chapter 1. Mark chapter 1. Be looking this morning at verses
40 through 42. The Scripture says, And there
came a leper unto 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 said unto him, I will
be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken,
immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was The title of the message this
morning is Jesus the willing healer. Jesus the willing healer. We have before us here in this
passage of scripture a man who is said to be a leper. A leper
seeking mercy from the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we have just read,
He obtained mercy. He came to the Lord Jesus Christ
with a very bad condition. He was a leper, in great need. And he saw that the Lord Jesus
Christ alone had power to heal him. He didn't know if he would. He came to Jesus recognizing
his power, must have heard of what he had done or seen some
of the miracles that he had performed earlier. And he knew that this
man was given power to heal. But he didn't know if he would. But he came nonetheless in hopes
of obtaining mercy. And he did find mercy. He did
find the Lord Jesus Christ willing. Jesus said, I will, I will be
thou clean. And immediately this man was
cleansed. Now we don't know much about
this man other than his condition. He was a leper. And because of
his condition, we know that this man was an outcast. This man
was an outcast. He was put out from his family. He was put out from his friends
according to the law. Put out from the city. Put out
from the worship of God. He was an outcast. This man had
lost all of his possessions in this world. The only thing this
man had was a filthy garment that he wrapped his body in.
It covered his deformed weak and decaying flesh. One man wrote
of this dreadful disease and described it as one that loses,
has leprosy, has lost all of his hair. Their skin is so full
of sores that ooze constantly. Their joints and limbs would
shrink up, their gums would shrink and they would lose all of their
teeth. The stench of these leprous men
were so bad that they were called the walking dead. This man was no man who had the
flu. This guy was not someone who
had a rash. This is not someone who had a
malady that is commonly healed. He had the walking dead consummation
disease. He was being eaten from within. His flesh was being consumed
off of his very bones. This man had a great need. And yet Jesus, seeing this man,
You notice that Jesus didn't do what we would have done. What
would have, what? If you were to be honest with
yourself and you had this fellow come to you in that condition,
do you not suppose you would shrink from him? You would not
suppose you would find a way to get out of this, to get away
from this man, even from the stench of this man. Yet we find the Lord Jesus Christ
not shrinking from this man, not trying to get away from this
man. But we read the Lord Jesus Christ
was moved with compassion, compassion toward this man. that he's seeing
this poor, friendless, hopeless, helpless beggar kneeling before
him, he reaches out his hand, and not as to reach out his hand
like the priest would do over a congregation, no, he reaches
down his hand and touches this man. We would be honest, none of us
would do any of that. He has compassion on him and
kneels down and touches him with his hand. And with the word of
divine power and authority, he says, I will be thou clean. And as soon as he said that,
immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Now we know that Jesus' miracles
were good to those who received them. Don't you think this man
enjoyed this miracle? You think he was very appreciative
that he was healed of this great disease? Yes, it was good to
that man. And I tell you, his miracles
all testified of his deity. No man could heal this, and we'll
see this in a minute, no man could heal leprosy except God.
Only God could heal leprosy. So this miracle proves his divinity,
his power and divinity. of which everyone is saved by
the grace of God is taught of the Holy Spirit. But miracles
in the Scripture have another means that the Spirit of God
intends. And that is to show men how Christ
saves sinners. Miracles are a picture. Picture,
just like the Passover lamb. The Passover lamb, they took
that lamb, they killed that spotless lamb, they put the blood on the
doorpost and the lentil, and that night the Spirit of God
came through and passed over everyone who had the blood. Now
that's a picture of Christ, isn't it? It's a picture. He's the
lamb. He was slain and His blood is applied to our hearts and
everyone who has the blood of Christ God passes over because
our sins have already been punished. You see, it's a picture. Well,
so are miracles. When you look at these miracles,
they're not just for the person that received them. They're not
just to prove the deity of Christ, but they are to preach to us. Isn't that what Jesus said in
the previous verse in 38? He said, let us go to the next
towns that I may preach. Preach. And you notice we don't
have a sermon here. There's no sermon that follows.
How is he preaching? By his miracles. He's preaching. He's preaching how it is that
sinners are saved. First of all, notice the leper.
He had a great need. A great need. This man was a
leper. This man came to Jesus because
he had a great need that he could not perform himself. This man had leprosy. And according
to the law, this was not an illness. I've called it a disease. That's
probably an error. It's not a disease in Scripture.
