Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Alright, let's go to the book
of Matthew chapter 5. Matthew 5. This is a story that we have
looked at before at least a couple of times, alluded to it many
times. This is recorded in Mark and
Luke also. Anytime something is recorded
two or three times in God's Word is very important, isn't it? This is a wonderful picture of
the salvation of a sinner. The story of a leper cleansed
by the Lord Jesus Christ. Read verses 1 and 2 with me. Matthew 8, verses 1 and 2. When he was come down from the
mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, there came a
leper, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst
make me clean." Coming down from the mountain where he was speaking
to his disciples and others who heard It says that great multitudes
followed him. Wherever the Lord went, he attracted
a crowd, mostly out of curiosity. People, by nature, are very curious
when things are going on, and they came to see him out of curiosity. Many came to get something from
him. They came to receive food. They
came to see his miracles. The Lord rebuked the masses for
that later on. He turned and said to them, you
seek me for the miracles or you seek me to get your bellies filled. And it's the same today. It really
is. It's the same today. The majority
of Jesus followers do so to receive something from him. where people
go to church, so to speak, to to get something, to find something
that they think is missing. But here in our story, it says,
behold. That is, stop and take notice
of this. Here's something incredible.
A leper came. And worshiped him. Great crowds followed him for
various reasons, but behold, a leper, one leper, just one,
a leper came and worshipped him. Now, leprosy, as you know, seeing
you know these things before, You know, to write, to preach
the same things to you is not grievous to me at all. I was
looking forward to preaching it. It's not grievous at all. I enjoy
this. I love this story. I never grow tired of it. And
for you, it's safe. It's safe. You don't want to
hear something new. You do not. If I ever come up
with something new, you go somewhere else. We're to seek and to search and
find the old paths wherein is the good way and walk there.
The old, old story, the gospel. Leprosy, you know, was a common
disease back then. It's fairly eradicated now. But back then it was always fatal. Always. Leprosy represents sin. Leprosy represents sin. Back
then, it was always fatal. Whoever had leprosy died. Unless somebody healed them. Miraculously. Leprosy began on the inside. It was a disease of the bloodstream. It began in the blood, tainted
blood. And it was contagious, they got
it from someone else. Sin. We got it from our father
Adam. And Adam all died. By one man's
disobedience, many were made sinners. The many. We got it
from our father Adam. It's in our bloodstream. It's
in our blood. As leprosy. Now it was on the
inside until it finally began to manifest itself on the outside.
It began on the inside, and then a little while later, it began
to show itself on the outside, as it is with sin. Sin is born
in us, we're born in it, and with it, our little children. They seem innocent, don't they?
They really do. They look at their children as
they're just perfect. No, and I'll tell you why. They're
not. Because they come from us. And
it's not possible that one of my children could be without
sin. It's not possible. They come
from me. And though it looks that way
and they seem harmless enough and innocent enough, It won't
take long for that's the end that's in them to begin to manifest
itself to be able to come out. Selfishness and malice and and
and so forth and so on. Pride and this and that and the
other until if unchecked. If not taken care of it will
consume the flesh. Until a person is covered with
leprosy. And you know what the scripture
says about us. Isaiah one. This is what the scripture says
it says we. We have this disease called sin
and from the sole of our feet to the crown of our heads. There's
no soundness in us nothing but wounds and bruises and putrefying. An ugly picture. That's just
my nature. Scripture says we're sinful,
full of sin, everything about us. Lepers back then, all lepers
were cast out of society. When it was known that a person
was a leper, they were cast out of general society. They could
not mingle with general society lest they corrupt other people.
What keeps us out of the presence of God? What has separated us
from God, who is holy? Our sin. Our sin. God cast out Adam from the garden,
didn't he? Why? He had become a leper. It hadn't shown up much, but
it would after that. Now, all of Adam's posterity,
until it finally became so crooked and perverse, that God destroyed
the whole planet, except for eight souls in an ark. Lepers. Lepers, once they were discovered
to have leprosy, and if they wanted to have anything to do
with society, with common people, if they wanted anything to do,
if they had needs, and they all had needs, and there were not
leper colonies everywhere. So, some of them did roam, but
if they wanted anything from anyone, they had to admit, they
had to announce, they had to confess publicly before everyone,
before they came near. Unclean. Unclean. I need help, but I'm unclean. If we confess our sins. He's faithful and just. This
leper came to the only one who could heal him. With man, this
was impossible. There was no vaccine back then
for leprosy. There was no cure for leprosy,
none whatsoever. There's only one person on the
top side of God's earth that could heal a leper, and that
was the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, it's the same today.
