Once again with the help of God
I would like you to turn with me to the Gospel according to
Mark chapter 1 and the text you'll find in verse 40 and 41. And there came a leper to him,
beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto
him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus moved
with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith
unto him, I will be thou clean. another one of the miracles of
the Lord Jesus Christ. As he continues on in his ministries,
he passes from one place to another. That great crowd about him, as
we have seen, was continually following him. On this day, there
approached him a man that was a leper. In the Gospel according
to Mark, in chapter 5, the scripture tells us that this man was full
of leprosy. Luke chapter 5. Verse 12, it came to pass when
he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy. Seeing
Jesus fell on his face and besought him saying, Lord if thou wilt
thou canst make me clean. And he put forth his hand and
touched him saying, I will, be thou clean. And immediately the
leprosy had departed from him. And so it was a man who was filled
with leprosy, a man who was isolated from society, a man who was isolated
from the worship of God, a man who had been pronounced unclean
by the priests. And yet we find him seeking out
the Lord Jesus Christ in all of his uncleanness. We seek him
coming to the Lord Jesus Christ and asking to be cleansed of
his leprosy, cleansed from his uncleanness. And we find the
Lord Jesus Christ touching somebody who had been classed as ceremonially
unclean. We read in the book of Leviticus,
chapter 13, there is there the inspections that were done by
the priests concerning people who had signs of leprosy. Throughout the scripture, leprosy
is spoken about. There were different types of
leprosy, things that looked like leprosy, and so they had to be
examined and checked by the priests. they had been inspected. If it
was deemed that it wasn't leprosy that person was to be isolated
for seven days and they were to come back to the priest and
he was to inspect them again and should that leprosy or that
skin disease not have spread then that person was classed
as clean. they could go back into society,
they could enter into the temple but should that priest declare
that the leprosy had spread or that it was indeed leprosy itself
that that person was then isolated from the body, from the group,
from the town and had to live out in the leper camp or away
from all of the others. It wasn't just leprosy as we
know it, and we think of leprosy, we think of that disease which
affects the nerves and it causes the limbs to fall off due to
infection, but it was other types of skin diseases that could be
called leprosy in the Old Testament and these were things that could
be passed on to other people and you can see the wisdom of
God in this isolation so that the disease would not spread. These people were classed as
unclean. rendering them ceremonially unclean,
unable to enter into the temple, unable to worship God, unable
to mix with their families, unable to mix with their friends. They
were outcasts of society. And this man, as the scripture
tells us, he was full of leprosy. There was a missionary that I
read about years ago. His name was Paul Brand. He was a missionary doctor. He
went to work in India and he did pioneering work among the
lepers. The lepers in that country and
in other countries were stigmatized. Nobody would go near them. And
yet he began this work amongst them. He found out the the reason
for their leprosy, of a bacteria infecting the blood which would
then kill the nerves in the hands and in the feet. And then those
hands, because they were unable to feel, became infected, so
much so that their limbs would begin to drop off. He writes
that he went into, I think it was South America, And he found
people there who had leprosy so bad they were walking upon
the stumps of their legs. Their feet had rotted away completely
and they were walking on the stumps of their legs. Such was the hideousness of the
disease. Some countries it is still there,
but in our country, medication, it can be healed. Yet throughout
the scripture it is declared as a disease which renders somebody
unclean. Somebody is to be isolated from
society and separated from God. And it's almost like they were
abandoned. Abandoned. But he hears of the
Lord Jesus Christ. and he desires to seek him out
and to find him. And he asks Jesus, if thou wilt,
thou canst make me clean. It was only the priests who could
declare somebody as clean. The doctors were unable. It was a disease which rendered
somebody religiously, ceremonially unclean. It was the priest who
declared that that person was ceremonially unclean. Therefore
it was the priest who would have to declare that that person was
now freed from that disease and able to be called ceremonially
clean. And he couldn't go to the priest
because he was still full of leprosy. If he went to the priest
at the temple the priest would have declared him, it is obvious
that you are still infected because you are filled with leprosy. No doubt the priest wouldn't
even want to see him. He would have told him to get
back to your leprosy camp. Don't contaminate the temple. Keep away from everybody else. Cry out to unclean, unclean,
unclean as you walk through the streets. Make sure everybody
gets away from you and get back to your leper camp. So he knew that he couldn't go
to the priests because he knew that he was contaminated. So
he goes one better, he goes to the high priest, the great high
