Spirit of God bears witness with
our spirit. You've had things happen many
times to you where you've read a passage and not knowing what
I was going to preach on and I spoke on this very thing. Brother
John did not know what Mac was going to read this morning. I
asked Mac to read Romans 9. Well, John chose, Have thou no
way, Lord, and thou art the potter. I am glad. I love that. And I had no idea how well that
went with the text this morning, the leper. But this leper who
came to Christ, he sure could have summed this up. Ah, my iniquity. Oh. Go on to talk about wash
me this day. Lord, make me clean. He could
have sung that song, couldn't he? Psalm 38. My loins are filled
with the loathsome disease. That's a good, good choice, John. Well done, thou good and faithful
servant. Luke chapter 5. This is our text that came up
in the study in the Providence of God. Right after we looked
at the great fisher of men, this same story follows. Now, this
is recorded three times, as you may have heard my pastor say
in the message I sent you. It doesn't necessarily mean something
is more important than something else, but it certainly should
get our attention, shouldn't it? If it's one time, it's vital. It's of infinite importance.
If it's three times, there's something here we really, really
need to see. The title of his message was,
How a sinner can come to Christ. And this one is, Lord, if thou
wilt. If thou wilt. Look at verse 12.
This is the text and the title. Verse 12. It came to pass when
he was in a certain city. Behold, a man full of leprosy,
who seeing Jesus, fell on his face, and besought him, saying,
Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." This is the question. This is the question. There's only one question asked
here. And the question was not, was this leper willing? The question
was asked to the Lord, if thou will, because this is the issue. This is the question. This is
the issue. Not are you willing, but is the
Lord willing? The issue concerning everything
and everyone, every person, every place, everything, every event,
everything under the sun, on the earth, all things, are completely
dependent upon and subject to and according to the will of
God Almighty. All things. Daniel 4, verse 35,
reads this way. I love this. I loved it. And
he said many times throughout Daniel. He said, You must know
this, that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth
it to whomsoever he will. And he said that three times.
And then he closed the chapter by saying this. This was Nebuchadnezzar. This was a pagan, unregenerate,
lost, heathen king whom the Lord revealed himself to. A man who
thought he had his way and his will. And the Lord reduced him
to a beast. And here's his conclusion. He said, I, Nebuchadnezzar, I
have my understanding returned to me. I blessed the Most High. I praised and honored him who
liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion. His
kingdom is from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
He doeth according to his will. Everything does according to
his will. Even his people, if willing,
are made willing by his will and by his power. Nothing is
left to man's will. Man's will is depraved. Man's
will is corrupt. Man's will is sinful. Our will
is controlled by our nature. The Lord said this in Jeremiah,
I believe it was. He said, Can the Ethiopian change
his skin? No. Can the leopard change his
spot? No. Neither can you do good what
you are accustomed to doing evil. It is our nature to choose what
is according to our nature. Lions eat meat. Cattle eat grass. You can't get a lion to eat grass.
You can't get a sheep to eat meat. It's their nature. And
you can't get a man, by nature, to choose good, to choose God. He chooses evil. Adam and Eve had free will. They
had free choice. God gave them that. They were
deceived by it. The one who started all this
by saying, how did all sin start? Where did all error start? Where
did all sin start? What is the root of all sin?
I will. Didn't Satan do that? I will. And then he came to Adam and
Eve in the garden. He came to the man and woman
who didn't know evil. They knew good. He said, you
will. Be as God. Choose. You'll know good. Choose God
or your will. That's what he said. Choose God
or your will. So this is what Satan had all
started. All sin, all error started. Choose
what you will. What did Adam and Eve choose? evil, and so therefore we are
born with a will that will only choose evil. You don't have to
tell your children to do bad. In fact, you're going to spend
all of your time that they're in your house. Teaching them
to do good. To make good choices on. They
will automatically choose matter. Hate, anger, wrath, stealing. If you leave them to themselves,
they'll be a rebellious, self-willed, no better than an animal. And we're all born with that.
