Thankful

Your Bibles with you turn with me if you would like. Chapter 17 with we look at verses 11 through 19, all the way to Jerusalem is passing along between Samaria and Galilean as he entered a village he was met by 10 lepers who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices saying Jesus master, have mercy on us when he saw them, he said to them, go and show yourself to the priest and as they went, they were cleansed. Then one of them.

When he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at Jesus feet given him thanks. He was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered were not 10 cleansed where the non-was no one failed to return to give praise to God except this foreigner and he said to him rise and go your way, your faith has made you well get our Lord in prayer. Heavenly father we bow in your presence tonight. Thanking you in praising you Lord for your goodness and grace. Thanking you God for the way that you take care of us as your children, and Lord of this particular time of the year we set aside just to particularly thank you. We thank you for Jesus who died for us. We thank you heavenly father for the the Holy Spirit that helps us to walk in the paths in which Christ would have us to go.

We thank you heavenly father for your precious word that gives us strength each day to know what your will is and helpless heavenly father that that we might live in that wheel and an Lord that knowing you and loving you might be the very joy of our heart got us and direct us Lord through this passage tonight. May Jesus be uplifted by this congregation learn to be even more thankful than we are and will be careful to give you praise and honor and glory for what you did for us in Jesus name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. We have the world's greatest neighbors. They live directly across the street from us.

They just happen to go to our church. Dean and Teresa Naylor, and a few months back. Teresa went out and bought a aside was a long, slender sign that is made out of wood and just very decorative and pretty and the signs got one word on it and that word is thankful we can go out on our front porch look out across the yard and there it is thankful that he got. She got her husband to take it and to to fasten it with bolts to the brick right beside her door, so it's easy to see when you go to our kitchen window. We can look out there.

We see it. Thankful I take what I like that statement. I think that statement they are making is a testimony to our entire neighborhood.

It's a testimony that just teaches us so much as I think it's what God wants for his children thankful is a word that is feel with humility. It's a word that just just blows the hot air out of the prideful heart that we have Dean and Teresa publicly thanking the Lord for their salvation. I think there publicly thanking the Lord that they belong to Christ Jesus thanking the Lord that before the foundation of the earth, God the father chose them for salvation and God the son took God the father's decree and he went to the cross and he died specifically for them for you and for me, and then the Holy Spirit of God did that work of regeneration in their heart in order that they might express faith in an order that they might repent of their sins and they did that, and now they know Christ and I know that when they die either going to spend all of eternity with him and be with them day by day face-to-face and there feel with joy over that they are thankful to God for their salvation. But if thankful to God for other things foot for the shelter that they have for the clothing that they have for the food that they have.

I think I love the statement they're making nothing is a testimony to our entire neighborhood and I wonder how many people go by and they look at that and I think thankful for what law they have to do is ask Dean or as Teresa and that would give them the opportunity to share the gospel. I think it's a statement that is a statement that is very pleasing to God couple months ago we had a shepherding committee meeting and in that meeting, we heard the confession of a pastor in our Presbytery that is fallen into sin shepherding committee has responsibility of helping the the fallen one. Just helping them was Scripture encouraging them, praying with them if there's discipline that needs to be done.

The shepherding committee gives instruction or guidance to the Presbytery or guidance to the particular church and so all that was going on. There's a pastor that the retired pastor nail that is in our shepherding committee as name is Dan King and he just a man of God loves the Lord has unbelievable wisdom and after the opening prayer, dance, and I just like to do is say a few things and he said I want us to look tonight very quickly at the difference between how God what God does when unbelievers sin and what God does when his children sin, and he went to Romans chapter 1 verse 18 and he read it says this for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who bother unrighteous to suppress the truth in unrighteousness. The rest of Romans one is called the process of reprobation and shows how step-by-step unbelievers burn God refused to fear God and ignore God's truth and I can member dance and us at that point in time. He said you know when we think of the wrath of God, we usually think of it like a volcano a rant just exploding the fire of God coming down from heaven and just destroy in the unbeliever, but he said in Romans chapter 1. This not the picture that we did in Romans chapter 1 is a Scriptures talking about God's wrath upon the unbeliever.

