[0:00] The Bible's turned to Luke chapter number 17. Luke chapter 17, verse 11. We'll be back there. There is a psalm that I really like, and it's Psalm 86. And in Psalm 86, David, the psalmist, he asks the Lord to bow his ear down and hear the cry of him because he's poor and needy.
[0:18] He says, God, save your servant. I trust in you. He says in verse number three, be merciful unto me. But then he finishes in verse number 11. He says, teach me thy way, Lord, that I can walk in your truth.
[0:28] You have my heart to fear your name. For great is your mercy toward me. For you have delivered my soul from the lowest hell. That is our God. He is merciful. His mercy is great.
[0:39] We're going to hear about that from Luke chapter number 17. Luke 17, 11. We'll go back through this just a little bit more. There's so much truth here. There's so much to unpack. Cannot be more excited about it.
[0:49] Luke 17, verse 11. This account, Jesus' last few moments, weeks, days on earth. His ministry's coming to his close. His final days are at hand. You could say the cross literally looms over this passage.
[1:03] And as he enters into the certain village, verse number 12, lepers stood afar off. On his journey to Jerusalem, he goes to a village. And within this village, there are lepers. Jesus journeys past the leper camp. Leprosy, it's an awful skin disease.
[1:15] It wouldn't be like the leprosy we know today, but it'd be a bacterial infection of the skin. It's defined as this. The disease would begin with specks in the eyelids, palms, head, scalp, gradually spreading over the body, bleaching the hair white wherever they appear.
[1:29] Crusting of the affected parts of the white scales causing terrible sores, pains, and swellings. From the skin, the disease would eat inward towards the bones, riding the whole body piece by piece. It was something bad.
[1:41] There's 10 men suffering with that. It's especially bad in Israel. Our God is really clean. That term cleanliness is next to godliness. God is really clean. It was especially bad in Israel. God had given the whole, God had given whole chapters about dealing with people with leprosy.
[1:55] It's diagnosis, how to deal with it. You could think of priests back then as health inspectors per se. How to deal with it in a house. How to deal with it in a person. Some people would turn up bald and they'd start balding. And they'd send a priest over to make sure it wasn't leprosy.
[2:07] And if it wasn't leprosy, the priest would just say, no, you're bald. And it'll orient your head with oil. That really happened. But that was what happened back then. Leviticus 12, 13, Numbers chapter 12 give you a little bit of insight into that.
[2:19] Leprosy was just not nasty. It resulted in a complete isolation from the main part of society. You weren't allowed to be with your friends and family. Work changed for you.
[2:29] Life changed for you. You could only dwell with other lepers outside of the camp. Look at what the Bible says in Leviticus 13, 44 through 46. He's a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean.
[2:42] His plague is in his head. And the leper on whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, his head bare. He shall put a covering upon his upper lip. And he shall cry unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him.
[2:53] He shall be defiled. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone. Without the camp shall his habitation be. It's a terrible disease to have. It was a terrible declaration you put in your life.
[3:04] But that's what these men had in their force to dwell outside of the camp. So they couldn't dwell with the rest of society. These ten men dwelled all together. Misery loves company per se. Verse 13.
[3:15] They lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, master, have mercy on us. As Jesus passes by, somehow they know who he is. They know some of the stuff he's done.
[3:25] They hear about his reputation. They start calling out to him, master, master. As incredible as this word master they use in the book of Luke. It's reserved exclusively for his disciples. But these guys, they jump in on it. They call him master.
[3:36] They know he's powerful. Lord. They knew he was powerful in their desperation. They called out to Jesus, have mercy on us. Which is, isn't it just incredible? They asked for mercy and Jesus was on his way to the cross to show the most merciful act ever done.
[3:50] But he was on his way there and they said, Jesus, show mercy. Have compassion. Have pity on us. How great is it that Jesus really stopped. Had compassion on them. And listen, he was actually on his way to save the world.
[4:03] And he stops and talks to these men. What a good God we got. He's compassionate and he speaks to them. When he saw them, he says, Go show yourselves unto the priest. To be shown to a priest is a big deal for a leper.
[4:14] It's the priest that declared you unclean. It's the priest that declares you clean again. God was very specific in how he dealt with and contained leprosy. Whether in home or in human. And the priest was at the middle of it.