Sin is a fatal disease and is only one that can cure it. The
Lord Jesus Christ. Well, this man came to Christ.
How did he know about Christ? Somebody told him. He didn't
know Christ. Somebody told him. It may have
been another leper. May have been another leper. May have been a blind person
who's been healed. May have been somebody who'd been healed by
Christ. I know who you can go to. He
actually healed people. Jesus of Nazareth. They say he's
the Christ, the Son of David. Well, he heard about him. It
says he came. Now, before he's going to do
what he does, he had to hear about Christ, understand something
of who he is, understand something of what he was. He was a leper. And then that'll make him approach
Christ the way he ought to approach him. There's only one way to
approach the Lord Jesus Christ as a leper. This man came, it
says in verse two, and worshipped him. Worshipped him. Mark, the Gospel
of Mark says he came, says a certain man in a certain city. There were
many lepers back then, weren't there? There were many lepers,
everywhere. But this man came. And why didn't
the rest of them come? This was one of his elect, one
of God's elect. He came, but a certain man. But it says in
Mark 1, he came beseeching him, begging him. A beggar. Not a bragger, a beggar. He came as a beggar, beseeching
him, and says, kneeling down. Who do you kneel before? We don't
kneel before any man today, do we? Never. No, we do not. I despise these wedding ceremonies
where the two come down and they kneel. Away with that. Away with that. Who do we kneel
before? Years ago, there was only one
person that a human being best kneeled before. Who? A king. You kneel before a king, a sovereign. This man came begging him, kneeling
down before his sovereign majesty. That's what worship is. In Luke's
gospel, Luke chapter 5, it says he fell on his face. It wasn't some symbolic gesture,
kneeling. He fell prostrate. and besought him. It says he
fell on his face and besought him. I didn't attempt to say
this like this man said it. Although I have said it myself. But this man was desperate. That's
a leper. He's dying and he knows it. And
he fell on his face and besought him, begged him, cried out. It says he worshiped him. As
I've told you before, I don't think there's much profit in
looking up in the Greek various words. I believe God has given
us the best word. I really do. So often you get
it wrong. If you don't know anything about
Greek, you'll mess it up. These were Greek scholars that
the Lord used to translate for us from the original. And our
knowledge of strong, strong, we get it from Augusta strong
and weak. Enough of that anyway, every now and then. I do look
up a word. And the word worship here, this
is what it said. In the Greek, the word worship
is the word. I told you, I didn't know much.
Proskuneo, that's where we get the word prostrate. Fall down
before. It is said by the word proskuneo,
worship, used many times, same meaning. Like a dog licks his master's
hand. Kelly, that's exactly what it
said. This is what this word worship
means, a dog licking his master's hand. Did old Bailey ever come
to you and worship you? Oh, my dog worships me. What
is that? Looks up at me with absolute
adoration and love and humility and meekness and knows my power
and authority and he fears me, he worships the ground I walk
on. Waits on a word from me, waits
on a touch from me and that was this lamb. That was this leper. He came.
Many followed Jesus. This man worshipped him. This man was saved because he
worshipped him. He bowed, he begged, he besought
the Lord and mastered the only one who could heal him of his
corruption. And here he, and this is worship.
The title of this message is True Worship. True Worship. Notice he worshipped the Lord
before he got anything from him, didn't he? He worshipped the
Lord before the Lord healed him. He came to be healed, but whether
he got healed or not, he's going to worship the Lord. And that's what everyone whom
God deals with, that's what they see. He's worthy to be worshipped
whether we get anything from him or not. And here's worship. Here's the
cry of a leper. Here's the cry of a leper, one
who's dying from their corruption, from a loathsome disease. Did
you read that Psalm 38 with me? Could you enter into that? My
loins are filled with a loathsome disease. My wounds stink. I'm corrupt. That's what a sinful person cries
out before a holy God. And here's what he said. He didn't call him Jesus. You won't find anybody approaching
the Lord Jesus Christ in scriptures calling him Jesus. No sir, not
one, except his enemies. The self-righteous Pharisee says,
we know who you are, you're Jesus, the carpenter's son. Those who came to worship him,
those who knew who he was, bowed before him and called him Lord.
