LAWTON CHURCH OF GOD, LAWTON, OKLAHOMA

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62 LEPROSY A TYPE OF SIN

TEXT: And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him. Saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Matthew 8:2 –3.

Leprosy is one of the Bible’s representatives of the intense malignity and defilement of the mortal malady that has attacked you and me, namely, Sin.

Leprosy and sin are analogous, viz.:

1. All classes alike subject to it.

2. Is of small beginning.

3. Loathsome, repulsive.

4. Incurable by human skill and human agencies.

5. Contagion, diffusive.

6. Results in separation and banishment.

7. Terminates in death.

Leprosy is especially a type of inbred sin because:

1. It is transmitted to posterity—hereditary.

2. It is a constitutional disease condition, not an act.

3. It was never pardoned—but cleansed away.

a. This man, by his very earnest petition, recognized and acknowledged his condition. That is the first step toward the kingdom. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive them.”

b. He had unquestioning and unwavering faith in the power and ability of Jesus to heal him, saying, “Thou canst.” “Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Salvation must be by faith alone, that it may be by grace alone.

c. He manifested proper humility. Luke says he “fell on his face,” (Luke 5:12.) “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” The way up is down. He “stooped to conquer, and he conquered by stooping.” By giving in to God we win.

d. “Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” The cure was instantaneous. So it is in pardon. With one word—one touch—all the guilt is swept away. In like manner the deliverance from inbred sin is instantaneous. A gradatim destruction of the “old man” is as unreasonable as it is unscriptural.

There is a gradual approach to the blessing so far as the human side of sanctification is concerned, but when the consecration is entire and faith perfect, the work of cleansing is instantaneously, divinely inwrought.

“The Blood cleanseth” is always in the present tense.