In the Gospel of Matthew chapter
8 is an old story, a Gospel story of how a leper came to the Lord
Jesus Christ to be made clean. The Lord was preaching on the
mount, the sermon on the mount. And he came down from the mountain,
and this man came and worshipped him, fell down before the Lord
Jesus Christ, and pleaded with him, begged the Lord to make
him clean." This is a picture, this is the story of every sinner
whom God has chosen and whom Christ came to save, how they
come to the Lord Jesus Christ and why. A picture of every single
one whom God chose and gave to Christ, they will come. All that
the Father gave to Christ will come to Him. And they will come
for one thing, forgiveness of sin, pardon from sin, cleansing
from sin. For that is why the Lord Jesus
Christ came. It says in verse 1, He came down
from the mountain, and great multitudes followed Him. The
Lord Jesus Christ came down from that mount, but He came much
further down than that. He came from heaven itself. He
said that. He said, I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.
What was that will? What was the will of God? Why
did Christ come? He was sent into this world to
save sinners. This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. He said, I didn't come to call
the righteous, but sinners. If you're not a sinner, the Lord
didn't come for you. But if you're a sinner, I've
got good news. I've got gospel for you. Jesus
Christ came into this world to save sinners, even the chief,
even the worst leper. Behold, it says, there came a
leper worshipping Him. Many people followed Him. It
says great multitudes followed Him. They were Jesus followers. They were miracle seekers. They
were financial seekers. They were health and wealth seekers.
He turned one time and said, you follow me because you got
your belly filled. You ate the loaves and the fish. Another time he turned to some
others and said, you follow me for the miracles. You want to
see something spectacular. So it is in religion today. Most
people go to church or most people are Jesus followers for what
they can get out of Him, for what they have gotten out of
Him. But God's people, sinners saved by grace, they follow Him. They come to Him for one thing,
forgiveness of sin. They want to be in His kingdom.
They want to be with Him. This man, it says, Behold, there
came a leper and worshipped him. This man was a leper. A leper. Leprosy was a fatal disease,
always a fatal disease. Those who had leprosy were walking
dead men. So it is with all the sons of
Adam were born dead and trespassed in sin. That's what the Scripture
said. And only those whom God makes
to know this will come to the Lord Jesus Christ for quickening
power, for life-giving power. Those who know themselves to
be dead in sin will come to Christ who is life, to be given life. The only reason they do come
is because they already have life. Well, leprosy was fatal,
and leprosy began on the inside. It was unseen at first. were
shaping in iniquity, David said. In sin did my mother conceive
me. All the sons of Adam, all the
people on this earth are born sinners. Yes, our little children
are sinners by birth and by practice, by choice later on. Yes, they
are. And it begins on the inside,
and if it goes unchecked, uncleansed, it will break out into an all-consuming
and corrupting disease, leprosy, like sin. And Isaiah chapter
1 says of mankind in general, from the sole of his feet to
the top of his head, there is no soundness in him. That's what
Paul cried, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. That's what David
cried, my loins are filled with a loathsome disease. Is that
you? No, that's not you? Then Jesus
Christ didn't come for you. You say, well, that used to be
me. Oh? But not now. You're no longer a sinner? Then
Jesus Christ didn't come for you. Those who come to Christ
come for forgiveness of sin. And it's not a one-time thing.
It's an ongoing thing. It's a constant thing. It's a
lifelong thing. To whom coming? Why do God's
people really come to cry? For forgiveness of sins. Like this leper. Lepers were
walking dead men. It began on the inside and then
broke out until the whole person was corrupt. Corrupt flesh. And then lepers were cast out
of society. Adam was cast out of the garden
because of sin. And sin has separated us from
God. Do you know that? You can't come
to God with any sin on you, and yet you can only come to God
if you're a sinner. Do you understand that? You can't
be in God's heaven with one sin on you, and yet you have nothing
but sin in you. How can you come to God? You've
got to come through Jesus Christ. One way, you've got to come to
Christ. Well, lepers were cast out. Lepers were known. Cast out, the law said that they
could not come near the clean, and they were forced to cry out,
unclean, unclean, unclean, unclean. And buddy, if God ever shows
you what you are, that's what you'll cry. Unclean, unclean,
unworthy, unworthy. I remember as a returning prodigal
to the church as a young man, feeling so unclean. And people,
I'm telling you, I still feel that way. But the fact is, the
church house is a place for lepers. It's a leper colony. That's where
lepers come to be cleansed, to be pardoned, to be forgiven of
their sins by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the one reason.
Behold, it says, there came a leper. No man can come, Christ said,
except the Father which hath sent Me draw him. He said, you
will not come unto Me. You will not come. No man can.
