Abundant Grace Fellowship
Be The One That Be The One That Glorifies God
Be The One That Glorifies God
By Pastor J.D. Link
Abundant
In Luke 17:11-19, we read about the story of the ten lepers (not leopards, as children often think when they hear the story, but rather those that have leprosy). Leprosy was a infectious skin disease that resulted in boils and reddish-white sores (see Lev 13). The person that had leprosy was considered unclean and was forced to go live outside the camp. If people came anywhere near him, he was ordered by The Law to cover his upper lip and cry out “Unclean! Unclean!” (Lev 13:45-46). The Jewish Talmud says they had to stay back one hundred paces from other people.
Leprosy is a type of a greater disease, a disease of the spirit called sin. It causes all who have it to be “unclean” before God, and makes them outcasts of The Kingdom of God. Everyone is born with this disease (Rom 3:10, 23), and the only way to get rid of it is to do what the lepers did in Luke 17:13, which is to cry out to Jesus for mercy. Notice they lifted up their voices. Even if your in a group, salvation still must be a personal decision between you and God. No one can get saved for you; you must call on Jesus yourself. Also notice that they all asked, and they all received (Mt 7:7-8). God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34).
Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priest, which was in accordance with Levitical law (Lev 14:1-7). The ceremony to be cleansed was very interesting. Two birds were taken; one was killed and it’s blood shed (Heb 9:22), the other was tied to a piece of wood (Gal 2:20). The living bird was dipped seven times in the blood of the dead bird (seven is the number of completeness or perfection), and was sprinkled on the leper. The living bird was then set free. If that’s not a picture of our salvation through Jesus Christ, I don’t know what is! As Believers, we’ve been washed in The Blood of Jesus! We’ve been completely cleansed from our sin! We’ve been set free!
Notice in verse 14 it says as they went, they were cleansed. James 2:20 says faith without works is dead. They weren’t cleansed when He told them to go. They had to first act in obedience to the words of God, then they got God’s results. Works don’t save you, but true faith always has corresponding actions. Don’t just say you believe; let’s see if you believe (Jam 2:18).
If the lepers had not obeyed the words of Jesus, it’s safe to say they would not have been healed.
In verse 15 & 16, we see that one of the lepers, when he saw he was healed, turned back to Jesus and glorified God with a loud voice. Don’t be shy about glorifying God! Let the redeemed of The Lord say so! (Ps 107:2) God has done great things for us, and it’s a good thing to praise Him (Ps 92:1)! Fall on your face and worship Him today, He is worthy!
“Were not ten healed?” Jesus asked. “Where are the other nine?” Jesus points out to His disciples that only this Samaritan, this stranger, this sinner, this non covenant person came back to give God the glory (suggesting the other nine were covenant Jews). Why? The story doesn’t tell us, but I believe it’s safe to say this: Sometimes as covenant children of God, we start taking for granted the blessing of God on our lives. We forget about that horrible pit, that miry clay we were pulled from by Jesus. Maybe we even get prideful and start gloating about the fact that we’re children of God, and we deserve His favor. Look folks, it is wonderful to be a child of God, and we do have His favor on our lives: but we were saved by His Grace, and we remain by His grace. We are blessed, no doubt; but we will never “deserve” the goodness of God. His grace is a gift, and should be received as such. It should always make us excited and thankful, like a child receiving a birthday gift. Be the one that glorifies God! Be grateful! Be thankful! Be the one in ten that turns around and gives God all the glory! Until next time, rejoice in The Lord! (Phip 4:4)