SPEAKER_00: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_01: One thing we have all in common today is that we came into the world because of our mothers.
SPEAKER_01: Whether we have uh vivid memories or faint memories of our own mothers, uh, nevertheless, uh I can honestly say that I believe I had the best mother in the world.
SPEAKER_01: I have the best mother in the world.
SPEAKER_01: And uh I think of the times that she so tirelessly labored to ensure that I make good choices.
SPEAKER_01: A proverb comes to mind.
SPEAKER_01: Hear my son, your father's instruction, and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember the days that my mom would take a little Bible verse and she would put it on my desk, and she would always take my Bible wherever I put it, and she would put it in a place where I would see it and go back to it.
SPEAKER_01: I remember the time that my mother would so faithfully, no matter what, she would take me to Sunday school.
SPEAKER_01: And so today I want to just honor my own mother and thank her for uh what she has done.
SPEAKER_01: Or as the proverb says, my son, observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.
SPEAKER_01: So thank you, Mom.
SPEAKER_01: She is probably watching me.
SPEAKER_01: She faithfully tunes in there in South Africa.
SPEAKER_01: And I have to thank you, Mom, that you did not give up in spanking me.
SPEAKER_01: Because there was so much foolishness that needed to be driven from my heart.
SPEAKER_01: And whether it was the strap or the buckle, I don't always remember, but it certainly helped driving foolishness uh from my heart.
SPEAKER_01: So, mom, I love you, and I uh thank you for being a good mother.
SPEAKER_01: Mothers can uh spank us and discipline us, and often we still do things our own way.
SPEAKER_01: She can tirelessly labor to teach us the way of God, and we still do things our own way.
SPEAKER_01: Title of my message this morning, I will do it my own way.
SPEAKER_01: And it comes from Matthew's Gospel, chapter 8, and it's the very first miracle that Jesus would do in Matthew's gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And it's about a man who comes out from the shadows of isolation and alienation and separation.
SPEAKER_01: He certainly knows something about that.
SPEAKER_01: We indeed have been given a generous dose, not of some medication, but of isolation.
SPEAKER_01: Separation from people seems to be the norm in society, and you may be healthy and well, and you are isolated.
SPEAKER_01: But in biblical times there were many individuals who were separated and isolated, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and those were the lepers.
SPEAKER_01: The story is very significant, for it's the first of the miracles that Jesus would do for an individual.
SPEAKER_01: Let me read for you Matthew's Gospel, chapter 8, verse 1.
SPEAKER_01: It says that when Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.
SPEAKER_01: And a leper came down to him and bowed before him and said, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, I am willing, be cleansed.
SPEAKER_01: And immediately the leprosy was cleansed.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus said to him, See that you tell no one, but go, show yourself to the priest, and present the offering of Moses as a testimony to them.
SPEAKER_01: I have a simple outline for this message this morning.
SPEAKER_01: It is about two persons, two postures, and two pleas.
SPEAKER_01: The person that approaches Jesus here emerges from his morbid isolation as a social outcast.
SPEAKER_01: He approaches Jesus, the one who is a physician of the soul.
SPEAKER_01: And he begs him for mercy.
SPEAKER_01: We want to make a note of this first miracle.
SPEAKER_01: It stands out to us as a person who ended up in this place in life because he certainly wanted to do things his very own way.
SPEAKER_01: And that is the title of my message, as I said, I will do it my way.
SPEAKER_01: We will learn something here about the readiness and the abundance of mercy that this Son of God is to give to all who come to him, needy and desperate.
SPEAKER_01: However, if we want to interpret this miracle correctly, we must certainly observe the uniqueness of this first miracle.
SPEAKER_01: In the Gospel of Matthew, this stands out, and it certainly has a greater spiritualization.
SPEAKER_01: It goes beyond a cure, it goes beyond a simple healing simply because it is not a simple healing, a simple illness, a simple disease.
SPEAKER_01: And therefore, it's critical to interpret what is happening here within the context of, firstly, the preceding text, which is the teaching and preaching of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: But also we cannot interpret this without looking at the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: The preceding text here is that of Matthew 7, and in particular, it culminates in verse 21 of Matthew 7, teaching about obedience to the word of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter.
