"Where Are the Nine?" - Pastor Raymond Woodward

you know human-beings are funny kinds of creatures and I'm one of the funniest I think passer doesn't tell a lot of jokes I leave that up to the other nice pastures because my sense of humor is a little cynical and it's a little sharp and it it could hurt people so I don't tell jokes very very often and if I do people often look at me like what was that but you just said they don't laugh they just kind of scowl so I've learned and it happened last night you know and it's happened before but last night I was coming home and I was on the the the 8:40 flight from Montreal that gets in here about 11:00 and and I got on the plane and I went to my seat because I do have a favorite seat on every Air Canada plane in the world and my favorite seat on the Montreal flight is 2d and I knew I was in trouble I was one of the last to board because I was doing email and getting all the world's problems settled and and when I walked on the plane I knew I was in trouble and I've already looked around and he's not here this morning but there was a big guy in 2f but I already made sure he wasn't here this morning before I said this I knew I was in trouble because they make those planes for sardines not for people and and I sat down and I finally got my arm in behind his arm where it remained wedged for the rest of the flight and and my other arm I was going to leave it on the armrest but he kept pushing me out of the seat he didn't mean to but I found myself sitting like this with my head and my shoulder out in the aisle so finally in desperation I'm not telling a lie I wedged my left hand in between my hip and the armrest so I could prop my body in a roughly vertical position and I remained there both my arms were numb by the time I got here at 11 o'clock and I did get some sleep that was about the only thing I could do because I couldn't move it was a wonderful experience and it struck me this morning that I flew home from montreal montreal is what an eight hour drive I got here in an hour in 22 minutes in one of the marvels of modern science in an aircraft and touched down totally miss Baum Oh Genesis or whatever that big storm is in the northeast flew all the way from Texas got here in a day it didn't take me a week in a caravan and I arrived and Beverly picked me up and I got home and I got to be in my favorite church this morning and be with all my favorite people and it's all good and it's it's amazing to me though I wasn't thinking about all that good stuff I was just thinking about the big guy in 2f for an hour and 22 minutes he was my world human beings are funny people they really are and and this is where I don't use my sense of humor because I always want to say it's just right there I always want to say would you mind if I use the rest of my seat and I never say it but I always think it several years ago in a creative piece for the Chicago Tribune oh it's around American Thanksgiving a columnist named Eric Zorn he made this observation he said most of us are far healthier far more comfortable and have far more opportunities and diversions available to us than 99% of all the monarch's emperors Maharaja's and other potentates who've ever lived in history the wealthiest people of ancient times they couldn't hold a candle to what we have here's what we have this is just a partial list automobiles electricity flush toilets refrigerators and stoves microwave ovens washers and dryers hot-water heaters programmable thermostats alarm clocks that begin beeping softly and gradually get louder energy-saving lights that don't burn out for years and years we have cruise control and digital photography and answering machines and velcro good coffee and fast food and post-it notes and soap pumps and carbon monoxide detectors we have cordless drills and cell phones we have no lick stamps we have bifocals and we even have a cool name for them progressive lenses we have affordable jet travel and we have cheap long-distance calling overnight delivery and calculators so inexpensive that we throw them away rather than replace the batteries we have email and Google and Wi-Fi GPS and USB PDAs and PDF CDs and DVDs MRIs and ATMs but don't miss it most astonishing of all everytime you turn on the tap we have clean h2o to drink a lot of people don't surgical lasers anesthesia penicillin strings of holiday lights that don't go dark when one of the bulbs burn out it's an amazing era to live in we have nickel metal hydride rechargeable batteries we have big-box bookstores and cordless phones with locator buttons to find it when we're so dumb that we lose it we have air conditioning keyless entry we have pay at the pump and flat panel monitors and we have direct deposit and online bill payment and audio books and public libraries and air bags and mulching mowers and finally especially gloriously miraculously we have suitcases that roll on wheels thank you Jesus and and an Eric Zorn in his little article he made the observation he said when you consider the totality of your circumstances and you don't just focus on the one bad thing or the two bad things think of all the Royals all the rulers all the kings and monarchs in antiquity who would absolutely be raging with jealousy if they could see you now and reflect on this that at worst we live in miraculous times we live longer we eat better we travel farther than the richest and most blessed people in virtually every other generation in every other land in every other era of history we throw out more food and possessions in one year than many people in our current world will see in a lifetime and so that brings me to the sermon this morning because Martin Luther once said the greater God's gifts and works the less they are regard a hungry man is more thankful for one little morsel of food than a rich man is for an