You need to be reminded of that
often. Turn back to Luke 17. Luke 17. I titled this message, Thank
You, Lord, for Saving My Soul. Thank You for saving my soul. I cannot imagine what it would
have been like, especially in that day, to have been a leper,
to have been an outcast, to have had to walk around crying unclean,
unclean, so people would move out of the way. I can't imagine
what it would be like to have such an odor about me that would
be so repulsive that people would just move out of the way so that
they would not have to come in close contact with me. I can't imagine what that would
do to your insides. I mean, it would just have to
be totally awful. But you know, in the Scriptures,
leprosy is used as an emblem type of sin, leprosy. And we'll see here how our Lord
heals or He cleanses these ten lepers, but only one of them
returned to give Him thanks, to praise Him. How many in Ashland
today received the blessings of the Lord? How many this day
sat down to a good meal after coming home from a good job only
to think they were lucky? You know, they are so intelligent
that they were able to get such a job. But not return thanks. Here's what I'm saying. Not returning
thanks to God. Look at these empty seats. These
empty seats are a testimony to the unthankfulness of those who
live in this town. As he went to Jerusalem, verse
11, as he went to Jerusalem, he passed through the midst of
Samaria and Galilee. was on his way to Jerusalem to
eat the last Passover, to suffer and to die. That is what he's
on his way to do. And the route that he took was
not by accident. It was not just a shortcut. He must heal some lepers on his
way to Jerusalem. Especially one. Especially one. And as he entered into a certain
village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood
afar off. They stood afar off. But can
you imagine Their heart starting to race, starting to beat faster. Hope had just walked into town. There was absolutely no cure
for these men. They were doomed to die in their
leprosy. But they heard of this man, Jesus
Christ. And I just suspect that they
heard it from that one leper who said, Lord, if you will,
you can make me whole. I just suspect that man went
back to that leper colony and said, I know a man. I met a man. I met the Lord who healed me
of my leprosy. I bet he told them about it.
They heard of this man. The man, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I have no doubt they heard either from or of this other
leper that had been healed. Completely healed. And when our
Lord walked into town, hope had arrived. Hope had arrived. I cannot stress the importance
of preaching sitting under the Gospel. How can they believe
on Him of whom they've not heard? here without a preacher. These
men heard something. They heard about this man, Jesus
Christ. And they cried out to Him. They cried out to Him. And it
says there were ten men. I like what one man said. God
made them men. Adam made them lepers. God made them men. He made Adam,
but Adam made them lepers. Their leprosy is the result of
the fall. Sin has brought in all diseases
and sicknesses. Scientists go to their labs every
day trying to figure out how to heal a disease or what caused
it. What caused such a disease? Well, the very root cause is
sin. And there's no cure for it that
any man can give us. But there is a cure in Christ.
He is the balm of Gilead. He can put away our sins, cleanse
us from all sins, and save us from them. He's able to do so.
But sin has brought in all diseases and sicknesses. And you can trace
every sickness, every heartache, back to Adam's rebellion against
God. It all goes back to that. The
world is in the mess that it's in because of sin. What we are. Now it says there
met Him ten men. He met them and they met Him. When a person is in real need
of something, especially if their life is on the line, I assure
you, they'll go after the cure. They'll go after the cure. These
lepers heard of him. And they knew that there was
no one who could save them from their leprosy but him. But they
believed he could do it. They believed he could do it.
Just like that woman with the issue of blood. She said within
herself, if I can but touch the hem of his garment, I shall be
made whole. Or that God would bring us to
such a place that we would truly, I mean truly, need the Lord Jesus
Christ. Not just once in a while, but
I mean need Him daily. And know it. To know I need Him. He's all the hope I have. And
the sinner who is in real need of a Savior will go after Him. You don't have to beg them to
come down an aisle. Just move out of the way. They're going
to come to Christ. They're going to go to Him. The
old me not a physician, but the sick do. The sick do. And I tell you what, I still
need Him. After 30 years, I still need Him today as much as I did
then. I still need the great physician. I still need the balm of Gilead.
I still need it. And it says they stood afar off.
They were not allowed among the people. Can you imagine that?
They were not allowed among those people. They were outcasts. They
were only allowed among their own kind. Whatever they used
to be before. Some of them may have been carpenters.
Some may have been businessmen. Some may have been like Nehemiah,
you know, just up there. But I tell you what, now they're
lepers. Now they're lepers. No distinctions. They're just lepers. No class. They're lepers. That's what they
are. And this makes me think of another
sinner who stood afar off and smote upon his breast for mercy
from God. You remember that old publican?
He said, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. He stood afar off.
Sinners are just this, mercy beggars. That's all we are. And
that's all we'll ever be. Mercy beggars. But no matter
how far off we may feel ourselves to be from God, He's near everyone
in need of Him. Do you know what the charge was
against one of the churches in Laodicea in the Revelations? They were rich, increased with
good, and in need of nothing. In need of nothing. Not even
God. They didn't even feel they were
in need of God. That's the worst way to be. And they lifted up
their voices and they said, Jesus, Master. And here's the only thing
they asked for. Mercy. Have mercy on us. Here's something so overlooked.