We see this term over and over again and it's the term, and God gave them up and God gave them up as unbelievers get deeper and deeper into sin. God takes his hand of grace and… Hand of grace up off of those people. And he allows them just to do whatever their flesh wants to do and the more God takes his hand off, and the more he backs off from those particular unbelievers.

They are given to more sin and they get harder and harder until finally they get to the point where they don't care what God says or even what God thinks.

Then Dan said let's look at Hebrews chapter 11 chapter 12 and he said there we see how God deals with the believer sin at any said what's the difference how does God deal with the believer sin. He said in Hebrews chapter 12 we don't see a passage that says and God gave them up when a believer sins, God puts the heat on God exposes that person sin. God chastens them because he loves them reach some from Hebrews 12, five through eight and he forgotten the education that addresses you assigns my son, do not regard look to the discipline of the Lord will be weary when reproved by him to the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and child chastises every son whom he receives is for discipline that you have to endure God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline.

If you are left without discipline in which all or participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Hebrews 1211 for the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by Dan said to this pastor is a God chastens those who he loves. He said it's hard and it's it's not easy and it hurts. But he said if you will surrender in submission to God's purpose in his chastisement than God will put into your heart. The peaceable fruit of righteousness that pastor said in front of us that that night, and a tear rolled down his cheeks. He said you know you said that's kinda what God's been doing and he said for the last several weeks. He said God's been more real to me than he's ever been before, is a God has been chasing me and he said I've been experiencing some of what you're talking about. They are the in and out some of that spiritual fruit and he said you know a set I been embarrassed and I've been ashamed of what I've done, but he said I'm glad my sin was exposed. He said I'm glad it was exposed because it gave me the opportunity to experience God's chastening and I've come to realize that God really loves me and that he will not forsake me pastor was thankful even though he knew it might cost him his ministry. I will go back for second Rutledge, one.

How does the process of reprobation start hat is it that that process where a person begins to sin and then it gets deeper and deeper and deeper and get further and further away from God. How does it start in verse 21 Scripture says this for although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. The process of being hardened by God begins with thankfulness. I think most people would see that I don't think most Christians would understand that that's how that nasty process begins that it starts with an thankfulness and un-thankfulness will put you on the road to hail. I realize it's a lengthy introduction, but as we take a look at the 10 lepers tonight. I want you to think as we get all the way going through this thing about the sign that Dean and Teresa put up on their on their front porch. I want you to think about the warning that Paul gives us about unthankfulness and their subpoints here tonight I think are extremely important to help us to understand the godliness of thankfulness. Six.

Someone to share with you this evening.

Number one they recognize their condition to convey verses 11 to 12 all the way to Jerusalem. He was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.

As he entered a village he was met by 10 lepers who stood at a distance that Jesus was headed to Jerusalem you have any idea what was on his mind is not long from the time that is going to be crucified, and I'm sure that on his mind. He was deeply thinking about the cross I I know that is he was walking very.

He, in his mind he was thinking about what was coming up for him.

He was going be taken in and tied to equipping post-and Roman soldiers were gonna take a cat of nine tails we have been beating 39 lashes across his back. There were gonna take him and throwing down low wooden cross and nail huge hand spikes through his hands into his feet.

He knew that the physical pain was gone be unbearable.

But there was a another pain that was going be even worse. And that would be the spiritual pain free knew what was going to happen as he hung on that cross.

He knew that that God the father was gonna take every sin that every believer from the time of Adam until the time of that last person that comes to know Christ before he returns. He's gonna take all of RCN and transfer it into the person of Jesus Christ.

For what purpose that while Jesus is hanging on that crawls he might judge RCN and that we might be forgiven. In other words, for those three hours, he would have to turn his back son and Jesus would feel separation from God the father for the first time in all of eternity. Second Corinthians 521 explains that for what is it say for God made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God in him. That's what's on his mind. He's in deep thought, I think is is walking together with his disciples.

He's not even paying any attention to what's going on and on the periphery, but they just happen to be walking through by a leper colony and all of a sudden he hears something that just kinda startled Zeman and kinda brings him out of the the thoughts that he's having about the crawls and is all that's going on here. Some sounds and some some people shouting is the lepers and their crying out to them. They recognized him in the they say Jesus Jesus master, have mercy on us. Jesus hears that there is a leper colony as a boundary layer where they can go so far they can't go any further than that.