overflowing table of food a lonely woman in a nursing home appreciates a single visit much more than a popular woman appreciates socializing with her friends several times every week a Russian who finally gets his own copy of the scripture after decades of state-imposed atheism you want to believe he's more thankful for that one little book than we are for all the Christian books and magazines and tapes and CDs and DVDs and Bible translations that overflow our shelves you want to believe it I think it was brother Bruce Howell I can't remember but one of our leaders was in a country where they met a preacher one of our pastors and he had he had torn his Bible literally in half and his Bible started with just a leaf of Scripture it started with John chapter 1 and verse 1 and then the book of Acts in the New Testament and I can't remember I think it was brother Howell he said I was getting ready to kind of rebuke the man for you know like don't tear your Bible like that's terrible and then the man said my brother's a pastor and neither one of us had a Bible so when we got a Bible I wanted to give him part of the New Testament so he I at least have the Gospels and says so I tore it between Luke and John and I I kept the New Testament part and I gave him the Old Testament part perspective changes everything folks Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed that if the Stars and the constellations have appeared only once in a thousand years it would be on often news it would be everywhere we could barely contain our excitement we could barely imagine what an exciting event it would be if all of the heavens and all the stars appeared once every thousand years we'd be anxiously awaiting we'd be out with binoculars we'd be out with our cameras but because the stars are out every night we barely give them a glance we just walk through life and if we lived in a country where we weren't allowed to gather to worship God because we weren't free a church service like this with fellow believers would be a rare and a priceless privilege but because we have this opportunity a few times a week it becomes optional for some it becomes unappreciated by many it becomes normal for all of us and it's true that the greatest of gifts are the gifts we take for granted the most that's true about everybody it's the human condition in the Bible in your Bible leprosy was a fatal disease and it terrified people in ancient times leprosy appeared in various forms and it appeared in various stages of infection but once leprosy became malignant it was a terminal debilitating condition the skin would turn white and become numb and then it would begin to erupt all over the body and ulcers terrible horrible lesions and the limbs would swell and the hands and feet would become distorted almost like a crude mitten or glove on the end of the arm or leg the bones and the internal organs would be affected as that disease spread and gangrene would usually result leprosy was called a Sadat by the Jews and that meant a smiting or a scourge because they presumed and assumed that God was angry with someone who got leprosy and there was virtually no way to deal with infectious leprosy in ancient times so the only thing they could do is take people who had leprosy and put them away from the general population isolate them put them what the Bible calls outside the camp and so they lived outside of everybody else in society now you don't have to study the Bible very long before you'll figure this out leprosy in the Bible is always regarded as a symbol or a type or an allegory of sin it's it's always the same leprosy that dreaded physical disease is regarded in Scripture as a picture of the spiritual disease called sin and when you read the Book of Leviticus and if you're doing Bible reading and you're in the early a couple of months or reading your Bible through on one of those daily reading plans chances are you've been in the Book of Leviticus and with all respect it's it's not very entertaining reading it's just ceremony after ceremony and and and and offering after offering but if you read The Book of Leviticus and if you hone in on a couple of chapters in particular you'll see just exactly how much God hates sin by how much attention in that one book God gives to rooting out and destroying leprosy within the camp leprosy is a dreaded disease and a lot of people think that leprosy it causes your skin to rot and fall off your body but that's not really the case the only thing that leprosy does is it destroys the body's nervous system it destroys the nerve endings it destroys the sensitivity leprosy doesn't cause your skin to rot and fall off leprosy just causes you not to be able to feel anything leprosy causes your whole body to go numb when someone's blind they can't see when someone's deaf they can't hear and when somebody has leprosy they can't feel anything being blind or deaf never killed anybody and by definition having leprosy never killed anybody either but imagine what your life would be like if you were one of the ones who contracted leprosy see a leper could be cutting vegetables for supper and literally slice off their finger with a sharp implement and never even know it because they had no feeling in extreme cold a leper could freeze their fingers and toes and never realize it a leper could be sleeping by a campfire in Bible times roll over and literally burn off their foot without ever waking up no feeling whatsoever no sensitivity to cold or heat no sensitivity to pain all the nerve endings in the body destroyed that was leprosy so a leopard didn't die from leprosy they died from all the damage that was done to their body because they had no feeling in their limbs they died from all the infections they got because they couldn't feel any pain they couldn't feel the results of a sore or an open lesion