Luke chapter 17, beginning in
verse 11. And 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 10 men that were lepers, which stood
afar off. And they lifted up their voices
and said, Jesus, master, have mercy on us. And 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. Now, keep that in mind. These
men were all healed, cleansed, made clean. Can you imagine what
that must have been like? They saw these ulcers disappear. Maybe extremities that had rot
away came back. They were all cleansed. Verse 15, and one of them, when
he saw that he was healed, turned back and with a loud voice glorified
God and he fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, were
there not 10 cleansed? But where are the nine? They
are not found that returned to give glory to God save this stranger. And he said unto him, arise,
go thy way, thy faith. have made thee whole." I've entitled this message, Religious
or Saved? Religious or Saved? Now we read here of 10 men. All of these men were lepers. And all of these men had a type
of respect for the law. The scripture says they stood
afar off, which is what the law commanded a leopard to do, to
stand afar off. These men all believed that Christ
could heal them. These men all cried for mercy.
These men all did what Christ told them to do, go thy way to
the priest. And these men all had a life-changing
experience. That's so important. They all
had a life-changing experience. They were different. Yet, only
one returned to the Lord to give thanks. Only one. Of these 10 lepers, we only know
of one that was actually saved. Because Christ said, go thy way,
thy faith hath made thee whole. And that word made whole is the
same word that's generally translated saved. By grace are ye saved. Same word. We know that this
man was saved. He said to the woman who washed
his feet with tears, thy faith hath saved thee. Now this is
saving faith. These other men were religious
and we would commend them for what they did, but only one was
saved. What I want us to consider is
what was the difference? What's the difference between
being saved and being religious? And I hope that you and I can
leave this morning knowing the difference. Now you know that
leprosy is the great type of sin in the scripture. It's easily
curable today with antibiotics, but back then it was the most
dreaded disease. And there's so much time devoted
to it in the scriptures. When you had this disease, you
would have ulcers all over your body. Your extremities would
rot off, you'd lose your nose, you'd lose your fingers. And
it was a painless disease, but a deadly disease. Now, ten lepers, what a sight
this must have been, covered with ulcers, their extremities
rotting away. And Luke points out that they
stood afar off, as the Bible told them to. Leviticus chapter
13, verse 46, we read, all the days wherein the plague shall
be in him, he shall be defiled, he's unclean, he shall dwell
alone without the camp shall his habitation be. Ten lepers
standing afar off, misery loves company. Now look at verse 11,
and it came to pass. I love that in the scripture,
don't you? It came to pass. It was determined
and it came to pass. And it came to pass as he went
to Jerusalem, and we know this was his final journey to Jerusalem.
He was going there to die. He'd set his face as a flint
to go to Jerusalem. And it came to pass as he went
to Jerusalem that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
Now he took a detour. He took a detour. This was not
the shortest way to Jerusalem, but he went this way, no doubt
for this purpose. Remember how it says he must
need to go through Samaria? Now, the only reason why he must
need to do anything is he must need to do his father's will.
And one of his elect was there, and he was going after her. So
he takes this detour to come after this one leper. Verse 12, and as he entered into
a certain village, there met him 10 men that were lepers,
which stood afar off. And I have no doubt that these
lepers, every one of them, had heard of Christ healing lepers. You know, one of my favorite
scriptures is there in Matthew chapter 8, right after the Sermon
on the Mount, a leper came and worshiped him very early in his
public ministry, saying, Lord, if you will, You can make me
clean. You know what the Lord said to
him? I will. What power in his I will. There is no power in our I will.
There's all power in his I will. I will. be thou clean." Now,
these lepers had heard of his power to cure leprosy. That's why they asked what they
did. Look in verse 13, and they lifted up their voices and said,
Jesus, master, have mercy on us. And the word master here
is not teacher the way it generally is, but it's commander. They
had a high respect for the Lord Jesus Christ. The disciples used
this word in addressing Christ in recognition of his authority. Master, we've toiled all night
and have caught nothing nevertheless at thy word, because you said
it, we'll let down the net again. They understood something about
the authority of Christ. He spake as one having authority. And they said, master, in terms
of respect, Master, have mercy on us. They were asking for the
right thing. Mercy. Mercy. That's what I need, is mercy. And they were all asking for
the right thing. So these men are all to be commended so far.