We will not choose good. We will not choose right. We
will not choose God. We will not choose truth. And
the false gospel being preached today has man as God with a sovereign
will, and has God as a man, hoping that man will exert that will.
Right? That's false. That's blasphemy. The truth is the exact opposite
of that. Man's will is to pray. God's
will is sovereign. This leper came and begged the
Lord Jesus Christ. And what he said was, and this
is what every sinner who finds out he's a leper does, and finds
out there's only one that can do anything for him, he comes
and he says, it's thou wilt. You can, but you don't have to. Romans 9, 16, our brother read
that, didn't he? It is not of him that will it. I'm not asking you today if you
will. I'm asking the Lord. I'm calling
on the Lord. If thou wilt, you can. Christ
looked at a crowd of people one time and he said, you will not
come unto me that you might have lied, didn't you? And he said,
no man can come unto me except one. The Father which hath sent
me draw him, and I will raise him up for the last time." It's
according to the will of God. He's chosen a people and given
them to the Lord Jesus Christ. They won't come unless he's done
that. And if he has, they will come when he calls them. And he says, I will raise him
up. I will. If anyone comes to Christ, if
anyone believes Christ, if anyone calls on the name of the Lord,
it's because Jesus Christ chose them. It's because he called
them. It's because he drew them and
exerted his sovereign will over them. Aren't you glad salvation
is not according to your will? Aren't you glad that the Lord
didn't leave you to your will? Aren't you glad that nothing
is up to you being willing? Aren't you glad? Because I will
not. My flesh lusts against my spirit,
and I cannot, I will not do what I should. But bless His holy
name. And all things work according
to his sovereign will, and his people are made willing. Made
means forced, doesn't it? Made means created. Made means
made what you are not, what you can't make yourself. This leper
came to our Lord Jesus Christ because God chose him, God willed
for him to. He didn't come of his own will,
no sir. He came because of God. and His
will sent to the Lord Jesus Christ. What's the point, preacher? What's
the point? The glory of God, 100%. He will
not share His glory with another. It's His will. It's not your
will. It's not my will. It's His will. The root of all sin is our will.
The root of salvation is His will. If left to our will, we're going
to be damned. But now it's God's will. And
this is our hope for our lost loved one. This is our hope for
us. If it's God's will that our loved
one be saved, they're going to be saved. And so we call on him,
don't we? And he delights to show mercy.
He will show mercy. Brother Mac read that, didn't
he? quoting Exodus 33, I will have mercy. Bless God, he will
have mercy. He doesn't have to. The meaning
of the word mercy means not getting what you deserve. And mercy is always sovereign.
If someone gets mercy, it's the goodwill, the purpose, it's the
choice, it's the prerogative of the one who's been offended,
and that's God. But God said, I will have mercy. Bless God,
he will have mercy. He delights to show mercy. But
he says, on whom I will have mercy, not who will let me. In
fact, anyone who thinks that is not going to get mercy. Anyone
who thinks that doesn't need mercy. If you think, I let Jesus in,
that means you don't need mercy. But if you're outside looking
in and know there's no hope for you, that you don't deserve to
come in, that it's only the mercy of the one in there, and if he
lets you in, you'll know it's sovereign mercy that he let me
in. All right, let's look at this
exactly as it is written. Plain truth, OK? In the content. My pastor said don't. He said
preachers at Versailles, pick a verse out. Not Versailles. Versailles, like John 3, 16.
Very few people know John 3, 36. Very few people know John
3, 14. John 3, 18. Take it in context. All right, in the context of
this chapter, how did this begin? You looked at it with me. The
Lord came to this seashore and he saw two ships. He came to
this certain place, the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two ships. He knew whose ships those were.
