Participants:
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000653S
|
00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:06 Sermon #B653_Don't Forget To Say Thank You! 00:20 Dr. Byrd: Luke Chapter 17 and we're going to go to verse number 11. 00:23 If you have 11 here, you say, Amen. [Congregation: Amen] 00:26 Luke Chapter 17, verse number 11, the word of God says, "And it came to--" what everybody? 00:31 Come on, talk to me. It came to what, everybody? As He went to what city? 00:36 That He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee 00:38 and as He entered into a certain village, there met Him ten men. 00:42 How many men, everybody? [Congregation: Ten] 00:43 And they were what, everybody? [Congregation: Lepers] 00:45 Lepers and the Bible said, they stood far off, and they lifted up their voices, 00:49 and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." 00:54 When He saw them, He said unto them, " Go show yourselves unto the priests." 00:59 And it came to pass, that, as they went-- everybody say, as-- [Congregation: As] 01:03 Say, they-- [Congregation: they] 01:04 --went. [Congregation: --went] 01:06 That's very important. As they went, the Bible says, they were cleansed. 01:10 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, 01:16 and with a loud voice glorified God. 01:18 And he fell down on his face and his feet, giving Him thanks and he was a Samaritan. 01:24 Jesus answered him said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 01:33 There are not found that returned to give God glory, save this stranger. 01:39 And He said unto him, "Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee--" what everybody? 01:47 [Congregation: --whole] 01:48 Today, I just want to challenge you quickly on the subject, 01:50 "Don't forget to say, thank you." Father God, we thank you. 01:54 May your spirit pour out itself in copious passion as we preach your words today, 01:59 we promise, God, we'll give you the praise and the glory at the appeal Lord, do your thing. 02:04 Do your thing and make people hear your voice and respond to your voice. 02:07 Forgive us of our sins, hide behind your cross in the name of Jesus, 02:10 let everyone say, Amen. [Congregation: Amen.] 02:11 You may be seated. Don't forget to say-- [Congregation: Thank you.] 02:16 Thank you. Don't forget to say, what everybody? [Congregation: Thank you.] 02:19 Come on, one more time. Don't forget to say, what? [Congregation: Thank you.] 02:22 In Bible times, leprosy was the most feared disease in the world. 02:26 It was so bad that religious leaders said that curing leprosy was like raising the dead. 02:34 Leprosy follows this general pattern, five points. 02:38 First, with leprosy, a patch of skin, maybe on the forehead, 02:44 the nose, the ear, the cheek, the chin was discolored. Secondly, 02:49 the patch would turn white or pink and begin to spread in all directions. 02:56 Number 3, the leprosy would then spread to various internal organs causing 03:02 the eyebrows to disappear and spongy tumors to appear on the body. 03:06 Number 4, body tissue would begin to disintegrate causing the hands 03:11 and the feet to become deformed. Then number 5 and probably the worst, with leprosy, 03:19 the nerve endings of the body were then destroyed which meant that the afflicted person 03:26 lost the ability to feel pain. So a rat, a rodent, 03:34 a mouse could chew off a finger at night and the person would never feel it 03:42 or the leper could touch a fiery flame and not feel the fire or feel any pain. 03:49 That was leprosy. 03:51 Now, in the Old Testament specifically Luke Chapters 13 and 14, 03:55 instructions were given as to how a person thought to have leprosy was to be treated. 04:01 If the swelling, the rash or skin infection appeared on the skin of a person, 04:07 the person had to immediately go to the priest for inspection. 04:12 The priest would then examine the infected person 04:16 and if white hair was found in the infected area, that was a danger sign. 04:22 If a person had this white hair, they would be quarantined for seven days 04:27 and then after the seven days, if the infection had disappeared 04:33 then the person could return to society. 04:36 But if the infection were still there, the person is diagnosed as having leprosy. 