SPEAKER_01: Like any text, it is important to look at the preceding context, but we can go even a little further into the preceding context of the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: If we want to see and learn something about Jesus here and his authority over the judgment of God and also over the Old Covenant, then we need to spend a little time thinking about lepers and leprosy.
SPEAKER_01: And especially thinking of those Israelites in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: They certainly believed that leprosy was a physical mark of God's displeasure on a person.
SPEAKER_01: It was a mark of displeasure.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, we can see why they thought so.
SPEAKER_01: Every Israelite recorded in the Bible for us that was struck with leprosy, Miriam, Gehazi, and Uzziah, all experienced leprosy as a sign of God's displeasure on them.
SPEAKER_01: They sinned.
SPEAKER_01: And they encountered God's displeasure.
SPEAKER_01: Miriam was an instigator who wanted her leader to do things her way.
SPEAKER_01: And so she rebelled against Moses, and God struck her with leprosy.
SPEAKER_01: That's Numbers 12 for you.
SPEAKER_01: King Uzziah went into a quarrelsome altercation with the high priests because he wanted to do temporal worship his own way, and God struck him with leprosy.
SPEAKER_01: That's 2 Chronicles 26.
SPEAKER_01: And then Gahazi was a greedy servant of Elisha.
SPEAKER_01: And he decided not to follow his master's instructions, but rather do things his own way.
SPEAKER_01: And God struck him with leprosy, 2 Kings 5.
SPEAKER_01: So what am I saying to you based on the context of the Old Testament?
SPEAKER_01: No one just contracted leprosy like they would contract the common coal, but indeed they were smitten or struck by God with leprosy.
SPEAKER_01: God was the one who meted out leprosy in an instant, and only God could retract leprosy in an instant.
SPEAKER_01: It was never contracted, but always struck with leprosy.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, the the writers of the Old Testament was very careful in their usage of words when it spoke about leprosy.
SPEAKER_01: They used the Hebrew term nega, which basically means to be stricken or to strike something.
SPEAKER_01: Old Testament scholar Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Lennet Copes explains it this way.
SPEAKER_01: He says, one cannot but help thinking that leprosy to God was not a neutral disease, but was a form of punishment.
SPEAKER_01: Because people were always, quote unquote, struck with leprosy.
SPEAKER_01: I found it very interesting, even that Isaiah 53, verse 4, in the Orthodox Jewish Bible, I'm giving you a rough translation of that, it speaks of the suffering servant of God as one who is being viewed here as the object of God's displeasure, and it says there, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted as a leper.
SPEAKER_01: The third thing to consider from the Old Testament is that while leprosy was ubiquitous in the land of Israel, none of the Israelites ever got cured of leprosy.
SPEAKER_01: From the time of Moses onwards, there was no cleansing of a leper.
SPEAKER_01: Luke 4.27.
SPEAKER_01: And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophets, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman.
SPEAKER_01: But Naaman was a Syrian, he was not an Israelite.
SPEAKER_01: So we have to make some deductions here.
SPEAKER_01: Literacy had a function, and it had a function within the covenant community of God's people, the Israelites.
SPEAKER_01: There was a specific ceremony prescribed in Leviticus 13 and 14 about the ritual cleansing of a leper.
SPEAKER_01: Not a single priest ever performed this ritual.
SPEAKER_01: Not a single priest ever witnessed the cleansing of a leper, and hence never performed that ceremony prescribed by Moses.
SPEAKER_01: No, I find it also very interesting that leprosy just disappears into thin air.
SPEAKER_01: The last record of leprosy is Matthew 11, that's the last mention in Luke 7.
SPEAKER_01: None of the apostles ever dealt with leprosy.
SPEAKER_01: It disappeared.
SPEAKER_01: And I have to ask then, does this not fit in with God's dealings with the Israelites within the old covenant?
SPEAKER_01: It had a specific function within the old covenant.
SPEAKER_01: Nevertheless, in time of Jesus, when Jesus came, and here's the first example of a leper cleansed of leprosy, the biblical authors, the gospel authors are very particular how they phrase it.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew 10, 8 says, heal the sick, but cleanse the lepers.
SPEAKER_01: It uses different terminology because it does not see it as a illness or a disease, but rather the outward manifestation of someone who is under the judgment of God.
