Would you turn back to Mark 1? I have entitled this message,
How a sinner comes to Christ. Now, I hope there's nobody that
thinks, well, I already know that. If somebody thinks something
like that, I would be afraid they've never come. How a sinner
comes to Christ. The Lord said in John 6, 37,
all that the father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. The Lord said in Matthew 11,
28, come unto me, all ye that labor. and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you'll find rest
for your souls. The Lord said in John chapter
seven, verse 37, if any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. The spirit and the bride say,
come. Now this thing of coming to Christ
is the act of spiritual life. The Lord said in John chapter
five, verse 39, you will not come to me that you might have
life. If you come to me, it's because you have life. Coming
to Christ. is the evidence of divine election. I've already quoted that verse,
it's so true. All that the Father giveth me,
that's talking about the elect, those he gave to Christ before
the foundation of the world, a fixed number of people. All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Coming to Christ,
is what all who are taught of God do. The Lord said in John
chapter six, verse 45, every man that had heard and learned
of the father cometh to me. And we cannot come unless he
draws us. No man can come to me, our Lord
said in John 6, 44. No man can come to me, except
the Father which has sent me draw him. And this thing of coming
to Christ is the continual act of the believer. It's not a one-time
act. It's not something you did way
back when. It's something that if you ever came, you come every
day. To whom, here's the way Peter
put it in verse Peter chapter two, verse four, To whom coming. Not to whom you came, not to
whom you intend to come. To whom coming. Now this is the life of the believer. To whom coming. Now, our message is come to Christ. If you do, you'll find acceptance. I had a preacher say to me recently,
How can you call on men to come to Christ if not everybody's
elect and Christ didn't die for everybody? How can you sincerely
call on men to come to Christ? It's easy. Come to Christ, you'll
be received. It's that simple. If you come,
you will be received. He said, him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out. I love what the Lord said in
Luke 14, 23, go into the highways and the hedges and compel them
to come in. How? How can, how does a sinner
come to Christ? Now, if I tried to explain that
to you, you know what I'd do? I'd muddy the waters. That's
all I do. But I'd say, well, here's the
way you need to do it. You need to do this. I can give you some, I'd
ready the waters. What we're going to do is we're
going to look at a passage of scripture where it actually says
that a man did in fact come to Christ and he was received. Now, this leper that I just read about,
is a man who came to Christ and found mercy. And if you and I
come to Christ, we will come to him like this man did every
time we come. This is not a one-time act. This
is the experience of the believer all the time. To whom coming. Now, this is also in Matthew
and Luke's gospel, and all three give details that will show us
clearly how a sinner comes to Christ. I hope this interests
you. It interests me. How does a sinner come to the
Lord Jesus Christ? Now look in our text in verse
40, Mark chapter one, and there came a leper to him. Now there we don't have to worry
about it. There came a leper to him. Now this is a man who actually
came to the Lord Jesus Christ. There we have the language. There
came a leper to him. Now, most of you probably know
that leprosy is a great type of sin. And Luke gives us a detail
that the other two inspired writers do not. This man came in Luke's
account full of leprosy. Now that word full means he was
completely covered with leprosy. Anywhere you look on this man's
body, every square inch of his body was covered with leprosy. He didn't have any healthy flesh.
He didn't have any sound flesh. He was completely covered by
leprosy. And there's great significance
to that. Turn with me to Leviticus chapter 13, verse nine. Leviticus 13, verse nine. I think
it's interesting how so much detail is given to the cleansing
of the leper. You see, leprosy is the great
type of sin. I don't know if they had cancer in those days,
maybe they didn't. I don't know if they had heart
disease, but I know they had leprosy. And it was a very fearful
disease. And there's very clear instruction
given regarding the cleansing of the leper. Now look in verse
nine. When the plague of leprosy is in a man, Then he shall be
brought unto the priest, and the priest shall see him. And
behold, if the rising be white in the skin, and it have turned
the hair white, and there be quick raw flesh in the rising."
Now that means healthy flesh, living flesh. Quick means living.
