Would you turn with me to John
chapter three? While you're turning there, I
want to remind you that this evening we're going to be having
a get together for our five graduating high school seniors. That's very
special. I'm thankful that the Lord has
enabled them to do that. Also tonight, I'm going to be
speaking at a first Corinthians chapter three, the first seven
verses. And we're going to be considering
what the Apostle Paul says about carnal Christians. He said to these people, you
are carnal. What did he mean by that? What
is a carnal believer? We're going to look at that this
evening. Now, I want to read one verse of Scripture, John
chapter three, verse twenty five. I've entitled this message, question
about purifying. A question about purifying. Let's read verse 25 together.
Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and
the Jews about purifying. Let's pray. Lord, God of glory, the great
father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we ask in his blessed name that
you would be pleased to meet with us and speak in power to
our hearts. And Lord, we know that if we
hear from you, we need nothing else. Grant us that for Christ's
sake, may his name be glorified. In his name we pray, Amen. There arose a question between
some of John's disciples. I never have really figured out
John's disciples. You know, John said, behold,
the Lamb of God. You would think John's disciples,
if they would have listened to what he said, would have been
beholding the Lamb of God, wouldn't you? looking to Christ, so I'm
not real sure about who these fellows are. They ought to be
following the Lord Jesus Christ if they're truly John's disciples.
But at any rate, there was a question, a point of conflict. That's what the word means, a
debate. It is a question that arises from confusion and perplexity. They weren't sure about this
issue. There was a question or a point of controversy between
John's disciples and the Jews about the subject of purifying. Now, what brought on this debate
or this question? It had something to do with baptism. Look in verse 22. After these
things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea, and there
he tarried with them and baptized. And John also was baptizing in
Anan near Salem, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized,
for John was not yet cast into prison. Then there arose a question
between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying,
and they came unto John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was
with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold,
the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. Now, this question
about purifying has something to do with baptism. Which baptism is the best, I
suppose they were asking, John's or Christ's? Which baptism is
the best? Which is the most purifying?
Why be baptized at all? Why not go ahead and stick with
the laws of purification that are found in the book of Moses,
in the Old Testament? And there's so many laws regarding
the purification of someone who's unclean. I mean, there are just
many laws. Why not go ahead and stick with those? What is this
about baptism? What is the best? Well, what does God's Word have
to say about this subject? Purify. Now, I don't know what
their issue was, but this is a big subject. What does the
Word of God have to say about this subject of purifying? Now, the word purifying is translated
by several different words in the New Testament. It's translated
clean. Cleanse. Purge, purify, and purification. Now, obviously, the Bible has
a lot to say about this word purify or purification. What does it mean to be purified? What does it mean to be cleansed? What does it mean to be clean? What does it mean To be purged. Any Sharon told me that when
she was growing up before she. Had really heard the gospel. On Saturday nights. She would
go to confession. And do her confessing. And then
she would go home and take a bath and wash her hair and she would
think to herself. Clean on the outside and clean
on the inside. I'm good to go. Clean on the
outside, clean on the inside. Now, that is what being pure
actually means. It's being clean on the outside
and being clean on the inside. Aren't you interested in this?
being pure, actually before God being clean on the outside and
being clean on the inside. And this thing of being pure
is not merely having our sins covered, but being cleansed,
being purged, being made clean. Now, I want to make four statements
regarding being purified, being made clean before we look at
what the Bible teaches about this subject. Here's the first
statement I want to make. I know that a man or woman cannot
enter heaven without being purified, without being cleansed, without
being made Clean. Listen to this scripture. Psalm
24, verses 3 and 4 says, Who shall ascend into the hill of
the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. There's clean on the outside,
clean hands, clean on the inside, a pure heart. Who shall ascend
into the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in His holy place?
