The last story in the gospel of Mark, prior to this story, we discover that there was hell and havoc in the house of Peter. Jesus has come into the house of Peter and He has healed the mother-in-law of Peter and she got up and served the people. And persons began to bring persons who were sick and filled with demons to be healed and delivered. And then, as the text takes up right before I started reading, Jesus has gone out from the house early in the morning to what the Bible calls ‘A solitary place to pray’. That’s a very interesting and noteworthy nuance because what it is suggesting is that after Jesus has released all of His power, He needs to go somewhere and replenish after He has released. It suggests very clearly that He is a man full of divinity but also full of humanity. And that whenever you release power spiritually you have to restore and replenish yourself, humanly so. One of the most dangerous things that you can ever do is have high spiritual moments and not get somewhere afterwards and restore your spirit. Because one of the greatest times for the Devil to get access to your spirit and access to your life is after you have been on a spiritual high and do nothing to restore your energy, vitality and strength. Here is Jesus—He has healed the sick; He has delivered demons—but He still needs to pray. Because I don’t care how holy you are, how anointed you are; I don’t care how powerful you are. You will never lose the need to have to go somewhere to a solitary place, get on your knees and ask the Lord to restore your energy and to restore your soul. He goes to a solitary place. The Bible declares that they go looking for Him because they can not find Him.
• And I really don’t have time to stay here but there ought to be times when people can’t find you because you are spending time with God. I mean, every now and then, people ought not be able to put their hands on you—not just because you want to be ignored; not just because you don’t want to be bothered; not just because you’re trying to be stuck up or sedate; not just because you’re trying to get away. But just because you are spending time with God to a place where nobody can find you so nobody can interrupt you. And anybody who cannot understand the necessity for your being by yourself and not knowing where you are is somebody you don’t need in your life.
He gets off by Himself and they come looking for Him. And the text declares around verse 36 and 37, that they tell Jesus that ‘the people are looking for you’. Their excited about you—man you’ve been healing folk—you’re a super star; you’re an icon; you are a big balla/shot calla…number one stunner. Everybody wants to see you. But watch what Jesus does: Jesus ignores what they say; and says, ‘come on and lets go to the next town’.
I like that.
• Because what it suggests is that if you are going to be in ministry you have to reach a point where you are not motivated by the masses or captivated by the crowd.
• If you are going to be in ministry, you have to reach a point where crowds don’t captivate you and masses don’t motivate you.
• You have to reach a point where people’s applause doesn’t do anything for you.
• You have to reach a point where you don’t get so enamored and narcissistic and stuck on yourself where you have to go bask in a moment of self-aggrandizement because of what the Lord has allowed you to do.
He ignores the crowd and says, ‘No…I’ve got to move on to where I need to go’. Because Jesus understands something—and that is that the only reason that the crowd wants to see Him is because they have been dazzled by the spectacular. And anybody who follows you because of what they saw you do in the spectacular is somebody who is not going to be with you very long. Because the minute you do something that is not spectacular they are going to turn on you just as much as they were with you.
• That’s why you can’t spend your time lingering over people who pat you on your back and clap in your face; don’t be fooled by people who say you are just as smart as so and so. Because as soon as you do something that they don’t like or say something that they don’t want to hear—they are going to talk about you like a dog like they clapped for you like a star.
He understood that the crowd was only motivated by the spectacular. And He knew that if they were only motivated by the spectacular, that they really weren’t wrapped up in Him; they were just wrapped up in what they saw Him doing. And He is not going to cater to anybody who doesn’t like Him for who He is; but only likes Him for what He does.
• In fact, the reason why some of you continue to remain in a constant state of pain, betrayal, deceit and trouble, is because we keep messing with people who like us for what we do but don’t like us for who we are.
• The reason your life stays messed up; and you stay neurotic; and you stay insane in the membrane; and you stay crazy—is you keep messing with folk who compliment you on your activity (define that any way you want to); and the minute you don’t do activity the way they like it, they kick you to the curb. Because they didn’t like you for who you are; they like you for what you do. But when you like me for who I am, when I don’t do what you like, you’ll still appreciate me. Because though I may not do what you like you know that it’s going to be for your benefit.