priest of the Lord Jesus Christ and he knew that if he came to
this great high priest the Lord Jesus Christ that if it was his
will he would have mercy upon him And he came to this great
high priest because he knew that if he willed he was able to cleanse
him from his sin. He had been no doubt hearing
about all the miracles of the Lord Jesus. How the sick were
being healed and he saw himself as sick. He saw himself as an
unclean person. And so he decides to make his
way to the great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, the King
of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the one who is able to save unto
the uttermost, the one who is able to cleanse him from his
uncleanness. And so he comes to the Lord Jesus
and he begs him. He beseeches him. He kneels down
at his feet and begs him. You can see how this man must
have been feeling. It's bad enough, isn't it, if
we've got the sick bug and we have to isolate ourselves at
home or we've got something else which we know is catching and
we hide away in our bedrooms. We don't want other people to
catch it. And if we hear that somebody
else has got the sick bug because we've been near them, we feel
terrible. Can you imagine how it is for this man? filled with
leprosy, unable to go to his wife, unable to go to his children,
unable to go to the worship of God, unable to communicate freely
with people around about him and then you hear of this one
who's able to help and he comes down and he begs him. falling
at his feet, he worships him, he prostrates himself before
the Lord Jesus Christ, acknowledging this great high priest, acknowledging
his greatness, that we can say that he is God. Because no man
is able to worship anyone other than God and so he falls down
at the feet of God, falls down at the feet of the Lord Jesus
Christ and begs him If thou wilt thou canst make me clean. If we go to the doctors there are some things that the
doctors can't help us with. There are some sicknesses, some
conditions that no matter how hard you beg the doctor You may
fall on the floor and beg him saying, please heal me of this
disease. And he may turn to you and say,
look, there's nothing more we can do. It's terminal. You've
got just a few weeks to live. And no matter how hard you beg
him or her, there's nothing they can do. Maybe they can give you
some painkillers to help you to soothe your journey to the
end. But they're at their limits. but not with the Lord Jesus Christ.
He has no limit. The man was at his limit and
he comes to the Lord Jesus Christ because he knew that Christ's
ability was limitless, that his power was beyond human understanding. And so he says, if you will,
you can make me clean. Jesus says, well Jesus moved
with compassion, puts forth his hand and touched him and saith
unto him, I will be thou clean. I want you to try and imagine
the situation. Jesus is in a town, a city we
read. The crowds are round about him. Multitudes followed him because
they wanted to see the miracles that he did. Then they see a leper. How would you think the people
would react? If they saw this man who was
full of leprosy the law states that he must cry out unclean,
unclean, unclean as he passes by the crowd so that people would
move out of the way. There would be nobody in that
crowd that would want to be anywhere near this man. Remember when
we had COVID and somebody coughed Everybody would panic and begin
to move away from that person just in case they got COVID. How afraid we were. Think of this leprosy, this hideous
disease of leprosy that causes your fingers to fall off, your
hands to fall off, your feet to fall off, your nose to fall
off, to be completely isolated from everybody and then there
is standing right next to the crowd a man who has a disease. Everybody would flee They'd be climbing over each
other to get away from this hideous man who's contaminated with leprosy. Nobody had an ounce of compassion
for him. Other than one man. The great
high priest. The son of God. God manifest
in the flesh. the Lord Jesus Christ, he was
moved with compassion for this man. You see leprosy was as a
sin as any other sickness was as the result of the fall
of Adam and Eve, the fall of mankind. And so what faced Christ
was the evidence of the corruption of his creation. Sin manifested in all its hideous
glory, the rotting away of flesh, putrefying sores and uncleanness. This man separated from God,
this man separated from family, this man abandoned by society
and yet Christ filled with compassion does the opposite of everybody
else and puts forth his hand and touches
him. Nobody would have touched this
man. The Bible tells us that those
who were leprous those who touched dead bodies and those who touched
people who had issues of blood they were themselves contaminated. They were themselves declared
as unclean and they were to isolate themselves for seven days. They were to go through ceremonial
washings to cleanse themselves from that contamination to make
themselves ceremonially clean once again but not with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Everybody moved backwards but
Jesus he moved forwards and touched him. You see uncleanness when mixed
with uncleanness creates a greater uncleanness you add dirty water
to dirty water it becomes even more dirty but Christ is the
spotless lamb of God he is the man without sin there is no sin
with him there is no fault with him he is the light that came
into the darkness And we know that light dispels darkness. Christ is the holy, spotless
Son of God. And as he communed with this
