The lesson this morning will
be taken from the 17th chapter of Luke. Luke chapter 17, verses 11 through 19. The title of the lesson or subject
of the lesson this morning is Cleansed but Not Healed, Not
Made Whole. I borrowed this title from Brother
Don Fortner and a few others because it captures the subject
of these verses so well. Let's read these verses together.
Luke chapter 17 verse 11. And it came to pass as he went
to Jerusalem. What's he going to Jerusalem
for? To be crucified. That he passed through the midst
of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain
village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood
afar off. And they lifted up their voices
and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw
them, he said unto them, go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass that as they
went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw
he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. And Jesus
answering said, were there not ten cleansed? But where are the
nine? They are not found. that returned
to give glory to God save this stranger. And he said unto him,
arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee humble. There's
five things, time permitting, that I want us to see in this
text. And the first is this, it came
to pass. It came to pass. Having taught
us what it is to be a faithful servant of God, our Lord inserts
the word, and. And. That's an important word. Every word in Scripture is important.
He says, and it came to pass. And He uses this word to show
us a connection between what He just said and what He's now
saying. There's a connection here. He's
not starting a whole new subject. He's not starting a whole new
doctrine. He's not talking to a new crowd. He's talking to the same people.
And it's a continuation of what he's been preaching. Of what came to pass. It. It. Isn't it amazing how these
little words have such big meaning? It. It has to do with the work
of God's faithful servant, the Lord Jesus Christ. He, being
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, and took on him the form of a
servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and become obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. What was going on? What
came to pass? Our obedient Savior and God's
servant, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's the servant of God whose
mind, attitude, and character we ought to desire to have. That's
what Paul said, isn't it? Let this mind be in you, which
was also in him. It came to pass, the work of
the servant whose appearance was to do the will of his father.
In the volume of the book it's written of me, I come to do thy
will, O God. And it came to pass, and it always
does. God's will is being carried out
every moment, every hour, every day of our lives. It's going
on. You may not see it. You might
not adhere to it. You might not understand it.
But it's going on every day. There's a maze of circumstances
and situations that take place. There's various problems and
troubles along the way. But God's redemptive will is
not hindered in any of these things. It's active. And it's
continuous. And it's going on every day.
It's a work in progress, an effectual work, a never failing work, and
a glorious work, yet only a few have eyes to see it. The subject
of these verses is about the person and work of Christ. That's
what he's talking about. It came to pass. It's always
been coming to pass from the foundation of the world, and
it'll continue to come to pass till God pulls the plug. Or what
comes to pass? The purpose and will of God.
What is the purpose and will of God? To save a people from
the glory of His name. The effectual ministry of Christ.
That's what's coming to pass. The effectual ministry. They
laughed Him to scorn. They counted Him as an imposter. Did it change anything? It changed
nothing. He was God's effectual servant.
And that effectual ministry of Christ was taking place. And
the third thing is this, the awful judgment of God. It took
place that day, not somewhere out there in the future. It took
place that day. Then the second thing I want
us to see is a general cleansing. Men are cleansed every day in
religion. They're cleansed. They come in
a drunk and go out somebody who don't drink anymore or they smoke
five packs of cigarettes a day and they run around on their
wife or whatever else is going on. You know what this world
considers ungodly behavior. And it goes on every day and
then somebody makes a, he's like that guy that went in and cleansed
his house and swept it all out. That unclean spirit went out
and he went in and cleaned things up and that's what goes on. And there's a cleansing effect
from it. He was an outcast of society and now he's accepted.
There's a cleansing effect from it. My sister told me one time
when daddy was drinking everything was bad. When he quit drinking
everything was good. There's a cleansing effect that
has to do with these things. There's a general cleansing.
There were ten lepers gathered and waiting on this man Jesus
of Nazareth. His fame and reputation as a
prophet, preacher, and healer had come into their ears. They're
out here in a leper colony, and they hear about it. Well, what? What alternative? They didn't
have anything to lose, did they? They heard this man's coming,
and he cleansed lepers. I'll tell you, if I was a leper,
I'd go out there. What's your alternative? Sit
at home and rock? There is no alternative. Here
it is, one opportunity, one time, this man passing through, he's
going to Jerusalem to die on a cross. They're not going to
see him again. They have one opportunity. And
so they went out. They were desperate. His fame
and reputation as a prophet, a preacher and a healer come
to their ears and they heard he was coming their way. And
it's impossible to know what they had heard in detail, but
they'd heard enough to go where they thought he might be. I often wonder what went through
the minds of those who sought the Lord. Don't you? Zacchaeus
climbing up that pole. What's going through that Ethiopian
eunuch out there in the middle of nowhere? I often wonder what
goes through the minds of those who begin to seek the Lord. I
only know what I hear men say and what I read, and I know what
went on in my own heart when I sought the Lord. What went on that day? Ten men
were cleansed of a disease that was called a living death. They
were alive, but they were dead. They couldn't associate with
society, they were forced to live in a leper colony outside
the camp. This disease is called a living
death. When Miriam was smitten with
leprosy because of what she said about Moses, Aaron and Moses
went and prayed and Aaron prayed don't let her live a life that's
death while she lives. It's a disease that destroys
a man from the inside out. These ten men were cleansed in
their flesh. They were cleansed outwardly.