[4:25] They had a job of declaring individuals clean. Back to Leviticus 13 and 14. Once declared clean, they could go back to full participation in society. So if you have leprosy, God is a miracle. Something amazing happens.
[4:36] Look at old Naaman. Somebody gets cured. You can go back into society after that. There was a way for the leper to be made clean. And Jesus tells them to go see the priest. They hear this command from Christ. They begin their trek to a priest.
[4:48] And it's on their way that something miraculous happens. They were cleansed and made clean. Jesus, the compassionate master, cleansed them. He showed mercy. All right. Verse 15. And one of them, when he saw it was healed, turned back with a loud voice and glorified God.
[5:01] One of the men, upon realizing it was healed, had no choice but to turn back and go to Jesus. The others proceeded to go towards the priest and religious ceremony. But this man had to go back and see Jesus.
[5:12] One man says this about it. When he saw that he was healed, instead of going forward to the priest to be by him declared clean and discharged from his confinement. So basically, in order to get out of jail, the man continues to go forward.
[5:25] He turns back towards the author of his cure, whom he wished to have the glory of it, before he received the benefit of it. He turns back and he worships Jesus.
[5:37] With a loud voice, he glorifies God, acknowledging that it came originally from him. And he lifted up his voice and his praises as he had done in his prayers. Isn't that amazing? When the same voice you were once praying for something with can turn into a voice that you're praising God with.
[5:52] Notice to God, he gives the glory. But to give God the glory and to give Jesus the glory are the same thing. John 10, 30, Jesus says this about it. I and my father are one. He says that about him and God.
[6:02] To give God glory and to give Jesus glory are the same thing. That looks tiny up there. But that's the verse 16. And I fell down and fell down in his face at his feet, giving him thanks.
[6:13] And he was a Samaritan. It's the only right way to approach Jesus, by the way. Giving the Lord what he deserved. And that was praise and honor and glory. 17. And Jesus answering said, We're not 10 cleansed, but we're as the nine.
[6:24] Isn't that amazing? Jesus not only notices the gratefulness of this man, notices this man, but distinctly takes note of the ungratefulness of the nine. Believers, Christians, those that God has done something for, let's be grateful.
[6:36] Jesus knows when we're not. Verse number 18. There are not found that return to give God glory, save this stranger. A non-Israelite was the one who worshiped. We truly serve a God who loves the world.
[6:48] We truly serve a God in which missions is a big deal. Jew, Gentile, healthy, sick, all people have an option to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. 19. He says unto him, Arise, go the way that faith has made thee whole.
[6:59] It wasn't just physical healing or societal change or being declared clean that would really fix this man. It was heart change. It was salvation that brought wholeness to this man. It was not just faith in the power of Jesus, but this man had faith in the person of Jesus, who he really was.
[7:15] And his faith in Jesus made him whole. God may not change our circumstances. He may not heal us. He may not change that thing. But faith in Jesus is what makes us whole. It's not dependent on the circumstance.
[7:25] It's dependent on the Christ. And we get to, that's our Lord. This is a truly wonderful story. We can see the power and compassion that the Lord has. It's amazing. We're going to go through this story here because there's so much truth for us today.
[7:39] Did you guys know we live in a really complicated, broken, messy world? The other day I was, I'm getting married in April and I'm trying to build good habits, build good practice.
[7:51] So I said, I called Grace and said, Grace, I'm going to bring you a cup of coffee at work because I'm trying, I want to make that a habit of something I do. But I know, I'm a guy, I'm a man, I mess up. I know, I know that she may say something and I may not understand it or it may mean something differently.
[8:04] So I say, tell me exactly what you want and I'm going to write it down because I can't mess this up. I learned, I learned, I learned, old guys. Thank you all for teaching me something. But I said, tell me exactly what you want, I'm going to write it down.
[8:16] It was great. It was awesome. She gave me like that five syllable drink name and I was ready for it. And I saw up to the coffee shop. I walked in with my little list.
[8:26] I look like a, like I'm a little kid. I'm ready. I go up and I order it. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It was a because coffee. It was Doug. Doug and I'm there and Doug looks at me and he goes, he asked me a question.
[8:37] And this question like put me in an existential crisis. I was nervous. He says, that's cool, Greg. Do you want that hot or iced? And I proceeded to, I almost freaked out.
