In the Gospel of Luke chapter
17 is the story of the Lord Jesus Christ healing ten lepers. And yet only one of them came
back to Him after they went away. One of them came back to the
Lord. And the Lord said that man alone was truly saved, truly
made whole. His spirit, his soul was saved
by the Lord Jesus Christ. And he asked the question after
this story, where are the nine? Where are the nine? Well, this
is a story, this is a picture, a type of how many are called
but few are chosen. In verse 11 it says that he came
to Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus Christ came down
from heaven. He was born in Bethlehem, a child. The child was born, but the Son
was given. The eternal Son of the Most High
God, ever with the Father, came to this earth to redeem His people,
to save His people from their sin. No, not to try to save anyone,
but to save His people. He came to a manger of Bethlehem,
raised a child, a young man, and Nazareth was a carpenter's
shop. All his life he was headed to
Jerusalem. He was headed to Calvary's tree
outside of Jerusalem where he would hang on that tree as a
substitute, as a sin offering to God for his people. That's
why he came. Yes, he came to live as a righteous
man, to glorify God, but he came to die. For this cause, he said,
I came into the world to die a sin offering, a substitute
for his people. Well, he passed through the midst
of Samaria and Galilee. The Lord Jesus Christ came and
went into various villages and towns and cities throughout the
land, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, preaching repent
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. But he passed through
several places and didn't save anyone. Jericho was a very large
city at that time. And it says he did not save one
single person inside of Jericho. He saved a blind man on the way
in to Jericho, and on the way out, he went to the home of a
publican named Zacchaeus. Let me ask you a question. Do
you believe that Jesus can save anyone? Do you believe that God
can save anyone? Do you believe that? Most people
would say yes. Most professing Christians would
say yes. Then why doesn't He? If He can, why doesn't He? Why
aren't all people saved? Well, someone may say, because
they won't let Him. Well, then he can't save. There's
people he can't save. They won't let him. I just ask
you, can he save whom he will? Yes, he can. And the reason he
doesn't is because salvation is of the Lord. It's not his
will to save everyone. But it is his will to save someone.
And it says that he came and there was a certain village,
verse 12, a certain village. Often it says this in Scripture.
a certain man, a certain woman. The Lord came to do a certain
work for a certain people. Did He do it? He most certainly
did. Salvation is certain for all
whom God chose, all whom God loves, all whom Christ died for,
and everyone whom the Holy Spirit sends the gospel to. Salvation
is certain, fixed, ordered. Not up to chance, but up to God's
will and purpose. In verse 12, he entered into
a certain village and met him ten men that were lepers and
stood afar off. Ten men that were lepers. Now, leprosy was a deadly, fatal
disease. And all these ten men had it. They were dying. They were dead
while they yet lived. Leprosy was a disease that started
on the inside. It showed no outward sign until
later. But eventually, this disease
on the inside would corrupt the whole man from his feet to his
head until there was no good flesh in him. The flesh would
just be totally corrupt and filthy and rotten until they would die.
This is a picture of sin. that sin is on the inside. It
may not manifest itself. It may not show itself on the
outside until later. Scripture says we're born in
sin. David wrote, in sin did my mother
conceive me. It says the wicked go astray
from the womb. They go astray speaking lies.
Men and women, we're born that way. Our little children, we
don't have to teach them how to lie and how to cheat and how
to steal and how to lust and all. It's in them. Just wait
a while. It'll come out. And if Christ
doesn't do something about this sin, we'll die forever. Oh, Scripture says we are born
dead and trespassed in sin. Ephesians 2 says, of some, you
hath He quickened who were dead and trespassed in sin. The salvation
is of the Lord, you see. It's not up to man. Man's dead. But Christ said, I am come to
give them life. These ten men were lepers, and
it says they stood afar off. This is a picture of how every
sinner is afar off from God. Sin has separated us from God,
and we can't come nigh until we're called. Sin has separated us, and we're
afar off, and the only way we're brought to God is by His mercy
and grace and by His Spirit and by His power and by His Gospel
according to His will. They stood afar off, but they
called. What can a sinner do? He can call on the Lord. And
I'll tell you this, what Scripture says, whoever calls does so because
he called them. Because you won't even call.
Scripture says, Christ said, no man can come unto me except
the Father which hath sent me. Draw him. If anyone calls on
the Lord, it is the Lord that caused them, made them to call.
Yes, Philippians 2.13 says, it is God which worketh in us both
the will and do of His good pleasure. So these men called. They all
called. Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us. They all called. They were all in trouble. They
were all in pain, suffering, sorrow. They all experienced
loss. Perhaps they'd lost their job.