If there's some healthy flesh that you see. It's an old leprosy
in the skin of his flesh and the priest shall pronounce him
unclean and shall not shut him up for he is unclean. And if
a leprosy break out abroad in the skin and the leprosy cover
all the skin of him that hath the plague from his head even
to his foot, wheresoever the priest looketh, then the priest
shall consider and behold, if the leprosy hath covered all
his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean. At hath the plague, it's all
turned white, he's clean, but when raw flesh appeareth in him,
healthy flesh, he shall be unclean. Now, this man came to Christ
full of leprosy. And anybody who ever comes to
Christ comes full of sin. Sin full. There's nothing about you that
is anything but sin. Nobody ever came to Christ who
didn't come this way. You come full of sin. You don't have anything that's
healthy. You don't have anything that is meritorious. You don't
have anything that you can bring and think, well, he can accept
me because of this. No, you come full of sin or you
don't come at all. That's the only way someone comes
to Christ. Now remember, we're asking, how
does someone come to Christ? here's the first point. They
come full of sin. Do you and I know anything about
that? I can't see into your heart.
You can't see into mine, but God sees into both of us. How
do I come full of sin? This is the only one who comes.
The whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. Now,
Luke's account gives us another detail that is vital for us to
understand how a sinner comes to Christ. In Luke chapter five,
verse 12, we read concerning this man who seeing Jesus, he fell on his face. When you see Him, you will know
who He is. At Leper, when he saw Him, like
the Gadarene demonic, when he saw Him afar off, he ran toward
Him and fell on his face and worshiped. He knew he was the
Son of God. When you come to Him, you'll
come to Him because You've seen Him and you know who He is. You wouldn't come if you didn't
know who He is. This word, see, means more than
a physical sight. It means a discernment, an understanding. You understand, you see, you
realize who He is. He's the Son of God. He's the
absolute sovereign of the universe. It's gonna make you hit your
face. Fall on your face when you come
into his presence. That's the way this man came.
He saw him. He understood who he was. And
my dear friend, if you ever see him, you'll know who he is. If
you don't know who he is, you've never seen him. You see, there's
something about him that as soon as someone sees him in the revelation
of his person, they know who he is. You see, we're coming
to a person that we know. Oh, we don't feel like we know
him well. We don't even know if he's gonna have mercy on us,
but we know the only way we'll have mercy is if he gives it
to us. And that's the way we come. He came seeing him and
falling on his face. In John chapter six, verse 40.
He that seeth the Son and believeth on him. See the
order? You see the Son. You can't trust
an unrevealed Christ. You can't come to an unrevealed
Christ. You know he's the sovereign of the universe, the Son of God,
the second person of the blessed Trinity. Well, how do you know
those things? If you see him, it's because
he revealed himself to you. He's revealed to you who he is. And that's the way this man came.
He came full of sin. He came seeing who he is. He fell on his face and Matthew's
account says, behold, there came a leper and worshiped him. Now, somebody who comes to Christ,
They know they're sinful. They know who he is. That's why
they come. And they worship him. And while I was driving over
here this afternoon, or this, whenever it was, but probably
half an hour, hour ago, whenever it was, I saw a sign on a church. Come worship with us. Come worship
with us. You know, I never say that to
anybody. There's a reason. The only way me and you can worship
is if the Lord divinely enables us to. Somebody says that's nitpicking. No, it's not. Worship is impossible
for the natural man. But this man came and worshipped
him. He knew who he was and he worshipped
him as the absolute sovereign. Lord, he came worshiping, saying,
Lord, if you will. Now, when you come into his presence,
if you ever come to him, you're gonna worship him as the absolute
sovereign. What does that mean? He doeth
according to his will in the armies of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his head. We're
saying to him, what doest thou? Give an account for yourself.
No. worship him. And I've said this before, I
hope somebody hears me. You only worship a sovereign.