[8:50] I was scared. I didn't know that. I didn't know we did that. You know, there's options on this, hot or iced. Grace is at work. I call her. I call her. I call her. She's not picking up. She's making Miss Wilson smoothies. I don't know, but she's not picking up the phone.
[9:02] So I'm panicking. I'm like, can I get a lukewarm or I don't know. But Dave, if Dave Ramsey wasn't around, I would have got both. But what I, we figured it out.
[9:14] We figured it out. But this world is complicated. Things are just complicated. Things are, things are just kind of, I mean, this world we live in is complicated. It's broken. I think you know this, that we live in a broken world.
[9:26] It's just a bad place. Creation was Romans chapter eight, verse 22. We learned that creation is cursed. All of creation groans. Maybe you, you turn on the news and you, you just watch news for a few minutes.
[9:38] You're like, man, this world is broken. It's terrible. I guess there's a reason it's called breaking news. It's a, it's not, it's not very good. You watch that. Jeremiah 12, four says this. How long shall the land mourn?
[9:49] The physical earth around us mourns. It's not, it's not a good place. This thing called death entered when sin entered the world. Romans 5, 12. Wherefore by one man sin entered the world and death by sin.
[10:00] And so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. This world is tainted and messed up and marred by sin. It's broken. Job 15, 16 says, how much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water?
[10:13] Not only is our creation around us broken, but we as people are also broken. We're not, we're not, we're not in the, it's the way God made us. We're not perfect. We're not, we're not, we're not part complete.
[10:25] Some of us here aren't whole. This world's broken. People aren't whole. They don't have all the answers. They don't have all the solutions. They hurt and they mourn and they grieve and they want and they long for things.
[10:37] People are looking for answers. People are confused. Whatever it may be, they're sick. They're affected. They're afflicted. This world we live in is full of problems. And verse Genesis 6, 5 says this.
[10:49] God saw the wickedness of man that was great in the earth and that every imagination and the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually. That's what he says about us. People hurt. People worry.
[11:00] People cry. People look for answers. People are sick. People are people. Complicated people. Just like you. Just like me. Just like Grace's coffee order. Whatever. We're all complicated.
[11:12] If I can remind you of something, it's that Jesus takes those broken things, those bad things, and those things that don't make sense, and those things that are looking for more, those things that have a giant hole in the middle, those things that are just bad and broken.
[11:25] And he's really good at making them whole. And he's really good at mending them. He's really good at redeeming them. He's really good at saving them. He's really good at fixing them. And if I can remind you of something, Jesus fixes and saves people, hurting people, broken people, and he makes them whole.
[11:40] That's how the story ends. He fixed this man. And let me tell you, without Jesus, we are broken spiritually. We are broken. We are not how we should be. We're just broken without him.
[11:52] Psalm 34.18 is going to say this. The Lord is not in the middle of a broken heart. If you're here, you're going through something, you're hurting, you're grieving, your heart is broken. Run to the Lord. Colossians 2.10 is going to tell us this.
[12:04] This is what happens to those who are in Jesus. And you are complete in him. You can be complete in Jesus. Everything you lack, need, feel that you need, all the broken pieces, he completes it.
[12:17] He fixes it. Look again at what Jesus says in 17.9. He says unto him, arise, go out of the way, for your faith has made thee whole. His faith fixed them.
[12:27] His faith in the Lord made them whole. Jesus is in the business of making things whole. And maybe you find yourself like this man in the story. Just broken. Broken relationships.
[12:38] Maybe you're here and you're not a believer, you're not saved, you got a broken relationship with God. Broken lifestyle, broken emotions. You just feel like something's lacking. It's just not complete. Whatever that may be.
[12:49] Take it to Jesus. Run to the Lord. He can make it whole. Maybe the Lord has done a miracle and you find yourself whole here. You say, no, no, I'm saved. I'm a believer. I trust the Lord. I am whole. Well, just like the man in the story.
[13:00] If you're here and you're whole and you've been saved, you ought to be a worshiper. Whole people worship. Give the God the glory. Those who are whole worship. Jesus can make us whole.
[13:10] And those who have been made whole are to be worshipers. Because of Jesus, we can be holy and grateful. We can be whole. We can be fixed.
[13:22] The person we're looking at in this story is we're going to look at a broken status. We're going to see a group of people who are broken. We have more in common with these men than we would like to admit. But before Christ, all these men are in a truly awful place.