I told you, they were his ships. That was his lake. And those
were his men. Those were his sheep. He'd come
to call them. And he gave a command. He said to Simon, he called Simon,
he didn't call old Joe, what's his name over here in this boat,
he left him. He left him. It was his sovereign
choice, OK? And he came to Simon and Andrew
and said, I've chosen your ship, I'm getting in your ship, now
launch out. He didn't ask him anything, he
said launch out, we're going out, we're going to catch a draft.
No ifs, ands, buts, or maybes. No requests. No, he didn't ask
him. He didn't, I sure hope you're
willing for me to go. He said, I'm getting in this
ship, and you're going to launch out, and we're going to catch
some fish. He gave the command, didn't he? All right? When they
got out there, how did the ship, did the fish exert their will
and get in the net? The Lord gave the command to
fish. Fish! Get in the net! Well, another time they were
fishing all on the left side. The left side, that's the wrong
side. He said, cast your net on the right side. And they couldn't
bring it in. It was exactly 153 fish. Those fish got in that net because
the Lord Jesus Christ gave the command. He chose which fish
got in that net. He chose exactly 153. And each
of the foundation of God said, Sure, the Lord know it, then
there he is. He chose him. This is how this passage started,
but sovereign election and Lord chose these men. He gave the
command. Thou hast given commandment to save me. Aren't you glad?
Aren't you glad it was the Lord's will to call you by his sovereign
grace? that you'd hear his voice? Aren't
you glad? You never would have heard his voice if he hadn't,
according to his will and his power and his sovereign love
and his sovereign choice of you, you would not have heard his voice. Now, when they saw this,
who saw it? Peter, Andrew, James and John,
these chosen men, they saw what the Lord had done. What did Simon
Peter do? He fell at the knees of this
man named Jesus. He thought he was Jesus of Nazareth.
He thought he was a Jewish rabbi. He thought he was just a teacher.
But he saw that he was Lord of the universe, master of the ocean,
master of the sea, of the elements, the animals, everything. His
master in his hands to do with as he will. He hit his knee and
what did he say? What did he call him? And he
called him that for the rest of his days. What? Lord! And so it is with everyone, who
is being a leper, or a fisherman, or who it is, it doesn't matter
who it is. When they find out who Jesus
of Nazareth is, they'll fall at his knees. And they'll call
him who he is, Lord. And they'll say, depart from
me, I'm a sinful man. Why are you having anything to
do with me? And they'll say like the leper, Lord, I'm unclean. It's all your will. It's all your will. Everyone. Philippians 2, go over
there. Have you ever noticed how this
is written? Philippians chapter 2. Notice this again with me,
okay? We've read it so very many times. Philippians 2. I hope you read
the article by A.W. Pink in our bulletin, did you?
If not, read it carefully. It's the best I've ever read
on the subject of his worthy name. On how we're to refer to
our Lord, Jesus Christ. I read with you very carefully,
Philippians 2 verse 10 again, that the name of Jesus, that
is when you hear that name, says the leper heard, he saw Jesus. There he is, a man, there is
a man. When you hear this man, your knees should bow. The leper
did, Simon Peter did. Things in heaven, doesn't matter
who it is, what it is, everything that hath breath, praise does
it. things under the earth, and that
every tongue should confess. Here's what every tongue should
say when you hear the name of Jesus. That Jesus Christ is Lord. What every tongue should say.
Should say. And here is the word of faith. This is what Paul wrote in Romans
chapter 10. Listen to this carefully. Listen
carefully, OK? Quoted so often. The word is
now you, even in your mouth and in your heart. The word of faith
that we pray. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. With
the heart, with the mouth. You call him Lord. If you've
really met him, that's what you call him. Simon did. The leper
did. All the apostles did. And then
it goes on to say, With a heart man believeth unto righteousness.
And it goes on to say, Now whosoever shall call on the name of the
what? The Lord. The fear of the what? The Lord. And how are they going to call
on him whom they have not believed? Well, what's the preacher going
to preach? The Lord, Jesus Christ, I look to Him. Because that's
who He is. That's His name. When you hear
the name Jesus, you and I, God's people, we call Him Lord. Look at Isaiah 43 with me. Isaiah
43. How many times have we read this?
How many times? What a blessed passage this is.
