In the Day of His Cleansing

Q: What does the Bible say about leprosy in Leviticus?

Leviticus describes leprosy as a ceremonial uncleanness representing sin and separation from God. In Leviticus 14, leprosy is addressed as a ceremonial uncleanness that serves as a powerful metaphor for the believer's experience with sin. The leper's condition symbolizes a separation from God, with the disease representing the spiritual and ceremonial defilement caused by sin. The leper's isolation from the community serves to illustrate the deeper spiritual reality of being cut off from God due to sin, which is ultimately healed only by divine intervention through Christ, the true High Priest.

Q: How do we know Christ's cleansing is effective?

Christ's cleansing is effective because it is based on His sacrificial death and the application of His grace by the Holy Spirit. The effectiveness of Christ's cleansing is demonstrated through the leper's experience in Leviticus 14, where healing is achieved not by the leper's own actions but through the priest's examination and the sacrificial system God ordained. Christ, as our High Priest, offers His blood to cleanse us from all sin, and just as the leper was made clean by the priest's declaration, those who confess their uncleanliness and trust in Christ's atoning sacrifice are assured of their cleansing. The Holy Spirit's work in applying this cleansing to believers emphasizes the sufficiency and effectiveness of grace in restoring us to fellowship with God.

Q: Why is understanding our spiritual uncleanness important for Christians?

Understanding our spiritual uncleanness helps us recognize our need for Christ’s grace and the depth of our sinfulness. Recognizing our spiritual uncleanness is crucial for Christians as it brings a deeper awareness of our sinful nature and need for salvation. The leper's condition serves as a vivid picture of humanity's separation from God due to sin, prompting believers to acknowledge their shortcomings before a holy God. This recognition fosters a sense of humility and drives us to seek the redeeming grace of Christ. As believers come to terms with their spiritual state, they more fully appreciate the sacrifice of Christ and the joy of being declared clean by His grace, leading to a life of gratitude and worship.

Q: What is the role of the priest in the cleansing of lepers?

The priest plays a pivotal role in the cleansing of lepers by examining, declaring clean or unclean, and performing the necessary sacrifices. In the context of Leviticus 14, the priest's role is instrumental in the process of a leper's cleansing. The priest is not only responsible for examining the leper and determining his status but also for conducting the sacrificial rites that signify the leper's cleansing. In the same way, Christ fulfills this role as our High Priest, taking upon Himself the work of atonement and declaring sinners clean through His sacrifice. This picture underscores that no one can achieve cleansing or restoration through their own efforts, but it is through Christ alone, the true Priest, that cleansing is obtained.

Q: How does the leper's experience relate to the believer's experience of grace?

The leper's experience represents the believer's journey from conviction of sin to grace and restoration in Christ. The leper’s experience in Leviticus captures the essence of the believer’s path to grace. Just as a leper was confronted with the painful truth of his condition, believers experience the convicting work of the Holy Spirit regarding their sinfulness. This revelation leads to a recognition of their desperate need for Christ’s redemptive work. The process of the leper being cleansed—being first healed, then restored—mirrors the believer’s journey from sin to salvation, highlighting that true cleansing and restoration come solely from Christ’s sacrifice and grace. This underscores the importance of grace in the Christian life, as it allows for transformation and reconciliation to God.