04:44 The person was called unclean. The person was banished from the rest of society 04:52 because leprosy was contagious. But lepers were not only called unclean 04:59 and ostracized for fear of the disease but leprosy made a person ritually unclean. 05:07 So to touch a leper devout a Jew almost as much as touching a dead person. 05:16 So, in a sense, leprosy was supposedly a sign of God's disfavor. 05:23 Now, in all of biblical history, there are only two people who had been cured of leprosy. 05:30 The first was Miriam who had leprosy for seven years as a punishment for speaking 05:36 against Moses' leadership which reminds me that you better be careful 05:41 who you're talking to. You better be careful who you're talking about 05:47 because God says, "Touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm." 05:51 Do I have a witness in this place? [Congregation: Yes] 05:53 The other person who was healed of leprosy was Naaman, captain of the Syrian army. 05:59 But praise God, for a little servant girl from Israel who told Naaman that a 06:04 prophet could heal him. Naaman obeyed Elisha, the prophet's instructions 06:09 and he went to the Jordan river and he dipped seven times. 06:13 The Bible says that he was healed. But other than Miriam and Naaman, 06:19 no one else had been healed of leprosy. 06:22 Now, our text says, that Jesus one day was traveling between the border of Galilee 06:29 and Samaria on His way to Jerusalem for the very last time which means this action 06:37 took place just before His death. 06:42 Just before Jesus dies, Jesus is encountered by some lepers. 06:50 Knowing His death was imminent, Jesus could have kept moving and just ignored them. 06:57 But I'm so glad today that I've got a witness in this place that knows 07:03 Jesus is never too busy when we call Him. Now, understand that Galilee 07:09 and Samaria were two contrasting places. Galilee was Jesus' home base. 07:16 Jesus was raised in Galilee. Jesus grew up in Galilee. Jesus' family was in Galilee. 07:26 Most of His preaching was done from Galilee. Most of His teaching was done from Galilee. 07:32 Most of His miracles were done in Galilee but Samaria was another matter. 07:38 Jews avoided Samaria if they could because Jews hated Samaritans 07:43 and the Samaritans knew it. But somewhere between Galilee and Samaria, 07:48 somewhere between the Jews and the Samaritans, 07:51 somewhere between two different worlds of people, Jesus meets ten lepers. 08:00 The lepers cry out to Jesus, "Master, Jesus, have mercy on us." What would Jesus do? 08:11 Would He heal them right there? They knew Jesus could do it but what would Jesus do? 08:19 After all, Jesus could just say a word and they would be healed. 08:24 Jesus could just put His hands on them and they would be healed. 08:29 Jesus could just snap His fingers and they would be healed. 08:34 But in this instance, Jesus doesn't just simply say, "You're healed." 08:38 Jesus doesn't put His hands on these lepers. 08:42 But the Bible says in verse number 14, Jesus says, "Go show yourselves to the priest." 08:50 Now, was Jesus just brushing the lepers off? 08:52 Because after all when you don't want to be bothered with 08:54 somebody you tell him to go see somebody else. You all know what I'm talking about. 09:00 A child asks their father for something, what did the father say? "Go, see your mother. 09:05 " A child asks their mother for something, what did she say? "Go, see your father." 09:09 A person applying for a job in sales goes to the sales office and the sales office says, 09:13 "Go to the HR office." A student trying to get a scholarship 09:17 or money for school is in the student accounts office and what did they tell him? 09:21 "Go to financial aid." Do I have a witness in this place? [Congregation: Yes.] 09:25 But Jesus wasn't trying to brush them off. 09:29 Jesus is going to heal them but he's got to be obedient to the law. 09:34 Remember I told you earlier that it was said that the law said, 09:38 "If it was expected that a person with leprosy had it, 09:41 they had to go first to the priest to be pronounced a leper. 09:46 But the law also said, that if a leper was cleansed, 09:49 then he had to be brought to the priest because, in the same way, 09:52 the priest had to pronounce the individual as a leper, 09:55 the priest had to pronounce the leper as clean. 