So there standing from a distance and they know they can't approach people are healthy so they're hoping that Jesus will heal them and hear what they but got to say the part of the leper in the day was a horrible plight.

It was hopelessness. Leprosy was that terrible disease. The ancient world that would eat a man's flesh all the way to the bone. When a person found out that he had leprosy was immediately directed to a leper colony, where he would get progressively worse and sicker and sicker until finally he died he would be separated from his family from his friends from his work. Dr. not even come by because the disease was too contagious. They wouldn't take the chance to come by and help them when you were gonna die anyway. When a person contracted leprosy. He knew that his remaining days would be nothing less than just hell on earth so others lepers ring that leper colony.

They would be isolated loan with sick and without hope. This is why the Scripture often uses leprosy is the picture of sin. What is sin do sin separates us from God.

Sin, like leprosy breaks up destroys relationships that we have sin saps our strength spiritual, physical, emotional and mental strength and leprosy, like sin kills. Leprosy is pretty good picture of sin.

These 10 lepers had probably traveled to the border to write to that boundary where they couldn't crossover but they probably got as close to that is, they could and that they knew that they couldn't step in any way past that because it was forbidden that they even approach a healthy person that they had to carry a little bail with them all the time and they bring that bailiff a healthy person came running up to them and they'd ring that bail like cry out unclean unclean and the healthy person would understand the problem and and run away these 10 lepers recognize their condition. They were lepers they were sick and they were headed to the grave, that we may not see that is a big deal.

I think it is a big deal and would to God that all sinners represent were recognized their plight like these lepers did read article couple weeks ago about a television show this on one of those movie networks and the name of the television show was shameless, and its holes show about absolute depravity and the people in the show work are given to depravity and they absolutely love it and instead of realizing what is doing to him they get deeper and deeper and deeper into it and it's making them miserable and is destroying them and I don't see it. The first step toward Christ is having your eyes opened to the depth of your depravity is realizing that what sin does to your life, nail, and what sin will do toward your eternity .2, crying out to Jesus. Look at verse 13 and lifted up their voices saying Jesus master, have mercy on us. I don't have any of these guys recognize Jesus, but at least one of them did and I would've loved her. The conversation layer that I can see one of the leper saying hey that's that's Jesus I've seen him before.

I watched him heal the blind man of a blindness and gave him his site back that this guy is said to be raising people from the dead me everywhere he goes all these crowds following men in all these people are getting healed.

Some people even say in these Messiah. I said we ask him when we begged him what we plead with him that he might heal us if he did it. Others surely might be able to do that for us and so they recognize who he was and they called at called out his name in and gave him that that great accolade of colony master Jesus master, have mercy on us. One of the characteristics of leprosy. Is it a detect nerve endings in in the body tissue and in that particular area where those nerve endings are affected.

It causes that area to become absolutely numb social person Scott leprosy can have fingers that get so mutilated that they just fall off and they don't even know what they don't recognize it because it's not that I don't feel it and sometimes I have a big old piece of flesh. Any in their cheek. They will just fall often unless they happen to see if they won't even recognize that it's happened.

Yes, the YC and works in as we given the temptations.

At first we feel the prick of conviction and we feel the guilt and that guilt hurts. It makes us feel bad, but the more the more we give ourselves over to that sin, we develop a callus around the conscience that callus gets thick and he gets hard to get to the point where we don't care Hebrews chapter 3 verse 15 so this said today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, these 10 lepers had not been so hardened they still have hope in Jesus, they have this great glimmer of hope and what did they do. They cried out to Jesus. Jesus master, have mercy on us. What is that prayer has with that is a former church is one Sunday night.

Get ready to preach on Sunday night service and is young man's member of our church came up to million, about five minutes till I was post to go and preach and he was just bawling and he said past Dragon you said I need your help. He said my dad is an atheist and he is dying.

He's got cancer.

He said the doctors have told us that he's probably not even going to live through the night. He said, could you go right now with me and and go to and and share the gospel with my dad. I said I would love to be able to do that asked about got a preach right now. A set of got some pastors here in our church as a Jim Kelly's here is a Jim would be more than glad to go with you and share the gospel with your dad. So I asked Jim. Jim said yes and and he got in his car and he followed the man to the to this his father's house. They went in the house and when the front door. They made their way to the back bedroom. Jim had his Bible in his hand, tucked up under his arm, and when they got in there the.