One time the Lord told his disciples, he said, You call me Lord and
Master. And they did. Read it. Read the scriptures.
The apostles never did call him Jesus. Never, ever did they address
him as anything but Lord, Master. He said you call me lord and
master and you say well. So I. So I and this leper said well
or. See if. Why we keep referring
to solid parts as we do with Marvin. I'm several times. Saul
went to. Persecute Jesus and his followers. And when he was cast down in
the dirt, he said, Lord, who are you, Lord? Who is the Lord? Who's the one who cast me off
my high horse? Who is the one that is infinitely
more powerful than me? Who is the one in whose hands
my life is and my breath is right now, who can save me or damn
me or kill me or let me remain alive? Who is it? He says, I'm
Jesus. Then what Paul called him from
then on out, Lord, Fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Now look at what he said, this
leper. He said, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. If you're willing, you can. There's no pride or presumption
here, is there? No fleshly familiarity. Jesus,
I have the sight. What's the Lord of glory need
with a leper? Does he need this man? How dare this man, if it came
to him with pride and presumption? He doesn't need a leper. What
good's a leper to anybody? No fleshly familiarity, no claiming. He doesn't claim anything. Some
modern preacher would approach this leper today. He'd say, just
go claim your blessing. Go claim it. It's yours. He wants
to. No claiming anything. No boasting
of free will here, is it? Does he boast of his free will?
Lord, I have to say. Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst. Lepers aren't proud. Real lepers
aren't proud. They're ashamed. They're ashamed. Lepers are ashamed
of themselves. They're not proud of themselves.
There's no such thing as a proud sinner. God doesn't have any proud people.
It's one of the first things God does. It is the first thing
God does to a person that he purposes to save. Breaks them,
humbles them before. Lepers aren't proud, they're
ashamed. What have they got to be proud of? Leprous flesh? Do you remember the story of
old Naaman? Naaman, the great Syrian captain of the host. Great man. The scripture says
there was a great man, captain of the host. Second in command
of one of the largest armies around at the time. Great
man, a steam bow, wearing all his high medals and so forth
on his high horse, but it says, but he was a leper. All right, my pastor once made this
distinction. He wasn't a great man who just
happened to be a leper. He was a leper who just happened
to be a great man. All human beings are lepers before
God. Some of them just happened to
be President of the United States. Or kings and so forth. That's
right. That's what this book says. God's
word. Lepers aren't proud, they're
ashamed. What have they got to be proud of? In their flesh dwelleth
no good thing. You take all those medals off
Old Naaman, what do you see? Corrupt flesh. Take all those
robes off that fellow over in Rome, what does he look like?
An old withered up man. A wrinkled old piece of flesh.
You go down in an average nursing home, you see somebody just like
him. Nothing holy about him. Take all those black and white
robes off all those precious little innocent ladies all over
the place, what do they look like? Corrupt flesh. If we'll come naked, we'll be
clothed. Take off all that proud stuff,
that covering, come naked. Here I am, corrupt. You'll be
clothed. Clothed, never to be removed.
Lepers aren't proud, they're ashamed. Lepers don't claim anything,
they beg. Lepers don't claim anything.
They're beggars. Lepers don't expect anything. Lepers don't expect anything.
Beggars can't expect anything. If a beggar goes home with 50
cents in his cup, he thinks, well, I'm glad for that. Nobody
had to give me anything. Martin used to say, anything
this side of hell is mercy. That's what sinners realize.
Sinful people, not, oh, I've got some faults. And I sure expect
God to reward me for my good point. No, sir. That's not sinners. Christ didn't come to call the
righteous. That's what he meant by that.
He said, I didn't come to call the well have no need of a physician.