No man will. But those who do, who do? Who
does? Those made willing in the day
of His power. Psalm 110 verse 3, Thy people
shall be made willing in the day of Thy power, drawn by the
Father, convicted of their sin by the Holy Spirit, shown by
the Spirit of God to be what they are, lepers before God,
unclean, wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. And they
come one place. They come to the Lord Jesus Christ. That leper came to Christ. He didn't come to church. He
didn't come to the front. He didn't come to the altar.
He didn't come to the soul winner. He came to Jesus Christ. and
worshipped Him. This word worship, if you look
it up in the Greek, it has a wonderful meaning. It means, strictly speaking,
it means, as a dog licks his master's hand. Like a dog licks
his master's hand, a dog that adores his master, a dog that
knows himself to be nothing but a dog, a dog licks in worship
and prostrate at the feet of his master whom he adores, just
seeking a handout. That is worship. Those are the
only ones who really come needing the Lord Jesus Christ are those
like dogs. Like that Syro-Phoenician woman
one time came to Christ begging Him, and Christ said, it's not
fit to give the children's bread to dogs. And she said, truth,
Lord. Yet dogs eat the crumbs that
fall from the master's table. And the Lord said she had great
faith. It is great faith, understanding of what you are to call yourself
a dog. And yet if you're the Lord's
dog, if he's your master, oh my, you've come to the right
place. Behold, there came a leper and
worshipped him, fell down at his feet. And here's what he
said. Here's his confession. Here's his plea. Here is the
Confession of every true child of God, everyone who's been shown
what they are, convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment,
brought to the Lord Jesus Christ, brought to His feet to plead
with Him, to seek forgiveness of Him. He said nine words, Lord,
if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. Lord. He didn't call
Him Jesus. No, sir. No, sir. He called Him
Lord. If you ever find out who Jesus
is, you'll call Him Lord. He's the Lord, Jesus cried. Our
Lord said that one time. He said, You call Me Lord and
Master, and you say, Well, for so I am. And no man can call
Him Lord except by the Spirit of God. And this is eternal life. This is salvation if you confess
in your mouth Jesus to be Lord. Many say, Lord, Lord. They don't mean it. Some say,
make Him Lord. And then you have never met Him.
But this man apparently heard that this Jesus of Nazareth was
none other than God manifest in the flesh, the Lord of glory,
the King of kings and Lord of lords, the God in whose hands
His breath is, the One who worketh all things after the counsel
of His will. And so he came and called Him
Lord, Lord, if Thou wilt." This man didn't believe in free will.
This man didn't believe he had a free will. He knew that the
Lord's will worketh all things. The Lord's will. Everything is
according to the Lord's will. If he was going to be healed,
it wouldn't be according to his own free will. It will be the
Lord's will. And he said, Lord, if Thou wilt,
Thou canst make me clean. Man's got it all backwards. He's
got man being a God and God being like a man. God doesn't want
this to happen. God doesn't want that to happen.
And God says to you, if you will, you can. No sir, that's not it. Salvations of the Lord. Here's
the confession of faith. Here's the truth. If the Lord
will, He alone can. But it's up to Him. It's not
up to us. We don't make Him Lord. If He's
willing, He makes us one of His servants. subjects in His kingdom. If thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean. Nothing could be plainer. Nothing
could be plainer. God worketh all things at the
counsel of His will. It is not of Him that willeth
or of Him that runneth. It is God that worketh in us
both to will and do thy good pleasure. Every sinner the Lord
saves, the Lord knows the truth. And they come to Him pleading
with Him, if You will, if Thou wilt, Thou canst. Oh, false religion. Man's got it all wrong. They
say to man, if you will, you can. But Christ said, without
Me, you can do nothing. Can the Ethiopian change his
skin? Can the leper change his spots? Neither can you do good
what you're accustomed to do in evil. But the Lord can if
He will. If He will. But I'm here to tell
you that everyone that comes to Christ like this leper, the
Lord said, I will. Why did the man come? Because
Christ brought him. This is one of his elect. God
chose and gave to Christ. That's why he came. And he came
broken, knowing he's a sinner, a leper. And he came pleading
for forgiveness of sin, for cleansing. And he said, If thou wilt, thou
canst make me clean. And here's what the Lord did.
The Lord put forth his hand. And you will not be clean until
the Lord puts forth His hand and touches you. And the Lord
put forth His hand and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed. Why is someone clean? Because
the Lord says so. through the Word of God, through
the blood and righteousness of Christ. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Christ
died. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Sinners
are saved for one reason, because God says so. Because Christ died. Because Christ shed His precious
blood. What about you? Have you come
to Christ as a leper? Unclean? Condemned? Unclean? That's the only ones who will. Only ones who need Jesus Christ. Oh, may the Lord reveal to you
who you are, what you are, and bring you to Christ. Amen.