The young man introduced his dad to Jim and he said dad this is Jim Kelly he's one of the pastors at our church and he said he wants to share the gospel with you. The man opened his eyes and looked it Jim. His face turned red and he said you get out of my house.

Jim said sorry said. I just want take talk to you about Jesus and the man had not been able to lift his head off the bed for several days and all of a sudden he just lifted right up face just as red as a beet, and he said you get out of my house and then he let out a curse word. GD and he fell back in the bed filled the flop back on his pillow in about two minutes later he was dead. Jim came in the back of the church. After the service. Our service was just coming to an end, and his face was white as a sheet had tears in his eyes.

He said Doug I've never seen anything like that in my life.

He said that man went into eternity. Cursing God.

He said how do you do that. That's how hard the heart can become these 10 lepers were not there they saw Jesus and they believed in him.

There was a glimmer of hope and they prayed Jesus master, have mercy on me. That's prayer how to listen to what JC Ryle said about the prayer of the 10 lepers and how it relates to us. Listen carefully to this.

How is it, many never pray at all. How was that many others are content to repeat a form of words, but never pray with their hearts, how is it that dying men and women was souls to be lost or saved can know so little of real, hearty, businesslike prayer. They answer these questions is short and simple. The bulk of mankind has no sense of sin, they do not feel their spiritual disease. They are not conscious that they are lost and guilty and hanging over the brink of hail when a man finds out his soul's ailment. He soon learns to pray like the leper he finds words to express his Walt he cries for help. How is it again that many true believers often pray so coldly. What is the reason that their prayers are so feeble and wandering and lukewarm as they frequently are the answer once more is very plain. There sense of need is not so deep as it ought to be. They are not truly alive to their own weakness and helplessness and so they do not cry fervently for mercy and grace. Let us remember these things. Let us seek to have a constant and abiding sense of our real necessities. His saints could only see their souls as a teal afflicted lepers saw their bodies, they would pray far better than they do .3 is they obeyed his command first part of verse 14 when he saw them, he said to them, go and show yourself to the priest, we are told that the left cried out to the Lord, Lord, have mercy on us and how did Jesus respond to them. A Jesus said to them, go and show yourself to. I would not have thought that that's what Jesus would have done out of thought that Jesus would just reached over and maybe put his hands on them and pray for their healing or maybe Woody just spoken to the disease until the disease to go. Or maybe he would've done like the name of the leper and only go and wash himself in the river order thought there was all kind of things that Jesus would've done. But he doesn't do any of that. He just tells them to to get up and go show themselves to the priest's.

Interestingly, they didn't question Jesus that they lighted asking why they should do that. They just got up and and they obeyed and they went the folks that's not stupid faith. That's obedience. That's a glorious thing once again another Jim from JC Ryle believe met the afflicted company as soon as they obeyed his command. It came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed of fact like this is doubtless intended to teach us knowledge. It shows us the wisdom of simple childlike obedience to every word which comes from the mouth of Christ. It does not become us to stand still and reason in day out when our masters commands are plain and unmistakable.

The lepers had acted in this way they would never been healed. We must read the Scriptures diligently.

We must try to pray, we must attend on the public means of grace. All these are duties which Christ requires her hands and to which if we love life, we must attend without asking vain questions is just in the path of unhesitating obedience that Christ will meet and bless us if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine that was Levitical law that that leper before he could go to and get back into society.

He had to be cleansed, totally cleansed and then the boat he had to be going to the home of the of the priest and had to be an ordained priest and the priest had to give him a a certificate of health before he could go. Surely the question must've gone through their minds is Jesus just told him to get up and go to the priest because at that point in time.

Their bodies were still covered with leprosy and so them going was truly an act of faith because nothing it happened at that point in time. I'm sure that their reactions please the Lord. He watches as they head off to the priest home and they're not supposed to go over the boundary of the of the leper colony, but I don't know whether they got healed before they reach that boundary or if they were healed after it.