09:58 So even if Jesus will go heal the lepers, Jesus had to obey the law which is why I'm happy, 10:08 Matthew 5:17 in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes it clear, 10:11 "Look, I didn't come-- He said-- to destroy the law of the prophets 10:15 but I came to fulfill it." That's what I love about Jesus 10:20 because even when He had something to do radical, even when He had to heal, 10:24 even hen He had to give a response to a perplexing or a trick question, 10:28 Jesus always did it within the confines of the law. 10:32 The law said that the lepers had to go to the priest 10:37 and if Jesus didn't send the lepers to the priest, 10:39 no one would have believed that the miracle had taken place. 10:43 So Jesus says, "Go, show yourself to the priest." 10:49 But what do you mean, Jesus, go show yourself to the priest." 10:54 I mean, they were still lepers. They didn't have anything to show to the priest, 11:00 that the priest would want to see. 11:02 The last thing the priest wanted to see were some smelly disheveled, deformed, 11:10 ratchet lepers. They had sores everywhere, deformed arms, fingers bitten off by rodents. 11:19 You can smell the disease a quarter of a mile away. 11:23 Why would the priest want to see these lepers? 11:27 But Jesus says, "Go, show yourself to the priest." But that doesn't make sense. 11:34 "Go? I'm still a leper." Just go because if God is God enough to tell you to do it, 11:41 then God is God enough to bring you through it. Quit questioning God and go. 11:49 So something powerful happened to me when I was reading verse 14 so I want you to read it 11:52 because maybe the power of the Holy Ghost could get on you like it got on me. 11:57 I was reading on verse number 14 and the word of God says, "And when He saw them, 12:03 He said unto the lepers, "Go, show yourself unto the priest." Look at verse 14, 12:11 "And it came to pass that as they--" what everybody? [Congregation: --went] 12:20 Come on, as, what they what everybody? [Congregation: --went] 12:22 As they went-- somebody got it-- as they went, the Bible says they were cleansed. 12:32 They were healed as they went. Not before, not after but the Bible says, 12:39 "They were healed as they went." Somebody's not getting this. 12:43 They take one step and they're still lepers. 12:47 They take two steps and they're still lepers. 12:52 They take three steps and the Bible says that they are still lepers. 12:58 But all of a sudden, as they are walking-- somebody knows what I'm talking about--- 13:04 as they're walking something wonderful, something unbelievable, 13:09 something they never dreamed ever happening, happens. With that fourth stepped, 13:17 the Bible says, they are healed. 13:20 When they left to go to the priest, they still had leprosy. 13:26 But in the act of going, they were healed. 13:32 You all don't get this. Let me hear, I've to sit down. 13:35 This is important, friends of mine, because it was in the act of going, 13:40 that was the act of their faith. You see, our faith moves mountains. 13:46 When our faith moves us, you all don't hear what I'm saying, 13:50 God won't part the Red Sea in front of you until you take your first step of faith. 13:58 You all don't hear what I'm saying. The healing was conditional upon their act of 14:05 They were not healed as long as they remained in Jesus' presence. 14:12 They were healed only after they followed Jesus' instructions. 14:18 Without obedience, there is no faith. Faith without works is dead. 14:27 Don't think that trusting God means letting God do it all. 14:32 All right, you still don't hear me. Some of you still looking at me. 14:36 That's not the end of the story. The Bible says in verses 15 and 16, look at them, 14:40 "And one of them, one of them, when he saw that he was healed, 14:53 he turned back--" Hallelujah, somebody-- [Congregation: Hallelujah.] 14:59 He turned around and the Bible says, not just with any old voice, but the Bible says, 15:08 with a loud voice, he glorified God. 15:14 The Bible says, "He fell down on his face." 15:18 Sometimes when you get into the presence of God, you got to fall, fall, fall straight 15:22 before the Lord. He falls on his face and his feet giving God thanks. 