• And that’s how I know that I love God. The reason I know that I love God because God doesn’t always do what I like; He doesn’t always do what I want; He makes me mad sometimes; I get upset with Him sometimes; sometimes I leave my prayer closet perplexed, confused and not always liking the answer that I received—but I still love Him just the same. Because I don’t love Him for what He does, I love Him for Who He is!
And I really believe that what saved Him from the temptation of running to the crowd is that He just finished prayer time. I really believed what saved Him from the temptation of getting caught up in the hype was that He just finished re-focusing. (Because that is what prayer is—it is a re-focuser on moving the misplacement of priorities back to being properly aligned with the Spirit of God)
• That is why it is important to stay prayed up. Because if you don’t stay prayed up, you will fall into some temptations. That’s why it is important to stay prayed up—sometimes God whispers in your ear and says, ‘It’s prayer time…time to be alone with me’. And you don’t know why He’s telling you that; but the reason why is about 30 minutes later, there’s a temptation coming around the corner—and that if you don’t get properly aligned with the Spirit of God.
Now don’t sit there and try to look like temptation don’t come on your street—temptation will come on your street in a New York minute.
- Temptation knows where I live; it knows my name; it knows what I like; it knows what to smell like; it knows what to talk like.
- And some of you can look like you don’t know what I’m talking about if you want to; but some of you can testify, preacher, if I hadn’t of been in prayer…when that temptation came around the corner, the Devil would have had me.
So He’s been in prayer. And because He’s been in prayer, He is not moved or motivated by the masses. He is not caricaturing to the crowd. He is not thrilled by temptation because He is grounded. That’s why He says, ‘Let’s go to the next town…because I need to preach; I need to heal; I need to deliver—that’s my purpose. My purpose is not to tickle peoples ears; my purpose is not to make people like me; my purpose is not to get caught up in the crowd; my purpose is not to have people pat me on my back; my purpose is to preach the gospel.
• See, I am discovering as I head closer to my 28th year of living and my 15th year of preaching—I am coming down to discover that you have to reach a point where you don’t get concerned about the crowd, motivated by the masses; but you keep you eye on your focus—keep preaching, keep teaching, keep healing and keep delivering. Because the sign that you are preaching, teaching, healing and delivering is not when the people clap for you; but when they turn on you. Because when they turn on you—that’s the sign that you’re doing something right.
- You better be concerned if everybody likes you/if everybody’s clapping for you.
Because if everybody’s clapping for you that’s a sign that the Devil ain’t busy. And if the Devil ain’t busy then it must mean he’s already got you. Because the Devil isn’t after the lure for those he’s already go. Because if he ain’t got you, he’s always working on you and if he’s always working on you—there’s always going to be somebody in the crowd trying to steal your witness/joy/testimony/preach. But I’ve determined in my spirit (in season and out of season), catching hell and in heaven, I’m going to preach and proclaim until Jesus comes.
• I will not allow my purpose to be altered by the Devil because he doesn’t pay my rent
• I will not allow myself to be chided by the Devil because He didn’t die for me/didn’t call me/didn’t redeem me
And so, Jesus moves on to the next town. And when He gets to the next town, He is encountered by a leper. And the Bible declares that this leper comes to Jesus.
• And what catches my eye is the leper’s approach to Jesus. Because I believe that healing comes through his approach. All you’ve got to do is read the Bible and you will discover that there is a proper way to approach divinity.
- Come here Moses. God said to Moses, you can’t step to Me any kind of way—take off your shoes—this is holy ground.
- Jesus said to His disciples, when you go to God in prayer, you’ve got to approach God right and say ‘Our Father…Who art in Heaven…….’ Before you go to Him asking for Him to give Him anything on a daily basis—approach Him letting Him know that you know Who He is.
There is a way to approach Him—you can’t just approach God any kind of way. He ain’t your buddy; he ain’t your dogg; He ain’t your man upstairs. You can’t approach God any kind of way. Yes, I believe in being relevant—but there are some things that are to reverent to get hip hop with. You can’t approach God saying: Yo God, what’s up. You can’t approach God saying: Yo God, it’s me.