And they all had a respect for the law. They stood afar off
and they were all in dead earnest. They lifted up their voices,
Master. Have mercy on us. Now, look at
the way the Lord responded to them. Verse 14, and when he saw
them, all 10 of these men, he said unto them, go show yourselves
unto the priests. Now, if you read Leviticus chapters
13 and 14, I think, are the chapters. You're given specific instructions
concerning what the leper was to do. If he was healed, if he
met certain criteria, he would show himself to the priest. And
if the priest examined him and said, he's healed, he was set
free after there was a certain sacrifice that had to be done
for him. But he was to show himself to the priest. Now, the Lord
didn't say to these men, you're healed. Go show yourself to the
priest. He said, go show yourself to
the priest. This is very important. They
could have said, well, if I was healed, I'd go show myself to
the priest. It was nothing like that at all.
He said, go show yourself to the priest. And with absolutely
no evidence that they had been healed, none at all, they were
commanded to go show themselves to the priest. As they went, as they went. Now before they
went, as they went, they were healed. Can you imagine what
that must have felt like? All of a sudden, his nose is
back. The ulcers have disappeared. As they went toward the priest,
they were healed miraculously, powerfully. Every single one
of them, what kind of life-changing experience would that be? As
they went, not before they went. Christ said, you go show yourself
to the priest. And as they went, they were healed. Now we can learn something about
saving faith here. We are called upon to trust the
Lord Jesus Christ right now. Everybody in this room, you're
commanded. to trust the Lord Jesus Christ. God commands all men everywhere
to repent. We are commanded to trust the
Lord Jesus Christ, just as I am in all my sinfulness, to trust
him to save me. Now, some think, well, I need
more evidences before I can really believe I've been saved. I need
to have a deeper experience. I need to have a deeper repentance. I need to stop committing certain
sins or become a better Christian with a better life before I can
really believe he saved me." Well, that's very much like saying,
I'm not going to take that medicine until I'm better, or I'm not
going to eat until I stop being hungry. That's ridiculous, isn't
it? In all of my sinfulness, and
nothing but my sinfulness, I'm called upon to trust Christ to
save me. Just as I am, and waiting not
to rid my soul of one dark blot, to thee whose blood can cleanse
each spot, O Lamb of God, I come. Just as I am, though tossed about
with many a conflict, many a doubt, Fightings within and fears without,
O Lamb of God, I come. Just as I am poor, wretched,
blind, sight, riches, healing of the mind, yea, all I need
in thee I find, O Lamb of God, I come. And as they went, they
were cleansed. You believe on Christ. You trust who he is and what
he did as all that is needed to save you. And beloved, you
are saved. You really are. As they went,
they were cleansed. Your sins are purged away, blotted
out, separated as far from you as the east is from the west,
canceled. Now, listen to this scripture.
I love it. This is one of my favorite scriptures in the Bible.
It's in Revelation 22, verse 17, whosoever willed, let him
take the water of life freely. Now, this is not a verse of scripture
regarding free will, you know that. It's not. But I love the word whosoever. I'm one of them. Whosoever. I can put myself in that group.
Whosoever. Whosoever will. I think of what
our Lord said to that man, will thou be made whole? Are you willing
to be saved by Christ? But I don't know enough. Well, it doesn't say whosoever
know enough. Let him take the water of life free. This is whosoever
will. Are you willing to be saved by Christ on his terms in a way
that he gets all the glory? But I feel like I need to be
more holy. It doesn't say whoever's more
holy, let him take the water of life freely. It says whosoever
will. Whosoever will, let him take. That answers every objection,
but I'm just too sinful. Let him take. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Let him take. Let him take. It's
wide open. And there's only one condition.
Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Freely. That means without a
cause, without a cause in you. Now this is God's word. Whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely. You're commanded to come, I'm
commanded to come. Now, let me ask you a question.