They lifted up their voices. God hears the prayers of those
in need of Him. He hears their prayers if they're
in need of Him. It's a voice of need. It is a
voice of desperation. It is a voice of crying for help.
It is a voice crying unto Him for mercy. And the Word of God
said He delights to show mercy. He delights to show it. They recognized Him for who
He is. Master. Oh, these men, whatever they
were before, They may have been arrogant. Some of them may have
been so arrogant you couldn't be around them. But not now.
They're lepers in need of mercy. And they say, Master! Master! And that He is. He is both Lord
and Master. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. The one I read of over
in Psalm 149. He spoke and they were created.
That's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the Master. All power,
He said, over all flesh is given to me in heaven and earth. And
all He needs to do is speak. He just needs to speak. And all is well. All is well. He's taking care of all the legal
matters. We know that. He went to Calvary.
He took care of all the legal matters that stood in our way.
And now all He needs to do is speak life and command peace
in the heart. And I assure you, you'll have
it. If He commands it, you will have
it. And I will have it. And then notice their request.
How simple. How simple the request. You know,
the more dire the case, The more simple the request. Peter, when
he walked on water and he started going down, you know what he
said? Lord, save me. That's simple, isn't it? Here
they say, Lord, have mercy on me. That one leper said, Lord,
if you will, you can make me whole. That's so simple. The
request is so simple. Have mercy on us. Look on us. Look on our condition, our need,
and have mercy on us. Have mercy. Lord, if you will,
show mercy. You can make me whole. I ask
for this every day. Lord, just show mercy. Just show
mercy. And usually I don't say much
more than that, if any more than that at times. I just say, Lord,
show mercy. Just show mercy. My greatest need is His sovereign
mercy. For in his mercy is all the blessings
of God. In his favor, the Scripture says,
is life forevermore. And when he saw them, not like
he didn't know they were standing there, he saw them a long time
ago, especially one of them, especially one. And when he saw
them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves to the priest. And
it came to pass that as they went, they were cleansed. As
they turned and did what he said, they were cleansed. You see,
the law was still in effect at this time. The priests, the types,
and the pictures, they were all still in effect. The Scripture
says he came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. And so
he says to them, go show yourself to the priest. And that's what
they were to do. You know, if a leper was cleansed,
he was healed. He was to show himself to the
priest, and the priest declared him to be clean. So as they went,
they were healed. They were healed. He commanded
them to go show themselves to the priest, and they went. Now
listen, they went without question. It didn't say a word. They turned
and did what he said. On His word, they went. I cannot
say enough about obedience. They obeyed His command, and
as they went, they were healed. They did not wait to see if He
would heal them, or if He had anything else to say. They went, and they were healed. Some are waiting for a certain
feeling, or they're waiting for this thing, I want to be sure,
I just want to be sure. Some are waiting for some kind
of sign or special scripture. I'll give you a special scripture.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. There
you are. Believe it. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. As they went, they were
healed. Obedience first. Obedience is
nothing more than bowing to the Lordship of Christ. And as they
went, they were healed. Not before they went. The healing
did not even take place until they turned and they went. And
as they went, their skin became normal. The
disease left them. As they were walking, they felt
that. I have no doubt they felt that cleansing. And they felt
themselves being made whole or being healed. And they saw this
as they went. Not before, but as they went.
Not as they waited to see if something else would happen,
but as they went on His Word. You know, salvation, faith, is
taking God at His Word. I don't need to complicate it. He that cometh to me, I will
no wise cast out. Lord, I take you at your word.
I come. I come. As you believe, so shall you
be saved. And one of them, one of them, when he saw that he
was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice, just as loud
as he asked for healing, Just as loud as he asked for mercy,
he praised God. With a loud voice he glorified
God. One was healed in soul as well
as body. Ten of them got a bodily healing.
Ten of them got a physical healing. One of them got a soul healing. One of them got a soul healing. One out of the ten saw what was
done and he turned from the ceremonies, he turned from the shadows, he
turned to the real source of salvation while the others went
their way. But he turned and recognized
the Lord. The other nine went on their way.
It says in Luke 6.35, God is good
to the unthankful and the evil. God was good to those nine men.
He was good to them. He healed them. How many people
are healed every day? How many people are healed of
diseases and cancer? How many are healed? I've heard people tell
me, you know, I beat cancer. I don't know about that. Listen, God can heal our bodies
with the Word, just like He did there. Or God can use the means,
medicine. He's the One who gave the means.