leprous man, as he touched this leprous man, Christ was not contaminated
by uncleanness. But in fact, the opposite takes
place. The unclean becomes clean. the man who was separated from
society and declared unclean. Now he is clean. Jesus says to him, I will be
thou clean. Immediately as Christ speaks,
The leprosy departs from him. If you remember the story of
Moses, Moses was there at the burning bush seeking to complain
or give reasons to God as to why he shouldn't be the one to
take the message to Pharaoh, the message to the leaders of
Israel. and the Lord tells him to throw his stick upon the floor
and it becomes a snake. He tells him take the snake by
the tail and immediately it becomes a stick again. But then he tells
him to place your hand into your bosom, pull it out again and
it becomes leprous, as white as snow. The hand is completely
covered in leprosy. Then God tells him, put it in
again. Puts it in again and pulls it
out. And it's exactly the same as the other. God has the power
to make sick and to heal. Christ speaks a word, be thou
clean. He wills it to take place. and the man is cleansed from
his leprosy. If you remember the story of Naaman, when he is there in
Syria and the little maid says to him, would God that my Lord
go to Syria and be healed of his leprosy? And we see that
he goes. to the Prophet. The Prophet tells
him, go and wash seven times in the Jordan. And he's so angry. He says, are not the rivers in
my land greater than all of the rivers of Israel? And yet his
servants encourage him and tell him, go and wash. Do as the Prophet
says. So he goes and he washes in the
Jordan seven times and he comes Like his flesh comes like that
of a little child, he's completely healed of his leprosy by walking
in obedience to the command of the Prophet. And so just as this
man comes to Christ, if thou will, if you will, if you are
willing to, then you can make me keen. He comes in complete
faith trusting in the ability of Christ should Christ have
that desire to cleanse him. Christ looking upon him with
compassion says I will be thou clean. But there's still one
part missing. You see this man had been declared
ceremonially unclean by the priest to fulfil the whole circle of
the law, the ceremonial law, that priest must have to declare
that this man has been cleansed. And so Jesus tells him to go
to the priest. and offer for thy cleansing those
things which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. The priest had to know, had to
see what Christ had done. He had to see that this man was
now cleansed from his leprosy and was able to continue and
to integrate back into society and to integrate back into the
worship of God. That's why I read to you Leviticus
14 I don't know whether you noticed all
the things that had to take place for this man it wasn't over.
Yes he had been cleansed from his leprosy and although he doesn't
do as the Lord Jesus Christ says if he was to have done what the
Lord Jesus Christ said then he would have to go to the temple,
he would have to go to the priest, he would have to find two birds,
he would have to find some lambs, And he would have to go through
the whole cleansing process, eight days of ceremonial cleaning
before he could enter back into society. But if you look at what
has to take place, two clean birds alive, cedarwood, scarlet,
and hyssop, and an earthen bowl. Two birds. One bird had to be
killed. Its blood had to be dropped into
the earthen bowl that was filled with running water. And that word running water can
actually be translated as living water. Water that has not stood
stagnant but water that is flowing. That bird is to be killed. Its
blood dropped into the water which is in the earthen bowl.
Then the live bird was to be dipped into the blood of the
dead bird with the water and the blood mixed together and
to be released. The priest was to get the cedar
wood or like a stick he was then to get scarlet and hyssop so
he had like a stick with a sponge on the end wrapped around with
a scarlet thread he was to take that stick and dip it into the
water and the blood mixed together and to touch the man upon his
left ear his left thumb and his left his left sorry right his
right ear his right thumb and his right toe and he was to do
the same with the oil. But as we look at this sacrifice. And we see these two birds. We see this water and blood mixed
together in an earthen vessel. We see this other bird flying
away to freedom covered in the blood of the other sacrifice. We see the perfect sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now as John writes about the
Lord Jesus Christ as he is upon the cross we read that he cried
out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? We read that
after he bowed his head and gave up the ghost that the soldiers
come along and they break the legs of the thief on the left
hand, the thief on the right hand but for the Lord Jesus Christ
they pierce his side. pierces his side and out of his
side comes out blood and water. Yes signifying the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ but surely it demonstrates to us also something
of the perfect sacrifice and the fullness of that sacrifice
in Christ Jesus as this living water was held in a earthen vessel. So Christ was the earthen vessel. His body like unto our body yet
without sin. We have this treasure in earthen
vessels the apostle tells us that our bodies are described
as earthen vessels they've come from the earth and one day they
will be broken and they will go back down into the earth.
