July 29, 2012 – Pastor Tim – “A Wonderful Word” – Click to download
Matthew 8:16-17, “When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:“He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.”
Here we have a wonderful word. All of the Word is wonderful. This blessed Book brings such life, health, peace, and abundance that we should never lack again. This Book is our heavenly bank. We find everything we want in it. The Bible desires to show us just how rich we can be, because in everything and in every area of our lives we can be enriched in Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:5, “that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge.” For you He has Abundance of grace and…the gift of righteousness Romans 5:17, “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” And through his abundant grace “all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26, “But Jesus looked at them and said to them, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” The Bible wants to show us that we can be living branches of the living Vine, Christ Jesus, and that it is your privilege to be, right here in this world, what He is. John told us in 1 John 4:17, “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.” Not that we are anything in ourselves, but Christ within us is our All in All.
The Lord Jesus always wants to show forth His grace and love in order to draw us to Himself. God is willing to do things, to manifest His Word, and to let us know a measure of the mind of our God in this day and hour. 2 Chronicles 16:9a, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”
Today there are many people in need, many afflicted ones. We read of one such man in Matthew 8:1-4, “When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
This man was a leper. You may be suffering with something today, and you need an answer from God. And God will show His perfect healing, if we have a living faith in Christ. He is a wonderful Jesus
This leper must have been told about Jesus. How much is missed because people are not constantly telling what Jesus will do in our day. Probably someone had come to that leper and said, “Jesus can heal you.” So he was filled with expectation as he saw the Lord coming down the mountainside. Lepers were not allowed to come within reach of people; they were shut out as unclean.
Ordinarily, it would have been very difficult for him to get near because of the crowd that surrounded Jesus. But as Jesus came down from the mountain, He met the leper; Jesus came to the leper. Leprosy is a terrible disease! There was no help for him, humanly speaking, but nothing is too hard for Jesus. The man cried, (verse 2) “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Was Jesus willing? We will never find Jesus missing an opportunity to do good. If we ask, we will find that Jesus is always more willing to work than we are to give Him opportunity to work. The trouble is that we do not come to Him; we do not ask Him for what He is more than willing to give. In James 4:2b we read, “Yet you do not have because you do not ask.” In this area, the Lord warns us not to ask with wrong motive or intention. But when our hearts and motives are right, we can ask with confidence, knowing He will answer. 1 John 5:14-15, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
(Verse 3), “Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. I like that! If we are definite with Him, we will never go away disappointed. The divine life will flow into us, and instantaneously we will be delivered. This Jesus is just the same today, and He says to us, “I am willing; be cleansed.” He has an overflowing cup for us, a fullness of life. He will meet us in your absolute helplessness. All things are possible if we will only believe. Mark 9:23, “Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” God has a real plan.
Jeremiah 29:11-14a, “ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity;” It is very simple: just come to Jesus. You will find Him just the same as He was in the days of old. Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
Scripture verses are quoted in New King James Version unless other wise noted