• God is holy. And there’s a way to approach God.
I believe that it is the way He approaches divinity. And what I love about the leper is—He doesn’t come making demands. He says to Jesus, ‘If you’re willing…I know you can’. I know you can, if you’re willing. He says, Jesus, I know you have power; but you’ve also got prerogative. He says, Jesus—just because you can…don’t mean you will.
• Because sometimes, exercising His power might not be in the best interest of His glory. What did you say preacher? Because sometimes God can get more glory out of keeping you in some stuff than He can out of getting you out of it. Because if He gets you out too quick, you may have other options to give the credit to.
• So some times it is in the best interest of His glory to keep you in it until you exercise every option to futility until there is nobody else that can help you so that when He delivers you—you ain’t got nobody that you can give the credit to. And the only thing that you can say is—if it had not been for the Lord on my side.
• Anybody here today know that God will leave you in some stuff and get glory out of leaving you in it so that just when He delivers—you’ve got to tell everybody that ‘it was nobody but the Lord’.
Now I know that I am messing with somebody’s theology that says, ‘The Bible says ask and you shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you….The Bible says ye have not because ye ask not…The Bible says delight thyself in the Lord and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart.’ And some of you are frustrated because you listened and heard some man of God on television say that: just speak it and it will come. Name it and claim it; blab it and grab it; call it and haul it.
• Take note that I believe in the favor of God; I believe in speaking those things that are not as though they were; I believe that God will grant me the desires of my heart.
But we miss the most important piece to the puzzle—that is that you’ve got the understand the Bible in context. And that is that is that you don’t ask until you saturate yourself in His will. Because when I saturate myself in His will, I ain’t asking for something that He doesn’t want me to have.
- ‘Let everything my hands touch prosper.’ That is built on the understanding that you are careful about what you touch—and you have ascertained the will of God and have walked deeply with Him enough to know what to touch and what to keep your hands off of.
I can’t ask for stuff that is out of the will of God; because if I do—God ain’t obligated to do that for me. Because what I want may not be what He wants me to have.
• I ain’t asking for your wife if she belongs to you
• I ain’t asking for your husband if he belongs to you
You’ve got to reach a point where you understand that God has power; but He also has prerogative. And here is where we get messed up in our theology—we try to hold God to performing on His power.
• That is where our theology is messed up. We think that just because He can it means He HAS to. Some of us are mad with God, because some of the things He CAN do, He hasn’t done.
- He could’ve given you a job by now
- He could’ve gotten your money together by now (you haven’t done your part—but anyway)
- He could’ve stopped you from sleeping with a teddy bear and had somebody in the bed by now
- He could’ve have healed you by now
- He could’ve fixed your marriage by now
- He couldn’t have turned your situation around by now
And now you’re mad with God; because you’re saying ‘God…I know you can’. And then what begins to happen is that you begin to say, ‘Well then maybe He can’t.’
Because we think that He has to because He can and we want it and He should do it.
• But you better learn a lesson in theology called the sovereignty of God. God ain’t got to do nothing but be God. God can do what He wants to do, when He wants to do it, where He wants to do it, how He wants to do it. See I have discovered that God is not after pleasing us; He is after pleasing Himself. He is not after pleasing you; He is after pleasing Himself.
• So that sometimes God will leave you in a situation where you’re waiting, hurting…so that you can learn how to trust Him…because that is the only way to please Him. (Without faith it is impossible to please God)
You have to reach a point where you say ‘God…I know you can…but will you?’ But whatever you do—it’s up to you.
• Now that’s the height of maturity—when I can say, ‘God, I know you can…but whatever you do—it’s up to you.’
- God I know that you can give me the job/stop me from being single/open the business/you can restore me to perfect health—but whatever you do it’s up to you.
Understand that the height of maturity is not when you celebrate God when He does what you want Him to do. But the height a maturity is when you can celebrate God when He doesn’t do what you ask Him to do.