I believe the Lord has called me. I believe the Lord has created
a new creature in me. I believe the Lord has formed
me. I believe the Lord has called me by my name, sinner, Jacob,
son of Jacob. I believe he has wrestled with
me. Why do I believe that? How do I know that? Because he's
revealed to me who he is. Look at Isaiah 43, verse 7. Everyone
that is called by my name, I have created him for my glory. I have
formed him. Yea, I have made him. Verse 10. You are my witnesses, saith the
Lord, and my servant, whom I have chosen, that you might know,
may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Who? Who? Before me there was no God
formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord. And beside me there is no Savior.
I have declared, I have saved, I have showed. No strange God
among you. You are my witness to say to
the Lord that I am God. And it goes on and on and on,
doesn't it? I will work. I will work. And who will let me? So this
leper came. Go back to our text. Look at
this. You're going to like this. Verse
12. You have it? Luke 5, verse 12.
It came to pass. Stop right there. Just stop right
there. You know, everything has and
will and shall come to pass according to, exactly according to the
way the Lord has purposed it to be. There's nothing, Barnabas
used to say, nothing writhes or wriggles. but by the will
and purpose of God, power of God. The Lord said, listen to
this, this is Isaiah 14, 24, the same chapter that speaks
of Lucifer, the son of the morning, who said, I will. Listen, this
is the same chapter, Isaiah 14, 24. The Lord of hosts hath sworn,
saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass. As
I have purposed it, so shall it stand. That's what he said. It comes to pass, why? Because the Lord brings it to
pass. Aren't you glad? What are we
talking about? Predestination. The determinate
will and foreknowledge of God. Don't you love it? Don't you
love it? All right, it came to pass when
he was in a certain city. Stop right there. A certain city. He came to certain places. He
passed through places, going to certain places. Why? Why? Nobody accepted? No, He hadn't
chosen any of those people. But He went to certain places.
He found certain people in certain places where He put them. He
put them there. He had some waiting on Him. Some
He was waiting on. But they're going to meet in
a certain place. And so will all of God's people. A certain
place at a certain time. Just like all He came to say,
He puts them where He will. He sovereignly commands them
to come. He calls them, and according
to His sovereign will, they come. And this was the day that this
man was to come. Man, I wish it was today. We're
all letters. And some, by the grace and mercy
of God, realize it. It is the goodness of God that
leads us to repent and realize that we are leprous. And if we
come to Christ, He drew us. Wouldn't it be wonderful if this
was the day, a certain day, that the Lord called a leper from
our bed? Well, call me again, Lord. It is in a certain city, behold,
a man full of leprosy. What's this all about? Let me
tell you again, OK? Let me tell you what Paul wrote
in Ephesians. He said, it's all, and you know
Ephesians 1, don't you? You love it? I'll start to go
back and read it for you. You're going to wish we had it. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, according as He has chosen us in Christ
before the foundation of the world, having predestinated all
things. He goes on to say that it's all to the praise of the
glory of His grace. It's all to the praise of the
glory of His grace. All salvation, everything, everything
in the kingdom of God is to the praise of the glory of His electing
grace, choosing grace, redeeming grace, calling grace, Keeping
grace, restraining grace, constraining grace, huh? It's all according
to grace. By grace you sing. In chapter
2, Paul was going along, and it's like he couldn't help himself.
Oh, by grace you sing. And he said it twice, in case
you didn't hear me. It's by grace you sing. And you hath he quickened, who
were what? Dead. And you hath he called,
who wouldn't call on him. And you hath he chosen who sure
didn't choose him, and you hath he drawn who would not come otherwise.