You only worship one where you have no control, no ability to
manipulate. You're in his hand and he can
do with you whatever he's pleased to do. He can save you or he
can pass you by. Whatever he does is right. You've never come to him without
worship. He worshipped him. And I think
this is so important. This is so significant. He worshipped
him before he knew whether or not the Lord's going to do anything
for him. Now, you worship him for who he is. without regard
to whether He does or does not do something for you. And if
you don't do that, you have not worshipped. He came and He worshipped
Him, and this has to be settled first. He is the object of divine
worship, whether He does do or does not do anything for me. Now, if He passes you by, Is he still worthy of worship? That's the question. That's the
issue. If he passes you by, is he still
the object of divine worship? He's to be worshiped for who
he is. He's the God man. He's the sovereign. He's the
creator. He's the brightness of God's
glory, the express image of his person. He's the altogether lovely
one and he will not be diminished if he passes me by. He is who
he is and he is the object of divine worship and you can't
come to him unless that's settled. That's gotta be settled. He fell on his face and he worshiped
him. Mark's account says he came beseeching
him. Luke's account says he besought
him. He knew, and this is what you'll
know too if you ever come to him, you'll know this. He knew
that the Lord Jesus Christ was the only one who could help him. He knew that. And if you come
to Christ, if you're a sinner that comes to Christ, you're
gonna know. You're going to be dead sure of this. He's the only
one who can help you. That's why he was beseeching
him, and that's why he besought him. I love the story of the
Syrophoenician woman when she said, Jesus, thou son of David,
have mercy on me. And he answered her not a word.
And she continued crying. Lord, help me. Have mercy on
me. And he said, I'm not sent, but to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. And the scripture says, then
came she and worshiped him saying, Lord, help me. If you do not help me, I won't
be helped. You come knowing that he is the
only one who can help you. And behold, this is Matthew's
account. Behold, there came a leper full
of leprosy and he saw the Lord. He knew who he was. He worshiped
him and he knew only he can help him. And the scripture says,
behold, there came a leper and worshiped him saying, Lord. Now, if me and you ever come
to Christ, we're going to come saying, Lord. He's the Lord. He's the one whose
will is always done. He's the Lord of creation. He's
the one who by an act of His will spake the universe into
existence. He's the Lord of providence.
Everything that takes place takes place because He wills it. You
can't take that too far. He's the Lord of salvation. He
understood. You're the Lord. Now, anybody
who ever comes to Christ, they come with that understanding.
He is the Lord. And he came acknowledging the
sovereign will of Christ. Lord, if you will, Not, Lord, I will that you make
me clean. Why, that is insolent, that is
blasphemous. You don't come to the Lord telling
him what you're gonna do or what you're gonna have him do. Lord,
if you will. You see, a sinner understands
that he's in God's sovereign hands, if you will. The notion
of free will goes out the door. There's never been a sinner who
came to Christ and believed in free will. Not one. Lord, if you will. People speak of man's will and
free will and whosoever will. The sinner that comes to Christ
knows whose will is gonna be done. Lord, if you will. If thou wilt, thou canst. Now that's the way a sinner comes
to Christ. If you will, you have the ability. Now I'm not saying that I know
you will. I don't know whether you will
or not. You're God, you're sovereign. I know whatever you do is right.
I know I'm utterly in your hand, but if you will, You have the
ability. Thou canst. You have the ability. I love what Paul said in 2 Timothy
1 verse 12. I know whom I have believed and
I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
to him against that day. If you will, you can make me
clean. Yes, cleanse from the leprosy.
But more than that, if you will, you have the ability to make
me clean, pure, and holy so that I literally do not have any sin. There's such power in your blood.