They were walking along and we looked, Yvonne and I looked up
some images of lepers. It's not a pretty sight. But
their hands were all drawn up and stuff and here they are and
they're walking along and they had these sores It really affects
your upper respiratory system. They couldn't breathe and all
of these things. And as they walked to go to the
priest, which was what the law commanded them to do, only the
priest could pronounce you being a leper and only a priest could
pronounce you clean. And he had to look to see what
God did in order to make that announcement. And these ten men, they went
to the priest, as they were commanded to do, to be pronounced clean
and allowed to return unto society and take part once again in the
temple worship of Israel. And this type of cleansing or
healing, if you like, takes place all the time. This outward cleansing.
They were walking along, all of a sudden the things that they
saw that disturbed them were gone. They were cleansed. It was gone. And I don't care
what kind it is, healing comes from the Lord. He may use doctors, medicine,
diet, or whatever means are at his disposal, but in the end
it is the Lord that heals disease. David said, Bless the Lord, O
my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all thine
iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases. Jehovah Rapha, the Lord our healer. The Lord that healeth thee. And
God has a purpose for every man and every woman born into this
world. And he'll preserve them until
that purpose is fulfilled. Listen to this, Proverbs 16,
4. The Lord hath made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked,
for the day of evil. He has a purpose in all men,
not just believers, but unbelievers. He has a purpose. For this purpose
have I raised thee up. Talking about Pharaoh. Same thing
concerning Judas. Why did he allow Judas to live?
Because he had a purpose in him. And he has a purpose in the wicked
being preserved in this world as well as his saints. He's working
that purpose. You say, well why would God heal
nine people that weren't saved or had no interest in His grace?
He has a purpose in them. That's why. That's why He heals
our diseases today. Go to the hospital, they're full
of sick folks. Some of them get over it. Some of them get well.
Who allowed that to happen? God did. God did. God has a purpose in the everyday
lives of everyone in this world, and to carry out that purpose,
He'll cause His reign to fall on the just and the unjust. He'll
cause their crops to abound and their minds to invent and sometimes heal their broken
bodies. These ten men all had the same
problem. Their troubles came from the
same source. They were all lechers. I'm told
that leprosy is from the bacteria lepra. It's a bacterial infection. And it had infested their bodies
and they were suffering and dying from it. And leprosy in the Bible
is used more than anything else to picture our sin. Leprosy. Leprosy. Sin entered and death
passed. And ultimately, We'll all die
from it. Sin, when it's finished, bringeth
forth death. And leprosy has all kinds of
symptoms. The rotting of the flesh, distortion of the eyes, upper
respiratory problems, feet and hand distortion. It basically
affects the whole body. That's why he uses it to picture
sin. If I were to look at it in a
broad sense, I might see the effects of sin in all my life. Everything I do, including what
I'm doing this morning. There's not an area which is
not affected by it. Morally, it's debilitating. Spiritually,
it's total depravity. Physically, I'm dead while I
live. And thus Paul said, Oh, wretched
man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Their diseases made them desperate,
their diseases made them needy, and none but one could deal with
their problem. So all ten banded together, they
sought the Lord, and the Lord answered their prayer. He said,
Go show yourselves to the priest. Why did he tell them that? Why
did he send them back to the law? Because the law had not
yet been fulfilled. This was part of that fulfilling
of the law. He's not going to break the law.
He's not going to ignore the law. Not one jot or tittle of
that law shall be distorted until all is fulfilled. So show yourselves
to the priest. And here's something to think
about. Letters were not sent to physicians. They were sent
to a priest. They were sent to a priest, and
the priest, according to the law, could diagnose leprosy,
and he alone could pronounce them clean. And the Lord cleansed
all ten men. And it came to pass as they went,
they were cleansed, all of them. Alright, here's the third thing
I want us to see. One of them, a Gentile, a Samaritan,
when he saw that he was healed, He wasn't just cleansed, he was
healed. He didn't just see the effects
of it gone, but he felt it in his heart and soul. He was healed
and he knew it. He turned back and with a loud
voice glorified God and fell down on his face at his feet. He glorified Jesus of Nazareth,
and he called him God. And he fell down on his face
at his feet, giving him thanks. What is it about this man that
makes him so different from the other nine? Outwardly, there
was no difference at the first. They were all relieved of their
problem. They were all cured of their troubles. But, and I'm
saying this after a lot of years of experience and study, nine
were cured of the leprosy of the flesh, one was made whole,
cleansing the leprosy of his heart and soul. That's the difference. In this man, grace entered his
soul. And being awakened by that grace
in Christ, he was forever done with Jewish ceremonies, laws
and priests. He was done. He bowed at the
feet of Christ. Christ healed him and he knew
it was a person and not a system. So much of what I hear today
looks to a system. I went to church and got saved.
