Thank you, ladies. I appreciate that. If I'd known you were going to sing that, I'd have told everybody to look in your black folders. You could follow the words. But I tell you, they sang the words so clearly, you could understand all the words. So we appreciate that very much.

Well, Matthew H. Since I announced I was going to preach on this, I haven't changed my mind. So I'm going to stick with it here in Matthew chapter 8. Now, I will tell you this. I want you to look back at chapter 4 toward the end. Look at chapter 4 toward the end. Verse 23.

Matthew 4, 23, and Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And then we read in verse 24, and His fame went throughout all Syria And they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with diverse diseases and torments, and those which were possessed of devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy, and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan. And then we get to the Sermon on the Mount. And that takes care of chapter 5, and chapter 6, and chapter 7. And then we get to chapter 8. And our Lord resumes His work of healing people of various kinds of diseases.

Now one might ask, how was it that this leper who could not be amongst the public, not legally, according to the law of God. How was it that this publican was made aware of the fact that Jesus of Nazareth had healed so many people? Word of mouth. Because we read there at the end of chapter four, he healed people of all kinds of diseases. And that encouraged this leper. If he can heal people of all manner of diseases, maybe there's hope for me. And I would say to all of you, Christ is the Savior of leprous sinners, because we're all spiritual lepers.

We are afflicted with a deadly disease. But you know something? There are several of us in here who have been healed of our spiritual diseases. He has washed us from our sins. You see, Christ is the Savior of all kinds of sinners. And the good news is, and this is, hopefully God will make it good news to you, our Lord Jesus, His specialty is saving lost sinners and healing those who are spiritually diseased.

I know people are sick and they want to be healed. But it's very difficult to find somebody who has been made to know and realize that they're spiritually diseased and they want to be healed of the spiritual disease. And I want to tell all of you and those of you who are watching, there is a savior for the sinful. He came into the world, the scripture says, to seek and to save, to seek and to save that which was lost.

He heals sinners of the great disease, the incurable physical or humanly incurable disease of sin. We're all spiritual lepers. I want you to know that. You're a spiritual leper. You who are watching, be it man, woman, whoever you are, you're a spiritual leper. And there's nothing you can do to cure your leprosy. In the Old Testament, you remember how our Lord used Elisha to heal Naaman the leper? You remember that?

Naaman was a general in Ben-Hadad. He's a king of Syria. Naaman was a general in his army. He was a great man, he was a valiant fighter, wonderful warrior, but the scripture says in 2 Kings 5 verse 1, the last statement says, but he was a leper. And the Syrian army would send out these attack army groups. And they would go out and they would attack a little village and they'd take captive their Israelites. And on one occasion when they went out, they captured a young girl.

I don't know how old she was, but she was old enough to be a servant, to be a slave. And you know where she wound up being a servant or a slave? in the household of Naaman the leper. And this little girl, she was a servant to Naaman's wife. And when Naaman would come in from a battle, from attacking the Israelites, while he would come in, he'd try to keep himself covered. And the little girl would ask Naaman's wife, what's the matter with him? And Naaman's wife would say to that little girl, he's a leper. And the little girl said, oh no. She said, but you know what?

I know a man in Israel, he's a prophet of God. And his name is Elisha. And God has gifted him to perform miracles. I bet you, he told the mistress, the woman, the head of the house, said, I wish your husband could meet Elisha. I believe he could help.

Well, then word reached the king of Syria, Ben-Hadad. And Ben-Hadad said, well, I'm gonna write a letter. And I'm going to send it to the king of Israel and ask him if he can make it to be so that Naaman would be healed. So he writes a letter, gives it back to a courier, and he delivers it, probably had a white flag or something so that the Israelites wouldn't attack him. He said, I got a message for the king. He took that message to the king, and the king read that message from the king of Syria. King of Syria sent the message to the king of Israel, and the king of Syria said, my general, he's got leprosy. It's no good. It's incurable.

Can you say to it that he's healed? And the king of Israel, he just kind of threw up his hands and said, what? Am I God? Am I God that I can heal a sick man? And of course the story goes, as you know, that Elisha was sought out by Naaman He went and washed in the river Jordan following the instructions of the preacher of God, and he was healed of his leprosy But here's what I want to draw your attention to and you can read that in 2nd Kings chapter 5 if you want to You see, the King of Israel recognized nobody can heal of leprosy except really God. He may use a human instrument like Elisha, but nobody can heal of leprosy but God. And really there's a lot in what the King of Israel said.

If you were a leper back then, It's futile to go anywhere else seeking help. And those of us who are sinners, see, we're spiritual lepers, isn't that right? We're all spiritual lepers. You're a fool if you go somewhere else for healing, for cleansing, for salvation.

The only one who can help you, my friends who are watching by way of the live stream, the only one who can help you is Christ Jesus, the Lord of glory. And it's useless. In fact, it's in defiance of the word of God. If you try to get rid of your spiritual disease of sin any other way, except by fleeing to Christ, the lamb of God who shed his blood. for the remission of sins.