You remember that story I told you about my family's physician
years ago? Oh Dr. Wynn, sweet man, gave
birth to every one of us, mayhem, all three of us, used to make
house calls. I remember distinctly when he
would come to the house with a little black bag, a little
black alligator leather bag. Make house calls. When did he
come? When we were really sick. I had the mumps one time, you
know, and he came. I remember distinctly. I had
the measles one time and he came. I mean, I was covered with the
measles. One time he came out in his waiting
room after seeing all day long seeing people with a little headache
or a little hangnail and all that. One day he came out of
his waiting room, got fed up with all that, came out of his
waiting room and said, if there's anybody really sick out here,
I'll see you now. If not, I'm going home. That's a good illustration, because
the Lord Jesus Christ didn't come to cause a riot. People
just have a little spiritual hangnail, a little problem. I've
got a few thoughts. No, sir, he came to save lepers. People say we make too much of
sin. We speak too much of sin. I'm looking for a leper. That's
why I'm trying to find a... And here's a good saying, and
learn what this means. One of the old writers said,
a sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Spirit had made him
so. Go and learn what that means.
It means there's not many of them. The Holy Spirit makes all
of God's people see their corruption. Well, Lord, he says, if thou
wilt, thou canst. A modern preacher would say,
if you will, you can. Not a worshipper, not a leper. Lord, this is the whole difference
in true religion, in the true Christ, in the true God of Scripture,
in true salvation, in what's being passed off today as it.
They say, if you will, you can. Here's what the Bible says. Here's
what true worship says. Here's what God's Scripture says.
Here is what salvation says. If thou wilt, you don't have
to, but if you will, if you're willing, you can. Don't have to. It's your sovereign
prerogative. That's what mercy means. That's what grace is. It's a
gift. Grace is a gift. It's not works. It's not you
don't earn it. It's a gift. Grace means gift. When did you ever work for a
gift? You don't. How do you get it? By the grace
of the giver. By grace are you saved. Let's
holler that from the housetop, huh? What do you all preach down
there? Suffering grace! That salvation's of the Lord.
He saves whom He wills. Saves a lot of people. He wills
to save a lot of people. He's able to save to the uttermost. then that come unto God by him."
Well, who's going to come? No man can come except the Father
which is in him. Calvin! What's this all about? It's not the exaltation of Calvinism. It's the exaltation of God's
saving grace and glory, sovereign electing grace. That's what it's
all about. That's what the whole ball of
dirt is all about. to the praise of the glory of
his grace. What's that? Free gift. To who? Lepers. Lepers. Can you imagine this man going
away later on bragging about how he's getting the glory? Oh, who got the glory? If thou
wilt. You see, A leper can't will himself
clean? Who's ever heard of such a thing? They say that about people, you
have to will to live. Fool! The Lord says, I kill, I make
a life, who lives? They brag on cancer survivors
as if they did something. I guess the ones that died from
it were absolute failures, huh? Lance Armstrong. We're going
to see about that fellow. Sharing God's glory, what he's
doing. Cancer survivors. Not one mention
of God. Not one mention. A leper can't will himself clean. And a sinner can't will himself
claim. Can't do it. Here's what the Bible says. Can
the Ethiopian change his skin? Can a black man make himself
white? Can the leopard, that spotted animal, change his spots? Become a tiger? No. Well, that's
ridiculous. He said neither can you do good
that are accustomed to doing evil. Isn't that what God's Word
says? Sure it is. You know these things. But the
Lord can. He can make a black man white.
Make a white man black. That's what he does to a self-righteous
religious person. He loves me anyway. In fact,
the black man makes him white. A leopard spots a leopard. It removes all the spots. The
Lord can, if he will, if he will. The Lord once asked a blind man,
what wilt thou that I should do unto thee? And he said, Lord,
that I might receive my sight. Why was he willing? Why did he
see his need? The Lord made him. But he needed
one thing. Here's the point. He said, I
might receive my sight. He's blind. You remember old
Barnabas sitting by the wayside, began to cry out, scream and
holler. Scream. When the Scripture says
cry, have you ever cried? I'm sure you have. Cry. What's that mean? Holler. Holler. Jesus, our son of David,
have mercy on me. Jesus the Christ, that's what
he said, have mercy on me. And the Lord said, bring him
to me. And he cast away that garment and came to Christ because
the Lord drew him. And he said, what wilt thou that
I should do unto thee? Lord, and I might receive my
side, I'm blind, I need to see. And like that blind man and this
leper, the Lord said, or the leper said, Lord, if thou wilt,
thou canst make me clean. What do you need, leper? I don't
need a new Mercedes. A 97 model will be fine. As I cleared that up and taken
my shoe out of my mouth, A Mercedes is no different than a Volvo.