In addition to my other studies
in preparation for this message, I did something a little unusual
this week. I read several medical articles on leprosy. And as is usually the case in
the academic, medical, or science worlds, the writer has made every
effort possible to discredit testimonial scripture concerning
leprosy. And one error they commonly make
is the error that men and women often make in trying to understand
scriptures. They try to interpret the scriptures
by what they see. The leprosy, as I pointed out
last Sunday morning, that we see revealed in scripture, was
not the same leprosy as is commonly looked upon today, particularly
in our Western world, that which is called Hansen's disease. We
have every effort to make things look prettier than they are,
you know, so we give them another name. But even the disease as
it is known in our society is a horrid, horrid disease. But
it can't be compared to that leprosy which God distinctly
sent upon the children of Israel in the land of their possession,
in the land of Canaan. That leprosy was a real disease. but it was intended by God specifically
to be a representation of the believer's experience when he
was brought to conviction in the knowledge of sin by God the
Holy Spirit. The man who was made a leper
all over, made altogether covered with leprosy, is a picture for
us of the believer's experience of grace when he has made sin
in his own eyes. When God the Holy Spirit comes
in saving grace, he convinces us of sin, of our sin. And it is the most difficult
thing a man will ever experience in this world. Some of you are not convinced
of that, I know, because you've never experienced it. It is the
most difficult thing a man will ever experience in this world.
to be made see in his own eyes. Leprosy was a disease that caused
the person no pain, virtually. It deadens the nerves so that
that which looks like it would just be excruciatingly painful
doesn't really cause much pain at all. It's a disease that a
man would not know he had. except first it be identified
by someone else. He has a little spot, takes nothing
of it. Has a little difficulty, takes
nothing of it, unless the priest looks on him. He says, that's
leprous. And now the man's shut up and
he's made to know that he has this plague sent by God into
his body. Once he was identified as a leper,
once he was made to know that he was a leper, He was marked
as a defiled man, corrupt, unclean. Now this corruption, this uncleanness
was not a medical corruption. It was not a moral corruption.
It was a ceremonial corruption, a ceremonial uncleanness. The
same thing was true of a woman with an issue of blood. Whenever
she'd go through a monthly cycle, she was unclean for a given period
of time because it represented something. not because he was
physically unclean or morally unclean or medically unclean,
but it represented something, something unclean, the corruption
that's in us. And so the leprosy was not a
moral uncleanness, but rather a spiritual, ceremonial uncleanness,
picturing something far, far worse than the mere physical
disease that the man had, the wife a man loved, the brothers
and sisters with whom he was raised. Those who were his intimate
friends immediately cast him off, had nothing to do with him. He was shut out. The leper became
at once an outcast and an alien from family and friend, from
heart and home. And those things are painful,
deep, deep cutting strokes to experience. But there was something
worse. The leper was driven off from the people of God. He was
isolated from the worship of God. He wasn't allowed to come
into the house of God. For the leper, there was no house
of worship. For the leper, there was no gate
open by which he could draw near unto the Lord God. For the leper,
there was no access to the Holy One, no sacrifice, no altar,
no sweet incense, no hope. He was a man cut off, cut off
from God and cut off from man. What a picture. His leprosy was
totally incurable, totally incurable, except by a miracle of grace. You remember when John's disciples
were sent to the Lord Jesus and John told them, said, you go
ask him, are you the Christ or do we look for another? The Lord
Jesus gave them several statements by which he identified himself.
He said, go back and tell John, lepers are healed. Well, that
can't be done. Nobody can heal a leper. Nobody
can. Oh, yes, God can. God can. And the Lord Jesus said, God's
here. God's here in human flesh. God's here in human flesh who
is the high priest of whom Aaron was but a kite. This one who
has power by blood and by grace to heal lepers is standing in
front of you. The leper had no prospect before
him. except to die a miserable death,
rotting flesh, limb falling from limb. In other words, when a
man was pronounced an unclean leper, he was a dead man just
waiting to die. That's a pretty good description
of Adam's race, isn't it? For some of you who now taste
your sin, that's a pretty good description of who you are. These
things show us a vivid, vivid picture of the believer's experience. You see, once the hand of God
touches a man, once God Almighty puts leprosy in your house, once
God causes you to have your sin laid bare in your soul so that
you stand before God covered head to foot with leprosy with
no soundness in you, suddenly You're an outcast. Outcast in your own mind, and
then outcast by me. The more you discuss your pain
with family and friends, those who know nothing about the disease,