on their body and that's why leprosy is a perfect picture of the spiritual disease called sin because sin causes human beings to lose all spiritual sensitivity just like leprosy cause human beings to lose all physical feeling sin worst of all causes our hearts and our consciousness causes our conscience to become seared so that we perform and we witness and we can read about and we can see in the media all kinds of evil and depraved acts of man and we just have a detached disinterest we're inundated with it our sensitivity is dull to it and we can see all of that and we can hear all of that and it's just kind of like it's the news and we don't realize how terrible it is because we've lost that sensitivity to sin but it's worse than that because that desensitization can get inside of us and then it's not just seeing or hearing those things we can actually end up doing some of those things I'm not accusing anybody in this room this morning of doing something depraved but I'm saying we can slip easily in the sinful actions that displease God we can slip easily into sinful habits that are not according to the Word of God and we don't even feel it we no longer even feel convicted about it because sin has entered in it it destroys the spiritual nerve endings of a life I don't know if you've ever thought about it but our culture is totally hardened to sin they don't even worry about it anymore they don't even think about it in fact they laugh about it and they they what what's really God calls sin they call normal behavior that's where we are the law of Moses in Scripture because God knows what sin does to human beings and God loves us more than any like they sang this morning he's a good good father and your dad wouldn't want anything if he's a decent dad at all he wouldn't want anything to harm you or hurt you and there were times when you were growing up when your father or your mother your parents would issue edicts that you didn't like very much they tell you you can't you can't go there you can't hang with them you can't buy that you can't have that and you didn't like it and isn't it amazing how intelligent and wise they became the moment you became a parent because all of a sudden you realized I'm the very same as my mom and dad I don't want my kids to have things that could hurt them I don't want my kids to be around people that could lead them astray I don't want my kids to be involved in activities that could twist them and and twist their morality and and and twist their future and twist their decisions and so you become like your parents well God isn't even like your parents he's much better than that he's a perfect Heavenly Father and he doesn't want anybody to be exposed to sin because sin ruins our sensitivity to his presence and his will for our lives and that's why it's so harsh in dealing with leprosy in the Book of Leviticus the law of Moses had been used many many times over the centuries to condemn people to a life of leprosy that's Leviticus chapter 13 if somebody has a sore and it does this in the skin and you need to go and you need to see the priest and they'll put you in isolation for seven days then they'll check on you again and if it's cleared up and that's one thing and if it hasn't then another seven days and it was a big nuisance to contract leprosy but it wasn't just a nuisance it was a death sentence because after the leprosy didn't go away you had to say goodbye to your family and your friends your wife and your children you had to say goodbye to everybody you loved and your life that you loved and you had to live forever outside of the camp scripture and Jewish history record many times that people were condemned to that life of a leper but scripture and Jewish history never record chapter 14 of Leviticus being used even once because that was the cleansing chapter that was the healing chapter that's what happened if the disease ever turned around then you went from chapter 13 where it told you how to isolate yourself and how to be condemned by leprosy chapter 14 told you what to do if the leprosy ever went away but it never went away it never disappeared it never got cured or healed or cleansed and so never once in all the pages of Scripture and in all Jewish history did they ever use the chapter that begins with these words Leviticus 14 - this shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing he shall be brought unto the priests that never happened not ever not once nobody ever looked down and thought my leprosy is gone it never went away nobody ever looks down some day and said my sins gone because sin never goes away based on what you can do sin never goes away based on you helping yourself are you improving yourself it's the disease that not only wrecks your sensitivity to God and His will for your life it's the disease that never goes away it only gets worse so chapter 13 was used all the time to condemn people but chapter 14 of Leviticus was never used not even once to cleanse anybody from leprosy now you Bible lovers you're saying oh yeah but pastor naman was healed of leprosy in second Kings five but see naman wasn't Jewish naman never was under the Jewish law so this was never used name and never knew what it was to go to the temple or the tabernacle or a priest he was a Syrian and Jesus himself made this observation to the congregation in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth when he get up to read the scripture he made this comment in fact it was this comment this is the last thing he said and it made them so furiously angry with him that they put him out of the synagogue here's what Jesus said in Luke 4 and many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the Prophet Elisha the prophet and none of them was cleansed nobody in Israel ever got cleansed saving name in the Syrian Jesus himself makes the