It's rather a curse. The Scriptures always view leprosy
as a curse of God. This man had leprosy. Remember
Naaman the Syrian. Naaman the Syrian was a very
excellent man. He was an honorable man. And
he had leprosy. He had leprosy. So one of his
servants told him that there was a man in Israel who was a
man of God who could heal this leprosy. So he goes to the king
of Israel. He didn't go to the man of God,
he went to the king of Israel. And when the king of Israel heard
what he wanted, He tore his clothes, and he bowed down, and he said,
How in the world do you expect me to heal? Now, he didn't really
expect him to heal. That king thought a lot of himself.
But he said this, Am I God that I can heal leprosy? You see,
leprosy was only healed not by doctors. But by God. Am I God that I can heal? Friends,
leprosy is a picture of sin. That's what it is. In the book
of God, leprosy is a picture of sin. And as only God could cleanse
the leper, I tell you, only God can cleanse the sinner. Only
God can cleanse a sinner from his leprosy. See this picture
of sin? When a person in the Old Testament
was supposed to have leprosy, he was not to go to a doctor,
he had to go to the priest. Go over to Leviticus chapter
13, I want you to see this. This is vitally important concerning
this matter of leprosy, Leviticus chapter 13. In chapter 13 and
14 you have the law of the leper. Leviticus chapter 13, verse 1, it says, And the Lord
spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, When a man shall have in his
skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or a bright spot, and it be in
the skin of the flesh, like the plague of leprosy, then he shall
be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of the sons of the
priest. And the priest shall look upon the plague in the skin
of the flesh. And when the hair of the plague
is turned white, and the plague in the sight be deeper than the
skin of the flesh, it is the plague of leprosy. And the priest
shall look on him and pronounce him unclean. If the bright spot
be white on the skin of his flesh in the sight, and be not deeper
than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white, then the
priest shall shut him up, him that hath the plague seven days.
And the priest shall look on him the seventh day, and behold,
if the plague in his sight be at a stay." In other words, it
didn't spread. If it be at a stay, and the plague
spread not in the skin, then the priest shall shut him up
seven more days. And the priest shall look on
him on the seventh day, and behold, if the plague be somewhat dark,
and the plague spread not in the skin, and the priest shall
pronounce him clean. But it is but a scab, and he
shall wash it with his clothes and be clean. But if the scab
spread much abroad in the skin after that he hath been seen
of the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen of the priest
again. And if the priest shall see, behold, the scab spreadeth
in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean,
it is leprosy. When the plague of leprosy is
in a man, then he shall be brought unto the priest, and the priest
shall see him. Behold, if it is arising, be
white in the skin, if it be turned the hair white, and there be
quick raw flesh. in the rising. It is an old leprosy
in the skin of his flesh, and the priest shall pronounce him
unclean, and he shall shut him up, for he is unclean." Now then,
all of this is to say that the priest had certain things to
look for to make sure this was leprosy. First of all, he said
if someone's supposed to have leprosy, they brought to the
priest. Notice a rising of the flesh What is that? Well, that's a picture of a man
having some conscience of sin. There's some rising in the flesh.
Maybe I'm a leper. I feel guilty for my sin. Maybe, oh look, there's a spot.
Maybe I got leprosy. I need to go see the priest.
And the priest looks at it. And the priest has to have distinct
things in order to pronounce this man to be a leper. First
of all, the hair must be white. He looked at the spot and he
looks at the hair and he sees it's black and he says, ah, you're
not leprous, it's just a scab, gone. But if it's white, that's
one. That's one. The hair must be
white. Second, the plague must be deeper
than the skin. It can't be a surface wound.
It's got to be deeper than the skin. Third, it has to spread. And if it doesn't spread, it's
not leprosy. And fourth, the flesh must be
raw. It must be tender. It must hurt. There's some things to look for
for leprosy. I tell you, even as we have read
in this place, Jesus Christ is both willing and able to cleanse
spiritual lepers. Spiritual lepers. Sinners. Are there any sinners like this
man? Are there any lepers in the room. Are there any sinners who are
consumed with guilt and shame? Jesus Christ alone can make sinners
whole. Well then the question is, are
you a leper? Are you a leper? Are you unclean? Then let us inspect this morning
and see. First of all, is the hair white? In other words, are you dead
from the roots? The white hair was a picture
of the deadness of your nature. Are you dead from the root of
your soul? Are you without any spiritual
life? Are you from the core of your
soul corrupt? All men died in Adam. All men
are spiritual lepers. But only some get a scab. Only
some get a rising of the conscience. Feeling of guilt. I tell you
that all of us were born dead and all our fruits of our hands
and acts of religion are worthless and corrupt and full of sin.