15:29 Then the text says, "And he was the Samaritan." 15:36 One of the lepers came back and said, "Thank you." The Bible says, "He fell on his face, 15:48 gave thanks and praised the Lord. He didn't care what anybody thought about him. 15:53 The secret of a thankful heart is a conscious choice not to 15:58 forget what God has done for you. 16:05 As I look back over my life and I see how God has blessed me. 16:13 This all I want to say, I truly say, 16:18 that I have a testimony that there's a danger in not giving thanks. 16:25 What am I talking about? Let me illustrate this, the story. 16:27 So the story's told of a man who surprised nine men who were robbing his house. 16:34 Eight of the robbers got away but the homeowner managed to catch one of the robbers. 16:40 He shoved one of the robbers into his backyard pool. 16:45 After realizing the robber couldn't swim, the homeowner jumped in the pool to save him. 16:54 Once out of the pool, the robber yelled back to his friends and said, 17:00 "Come back." Then he pulled out a knife 17:05 and he threatened the very man who had just saved him. 17:10 The homeowner said, "I'm going to get him." He threw the thief back into that pool. 17:14 You all don't hear what I'm saying. [Congregation: Yes.] 17:17 The thief almost drowns. Don't forget to say, "Thank you." 17:24 The Bible says-- I'm almost done-- ten lepers were healed, but only one came back to say, 17:32 "Thank you," and he was a Samaritan. 17:36 Now, there's a reason this sentence is included in this text. 17:39 I'm going to say this now and I'm going to sit down. 17:40 Remember now, Jesus was a Jew and the Jews hated the Samaritans 17:44 because they thought Samaritans where half-breed traitors 17:48 because some of the Jews had intermarried with the Assyrians 17:50 and had become in the eyes of their countrymen half-breeds and traitors. 17:55 So over the years, the Samaritans then had become a mixed-race with a mixed religion. 18:01 But not only that, the Samaritan was a leper. 18:05 So according to the Jews, the man was not only from the wrong race 18:09 but he had the wrong religion and he had the worst possible disease. 18:14 But I'm so glad that I serve a God who does not care about that. 18:20 He created the human race. Jesus loves everybody. Jesus came to heal everybody. 18:29 Jesus came to save everybody. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. 18:36 All things are pass away. All things become new. We know this man was a leper. 18:42 We know he was a Samaritan and while the Bible doesn't so directly, 18:46 the Bible does imply that the other nine lepers were Jews. 18:51 If that's then the case then those who should have been most grateful, they weren't. 19:00 The one man who shouldn't have come back, he did which reminds me, 19:07 the ones who help the most, appreciated the least. I wish I had a witness in this place. 19:13 [Congregation: I witness.] 19:15 But as the text closes, Jesus has some questions. "Were not ten people healed? 19:25 Where are the other nine? Is there no one here but the stranger? 19:33 Why didn't the other nine come back and say, 'Thank you.' 19:37 Were they in a hurry to see the priest? Were they too busy? Where are the other nine?" 19:46 Jesus then told the man, "Rise, go your way. Your faith has made you whole." 19:58 Hallelujah, somebody. [Congregation: Hallelujah.] 20:00 Now, all ten had leprosy. All ten were outcasts from society. 20:08 All ten had heard about Jesus and believed He can help them. All ten cried for mercy. 20:16 All ten were healed but there was one difference. One man returned. Nine men went on. 20:28 One was grateful; nine went on. One was thankful; nine went on. One man got two miracles; 20:47 nine got one. So we all wonder why we're clapping after one got two miracles. 20:53 Can I tell you why? [Congregation: Why?] 20:55 All ten were healed. That's one miracle but the Samaritan was healed and he was forgiven. 21:08 That's two miracles which is why Jesus said, "Your faith has made you whole." 21:19 Come on somebody. If you don't believe me, let's look at the text one more time. 21:24 Look at verse 19, one more time. 21:26 You're going to learn at church so I have to show that I've studied this a little bit. 21:30 Look at verse number 19, the last part. The text says, 21:35 "Thy faith hath made thee--" what everybody? Whole. 