That's an amazing song, that
last one we just sang. Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Matthew, chapter 8. Matthew, chapter 8. I'd like to look at the first
four verses. Before we do, though, let's ask
our Lord's blessing. Our Father, it's so good to be
able to come together as brethren and approach you. In the name
of the Lord Jesus, we thank you for this evening. We thank you
for your watch care. Thank you for your mercy and
compassion. Bless the word to our hearts.
Help us to worship and forgive us for Christ's sake. Amen. In three of the Gospels, there's
recorded this story about the healing of a leper. And this healing, it was brought
about in time, but this event that we're about to consider
for a few minutes was eternally purposed before the foundation
of the world. Almighty God purposed, ordained
all things that would come about in time. We're watching things
happen today that God has purposed. Everything that happened, the
Lord has ordained. Now this lesson right here, It's concerning the healing of
a leper, yes. But let us never forget that
every act of the Lord Jesus Christ was so ordered and ordained by
God Almighty to set forth the glory of God in the redemption
and salvation of His people. This healing has a meaning, has
a purpose. We're going to see the glory
of the Lord, but there's something else that we're going to see
in this thing and it's the revelation of the attitude or the responsiveness
of a new heart. Whenever the Lord has given a
man or woman A new heart, a new mind, a new person. They've been
born from above. How do they act? What is the
lesson that we learn in repentance? You know, so many times we read
in the scripture where we're commanded to come to Christ. Come to Christ. I jotted down
a few of these. Matthew 11, 28. Come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Come unto me. John 6, 35. And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life, he that cometh to me shall never hunger, he
that believeth on me shall never thirst." And here's one that
I just, I love this passage, I quote it all the time, John
6, 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Now that truth of coming to Christ. I looked up the meaning just
to see what does the word come mean? I mean I know what it means
in my mind but what what does what's the Greek word mean? Here's what it means. To arrive,
to be present, to seek intimacy with. to become a follower, to
come to Christ. Now, I grew up knowing and hearing
that word, come to the Lord, come to the Lord. And in my mind,
I had to associate based on what I was taught with walking down
an aisle. I mean, that was the only thing
that I had to really grasp hold of, coming to Christ, walking
down the aisle. But there's a coming in a believer's
heart. It's not an outward motion. It's not an outward form. It
is a heart coming. It is a desire to seek intimacy
with Him, to come to Him. Now, I want us to see what does
the Lord have to say about coming to Him? This is an important
thought. Have I come to Christ? Have I? I know what it means, I can see
what it means. Have I come to the Lord? Would you desire to
know? Would you desire to know something
of the spiritual evidence set forth in God's Word, what happens
not only outwardly, but what happens according to the Scriptures
inwardly in coming to Christ? I want to know what the Spirit
of God has to say about coming to the Lord. Now let's look at
Matthew 8 verses 1 to 8. When he was come down from the
mountain, great multitudes followed him. Now, let me ask you, let's
just look for a second, what had just happened? Matthew 5,
6, and 7. The Lord had been preaching
a sermon. Three chapters he had preached
the Sermon on the Mount. And he had just finished. Now look at the last couple of
verses. Matthew 7 verses 27, 28, 29. Matthew 7, 28, 29. It
came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished
at his doctrine. For he taught them as one having
an authority, and not as the scribes. Now, they'd heard the
Lord preaching, and the doctrine that he was preaching, they were
astonished. Now, gladly amazed and gripped
in their heart, Here's another word of that word astonished.
It was fresh to them. They heard something that just
amazed them. This man was preaching, not like
the scribes were preaching. This man was preaching with authority. His word pierced their heart. He had just preached a parable.
That's one of the last things that he'd been preaching. He
was in verse 24. He said, Therefore, whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken
him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock. The rain
descending, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon
the house. It fell not, for it was founded
upon a rock. And every one that heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man which built his house upon the sand. The rain descended,
the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon the house, and
it fell, and great was the fall of it." And as soon as he'd finished
those sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine. What he had been preaching concerning
was the difference between true faith and a false faith. What he had been preaching was
about the building of a house on a rock or on the sand, but
actually what he was preaching was the difference between man's
will and God's will. There's a difference between
sovereign grace and foolish man's works. He was man's works and
God's work. And that astonished them. They
were hearing something other than what they'd always heard.
They came up under the scribes and these scribes, it had deteriorated
down to just works, works, works, law. That's all it was. It was just
go to the Sabbath day, don't do anything. That's why the Apostle
Paul, remember he said, I came up concerning righteousness,
the law, blameless. All he knew was the rules and
the regulations and these people were listening to the Lord preaching.
He taught them that he was the rock. upon which a man must build,
that he was the chief cornerstone. And that astonished them. They
heard that you build upon me and you'll never perish. You build upon me. He was the refuge of safety. He was stability. And that astonished them. I remember
the first time that I ever truly heard. I'm not talking about
when the Lord revealed Christ to me. I'm talking about when
I first heard anything of sovereign grace. So many of you grew up
hearing the message of grace, sovereign grace. I never heard
the gospel until I was in my late twenties. I'd never heard. I'd never heard of electing grace,
predestinating grace. I'd never heard of it, never
heard it. We had a study course one time. You don't even know what a study
course is. A study course. It's just a little prepared booklet.
