I sit and listen and I think
about preaching and I think, boy, I wish that song had more
verses. Love to just sit and listen, listen more. Thank you,
Isaac. Open your Bibles with me to Matthew
chapter eight. Matthew chapter eight. Look at these first three verses. this evening. The title of the message is A
Leper Comes to Christ. Verse one, when he was come down
from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, there
came a leper and worshiped him. Say, Lord, thou wilt, thou canst
make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand
and touched him. Say, I will, be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed. Here in verse one, we read when
he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. He came down. Think about just
that, he came down. How did he come down? How did
the Lord come down? Not just from this mountain,
but when he came down to this earth, In John 1, verse 14, we
read this, that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. He came down from glory. Almighty
God robed Himself in human flesh. and came down to this earth from
heaven itself to dwell among sinful men. He came down. He became what he previously
was not. Now, he didn't cease to be God.
He never ceased to be God. But he became a man. Almighty
God took upon himself this flesh. He became a man, yet he was sinless,
perfect. He bore the sins of his people
on the cross. Oh, how he came down, how he
humbled himself. He wept, he hungered, he grew
tired, He labored as a carpenter. Scripture says he was in all
points tempted like we are. But here's the difference, yet
without sin. And we also read in this passage
that great multitudes followed after him. In John chapter 6
and verse 26, there was a group that followed him and he said
this, he said, you seek me not, because you saw the miracles,
but because you did eat the loaves and were filled. Outwardly, they
honored him, but their interest was much the
same as ours. I'd say exactly the same thing.
This flesh, the things of this world, earthly kingdoms and earthly
comforts, In John 2, 23, when our Lord
was in Jerusalem for the Passover, Scripture said that many believed
in his name. They believed in his name when
they saw the miracles, but he did not commit himself to them
because he knew all men. Back in our text, in this great
multitude, oh, what a miracle. Why would he save any? But of
this great multitude, we read of one. One that he was pleased
to show mercy to. Just one. A leper who came to
him. One who came to the master. One
who came to the Lord Jesus Christ. So how? How did this leper approach
the Lord? I have some interest in that.
I think we all should have some interest. How did this leper
approach the Lord? How did he come to Christ? What do we read in scripture
about coming to Christ? Well, this leper, first of all,
it says this, he worshiped. He fell down and he worshiped
the Lord. That word worship, it means to
reverence. It means to adore. And it's derived
from a word that means to kiss. Not just any kiss. It's like a dog licking its master's
hand. That's how he approached the
Lord, like a dog licking his master's hand. To do that, I
must take my place as a dog. Knowing I can receive nothing
unless it comes from him. We've got a couple dogs at house.
They don't eat anything that I don't take out and get to them. They're completely dependent
on me or somebody in the house to go out and get them some dog
food. We can receive nothing except we receive it from Almighty
God's hand. Remember that Syrophoenician
woman. Turn to Matthew 15. Turn over
just a few pages to Matthew chapter 15. Verse 26. Matthew 15, 26. Our Lord said
here, look at verse 26. He said, it's not meat to take
the children's bread and cast it to dogs. Well, what was her
reply to that? Well, she didn't say this. She
didn't say, I'm not a dog, did she? She didn't say, how dare
you talk to me? She didn't say that's not fair.
No, look at verse 27. She said, truth. What you're saying is true. Truth, Lord. I'm a dog, yet the
dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. I'm
a dog, I'm completely dependent on my master. That's worship. That's worship. If we could approach,
imagine if we could approach Almighty God in that manner.
This leper worshiped the Lord. And no matter our age, no matter
our race, no matter our position in life, we're to worship God. That's what scripture said. God
is to be worshiped. Psalm 150 verse six, we read,
let everything that hath breath praise him. Praise him. If a man or a woman or a young
person is gonna come to God for anything, for healing, for comfort,
for mercy, grace, salvation, for the forgiveness of sin, the
place to start is seen in this leper worshiping God. Over in Job chapter one, you
remember that. Job had lost everything. He lost everything he had. His
servants, his sheep, his camel, his sons, his daughters. All
he had left was I think two or three servants that had survived
for the purpose of coming to deliver the bad news to him.