you know, they have a little bright spot. They have a little
pimple. They have a little raw flesh.
They know nothing really about what you're going through. Know
nothing of the workings of God's grace. Know nothing of the experience
of being made aware of your sin. The more you discuss your case
with them, the more they look at you strange. What's wrong with you? I don't
know what you're talking about. Nobody else knows what you're
talking about. You've lost your mind. You remember in Pilgrim's
Progress when Pilgrim describes how at first he was awakened
and he goes crying out of the city and his wife is beckoning
him, his children's beckoning him, his friends are beckoning
him. Man, you've lost your mind. He says, I stuck my fingers in
my ears and I fled crying eternal life, eternal life. I've got
to have eternal life. Job experienced what I'm talking
about. Listen to what he said. Job says, God has put my brethren
far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.
My kinfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten
me. They that dwell in my house and my maids count me for a stranger. I'm an alien in their sight.
I called my servant, and he gave me no answer. I entreated him
with my mouth. My breath is strange to my wife. She doesn't know who I am. Though
I am treated for the children's sake of mine own body, yea, young
children despise me. I rose and they spoke against
me, all my inward friends abhorred me, and they whom I loved are
turned against me. Haman put it this way, lover
and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance
into darkness. David expressed much the same,
my lovers and my friends stand aloof from my soul. They stand
aloof because they can't help. They stand aloof because they
can't do a thing. They stand aloof. My kinsmen
stand afar off. They can't help. Painful as these
things are, that which exceeds them far is the fact that the
man whom God has convinced to be saved knows that he stands
far off from God. That which continually torments
his soul is his separation from God, which he knows to be the
result of sin. Joseph Hart wrote so many very,
very, very good hymns. One of his best addresses this
very issue. Listen to what he said. To understand
these things aright, this grand distinction should be known.
Though all are sinners in God's sight, there are but few so in
their own. To such as these our Lord was
sent, there are only sinners who repent. What comfort can
the Savior bring to those who never felt their woe? A sinner
is a sacred thing, the Holy Ghost has made him so. New life from
him we must receive, before for sin we write the grace. All right,
now let's look at Leviticus chapter 14. I want to talk to you today,
as God will enable me, about the leper, specifically in the
day of his cleansing. We've already read the text together,
so I'll just give it to you as we go along in highlights. I
want you to see clearly that as the leper in Israel was cleansed
only by God's priest, Only by blood, oil, and water, so Christ
Jesus cleanses leprous souls. The leprous souls of poor, guilty,
needy sinners. Only by his grace, by his blood,
and by his Holy Spirit, through whom the blood and grace are
applied to us. Now be sure you don't miss this.
Under Mosaic law, in the Old Testament, leprosy was cleansed. And lepers were healed only by
the priest. No medicine was prescribed. No
doctors were called in. No exercises were set out. No
therapy was ordered. The leper was cleansed only by
the priest. The leper did nothing. The people
did nothing. The priest did everything. The
leper was totally passive. He didn't even come to the priest.
The priest came out to where the leper was. So it is in the
workings of God's grace. Everything is done by Christ. By Christ and by Christ alone.
Our salvation is totally the work of God Almighty in Jesus
Christ the Lord. The man was not brought into
the camp of Israel. He was unclaimed. He couldn't
be brought into the camp lest he should ceremonially pollute
the camp, defile it, and defile others. So the priest came out
to where the leper was. He came out to where lepers were
isolated from others. He called for the leper, and
the leper was brought to him, and then the priest would examine
him. He'd look him over, examine his sores and see whether he
was clean or unclean. And according to his examination,
according to that which the priest saw, according to God's word,
the priest said, he's unclean. Or he said, he's clean. Just
like that. So it is the Lord Jesus Christ
comes to us. We could not go up to God. We
could not bring God down to us. But the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, assumed human flesh and came down here where we are.
And he comes yet today to sinners by his grace. He calls for the
leper. He calls by the preaching of
the gospel. And the Holy Spirit, at God's appointed time, brings
the lepers. one at a time before the Son
of God and he examines. And before the Son of God, by
himself and by his own standard, he declares that we are either
unclean or clean. Here comes a man with a spot
that looks a little like leprosy. He has a little rise in his skin
and the priest looks at him and he said, yeah, You're a leper,
all right. Unclean. Go back down there. Another is brought to the priest
and he looks at him and he sees that he has some rawness in his
flesh. He sees some sores that are spreading,