Dust you are and dust we shall return and Christ being the man
of God having a body like unto our body, this earthen vessel,
water and blood mixed together, cleansing this leprous man or
signifying the cleansing and healing of this leprous man but
then also that birthed. the one that flies
away just like the scapegoat on the day of atonement a hand
placed upon its head confessing sin over that goat sent away
into the wilderness carrying the sins of the people of Israel
into the wilderness never to be remembered again about this
bird flying away, as it were, taking the curse, the ceremonial
uncleanness away. Or the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the fullness of that sacrifice. There the bird
being slaughtered, the blood and water mixed together and
then the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ as a flying
bird. flying into the countryside. He is not here. He is risen. And as we look at these wonderful
types and shadows of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament
none of them can fully picture the fullness of Christ's sacrifice
but we can take here a little and there a little and see the
greatness of the perfect sacrifice, the
Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. As for the
living bird, he shall take it and the cedar and the wood and
the scarlet and the hyssop and dip them in the living and the
living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the
running water. And he was to be loosed in an
open field. And so had this man, after being
cleansed from his leprosy, healed from his leprosy, should he have
gone back to the temple as Christ had declared to him, he would
have had to go and undergo this ceremonial cleansing to enable
him to integrate back into a society that Christ is the fulfilment
of that perfect sacrifice, the completion of the ceremonial
law. And so you and I, we don't have
to go through those ceremonies anymore. There are the two ordinances
that Christ has given us to follow, the baptism and the Lord's Supper. The laws of the Old Testament
are fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is that perfect sacrifice. He has cleansed everything by
entering up into glory itself and presenting to God the Father
his blood as the great high priest who died for his people. And he is not here. He is risen. And he rose again on that third
day. So we see that leprosy was the
cause for somebody to be ceremonially unclean and separated from society. Sin is what makes a person ceremonially
unclean today. Sin causes God to back away for
mankind. We see those, that crowd, they
saw this leper, they saw uncleanness, they saw putrefying sores and
they realised that they could also be contaminated from that
illness and so they backed away from him, they separated themselves
from him so that they would not be contaminated. Isn't that what
happened in the Garden of Eden? That God backed away from the
human race. Didn't their sin contaminate
them and they were estranged from God? Doesn't Revelation
tell us that nothing that defiles will ever enter into heaven?
That sin is that barrier, that leprosy that separates us from
God. We are unclean. Satan himself was cast out of
heaven because of his sin, because he rebelled against God, because
he was filled with pride and sought to overthrow the kingdom
of God. Cast to earth. And so sin is like leprosy, causing
us to be unclean and separated from God. We tolerate sin. Even in our culture, sin is praised
as great, as good. It's like a leprosy camp, this
world. We all have leprosy, so it doesn't
matter that we can all mix together. Yes, some may have greater degrees
of leprosy, may have their, as it were, their hands fallen off
because of their leprosy, their feet fallen off because of leprosy.
Some may be in a greater depth of sin than others, but the scripture
tells us we are all sinners in the sight of God. Therefore,
we're all on this great leprosy camp. And that's why we can tolerate
one another, but not so with God. when God looks he sees putrefying
sores of sin. Romans tells us how God views us. Romans 3 verse 10. As it is written
there is none righteous no not one. There is none that understand
it. There is none that seek it after
God. They are all gone out of the
way. They all together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good, no not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher
and their tongues they have used deceit. The poison of asps is
under their lips whose mouth is full of cursings and bitterness. who gives an illustration. The
scripture tells us what comes out of the heart. What comes
out of the mouth is what is going on within the heart. And so he
says that basically the heart is corrupt and so out of the
heart is seen this vileness. A mouth like an open sepulcher. In our country we are very sheltered
from death. When people pass away, they're
taken from us to the funeral directors. They are dealt with. They come to the service in a
box. They're then taken to the grave.