It's all to the praise of the glory of his grace. And by grace
we don't mean offer, we mean an act of God, an operation of
God, something God does, exerts, his sovereign will, his sovereign
power, his grace. All right? Look at this. Every
word significant. A man full of leprosy, seeing
Jesus, fell on his face and besought him. Behold, a man full of leprosy. How many lepers were around there
at that time? A lot. Next to casting out devils, I think,
lepers were the greatest miracle our Lord performed. Most, most,
more than anything else. Why was there so many? Where
were all the lepers? A great multitude followed Him.
And here He comes, and they see Him. There He is. Everybody knows
He's right there. He's by the ocean. Says He came down from the mountain
in Matthew 8. He came down from the mountain. A great multitude
followed Him. Behold! But one leper worshipped Him. Fell down at his feet before
he asked anything, before he said, if you will. He said, he
worshipped him, like my pastor said. Worship before anything.
Whether he does anything for us or not, he's to be worshipped. But this behold, a man full of
lepers saith. How many lepers were there? Why
did this man come? Have they not all heard? Yea,
verily. This leper came. Behold. Behold. Behold me. You're looking at
me. Behold. There was a day, Brother Stephen,
I came full of lepers. I had lots of friends. They didn't
come. They're lepers. Why did I come?
Behold the grace of God. When a leper, when somebody comes
to Christ, It's the Lord. Isn't it? It's the Lord. He came, he bowed,
he saw, he saw this man Jesus, he bowed at his feet, and he
didn't call him Jesus. What did he call him? The Lord. There was a man hanging
on a cross, his visage marred more than any man. Completely unrecognizable as
a human being. A bloody lamb of God hanging
on a cross. Okay? There's a crowd of people,
thousands upon thousands of people, who had killed this Jesus fella.
He said he was God. That's right. Simon Peter preaches
it later. I want to end with it. Alright? There's a man hanging right beside
him. Two men. One over here on his left hand
said, yeah, Jesus, come down from the cross, get us down too.
Behold. Would you behold with me that
this one man out of this huge crowd of people who were crying
for kill Jesus of Nazareth, killing, this one man looked at this bloody
man hanging on the tree, and you know what he said? He said, you're king of this
universe. You're controlling this whole
thing. That everybody, everything in this whole thing is under
your divine, absolute control. And you're coming into your kingdom,
you're about to go and sit at the right... How did he know
all this? How did he know all this? The Lord revealed Himself
to him. What's hidden to the natural
eye. The Lord imparted to him. He heard his voice. And he saw
in that bloody, what was hidden to people, he saw that's not
just a man killed named Jesus, that's the Lamb of God. That's
the Son of God. That's the Lord of glory. That's
the Lord of my righteousness. And he said, Lord, Lord, remember
me. Same thing as a leper. If you
will. You don't have to. Would you please? Remember me
when you come into your kingdom." What did the Lord say? The same
thing that Luther, I will. This day wilt thou. He works all things unto the
counsel of his will. This day thou shalt be with me
in paradise. Why? He called on the name of
the Lord. as a guilty, vile, undeserving
sinner, wretch, and said, save a wretch. Will you save a wretch
like me? He said, I will. In fact, that's
the only kind he said. Lord, if thou will. This leper
said, you don't have to. I don't deserve for you to. You
don't need me. But I sure need you, and I can't
be clean unless you do it. Lord, if thou wilt, you can." What did Christ say? Verse 13,
"...put forth his hand, and he touched him, saying, I will."
Now who shall lay anything to charge of God's elect? It is
God that justifies. Who is he to condemn him? It
is Christ the God. How do we say it? By the will
of God. By the word of God. With a word. He just frankly
pronounced this man, with a word, clean. You want to go look at
that? Anybody? Leviticus 13. If I had
one hand, would you look at it? I have ten. Leviticus 13. OK? Leviticus 13. If you haven't
seen this, get ready to hop your pew. Leviticus 13. Now here's the law. Here's the
law. Here's what the word says concerning
a leper. A leper. A leper was to be brought
to the priest. Jesus Christ is the only high
priest. He's the only one that can claim. All right? Verse 9. Now, when
the plague of leprosy is in a man, we have it in Leviticus 13, 9,
he shall be brought unto the priest. Leviticus 13, 9 and 10. And the priest shall see him,
if the priest shall look upon him. Behold, if the rising be white
in the skin, his hair turn white, there be quick raw flesh in the
rising, it's an old leprosy in the skin of his flesh, the priest
shall pronounce him unclean. Not shut him up, he's unclean.