Well, the church didn't save you. And if that's where you're owing
your salvation, you're mistaken. Christ heals, not the church. The church will bring you the
message, it'll point you to Christ. They'll tell you who he is, why
he came, what he did, and where he's at. They'll tell you all
that you need to know about him, but they can't heal you. He fled rather to his Savior,
the author and finisher of his faith. And this is the true effect
of distinguishing grace. This is what happens. God heals
men. He doesn't just cleanse them
from their problems. He heals them on the inside. That's where the problem was,
wasn't it? On the inside. But that one in whom the Lord
does an inward work of grace will go to his Savior, and he'll
keep coming to him. time and again, fall down on
His face and He'll glorify God. Fourthly, and here's the question
our Lord asks, where are the nine? Where are they? This man was
in the presence of Christ, bowing at His feet, glorifying God,
worshiping God, on His face at the feet of Christ. Where was
the nine? Where are they? Where'd they
go? Why ain't they here? Listen to his answer. They are
not found. They are not found that returned to give glory to God, save His
Christ. What are we doing here this morning?
We're returning. Are we? We're returning to Him. What do we do every Sunday? Every
time there's a meeting, what are we doing? During our conference,
what are we doing? We're returning to give Him thanks and glorify
His name. That's why we meet, isn't it?
They're not found that return to give glory to God, save this
stranger. He's a Gentile. He doesn't know
anything about the prophets. He's raised in idolatry. He prayed
to a God that cannot save. He's a stranger. Paul told the
Ephesians in his second chapter to the Ephesians, he said, I'm
going to remind you where God found you. You were a stranger.
This was a stranger. He didn't know God. He wasn't
raised under the Word of God. They're not found, our Lord said. They're not in the company of
thankful souls. They're not in the assembly of
the partakers of grace. They're not numbered among the
divine whose souls are being cleansed from the leprosy of
sin. Where are the nines? Where are they? I might speculate,
I know they went to the priest, and I know the priest told them
they're clean, go ahead, you're clean. But where are they at? Well, you might speculate they're
with their families, they're with their friends, They went
back to where they were forbidden to go. Went back to where they
were cut off because of their disease. Their trouble being lifted is
back to the only life they ever had. Where are the nine? They're
not found. Who's looking? The Lord. The Lord. He's looking. They're
not found. but not found at returning to
give glory to God, save this stranger. And then here's the
last thing. Christ confirms this man's faith. He always confirms the faith
that he gives. Now won't you listen to me. By
grace are you saved through faith. Now watch this. not of yourselves. It is the
gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast, for we
are his creation. Oh yeah. He gives faith. He changes the heart. He establishes
the mind. He does these things. Well, how
do we know that he does these things? Because he's going to
confirm it. He's going to confirm it. He
told this stranger, bowed on his faith before him, this Gentile
believer, thy faith hath made thee whole. And though the author
and giver of his faith stood before him, the gift given was
not, it was still called his. His faith. He didn't produce
it. He didn't make it up. It wasn't
of his conception. The Lord gave it to him, but
it was his because God gave it to him. And God, who gave that
faith, gave him the ability to believe. And so he did, and it
was called his faith. And though it's an imputed work,
the righteousness he's wrought out for us is called our righteousness. Though every wit of the work
of reconciliation and the preparation in our hearts is fully the work
of God, yet we're told to work out our own salvation in fear
and trembling. And here he says to this Gentile stranger, Thy
faith hath made thee whole. Now I want you to hear what I'm
telling you. True faith cannot be owned cannot be said to be true value
without divine fruit. Now I'm talking to me, and I'm
talking to you. Jesus said faith, or James said
faith, if it hath not works, is dead. Why? Being alone. What's that mean? That means it's just in a profession. It's not bearing fruit. Who's
going to bear fruit? Those he grafts into the vine.
And he said, those who profess to be grafted into the vine,
if they bear not fruit, they cut off. Abraham's faith was justified
with a divine seal. God confirmed his faith when
he laid his son on the altar. It bore fruit. Rahab, the harlot's
faith, was proven to be the faith of God's elect when she received
those strangers at the cost of her life. She received those
strangers, sin of God, and lowered them down, helped them to escape.
And this Samaritan was given a confirmation of his faith by
Christ himself by reason of his presence at his feet. God confirmed
his faith. What does faith do? It brings
us to the feet of Christ. If you don't, it's not true faith.
I'm telling you for the good of your soul. I'm telling myself
for the good of my soul. True faith, that faith given
of God is to show us what He did for us in all eternity. What
He did for us on the cross and what He's doing for us in heaven
right now. The exceeding riches of His grace
and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are
you saved through faith. May the Lord do so for all of
us. And by His grace, bring us again
and again to bow to His feet. Thank you.