• Can you celebrate Him broke like you celebrate Him rich?
• Can you celebrate Him in divorce like you celebrate Him when you’re married?
• Can you celebrate Him when your life is down the way you celebrate Him when your life is up?
Is there anybody in here who can say ‘I’ve been asking God for some things…But God in the final analysis, it’s really up to you….because whatever you do—I know it’s going to bless me….because I know you will do something’
So here is the question: How do I learn to operate in the parameters of His prerogative without holding Him prisoner to His power? How do I mature in my faith to operate within the reality of ‘God…do whatever you want to do—without trying to make you do what you can do?’
If You WILL make me clean.
I. God’s Will is Not Determined by My Desire
• Just because I WANT it; doesn’t mean that God WILLS it. Because MY want and HIS will don’t always walk together. (I wanted Tyra for a long time; but that definitely wasn’t God’s will)
I can prove it right in this church. The last financial analysis that we got for 2005 suggested that about 30% of the membership tithes. The Lord wants you to tithe. But about 70% of ya’lls will is not in line with His want. Now why is it that you don’t mind your will lining up with His want; but you get mad when His will don’t line up with what you want.
• He wants you to love your neighbor
• He wants you to pray for those who spitefully use you
• He wants you to stop sleeping around
• He wants you to stop gossiping
• He wants you to stop lying
Now you don’t mind knowing what He wants, and your will not lining up with what He wants. But then you’ve got the sagacity to get mad with Him when He won’t line His will up with what you want.
• What I will is not always what He wants and what I want is not always what He wills. God’s will is not going to be determined by my want. Even when what I desire is a good thing. Because when you read the text, what the brother desires is a good thing—he wants to be healed. He wants the skin disease of leprosy to be removed—it was the AIDS of the first century—and incurable disease. He wants that thing cleared up—but He doesn’t come demanding it just because He wants it. He says, ‘I want it—but if you will’. That’s a good thing though it may not be the BEST thing. The BEST thing is always a GLORY thing.
- The Lord will keep you in some stuff. Can I tell you why? Because God does not need all testimonies to be about what He’s got you out of. He doesn’t need everybody’s testimony to be on the other side of pain. (If that’s the case, somebody needs to explain to me why there are believers who were martyred in the first century/cancer/etc.)
- He needs some testimonies of some folk who are not being brought out but who are being kept in. (That was the story behind Daniel in the lion’s den/Three Hebrew boys/Jesus on the Cross)
- God says that sometimes I don’t deliver some folk because I know that their mature enough to handle staying in it; and I need their being IN IT and not losing their mind to be a testimony to somebody who’s in it right now. So that that person who is in it right now—can look at them and say, ‘If they handle…I can handle it.’
How many of you have gone through some stuff—but can say that God has been keeping you/holding you/sustaining you/protecting you? And your testimony is:
- I’m unemployed/on chemo/been down on my luck/don’t have a car, but I’m blessed
• I don’t want a GOOD thing; I want a BLESSED thing.
- The job may be a good thing; but in may not be a blessed thing
- That relationship may be a good thing; but it may not be a blessed thing
- Buying that house might be a good thing; but it may be a blessed thing
Because a blessing is defined as anything that the Lord gives you that will allow you to give Him maximum glory out of it.
• Why should I want God to give me a house just to make me look good and impress all of my friends—when I don’t have enough money to afford it so that I then spend more than I have, end up broke, can’t tithe, get broke down?
• Why should I let God put me in a relationship just because He is fine when that’s not going to be in the best interest of His glory—because He’s not gone come to church with me/treat me like a queen…but treat me like I’m a slave?
I don’t want a good thing; I want a blessed thing.
II. BLESSING, HEALING AND DELIVERANCE IS NEVER ABOUT A SYSTEM; BUT IT IS ALWAYS ABOUT A SAVIOR
Look in the passage—He brings the request to be healed directly to Jesus. That goes against every Judaic principle.
The brother’s a Jew—that goes against every principle of the Torrah. This is not how you get healed of leprosy.