[13:33] You may think it, but it was very much similar to our situation before the Lord. These men were ill. They had a sickness. Incurable. Debilitating.
[13:44] It would ruin their lives. Eventually result in their death. It had destroyed their lives. They weren't just sick. They were sick with leprosy. This disease had caused isolation. They couldn't be around family members anymore.
[13:54] It had severed relationships. It did all these terrible things. It would lead to their death. It shouldn't be very hard to see that just like these men were without Christ. It shouldn't be very hard to see that those without Christ or before they find Christ are just like the men in this story with their disease.
[14:11] Can I tell you something? Before Jesus, we were sick with the disease too. Way worse than leprosy. Way grosser than leprosy. That disease was sin. Our sickness affected us all. Galatians 3.22 is going to say that Scripture is declared all under sin.
[14:23] A disease common to all people. They can destroy your life too. It's loathsome and it stinks in front of God just like leprosy. Causes us isolation and separation. Breaks relationships.
[14:34] Broke our relationship with God. It doesn't just hurt our healthy relationships, but it also hurts our relationship with our Heavenly Father. And eventually it will lead to our death. Let's look at what the Bible says in Ezekiel 18.20. The soul that sinneth, it shall die.
[14:47] Sin brings death always. And it's a bad disease. And just like leprosy, it wasn't curable without divine intervention. There was no fixing it. There was no doctoring it.
[14:59] There was no covering it up. There was no medicating it. There was no remedy for it. It required divine intervention. It required Jesus Christ. Only cured by a miraculous encounter with Jesus. See, just like there was no cure for the disease of these men, there is no cure for our sins without Jesus.
[15:14] I think on a very basic level, Mark 2.17 is going to say this. Jesus heard it and he saith unto them, they that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. I came out to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance.
[15:26] Jesus came down to save sick people just like you and me, to call sinners repentance, to make us whole. He came down to save people. Jesus came to save the sick. He came with the cure that nobody else had.
[15:39] Jesus really heals sick people just like us, just like this story, just like the world, just like people who are broken and looking for more. He really works. Maybe you're here today and you have a problem with sin, not saved, feeling helpless.
[15:52] The answer is all the same thing. You need to rely on the Lord Jesus. He is a specialist at dealing with this disease. Notice with me in verse number 12, not only were these men diseased, but let's look at the position this disease put these men in.
[16:04] Verse 12 is going to say this. And they met him ten men which were lepers, which stood afar off. Because of that disease, they could not be close. That leprosy, according to Leviticus, it separated them.
[16:15] They had to be distant. They were super far away. They were far off. Isn't it not amazing that Jesus did the work that was required to bring them back near, to bring them close again, to bring them back into fellowship?
[16:27] When they obey Jesus and Jesus does the work, that man is close to Jesus again. Jesus did the work that would bring them near. By the end of the story, the man will be near. Hebrews 10.22 is going to say this about what our Lord does.
[16:41] Let us draw near with a true heart and full of stories of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from a beautiful conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Because of what Jesus did, we can now be near to God. We can now be close.
[16:51] Just like the man in the story came close to Jesus, so can we. All because of his mercy and what he's done. Jesus allowed for us to be near to God because he did the cleaning. How great is it that Jesus has given us the ability to be close.
[17:05] Those men stood afar off. They were far away. James Freud is going to say this about what believers can do. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. That sinful disease we had used to separate us from God.
[17:17] We used to be apart from God. The Bible says we actually didn't deal with God. We didn't want anything to do with him. But because of what Jesus did in his mercy, he brings us near again. Nigh unto God. We're brought close to God. We can have real fellowship with the Lord.
[17:29] We can be brought close. We now have something called access. Going through a trial, hurting, suffering, feel alone, feel like nobody's there, feel like nobody really cares, whatever it may be.
[17:41] You have access to the God of the universe. You can go boldly to him all because of what Jesus did. But notice Jesus not only cures the sickness of sin, he also allows those who are far off to be near.
[17:54] He's a good savior. He's good and he's kind. Let's look at the kindness of Jesus in this story. The goodness and mercy of Jesus is on full display all over the Bible. But specifically in this story, we get to see it better than ever, I'd like to say.
[18:09] Notice what they call them in verse number 12. They say master. The word here being master, this word only shows up in Luke. And it's mainly used by his disciples.