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart, who hath not lifted
up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn unto God deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing
from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
That's the only person who's going to enter heaven. the person
who has clean hands and a pure heart. That's what the Bible
says. There's a second statement I
want to make. I know that in myself, I am unclean. I'm talking about me. In myself,
I am unclean. Isaiah chapter 64 verse 6 says,
We are all as an unclean thing, and our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. We all do fade as the leaf. Now, do you know that's the truth
regarding you? We are all as an unclean thing? Like the leper, is described
in Leviticus chapter 13 verse 45. He shall put a covering over
his upper lip. And this leper represents the
sinner. He shall put a covering over his upper lip and shall
cry unclean. Unclean. All the days wherein
the plague shall be in him. He shall be defiled. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone and without
the camp shall his habitation be. I know that in myself I am
unclean. You know that scripture, you're not
to touch the unclean thing. Have you ever found that that
unclean thing is you? Third statement. I know. That I cannot make myself clean. I know that Proverbs chapter
20 verse four says who can say I have made myself clean. I'm
here for my sin. I know that I cannot make myself
clean and forcefully I want to be clean. That leper came up
to the Lord in Matthew chapter 8. And he said, Lord, if you
will, you can make me clean. That's what I want for myself.
That's what I want for you. I want to be made clean. Now, how can a sinner be made
clean? David said, Purge me with hyssop
and I shall be clean. Wash me. And I shall be whiter
than snow. How can a sinner be made clean? You know, this question is asked
several times in the book of Job. The folks that are supposed
to know say Job is the oldest book in the Bible. But I'd like
you to look with me at Job chapter 14. Verse four, I want to look at
a few scriptures in Job. He says in Job 14, verse four,
who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. Look in Job 15. Verse 14. What is man? That he should be
clean. And he which is born of a woman,
that he should be righteous, behold, he putteth no trust in
his saints. Yea, the heavens are not clean
in his sight. How much more abominable and
filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water. Look at
Job 25 verse 4. How then can man be justified
with God? Or how can He be clean that is
born of woman? Behold, even to the moon, and
it shineth not, yea, the stars are not pure in His sight. How
much less man that is a worm, and the Son of Man which is a
worm. Now, with these descriptions
of us in the Word of God as being unclean, how can I be clean before
God? Clean on the outside? and clean
on the inside. Now, this cleansing we're speaking
of, this purification of the sinner is the work of God in
Christ. Listen to this scripture. Ephesians
chapter 5, verses 25 and 26 says, Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ loved the church. Husbands, love your wives in
the same manner As Christ Jesus the Lord loved the church and
gave himself for it, that he might, here's the word, cleanse
it. Cleanse it. With the washing
of the water. Cleanse it and sanctify it with
the washing of the water by the word. This thing of cleansing.
This thing of being made pure on the inside and out is the
work of God in Christ. We are cleansed by His work for
us and by His work in us. Now, because of Christ, there
is such a thing as being clean. You know, right now, there are
some people sitting here looking at me that are clean before God. Clean on the outside. Clean on
the inside. There is such a thing. as being
clean, having a pure heart. And this is the work, I repeat,
of God and the work of God alone. We read in Acts chapter 10 what
God hath cleansed. Not what he will cleanse, but
what God hath cleansed. Call thou not common. And this
cleansing that we're speaking of is a complete cleansing, being
made clean from the top to the bottom. Now, do you remember
when the Lord, in John chapter 13, Right before he was going
to be betrayed, he got with his disciples and he washed their
feet. I think that's such a... Can
you imagine how they felt when the Lord... What if the Lord
Jesus Christ was washing your feet? And he comes up to Peter
and he begins to wash Peter's feet. And Peter said, Thou shalt
never wash my feet. Peter was real humble, you see.
And Jesus said unto him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with
me. And Peter said, Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and
my head. Jesus said unto him, He that
is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every
whit, completely clean through and through. If the Lord Jesus
Christ has washed you, and cleansed you, you are clean through and
through. Now, what I want us to consider
is how is a sinner made clean through and through? Does this
subject interest you? Do you want to know how you can
be made clean on the outside and on the inside through and
through? Well, here's how. I'm going to
tell you. A sinner is made clean, first of all, by the will of
Jesus Christ. That leper, we're going to come
back to him in a little bit, but he came up to the Lord in
Matthew chapter 8, and he said, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst
make me clean. And you know what the Lord said
to him? I will. Be thou clean. Now that is, first of all, how
a sinner is made clean by the will of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the will of Christ is
so sovereign, if I can say it that way. You know, language
fails us when we talk about the attributes of the Lord. So sovereign,
you know, but His will is so sovereign. It's so supreme that
when He wills something, it is. He said, I will be thou clean.