SPEAKER_01: If we simply look at this healing here as a physical ailment, as a disease that is contracted by coming in contact with what people would say is Hansen's disease or somebody coming in contact with Mycobacterium lipre, then this whole portion of scripture loses its vividness and its color.
SPEAKER_01: But if we look at the context of the Old Testament and we bring the context of the teachings of Jesus in here, it certainly speaks of the authority of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Not firstly here, the authority of Jesus over illness and disease, but primarily Christ's authority in terms of God's judgment.
SPEAKER_01: And it has to do with God's judgment here and Christ's authority in that.
SPEAKER_01: And so, as Matthew brings two persons into the divine spotlight, he moves from the crowds to the individual.
SPEAKER_01: On this stage, on the drama of redemption, there are two persons, two postures, and two pleas.
SPEAKER_01: And I will work through that, and in the end, I'll wrap it up for you.
SPEAKER_01: So you have to stay with me.
SPEAKER_01: And if you are at home, uh follow along with us from scripture.
SPEAKER_01: I hope you can see the slides, but nevertheless, let me begin explaining this to you.
SPEAKER_01: The two persons.
SPEAKER_01: One, a grossly deformed leper.
SPEAKER_01: The other person is Jesus Christ, the perfect savior.
SPEAKER_01: The one person represents all of humanity and all its deformity and distortions brought on because of God's displeasure over the sinner.
SPEAKER_01: On the other hand, we have a person who is known as the Son of God, in whom God is well pleased.
SPEAKER_01: And he here stands in the gap to make atonement for God's displeasure.
SPEAKER_01: The one person is under the judgment of God's law, and the other person is fulfilling God's law.
SPEAKER_01: We have two postures here.
SPEAKER_01: The one is a posture of worship, but maybe a posture of desperation.
SPEAKER_01: On the other hand, we see a posture here of tender mercy.
SPEAKER_01: There are two pleas.
SPEAKER_01: The one plea is that to be cleansed, while the other plea is for silence and obedience to the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: Let's begin working through this.
SPEAKER_01: Firstly, the two persons.
SPEAKER_01: We have Jesus, who is the Son of God, and he will show here today to us through this miracle that he indeed has the authority to retract divine judgment.
SPEAKER_01: And instead of giving judgment, he can meet out mercy rather than judgment.
SPEAKER_01: We see the leper.
SPEAKER_01: The leper is one who is under the direct judgment of God.
SPEAKER_01: He seeks cleansing, but he also seeks deliverance from divine displeasure.
SPEAKER_01: The leper here particularly correlates with Christ's dealing with those who are under the displeasure of the wrath of God.
SPEAKER_01: This leper not only would prove to us the marring consequences of sin, but also the alienation brought on by the judgment of God.
SPEAKER_01: We cannot minimize the isolation, separation, and alienation that a leper would bear.
SPEAKER_01: People were afraid of socializing with lepers, particularly because they carried some mark that shows the displeasure of God.
SPEAKER_01: There was a telltale sign, a scar, a disease, or a condition rather, that showed the marks of God's displeasure, and so they did not fear contagion, but rather they feared God's judgment and punishment would become on them too.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew Henry said that leprosy is to be viewed as a disorder of the soul?
SPEAKER_01: If indeed this was a disease, ordinary healing of some ailment, a medical ailment, quote unquote Hansen's disease, then why does Jesus send them to the priests and say, perform a certain ritual and ceremony?
SPEAKER_01: Why does he not say it to the other people whom he also healed?
SPEAKER_01: But this man is told to go to the priests of Israel because they have never witnessed the cleansing of a leper.
SPEAKER_01: And so this is a story about two people here.
SPEAKER_01: The one soul is burdened with grief and sorrows, burdened under the judgment of God, and the other person is willing to take on the other person's leprosy, and instead take on the judgment of God and give mercy instead.
SPEAKER_01: Let us look at the postures of the two persons here.
SPEAKER_01: It says here that the leper came to him in verse two and bowed down before him.
SPEAKER_01: The Greek is very clear, very specific, that this man fell down on his face.
SPEAKER_01: He prostrates himself in the presence of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: He even calls him Kurios, which means Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Is this a display of true worship or is this a grandiose display of worship because of desperation?
SPEAKER_01: He addresses him as Lord, not as rabbi, which seems fitting for a moment of worship.