And a wife that told him, why don't you just curse God and
die? What was Job's response? In that
time of trouble and difficulty, I don't doubt for a minute he
was... Can you imagine? He had to be heartbroken. He
had to be filled with sorrow. But we read this in Job 1.20,
Job arose and he rent his mantle and he shaved his head and he
fell down on the ground. worship Almighty God. Our Lord
came down from the mountain and this leper went to him and he
worshiped him. And notice this, before he even
asked anything, before he even tested the waters to see if the
Lord would do anything for him, he worshiped him. Second, Matthew
8 verse 2. He said, Lord, Lord. He recognized his authority. He recognized his lordship. The
Lord Jesus Christ said this, all authority is given me in
heaven and in earth. In his high priestly prayer,
our Lord said, thou hast given me power over all flesh. Speaking to his disciples, he
said, you call me Lord and Master and you do well, for so I am. The thief on the cross, he saw
this. It was revealed to him. Remember
that? He said, Lord, remember me. This world and false religion
have such a high opinion of self and a low opinion of Almighty
God. And that hasn't changed, it's
always been that way. Remember, they said shortly after
his birth, how can anything good come out of Nazareth? Men treat him like, they look
at him like he's one of us. They say he needs you to make
a decision. They say things like, poor, pitiful
Jesus. It just never ceases to amaze
me what men call Almighty God. They have Him at the gates of
heaven, wringing His hand, scared to death that one of His sheep
aren't going to accept Him. That's no God. That may be the Jesus of this
world, but it's not who the Scriptures declare. Scriptures declare him
as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Listen to this question. Hath not the potter power over
the clay to make of the same lump one vessel unto honor and
another vessel unto dishonor? I'm the clay. We're the clay. He's the potter. and he'll do
with us as he will. He's Lord. He's the Lord Jesus
Christ. Almighty God made him to be both
Lord and Christ. Turn to Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two, beginning with verse five. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,
took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness
of men. He came down, see that again,
and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore
God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. Of things in heaven, things in
the earth, things under the earth, and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father. He is Lord, he has all authority. And as Lord, we're his subjects. It's not the reverse of that. He's not our subject, we're his
subjects. And as Lord, we bow to him. He rules and reigns. He is Lord. That's clearly declared
in scripture. Third, he said, Lord, if you
will. He didn't say, I've decided to
exercise my free will. He didn't say, I've decided to
let you heal me. No, he said, Lord, if you will. The leper, he knew this. He knew
if he was going to be healed, it would be by the Lord's will.
It would be according to his will. And you know, men will
argue this and debate this or try to debate it. Again, it's
not to be debated. It's words to be declared. They'll just go and go and go
and go about man's free will. And they'll go to the cemetery. They'll go to a PTO meeting and
they'll say this. They'll go to the cemetery and
the preacher there, they'll gather around a dear loved one that's
passed away and he'll have them recite what's commonly called
the Lord's Prayer. Remember when the Lord taught
his disciples to pray? And he said this over in Luke
11, our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done. And they just float through
that like reading the Sunday paper, I guess. Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Isn't that the same thing that
God revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar. Remember that? Over there in
Daniel 4, Nebuchadnezzar had lifted up his eyes to heaven. Now this is the same king who
said, isn't this the great Babylon? And what'd he say about it? That
I've built by the might of my power for the honor of my majesty. Nebuchadnezzar, like most of
us at one time, is convinced that all this stuff's about us. It's about him. This is the same
Nebuchadnezzar that the Lord humbled. And he put him out in
the field eating grass, and his hair grew out like eagle's feathers,
and his nails like bird's claws. But we read this, his understanding
returned to him. And what'd he say? He said he
raised his eyes to heaven, he blessed the most high, he praised
and honored him that liveth forever and ever. He said his dominion
is an everlasting dominion. His kingdom is from generation
to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth,
including old Nebuchadnezzar, are reputed as nothing. And he,
almighty God, doeth according to his will, in the armies of
heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? The leper prayed,
ha, if you will, if you will. He prayed that to the one who
worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. I'm the clay, I'm the clay. Lord, I'm in your hands. I am
completely and totally helpless in myself. My sufficiency is
in Christ. My sufficiency is Christ. Fourth, he said, if you will,
thou canst make me clean. If you will, Lord, if you will,
you can. We have to have a Savior that
is willing and able. And that leper knew that. You
know, I had a friend recently, not too long ago, they bought
a treadmill, and they had it delivered to their house, and
they paid some folks to carry it up the steps and leave it
in a room, and when they opened the box, to put it together,
there was a bunch of stuff missing. Things were broke and things
missing. So they called the company and
they said, listen, I need this taken away and I need a new one
brought to me. And this phone conversation went
on for ever and ever. And this was the response. I really want to help you. It's
my desire to help you. I don't have the authority. I
don't have the authority to do that. Doesn't that sound like
false religion? Isn't that the religion of this
world? This was my friend's reply. I need someone with the will,
with the desire, I need somebody with the authority to make it
happen. Why can't we see that concerning
the gospel? Why can't we see that concerning
salvation? I need one. I need a Savior who
is willing and able. This leper, this leper without
strength, without hope, without help, he said this, Lord, you
can. Because of who he is, he's almighty
God. Because of where he is, he's
seated at the right hand of the majesty on high because of what
he did. He suffered and died in the womb
instead of his people. How did this leper approach the
Lord? How can a sinner approach the
Lord? Well, he worshiped him. We read
that, didn't we? He recognized his sovereignty. He said, Lord. Recognized his lordship. He recognized
his sovereign will. He said, I'm in your hands. Recognized
his ability. He's able. And then fifth, this
leper had a desire to be clean. You, he said this, you can make
me clean. I'm filthy. I need to be cleansed. I need to be made clean. You
can make me clean. This man was, he was in need. That's the first thing we read
about him. It says that he was a leper. Behold, there came a
leper. In Luke's account, he said that
this leper was, it'd be bad enough to be a leper, but he said he
was full of lepers. completely full of leprosy. Listen
to this description. You've heard this before. Said
that of a leper, the face resembled a coal, half extinct. Their hair was short and stiff,
and if you tore a piece off, a big piece, a chunk of flesh
would come off with it. Nose would be sunk in, the skin
covered with ulcers. nose, fingers, toes, ears, might
just fall off as they sat there, walked around. Consider how miserable
and deplorable this man's condition was. Think about just to look
upon it, or to be that man. Scripture said, again, he was
full of leprosy. It's a picture, a defiling picture
of sin. Hawker wrote this, what leprosy
is to the body, sin is to the soul. That's a description of
us. Actually, that's not even a good
description. I would imagine in the sight of Almighty God,
our condition is much more deplorable than that of a leper. And this
thing of leprosy, none but God could heal it. None but God can
pardon the sinner. Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Christ can cleanse the sinner. And the whole of our nature,
by reason of sin, is leprosy before Almighty God. This leper
came, he came in need to the only one that could cure him. The only one that could make
him clean. Scripture says this this should
be comforting God knows our need before we even In Luke chapter 9 turn to turn
to Luke 9 Luke 9 Look at verse 11. It says, the people, when they knew
it, followed him and he received them and he spake
unto them of the kingdom of God and he healed them that had need
of healing. He doesn't say He healed everybody
without exception. He healed those that were in
need, that truly were in need of healing. Let me ask you, are
you in need? Has that been revealed to you?