You know what the Scripture says? Immediately, His leprosy was
cleansed simply by an act of the will of the Lord Jesus Christ. His will is such that whatever
He wills, is. And when He wills it, It's history. If He has willed
my cleansing, if He willed my cleansing before time began,
do you know what? I'm clean. Now, I can't explain all that,
but I know if He wills it, it's up to Him. You see, you and I
are in His hands. Whether or not you're going to
be clean is really not up to you. It's up to the Lord Jesus
Christ. You're in His hands. If He wills
you to be clean, you will be clean. He's the sovereign of
the universe. He's in control. So when we talk about somebody
being clean, we have to begin Where we begin, with the will
of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you will, you can make me
clean. He said, I will be thou clean. Now a sinner is made clean by
the will of the Lord Jesus Christ. A sinner is made clean by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. His blood actually cleanses us
from sin. Now, cleansing doesn't simply
mean covering. It means washing it away. Now, listen to this scripture,
Hebrews chapter one, verse three, says when he had by himself purged. That's the same word that's translated
purified and justified when he had by himself purged us. cleansed us from our sins. He
sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high from henceforth
expecting till his enemies made his footstool. Why did he sit
down? Because he did what he came to
do. When he died on Calvary's tree
by his precious blood, he purged everybody he died for. He purged
the elect. He purged those who believed. He purged them from their sins. He did it by Himself with no
help from them. Do you know what that means? That means if He
died for me, I'm clean. I am clean. My sins have been
washed away by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love that
hymn we sing, What Can Wash Away My Sins? What's the next word?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is that flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
actually puts away, washes away, cleanses away, purges sin. So we're made clean by the will
of Christ. We're made clean by the blood
of Christ, and we're made clean by being given a clean garment. A clean covering. Turn with me
for a moment to Revelation 19. Revelation 19. Verse 8. And to her, the Lamb's wife,
as is seen in verse 7, every believer, the church, and to
her was granted, to her was graciously given, that she should be arrayed,
that she should be clothed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen, clean and
white, is the righteousness of the saints. Now, how is she made
clean? By being given this clean garment,
which is nothing less than the righteousness of the saints.
Now, that word righteousness is in the plural. The righteousnesses.
And you know, I've heard people say, well, that means the righteous
deeds of the saints. Are your righteous deeds clean and pure? What is the righteousness of
the saints? It's the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Passive
obedience is active obedience. The righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ is my clothing. It's my covering. That's the
fine linen, clean and white. And how clean we are clothed
in this wedding garment. So this is how a sinner is cleansed. Particularly, this is talking
about the outside. I'm talking about the outside right now. I must
have clean hands or I will enter heaven. How is a sinner cleansed
and cleaned before God? By the will of Christ. By the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. By the righteousness of Christ
being His. Now that's what happened on the
cross. When Christ died, remember, He died as a sin-bearing substitute
and He washed away sin. Everybody He died for, their
sin was washed away. His perfect obedience is placed
upon them and they're clean in God's sight. Right now, I'm clean. You know, it's wonderful to be
clean, isn't it? Clean in Him. I love it! I love
it, being clean in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God for His cleansing
blood. Now, the cleaning that we're
speaking of is more than beautiful clothing covering a dirty body. It reaches the inside. And this is so important, this
cleansing I'm talking about, it's not just a covering that
covers up the dirt that's still there. It's a cleansing from
the inside. Now, the Pharisees were very
happy to be cleaned up on the outside, but the inside being
unclean. It didn't bother them a bit.
Turn with me to Matthew 23 for a moment. The Pharisees, boy, the Bible
has so much to say about these fellas. Human religion is what
that is. It's our natural religion. It's
not the pharaohs back then. It's what we all are by nature.