We're going to go through this booklet. It's going to take a
week. Somebody's going to teach it.
They took a book. They took a book of the Bible.
We'd have a study course. We'd go, Chuck, every night.
Monday through Friday night. Go to the study course. I was pastoring a Southern Baptist
church. The church that I was pastoring
when the Lord was pleased to reveal Christ to me. And I picked
up one of the study course books and it was on the book of Romans.
I was excited to see what is this book going to say concerning
Romans 8 and Romans 9 and 10. It wasn't even there. It just
skipped it. You're going to study the book
of Romans and it just skipped it. I had never heard, these people
heard the Lord preached. And the scripture says they were
astonished at his doctrine. This man taught them as one that
had authority. Not as the scribes. He taught
them that the house or the hope of their salvation is going to
be tried. What? Outward trials? Yeah, yeah. But the true trial of a man's
hope, a man's stability, a man's house is going to be God's Word. Hold your place right there and
turn to John 12. John 12, 46. John 12, 46. I was reading this
again and I thought, oh, how revealing. John 12, 46. The Lord said, I am come a light
into the world that whosoever believeth on me. should not abide in darkness.
The reason I make such... I want to qualify when I read
something like this, because I remember what it was to sit
and have a scripture like this not explained to me. I remember what it was like to
sit and hear these scriptures just glazed over. I'm come a
light into the world that whosoever believeth on me. That is excluding
all of my work. See, I always believed, I always
heard that, you know, by me believing on the Lord, I therefore was
saved. Nobody ever told me that the
Lord saved me first. And then I believed. I'm come a light into the world
that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
If any man hear my words and believe not, I judge him not. For I came not to judge the world,
but save the world. He that rejecteth me and receiveth
not my words hath one that judges him. The word that I've spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day." This is what I know.
this word that we're looking at tonight is going to be the
very foundation of our judgment. I know that. And I know in my
heart, I'm convinced that God has taught me that to build my
hope, build my house upon the sand of my choice and my will
and my baptism and my this and my that and my other, it's going
to fall. I know it's going to fall. I'm
convinced of that. I don't want to build upon the
sand of my own ability. That's what it is. That's the
sand upon which a man builds his house. If the house built
upon Christ alone is going to stand, build it upon the sand
of myself, and it's going to fail. The Lord taught them with
authority. He didn't offer an opinion. It
wasn't a question and answer debate. He didn't order a speculative
theory. He taught them with authority. This is the way it is. Well,
Matthew 8. Now let's just look for just
a minute at the open manifestation. What happens? What is the evidence
of one who has built his house, his hope, upon the rock. What's
the evidence of that? Well, the scripture says, verse
2, and behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord,
if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And behold, See this. Look upon this. Behold. View this as being so. There came a leper. Luke 5.12
says a man full of leprosy. Here was a man dying. This man had a disease which
was no known cure. Leprosy had one end. You're going to die. Here was
a man who was an outcast from the fold. Unclean. Unclean. No fellowship. No fellowship. Don't come near me. I've got
leprosy. No comfort. Never went to bed
with any kind of thought of hope. Never woke up. Never woke up
during the night. Not one time ever thinking maybe
there's a chance. Not humanly speaking. Here was
a picture of a man truly convinced of sin and the effects. Leprosy had no known cure. And sin? What does the scripture
say concerning sin? The soul that sinneth, you're going to die. And all
have sinned. and come short of the glory of
God. Now this is the way it is. This is man by nature. But the
scripture says, behold, there came a leper. Here was a leper
who was a representative of every poor, wretched, dying sinner. Here was A man convinced, I'm
a leper. I am a dying man. I'm a walking dead man. It's just a matter of time for
me. I don't have anything to look forward to. This is what
I know is so. There's two things. Here's the
first thing I know. This man was convinced, I'm a
leper. I am a leper. Until the Lord reveals to a man
or a woman, you are a helpless, hopeless, dying sinner. He's not coming. He's not coming
to Christ. He'll come to the water. He'll
come to his will, he'll come to his profession, he'll come
to his church membership, he'll come to anything, but he won't
come to Christ. Because he's not convinced that he's hopelessly
lost. He still believes he can do something.
Every man, every woman is born convinced, I can do something. There's, there's, it's not hopeless
yet. This, this leper could will to
be freed from the bondage of leprosy. You can will all you
want to. He could exercise his free will. He could, he could dip himself
in every pool of water in the area. He could start tithing. He can fast. He can try to do
every wonderful work. He can turn over a new leaf.
He can straighten up and fly right. And you know what? He's
done all that he can possibly do and he's still a leper. I
think about Naaman. Nobody can read Naaman. Like
the first kings. He was a captain. of the Syrian
army and by him the Lord had brought a mighty victory. All
of these great credentials and right down here at the bottom
it says, but he was a leper. He was going to die. A man, a woman is born a spiritual
leper and you have no ability, I have no ability to change it.