SPEAKER_01: Perhaps a true expression of the heart and soul manifested through his physical posture.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's think at the posture of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: While this man is flat on his face before the King of Kings, it says there in verse 3 that Jesus stretched out his hand and he touched him.
SPEAKER_01: The posture of Jesus here speaks a thousand words.
SPEAKER_01: He reaches out, he reaches down to touch the untouchable.
SPEAKER_01: Whether a critic or admirer of Jesus Christ before each and every person, he touches that which is unclean, vile, and loathsome.
SPEAKER_01: But in his posture, the Savior declares to all that all is welcome.
SPEAKER_01: That God desires for all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus did not put his hand out and say, Stop! Don't you come near to me, you too vile and loathsome.
SPEAKER_01: Your sin is too big and too aberrant.
SPEAKER_01: But his touch is a touch of invitation.
SPEAKER_01: Touching the untouchable is an invitation and a call for all.
SPEAKER_01: Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.
SPEAKER_01: The word all comes to play here.
SPEAKER_01: Even the most loathsome of people are part of the all.
SPEAKER_01: All you are wary and burdened and I will give you rest.
SPEAKER_01: The posture of stooping down and touching the lepra shows, no matter how vile, no matter how loathsome the sinner, no matter how aberrant the sin, it's never too great for the Lord to give mercy.
SPEAKER_01: For the Son of Man did not come to judge, but to seek and save the lost.
SPEAKER_01: The Savior's touch and posture expresses the heart of God who freely and copiously will give mercy to all who comes.
SPEAKER_01: No one is too vile or too fell or too loathsome to be beyond the saving mercies of the living God.
SPEAKER_01: My dear friend, you who are sitting here today, and those of you who are at home, have you come to the Lord and asked him for mercy?
SPEAKER_01: Or do you say to yourself, I am too loathsome, my life is too awful, I cannot bear to come into the presence of the living God.
SPEAKER_01: But does our Savior not express the heart of God here who seeks for all to be cleansed of their sin?
SPEAKER_01: To repent and to live is the desire of God, for God has no pleasure that the wicked should perish.
SPEAKER_01: Here are two pleas.
SPEAKER_01: Verse three it says, I am willing.
SPEAKER_01: Verse two, rather.
SPEAKER_01: He says, They Lord, if you are willing, that's the first plea.
SPEAKER_01: The second plea is I'm willing, but you must obey.
SPEAKER_01: Two pleas.
SPEAKER_01: If you are willing, cleanse me.
SPEAKER_01: The second plea, I'm I'm willing, but you must obey.
SPEAKER_01: The loathsome prodigal's plea is if you are willing.
SPEAKER_01: If did this man not read his Bible?
SPEAKER_01: Does it not say in Ezekiel 18, I have no pleasure in the deaths of the wicked?
SPEAKER_01: Rather that people should repent from their ways and live.
SPEAKER_01: God is always willing.
SPEAKER_01: We do not say, if you are willing to save me, will you save me?
SPEAKER_01: The readiness of God is always there to seek and save the lost and to give mercy without measure.
SPEAKER_01: It is not if.
SPEAKER_01: Does he really believe that the Savior might not give him mercy because he's too loathsome?
SPEAKER_01: His rebellion too great.
SPEAKER_01: Certainly he was bearing the scars of God's displeasure all over him.
SPEAKER_01: But if he had a true knowledge and understanding of who God is, God had no pleasure in striking him with leprosy, but God desired for his repentance.
SPEAKER_01: I wonder if we cannot say the words of Jesus in another way.
SPEAKER_01: He says, I am willing, be cleansed.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe we can say that, of course, I am willing.
SPEAKER_01: What did you think?
SPEAKER_01: Of course I'm willing.
SPEAKER_01: Be cleansed.
SPEAKER_01: You don't need to sing and dance here to get my mercy.
SPEAKER_01: You don't need to prove yourself deserving and worthy of my mercy.
SPEAKER_01: Of course, my father is willing.
SPEAKER_01: I will ask my father to retract his displeasure from you and give you mercy, rather.
SPEAKER_01: Be cleansed.
SPEAKER_01: What's the result in verse three?
SPEAKER_01: And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
SPEAKER_01: Immediately.