observation that only name in the Syrian got a miracle from the Prophet no leper in Israel was ever cleansed no leper in Israel ever came to the priest nobody ever used chapter 14 of Leviticus so there's not one case in the entire Old Testament where Leviticus 14 was ever used but suddenly all of a sudden it just happened all of a sudden the priests in the temple in Jerusalem it's just buzzin because all of a sudden over just a period of weeks many lepers are beginning to come to the priest asking would you look at me again because I think my leprosy is gone would you look at me again because the source and the lesions disappeared would you take a look would you put me under chapter 14 now the priest has 13 memorized but the priests haven't used chapter 14 of Leviticus for hundreds of years not their great great great grandfather's nobody's used Leviticus 14 it never happened they probably wondered why in the world not even put it in the law of Moses but all of a sudden over just a period of weeks or a few months there's lepers coming to the temple in Jerusalem to the priest and they're saying over and over again this man named Jesus he said my leprosy was gone this man named Jesus he touched me this man named Jesus He healed me and all of a sudden the priests are scrambling to blow the dust off Leviticus chapter 14 and use it because they're needing to go through the cleansing ritual not just the condemning ritual you know sin condemns people sin hurts people sin wrecks lives jesus said he didn't come to condemn the world he came that the world through him might be saved so I'm glad to announce to you there's not just a condemning chapter there's a cleansing chapter in the Word of God the priests have to dust off all those ancient scrolls they have to go back to school and relearn a ceremony that had never been used because God in flesh is walking the streets and the roads of Israel in Luke chapter 17 and verse 11 the Bible tells us that Jesus chose to travel along the border between Samaria and Galilee he chose to walk between Samaria and Galilee now it's not so important to know where that is on a map that's really immaterial but it's important to understand the significance of that statement in Luke chapter 17 the Jews considered the Samaritans they were so cruel they they considered the Samaritans to be half-breeds Samaritans were Jews who would intermarried with other people groups and so the Jews looked down on them they were no longer full-blooded pure Jews and that had caused so much tension and strife and and and and all kinds of issues over the years but then Jesus came along and we see him telling stories about the Good Samaritan and we see him having a conversation at a well with an adulteress Samaritan woman and now we see him walking definitively definitely by choice not by accident right along the border between Samaria and Galilee one of the dividing lines between two people groups that absolutely hated each other and so with that in mind that's where we pick up the the text for this morning in Luke chapter 17 let's go to verse 12 and as Jesus entered into a certain village there met him ten men that were lepers and they stood afar off and like all leftwards they lifted up their voices and they said Jesus master have mercy on us and when he saw them he said to them go show yourselves unto the priests that's Leviticus 14 not Leviticus 13 and it came to pass that as they went they were cleansed and one of them when he saw that he was healed he turned back and with a loud voice he glorified God and he fell down on his face at Jesus feet and he gave him thanks and he was a Samaritan the one Samaritan in the bunch the one that had no right to be there if you would he was the one that returned to give thanks and Jesus answering said we're not ten cleansed and here's Jesus question where are the nine there are not found that returned to give glory to God save this stranger there's only one that came back to give thanks and he said to that man arise and go thy way thy faith hath made thee whole what a story ten lepers met Jesus but they had to stand at a distance when they saw Jesus because leprosy was such a dreaded disease those who had it were cast off from the rest of society they were expected not just to live outside of town they often lived in the garbage heaps outside of town that's where they got food and anything to sustain themselves nobody could bring them a meal nobody could get that close so they lived on the refuse of the city they were expected to have zero contact with former friends and family and that was for the safety of all those that didn't have leprosy it was so highly contagious you didn't want to go near a leper but it was also for their emotional well-being because you didn't want to see a leper who was in the advanced stages of that disease that would be so distressing for little children that would be so distressing to see and so it was really for the well-being of the people in the city who didn't have leprosy they were outcasts so when they saw Jesus who on this day has intentionally walked on a certain pathway he was God manifest in flesh he knew exactly where that road went he knew exactly where it would lead he knew exactly what he would pass by lepers in the time of Jesus they had to stand at a distance and if like on this day they were approached by anybody they had to stand there and shout unclean unclean they had to let everybody know from a distance they knew they were lepers they knew they were unclean it was obvious to them they were unclean the flesh was literally rotting away from their bones they knew there was this huge chasm that separated them from everybody else and that chasm could not be crossed if you ever got leprosy you were doomed to die with leprosy if you ever contracted leprosy it never got better it only got