If you will, you can make it to where I stand before your
presence, holy and unblameable, and unreprovable in your sight,
utterly and completely clean. I believe that you have the ability
to make me perfectly clean, perfectly holy. Now, every sinner that
comes to the Savior, they come full of sin. They come seeing
Him. They wouldn't come if they didn't
know who He was. You can't come to an unrevealed
Christ. They wouldn't come. They worship Him for who He is
without any knowledge as of yet as to what He's going to do for
them. He's still worthy to be worshipped. They come acknowledging
His Lordship. He's the Lord. They come acknowledging
the sovereignty of His will, if you will. they come acknowledging
His ability. You can make me clean. You're able to present me faultless
before the presence of Your glory with exceeding joy. If You will,
You can make me clean. And this is where the sinner
stops speaking and waits to hear what he says. He didn't say, all right, I've
come, therefore you need to make me clean. He didn't come like
that at all. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. And he just waited at that point
to hear what the Lord would say. We'll look in our text in Mark
chapter one, verse 41. And Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand and touched him, and saith unto
him, I will be thou clean. Now this is who the Lord Jesus
is. It's just who he is. He was moved
by compassion. Do you know that anybody that
comes to him just like this leper did, every time, he in his glorious
person is moved by compassion. I think of the Lord on his way
to Jerusalem. Scripture says it set his face
like a flint. He came to die and he was not
going to be deterred. He set his face toward Jerusalem
and he's on his way there. And there comes a cry from the
crowd. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. And the scripture says Jesus
stood still. You see, he always responds to
a cry for mercy. He always responds to any sinner
who comes just like this leper did. Jesus moved with compassion,
reached forth his hand and touched him. Now, how long do you reckon
it had been since that man had felt human touch? I mean, he
was a leper. He was full of leprosy. Would
you touch him? No, you'd stay away. You wouldn't want to be
anywhere near him. But Jesus put forth his hand
and touched him and said, I will. I don't believe there's
any more powerful language than that. I will. This is the divine fiat. Be thou clean. This is that will which cannot
be thwarted. Lazarus, come forth. He that was dead came forth.
He didn't have any choice. You know, when the Lord wills
something, it is. I will be thou clean. Verse 42, and as soon as he'd
spoken, immediately, The leprosy, what's our next word? Departed from him. It went from one place to another
place. It departed from him. It didn't just disappear, it
departed from him. Now that can only be understood
in light of the cross. You see, God made my sin. God can do this. Nobody else
can do it, but he can. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? No, nothing's too hard for the Lord. He can do this. He made my sin to depart from
me. And I know where it went too. It went to the Lord Jesus Christ,
who bear our sins in his own body on the tree. That leprosy
departed. It departed. It went from one
place to another. Our sin is not like the Lord. The Lord's omnipresent. He's everywhere at once. You
can't go anywhere where he's not. Isn't that glorious? Seeing can't be two places at
once. If it's departed from me and he bore it, it's gone. The leprosy departed from him
and he was cleansed, purified. I would love to have seen him
at this time. I reckon he was just like Naaman. All of a sudden,
his flesh was like a little child's, perfectly healthy, completely
cleansed of that leprosy. It departed and he was cleansed. This is what the will of Christ
and the blood of Christ does. It causes us to be cleansed,
to stand before God undefiled, pure and clean. You know, that can only be realized
by faith. I realize that. But every believer stands before
God having never sinned. That sin was put away, purified,
cleansed, purged. Verse 43, and he straightly charged him,
and forthwith sent him away, and saith unto him, see thou
say nothing to any man. Don't tell anybody about this.
But go thy way, shows thyself to the priest, and offer for
the cleansing those things which Moses commanded for a testimony
unto them. Now he was going to go back to
the law. And the law was going to declare him to be clean. You don't have any fear from
the law. Law's gonna look you over and say, clean, pure, perfect. And why did he tell this man
to not tell anybody? You know, I know the answer to
that question. You know, how many times did the Lord do something
for somebody and tell them not to tell anybody? I love that scripture. He shall
not strive nor cry nor cause his voice to be heard in the
streets. The reason is the Lord's not trying to gain a following.
The Lord's not trying to get a hearing. He came to save his
people from this, their sins. And that's exactly what he did. But verse 45, he went out. and began to publish it much. You know, if the Lord did this
for you, I don't think you'd be able to keep your mouth shut about it. Couldn't
do it. Is this man to be rebuked for
that? Well, I don't know, but I understand. He began to blaze abroad the
matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the
city but was without in desert places. But you know what happened? They came to him from every corner.
A bunch more people came to him. And my dear friends, this isn't
a one-time thing. If you and I ever come to Christ,
we're going to come the way this man came all the time. To whom? Coming. May God give us the grace to
do just that. Let's pray. Lord, how we ask that we might be drawn and caused
to come to thy son, come full of sin, knowing that's what we
are, by nature, by choice, and by
practice, but come knowing who he is, seeing him, worshiping
him for who he is, acknowledging his lordship, his sovereign will,
his ability to make us clean. Lord, we come with the leper.
Lord, if you will, you can make us clean. And Lord, we know that
everyone who comes just like that hears these words. I will be now clean. In Christ's high and holy name,
we ask these things. Amen.