[18:21] It means one of greater authority, one of higher authority. See, these men recognize that Jesus just wasn't a regular guy. They recognize he just wasn't a regular man. They realize something. As a man would say in the Gospels, he was one with authority.
[18:34] He was one with power. He was one with the ability to do something. They call out to him. They say, master. Yes, Jesus was Lord. Yes, Jesus was man. Yes, Jesus was human. But he was also Lord. He was master.
[18:45] And I'm not sure how these lepros men found this truth, but they knew it. And they knew it to be true and wonderful. Jesus is Lord. Yes, he's human. Yes, he's good. Yes, he's kind. Yes, he is a person. But he is Lord as well.
[18:56] Look at what he says about himself in Matthew 28, 18. And Jesus said, Jesus spake unto them saying, all power is given to me in heaven and in earth. That ought to comfort us. These men were in a terrible, terrible situation.
[19:08] Real bad spot. But do you notice that they call out to the one with the real authority to do something? And we're in the same situation, a spot that we can help ourselves, fix ourselves, save ourselves, get ourselves out.
[19:18] You're here and you're not a believer. Call upon the Lord to save you. You're here and you're in over your head, whatever it may be. Call upon the Lord. He's the one with the power to do something. He says, all power is given to me in heaven and earth.
[19:30] These men obeyed and called out to the Lord. But also, I want you to look at the story. Jesus says, go see a priest. But they're not clean yet. That doesn't, I mean, that doesn't make much sense.
[19:42] They're still dirty. And he says, go see a priest. They took a step of faith in his power. They started walking that way. They started going that way. He said, go see a priest.
[19:52] And while they were still dirty, they started trekking towards a priest. And on the way to the priest, they were declared clean. They knew Jesus was Lord. They said he was Lord, but they didn't just say it.
[20:03] If he was really Lord when he says do something, you know what that means? They were going to do it because he was one in authority. So they call out to the Lord, Master, Lord, help us. Jesus says, go see a priest. You know what they do?
[20:14] They do it. And if we're here and we're believers or Christians, we're people who say we want to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. If he is Lord, we must truly listen. If he is Lord and he is in charge, we've got to listen. Luke 646 says this.
[20:26] This is what Jesus asked. Why call you me Lord, Lord, and not the things which I say? If he is Lord, we should obey him. If he is truly Lord and truly God and truly our Master and truly our King, we've got to listen to him.
[20:38] We've got to obey him because he is Lord. If we want help in that situation, don't just call him Lord. You need to live like he's Lord, act like he's Lord, believe he's Lord. But also notice their question.
[20:49] They say, Lord, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. They realize his authority, they realize his position, but they also realize how merciful and how kind he is. They ask him for mercy. Lord, have compassion on us.
[21:01] Isn't that amazing that Jesus, who we just established as Lord, stops and deals with these men? It's incredible. Y'all probably know this, but important people typically don't stop and talk to regular people.
[21:13] I went to a Carolina football game a few years ago, and I took my mom's jersey with me because I was very excited about getting my mom an autographed Cam Newton jersey. It was a big deal to me.
[21:23] I drove through the night because I wanted her to have this. And I get to the game, and I see Cam Newton walking by, and I have my jersey and her jersey. I've given my jersey to a friend because we're both trying to get one. And we're there, and he's walking by Cam Newton, the man, the myth, the legend.
[21:37] He's walking by. And I call out, and I say, Cam, I drove from Atlanta. I know your dad, man. I know your brother. It's like I've been a fan since day one. And he stops, looks over a little bit, and keeps walking, and doesn't sign my jersey.
[21:53] And it was heartbreaking because that didn't end like the Hallmark movie I thought it was going to be. But in a real way, I found out something. Important people, quote, unquote, he's not in league anymore, but important people don't stop for regular people.
[22:06] They don't do that. And in the same way, Jesus, who is Lord, he's kind of sustaining the universe, going to save the world. But he stops, and he talks to these men, stops what he's doing, and talks to these men.
[22:20] That's mercy right then and of itself. The fact that the Lord gave them his word was merciful. He talked to these men. But not just that. He takes it a step further. He doesn't just give these men his word. He doesn't just talk to these men.
[22:30] He then heals these men. See, we know the big picture. These men asked for mercy, but they didn't know it was coming in Luke 18, 19, and 20. They didn't know it was coming down the road because they asked for mercy. And he was most certainly merciful in stopping and speaking and healing these men.