but the hair is still full of color. And the priest said, yeah,
you got some leprosy. Unclean. And he sends him away. And here comes another. He's
covered from head to foot with a crusted, white scale. The hair is all white. There's
not a sound spot in him. But all together, he's covered
with leprosy. Priesthood, you're clean. And then after certain ceremonies
that we're going to look at this morning, he was restored to the
fellowship of Israel, restored to the worship of God, restored
to the people of God, and restored to his own family. Now, let's
see if we can apply the passage to ourselves. I have no doubt
some of you sitting here are willing to confess that you have
done a lot of bad things. You think I've done a lot. I can't excuse I can't justify. But now, I've done some good
things. I've been charitable. I try not
to be mean to folks. I try to help the poor. I try
to help my neighbor when I can. I've done some good things. Yes, I have my faults. I acknowledge
I even have some sins. But really, at the bottom, when
you get right down to it, I'm really not such a bad fella.
I'm sure you're not. God's priest says you're unclean.
There's nothing here for you. There's nothing, listen to me
now, there's nothing here for you. There's no promise from
God for you. There's no grace for you. There's
no mercy for you. There's no salvation for you.
There's no sacrifice for you. There's no altar for you. There's
no open door to heaven for you. But everything, shut up! You're
unclean. you're unclean. Some of you,
on the other hand, will admit with tender that you're guilty
of many things. You know you have tons of evil
thoughts. You confess that you've committed
terrible, immoral things. But still, though you have no
good works in which to boast, though you have no righteousness
that you would make to be the basis of your hope before God.
Oh, no, no, no. You do hope by repentance and
by the help of God's good grace to mend your ways and do better
in the future. I'm sure you're sincere. I'm
sure you are. But God's priest says you're
unclean. There's nothing here for you.
There's not a word from God for you. There's no grace for you. There's no mercy for you. There's
no salvation for you. But I think I see another, standing
like that, public and far off, who dare not lift his eyes toward
heaven, who beats on his breast. Christ God be merciful to me,
the sinner. You tremble before God. There's nothing in you but unclean. that which yesterday you thought
was your goodness, that which yesterday you thought would stand
as your righteousness to distinguish you from other men, that which
you imagined would at least set you apart from others to some
degree, now you look upon as vile as corruption, dung, and
you cry unclean, unclean, Because you perceive yourself to be one
who is unclean, unfit for God, unfit for man, unfit for life,
unclean! You're covered from head to foot,
from the inside out, with nothing but corruption. To you, God's
priest says, you're clean. Christ died for you. Salvation
is yours. Yes, sir. Don't have any question
concerning that. You see, the only warrant of
faith there is, is the fact that you're a sinner. That's all.
You remember how David prayed to God? He said, he said, pardon
my iniquity for thy name's sake, O Lord. Pardon my iniquity, because
it's great. He recognized the greatness of
his sin, the horrid corruption of his heart, and he used his
great sinfulness as an argument why God should be merciful. Oh,
Lord, if you get glory in saving sinners, then surely you can
glorify your name by saving this sinner. If Christ died for the
ungodly, then he died for me because I'm ungodly. If Christ
died for sinners, as the book says he did, then he died for
me because I'm a sinner. If Christ died for the unjust,
then he died for me because I'm unjust. If Christ Jesus came
into the world to save that which is lost, he dead sure came here
to save me because I'm lost. I'm lost. Martin Luther said, I do not
know when men will ever believe. That text in which it is written,
Christ died for our sins. They will think that Christ died
for our righteousness, whereas he died for our sins. Christ
had no eye to our goodness when he came to save us, but to our
badness. He came to save sinners. He came
to save sinners. The leper then was cleansed. But now look at verse three in
that text. Be sure you get this. The leper was healed before he
was cleansed. The cleansing that follows after
verse three had nothing to do with the leper's healing. It
was altogether ceremonial. It is intended by God that we
understand this. Our healing by grace takes place
on the basis of what is here pictured. And in these ceremonies,
we see how the center, the leprous center is healed and cleansed
by God's grace and made clean before God. And we're told this
is the only way. Whereas with this leper, these
things had nothing to do with his cleansing. They had nothing
to do with his healing. He was healed beforehand. And
so these things were given just as a picture. so that we'd understand
how the healing takes place in reality. All right, now let's
look at it. This leper's healing came in
three stages. First, in verses 1 through 7, actually down into
verse 8, there was a healing that took place in the time of
his separation. It's a picture of substitution.
And then in verses 9 and 10, there's a healing that took place
during the time of his restoration. It's a picture of the new birth,
