A Heart Of Gratitude Series

Text: Luke‬ ‭17‬:‭11-17‬ KJV

And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

Introduction:

Gratitude is a matter of attitude, it is the heart of giving thanks for the favour you received.

As a Christian, everyday ought to be a day of thanksgiving.

BODY:

In our text today only one of the ten lepers came back to express his gratitude to God.

Ten lepers were healed, yet only one returned to give thanks.

:- But where are the Nine? And why they refuse to say thank you Lord.

One Man Named Charles Brown, gave several suggestions why the other nine never returned to give thanks. e.g

:- One waited to see if the cure was real.

:- One waited to see if it would last.

:- One said he would see Jesus later

:- One decided that he had never had leprosy.

:- One said he would have forgotten well anyway.

:- One gave the glory to the Priests

:- One said O" well, Jesus didn't really do anything,"

:- One said, Any rabbi could have done it.

:- One said I was already much improved".

And then there was one who returned to give God Praise. I want to share with you this morning several truths from this passage of scripture that I hope will cause us to truly give God thanks for what all He has done for us.

3 REASONS WE NEED TO CONSIDER

1. THE LEPERS' CONDITION:-

(A) Most of us have heard stories of the horrors of having Leprosy.

:- It was a horrible disease to have.

:- Not only was there the pain of the disease itself.

:- But there was also the stigma that went with having the disease.

(B) To be a leper meant no intimacy with anyone.

:- No friendship with anyone, you were isolated and a total outcast.

:- If you were a leper, you essentially lost everything, your family , your job and your money.

(C) Note that verse 12 of Luke 17 describes these lepers as standing! AFAR OFF".

:- According to Jewish tradition they had to stand at least 100 paces from anyone else.

:- They could not even come close to Jesus.

(2) THE LEPERS CRY:-

(A) In vs 13, we are told, as Jesus was about to enter into the city that these lepers, who had to stand afar off, began to cry, JESUS Master, have Mercy on us"

(B) That was all that they could do.

:- No physician could heal them.

:- No medicine could cure them.

:- They act on Faith Jesus said go show yourselves to the PRIEST"

(Matt 8:1-4 Naaman 1Kg 5: 1-14).

(3) ONE LEPER'S CELEBRATION:-

:- We are told that as they began their journey to the Priests, they were healed.

:- What is Significant is that out of the 10, there was one who reacted differently than the rest.

:- The Bible says that he saw that he was healed, he returned back and glorified God, and he came to Jesus and gave Thanks.

WHY DID THIS ONE REACT DIFFERENTLY?

:- Here is the meat of my message this morning.

This is a sermon within a sermon.

:- There are three distinctions between him and the others.

(A) The Perception Of Gratitude:-

:- An Unthankful Christian is a defeated, Christian for he/she as lost their joy.

(B) The Priority Of Gratitude:-

:- Why One says Thank You?

:- The reason is because this man realised the priority of Gratitude and worship.

(C) The Perfection Of Gratitude.

:- All people are blessed of God, but not all follow Christ.

:- This man's Thankful heart responded in faith and he was perfected as a disciple of The Lord.