This leper in the passage of scripture, we don't know his name, don't know who his parents were, don't know how old he was, don't know where he lived, but I tell you what we do know, he's a leper. And leprosy was incurable. And Luke tells us in his record of this, and it's Matthew, Mark, and Luke who tell us about this leper. And Luke tells us he was full of leprosy. You know what that means? Totally covered with leprosy. Leprosy, and you can read, don't read it now, but Leviticus 13 and chapters 13 and 14.

If a man went to a priest, he ain't go to a doctor now. Remember, you can't, they couldn't find help from any other source except in the Lord and going to his preacher who'd tell him the truth. But if a man had a little spot on his flesh, said, honey, look at that. That's not leprosy, is it? Well, I don't know.

You got to go see a priest. You ain't go see a physician because they couldn't help you. Had to go to a priest. So you go to a priest and say, that little spot I've got right there, is that—I need to be worried about that. He looked at it sometime and said, no, it's nothing. Don't worry about it, buddy. Go on about your business.

But if the priest looked at that and he determined that's leprosy, now that guy's in trouble. But it's just a little speck, but it's gonna spread. And that meant that he was an outcast from God, from his family, and from everybody. He just couldn't be amongst anybody. Now, on the other hand, once he was diagnosed with leprosy, when leprosy fully covered him, and he went to the priest and said, I'm not getting any better. And the priest looked him over and said, boy, you got leprosy everywhere. Strange thing. The priest said, you're clean. Well, I'm not clean. What's that a picture of? It's a picture, you see. Leprosy was a type of sin. It's a figure of sin. And when we realize we've got a little sin, that's not good enough.

That's the way most people are. And there's not a person in here, there's not a person who's watching who wouldn't admit this, well, I know I've done wrong some. But it's just a little spot. That's all it is. I'm not thoroughly covered with this disease. It's just, yeah, you know, I fudge on this and that. I may not tell the whole truth all the time, but it isn't much.

You're a leper, though. You're a leper. Well, here's a man who's fully covered with leprosy. What is that picture and why does the priest then say, you are clean? Because that's a picture of a man or a woman who's absolutely convinced they're totally sinful. I got it bad. From head to toe, I'm guilty, I'm diseased. I've got leprosy."

And really, that was good news. So how can that be good news? Because only when a man was fully convinced that he was thoroughly covered with leprosy, only when a sinner is convinced he's totally, she's totally a sinner, got no good spots on you whatsoever, then there's hope. There's hope.

And you read there in Leviticus chapter 13 when, you know, may have a spot, you're unclean. Maybe your whole hand, unclean. Could be your hand and arm, you're unclean. But when somebody was covered with leprosy from top to bottom, That's a picture of somebody who's been absolutely convinced they're no good before God. Fully diseased. This man, Luke says he was full of leprosy.

Bad news for him and yet it teaches us a gospel lesson. We're absolutely covered within and without with sin. There's nobody in here, nobody out there, nobody who's watching, nobody who's present in this auditorium. There's nobody who is free of sin. But it's not just a little spot. We're rotten at the core.

Do you understand that? Well, you won't understand that till the Spirit of God convinces you and convicts you and shows you that you're thoroughly no good. And when the Spirit of God convinces you, you're thoroughly diseased within and without with sin. That's when the good news of the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ will be delightful to you. For he's the great physician of people who are leprous. When a priest examines somebody who were concerned that maybe I've got leprosy, and the priest said, you've got leprosy, he's in trouble.

Because he could no longer meet to worship God. with the rest of Israel. He was kind of excommunicated. He couldn't go to the tabernacle anymore. Remember, God said at the tabernacle, He said, that's where I'll meet you and that's where you'll meet with me, at the blood of the tabernacle. Can't go anymore. You know, every morning at nine o'clock, they offered a lamb. As a sacrifice, every afternoon at three o'clock, there's another lamb offered.

AM and PM, but a leper, he couldn't go. He wasn't allowed to go. On the day of atonement, Leviticus 16, couldn't go to that. Passover feast, couldn't go to that. It's like the gate to God was shut off for him or her, as the case may be. It was cut off from God, cut off from others, cut off from the family. It was a death sentence. That's what it was. And I'm telling you, If the Spirit of God ever convinces you, you, and me that we're thoroughly lepers, we'll realize that's a death sentence.

I can't do anything about that. If you tell me I'm acting bad, I can change the way I do things. I'll change my act. If you say your diet's wrong, I can change my diet. If you say, well, your talking is wrong, I heard one of those Olympians the other day slipped a couple of foul words.

She went, whoops. Well, you could clean up your language, but you can't clean up your heart. You can't get rid of leprosy. You can't get rid of sin. You say, I'll try to do better. Well, if you're doing outwardly bad, do better. But it's not going to improve the situation between you and God. That's not going to make any difference.

But maybe, maybe God would convince you you're covered up with leprosy. And nobody can help you except the great physician, the Lord Jesus Christ. Somebody diagnosed by the priest with leprosy, couldn't spend any more time with family. Gonna have a family reunion? Well, I'm sorry, you can't go. Families going out to eat at a restaurant, if they had restaurants back then, you can't go. You're cut off. You're cut off. Why is that? Because you're a leper.