Is that true of you? Second of all, is your leprosy
deeper than the skin? Sin is not just our acts of the
flesh. Some think that sinners are sinners
because of bad deeds. Are you a sinner just because
of the things you've done? No. Sin is much deeper than that. Sin is not what you do, but who
you are. You are a sinner. And because you are a sinner,
therefore you sin. You are a sinner. They think
because they drink or because they do bad things they're a
sinner. That's just the fruit of your corruption. That's all
you see of your leprosy is on the outside surface. If that's all you see, then you'll
just make some behavior modifications. If I have a scab, what do I do?
I don't know. I got to pick it off. I don't
know what it is. I mean, and if I don't get it,
Cheryl will. She'll get it. And I mean, she'll
find it. She'll be holding my hand all
of a sudden. She's ripping off my scab. I mean, if that's all
you got, You'll rip it off. You'll find something to make
yourself better. You'll put a little ointment
on it, and you'll make it better. You'll change your life. You'll
come to church. You'll get baptized. You'll do
a whole bunch of things. But if your sin is just surface
sin, it's not leprosy. It's not leprosy. Therefore, if you are dead, your
works are dead, and the problem is deeper than your actions.
And when this happens, it doesn't stop. If this is the Holy Spirit
working in a man to reveal sin, it will not stop with turning
over new leaves and doing things like that. This leprosy will
spread and it will get worse and worse and worse. If you have leprosy, haven't
you noticed it just gets worse and worse? It spreads. I have preached to
many who thought themselves to be lepers, and so when they're
put away for a little while, leave them alone. That's what
you do with the leper. That's what the priest had to
do. He wasn't to go meddling. He was to leave them alone. Sometimes people come in, think
they have leprosy, think they're sinners, and they come for a
little while, and I say, we'll see. But if it's true leprosy, it
won't stop. It'll spread. It'll get worse. And if it's true leprosy, it'll
be felt. It'll have some raw flesh. Sin If sin spread, it will result
in raw flesh. That is, it will fester and yield
great pain as boils. I know a tough man that was a
member of this church. I'd say he rode a horse when
he was little, Malcolm Lilly. He was a tough man, very strong
man, but when he got shingles, I'm telling you, to put on his
shirt was excruciatingly painful. And I tell you, if you have true
leprosy, sin will be painful to you. Sin will become such
a burden on your shoulders you can't bear it anymore. Become
very painful. Is this your experience of sin?
Are you like this leper, the walking dead, full of sin and
corruption from the root of your soul? Have you found sin to be
just not what you do, but who you are? Have you found sin to
be painful to your soul? And you're a leper. You're a leper. You're a leper. You remember that woman with
the issue of blood that came to our Lord Jesus Christ? The
scripture says she spent all she had on doctors and grew none better but worse. I tell you that men will go and
try anything and everything before they come to Jesus Christ. They'll
try everything. They'll try Dr. Feel Good. Well,
all you need to do is just to do what feels good. You'll try
that. You'll go to Dr. Positive Thinking.
Well, all you need to be is positive about things. You're just too
negative. That's what it is. You just think sin's really bad.
You know what? Doesn't everybody sin? Dr. Positive Thinking. You just need
a better attitude about this sin thing. Dr. Legalism, what you need to
do is you need to obey the commandments. That's what you need to do. You
just need to buckle down and you need to get into some kind
of rehab. You need to get in some kind
of therapy. You need to talk and express your feelings to
everyone. You need to have group therapy.
You need to obey the law. Dr. Free Will. All you need to
do is make a profession of faith. Just get baptized and join the
church, and then your sin will go. Not if it's leprosy. None of those doctors will do
you any good. None of those doctors will make
a true sinner feel any better, but grow worse and worse. And you can spend all your time
and effort, you can do anything you want to, but you cannot cure
yourself. Neither can I cure you, nor your
family can't cure you. If you are a true leper, I'm
pointing you to only one man who can cure your sin plague. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Do you have a need
of cleansing? Do you have a great need to be
risen from the dead? Do you need the righteousness
of God? Do you need the balm of Gilead for healing to your
soul? And go back to your text. There came a leper to him. Leper, where are you going to
go? Leper, what will you do? Well, do what he did. Leper came
to Jesus. He came to Jesus. Christ alone
has the power to heal your soul and only by the grace of Jesus
Christ is there healing for sinners. Now Jesus is pictured in Leviticus
concerning the cleansing of the leper. Now if a man was found
with leprosy and he was healed of God, there was a ceremony
they went through. They took two birds. This is
not complicated. You've got two living birds.