We don't know, but they were gonna obey the command of Christ, no matter what. All right, that takes us to .4 and that is the experience his grace. Look at the last part of verse 14 and as they went, they were cleansed, answered prayer answered prayer. Look at the grace that took place there. Jesus did a miracle all 10 of these men were my completely clean was that Matt mean does that mean that some of them had fingers that have fallen off their hands and and all of a sudden his fingers were back perfect does it mean that some of them had holes in their cheek and all of a sudden their cheeks were full and healthy and strong again that mean that some of them had legs that were atrophied in and couldn't even hardly move. And now there's new muscle layer in their strength and I got legs like an athlete. Now is that mean their client, their their skin is been purified and is clean and soft and pure as a baby skin is exactly what this means, but this is a miracle is taken place here Jesus healed all 10 of them all right .5 is that only will commit verse 15 through 16 then one of them. When he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at Jesus feet, giving thanks that he was a Samaritan. Only one came back he had not been to the priest home yet didn't even get there and in fact when when he what was healed as soon as that healing hit his body.

He looked at his hands. He looked down at his body saw what had taken place and he said I've got to go back. I got to go back right now I cannot put this off and he turned around and he ran back to Jesus. The Scripture says that he lifted up his voice, though King James version says he cried out in a loud voice, and I believe they really did this guy was so excited he was so joyful, he fell at Jesus feet and just thanked him and thanked him and thanked him. Sky was a foreigner.

He was a Samaritan. He didn't have all the history of the Jews that have the word of God, like the Jews had he didn't have all their traditions just didn't have all that, but he knew this Jesus a touching Jesus had done a miracle in his life he had experienced the grace of the son of God and all he could do was thinking .6. The sorrowful response. Look at verse 17 through 19 then Jesus answered were not 10 cleansed where the nine was no one failed to return to give praise to God except this foreigner and he said to him rise and go your way, your faith has made you wail, Jesus is genuinely saddened by the nines.

Lack of thankfulness it applied great grace to them. He had given to them what they did not does them. What he did not have to give to them and they didn't take the time to even come back and thinking not hot you have to put yourself in their place because you know how excited they were to get back to their family man. They wanted to go and get that certificate from the from the priest they wanted to go back in and get their old job back there. Their family thought they were as good as dead like a family fight lately may have even died. By this time and they're going to go back completely healed. I wanted to go back and kiss their wife and playing with her kids and have a good time. They were too busy to be thankful or close with one more quote from JC Rall the lesson before us is humbling heart searching and deeply instructive.

The best of us are far too like the nine lepers. We are more ready to pray than to praise and more disposed to ask God for what we have not been to thank him for what we have murmurings and complaining's and discontent abound on every side of us.

Few indeed are to be found. You are not continually hiding their mercies under a bushel, and setting their walls and trials on the heel.

These things ought not to be, but all you know the church in the world must confess that they are true. The widespread thanked business of Christians is the disgrace of our day. It is plain proof of our little humility let us pray daily for thankful spirit is the spirit which God loves and delights to honor David in St. Paul were intimately thankful men is a spirit, which is marked all the brightest saints in every age of the church. McShane and Bickerstaff and Haldane Stewart were always full of Thanksgiving is the spirit which is the very atmosphere of heaven angels and just men made perfect, are always thanking God is a spirit which is a source of happiness on earth if we would be careful for nothing. We must make our requests known to God not only with prayer and supplication but with thanksgiving.

Above all, let us pray for a deeper sense of our own sinfulness and guilt and undeserving this after all, is the truce is the man who daily feels his debt to grace, and daily remembers that in reality deserves nothing but hail. This is the man who will be daily, blessing, and praising God. Thankfulness is a flower which will never blame wail outside of the deep root of humility. So thank you Dean and Teresa for being a testimony to our whole neighborhood and thank you Dean and Teresa for helping me to remember their pastor that I'm not nearly as thankful as I audibly pray heavenly father we come before your throne tonight, confessing our thankless nests and pray heavenly father that you would help us, that we might be matured into a thankful people.

Heavenly father, help us to realize how important this is to you and and how you have called us to be a thankful people may we so appreciate your grace that Lord we would not be able to be quiet about it but we would be thankful fathers we get ready now to enter entire time of of celebrating the Lord's supper. We pray Lord that you, your presence would be felt such power here tonight that in this celebration we would not be able to be quiet in our heart but we would be thankful of what this picture is all about the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Lord God directed snail through the service. May Jesus be uplifted and exalted in the your people be a thankful people and us in Jesus name we pray.

Amen