21:41 Now, look at the second part of verse 14, "And it came to pass that as they went, 21:51 they were cleansed." Verse 17 says, "Made whole," verse 14 says, "Cleansed." 22:01 Now, look at verse 17, "Were there not ten cleansed?" 22:08 I want you to know some differences in the words used here. 22:11 In verses 14 and 17, the word used is "cleansed." Everybody say, "cleansed." 22:15 [Congregation: Cleansed.] 22:16 But in verse 19, the words used are, "made whole." Made what everybody? 22:21 [Congregation: --whole] 22:22 Now, all English translations used a different word in verses 14 22:27 and 17 than they do in verse number 19. 22:30 The reason is because they are different words in the original Greek. 22:34 The Greek words translated for "cleansed" in verses 14 and 17 is, 22:39 "Katharizo" it's where we get our word, "catharsis" 22:43 and it's only used for physical healing or cleansing. 22:49 But the word translated made well in verse 19, made whole is, "sozo" which means, 23:00 save and it's used for both physical cleansing and it's also used for spiritual salvation. 23:11 Salvation, "sotiria" is found in nobody else for there is only one name onto heaven 23:20 whereby we can be saved, "sozo" and that's Jesus. 23:24 You see, nine of the ten lepers were cleansed, "katharizo." 23:31 They went to the priest. They made offerings. 23:34 They did the ritual and they received physical healing. 23:39 But remember the law does not have the power to save. Only Jesus can save. 23:48 So they all got the physical cleansing but the tenth leper, the stranger, the foreigner, 23:57 the Samaritan, he didn't go to the priest because he knew the priest couldn't save him. 24:04 But the foreigner, the Samaritan, the stranger went to Jesus and he wasn't just healed 24:18 but he was saved. Let me say this before I sit down. 24:22 Jesus doesn't always heal us of our physical diseases. 24:28 When we say, less Sabbath when God says, "No." Sometimes He does and sometimes He doesn't. 24:35 But what I love about my Jesus, He always saves those who cry out to Him. 24:45 Those who cry for mercy. Those who fall at their feet 24:51 and so today, I fall at Jesus' feet and I say, thank you, Jesus. 24:59 Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, not just for healing me. 25:07 Thank you for not just rescuing me. Thank you for not just healing me. 25:13 Thank you for not just delivering me. Thank you for not just protecting me but thank you, 25:19 Jesus, for saving me. Because when I think of the goodness of Jesus 25:26 and the whole He's done for me and my soul cries out Hallelujah. 25:32 Thank God for saving me. When I think of the goodness of Jesus, 25:37 then and only then am I free and I'm able to go pray and I'm able to go tell. 25:43 You see, I don't need to be coerced. I don't have to be pressured. 25:51 I don't need someone to pump me up. I praise God for the praising 25:55 but I don't need to praise Him to warm me up because when I look over my life 26:01 and I see what God has done. When I count my blessings 26:07 and I named them one by one-- does anybody else know what I'm talking about? 26:09 [Congregation: Yes.] 26:10 When I understand that every good and perfect gift comes 26:13 from above when I see what God has done for me; when I see that God has set me free, 26:20 that's when I begin to praise. That's when I begin to sing. That's when I begin to shout. 26:26 That's when I begin to clap my hands. That's when I begin to stomp my feet. 26:31 That's when I begin to tell. That's when I begin to give. 26:34 That's when I begin to serve and what was duty is now a privilege. 26:41 For me what was law is now grace. What was demanded is now volunteered. 26:54 What was forced is now free so I sing because I'm happy. 27:02 I sing because I'm free, His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me and today, 27:12 Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life broadcast. 27:16 We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 27:21 If you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, 27:23 please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv. 27:29 Or, call us at (256) 929-646 27:35 [End] |
Revised 2021-08-26