Am I in need? Listen to Hebrews 4 verse 16. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace we may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in time of need. Are you in need? Are you lost? Scripture says he came to seek
and to save that which was lost. Are you under great trial and
affliction? That man by the pool of Bethesda, He'd suffered for 38 years. You know, I have a headache for
an hour and I'm about to lose my mind. This man suffered for
38 years. And he said, I have no man. When
the water stirred, I have no man to come carry me and put
me in the pool. He was in need, wasn't he? The
Lord said this, take up your bed and walk. He was pleased
to hear. Are you sick? That Canaanite
woman continually cried out to the Lord when her daughter was
sick. And what did he say to her? He said, great is thy faith.
Be it unto thee even as thou wilt. Do you question your faith? Do
we question? Is there a day goes by that we
don't question our faith? Filled with doubts and fears,
There was a man that approached our Lord over in Mark chapter
nine, and he said, have compassion on us. Help us. And the Lord Jesus Christ said,
he said, if you can believe, all things are possible to him
that believe it. And that father, he cried out,
I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. The
Lord healed his boy. Healed, listen. Scripture says
he healed all that were in need of healing. There aren't a lot
of folks in our day that are in need of healing. They've got it all figured out,
but our Lord healed all that were in need of healing. Well,
back to our text. Matthew 8. That leper came to
our Lord. He worshiped him. He said, Lord,
if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Listen to this. The Lord Jesus
Christ put forth his hand and he touched
it. You know, imagine this leper,
full of leprosy, how he must have looked, the shame that he
must have carried, the shame of that disease, parts of his
body falling off, I wonder if he asked, is there mercy? Could
there be mercy reserved for me? Will the Lord hear me? The horrible smell. His humiliation,
his desperate need. And we read, and you know, to
touch a leper was to be made unclean yourself. Yet the Lord Jesus Christ put
forth his hand and touched it. And I don't think he just patted
him on the shoulder and said, everything's gonna be okay. If
he did, that would have been fine because our Lord would have
been the one speaking. But this word touched, it means much more than just
what we would consider a touch. It means to fasten oneself to. It means to adhere to. It means
to cling to. I was thinking about this. Years
ago, we were at Todd's Road for a conference, and me and Abby
and Dale and Jackie, we were sitting in the back of the building. I don't even know if the boys
were around yet or not, but Donnie Bell was preaching. And at the
end of that message, Donnie was finished preaching, we began
to sing, and he looked up. And he spotted Dale right back
in the corner, back row. And he made a V line to it. Song wasn't even over with. We
were standing up singing, and I think he may have even shoved
me out of the way, I don't know. But he just come up and just
put his arms around Dale. nearly lifted him up out of his
shoes. Touched him. Why? Because he loved him. This leper, people didn't even want to look
at him. He had to go around shouting, unclean, unclean, and people
going to the left and right just staying out of his way. And our
Lord went to him put his arms and pulled him in near to himself. This leper could not help himself. No man, no man could help him. He came to the Lord and he worshiped
him. He said, if you will, you can
make me whole. And the Lord reached forth his
hand and touched him, wrapped himself around him, and he said,
I will be thou cleansed. And immediately, immediately,
his leprosy was cleansed. You know, a priest, could pronounce
a man clean. But the Lord Jesus Christ made
him clean. Made him clean. Isn't that a
beautiful picture? How the Lord Jesus Christ saved
sinners. Are you in need? Are we in need? Well, if you are, come to Him. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ,
fall at His feet, worship Him. Come to Him as Lord, knowing
He's willing, He's able. Come to Him with a desire to
be hoped, knowing, knowing your need. We'll stop there. Shawn, you
come, lead us in a closing.