worse if you ever got leprosy you were doomed to a life where you could not feel anything and again that's a lot like sin isn't it sin separates us from God so that the only thing we can do is stand at a distance and know that we're unclean stand at a distance and know that there's no way in heaven that we could ever approach a holy God so we stand at a distance and our response inside of us in moments when we're truthful with ourselves our response is like Isaiah woe is me I'm a man of unclean lips woe is me I'm a man of an unclean life I'm a man of unclean thoughts I'm a man of an unclean heart that's the only response we can make but these lepers on this day they weren't content just to show that they also shouted this as soon as they recognized - it was that was coming down the road they said Jesus master have mercy on us we don't need judgment we've got that all of our lives we've already been through the entire process of Leviticus 13 and it condemned us but Jesus if you just have mercy maybe there's a chance maybe there's hope maybe there's a solution and so they shouted Jesus master please have mercy on us apparently they'd heard of his healing power apparently they knew what it was that he he was the one who healed others and he was the one who showed mercy to others and that's how we call out to God when we become aware of how sinful we are God doesn't meet people who try to impress him God doesn't touch people who were so arrogant and proud and confident in their own goodness God heals and saves and delivers and frees people who are not too proud to say Jesus I'm a mess Jesus I'm in trouble Jesus I can't fix it on my own if you could fix it on your own you already would have fixed it on your own if you could have healed yourself if you could have delivered yourself if you could have broken the chains and and erase the addiction you already would have done that nobody wants to live with the advanced symptoms of sin there's a lot of people that dabble with the beginning symptoms of sin they think oh it's just a little lesion it's just a little sore it's it's it's not a big deal but nobody wants to live with the advanced symptoms of sin by the time sin has its progress in your life it wrecks everything most of all your relationship with God but the great news that we see in this story is that even when we're spiritually a rotting decaying putrifying leper we can call out to God for mercy and God can do something about it and so Jesus simply says this is amazing Jesus simply looks at them he doesn't do anything he just says this go show yourselves unto the priests according to Leviticus 14 that previously unused chapter of the Bible that's exactly what you're supposed to do on the day that you get healed of leprosy so those men in one instance knew exactly what Jesus was saying if you believe in me and if you'll do what I tell you to do if you'll obey me you will be cleansed you'll be healed go show yourself to the priest because if you'll obey me it's all over and the Bible tells us that as they went as they obeyed as they responded they were cleansed of leprosy and I don't know how it happened I don't know the spot that it happened but if you could use your imagination pandemonium broke out on that little dirt road into the city of Jerusalem the joy that they all felt at that moment because they who had been outcasts and they who had no hope and they who had no future to look forward to now they had received their lives back there's people in this room that that's exactly how we feel about what Jesus did for us spiritually once we had no future once we had no hope once we were destroyed and distraught but Jesus gave us our lives back it's one thing to know we're going to heaven when we die and we're gonna be there for all eternity that's the ultimate but there's an incredible benefit of serving God right here on earth Jesus gave us our lives back he Jesus gave us our joy back Jesus gave us our future back it's amazing they could now go home to their friends and their family they could now go home and hug and kiss their wife they could now go home and touch and hug and play with their children again because they were cleansed it's been dramatized in artwork and dramatized in music and dramatized in all kinds of dramatic presentations over the years and they're beautiful but nothing could really catch that moment of excitement they no doubt began to run they no doubt began to rush because the quicker they got to the priest the quicker they could get home for the first time in many years it's been dramatized and pictured and sung about a thousand ways but the one who singled out on this day is the one who didn't run in fact this one when everybody else all of a sudden got so excited that they picked up the pace and they headed off to the priest there was one who turned around and looked back and decided I'm so thrilled I can hardly wait to get home to my wife I can hardly wait to get home to my kids I can hardly wait to get home and have a living again have a life again but there's something I need to do before I go to the priest on that day ten lepers receive their healing but only one turned around and in that moment of excitement and joy turned around and went back and fell on his face and said thank you Jesus and the Bible makes it a point to tell us and he was the most unlikely of all he was a Samaritan he wasn't a Jew he was a stranger 9 were Jewish people they knew more about the law they knew more about the cleansing they knew more about the priesthood and the temple this one was just a Samaritan they knew more but they did less this man knew less but he did more he said I can't have the expertise that all they have about religion I don't know everything they know about the priesthood in the temple I'm just obeying orders but I do know this there's one who cleanse