- To get healed of leprosy, you have to go back to Leviticus chapter 14, the prescription was:
1. You had to be examined by a priest
2. You had to take two birds…one lived and you killed the other. You killed the one over running water. Then you took some cedar, some wood, some crimson yard, and some hyssop. And what you did with that—you tied the living bird up and you dip the living bird in the blood of the dead bird. The you set the living bird free. After you set the living bird free, symbolically denoting being set free. After that the leper would have to be washed. After being washed they would be re-examined in 7 days. After those 7 days they would shave their hair and their eyebrows. Then there would be 5 or 6 different animal sacrifices. After the animal sacrifices then the priest would touch the leper on the tip of his right ear, his right thumb and his big right toe with oil and with blood. Then they would be re-examined after all of that. And after being re-examined a third time—14 days—then they could be declared free and healed.
But what normally takes 14 days, Jesus comes along and handles in 5 seconds.
The brother didn’t go to a priest to get healed; he came to the high priest.
The brother said, ‘I don’t have time to go through all of the rigamarole of a system.’
Because the system also said that if I come within 6 feet of anybody, they had the right to stone me to death. But Jesus I’ve been hearing about you. You’ve been touching stuff that other people don’t touch. You’ve been healing people that other people won’t heal. So I decided to take a chance and see what you can do that the system could not do.
Is there anybody in here who knows that Jesus will do for you what systems can not do? Is there anybody in here who knows that you don’t have time to work within your system.
We don’t have to have some system—got to a corner 3 times a day…bark backwards, etc. All I need to do is call on the name of Jesus.
• There’s power in the name of Jesus
• There’s healing in the name of Jesus
(Ya’ll must not know his name in here)
I wish I had somebody who knew the name of Jesus.
Why do you think you pray in the name of Jesus? You are not doing that just at the end of a salutation.
You’re doing that because at the name of Jesus—demons have to flee; sickness has got to go; hell has got to get away from you—you better start learning how to call on the name of Jesus.
• I don’t need to go through a Baptist, cogic, Episcopalian ritual. The system will fail you.
• Pastor is booked and the leaders can’t be found—you better learn how to lay hands on yourself; learn how to anoint yourself; learn how to call out to God yourself; learn how to lay prostrate before God yourself; encourage yourself—and call on the name of Jesus.
I like this—that the leper—what he could take to anybody…He carried to the Lord.
Somebody is going through something that you can’t tell anybody else about. Somebody is going through something that you can’t take to anybody else.
- other will judge me/condemn me/won’t understand
• Jesus said ‘I won’t let you find anybody—because I am trying to teach you that what you can’t take to anybody else—I can handle it’.
• The old folk used to say ‘Have a little talk with Jesus…tell Him all about your….’
He says ‘If you’re willing’
And watch Jesus. Jesus takes Him. He doesn’t put any gloves on. He doesn’t say ‘wait…let me go sanitize myself’.
As a leper he had bumps all over his body…puss running out of his pores. Jesus doesn’t say…I can’t touch you. (Because Jesus touches the untouchable)
Jesus reached out! The man didn’t ask Jesus to touch him. Because the man probably figured—‘If nobody else is going to touch me, I figure He won’t touch me either…Jesus just speak a word’.
Jesus said, ‘No…I’ve got to show you that I’ll touch you when everybody else will put you out/look at you like you’ve got leprosy/have a problem’.
• Is there anybody here who is glad that you’ve got a Savior you can go to? That you aren’t just relegated to church folk. Because church folk are a trip—yes they are. They sit next to you—if you’re coughing; if they know your business—they will roll their eyes at you like you have a problem. They don’t want you to touch them. But I’m so glad I have a Savior who says, ‘I love you, I’ll touch you, I’ll wrap my arms around you. I’ll touch you where people won’t touch you’. Jesus touched you and when He touched you—something brand new happened.
That’s why I’m here today:
When other folk said I was no good/would make it/my life was over/I wouldn’t get over/I wouldn’t make it because I got pregnant as a teenager/I couldn’t open the business because I didn’t have a college degree—He touched me. (Yes He Did) He will touch you and heal you body/mind/spirit.