SPEAKER_01: Well, a very short and succinct statement of the outcome of things here.
SPEAKER_01: It amounted to nothing short than what 2 Corinthians 5.21 speaks about.
SPEAKER_01: He made him who knew no sin to be sinned on our behalf, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
SPEAKER_01: You see, here's a transaction that took place.
SPEAKER_01: Christ took on his leprosy, and Christ cleansed him.
SPEAKER_01: You see, this man's sin and his uncleanness could not contaminate the righteousness of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: In a similar way, there is no sin that you have committed that could contaminate the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, which he imputes to those who believe.
SPEAKER_01: In an instant he is cleansed.
SPEAKER_01: In an instant the leprosy leaves him.
SPEAKER_01: A wonderful example that God's wrath and displeasure is lifted in an instant when mercy is given.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't fade away.
SPEAKER_01: There's not a gradual, gradual disappearance of the displeasure of God.
SPEAKER_01: It is instant.
SPEAKER_01: It's instant because it's atoned for.
SPEAKER_01: God doesn't just say, okay, I've changed my mind here.
SPEAKER_01: God's displeasure will be demonstrated on Golgotha, where he would atone and satisfy the wrath of God.
SPEAKER_01: This is a very difficult passage to interpret correctly because there's so many things here, and yet the information is so little.
SPEAKER_01: I went to Jason this week, I said to him this week, just take this away from me, Jason.
SPEAKER_01: This is way too complex.
SPEAKER_01: It's so complex because it's so simple.
SPEAKER_01: But look at verse four.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus just says a few simple things to him.
SPEAKER_01: He instructs him, he commands him, he says, see that you say nothing to anyone.
SPEAKER_01: But go show yourself to the priest.
SPEAKER_01: And offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony to them.
SPEAKER_01: For a testimony to him, or as the ESV says, as proof to them.
SPEAKER_01: Now this is where we have to look back into the context of the Old Testament, where no Israelite priest ever has performed what is said here.
SPEAKER_01: Go show yourself to the priest.
SPEAKER_01: No priest has ever seen a leper being cleansed.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, no priest has done the things here that Moses commanded in Leviticus 14.
SPEAKER_01: But they will witness one today.
SPEAKER_01: That very day they will see a leper cleansed, and they will perform the ritual commanded by Moses.
SPEAKER_01: This is absolutely profound.
SPEAKER_01: This is a historical first.
SPEAKER_01: This will be a first for the priests of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because it's God's desire that all come to the knowledge of truth.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Timothy 2, 4.
SPEAKER_01: For God desires all people to be saved.
SPEAKER_01: The leper and the priest.
SPEAKER_01: The clean and the unclean to come to the knowledge of truth.
SPEAKER_01: You see, Jesus is very particular here, what he wants.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't say, oh, now you have been given mercy.
SPEAKER_01: Just go enjoy yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Go have fun.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to be a killjoy here.
SPEAKER_01: Just go do your thing.
SPEAKER_01: God desires for all to be saved, but to come to the knowledge of truth.
SPEAKER_01: And what is the knowledge of truth, dear brothers and sisters?
SPEAKER_01: What is that knowledge of truth that God so desperately desires for all people to understand?
SPEAKER_01: It's the gospel, right?
SPEAKER_01: It is called the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: An apt response to the demonstration of God's mercy and grace is to respond to the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus' desire for this man who comes in sheer desperation to him.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, he wants him cleansed, but he also wants him transformed.
SPEAKER_01: And the only way that he will be transformed is if he understands the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: You see, many people desire the mercy of God, but they want a temporal mercy, not saving grace.
SPEAKER_01: They don't want the grace that comes through the knowledge of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: They just want Jesus, take away the consequences of my sin.
SPEAKER_01: I want to still do my sin, but please take away the consequences of my sin.
SPEAKER_01: I wonder if it's not the case here.
SPEAKER_01: Nevertheless, we should not forget that this man was an object of God's displeasure for whatever sin he committed.
SPEAKER_01: It required an atoning sacrifice and the involvement of the priest.
SPEAKER_01: But within this offering that is to be presented in accordance to the laws of Moses in Leviticus 14, there is a message of the knowledge of truth.
SPEAKER_01: Let's break it down for a minute here.
SPEAKER_01: There's three instructions here.