[22:45] But the biggest act of mercy was on its way. If they had the full picture, they would have known mercy was coming all right because he was on his way to the cross. He was on his way to show them mercy. He was on his way to pay for their sins, to provide an atonement for their sins, to provide life for them, to rise from the dead so that they could have life everlasting.
[23:03] Life eternal. He was going to show mercy. And they asked him for mercy. He showed it in several ways. Where he was going, the fact that he stopped and spoke to these men, the fact that he's healed these men. But it was biggest in the fact that he was there to go to the cross.
[23:20] Adrian Rogers says this, Mercy is just sympathy with legs. Jesus, in his kindness, was on his way to the cross. He was on his way to Jerusalem, and it was there. He wasn't just going to show these men mercy or a few people mercy.
[23:31] He was going to show the whole world his love and mercy. Can somebody, I'm not teaching some of this, so I was going to ask you to read that. Romans 5, 8 is going to say this. But God commended his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
[23:46] He showed mercy all right. He showed love all right. At the apex, he showed it on the cross. He showed that love for us that while we were yet sinners, while these men were yet lepers, while these people were yet dirty, while we didn't want anything to do with God, he died for us.
[23:59] He showed mercy. He was on his way to Jerusalem to show the world mercy. Look what the Bible says about the work of Christ in Titus 3, 5 in mercy. Not the works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, he has saved us.
[24:14] We're saved by his mercy. He is merciful. Jesus was going to go show mercy. Our Lord is compassionate and full of mercy, and he demonstrated that on the cross, offered it for those men. And can I tell you something?
[24:25] He still offers mercy today. Those of us in here who, those of us in here dealing with sin, don't know Lord is our Savior. He offers mercy and forgiveness for your sins. You can accept that free gift today.
[24:35] But those of us in here going through a trial, going through a storm, we're suffering, we're dealing with this ever broken and complicated world. Look what the Bible says in Hebrews 4, 16. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy to find help in the time of need.
[24:54] That access we talked about earlier that he got us, how we can come near, that allows us to get near to mercy. You're going through something, you're hurting, you're going through a trial, you can get close to God and there you can find some mercy. You can run to God and he has mercy to help you in the time of need.
[25:08] But not just that, those who find grace, those who find mercy, those who are brought near, those who are cleansed, those who have a real interaction with Jesus, those who know our merciful Lord and Jesus, they just can't stay the same.
[25:21] They should be worshipers. An encounter with Jesus, an encounter with who Jesus really is should yield gratefulness. Let's look at the beautiful song of this man here. This man came to Jesus worshiping and praising.
[25:33] Why? Because Jesus, he cleansed him. Jesus provided a cure for what no man could and he was cleansed, no longer sick and no longer dirty. And believer, Christian, we should have the same testimony here today because I was sick with sin.
[25:46] We were sick with, we were sick with sin. We were separated from God, covered in iniquity, not even seeking him. This Bible would say we were unprofitable. But John 15, 3 is going to say this. But now you're clean to the word which I've spoken to you.
[25:57] Jesus did the cleaning. He did the sanctifying. He did the saving and the cleaning up and the washing. He did it all. And now, just like he cleansed that man, he cleanses us today too. But not just that.
[26:08] The man was also made whole because this man only knew that cleansing on a physical level. He had his disease cured. Cool. But there was something else bigger going on. Some people in here may have, the Lord may have pulled us out of a terrible situation, may have put us in a good spot.
[26:23] We see it all over the world. People are put in a cozy environment. They're comfortable. They're no longer suffering, no longer struggling. But they're not whole. Because wholeness isn't determined by circumstances. Wholeness isn't determined by what you have, what you don't have, or who's around you, or the stuff you got.
[26:37] Wholeness is determined by your relationship with Jesus Christ. See, this man was made whole. Having your skin fixed is great, but having your soul saved is better. Jesus came with far greater intention than just fixing bodies.
[26:50] He came to save sinners. The other ten men trusted in his power, but only one man believed in his person. Isn't it not amazing the man's wholeness wasn't dependent on his physical condition, but on his spiritual one?
[27:01] Having stuff and money and comforts and possessions is cool, but it's never going to lead to wholeness. It's never going to lead to wholeness. The Bible teaches in Ecclesiastes, he's always going to leave us wanting more. It never leads to wholeness.
