Luke chapter 17, and this morning
verse 11 down through verse 19 of Luke 17. I'm entitling the message from
this most interesting and well-known story, in another busy day of
the Lord Jesus Christ, as He must be about His Father's business. And the title of the message,
Ten Lepers Healed, One Sinner Made Whole. Ten lepers were healed. One sinner was made whole. Ten men experienced reformation. One man experienced regeneration
by the grace of God. Now there are a lot of people
like these nine lepers Nine lepers who went their way and never
returned back to the Lord to give Him thanks. There are a
lot of people like these nine lepers who were outwardly clean,
who have outwardly reformed their life, cleaned up their act, as
we used to say, have joined the church, perhaps turned over a
new leaf, perhaps participated in all the religious events of
the day, but have no real inward faith in Christ, no real vital
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. They never glorify God by believing
the Lord Jesus Christ, believing on Him to the salvation of their
soul, and they never truly worship the Lord. They are cleaned up. They are religious. They headed
out toward the Old Testament priests. But they're never really
made new in Christ. Now there's a big difference
between being most religious and being found in Christ. Nine men went their way. One
man worshipped God. I want to be that one man. I
want to be that one strange Samaritan, that one sinner that falls in
love with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we find in this remarkable
story that ten lepers were cleansed of their physical disease, but
only one was healed both physically and spiritually. Only one leper
was made whole in his soul and in his heart. Only one sinner
was made a new creature in Christ. Now, how do we know that? How
do we know that? The Lord said he was. Look at
verse 19. And he said to him, that is the
Lord said to him, Arise, go thy way, thy faith made thee whole. He was made whole. This one sinner,
this despised stranger, this despised Samaritan was given
the precious gift of faith, and by faith in Christ, he was made
whole. Or we can read it this way, Thy
faith saved thee. Same word. The same exact word
is used in Ephesians 2.8, For by grace are you saved, for by
grace you are made whole. Now, how did that happen? The
Lord made him whole. The Lord granted him faith to
lay hold upon the Lord Jesus Christ as His salvation, that
is, of the Lord. Now, in verse 11, 12, and 13,
we read in verse 11, And it came to pass, And it came to pass. I love how the scriptures always
says, and it came to pass. It came to pass because God brought
it to pass. As the Lord Jesus Christ being
about his father's business, as he went to Jerusalem. Now this is the last time he
goes to Jerusalem. And there at Jerusalem you know
what happens. How he's betrayed and how he's put to death. He
went to Jerusalem. No one could turn Him from it.
You remember the disciples when He said, I must go to Jerusalem.
I must die. You remember Peter and the others
said, Lord, don't go there. Just don't go there. Don't go
to Jerusalem. Don't die for us. And the Lord
said, you get out of my way. I must need to go to Jerusalem. And it came to pass, as he went
to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria
and Galilee. As we read in John chapter 4,
he must need go through Samaria. There's that woman at the well.
that he's going to meet, cross her path, and give her that living
water. And here we see in this time,
in this Samaria at this time, there is one leper whom the Lord
crosses his path and justifies him by his grace, cleanses him
inwardly and outwardly by his blood sacrifice. The Lord Jesus
Christ is on his way to Jerusalem for the last time and thereby
the eternal appointment of God was going to give his life a
ransom for many. There the Lord Jesus Christ was
going to lay down his life for his sheep and obtain for them
eternal redemption with his own blood. There at Jerusalem the
Lord Jesus Christ accomplished the salvation of his people and
he did so by the appointment of God, him being delivered by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Peter said, you have
taken with wicked hands and crucified the Lord of glory. The Lord Jesus
Christ said on Calvary 3, when it was all done, when his blood
was completely run out of his body, he said, it is finished. Salvation is accomplished. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem
us that were under that law. But while He was on His way to
Jerusalem, remember His face was thick like a flint, no one
could turn Him away from that appointed hour. He said, My hour
is now come. While He was on His way to Jerusalem,
He passes through Samaria. A lot of the self-righteous Pharisees
and the Jews normally avoided this region because the Samaritans
and that history of the past being a half-breed race and the
not true Jews, these people of Samaria intermarried with the
Syrians. when the ten northern tribes
were carried away into captivity, and the tribe of Judah in the
south, they despised the Samaritans. Because they weren't true blooded
Jews. But the Lord Jesus Christ had
one of his elect there in Samaria, that he must meet, that he must
save, just like he saved that woman at the well. Now, look
at verse 12 and verse 13. And as he entered into a certain
village, we don't know the name of the village, we don't know
the name of the man. But the Lord was waiting on this man. There met him ten lepers, ten
men that were lepers, which stood afar off. They were shut out
of society, could not go to the temple. They were shut out of
the city. They usually dwelt in certain
villages with all the other lepers. And when they ventured out of
their city of leprosy, they were to cry out and stand afar off. They were to cry out, unclean
and unclean. But here we see the Lord Jesus
Christ is merciful to those men who seek him. And as he entered in, there met
him 10 lepers, 10 men that were lepers who stood afar off. And
they lifted up their voices and they said, now notice this, Jesus,
master, they referred to him as master, have mercy on us. Now what's gonna happen? They
called upon the Lord who is merciful, have mercy upon us. And all these
10 men were healed. And when he said, verse 14, and
when he saw them, he said to them, go show yourselves unto
the priest. And it came to pass that as they
went, they were cleansed. Now, leprosy is a dreadful, dreadful
disease. And the Lord showed them mercy. The Lord is merciful to those
who seek Him. We never read one time in Scripture
that the Lord ever turned away a needy beggar. Turn back to
John chapter 9, John chapter 9 verse 11. You remember this
verse here, John 9, 11? And the people, when they knew
it, followed Him and He received them, and spake unto them of
the kingdom of God, and he healed them that had need of healing."