And He's the One who gave man intelligence to put those things
together. And He's the One who gives it
the power to heal. All healings of God. But how
many return to give him thanks. How many say, I was lucky, I
beat that one? Nine of them here. Nine of them
did not return to give thanks. Nine of them went their way,
but one of them recognized the Lord, glorified God, gave Him
the honor that was due His name. There are very few who ever judge
themselves unworthy of the least of God's mercies. Really. They all had the same need, but
not the same mind and heart. This one turned and he gave thanks. Thank you, Lord, for saving my
soul. He saw he was healed, and he
gave glory to the one who healed him. If God does no more for you,
than outward blessings. And the outward blessings that
men have are of God. It rains on the just and the
unjust. Does not the unjust, does not his garden grow just
like the garden of the just? If he does no more than that,
you will never thank him. You'll never fall at his feet
like this one and give him the glory and the honor due unto
his name. If all you get are material blessings,
or just some kind of physical healing out of it. It's got to
go to the soul. It has to go to the soul. How
many partake of God's goodness and mercy every day and yet never
return thanks? Never acknowledge Him or give
Him the glory due unto His name? Billions. There are six and a
half billion people in this world. Now if we took a percentage,
one out of ten here, what percentage would that be? That would be
very low, wouldn't it? That would be very low. But one
did praise. Many prayed. Many prayed. But one praised. One praised. Praised Him for
who He is and what He did. And I know that we are guilty
of praying far more than we are of praising. I think so. I think we're far more. And we
are to pray. We're to pray often and fervently. But we're also to praise. Praise. I mean, you go through the Psalms.
He's praising Him all the time. To praise Him. He prayed with
a loud voice and He praised. with a loud voice. He let everyone
know that this miracle is a work of God. He glorified God. Salvation is of God. And he's
to receive all the praise of it. And when we gather here each
week, we pray We need to make also an earnest effort in praising
Him for His mercies and His kindness toward us in Christ. And notice
this leper. He didn't just, I mean, he praised
Him and he worshipped Him. He fell down on his face. This
one. He fell down on his face. at
his feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. That means stranger. The other
nine were Jews. They had the oracles of God,
the word of God. They had the types. They had
the pictures. They had the ceremonies. They
had the prophets. And not one of them turned and
thanked him, but this stranger. This stranger. He fell down at his feet. What humility there is in true
worship. True humility. When you find
true worship, you will find true humility. You will find a people
that know they don't deserve what they've gotten, the mercies
and the grace of God. There is no greater honor or
position to be in than at the Master's feet, at His feet. What profound respect this salvation
wrought in this leper. What profound respect! Let others go their way, but
as for this sinner, and for every sinner whom the Lord saves, they
will praise Him. They will praise Him with their
whole being. That's what David said in one
place, I will praise thee with my whole being. If you could choose, if you could
choose who you could be, would you be
Elijah who called fire down out of heaven and burned up the false
prophets? Or would you be Hannah who praised
him? Or Mary who magnified the Lord? Or this leper who turned back
and glorified God with a loud voice and thanked Him? Which
would you be? The one who called fire down
out of heaven or the one who praised Him? Not that Elijah
didn't, but this is so, so important. This is true worship. This is
true worship. We like to think that we would
like to do some great thing, some great thing for our Lord. Well, that leper is doing the
greatest thing that can be done. Giving Him the glory due unto
His name. You take a drink of water and you truly thank the Lord.
for that from your heart. That's the greatest thing we
can do. Give him the glory due unto his name. And he was a Samaritan, a stranger. And our Lord asked this question,
were not ten cleansed? Did I not cleanse ten lepers? Look, where are the nine? Where
are the nine? They've gone their way. They
got what they wanted and they left. They went back to their
homes, back to their jobs, back to whatever they were doing,
back to the world. They got what they wanted and
left. All they wanted, listen, was
physical healing. And that's what they got. That's what they got. They obeyed
the command and they got the blessing, but not the blesser. If all you and I want is a better
job or more material possessions, we'll probably get them. But
that's all we'll have. That's all we'll have. Men and
women are blessed every day. And not one time return to give
thanks to God for what God's given them. And I tell you this,
that's all they got. But this one, this one who returned,
he got much more. He got the blesser. And having
him, you have it all. You have it all. And he said in verse 19, I'll
close, Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made
thee whole. And we know the object of faith,
the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who makes us whole. But it's
not without faith, the faith that he gives. But I tell you
what, He gives it. It's yours. Thy faith. But you know what He did? You
know what the Lord said to these ten when they said, have mercy
on us? He said, go show yourself to
the priest. This one truly showed himself
to the high priest of God. He came and he fell. at the true
high priest of God. He showed Himself and He was
made whole. Not just in body, but in soul. The Lord saved that one. He saved
that one. I say to any sinner who needs Christ, who needs spiritual
healing, Who needs forgiveness? I say to any sinner who needs
it, go show yourself to Christ. Go show yourself to Christ, the
high priest of God. He can truly make you whole and declare you to be whole.
He can make you clean and declare you to be clean. Thank you, Lord,
for saving my soul.