If a leprosy break out abroad in the skin, and the leprosy
cover all the skin, of him that hath the plague, from his head
to his foot, that wherever the priest looks, he's covered with
leprosy, from the sole of his feet to the top of his head. He's got no soundness in him.
Isn't that what Romans 7 said? In my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. That's what Paul said. O wretched man that I am, my
loins are filled with loathsome disease, David said in Psalm
38. Well, if the priest shall look
upon one who comes to him, and there's no soundness in his flesh,
no goodness anywhere, not one good little place to recommend
him, don't have one good redeemable quality, nothing. Nothing but
wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. Listen. Then the priest, verse 13, shall
consider, behold, that the leprosy hath covered all his flesh, he
shall pronounce him clean." It's all clear. He's clean. I don't
understand. I do. This is the whole gospel. This is the whole truth. And
nothing but the truth. Christ said, I didn't come to
call the righteous, but sinners. He said, the well need on the
position. He said, I've come from lepers.
No good. In my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. Everyone that comes to Him like that, the Lord frankly,
freely, forever will serve. Clean. But I don't feel clean. It's not your feelings, it's
His Word. It's His promise to you. It's His will. I will be thou clean. And immediately,
look at that, verse 13, immediately the leprosy departed from him.
And whenever that time is, when a sinner comes to Christ, we
don't know. I don't know when it was for
me. You probably don't. You don't know when it was. But
whenever the Lord gave the word, when he said, clean, you're clean,
sins are gone. They're gone. I will. So here's the question,
OK? Here's the question. Not if you
will. Are you willing? Is he willing?
He can't. I don't know if he's willing
or not. I'm not going to tell you that he's not obligated. Didn't the scripture say it may
be? It may be that you'll be spared.
Whose will is it? Whose glory is it? Who's the
beggar? It's man, not God. Who's sovereign? Who calls who? Who needs who? Whose will is
it? Whose choice is it? Whose glory
is it? What's his name? The Lord. That's his name. That's
his glory. That's who he is. That's what
he is. That's how he is. At Pentecost, Peter stood up
and prayed. He said, you men of Israel, hear
these words. Jesus of Nazareth. a man approved
of God by God, many miracles and signs as one of you have
taken with wicked hands and crucified the Lord of glory." He said,
here are these words now, Jesus Christ, whom you crucified, you
did what you, wicked hands, you did what God determined before
to be done. He said, let me tell you now,
Hear these words. This same Jesus, whom you all
have crucified, God has made both Lord and Christ. He didn't ask anybody if they
were willing. He didn't ask anybody to come.
He didn't have an altar call. He didn't give an invitation.
He just declared Lord sitting on a throne and a bunch of guilty
people who rejected and despised Jesus. He said, now he's Lord,
now he's seated on the throne. He will do what he will with
whom he will. He's seated on the throne. And you've sinned
against him. You've sinned against his son. And Peter sat down.
He sat down. And you know what? Behold, the
power of God came. And 3,000 people did what? Hit
their knees. at the knees of a sovereign Lord.
And they said, what shall we do? We've crucified the Lord
in whose hands we are. And here's what they all did
who heard who he really was. They bowed. They believed, they
were baptized. They vowed, they believed, they
were baptized. They said, we thought he was
Jesus before. We now know he's the Lord. We thought we could
do with him as we pleased before. We now know he can do with us
as he pleases. And they all, to a man, what
they were saying was, Lord, if you will. You can have mercy
on us guilty sinners. You know what? He was good at
it. And he did it. Anybody? Okay. Let's sing a closing hymn,
then, John.