You know they did. They were lepers. They'd lost
their health. They'd lost their happiness. They'd lost their
families, perhaps. Lost their friends because of
this terrible disease. Jesus, help us! And that sounds
familiar. Many people today get in trouble
and they start calling on Jesus, calling on God. People get in
pain and suffering, or experience some trouble, or bad marriage,
or sickness, or near-death experience, or whatever. And so they get
religion. They call on God. But usually, when the pain and
suffering is gone, when the trouble is over, so are they. They're
gone. These are all called, and verse
14 says, He saw them. The Lord Jesus Christ looked
on them. Yes. God's eyes behold His eyelids
try all the sons of men. Scripture says His tender mercies
over all His works. If anyone has anything, God gave
it to them. If anyone knows anything, God
taught them. If anyone It's healed. God healed
them. No, there are means and methods
and doctors and medicines and hospitals and surgery and all
that, but it's God. He still gives all the glory.
He's the one that ordained it all. Well, they called and said,
have mercy upon us. And God is so merciful, but this
doesn't mean they were saved. No, no, no. He healed them of
leprosy, but He didn't save their souls. The Lord went around this
earth doing good and healing many diseases. It doesn't mean
He saved their soul. That's our great need, is to
have our souls saved, have mercy upon our sin-sick, dead and dying
soul. Well, He saw them and said unto
them, Go, show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass
that as they went, they were cleansed. Go show yourselves
unto the priest." Now what this is alluding to is Leviticus 13
and 14, the story back there of how a leper was to come to
the priest in the temple. The priest was to make a sacrifice
for them, a blood sacrifice, in order to cleanse their leprosy.
These men went and didn't make it to the temple, but they were
healed on the way. But the story in Leviticus 13
is a wonderful one. It's a story of salvation. Mercy
is for sinners. That's what it's about. I'll
just tell you what it's about. In Leviticus 13, the Scripture
says that if a man or woman or whomever would come to the high
priest, and he had some leprosy, but he had some good flesh, some
good places still on his skin here and there, but just a few
spots here and there. of leprosy. It says the priest
would pronounce that person unclean. That if that person had any good
flesh, the priest would pronounce him unclean. However, If someone
came and it says they were covered with leprosy from the top of
their head to the bottom of their feet, there was no good flesh
in them, but nothing but ugly, rotten, corrupt, stinking flesh
of leprosy, dying flesh all over them. No good flesh. The priest
would then pronounce them clean. You say, I don't understand.
Well, anyone that's been truly healed of leprosy, that had their
sins forgiven, they understand. What this represents is someone
who comes to God, who comes to Christ, must come as a sinner
through and through, like a sinner in Romans 7. Paul said, In my
flesh dwelleth no good thing. He said, What I want to do, I
cannot do. What I cannot do, I want to do,
but I can't. Do you understand that? Christ
said, I didn't come to call the righteous. I came to call sinners
to repent. I didn't come to call people
that had some good in them, because Scripture says there's none that
doeth good. No, not one. But everyone that comes to God
as a sinner through and through, you know what he does? He heals
them. He has mercy upon them. Well,
but one of these men, they were all healed temporarily, that
is, of their leprosy. But one of them, when he saw
he was healed, he turned back. He left his fellows, lepers,
and wherever they went, they went back to their homes and
families, back to their religion, back to the town, back to the
world. They didn't turn and come to the Lord Jesus Christ. They
went back. Well, this man turned back to
the Lord Jesus Christ with a loud voice, glorified God, and fell
down on his face at his feet. That is, at the feet of God,
because Jesus Christ is God. in human flesh. And this man
realized that that One who healed him, that spoke to him, is none
other than God manifest in the flesh, the healer of sin-sick
souls, of dying souls. And he fell on his face at His
feet, giving Him thanks, glorifying Him. Thank You, Lord, for not
just healing my body, but for saving my soul. Thank You. I didn't deserve it, but I sure
thank You. And Jesus answered and said,
Were there not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? They are
not found that return to give glory to God, save this stranger.
Where are the nine? That's the question today. Where
are those that have truly been saved from their sin? Where are
those who God has truly had mercy upon their hell-deserving souls
that glorify God, that give Him all the praise, all the honor,
all the glory for His mercy, for His grace, for His substitutionary
work on Calvary's tree, for His blood. Do you hear that where
you go to church? Or is it mostly a social organization
all about how you can be a better husband and wife and better to
your children and be a better citizen and be healthy and wealthy
and wise? Oh no, the gospel is all about
salvation from sin and giving glory to God because salvation
is of the Lord. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
said to this one man, this remnant, this tenth, one out of ten came
to Christ thanking Him, giving Him all the glory. And He said,
Arise, go thy way, man, thy faith hath made thee whole. What is
faith? It's to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's a sinner needing mercy from
God. coming to God by Christ and God
will indeed have mercy on that sinner. What about you? Salvation
is for lepers, for sinners. Until next Sunday, Amen.