter in
word and thought and deed. And that was the reason the Father
said from heaven, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well
pleased. You hear Him. Here's the fulfiller of the law.
So the Lord, according to the law, He healed him. The Scripture says He saw them,
He said to them, go show yourselves to the priest. And the Scripture
says that latter part of that 14th verse, and as it came to
pass, that as they went, they were cleansed. Now when He told
them that, they weren't. But they started going. And the
Scripture declares that each one of them was healed. of their leprosy. Every one of
them. Physically, they were all made
clean. But obviously, another healing
took place. And the scripture says, in verse
15, and one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned
back, and with a loud voice, glorified God. one out of the
ten when he realized that he didn't have leprosy anymore.
He turned around with a loud voice and glorified God and the
scripture says in verse 16, he fell down on his face at his
feet giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. I thought it was very Amazing. Here was a Samaritan. Now earlier
in verse 11, he had passed through the midst of Samaria. And there was a vessel of God's
mercy that wasn't there that day. He was in another place,
verse 12, he was in a certain village. He just wasn't at home. He was somewhere else. But the
Lord knew where he was. He said, I know my sheep. He told some Jews, he said, other
sheep I have, they're not of this fold, of the Jews. And them
I must bring, I must bring. Why? They're mine. The Father
gave them to me. I'm going to lay down my life
for them. I'm going to save them. And one out of the ten turned
back. And he was a Samaritan. An object
of God's mercy in an unnamed village. A place that doesn't
even have the location recorded in scriptures. But a place that
God knew. One of his own. He knew where
his sheep were. And so here was one that obviously
now is affectionately knowing the Lord, that truly has a heart
for Him as the Master, as the Christ. And the Scripture says
when he saw that he was cleansed, he's healed, he turned back.
He turned back. Why did he turn back? Why? You think he just thought it
was a good idea? No, here's what happens. Jeremiah 31, 18. Jeremiah
says, Turn thou me, and I shall be turned. For thou art the Lord
my God. God turned him. The Spirit of
God gave this man a heart to turn around. I'm going back. And the scripture says, he with
a loud voice glorified God. He fell down, verse 16, on his
face at his feet, at the feet of Christ. And what was he doing? He was glorifying God. He knew
who he was. How did he know who he was? The
Spirit of God taught him who he was. The Spirit of God moved
on this man, and with a loud voice, rendering or esteeming
him glorious, he gave public praise. Here was a man that just
a few minutes before, he was a leper, an outcast, separated,
separated from society. A picture of sinners separated
from God, and Almighty God has done something for this man.
What? He healed him. He healed his
body and he healed his soul. And he gave him a new heart and
he turned around. And he wasn't ashamed of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Many there were, I'm sure. But
not this man. Reminds me of Jacob. You know, here's a man that comes
down and falls at his feet. And he just, he falls down, he
fell down on his face, at his feet, giving him thanks, and
he was a Samaritan. And the Scripture says he, glorifying
God, gave thanks to Him, unto whom all thanks is due, and he's
worshiping God, approaching the Father through the way, the truth,
and the life. And the Scripture says in verse
17, in Jesus answering, and said, were there not ten cleansed?
But where are the nine? Now let me ask you something.
Do you think the Lord didn't know where the other nine were? The Lord wasn't looking for information. He was teaching this former leper
something. You're here by the grace of God. Had I not moved on you, you'd
be with them. Were there not ten? What a striking question. Where are the nine? Where are the majority of those
that I showed mercy to with a physical, a temporal healing. God did show
mercy to them, physically. Almighty God is showing mercy
to every man, every woman, not only in this congregation, but
in this world that has ever lived and ever will live. Every person
that takes a breath of air, that's God's air. Every person that
gets something to eat, has something to wear or has a house to get
in or anything. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. And everything that man or woman
receives temporarily in this world is by the grace of God. And there were ten lepers there.