of regeneration, sanctification. And then in the following verses,
going from verse 11 right on through the end of the chapter,
particularly down to verse 32, there's a healing that took place
in the time of his consecration, in the time that he was consecrated
again as the worshiper and servant of God. First, the cleansing
of the leper in his separation is described in verses one through
eight. The high priest, took for the leper. Do you see it?
Verse four, he took for the leper who had been healed, the leper
who was now to be cleansed, two birds alive and clean, and cedar
wood and scarlet and hyssop. Oh, what a picture this is. The
leper didn't bring this sacrifice. Get down in the latter part of
the chapter, the leper brought the sacrifice for the sin offering
and the trespass offering and for the meat offering and he
brought those sacrifices, but this sacrifice he didn't bring.
This sacrifice he didn't provide. This sacrifice was brought by
the priest, brought by the priest's command, provided by the priest,
and sacrificed by the priest on behalf of the leper. These
birds represent the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord who came down
from heaven to save such as we are, pure and clean. These birds
then, picture him. I'll show you in a minute why
there were two of them. The two birds represent our Lord Jesus
in his holiness and in his life. Living birds, he is life. Clean birds, his name is holiness. The cedar wood pictures two things. Incorruptibility and great acceptable
fragrance. The cedar wood, it just lasts
and lasts and lasts. It just keeps on lasting. It
smells good. I open up a cedar chest, I go
in a place where they've got a cedar line closet, I... All
that smelly stuff. It smells good. That's a picture
of our Savior. He, in all His work, as in all
His person, is incorruptible. He changes not. That holiness,
that righteousness, that redemption which he gives to sinners is
incorruptible. That inheritance he provides
by his earning is incorruptible. And he, get inside this closet and you're
going to smell good. He is sweet fragrance to God. The scarlet, of course, speaks
of our Savior's precious blood. Ray had tied the scarlet cord
to it one day, remember? The hyssop was a small herb. It grew on the side of walls
or houses, grew up trees, and it would be taken and tied together,
and they'd use it sort of like we would use a brush to just
sprinkle things a little. Not the kind of brush you'd use
to paint, but it'd have bristles, and you'd dip it and you'd sprinkle
it. Dip it in something and sprinkle it. If I'm fixing rims, I'll
take a brush and sometimes I'll pour it to them, you know. But
other times I'll just sprinkle a little here and there. Depends
on what I'm fixing. But the hyssop was used just that way. You remember
Moses took hyssop, dipped it in blood, and sprinkled the book
and the testimony, and almost all things were under the law
of purge with blood, as Moses sprinkled. In the land of Egypt,
The Israelites on the night of Passover took hyssop and dipped
it in blood and smeared it over the lintel and on the doorpost
of every house. And that's the picture here.
David cried, purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me
and I shall be whiter than snow. Now one of the birds had to be
killed. The bird that was to be killed
is a picture of Christ as our substitute. The bird had to be killed in
an earthen vessel over running water. Isn't it amazing how precise
these pictures are? The bird must be killed in an
earthen vessel lest any drop of blood should fall to the ground
and just be mixed in the dirt. It must be killed over running
water. And that connects with the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the work of God, the Holy Spirit. For he is a well
of living water, springing up an everlasting life. That's exactly
how it's described in the scripture. And there is a distinct connection
to be made in our understanding as it is made in the word of
God. Wherever there is a work performed by Christ for a sinner,
there is a work performed by God the Holy Spirit in a sinner. There is no such thing, there
is no possibility that Christ provided atonement for someone
the Holy Spirit didn't apply atonement to. There's no possibility
Christ paid the ransom for someone the Holy Spirit didn't come and
set free. There's no possibility that Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, satisfied the justice of God for someone
the Holy Spirit didn't come and bring the freedom from condemnation
too. No possibility. Universal redemption,
that horrid doctrine propounded everywhere in our day, that's
the blood falling on the ground, mixed with the dirt, trampled
under feet. Particular effectual redemption,
that redemption described in the gospel, that's the blood
caught in an earthen vessel. Not one drop shed in vain, caught
in an earthen vessel to be applied distinctly by God's priest, exactly
as God's priest has ordained by the power of his spirit to
chosen sinners, restoring them to him. The bird was killed,
and then in verses six and seven, look at this, the living bird was then taken with the cedar
wood and the scarlet, I presume, as historians tell us, I presume
the bird's wings were stretched out on a piece of cedar wood
and gently tied with scarlet cord. It was stretched out on
the cedar wood, but however it was done, the bird with the cedar,
with the scarlet, was dipped in the blood of the bird that