And you take one bird and you would cut its throat. And the blood would pour out
of this bird into running water. And in this water you were to
put three things, cedar, a scarlet thread, and some hyssop. And then you would take the living
bird and you would dip it in that blood with the cedar and
the hyssop and the scarlet wool. And then you would set it free. This is the picture of salvation. Jesus Christ came into the world
as one of us, a bird. We were a bird. We were a sinful
bird. He came to be one of us, like
birds. The only difference is He was
without sin. He was without sin. But He came
into this world to die, to make an offering for sin. In order for your sin, your leprosy
to be cleansed, sin must be dealt with. God could not overlook
your sin as you and I overlook each other's sins. God could
not be just and justify the ungodly without a sacrifice. So He sent
His Son to die in the stead of sinners. The cedar pictures incorruptible
wood. His sacrifice is incorruptible. It's perfect. It's everything
you need. The scarlet hyssop. It pictures His blood-bought
robe of righteousness that is given to every one of us in the
new nature. And the hyssop has to do with
the smell. The smell. His sacrifice was a sweet-smelling
savor to who? To God. To God. And everyone who is a sinner,
who is dipped in His blood, shall be set free from sin, cleansed
from sin. This poor leprous man is a picture
of every one of us who is converted, who is convinced of leprosy,
of sin, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Are you a sinner?
If you're a sinner and you need healing for your soul, oh, come
to Jesus Christ. Oh, sinners. See, the song is
right. The song, I love this song. It
says, come ye sinners, poor and wretched, weak and wounded by
the fall. Jesus ready stands to save you. full of pity joined with power. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requireth
is to feel your need of him." This man had a need. And what
did this man do with this need? He came to the only one who could
heal. He came to Jesus Christ. And
this is true of the hymn that says this, that Christ into the
world came down that sinners might by him be saved. Do you
believe that? Is that not true? That Jesus Christ came into the
world to save who? Sinners. Sinners. Sinners are high in his esteem
and sinners highly value him. Are you a leper? Second of all,
lepers come in humiliation. This man came with a great need,
and he came in humiliation. Mark says the leper came kneeling.
Luke says that he came and fell down on his face. And Matthew
says he worshipped him. Every one of those means he came
in humiliation. If you are a leper, I tell you
to come to Christ, I tell you to come now, and I tell you,
you must come in humiliation. This man, he came beseeching
and kneeling down before him. If any man has a great need of
salvation, he must be brought down to his knees. Sinners must be brought down
from pride, Down from self-sufficiency, down from self-righteousness,
to see that Christ is the only sufficient, all-glorious, and
all-powerful Savior of sinners. You must come down. This man did not come to Christ
as an equal, did he? How do most men come to Christ?
They come as equals. They say, well, Jesus, I'm just
going to take your offer. Oh, no. Oh, no. You must come
down. You must kneel before the Lord
Jesus Christ. Sinners must be brought down.
And friends, I don't pretend to be able to bring you down. I'm not bringing you down. I
don't do that. This is not the work of man,
this is the work of God. You who have come to Christ and
found Him to heal your leprosy, did not God bring you down by
His divine power? Did He not bring you down to
your knees seeking mercy? Mercy. Oh, may God break your
heart because of your sins. May God bring you down before
Christ that you would beg Him to save you. Thirdly, this man came to Jesus
by faith. Look at this. He came to Him
kneeling, bowing down, beseeching, saying, If thou wilt, thou canst
make me clean. This man's faith was very weak
faith. He came with a very great need,
one that only God could perform. So this man truly believed that
Jesus Christ was God. He believed He was God. God manifests
in the flesh. This man was an unclean leper,
a sinner, and he had no cause. He had no grounds to come. The
law said the leper was to stay at a distance and not come near. They were to cry out, unclean,
unclean, because no one was supposed to be near them. This man had
no grounds for what he did. He had a great need. And he came
to Jesus Christ recognizing that Him to be God. He didn't come
to just a man. He came to God. Friends, we are sinners worthy
of only God's condemnation. So then, we must come as beggars. We must come as beggars. Do you
not see Him as able to save you from your sins? Do you see Him
as able? Do you see His blood offering was sufficient? That His blood offering was accepted
of God? Do you know His righteousness
to be perfect? Do you believe that His righteousness
is imputed to everyone that believes? If you never believe that, you'll
never come. Ask Him. This man knew that Jesus was
able. Do you know He's able? If you
don't know He's able, you'll never come. You must come by
faith, believing He is able. Come to Jesus. Some say, preacher, but as for
me, I'm sure He's not willing. I know He's able, but He's not
willing. How do you know unless you come?