And all ten of them had the mercy of God shown them because God
healed them and the only one that could heal them. was the
Lord. The Lord's asking, did not all
ten apply for mercy? Where are the nine? You know,
many will give lip service to God whenever they need something. When they need something. I can truly understand. I mean, you find yourself in
dire straits, you know, whatever it is. Go to the doctor or be
in a car wreck or something and someone is on the brink of eternity
and they're in intensive care and they're Are they going to
make it? We don't know. We don't know. We just, you know,
and boy, I tell you, people will be on the phone, you know, pray
for me, pray, you know, start praying. But you know, when they,
if the Lord is pleased to pull them out and give them, restore
their life or they're healed of some dreaded disease or something,
how quickly men forget, how quickly man by nature is ungrateful. for sure was truly interested
in physical healing. But they possessed no heart for
the healer of men's souls. Man by nature could be healed
of leprosy, but have no interest in being healed from the plague
of sin. I mean, it's so natural to make
a verbal, you know, cry out, Jesus, Master, have mercy. And He did. Where are the nine? Where are they? Well, I can tell
you, I'll tell you where they went. There was only, according to
the law, there was only one or there was only a group that could
pronounce them clean and allow them to re-enter society. They
couldn't bypass the priest. They had to go to the priest.
If the priest didn't pronounce them clean, I'm telling you,
they're still outcast. They're healed, but the priest
is going to have to pronounce them clean. So I can tell you this. Where
are the nine? I'll tell you where they went. They went exactly
as the Lord told them to. He said, go to the law. That's
what we're talking about. Go show yourselves unto the priest. And this vessel of mercy, this
vessel, that Samaritan, an alien from the commonwealth of Israel
and a stranger from the covenants of promise, one having in himself
no hope, without God in this world, he did exactly what the
Lord Jesus Christ told him to do. He did too. He showed himself to the priest.
That's what he did. while nine of them went to the
law. One of them went to the fulfiller
of the law. One of them went to the Lord
Himself, of whom every Levitical priest pointed, was a type. Every Levitical priest was saying
in type, the priest is coming, the priest. And the Lord said,
go show yourselves to the priest. And this one, by the grace of
God, turned around and did that very thing. He fell at his feet
and began to thank Him for the mercy. And the Lord said in verse
18, there are not found that return to give glory to God save
this stranger. It's one. That's right. That leper gave thanks, exhibiting
the mark of true faith. The Lord told him. And the Lord
recognized his thanksgiving. That's what he said. There are
not found that return to give glory to God, save this stranger.
And he said unto him, in verse 19, Arise. I thought it was amazing. He never moved until the Lord
told him to get up. Arise. Go thy way. Thy faith, the object of your faith, thy
faith hath made thee whole. The one before whom he bowed
made you whole. What could he do now but be thankful? The Lord had given him a heart
to be thankful. He was doing that which was now
natural to him, to be thankful. Listen to Psalm 116.12. What
shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? What am I going to give? What
am I going to render? What am I going to bestow upon
the Lord? What can I bestow? Psalm 116,
17 declares, I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and will call upon the name of the Lord. To the Lord we owe a sacrifice
of thanks. What can creatures such as we,
what can we give to the Lord? The Lord said, thanksgiving. 1 Thessalonians 5.18, In everything
give thanks. This is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. That stranger, thankfully, went
not to the law, not to that which merely shadowed or pictured his
only hope. He went to the great physician
himself, the healer of men's souls. And as our hearts this
evening are drawn to give thanks unto Him, remember this, He's
worthy of our thanks. He's worthy, you know that. We
owe Him thanks. And here's the blessed part,
according to that, He takes note of it. He takes note. I pray
that God give us a heart this evening to be thankful. Are we
thankful as we ought to be? No. Are we thankful as we want
to be? No. Are we thankful as we shall
be? No, but one day, one day, according
to the Scriptures, we will fall down before Him, crying in Revelation
5, it says this, Thou art worthy to receive all honor, glory,
and praise, for Thou hast redeemed us out of every nation and kindred
and tribe and tongue. Even in that little old place
right there, I don't even know where it was. But there was a
vessel of God's mercy there, and the Lord got him, healed
him, healed him physically and healed his soul. And I can tell
you this, right now, that Samaritan right there is in glory, still
thankful that Almighty God has shown mercy to him. May the Lord
give us a heart of thankfulness tonight for Christ's sake. Amen.