was slain. And then the priest, having dipped
that bird seven times, you know the picture don't you
David? Perfect atonement. Complete atonement. Accomplished
redemption. Seven times. He clipped the scarlet
cords and set him free. And that bird would fly up in
the air with drops of blood falling to the ground, scattering atonement,
scattering grace, scattering redemption to men on the earth. And he would ascend up into heaven
with the blood of his companion bird. that had been sacrificed,
even as the Lord Jesus Christ, our high priest, ascended up
into heaven with his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. Now this bird, this living bird,
represents Christ in his resurrection glory, in his ascension, in the
accomplishment of redemption for us. Our redemption was not
accomplished, our justification was not accomplished by our Lord's
resurrection from the dead or his ascension into heaven. It
was accomplished when he died. But his resurrection is God's
declaration that it's accomplished. His ascension and taking his
seat at the right hand of the majesty on high is God Almighty
saying, this is enough. I require no more. I require
no more. All this was done before the
leper's eyes. I don't have to use much imagination
here because I've stood right where he stood and I've seen what he saw and
I've heard what he heard. He watched it all. The priest tells me I'm healed now. And
the priest has brought me here and he's come to me because I'm
fixing to go over yonder and take my place again in communion
with God Almighty. And he hears what this all says. Nothing said. Nothing said, Bob. Not a word spoken. Not a word
spoken. The whole process, not a word
spoken. He's just standing here watching. Oh, but this is what
it is. This is done for you. The tomb was made for you. Grace is found for you. This
blood, this blood was shed for you. This blood sprinkled on
your face, this blood's for you. This blood that you see falling
from heaven on your own body, this blood's for you. When God has given a sinner faith
in Christ. How do you explain this? How
can I, how can I state this in such a way that there can't be
any mistake in what I'm saying? When God, Oh Spirit of God, come
down, give you faith. Give you faith. Lindsay wrote
to me last night. He said, I pray that our bridegroom
will show himself tomorrow. And I wrote him back and I said,
I pray God will grant your request. When God gives you faith, as
Paul puts it, Jesus Christ is set forth, evidently crucified
before your eyes. Now I see it. Now I see it. Now I hear his voice! I hear
him cry, it's finished! Bless God, finished for me, finished
for me. Next, the priest had to sprinkle the
blood upon him that was to be cleansed seven times and pronounced him clean. The
leper didn't just see the blood fall drop by drop from the slaughtered
animal. or from the blood of the slaughtered
animal dropped from the one that was flying. He must be sprinkled
with it deliberately. Deliberately. Anybody standing
in the vicinity as that bird flew away, say the blood fall, didn't mean
a thing. Didn't mean a thing. But the
priest would take the blood in the earthen vessel, and he'd
take the hyssop, sprinkle it on this man seven
times. He said, now there's no mistake, this is for you. This
is for you. This speaks of the sprinkling
of blood. Hebrews chapter 9. It is the
Holy Spirit who comes and sprinkles the conscience with the blood
of Christ. The Holy Spirit! comes and distinctly
applies the blood to you so that it gives you faith in Jesus Christ.
The leper, when he was pronounced clean, then was required to wash
his clothes, shave off his hair, and take a bath. Look at verse
8. He that is to be cleansed shall
wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, wash himself in water
that he may be clean. After that he shall come into
the camp and shall carry abroad out of his tent seven days."
He was to wash his clothes, separating himself from all the past. Having, therefore, these promises,
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness
of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
is to wash his clothes distinctly, purposefully, separating himself
from the past. This is past. This is gone. This is done. How can you say
that? Because God said that. It's over. I'll forget those
things which are behind. What do you mean, preachers?
Should we never think of our sins anymore? Oh, no. Think of
them all the time. Think of them all the time. Just
don't think of guilt anymore. Acknowledge your sin. Just don't
think of condemnation anymore. Acknowledge your sin. Just don't
think of God turning his back anymore. Wash it. And the leper had to shave off
his hair. Now this was done twice. It was
done while he was still in his separation, and then it was done
after he was brought into the time of his restoration during
that seven-day period when he was required still to dwell outside
his own tent. He was brought back into the
camp, but he couldn't go into his own house. And the leper
was required to shave off his hair. All of it. All of it. Eyebrows and all. Shave it all
off. How come? Well, the hair that
was turned white was dead at the roots. He shaves it all off. Shaves it all off. And it grows
back black and bushy and clean and full of life. The Lord Jesus
said, Behold, I make all things new. If any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature. Old things have passed away.