The grave is already dug. They're placed nicely in the
grave. We go home. Somebody covers it
all over. And this disgustingness of death
is hidden. you know if you go to other countries
where they don't have the privileges that we have and you come to
the around the grave of someone who has passed away and the weather
is hot the stench it is absolutely disgusting if you've ever passed
by the road and someone has killed a deer And that deer's been left
there for a few days. It stinks of death. You know,
we as a family, we can now tell the smell of death by what we
have experienced in Kenya. And God says your mouth is as
an open sepulcher. It's death. It stinks to God. Because we are all part of this
leprous colony of this world, we are corrupted by sin, we speak
lies, poison is under our lips, our mouths are full of cursing
and bitterness. Our feet swift to shed blood
Destruction and misery are in our ways The way of peace we
have not known And there is no fear of God in their eyes. that's how God looks at this
world that is what he sees to somebody who is outside of the
Lord Jesus Christ just totally corrupted by sin and separated
from him there is no good in them whatsoever even when they
think that they do good, God says evil is present with them,
their righteousnesses, their works of righteousnesses are
as filthy rags before a holy God and so it's us that dulled
sin down so it's not so bad, we're just as bad as each other
but we have to look at it from what scripture tells us about
ourselves because the heart is corrupt then every other part
of us and everything that we do is also corrupt we're just
like this leprous man full of leprosy and we're without hope
except for the Lord Jesus Christ. You see if it wasn't for the
Lord Jesus Christ then we would be estranged or separated from
God for all eternity. we could say as all heaven backs
away from the sinners Christ steps forward and says I will
bear the punishment instead. I will be thou clean. Is that how you have come this
morning? Have you come realizing the extent
of your sin? Do you realize that you are a
leper, a sinful leper before a holy God and you are separated
from God and nothing you can do can ever bring reconciliation
to God? You've come to realize there
is one that can help you and you've come to realize that it's
the Lord Jesus Christ. so you've come this morning or
may it be that he gives you the grace to come this morning to
ask him if thou will if you will dear lord jesus be can you clean
me of my sin if thou wilt thou canst make
me clean. And Jesus moved with compassion,
put forth his hand and touched him and said unto him, I will
be thou clean. Jesus he did not come to save
righteous people he tells us, he came to save sinners. Those
who are clean in their own eyes don't need the Lord Jesus Christ
but it's sinners who need the Lord Jesus, those who understand
that they are leprous and that they need this salvation and
so they come humbly before him. If thou wilt thou canst make
me clean I will be thou clean. Then go and show yourself to
the priests. The scripture tells us that the
believers of God are priests in Christ. We are kings and priests. We are prophets. So what is it
saying? Go and show yourself to the church
and tell them what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. This man he
went and declared to everywhere all that Christ had done for
him. Go and show yourselves to the priest, go and show yourselves
to the church and testify all that Christ has done for you
and cleansed you from your sin then. Go and live a life in this
world of ours as a light, not in a dark place, but a light
set upon a hill, a light that brings glory to the one who has
redeemed you and saved you. I will be thou clean. Amen. May the Lord help us as we close
this sermon by singing hymn number 206, Salvation is of Grace. How sovereign is the love of
God to Israel's favoured race. Paid is the mighty debt they
owed, salvation is of grace. Hymn number 206, the tune 177. Faith is the love of God, To
Israel's faithful praise. Faith is the mighty death they
owe, Salvation is the praise. ? Salvation is all around you
? ? It's the way of beginning new ? ? Each choice and sailor's
call is true ? Emmanuel, Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
Emmanuel, Emmanuel, Emmanuel. Salvation is a praise. Salvation is a praise. Salvation is all praise, salvation
it is. Almighty God, we do thank Thee
for that way that has been made for sin and for uncleanness,
that those who are leprous in sin are able to be cleansed in
Thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We do thank Thee that it is of
grace that we are saved and we pray that Thy grace may be manifested
unto us, that many sinners may look and live and enquire at
the Lord Jesus Christ for their cleansing. to be with us and
we pray as we part from each other and we ask lord that thou
draw near to us once again this evening and now may the grace
of the lord jesus christ and the love of god the father with
the fellowship and communion of the holy spirit to be with
you all now and forevermore amen