Pharisees. Matthew 23, beginning in verse
25, the Lord says, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you may clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but
within, in the heart, you're full of extortion and excess.
And you know what? When I read that, that breaks
my heart knowing that's me. That's me by nature. That's what's
in me. That's so depressing, that view
of what I am by nature. full of extortion and excess.
You blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup
and the platter, that the outside of them may also be clean. Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, for you are like unto white and
sepulchers, grave, which indeed appear beautiful on the outside,
but within you are full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness.
Even so, you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within
you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." When I read that,
it scares me to death. I don't want to be one of these
fellows. I want to be cleaned on the inside, don't you? I see what I am by
nature. I'm not looking down my nose
at these fellows. I know this is me. This is me. I want to
be clean on the inside. Now, what is this thing of being
cleaned on the inside? Well, it has something to do
with being given a pure heart. The Lord said, blessed are the
pure in heart. For theirs is the kingdom of
God. David said, Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a ripe spirit within me. Now, what is
this clean heart? What is this pure heart we read
of in the Scripture? Blessed are the pure in heart.
Well, this pure heart that's spoken of in the Scripture is
this. Would you turn with me to Ezekiel 36? Verse 26. Now, understand this, that your
old heart can't be cleaned up. It's beyond that. It can't be
healed. It can't do good. It's no good. It's worthless. If you believe
that about your heart, you know, a broken heart, what do you do
with stuff that's broken? It's worthless, isn't it? That's
how you see it. But look here at verse 26 of Ezekiel 36. God says a new heart also will
I give you, a new heart, one that was not there before and
a new spirit, one that was not there before will I put within
you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh
and I'll give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit
within you. Now, we've been talking about
being clinged up on the outside. Now, let's talk about being clinged
up on the inside. You know what it is? It's God's
Spirit in you. It's Christ in you. The hope of glory. Paul said,
I live. And I do. I live. I love. I'm the one who loves. I'm the
one who repents. I'm the one who believes. I'm
the one who walks with Christ. I live. Yet not I. Christ living
in me. And the life that I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave Himself for me. Now, when we talk about being
cleansed on the inside, we're talking about Christ in you. That new nature. That holy nature. That heart that He gives. That
heart that bows before God. That's the pure heart. Oh, how
pure this pure heart is. That's the pure heart. Now, what is the evidence? How can I know if I've been cleansed
from within? And here's the reason I ask that
question. I'm talking about a pure heart, a holy heart, a heart
that's pure before God. He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. How can I know if I've got that pure heart?
Because when I look at myself. It sure doesn't seem pure. Now, if you're honest, you say
the same thing about yourself. When I look within, it certainly
does not seem pure. Now, how can I know if I had
this pure heart that God speaks of? What is the evidence? I want to give you some things
that the Scripture teaches that are the evidence of a pure heart,
so you can know whether or not you have one. But before I give
these, what is it that cleanses and purifies the heart? It's
the work of God, the Holy Spirit. It's Christ in you. I've already
mentioned that, but let me read this Scripture to you. John,
chapter 15, verse 3. The Lord said to his disciples,
Now are you clean? through the words which I have
spoken to you. And this is where this cleansing
comes from. It's the work of God, the Holy Spirit, taking
the word and using it to clean this. Now, are you clean? John 15, three. Now, are you
clean through the words which I have spoken unto you? Now,
let me give you four things that a pure heart does. Every time. First of all. A pure heart. Confesses sin. And there is cleansing. In that
confession. Turn with me to 1 John chapter
one. I John 1, verse 9, if we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us. There's the word. To purify us. To wash us from all unrighteousness. We confess our sins. This is
what the pure heart does. It confesses sins. What is confession? What do I do when I confess my
sins? Let me say this. I'm sure of this. If it means
you've got to confess all your sins, we've had it because you
don't even know what most of your sins are. I'm sure of that. There's not enough hours in the
day for you to confess every single one of your sins. Do you
believe that? If you spent your entire life confessing continually,
you still wouldn't cover them all. I'm just sure of it. Well,
I don't know. I can't even put a number on
it, but there's plenty of them. Plenty of them. You can't confess them
all. When you confess your sins, what you do is you confess what
you are before God. You take sides with God against
yourself. And that's the confession of
sin. You're right, and I'm wrong. Guilty as charged. Now that's what it is to confess
your sins. Let me tell you what you won't
do when you confess your sins. Look up in verse 8. We're still there.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth's
not even in us. Now there the word sin is a noun.
