If Jesus Can, He Will
Matthew 8:3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
"I Will", one of most powerful statements ever made by our Lord Jesus Christ.
We long to hear those words spoken into our lives, especially in our hour of desparation.
Some of us hear this morning may discover that we fit the profile of the leprous man in the book of Matthew. While you may not be terminllay ill with some dreadful disease such as leprousy, you still need a move of God in your life as much as any. You do not doubt that God is able to work mightliy in your life. You know he can, but you may question if He will.
Jesus wants you to know ’this morning, that he is not only God "Who can"
He is God "Who will."
He neither lacks the desire or the ability to perform a mighty work in your life. "If Jesus Can, Then He Will."
The question may be asked this morning, "What does it take to get a move of God in my life?"
There have been countless books written on this very subjet, to be sure. Why?
Because everyone wants the favor or blessing of God in their life.
Who in here this morning, does not want a finacial blessing, a blessing of healing, or a closer walk with the Lord this morning? There is not a one in this buildikng that does not want God do something in their lives.
That’s not to say that everyone is willing to come to God and surrender their will and their lives to Him, but they still want their blessing nonetheless.
However, it is different when the need is as desparate as that of this leprous man.
Consider the life of this man.
He probaly spent everyday of his life thinking on primarily two things:
1.) "How I would like to be made whole."
In other words he long to be normal like everyone else.
2.)"How much longer do I have left to live."
Because leprousy in those days was and still is quite often fatal.
Leprousy deforms and ultimately destroys its victim slowly, much like cancer.
The difference being that most cancer destroys from the inside, while leprousy is visible. A person’s skin becomes a deathly white color.
Whole appendages such as fingers and arms seem to rot away in the advanced stages of this disease.
When people saw a leprous person coming, they would clear a wide path around him because, it was a highly contagious disease.
1.Consider also that in those days much of the medical practice was more like medical experiements, so a doctor was quiet of little help.
2. If you were a leper, you days were spent in isolation. To the world, you were a walking dead man, and if anyone came in contact with another sick person, they were considered ceremonially unclean.
3. By Law a person with leprousy was required to alert passerbys of his condition by hollering out I am unclean!
Perhaps that kind of describes you this morning.
A walking dead man.
People around you are just looking for you to killover at any moment.
Your family life is leprous.
Your finances are leprous.
Your job is leprous.
Your health is leprous.
But somehow you are still alive and barely making it.
You refuse to give up!
You keep searching for an answer, but the answer has yet to come.
You need a healing, you need a miracle!
But its yet to come!
But I want to tell you this morning to hold on!
Don’t give up! You see Jesus is on the way,
He is descending from the mountaintop on the way to meet "whosoever will;"
He and He alone has the cure for every leprous situation in your life!
I have come to tell you that Jesus Christ is Jehovah God
He is your healer and provider!
He is your waymaker this morning!
You see the Leper did not find Jesus!
Jesus came down from that mountain and found the leper!
This was not sheer coincidence, this was by divine appointment.
Today, this leper’s life was about to be changed.
That means you have a choice to make this morning!
If you have any need this morning you can be like one of the many in the throng of followers of Jesus, and keep your place in the crowd, hidden and camoflouged in guilt and shame.
Or you can be like the leprous man, when he made his appearance Matthew wrote:
2. And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him.
In otherwords, he got somebody’s attention!
He wasn’t supposed to be running towards a person in his condition.
Yet he refused to let his situation stop Him from running to God.
He was sick as a dog but he ran unto the prescence of the Lord to worship at his feet!
Nobody else in that crowd was worshipping like this man.
Your worship to Jesus this morning is not some mindless chattering of generic praises, but it should be unique, because it should come form the heart.
Listen to me friend, worship moves the very heart of God!
If you want Jesus to move on your behalf you have first got to believe in who He is!
He is not just some good teacher or prophet. He is God almighty!
The leper never said anything about his need until he first worshipped the Messiah.
The crucial piece that is missing form most every church today is not some fanciful singing or sharp dressed speaker, but it is worship!
Jesus Christ alone is worthy to be worshipped!
Rev. 4: 11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
When you walked in the door this morning, Jesus knew you were sick.
He knew that your were busted and disgusted.
He knows the ones here this morning that are stressed and depressed.
Listen, anyone can worship God when they got money in their pocket,
or When they feel like Superman,
but how many came with the made up mind to worship as this humble leper?
Sick though he may have been, but no matter!
This is Jesus the Messiah, the Promised One!
What a priveledge to be at the very feet of Jesus!
He wanted this, I think more than he wanted healing!
To be close to someone whom he could love and be loved!
We should desire the same thing in our lives.
To worship the one who is near to you.
Some of you here this morning are eat up with a disease that is far deadlier than leprosy.
You can run the isles and shout to the high heavens but inside, you are a walking deadman!
Its called sin.
Instead of running to God, you have been running from God at every opportunity.
The leper did not care what anyone thought about his behavior.
Because he was cut to the heart with conviction that he needed to personally meet Jesus.
Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
Notice, he wasn’t demanding anything from Jesus.
In his mind he didn’t deserve to be healed.
He did not come to Jesus saying,
"Lord, I paid my tithes last week" or "Lord I prayed and fasted all of last week
"Lord. I go to church."
"Lord I have suffered long enough."
I deserve this healing."
The Leper knew that there was nothing in his life that he could offer.
He had nothing to give in return for performing this miracle.
If thou wilt doesn’t sit well with those raised on the name it and claim hogwash of today’s so-called "evangelists."
But you see, God doesn’t work on your terms.
These are God’s terms.
The leper understood that Jesus didn’t have to do anything, but he was believing that he would
Now That’s called faith!
As far as we know, he may have never seen Jesus ever perform a miracle of healing.
Because in Matthew, this leper is the first person recorded to have been healed!
Yet, he demostrated remarkable faith on that day as he came to worship at the feet of Jesus.
If thou wilt thou, canst make me clean.
There is no doubt in this man’s life that Jesus can deliver him from this cruel leprousy.
I don’t know what you may be suffering from this morning.
But I want to tell you God is greater! Hallelujah! He is greater!
He is greater than any sickness of leprousy, cancer or of AIDS.
He is greater than asthma, bronchitis, or arthritis!
He is greater than the sickness of sin!
He is the Yoke Breaker of nicotine, and alcohol addiction.
There is nothing in this world God cannot overcome in this place this morning, but one thing! And that’s your will!
Rev. 2:17 ...And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely
You have to allow God access to your problems as this leper man did!
Jesus is not afraid of your infirmity, you see beause he has alrerady won the victory, over it all!
Jesus said to this leprous man, I will. Be thou clean
In an instant this life had been forever changed.
He was healed and made whole.
Jesus could and he did.
He healed that man of his leprousy and this morning he looks among this crowd wanting to do a great and mighty work in the lives of every person in this building.
If Jesus Can, He Will!
Which if is the case, then there is nothing that my God cannot do!!!