SPEAKER_01: He says, go and show yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Very emphatic, go show yourself to the priest.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, he commands him to zip it up.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus is very intentional.
SPEAKER_01: He says, basically, make sure you keep your mouth shut.
SPEAKER_01: Make sure he says, behold or see to it.
SPEAKER_01: Keep yourself in check that you do what I told you to do, and that is to keep it zipped up.
SPEAKER_01: Make your way to the priest.
SPEAKER_01: Do not pass go, do not collect$200, go directly to the priest.
SPEAKER_01: And do what the priest instructs you to do.
SPEAKER_01: In accordance to the law of Moses.
SPEAKER_01: What was his response?
SPEAKER_01: What was the only proper and fitting response to the mercy that was given to him?
SPEAKER_01: A simple instruction that requires a simple obedience.
SPEAKER_01: The proper and fitting response to mercy is obedience.
SPEAKER_01: A proper faith responds in a proper obedience.
SPEAKER_01: A simple faith requires a simple obedience.
SPEAKER_01: How do we know how this story ends?
SPEAKER_01: It ends kinda.
SPEAKER_01: It just ends.
SPEAKER_01: You're in Matthew four.
SPEAKER_01: Kind of abrupt.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't distract from the very thought that Jesus gave him something to do, to obey.
SPEAKER_01: And it fits in well with the context because isn't Matthew seven largely dealing with obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ?
SPEAKER_01: Matthew seven, verse thirteen and fourteen.
SPEAKER_01: Speaks of the narrow gate and the narrow way and the wide gate and the wide way.
SPEAKER_01: He speaks of fruit.
SPEAKER_01: He speaks about obedience.
SPEAKER_01: Many on that day will say, Lord, Lord, did we not?
SPEAKER_01: But then he says, I will say to them, I never knew you.
SPEAKER_01: I never knew you.
SPEAKER_01: Because you practiced lawlessness.
SPEAKER_01: What is lawlessness?
SPEAKER_01: It is an absolute disregard for the commandments of God.
SPEAKER_01: And so within this context of Jesus and his authority, and a proper response to his authority is obedience, I want to take you to Mark chapter one.
SPEAKER_01: Because I think Mark can help us understand a little more about the gravity of the situation here.
SPEAKER_01: Man is given a very simple instruction.
SPEAKER_01: Keep your mouth shut, don't say a thing.
SPEAKER_01: Make your way to the priests, do what they tell you to do.
SPEAKER_01: This will be good for you, and it will be good for the priests, because if you obey me, I will advance my kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: But let's read what Mark 145 says there.
SPEAKER_01: Some translations would be very emphatic with the word but.
SPEAKER_01: Or instead is another way of saying.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, he went out and began to proclaim.
SPEAKER_01: Help me out here.
SPEAKER_01: Am I just, is this open for interpretation?
SPEAKER_01: Is the instructions of Jesus just open for interpretation?
SPEAKER_01: Because you see, instead, he did it his way.
SPEAKER_01: He did obey.
SPEAKER_01: He went away, but he did it his own way.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, keep silent.
SPEAKER_01: And he speaks.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, proclaim the gospel of Matthew 28, and what do we do?
SPEAKER_01: We keep silent.
SPEAKER_01: We are not creatures who do naturally what we are told to do.
SPEAKER_01: We do things our own way.
SPEAKER_01: This man decided to go because Jesus told him to go.
SPEAKER_01: But from there on he followed through in a way that he thought would be better.
SPEAKER_01: Charles Spurgeon said this.
SPEAKER_01: He says this man was not told to spread the news about his cure.
SPEAKER_01: He was disobedient to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: But perhaps we might think this was very natural and an excusable thing.
SPEAKER_01: For this man might have judged by himself, saying, I will do it this way because it's more profitable, and I will do it this way because it's more beneficial for the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: But Spurgeon says, but rather consider whether such and such a course of action is in accordance with the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the the the leper left the presence of Jesus and he said, Okay, I've got a simple instruction here.
SPEAKER_01: I need to go, show, and do.
SPEAKER_01: And he goes, I will do it, but I'm gonna do it my way.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna do it in a better way.