It's a noun. He's not talking about an action
right now. He's talking about a nature. At any time, if I say I've got
no sin, Boy, I really, I really deceived myself. I mean, self-deception
is the worst kind of deception. I'm a liar and the truth's not
even in me. For me to ever say I'm without
sin, because I always had this sinful nature, David said, my
sin's ever before me. Now, if I confess my sin, one
thing I know I won't do, I won't say I don't have sin. Look in
verse 10. If we say we've not sinned, you
know what that is? That's a verb. It's talking about
our actions, what we do. If we say we've not sinned, we
make Him a liar. And His Word is not in us. For
me to say at any time, I didn't sin there. You know what I am?
I'm a liar. A liar. And I've lied to God. He says I have. I don't care
what the action is. I don't care what it is. In my
preaching, I'm preaching the Gospel right now, but you know
when I say it, I'm telling you the truth. But I guarantee you
there's enough bad motive, there's enough sin in the best thing
I've ever said to set the world on the fire of hell. If we say
we've not sinned, we make him a liar. Now what does a purified
heart do? First of all, it confesses its
sin. It takes sides with God against
itself. And, you know, there's such cleansing
in that confession, isn't it? And I can say this to everybody
who's experienced this. When God gives you grace to confess
your sin before Him, to quit hiding it, to confess what you
are before Him, isn't it cleansing? It's so cleansing in your experience. It's a purifying thing. It's
a cleansing thing. So, first of all, a pure heart confesses
its sin. Now, here's second. I want you
to look at the Scripture with me. Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9. Verse 14, how much more shall
the blood of Christ, Hebrews 9, 14, how much more shall the
blood of Christ cleanse, what he's talking about is cleansing,
purifying. He talks about the blood of bulls
and goats and the ashes of a heifer, talking about the red heifer
that was burned in one of the sacrifices of the Old Testament.
He said, if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a
heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctify us to the purifying
of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, How much
more shall that purify, since through the eternal Spirit offered
Himself without spot to God? Now look what he says next. Purge
your conscience. That's the word. Cleanse. Wash
away. Purge your conscience from dead
works to serve the living God. You know what a pure heart does?
It purges its conscience from dead works. I want to ask you
a question. Have you ever seen all, A-double-L, all of your
religious efforts as dead works? Filthy and rotten, things that
will send you to hell. Have you ever thrown all of your
works and all of your experiences overboard and looked Christ alone. All of those dead works, those
good works. Let me tell you something about
what you consider good works. That's what keeps you from Christ.
It's your righteousness that prevents you from looking to
Christ. You know, it's easy to look to Christ when you throw
everything away and you've got nothing. You look to Him alone.
Purge your conscience. Oh, may God give you grace to
do that. Give me grace to do this, to throw away all of our
religious efforts as dead works and to look to Christ alone. That's what the pure conscience
does, the pure heart. Thirdly, Peter said in Acts chapter
15, verse nine, that God purified our hearts by faith. Simple. Trusting Christ. That's what
faith is. It's relying on Him. Right now, I'm not relying on
my preaching. I'm not relying on my understanding. I'm not relying on the doctrines
that I've grasped. I'm not relying on my experience.
I'm relying on Jesus Christ the Lord. I'm trusting Him. He is my salvation. And you know,
that's so cleansing. It's so cleansing to simply trust
Him. Our trust is in the Lord. We
trust a person. Understand that. We trust a person. The what we believe is determined
by the who we believe. You believe Him, the what becomes
obvious. Ain't nobody that believes Him
that believes that which is contrary to Him. No, you believe Him. The who determines the what.