And it was so contagious. Now, thankfully, what is it? Hansen's disease is leprosy these days, and it isn't It isn't as bad, so I read. But God Almighty purposed that leprosy would exist in the land of Canaan to teach Israel and to teach you and me of the seriousness of sin. It is not a light thing. You have a spiritual disease.

When sin is finished, it bringeth forth death. That's what the Bible says. That's what God says. Something's got to be done about your sin, but you can't do anything about it. Only the Lord can. You notice verse two of Matthew eight, and behold, be amazed. This is astounding. There came a leper and worshiped him. Mark and Luke say that he fell before the Lord. And it's amazing that he would dare to come in the midst of a multitude.

You're not allowed to do this. I'll tell you what, desperate people do desperate things. And if the Spirit of God ever gets you in trouble and causes you to say, I am thoroughly a sinner, the same Spirit of God will show you who the great physician is. And he'll bring you, he'll bring you to Christ for cleansing. The psalmist says, who healeth all our diseases. Who does? The great physician does.

I can't heal you. That's like when the king of Israel got the letter from the king of Syria and the king of Syria says, my general is sick with leprosy, do something for him. And the king of Israel said, I'm not God. And if you weren't coming to me and say, well, Jim, I realize I'm a spiritual leper. I'm a sinner. You come to me saying that I can't help you. Am I God?

No, no. The only one who can help you is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the eternal son of God. Oh, that the Lord would draw you to Christ the Savior, the smitten Lamb of God. And you'll come to Him and there'll be a behold there too. How amazing when a sinner is brought by effectual grace to Christ. This leper worshipped Him. He worshipped Him because he recognized that the Lord Jesus is God.

And he said, if thou wilt, if you will, this leopard didn't come saying, you know, I've got a free will and I'm here because I decided. Oh, no. He said, if thou wilt, he realized the one who had the power was the one to whom he's speaking. And it's all up to his will. Do you, my friend, understand that it's up to the Lord to do with you according to His pleasure?

That's a humbling truth, isn't it? You say, well, surely there's something I can do to draw forth His attention. No, there isn't. He's got to do something for you. He says, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. That's what I want to be, clean. That's what the lepers say. That's what I say. That's what I want. I want to be clean. Where does this cleansing come from? Wash me in the blood of the Lamb, and I shall be whiter than snow.

And look at verse three, and Matthew and Mark and Luke all say this, Jesus put forth his hand. He touched a leper. Well, it's an incurable disease. It's so contagious. In fact, when this man or anybody who was afflicted and diagnosed by a priest with leprosy had put a rag over their mouth, and when somebody come near them, they say, unclean, unclean. Our Lord Jesus didn't put a rag over his mouth, or the man need not put a rag over his mouth speaking to the Savior, because the Savior comes right where the sinner is and touches him. Oh, to be touched. That song, Brother James Thompson used to sing it. He touched me. Oh, he touched me. And oh, what joy flooded my soul. I pray that he'll touch you. Touch you.

And the Savior said, I will be thou clean. Whose will? It's not your will. Leave that idol alone. It's His will. And immediately, immediately, His leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, now look at verse 4. See thou tell no man, but go thy way and show thyself to who? Remember I said that he's the only one who can say you got it or you don't got it. You're diseased or you're cleansed.

Show yourself to the priest and offer a gift, a blood sacrifice that Moses commanded. You see the law of God's got to be satisfying. Gotta be a death somewhere. You're not gonna be healed of your sinful condition apart from a death that is satisfying to God and suitable for you. Well, now whose death is that? That's the death of the Son of God. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He's buried and rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

Hear me. He's the only hope you got. You got no other plea. You got no other hope. Oh, that God the Holy Spirit would just enlighten you right now. to show you nobody can help you. You're gonna die from your spiritual leprosy unless the Son of God says, I will be thou clean. And that's his specialty. That's what he does. The scripture says he's the friend of sinners. If you stay away from him, you're gonna die. That's just the truth.

But if God, the Holy Spirit, would give you the willingness to come to Christ, my dear friend, Scott Richardson, who's been with the Lord now for several years, he used to say, come to Jesus Christ and don't move a muscle. What, don't you want me to walk down the aisle? Don't you want me to raise my hand? No. That's not what you need to do.

You need to come to Him. That's what you need to do. And that comes from the heart. And I'm sure if the Lord convinces you that Christ is the only Savior and by faith you come to Him, you'll figure out a way to let me know that you want to confess Him in believers' baptism.

I've told you this story before, I think, but years ago, there was a lady in our congregation, and she heard me preach, and I said, well, we'll sing a closing song, and I asked the song leader to come and lead us in a couple of stanzas, and I said, well, we just gonna, this first stanza's good enough. We'll sing this, then we'll go home.

I started walking up the aisle, and she said, wait! I said, what? She said, I want to confess Christ in believer's baptism. I thought you'd sing another stanza anyway. I said, wait everybody. You're undismissed. And I said, what do you have on your mind? She said, I'm a sinner that needs a savior and I'm looking to him and I want to confess him before everybody in this church. that I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So I say, you'll figure out a way to let me know. Well, that's all I got to say. We're lepers, and there's a great physician for sinners like us.