I cannot change it. I cannot exercise anything and
change my condition before God. He was convinced that he was
a leper. There came a leper. But I tell
you what this leper was also convinced of. The Lord is my
only hope. I don't have another hope. The
scripture says he came And he worshiped him. You look up that definition of
worship. You know what it says? To kiss
the hand. To kiss the hand. It's like a
dog that comes and licks the hand of its master. Psalm 212. Kiss the son, lest
he be angry. and you perish from the way when
his wrath is kindled but a little, blessed are all they that put
their trust in him." It's only when the Spirit of
God has given a man or woman a heart to have no confidence
in their flesh. This man's a leper. If he could change his condition,
Pat, he'd have done it. He'd already done it. I don't
know if that's good English, but you know what I'm saying.
He'd have done something. He wouldn't still be a leper,
I tell you that, if he could change it. If there was anything
he could do. And he acknowledged the Lord
Jesus to be the sovereign God. He worshipped Him, saying, Lord, You're God. Here's a beggar, a dying, leprous
beggar before the sovereign of this universe. This is the one
that Isaiah said, I saw the Lord. You go back there and read that
and get a chance. Isaiah 6, 1, through there. I saw the Lord. It's capital L, little o, little
r, little d. Isaiah said, I saw the Lord Jesus
Christ sitting on the throne. I saw the Lord. Lord, here is the Lord that that dying
thief cast himself upon for mercy. Lord, when you enter into your
kingdom, would you remember me? Lord, would you look upon me
in mercy? And this leper right here, and
here's the evidence. I mean, this leper is a picture. If we don't see this leper as
a picture of every needy sinner convinced of his need, he's the
leper. Now that ended that part of it
for him. but what he saw by grace and
by faith concerning the Lord. Here's a man God's done something
for. I can tell you this, this man,
without faith, he'd never, he'd have never come and worshipped. He wouldn't have worshipped.
This man came and worshipped God and he said, Lord, and listen
here, listen to this evidence. Everything hinged upon the Lord's
will. Lord, if thou wilt, I know you can, but I'm just
asking you, if you will, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Lord, if it pleases you, I don't
deserve it. I've done nothing to merit it. You're God. You've made me. This
leprosy that I have, it's the effect of sin. And I know it. I don't have anything that I
didn't deserve. I'm a rebel against you, a rebel against all that
you are. Say it. And if I die, if I perish,
I'm going to receive exactly what was coming to me. And you're
just. But Lord, I'm just asking you. I'm just asking. Lord, if you
will, you can make me clean. And I'm just going to leave it
there, Lord, in your hands. And Jesus put forth his hand
and touched him. Mark 1.41 of this same account
says Jesus was moved with compassion and put forth his hand and touched
him, saying, I will. Be thou clean. And immediately
his leprosy was cleansed. That man's leprosy proved to
be the means by which God was pleased to cause that man, humanly
speaking, but it was according to God's eternal will, that the
Lord was going to bring that man to himself. Gave that man
leprosy. You say, well, I don't see why
the Lord had to do that. What the Lord did was right.
gave him leprosy. How many times have many of us
in this congregation, has the Lord been pleased to give us
something that He used, He was pleased to use, to cause us to
see the frailty of our flesh? I'll tell you this, whenever
the Lord is pleased to touch our bodies or give us an infirmity,
something like that, Doesn't it seem as though to us that
we're reminded more quickly how frail we are? Oh, the hope that a man has when
that man is found to cast himself upon the mercy of God. He just
doesn't want to cast himself on himself anymore. He did at
one time, but he finds no pleasure in that. It's just, it's repulsive
to him. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? And then the Lord
Jesus, in verse 4, saith unto him, See thou tell no man. Now listen, there was a multitude
standing around him. The scripture says when he was
come down, verse 1, from the mountain, great multitudes followed
him. They're following him. They're all around him. And a
leper walks up to him. And then the conversation between
the Lord and that leper takes place. And this multitude is
standing there. And the Lord says, See thou tell
no man, but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, offer
the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony. What was the
Lord telling him? Now, they were still under that
Mosaic law. Here was the law, the Lord came
into this world, He said, I came to fulfill the law. He fulfilled
every jot and tittle of the law. And the law commanded a healed
leper, you go to the priest and let the priest examine you and
declare you to be clean, healed. And this man still had, and the
Lord absolutely in obedience to the law. Here's what He said,
they're all standing there. Here's what he said, don't stop
and talk to anyone. You go right now and follow the
dictates of the law to be a testimony unto the priests of the Lord's
authority. I just imagined he's going to
go and tell them when he said, well, how'd you get healed? This man, Jesus of Nazareth,
he's the Messiah. He touched me and I was clean immediately. The Lord Jesus Christ was proven
by miracles and signs and wonders to be the Christ. And while they
all stood there, the Lord told this man, you go right now. to the priest and you tell them
what great things the Lord's done for you. The lessons from
a leper. Here is an example of what happens
when God Almighty saves a man, saves a woman. They see themselves
for what they are. And they see the Lord for who
He is. And they come to Him as a beggar. Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean. I tell you this, any man or woman
that asks that in their heart, the Lord's already given them
a new heart. Bless the word to our hearts for Christ's sake.
Amen.