Can you trust Christ alone to save you? Now, what do I mean
by that? I mean that Christ is all you
have. You don't have any evidences and you can't look it within
your heart and say, well, I must be saved because I'm this or
I'm that. No, all you have is Christ. Would that be you? Where
he's all you have? Verse 15, now all 10 of them,
as they went, they were cleansed. Verse 15, and one of them, one of them, when he saw that
he was healed, turned back and with a loud voice glorified God
and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. Now, one and only one, when he
saw that he was healed. Now, the others saw that they
were healed, didn't they? I mean, they experienced this
life-changing event. They saw that they were healed.
But 21 times in the New Testament, this same word, that, is translated,
how that. He is the one who saw how that
he was healed. The other saw they were healed,
but he saw how that he was healed. I know this, this man clearly
understood that Christ did it all. He saw how that he was healed. The gospel is how that Christ
died for our sins, according to the scriptures. He saw how
that he was healed. He saw, the scripture says, he
understood that Christ healed him. You know, the word healed
here is in the passive. He knew that Christ did it all.
He had no doing in this. Christ did it all. You know,
when I think of, we believe the doctrine of grace. I don't know
whether we ought to call it the doctrines of grace because it's
not a bunch of different doctrines. It's just one doctrine, the doctrine
of grace. Every time the word doctrines is used in the plural
in the scripture, it's with reference to false doctrine. There's only
one doctrine, the doctrine of grace. Men being God being absolutely
sovereign, men being totally depraved, God unconditionally
electing a people to salvation before time began, Christ dying
for them and accomplishing their salvation, the grace of the Holy
Spirit being irresistible and invincible, the perseverance
of the saints caused by all that. You know, that fellow might not
have ever heard those doctrines up to that point or that doctrine,
but as soon as he heard them, he said, yep, that's it. That's
how God saved me. That's how God saved me. Did it all. Jesus paid it all. All the dead
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He made it white as snow. He
saw how that he was healed. Now, do you see that if you're
saved, Christ did it all? You believe that, don't you?
That's the gospel, isn't it? Christ did it all. This man clearly
understood this and there was a individuality about this man. He was the only one who came
back. You admire him. He did this alone. He wasn't
following the crowd. There was a promptness to it.
He turned back immediately. There was an intensity to it.
He cried. There was a humility to it. He
felt at his feet. And here is the main point right
here. This is the difference between this man and everybody
else. Look in verse 15. And one of them, when he saw
that he was healed, turned back and with a loud voice glorified
God and fell down on his feet, giving him thanks. And he was
a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, where
they're not 10 cleansed, but where are the nine? They're not
found the return to give glory to God, save this stranger."
Now, notice the language. Let me read this in a way and
I hope you'll hear what's being said. And one of them, when he
saw that he was healed, turned back and with a loud voice glorified
God and fell down on his face and his feet. Whose feet? God's
feet. God's feet. This man knew who
Jesus Christ was. He wasn't like God. He wasn't
like God at all. This man is God. He fell at his feet, giving him
thanks, knowing who he was. He was God. This man worshiped
him as God. Now, you'll only worship an absolute
sovereign. And when this man fell at his
feet, he knew he was nobody less than the eternal, uncreated,
divine being, the second person of the blessed Trinity, God.
You know, everybody that Christ saves, they know he's God. Every
single one of them. The thief knew it. The thing
said, don't you fear God? He wasn't talking about this
one on the cross is God. Don't you fear God seeing you're
in the same condemnation? Look with me in Luke chapter
eight. I love this. Luke chapter eight, the gathering demonic. Verse 39, he said, Return to
thine own house and show how great things God hath done unto
thee. And he went his way and published
throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto
him. Understand this. What we believe is determined
by who we believe. If I believe that Jesus Christ
is God, the doctrine becomes obvious,
doesn't it? It becomes obvious. I love when Philip said to the
Ethiopian eunuch, he said, after the eunuch said, what hinders
me from being baptized? Am I a candidate for baptism?