Behold, all things are become new. All right, now that brings
us to the second part of his cleansing. Look at verses eight and nine.
I won't leave it a minute here. This is talking about regeneration.
It's the cleansing of the leper and his restoration. Once he
was restored to the camp of Israel, but still required to dwell outside
his own house, On the seventh day, the leper shaved himself, took a bath, and washed his clothes. On the seventh day. Notice how
often that's repeated through these ceremonies? Constantly,
God holds before us the picture of perfection, completion, and
grace on the seventh day. at the appointed time. The leper,
having shamed himself, was required to wash his flesh in water and
be clean. Now this has nothing to do with
the ordinance of baptism. It's talking about the washing
of the Holy Spirit, the renewing of the Holy Spirit in regeneration. I'm absolutely sure this is the
passage Paul was referring to in Hebrews 10 when he said, let
us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. having
a heart sprinkled from an evil conscience. Well, how on earth
are you going to have a true heart and full assurance of faith
and your conscience clear? How on earth is that going to
happen? The blood's been sprinkled. I trust Him whom God provided. Him whom God sacrificed. Him whom God said to be my substitute. I trust Him whose blood has fallen
on me. Now I come to God. with a clean
conscience, with a true heart, with full assurance. I've been
washed with his grace in the pure water of his spirit. Now,
from verses 10 through 32, look what was done. Here's the cleansing
of the leper in his consecration. This is talking about the sanctifying
work of the spirit. In these verses, we see what
the priest did to the leper and for the leper. On the eighth
day, the day of new beginnings, new beginnings. Bob asked about
our brother Bill Green a little bit ago and I made the mistake.
I made a horrible mistake. I said he died several weeks
ago. No, no, he didn't die. He had a new beginning. He entered
into an eighth day and we have entered into an eighth a new beginning, a new beginning
before God. Oh, what a day of grace this
is. Old things gone, all things new. And the priest comes on this
eighth day. And the man comes before the
priest with three lambs, two males and a female, burnt offering,
a sin offering, and a trespass offering. by these things the
leper is reminded of the cost of atonement. Not one would do, not two would
do, three required, a burnt offering, a trespass offering. A sacrifice
whose limbs are burned, a sacrifice whose headwoods are burned, especially
the fat around the kidneys and the fat around the entrails is
burned on the altar of God. A sacrifice offered to God for
sin offering. And the leper also brought a
meat offering. And one-tenth deal of flour, this time mingled
with oil, But there was a special thing done that was connected
with the trespass off. It was applied in a special manner.
It was applied to the tip of his right ear, the blood to the
thumb of his right hand, and to the great toe of his right
foot. Now we saw that in chapter eight, remember? In the consecration
of the priest. It's a picture of the priest
being consecrated in their entire being unto God. But this time
there's something different. The leper brought a log of oil. That's just a little less than
a pint. The priest takes the oil and pours it in his left
hand. And he puts it on his right ear,
his right thumb, Big Toe's right foot. Where the blood is. What? Oh yeah. You see, consecration
to God is something we do ourselves deliberately and purposefully. Dear Lord, I give myself away. It is all that I can do. But
it ain't gonna be done except Christ has healed us with his
blood and poured on us his spirit. And he causes us to give our
whole selves to him. You remember the story I've told
you about that missionary in India? Came across an area and he heard a man crying
in a raspy, faint voice. Help me! Help me! And he made his way to a clearing
and he saw a man who had been set out there by his family in
the middle of nowhere just covered with leprosy. And he's crying
as best he can. Help me! Help me! Somebody, please, help me! And he said, I thought to myself,
if I could somehow go over there and put my mouth on his. Take all his corruption into
me and breathe all my life and health
into him. That's just what Christ has done
for me. Now, you're not your own. You're bought with a price. The
blood and the oil are on your ear, your thumb, and your foot.
So glorify God in your body and in your spirit that are His.
Amen.

In the Day of His Cleansing

What does the Bible say about leprosy in Leviticus?

How do we know Christ's cleansing is effective?

Why is understanding our spiritual uncleanness important for Christians?

What is the role of the priest in the cleansing of lepers?

How does the leper's experience relate to the believer's experience of grace?

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In the Day of His Cleansing

What does the Bible say about leprosy in Leviticus?

How do we know Christ's cleansing is effective?

Why is understanding our spiritual uncleanness important for Christians?

What is the role of the priest in the cleansing of lepers?

How does the leper's experience relate to the believer's experience of grace?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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