me there's one who healed me there's one who delivered me and before I get on with the rest of my day I'm gonna get on my knees and say thank you Jesus for healing me thank you Jesus for giving me my life back thank you Jesus for giving me my family back thank you Jesus for giving me my future back and the spirit of that little Samaritan man whoever he was and whatever his name was that's here among us today because you're looking at a group of people that love Jesus because of what he's done we're not real fond of religion you can tell that by the way we do a service we're always busting it up and breaking it out and messing up the schedule just a worship God just to walk back and forth just to pray in the spirit we don't do religion really well around here if you're really religious we've probably already offended you and messed up your schedule this morning because we don't do religion very well at all but I'll tell you what we do we do thanks really really well because Jesus is the one who's deserving of all the glory and all the honor and all the praise and in this room they might not have as much class as you have they might not have as much education as you have but we've got people in this room that their lives were messed up but Jesus stepped in and they're just downright flat-out happy about it and I'm one of them I thank Jesus for the difference he can make in a life it should have been those Jewish lepers that were praising Jesus they knew way more about what had just happened but it wasn't the religious people who praised him it's hardly ever the religious people that get beside themselves with joy and praise Him it was a little uneducated non-jewish foreigner stranger little Samaritan leper but he had enough spiritual sense in his heart to find a place on his knees and say thank you Jesus and so Jesus has a question it's the same question today as it was then we're in the world of the nine where are the nine the Jews have been so abundantly blessed Israel had been chosen from all the other nations of the world so they could worship the one through God they were privileged to be different than other people in their lifestyle privileged they were distinguished by peculiar laws and statutes and observances and diet and dress code and conversation God gave them a tabernacle where they could offer sacrifices and celebrate feasts and festivals and God gave them a place where the Shekinah glory of his presence could literally dwell among them God literally led them through the wilderness to the promised land he cast out all their enemies before them he miraculously provided for them so so listen to pastor even a Jew with leprosy was blessed beyond measure even a Jew with that terrible disease in their body they have more blessings than any of the other people in any of the other nations in the whole world even a Jew on the worst day of their life was blessed so a Jew that it had leprosy and was now cleansed they should have been a fanatical worshipper of Jesus they had everything and then a miracle Jesus question that day is where in the world are the nine only this one came back the least likely to respond the least likely to know what he should do the least likely to obey the least likely to be blessed and yet he's the one who came back where are the nine that grew up with the Covenant where are the nine that grew up going to the temple where are the nine that know what it is to go to a priest and talk to him and the Jewish religion where are the nine that have enjoyed all the feasts and festivals where are the nine that know the story of Passover and where are the nine that sing about Moses and Abraham Isaac and Jacob and they know about Daniel and they know about Elijah and Elijah where are the nine if anybody should have come back it should have been the nine Jesus question hasn't changed where are the nine and if I could address us today because I love us and I love what we get to do every week I love how God's moving in our church but if I could just say that we Pentecostals we've been abundantly blessed we have been chosen from every kindred tongue nation and people to worship the one true God whose name is Jesus the only saving name the only delivering name the only powerful name the only a healing name we are privileged to be different privileged to be different than other people in our lifestyle we don't mind in the least being distinguished by God's laws and His commandments God has given us a wonderful place to worship where his Spirit dwells among us and the walls of this building for years have rung with the praises of God's people and we're glad and thrilled and honored and blessed to go to the house of the Lord it's an amazing privilege but even more than the building even more than the services God has brought each one of us that know him out of sin and out of bondage and he's given us abundant life and he's given us power to conquer the enemy and we come to service this morning on a winter day in March 2018 and we have a lot to thank God for we really do and here's what I came to tell you this morning because we've got precious people right now in our church going through battles with sickness and battles with all kinds of issues and problems but I would stand here this morning to say even a Pentecostal believer in the middle of the worst trial of their life is blessed beyond every other kind of person in any other kind of nation in this entire world and I would also stand here as pastor and say that we get to watch precious people in our church family go through these kind of issues they go through sickness and loss treatment and pain they go through funeral services they go through all kinds of things and I just like to stand here as a pastor at this church and say to you that I'm so proud of those people who never stopped worshiping god never