Luke 9 verse 11, "...he healed them that had need of healing."
These ten lepers, they came to the Lord with a need. They cried
out to the Lord in their need, and their need was met. We never
read not one time where the Lord ever turned away a mercy beggar. That ought to encourage every
one of us to come unto the Lord that we might find grace and
mercy to help in the time of our need. These ten lepers knew
their need. They also knew the only one that
could heal them of this terminal disease of leprosy was the Lord
Jesus Christ. They have heard that the Lord
had healed other lepers. Turn back to the book of Matthew,
Matthew chapter 8. There was a story of another
leper who came. In Matthew chapter 8, verse 1. When the Lord was come down from
the mountains, great multitudes followed Him, and behold, there
came a leper. Here's another man. He came to
the Lord with his need, and he came and he worshipped him, saying,
Lord, if thou wilt, if you will, you can make me clean. And the
Lord Jesus put forth his hand, touched him, saying, I will be
thou clean, and immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Here's
a man who came to the Lord with his need, worshipping the Lord,
and said, Lord, if you will, You can make me clean." And he
was made whole. Now what can we learn from this?
We, like these ten lepers, have a terminal dreadful disease called
S-I-N. Sinners. We are sinners. I'm
not talking about what we've done, I'm talking about what
we are. Born in sin, shaped in iniquity. What we are right now
before God in our flesh. We are spiritual lepers as there
is none good, no, not one. Let's turn and read that. Turn
to the book of Romans chapter 3 and stay right here in the
book of Romans for just a moment. We have that dreadful disease
called S-I-N and it's terminal. We're all terminal. The end of
this flesh is death. We're all terminal. Romans 3
verse 10, as it is written, there is none righteous, no not one.
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after
God. They're all gone out of the way, they are together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no not one. Their throat is an open supplicator,
with their tongue they view deceit, the poison of asbestos under
their lips. This is talking about you, it's talking about me. whose
mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, because their heart
is depraved, their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and
misery are in their ways, the way of peace they have not known,
there is no fear of God before their eye." What a miserable
condition all humanity is in. We indeed are totally, totally
depraved. Now stay right here in Romans
chapter 3. I'll be right back here in a
moment. The law of God could not do anything for those ten
lepers. When they went to the priest
of God, all the priest could do is pronounce them unclean. He could not do anything to cleanse
them. The priest could only pronounce
and identify the problem. He could not remove the disease. The only remedy for our sin is
the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the same problem. The
law of God cannot remove our sin. Now look right back at Romans
3, verse 19. Now, we know things whoever the
law saith, that saith to them that are under the law, Romans
3, 19, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may
become guilty before God. Guilty. That's all of us. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified. No lepers cleansed
by the deeds of the law shall be justified in his sight, for
by the law is the knowledge of sin, the law of God identified. Yeah, you're a leper. That's
all I can do, is identify the problem. But now, here's the
good news of the gospel, that now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. Even the righteousness of God, which is by the faith
of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe, there
is no difference. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in our Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the only way this leper can be made whole. The only way that
this sinner can be justified is through the Lord Jesus Christ
and His redeeming blood. Now, look back at the story again
in Luke 17 verse 14. The Lord Jesus Christ always
honors the law of God. In all of his life, in all of
his dealings, he always honors the law of God. And when he saw
them, he said to them, go show yourselves unto the priests.
Now, when a man was cleansed of his leprosy, you can read
the reference there in Leviticus chapter 14. When a man is cleansed,
cleansed of his leprosy, he was to go to the priest and offer
a ceremonial sacrifice unto God with those two birds. You can
go back and read that. Go show yourself unto the priest.
And it came to pass that as they went, they were cleansed, the
ten men. They started They heard the word
of the Lord and he said, you go to the priest. They said,
okay, that's what we'll do. They were obedient to the Lord's
command. They turned and they started walking that way and
as they went that way, cleanse. Leprosy disappeared. I mean immediately it was gone.