It's so cleansing simply to trust Christ. Simply trusting every
day. Trusting through the stormy way.
Even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus, that is all. A pure heart is a believing heart. Trusting Christ. And a pure heart
is a God-fearing Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 7. Verse 1. Having therefore these promises
dearly beloved, The promises of the gospel, all the promises
of God in him are yea and amen. He said that in that same chapter.
Having, therefore, these promises, these precious promises of the
gospel, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness
of the flesh and spirit, perfecting, bringing to maturity holiness
in the fear of God. You know, the psalmist said the
fear of God is clean. Remember that? Psalm 19? The
fear of God is clean. Now, when we talk about the purification
of the inside, remember this. It's something that God does,
but it's something that me and you are involved in. He says,
cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God. James said, Cleanse your hands,
ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. We're involved
in this. What do we do? What do we do?
Well, we confess our sin. We purge our conscience from
dead works. We believe the gospel. And we
cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit in the
fear of God, the reverent respect of God, the fear of the Lord.
That's the beginning of wisdom. It's that reverence of the Lord
Himself. It's that fear of God that makes
me afraid of sin. It's the fear of God that makes
me afraid to look anywhere but Christ. I'm scared to death to
look anywhere but Christ. work of the pure heart that God
has given. Now, let's close by looking at
Matthew chapter eight. And this is after the Sermon
on the Mount. The last verse of the Sermon on the Mount says,
For he taught them as one had an authority. And not like the
scribes, not like those religious hypocrites, what he spake recommended
itself as coming from the very mouth of God, because it was
God's Word. It is God's Word. That's that's
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he's going to demonstrate
his authority when he was come down. Verse one of chapter eight,
when he was come down from the mountain. Great multitudes followed
him and behold, There came a leper. Luke's account tells us
he was full of leprosy. He was unclean. This unclean
leper with the cloth over his mouth. We've already described
him. He couldn't contaminate somebody
else. He had to keep a cloth over his
mouth and cry out, unclean, unclean. What's he do? Behold, there came
a leper, and here's where he began. He worshipped him. Now, his leprosy hadn't been
cleansed yet, as far as he knew, but he worshipped Christ anyway. Now, I ask this question quite
often. I'm going to ask it again. Is Christ worthy of worship even
if He doesn't cleanse you and let you go to hell? Is He? Yes, He is. He's God and He is to be worshipped
without reference to what He does for you or what He doesn't
do for you. He's God and He's worthy of worship. This leper came and worshipped
Him. saying, Lord, this leper, let
me tell you something about this leper. He knew who the Lord was. He's the Lord. He's the dictator. He's the one who controls everybody
and everything. He's coming to the right place.
He's coming to the Lord, the Lord of glory, the sovereign
of the universe. He came and worshiped Him, saying,
Lord, If you will, you could make me clean. Now,
notice what he says. This fellow had some sense. He
didn't say, Lord, I'm going to clean up my act. He didn't say
anything that foolish, did he? He said, Lord, if you will. My cleansing is up to your will.
If you will, you can. You have absolute ability because
of who you are. If you will, you can. Make me clean. Can you pray that prayer right
now? Lord. If you will. You can. Make me clean. Make me pure. Verse 3, And Jesus put forth
his hand. And you know, Mark and Luke's
account of this story says, And Jesus moved with compassion. Do you know any time a sinner
prays this prayer, it catches the attention of the Lord Jesus
Christ? He's moved with compassion. And look what he said. And Jesus
put forth His hand and He touched him, that unclean leper that
nobody else would touch. He touched him saying, I will. Be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleaned. There has never been an unclean
person who came to Christ like this leper did that Christ did
not make clean. Listen to His words, I will. Be thou clean. And immediately, his leprosy
was cleansed. Let's pray. Lord, I ask in Christ's name,
the high and holy name of the Redeemer, that we might be made
clean. Lord, we pray with this leper,
Lord, if you will, you can make us clean. Lord, may we hear you by your
Spirit say into our hearts, I will be thou clean. In Christ's name
we pray. Amen.