give up on God and never get bitter at God because they realize something that we all need to know that even on the worst day of our lives if we're his kids we're saved and we're on our way to heaven and there's nothing so bad that could happen on earth we're abundantly blessed every Pentecostal who's been delivered from the leprosy of sin in their lives we shouldn't be like the nine who disappeared and went on their merry way about their religious duty we should be every day of our lives like the one who stopped what he was doing and said Jesus I will get to the priest in a minute I'll get to the temple in a minute I'll do exactly what you told me to do I'll obey your Commandments I'll obey what you said I'm but but Jesus I'm so thankful for what you've done that before I go on about my day and before I go on about my business I just need to stop for one moment just to say thank you there's no way I can preach this right without just stopping full stop in the middle of this message and given the precious people of God in this room one more opportunity to just say thank you Jesus for everything you've done for me thank you Jesus for saving me from my sin thank you for the privilege of being baptized in your name for the remission of my sins thank you for the precious powerful baptism of the Holy Ghost that fills my life thank you for what you've done in my family thank you that you held my hand through the trial thank you that though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death Jesus I will fear no evil for you're with me your rod and your staff they comfort me you prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies so I'm not afraid of anything because you're with me and I just wanted to stop in the middle of Sunday morning service to say pastor wait a minute I just need to say thank you Jesus for who you are and for what you've done [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus haha if anybody is going to praise God on this Sunday it should be us if any Church is going to praise God on this Sunday it should be us because we're not Samaritans we're not Outsiders we're not foreigners we're jews we're people who know about Jesus we know who he is we know his name we've been taught doctrine we've been taught principles we've been taught the word how in the world is it that the people who know God less end up praising him more surely we could turn it on its ear surely we could turn the rule upside down and we could say that the people who know God more can praise him more the people who know who he is can't praise Him because of who he is the people that have the greatest experience that was ever given to a human being surely they can praise him more than somebody that's only heard of him from a history book surely the people of God the Apostolic the Pentecostals their spirit fill the Jesus name surely we can lift up a great praise to God this morning because we have a lot to thank God for so my question would be Jesus question where are the nine where are the 99 where are we because we are an incredible death of things I want to be like the one who said just a minute I gotta take time on a bike day just say thank you Jesus my family's blessed my families bless because [Applause] we're ship you Jesus I worship you Jesus would you stand with me I'm almost finished music you can come back where are the nine so we say where are the nine well they're on their way to the priest that's where they are they're doing exactly what Jesus commanded them to do but they're so busy obeying his word obeying his command that in the middle of obeying his word and obeying his command they don't even take a moment to stop and thank him isn't that amazing they were doing what he told them to do so are many of us we're doing what he told us to do we come to church every week we do our best to stay away from sin and to be in the word and to pray and to be good people and to be people that that God would be pleased with we're doing what he said we're on our way not to the temple no we're on our way to heaven it's far better but don't ever forget that in the middle of being on your way about his business doing his word and doing his command you can forget to stop and thank you for the fact that you are on your way and you do know his word and you are blessed to obey his command every once in a while we need to forget this business of the nine and we need to be the one who turns back and this is amazing to me and you can interpret this however you read your Bible but I think this is what the way it is the Bible says that all 10 of the lepers in Luke 17 all ten were cleansed all ten all ten leprosy was stopped in them all ten they never ever any more had more symptoms of leprosy when they went to the priest the priest looked at them and said you're cleansed you can go home it was wonderful but the Bible doesn't waste words and it doesn't use words accidentally or incidentally and the Bible tells me that only one was cleansed and made whole and that's a big difference when you got leprosy cleanse means the leprosy is not going to eat off any more of your fingers and toes but you're still there with all the wounds from all the years of no sensitivity no feeling and so sure they were cleansed they could go home and hug their wife but all the wounds of leprosy were still there in their bodies but the one who took time to turn around and come back and worship Jesus the Bible doesn't just say he was cleansed it says he was made whole now you believe it however you want I believe that in that instant God returned fingers to his hands and toes to his feet and I believe that he wasn't just cleansed so he could go home he was made whole completely whole see that's the beauty of being in the presence of Jesus week after week after week and some of you you haven't really made a whole