SPEAKER_01: My way is always the better way.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna decide here in the instructions that Jesus Christ gave me that I'm gonna do what he says to me, but I'm gonna pick what is essential and what is not essential.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna decide what is good for my spirituality and what's not good for my spirituality.
SPEAKER_01: What makes me feel good and what doesn't make me feel good, I will decide.
SPEAKER_01: And so he proceeds from there doing things his own way.
SPEAKER_01: You might wonder why did he end up with leprosy in the first place?
SPEAKER_01: Does it indicate that this was a man who did things God's way or his very own way?
SPEAKER_01: Now let's reason through this.
SPEAKER_01: We don't want to be too hard on this gentleman here.
SPEAKER_01: Of course, this is a momentous occasion.
SPEAKER_01: Being cleansed of leprosy certainly may have stirred some excitement.
SPEAKER_01: He couldn't contain his compassion, so it got the better of him.
SPEAKER_01: But his passion, not rooted in the obedience of Jesus Christ, a proper passion?
SPEAKER_01: You may say, well, he was overwhelmed with love.
SPEAKER_01: He was just so in love, just exuberant love stirring up in him because Jesus drove his leprosy away.
SPEAKER_01: But is it real love?
SPEAKER_01: Does the Bible not tell us if you love me, you will keep my commandments?
SPEAKER_01: John 14, 15.
SPEAKER_01: He may have said to himself, Yeah, I've kept the commandment.
SPEAKER_01: I just modified it a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: I improved on it.
SPEAKER_01: I decided what is essential and what is peripheral.
SPEAKER_01: And Spurgeon says, This man may have left there talking himself into this.
SPEAKER_01: If I just steal other people, I will do more good.
SPEAKER_01: If I just proclaim the word, it will be better for the name of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: I will help out Jesus here by rather speaking to everyone in the streets.
SPEAKER_01: But Spurgeon says, but he had no business to think that.
SPEAKER_01: His business was to obey the command of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: He may have reasoned by himself.
SPEAKER_01: Look, we in an era where these rituals and ceremonies and the law of Moses and all these bells and whistles are becoming archaic.
SPEAKER_01: They are fading out, you know.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna just get down to the basics.
SPEAKER_01: Be passionate for Jesus and love Jesus and talk a lot about Jesus, but forget about Leviticus 14.
SPEAKER_01: Let's forget about that.
SPEAKER_01: It's a needless overly ritualistic ceremony.
SPEAKER_01: But remember, I told you God's desire is for all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth.
SPEAKER_01: You can take your own time at time by yourself later today and read Leviticus 14.
SPEAKER_01: And you'll scratch your head there because it's very intricate and very complicated and very elaborate.
SPEAKER_01: But I guarantee you, you will walk away there and say, This is a picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: This is so vivid.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you've got two birds there, one being sacrificed, blood all over the place.
SPEAKER_01: You've got a cedar plank with a yarn, a scarlet yarn.
SPEAKER_01: One bird is sacrificed, the other one is let free.
SPEAKER_01: It's a three-dimensional demonstration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: As one author says, and he may be, I wouldn't say he's incorrect, but he but he's got a point here.
SPEAKER_01: There's something to learn here.
SPEAKER_01: He says the one bird is slain and it pictures the death of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: The other bird is released and pictures the resurrection of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Putting the one bird into the jar pictures the incarnation of Christ when he took on human form and that he might die for us and be buried.
SPEAKER_01: The cedar plank and the scarlet yawn.
SPEAKER_01: Well, that certainly speaks of the cross of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And then there is the application of the blood of one of the birds to the ear of the leper, to the thumb of the leper, and the toe of the leper, which certainly has something to say about obedience and personal faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And of course, then oil is brought into the picture, and it certainly could speak of the Spirit of God that must enter a person before there is a saving trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Whether the guy ever made this, made it this far is unclear.
SPEAKER_01: Whether the priest ever performed this ceremony, we don't know.
SPEAKER_01: At least from Mark's gospel, we are left to say the moment was lost.
SPEAKER_01: You see, in this guy, obeying, but obeying in his own way, he forfeited the opportunity to do what?
SPEAKER_01: See and hear and experience the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: The only fitting and proper response to mercy would have been obedience.
SPEAKER_01: And think of this.
SPEAKER_01: No priest has ever seen nor perform the ritual and ceremony evolved in the cleansing of a leper.