They're both equally troublesome. I'm glad my sister has mercy
on me and grace and realizes I'm a man. You don't need a Ferrari. Nobody
has one of those. Okay. Wish I hadn't said that
now. What was his need? What did the
man need? What did he need? What was the one thing needful?
If you're a leper, it's one thing you want. One thing you need.
Lord, I want to be clean. And this is what worshipers did.
This is what God's people did. This is what they're all, they
all realized they're full of this leprosy called sin. We're
sinners. And what do they need? So what
do they need? What is their need, their great need? To be done
with sin. We need forgiveness of sin. We
need restraint of sin. We need someday for Him to totally
take us out of sin and sin out of earth. Lord, I want to be
clean. You see, that's why God has chosen
the people who are the foundation of the world, that they would
be holy. That's what salvation is all
about. I make a people holy having predestinated them to be conformed
to the image of Christ holy without blame without spot before. Holy
I just repeat myself all the time but Spurgeon. One time they
asked him if you could have any thing anything right now what
would it be. And this is the reply of all
of God's people really this is the one thing they He said that
I might be without sin. This is what plagues us and everything
we do see that the leper and everything he touched was defiled
everything he was plagued with leprosy look down it's it's from
it he was carrying around this stinking body dying body and
it was. It affected everything about
he could not get away from his leprosy and that's the center.
That's the believer. Lord, if thou wilt, thou can
make me clean from sin. Blind people need sight, lepers
want cleansing, sinners want sins removed. There's the difference between
a worshiper and a religious person. Well, the Lord certainly is able
in him. Will he? Will he? He's able. Now, Kent,
if you will, will he? He said to the woman one time,
if you knew, you would ask, and he would give. If you knew, you
would ask, and he would give. Everyone would ask him, he'd
give. He said, Lord, if thou wilt,
you can. make me clean reverse three Jesus
put forth his hand and touched him saying. I will. Be that way. It was that simple when. He touched him. He touched him
scripture said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you might
be saying it doesn't say that He that hath the sun might someday
hath light. It doesn't say that, does it?
It says he that hath the sun hath light. That means faith
in the sun. Scripture says there is therefore at some point in
the future no condemnation. It doesn't say that, does it?
It says there is therefore now no condemnation. than their problem
where are the users. That no man accused the leader
do right now. And says immediately his leprosy
was clear and he. Miraculously instantaneously. The moment he was touched by
the master's hand. He was playing on the. clean
immediately. How does Christ cleanse his people. By being made him. For us. I'm taking our lives
this true story. Close with him. True story. Back in the nineteen forties
there was a missionary named Paris read the head and Sudan
Africa true story. He was walking along the jungle
with his friends, and he said they heard the most woeful cry
out in the bush. Terrible cry. They heard someone
saying, Help me. Help me. Won't somebody please
help me? And they began to walk toward
the sound of that cry, and it got louder. Help me. Somebody
please help me. He said they came around the
corner, through the bush there and laying on the ground was
the most unforgettable sight they'd ever seen. So they saw
a man lying on the ground in the last stages of leprosy. And
all his fingers were gone. His face was just literally falling
off of his skeleton. And he said he held those nubs
up in the air, crying out. And Brother Reedhead, the missionary,
said, I thought to myself, if there's just any way that I,
in my sound flesh, my wellness, my wholeness, if I could take
his corrupt, dying flesh and press his face to mine, his body
to my. And my health go out into him.
And I take his correct. If I could, I would, but I can't. Christ could. And he did. That's exactly how he saves sinners. He takes their correct. Everyone that cries out, help
me. Help me, Lord. Help me. I'm a leper. Have mercy
on me. Have mercy. Thou will. Lord, if thou will, you can.
Every one, every single one that says that. He says, I will be
thou. OK, let's sing a closing hymn. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.