lot of a start for Jesus but you like what you feel here and you like being around people that are serving God and and really you've entertained the notion more than once you know what I I think I'd like to be a Christian I think I'd like to be I'm not sure I can do it none of us can do it but when you have that heart of thanks that says Jesus I thank you for touching me I thank you for leading me I thank you for letting me be in your presence today that heart of thanks Jesus looks at a heart like that and he said you can be made whole the only one who was made whole that day was the one who turned around and came running back while everybody else went on their merry way celebrating and joyous but he turned around with tears running down his face and he said thank you Jesus I'm so anxious to get to the priest to get to the temple to get home to my wife to go hug my kids but before I do any of that before I live one or minute a life I'm gonna talk to you I'm gonna worship you I'm gonna say thanks to you and he was the one who went home whole many people here have been cleansed from sin but some of us even after were cleansed from sin please be honest with Pastor we're still a little miserable you know why because we don't understand what praise does we don't understand what Thanksgiving does we don't understand what worship does when we enter the presence of God time after time week after week we are literally made whole I'm glad I was freed from sin years ago but I'm so grateful that I don't have to rely on a 40 some year old experience to get me through today I've got a current touch from God in my life and in my heart and in my soul and I love to get in his presence with all of you because it's in this presence that I'm made whole it's in this presence that I get to take more steps in my life with God here's my last scripture for your consideration this morning David writes it in Psalm 103 he says we need to bless the Lord look at this bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His Holy Name bless the Lord O my soul he's talking to himself and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy diseases who redeemeth thy life from destruction who crowns thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies who satisfies thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the Eagles notice this all of those words in the King James Bible they're written in a special way because they have a special meaning it's not he forgives he heals he redeems he crowns and he satisfies no it's he forgiveth he healeth he redeemeth he crown a--the and he satisfy it that's nice not just 400 year old English that's a word that means at a continuing process what David is saying don't miss it he's not just saying come and bless the Lord for everything he did in your past he's telling you that as you bless the Lord all of those processes continue in your life just like that one who came back when he got in the presence of Jesus he got a far greater blessing than the nine who rushed off on their merry way and when we get in the presence of God and as we worship Him and thank him and bless his name don't miss what David just wrote as you bless him all of those processes continue I'm forgiving every day that I live I'm healed every day that I live I'm redeemed every day that I live I'm crowned with blessings every day that I live I'm satisfied in my soul every day that I live it's not a one-time thing it's an everyday thing that's why I need Church this morning that's why I need worship this morning that's why I need the altar this morning that's why I need Jesus this morning one more question before we come to the altar where are the nine would you lift up your hands right now say God I know too much to not give you a great praise today you've been too good to me for me not to give you a great praise today oh I'm so excited about being in the presence of God this morning [Music] thank you Jesus capacitor just pushed it just a little bit not on the praise it's wonderful not on the worship it's awesome but on the volume he's worthy of a holy pandemonium break it out in his presence because he's done great things for us where of we are glad he's done great things for us [Applause] [Music] thank you brother Larry life's not easy life's not always just simple but there's a thanks in that man's heart for God there's a thanks for what God's done there are people in this room that you're under a doctor's care right now and you're not sure how it's all gonna turn out and that's a little bit of anxiety in your heart but you know what you can do you can turn around and say God I don't know where the future is going to go but here's what I'm gonna do I'm gonna stop the presses I'm gonna stop the service I'm gonna stop the Sunday and I'm just gonna say thank you Jesus for what you've already done because I know that as I'm in your presence you can continue the process he who began a good work in me he's able to complete her he's able to finish it he's able to do even more more abundantly than what he's already done for me thank you Jesus that's powerful church that's the very same spirit that was in the Philippines a week ago that's the very same thankfulness that was in Manila just a week ago God can do anything when he's in our presence at we're in his presence that were lifting up worship to him thank you Jesus I thank you Jesus you've been so good I thank you lord [Music]

Channel: Capital Community Church

Views: 4,860

Rating: 4.7727275 out of 5

Keywords: where, are, the, nine, pastor, raymond, woodward, preaching, preach, sermon, ccc, capital, community, church, fredericton, nb, new, brunswick, canada, upc, upci, united, pentecostal, international, christian, apostolic, pentecost

Id: rAErAR_gbX0

Length: 56min 15sec (3375 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 05 2018