It is true salvation is in the hands of God. He will have mercy
on whom He will have mercy. But I can't find one time that
a man came for mercy and did not receive it. Can you? I can't find one instance in
all of Scripture that a man sought mercy in this way and had not
found it. Come as a sinner. Come with a
great need. in humiliation, and come in faith,
recognizing He is able, and recognize that salvation is by the will
of God, and not yours. If thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean. You remember those four lepers
in 2 Kings? They were sitting outside the
gate, there was a famine inside, and they said, we're going to
die. If we go inside the gate, there's famine in there, we're
going to die. If we stay here, we're gonna
die. If we go over there to the Syrians
outside the camp, they may kill us, but they got the food. Let's go to them, perhaps they
will show mercy. And you know what they found?
They found an empty camp full of food. You know what happens
to beggars, to lepers, who have nowhere to go but to Christ?
When they go to Christ, they find plenty. Plenty. These guys had so much,
those lepers had so much, they felt so guilty, they said, we
gotta go and tell somebody about this, because I feel bad just
taking all this to myself. I tell you, when you come to
Christ, you'll find Him both able and willing, and willing
to all who come. Come! Come to Christ! And you'll find Him merciful. Come in absolute submission,
confessing your sins and worthlessness. Come recognizing salvation is
of Him. And yet there is not one leper,
hopeless and helpless leper, who comes in humility, in submission,
seeking mercy, and doesn't find it. Let us continually, who have
come, you who have come, is that not what you've found? Have you
not found abundant forgiveness? I've found it! I've found it!
Christ has abundant forgiveness, abundant mercy, more mercy than
you have sinned. I tell you, He's more willing
to save than man is willing to be saved. He's more willing. He said to this leper, I will
be thou clean. The leper obtained mercy is the
fourth thing. Jesus, notice, was moved with
compassion. He says that in Scripture. He
was moved with compassion. The immovable God was moved. Isn't that something? God whose
love never began, and yet He was moved with compassion. I
tell you, every sinner who comes to Christ, he is moved with the
same compassion. He's moved with compassion. And
not only this, but he put his hand and touched him. Touched
him. You know this? That's something.
You weren't allowed to touch a leper. You weren't allowed by law to
touch him. It was contaminating. That's
why they had to be put out of the camp. It was contaminating
disease. Yet Jesus touched him. Why is that? He did that to show
his union with him. Jesus had compassion because he knew he was to be
made a curse for us. He was made to be sin for us,
who himself knew no sin, that we might be cleansed. When the Lord Jesus Christ sees the leper coming. He has
the compassion of the father as the prodigal son. The father
was waiting for his son to return. And I tell you, before this leper
came, Jesus Christ was ready there. He was waiting for him. Yes, the prodigal confessed his
sins, but it was not even a second. He didn't even get it all out.
Father, I've sinned against thee in heaven. Shut up. I've got...
Get the robe! Shut up. I know you're confessing. Get the robe. Get the ring and
put it on his finger. And my son's alive. My son that
was dead is alive. That's what the father does when
a sinner comes. He has compassion and he heals
them immediately. When Jesus spoke the Word, He
was healed and so it is with every leper that comes to Him.
Hopeless and helpless, come in humility. Bow down to the Son
of God. Believe on Him that He is able
and He will save your soul and give you righteousness. And notice this, He was healed
immediately. No rehabilitation program. None. Immediately. I know a lot of churches will
say that salvation is by grace, but you've got to finish this
by working hard. That's not true. That's not true. We are saved by grace through
faith in Jesus Christ. We are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works which God before ordained that
we should walk in them. When God the Holy Spirit comes
and gives a person life, that person is as righteous in his
soul as Christ himself. He was immediately healed. Now then, at the end of this,
I don't have time for it, but at the end of this, Jesus gives
him an express command. He says, show yourself to the
priest to be a testimony to them. But this man, he goes out and
just spreads this thing as far and as wide as he can, and you
know, it was so bad. It was so bad that Christ couldn't
even enter into the town. He had to go out in the desert
to preach. Listen. If God ever gets a hold of you, you don't have to worry about
what to do. He'll guide you. He'll tell you. Obey Him. This man, yes, he sinned. He didn't follow what the Lord
commanded. And the result was devastating. If we are believers
in Christ, we're cleansed, yet we still have this old man to
contend with. We still have this old nature,
this old sinful man. But I'll tell you what, I praise
God for His mercy and grace upon me, the leper. I praise God that He showed me
what I am by nature. And I praise God He showed me
what He did on the cross for my sins. And I believe Him. I trust Him. And I am saved not
because of my faith, but because of the object of my faith. Jesus Christ is all my salvation. And I am cleansed. Cleansed. Free from condemnation
in Christ Jesus. Praise God for His kindness and
mercy to us. I pray that God bless this to
your heart. Let's stand and we'll be dismissed in prayer.