It was gone. These men had already been pronounced
unclean by the law. But the Lord, in anticipation
of the sure cure, said and commanded to go show yourself to the priest
and do those things, commanded under the law. And as they went
that way, following the command of the Lord, they were physically
made whole. I mean that dreadful disease
of leprosy, the flesh just rotting off the bones, now the flesh
was clean and white and made whole like a little child. Now here's the point. There is
a blessing in obedience unto the Lord. As soon as they started
toward the priest, in obedience to what the Lord said, they were
healed. Now, you remember the story of
Nahum and the leper? Turn over to 2 Kings chapter
5. 2 Kings chapter 5. And I'll give you the page number
if you've got the Cambridge I've got. 2 Kings chapter 5 would
be found on page 521. If you got to Cambridge, I'm
using the same page. Remember the story of Naaman
the Syrian? He was a leper. And no one in
the city of Babylon can do anything to help him. And a little maid
told him about Elisha, the prophet of God, and how he had all power
to heal all diseases. And we know that Elisha is a
picture and type of the Lord Jesus Christ. In 2 Kings chapter
5, I've got to turn one page. I'm in chapter 6. Sorry about
that. Verse 9, 2 Kings 5, 9, And Naaman came with his horses,
page 519 rather, came with his horses, he's the captain of the
army of Syria, came with his horses and with his chariot,
and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. Elisha, the
great prophet of God, sent a messenger unto him saying, Go and wash
in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee,
and thou shalt be clean. Now, it sounds pretty simple.
That's the word of the Lord. Go wash in Jordan seven times
and you'll be clean. Naman was wrought and went away
and said, Behold, I thought, I thought, that's his problem.
He will surely come out to me, stand and call on the name of
the Lord his God, strike his hand over this place and recover
me of my leprosy. And Nehemiah goes on to say about
the rivers of Damascus and Farfa and Abna, are better than the
waters of Israel, may not I wash in them and be clean? So he turned
and went away in a rage, unclean. And a servant came near and spake
unto him, and said, My father, if a prophet had bid thee do
some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? How much rather
then, he said unto thee, Wash and be clean. Verse 14, Then
he went down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according
to the saying of the man of God. And his flesh came again like
unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. There is obedience,
there is a blessing in obedience to the Word of the Lord. And here's a point we need to
remember. For our great need of salvation,
the Lord Jesus Christ is the remedy. The Lord always justifies
sinners in a way, in a glorious way that's honoring to the very
law of God. That's the glorious mystery of
the gospel, how the Lord can fully honor the law of God and
not at the expense of His justice and yet show mercy and justify
the ungodly. How God can be both a just God
and Savior in Christ. The Lord is always saving sinners
in obedience to the Word of the Lord, honoring the very law of
God for us. There is a blessing in believing
God and receiving the Word of the Lord, how God saves sinners
by His grace. Now here's the fourth thing I
want us to look at. Back at our story, verse 15 and 16. And one of them, verse 15, one
of them, when he saw that he was healed, he turned back. Now, he turned back with a loud
voice, glorified God, he knew his healing was of the Lord,
fell down on his face at the Lord's feet, glorifying God,
giving Him thanks, and he was a Samaritan. He was a sinner. Nine men went their way after
they were physically healed, back to the law, back to the
priest, back to the ceremony of their religion, back to religious
bondage. Only one stranger, it says there
in verse 18, one stranger, Only one sinner, one Samaritan returned
to honor God, to worship God, and to glorify God. One of them
did not go back to the law. One of them did not go back to
the Old Testament priest. He returned to worship the Lord
Jesus Christ and owned him as his great high priest. who had somewhat to offer. He
offered up His own blood for us. You see, there's just one
way of salvation, and that one way is the Lord Jesus Christ. One sinner came to the one Mediator. This one sinner came to the one
and only Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessed, blessed
time it must have been. This Samaritan worshipped the
Lord Jesus Christ as God, giving him thanks, giving him glory
for the salvation of his soul. This is a good indicator, is
it not, that God had done a work of grace in his heart. And we
can also see that this is a good indicator in our heart. When
we worship God in the Spirit, when we rejoice in Christ Jesus,
when we have no confidence in the flesh, It's a good indicator
when we give God all the honor and glory in our salvation when
we say with David, the Lord is my light and my salvation in
whom shall I fear. This one strange Samaritan, this
one sinner fell at the Lord's feet in worship and adoration
giving Him all the glory, giving Him thanks And the Lord says
this, verse 17, were there not ten cleansed? Ten men were cleansed,
physically. But where are the nine? Where
did they go? They didn't return to give him
thanks. They didn't return to give him worship. There are not
found that return to give glory to God save this one stranger. This one stranger. This man was
no stranger to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's one of those sheep
chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. And the Lord was
on the trail of His sheep, and He found him. And He made him
whole, and He cleansed him. Where are the nine others? Now,
did the Lord know where they were? The Lord is all-knowing. He never asks a question to find
out information. Known unto God are all Known
unto God are all things from the beginning. He knows all things.