Can I be ... I want to know if there's something
that's keeping me back. Let me know. What hinders me
from being baptized?" And he said, if you believe with all
your heart, you may. And I love his answer. He didn't
say, I believe I'm saved. He didn't say, I believe I'm
a Christian. He didn't say, I believe I'm
one of the elect. He didn't say, I believe I've
been born again. He said, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the son of God. You believe that? It's called
saving faith. Now, these other fellas, they
knew Christ was a great healer, a great prophet, but they didn't
believe he was God. But this man fell at his feet,
giving him thanks. And look what else it says about
this man. Verse 15, and one of them, just one of them. When he saw that he was healed,
turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God. He glorified God. He gave God the glory. Now, here's
the difference between being religious and being saved. When
you're saved, you give God all the glory. All of it. All of it. You don't give your free will
the glory. You don't give your works the glory. You don't give
the preacher the glory. You don't give the church the
glory. You don't give the soul winner the glory. You give Him the glory. And this is a critical, critical
... Well, this is the difference between loving Christ. If you
don't feel like it's necessary to give Him all the glory, you
don't love Him. It really is that simple. This is an issue
of love. If you love Him, you give Him
all the glory. Like David said, not unto us,
not unto us, but into thy name give glory, for thy mercy and
for thy truth's sake. All that's so important to give
Him the glory. You can't stomach anything that
gives man any glory at all. And if you can, you're just religious. You're just religious. And notice
what else it says regarding this man. Verse 16, he fell down on
his face at his feet, giving him thanks. giving him thanks. Now, religious people fret over
what they don't have. They fret over what they don't
have. Somebody that God has saved thanks
him for what they do have. You know, I think it's amazing
to watch a two or three year old child His mom or dad says,
say thanks. He didn't want to do it. I think that demonstrates the
depravity of man as much as anything else. I mean, no kid naturally
wants to... You got to teach him to be thankful. You got to
teach him. It doesn't come natural. Paul, or whoever wrote Hebrews,
said, let your conversation be without
covetousness. The only way you and I can be
without covetousness is to have nothing to covet. He said be content with such
things as you have. What do you have? I have Christ. I am my beloved's and my beloved
is mine. I have grace. I have justification. I stand before God without guilt.
I have sanctification. I'm holy. I'm holy. I have every
blessing of salvation. I have a new heart. I have the name of Christ. I
have my great intercessor in heaven right now appearing in
the presence of God for me. And when he is representing me,
he's not asking for favors. Oh, forgive him again. I know
he did it again. No, he simply shows the father
his hands and feet and nothing else has to be said. The very
justice of God demands the salvation of every believer. Now, what
do you have? Can't you give thanks? He fell
at his feet, giving him thanks. You know, religious people never
really do this. Now, let's go on reading verse 19. Verse 17, and Jesus answering said, were
there not 10 cleansed? But where are the nine? They
are not found that return to give glory to God, save this
stranger, this Samaritan. And he said unto him, arise,
go thy way. Thy faith, the faith that you
possess, have made thee whole, literally
have saved thee. Now, what was his faith? Now, this is the difference between
being religious and being saved. What was this man's faith? Well, first of all, and this
is what comes first, he believed that Jesus Christ was God. You believe that? Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is God Almighty, the absolute sovereign of the universe, the
creator of all things, the one in whose hands you are, and He
can do with you whatever He's pleased to do? You have no control,
and He has all control. Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is God, and you're in His hand right now, and your eternal destiny
is to be determined by him. You believe that? And he believed that Jesus Christ
was the dispenser of mercy. He said, Master, have mercy on
me. Now, this is one thing that every
truly saved person has in common. They all see the great need of
mercy. Now, the only time you ever ask
for mercy is when all your sin is all your fault. It's not somebody else's fault.
It's not Adam's fault. It's not your circumstances fault.
It's not your environment's fault. It's not your upbringing's fault.
It's your fault. It's all your fault. Now, only when your sin is all
your fault, that's when you cry for mercy. Master, have mercy
on me. And he had the obedience of faith. Go show yourself to the priest.
And with absolutely no evidence at all that he was healed, he
obeyed Christ's word. He went toward the priest. Now,
that's the obedience of faith. And this man saw how he was healed. He saw how he was healed. Now,
if you're healed, you know Christ healed you. You see that, don't
you? It's all his work. And he gave God all the glory. And he was thankful. And that
is the difference between religious and saved. Which group am I in? Which group are you in? Amen.