SPEAKER_01: What a wonderful testimony.
SPEAKER_01: Remember when John the Baptist doubted whether Jesus was the Messiah?
SPEAKER_01: What did Jesus tell him?
SPEAKER_01: He didn't go, well, look, let me give you ten reasons why I am the Messiah.
SPEAKER_01: He simply said, The blind see, the sick get healed.
SPEAKER_01: Lepers are cleansed.
SPEAKER_01: I would venture to say if the priests had the opportunity to see the ceremony, they may have gotten the second, may have given Jesus a second thought.
SPEAKER_01: But this man instead thought, I will improve on the commandments of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I I will further his gospel work.
SPEAKER_01: I will obey, but you know, I'm not gonna be so restricted.
SPEAKER_01: I I would rather want to be a little freedom, and so I'm gonna just tell everybody.
SPEAKER_01: Let's not bother the priests, let's not follow through.
SPEAKER_01: But his passion, his zeal, his his sincerity was pridefully misguided.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, what he thought would advance the gospel actually hampered the spread of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Because look at what Mark's gospel says.
SPEAKER_01: But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city but stayed out in unpopulated areas.
SPEAKER_01: It's not for us to make a judgment on this.
SPEAKER_01: All we need to say there was a consequence for disobedience.
SPEAKER_01: His misguided zeal, his passion, his sincerity, whatever you want to call it, we will not doubt that.
SPEAKER_01: But it did not advance the cause of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, it became an obstacle to the ministry of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: We go back to Matthew 7 and we bring everything here into the context of Matthew 7.
SPEAKER_01: The words of Matthew 7 21 keeps resonating.
SPEAKER_01: Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?
SPEAKER_01: And in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles.
SPEAKER_01: But then I will declare to them, I never knew you.
SPEAKER_01: Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.
SPEAKER_01: Why is that, Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: Is there a change in the game plan?
SPEAKER_01: Verse 21 Not everyone says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father.
SPEAKER_01: Obedience.
SPEAKER_01: How many on that day will say, We have preached plenty sermons in Jesus' name, though we interpreted the Bible in our very own way?
SPEAKER_01: How many on that day will say, Jesus, we stormed the gates of hell with our evangelism and the omissions?
SPEAKER_01: But we improved on the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: We made it a little more palatable.
SPEAKER_01: We did it our own way.
SPEAKER_01: Will he not say, Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, you workers of lawlessness?
SPEAKER_01: How many on that day will say, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?
SPEAKER_01: Cast out demons, and did many mighty works in your name, but quote unquote, we did it in our own way.
SPEAKER_01: Dear friend, can I speak to you today?
SPEAKER_01: You may call Jesus Lord, Lord, but in the way you follow Him and His Word, you do it in your own way.
SPEAKER_01: The message here today is that Christ desires to show mercy.
SPEAKER_01: He is not reluctant to show mercy, even to the vilest of prodigals.
SPEAKER_01: But God desires for all to come to salvation and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
SPEAKER_01: If only this man obeyed, he would have come to the knowledge of the truth.
SPEAKER_01: If only he would have obeyed, things might have gone another way.
SPEAKER_01: Because there's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.
SPEAKER_01: But this man instead said to himself, I will trust and obey, but in my very own way, for there's no other way for me to be happy in Jesus than to do things in my very own way.
SPEAKER_01: Dear Heavenly Father, forgive us our sins.
SPEAKER_01: Your displeasure is upon the church.
SPEAKER_01: Can we say anything about a church that is not gathering?
SPEAKER_01: If it doesn't say something about your displeasure, you are so eager and willing to give mercy, even to the vilest, the most loathsome of sinners, you are willing to touch with your healing mercy.
SPEAKER_01: But it does say that it's your desire that we repent and come to the knowledge of truth.
SPEAKER_01: And so, Lord, let us in our own way come to you and say, Lord, we have sinned.
SPEAKER_01: We have obeyed, but in a general way, for we thought the only way to be happy in Jesus is to do things our very own way.
SPEAKER_01: Forgive us of that and bring us back to the good old way, the right way, the only way.
SPEAKER_01: Then to do your word exactly as you told us to do.
SPEAKER_01: We pray this in the wonderful name of Jesus with gratitude for the abundant mercy that you are willing to give.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.com.