When the Lord asked Adam, fallen and sinful, Adam, where art thou?
God knew where he was. God knew what Adam had done.
Nine men were healed of this dreadful disease that day, but
they did not have enough sense to recognize the Lord Jesus Christ
as God their healer. As God their healer. They did
not give thanks, they did not worship. But notice carefully,
this one sinner did, and the scripture said he was a Samaritan. Then in verse 9 it says he was
a stranger. And the Lord said to him, in
verse 19, and the Lord said to him, You remember he was at the Lord's
feet in worship and adoration. The Lord lifted him up. He lifted
him up and blessed him. He said, Arise. He said, Go thy
way. What way was he to go? the way
of salvation in Christ. The Lord said, I am the way,
the life, the truth. Now this way of this one Samaritan,
this one stranger is the way of grace, the way of salvation
in Christ. Now watch this. Go thy way, thy
faith, thy faith hath saved thee. Thy faith hath made thee whole.
Thy faith hath saved thee. Now, This man had a new way to
follow, didn't he? He never forgot the Lord Jesus
Christ. He worshipped Him all the days
of his life, always looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. And then
he says, Thy faith made thee whole. Now we know that faith,
where did this man get this kind of faith? It didn't bloom in
the heart of those other nine men. Faith was sovereignly given
to this one sinner. who is justified by the grace
of God. Thy faith made thee whole. Faith
is not our Savior, nor our righteousness before God. Faith does not accomplish
salvation, does it? Faith doesn't accomplish salvation.
Faith recognizes who did accomplish salvation. Faith does not accomplish
salvation. Faith, the saving faith of God
the elect, received the Lord Jesus Christ, who did accomplish
all our salvation. Brother Nybert used to always
say, salvation is not received by doing, salvation is received
by believing. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Faith is that precious gift of God. The precious gift of God. Faith is the empty hand that
receives the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not the hand that performs
salvation, it's the hand that reaches out and receives the
Lord Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ is the result
of eternal life being already bestowed upon you by the mighty
hand of God. Whosoever believes that Jesus
is the Christ, he is already born of God. The reason you believe
the gospel is because God has given you life in Christ. Whosoever
believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. True faith, the
faith of God's elect, loves the Lord Jesus Christ, submits to
Him, worships Him, and gives Him as this man did, giving Him
all the honor and glory for the salvation of our soul. Now, here's an important question
for every one of you to consider. Are you like those nine men who
had religion, who had a religious experience and went on their
merry way, or are you like that one sinner, that one Samaritan
who bowed to the Lord? There are many in the Lord's
day who touched His body who were never touched by Him. There
were many who knew His power to heal the body who never knew
His power of grace to heal their soul. There were many who ate
the loaves and fishes, those 5,000 men, who ate the loaves
and fishes, who never ate the bread of life, never tasted that
the Lord is gracious. Have you been made a new creature
in Christ? To you who believe the Lord Jesus
Christ, to you who believe the Lord Jesus Christ is altogether
lovely, to you who believe He is precious, may God grant us
faith. I don't want to be just religious
and cleaned up. Now, I've reformed my life. Well, okay. I want to
be found in Christ, be made a new creature in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thy faith may thee hold. Saving
faith always looks to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I've got a
few minutes left here. I want all of us to turn to this
Scripture and let's read it together. In Ephesians chapter 2, Saving
faith is always taken up with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's
what this one sinner experienced. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Now, Ephesians chapter 2, Luke
verse 11. Wherefore remember, that you
being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who were called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hand, that
at that time you were without Christ, being alien from the
commonwealth of Israel, strangers, strangers from the covenant of
promise, having no hope without God in this world but now. Are
you with me? Verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus,
you who sometimes were far off, far off, unclean, unclean, far
off, now are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our
peace, who hath made both one, who hath broken down the middle
wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh
the enmity even the law of commandments contained in ordinance. For to
make in himself of the two one new man, so making peace, Verse
16, that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to
you which were far off, and to them that were nigh, read on,
for through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the
Father. Verse 19, now therefore, you
are no more strangers. We're no more strangers. and
foreigners, but were fellow citizens with the saints and of the household
of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and
the prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone,
in whom all the building fitly framed together draweth unto
a holy temple in the Lord, in whom also you are builted together
for a habitation of God through the Spirit." No more strangers. One time without God and without
hope and without Christ. But now we have fellowship. Now we're fellow citizens with
the saints in the household of God. That's what that one leper
experienced. Salvation in his heart, in his
soul.