[27:12] But just like in this passage, only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will lead to wholeness. 17, 19, let's read this again. He said unto him, arise, go thy way, thy faith has made you whole.
[27:26] You're looking for some wholeness, you're looking for satisfaction, you're not going to find it outside of Jesus. You're not going to find it in sin, you're not going to find it in stuff, you're not going to find it in people, you're not going to find it in possessions. John 6, 35 is going to say this.
[27:38] I am the bread of life. He that comes to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall never thirst. Let Jesus satisfy you. Let Jesus meet that need. Let Jesus be the source of our wholeness. A believer, Christian, person who would say I'm whole.
[27:51] If he's made you whole, the next thing to do is to worship. Because when we've been made whole, the only thing we can do is worship. Just like this man came in worshiping and shouting and praising God with a loud voice.
[28:03] It's only proper that we worship. He assumed the right position. And that was prostrate at the feet of Jesus before what Jesus did for him, for who Jesus was. And that's where he was. And the same thing is true for us.
[28:14] If we've ever had an encounter with Jesus just like this man, we should praise and shout and fall at his feet. Look at what the apostles did after they had an encounter with Jesus in the book of Acts. Acts 4, 20 is going to say this.
[28:25] For you cannot help but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Just like this man shouted and praised God with a loud voice. If you're here and he's really done something for you, he's really saved you, he's really made you whole.
[28:36] You can't help but talk about it. Just like this man was praising God with a loud voice, we should be the loudest. Our church should do the most to get the gospel. We should tell people, invite people, share the good news, talk about who made us whole, share the news of the healing.
[28:48] This man praised God with a loud voice. People knew what had gone on in his life. In the same way, the same thing should be true for us. They couldn't help but speak the things which they had seen and heard.
[28:59] But not just that. We need to give Jesus the praise and thanks. He deserves it. Because this man didn't do anything for himself. This man really didn't do anything in this story. Psalm 107, 22 is going to say this.
[29:11] Let them sacrifice the sacrifice and thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoicing. Jesus has done something for your life. He's worked in your life. You need to declare those things with rejoicing. Praise, give them the sacrifice and thanksgiving.
[29:23] Hebrews 13, 15 is going to say this. By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips giving thanks and do his name. We should be thankful. Believers should be grateful.
[29:34] He's done so much for us. 1 Thessalonians 5, 18. This is how the Bible is going to sum this up for us. In everything, give thanks. For this is the will of God concerning you.
[29:46] Give thanks. We should be thankful. Rejoice every more. The Lord deserves it because he's done all the work. We can sum this passage up in a real brief few statements. Jesus makes us whole.
[29:57] Outside of him, there's no wholeness. Just badness. It's not good. If he hasn't made you whole, if you're here and you don't know him as Savior, you're lacking something, there's a hole that needs to be filled.
[30:08] Let him make that hole. Let him fix it. And if he has made you whole and he has fixed you, the only proper response to do is worship. And that's what we see exemplified in the life of this man.
[30:19] Jesus makes things whole. If he has and he can. And if he has, we need to worship him. With everyone's heads bowed, everyone's eyes closed, I'm going to challenge you today. Those of us in here who are going through something or a trial or hurting, issues, this world is hard.
[30:38] You're broken. You don't know the answer. You're confused. Let the Lord make that hole. Let him make your situation better. Trust him with it. You're here and you don't know if you will go to heaven when you die.
[30:48] You don't know if your soul has been saved. Let him make that situation whole. Run to the Lord Jesus. For my friends in here going through trials and situations, different struggles. Let the Lord make the situation whole.
[31:01] Maybe you're here today and you just, there's a, there's not a lot of gratefulness in your life. There's not a lot of rejoicing, not a lot of praise. Let us praise the Lord. He deserves it. He is worthy of it.
[31:12] He deserves the worship. Father, I pray for my friends and brothers and sisters in this room. I pray that you'd help us be people who rejoice in the fact that you make us whole. Thank you for being compassionate and loving and merciful.
[31:26] God, I pray that you'd work in our lives. Help us abound with thanksgiving. Help us not be able to talk, help us not to be able to help but talk about what you've done for us. Lord, give us opportunities to shout with a loud voice.
[31:37] Help us sing and rejoice in what you've done, Father. We love you. Thank you for showing your mercy on the cross. Help us share that love with everyone we meet, Lord. In your name I pray. Amen.