Somebody needs to let Him touch your finances/marriage/spirit/soul.
• Watch what Jesus does, after He heals the man. Jesus is a Jew. Notice that he didn’t come to abolish the law; but to fulfill it. Notice that Jesus did respect the system. Jesus is a Jew; raised on Judaic culture. Jesus said, ‘Keep quiet…go show yourself to the priest’.
In other words—go through the system—then give an offering. (its right in the text)
Because in Judaic culture and in the Judaic form—the sign that YOU gave that you were healed was in the offering you gave.
The offering of thanks became your personal declaration and evidence that you’re healed.
• Some folk are sick and it shows through their giving.
If the Bible is correct and if the evidence for my thanks for my healing is in my giving, either some people aren’t healed or some people aren’t thankful. Because when I know that Jesus healed me when nobody else could. When I know that Jesus integrated me into society when society kicked me out—my response just ain’t in my shout; my response is in my giving.
• Jesus is essentially saying skip the first 5 steps and go to the priest. Now Jesus, you know that the first thing that the priest is going to ask is ‘Who healed you?’ Jesus puts the man in the an awkward predicament. This is going to upset the system.
• Even though Jesus didn’t come to destroy the system; sometimes He comes to shake the system; and bring fresh meaning to the system and new revelation to our system.
Illu-people thinking it is some method—you’ve got to change your name to this or that.
But you can be Baptist and experience a move of God/slain in the Spirit, etc. Because Jesus can step into the system and bring new meaning inside the system.
III. IT’S UP TO HIM; BUT IT’S ALSO UP TO YOU
Verse 41 is very significant, it says that ‘Jesus was moved with compassion’.
That’s a strong Greek word that implies that He was pushed into an action that He really didn’t want to do—He was trying to move on. Not anything against the leper; but something happened that forcibly stopped Jesus.
What moved Him? I believe that it wasn’t just the request. I believe it was the fact that the brother also did his part. I believe what stopped Jesus was the lengths that the man went to just to get to Jesus.
#1 – The man broke all the rules
Lepers lived on a colony outside the city. You didn’t just come arbitrarily into the city. You had to stay on the leper colony. The brother left the place the government designed for him. He decided he wasn’t going to let the government build a neighborhood for him and force him to stay in that neighborhood. He left the neighborhood and he didn’t come yelling ‘Unclean, Unclean’ (because he knew who he was) He didn’t do any of that; he just gets to Jesus. He’s at a point where he doesn’t care what they whisper/say/do/think—he’s got to get to Jesus. Is there anybody in here who doesn’t care what people think/say/do—you’ve just got to get to Jesus and get your blessing, healing, and deliverance.
- I’m looking for somebody who is sick and tired of being sick and tired, and you’re ready to break some rules. I’m about to bust a move, jump up and down, go to the altar—cause I need Jesus like I’ve never needed Him before.
But that is not what got me. What got me is that it said that when he got there, he got on his knees. In the Greek it is prostrate. He got into the worship position. Now bear in mind that he doesn’t know how it’s going to turn out yet. He doesn’t know what the Lord is going to do.
Do you want to move Jesus? Learn to worship Him even when you don’t know what He is going to do/how it’s going to turn out.
- Anybody can worship Him with a 6-figure job/when there’s money in the bank/when your marriage is in good shape/when your children are acting right. But can you worship Him when it isn’t happening your way…..
- But He is still worthy of the honor and the praise.
- Can anybody in here give God the praise and say that I don’t know how it’s going to happen, but I’m surrendering to Him.
When they healed the lepers, they gave them a certificate—and when Jesus comes to heal, the certificate is His word. And when people question what happened to you and where you’ve come from and how you made it through—pull out your certificate:
• He was wounded…..by His stripes I am healed
• For whom the Son sets free….
Jesus said don’t tell anybody; but the Bible says, He goes out and tells everybody. Jesus said to shut his mouth—but He had to tell everybody.
Is there anybody who can look back over your life—‘I said I wasn’t gone tell nobody…but I just couldn’t keep it to myself.’
