A Changed Life

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Have you ever had a life-changing experience? I would expect that most of us could answer “yes” to that question. Of course, it depends on how we define “life-changing,” but if you have lived longer than a few years, you probably have experienced something that altered the direction of your life in some significant way.
These life-changing experiences can present themselves in a number of ways. Sometimes they are momentous and intimidating, and we know immediately that they are life-changing. Examples of this are choices to change jobs, or to buy a house, or move to another state. Getting married or having children are also life-changing decisions. These types of decisions can bring a lot of anxiety, because we’re aware that one choice will drastically alter our life’s path.
Sometimes, life-changing experiences or choices can seem small and insignificant beforehand. We thought we were making a small choice, and almost immediately realized that its impact on our life was far greater than we imagined. We have probably all heard of tragedies where someone thought they were going for a casual drive with friends, and ended up in a deadly car accident. Or perhaps you decided NOT to leave the house, and as a result you avoided that car accident! Small and routine choices can also turn out to be life-changing ones.
Sometimes, life-changing experiences can alter our life so gradually and imperceptibly, that we don’t realize their significance for years. Your decision to read more could eventually lead you to discovering a book that revolutionizes your health or your business. Your decision to take regular walks could lead to making new friends, one of which ends up being a close lifelong friend. We make choices every day, and I think we would all be surprised at how many of them have a notable impact on our life’s direction! Life-changing experiences and choices come in all shapes and sizes.
In today’s Scripture passage, we’re going to see a life-changing experience that happened to a man who was in deep trouble. And while it’s most likely that you and I have never been in this same kind of trouble, we have the same opportunity have a similar kind of life-changing opportunity. Will you make the same choice he made? Stay tuned, and you’ll be able to answer that question for yourself!
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Good morning! Welcome to Truth for Today, a weekly radio ministry of Bible Baptist Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. My name is Ethan Custer, and I serve as the assistant under Pastor Mike Custer, the regular host of this broadcast. We at Bible Baptist Church want to be a spiritual blessing to you however we can. Our church building is located west of I-29 at 6367 Gateway Drive in Grand Forks. We meet several times each week to worship God, and our purpose in life is to obey and please the Lord Jesus Christ in all that we do. Our source of truth and guide for living is the Authorized King James Bible, the Word of God in the English language. In His Scriptures, God offers solutions for every one of life’s problems! If we can help you in any way, please let us know. We desire to have that opportunity. I’ll be giving our contact information at the end of the broadcast, so I hope you’ll stay with me.
Earlier, I was talking about life-changing experiences. It can be a deeply profound exercise to think back through your life, and note how your past life-changing experiences have shaped who you are today. I have heard many people remark on such an exercise, and say that if they had the opportunity to go back and re-live their past, they wouldn’t change anything. I find this to be an interesting statement, given that we would all admit that we frequently make mistakes. But it illustrates the fact that even with our mistakes present, we’re able to appreciate the ways in which our past experiences have shaped who we are today. Especially when we attempt to learn and grow from our mistakes, we’re able to enjoy benefits from what began as a negative thing.
However, there is coming a day for all of us when our life’s choices will be over, and we will spend eternity in one of two places: Heaven or Hell. Those two places are opposite extremes! In Heaven, there will be no regret, no sorrow, and no pain. In Hell, there will be no satisfaction, no happiness, and no comfort. In which place will you be? How do you know for sure? Most people believe that a person cannot know for sure, but the Bible is very clear that we may know.
1 John 5:13 KJV 1900
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Friend, if you don’t KNOW where are going when you die, it’s likely that you are not going to Heaven! Even a child of God may doubt at times that Heaven is their home, but the Bible is clear that if we seek the Lord and search the Scriptures, God will assure His children of their home in Heaven. If you are not sure that Heaven is your home, it is probable that it isn’t your home. To remedy that great need in your soul, you need a life-changing experience. Or perhaps we might say, an eternity-changing experience that brings eternal life. In our Scripture text today, we’ll see a man who had a life-changing experience that is very different from anything you or I will likely experience. However, it also has many similarities to something that everyone, you and I included, MUST experience if we are going to be in Heaven with God the Father one day. Let’s read the Scripture passage now.
Luke 5:12–15 (KJV 1900)
And it came to pass, when he [Christ] was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.
In this passage we read of Jesus Christ, and of a man who met Christ. This man had a problem, and when he met the Lord, he had a life-changing experience!
This man’s problem, as we just read, was the disease of leprosy. In modern times, leprosy is usually referred to as Hansen’s disease. It is a bacterial infection usually affecting the nerves, respiratory tract, skin and eyes. “Hansen’s disease” is named after the Norwegian physician Gerhard Hansen, who identified the bacterium that causes leprosy. It is treatable with modern medications, especially if the disease is caught early on. However, in ancient times, they neither understood the bacteria that caused leprosy, nor did they have medical cures.
Because of the lack of knowledge about this disease, and because the symptoms could be similar to other kinds of diseases, the term “leprosy” back then was used more generically than the term “Hansen’s disease” is today. Back in Bible times, leprosy could turn out to be a temporary skin ailment, or it could be a long-term minor disease, or it could be a fatal disease that brought much suffering with it. Any of these conditions would be called leprosy.
Because leprosy was both common and communicable, God gave the Hebrews strict rules for how to handle it when people became infected. In the book of Leviticus chapter thirteen, we may read a lengthy passage about identifying leprosy of various kinds, what to do when symptoms arose, and how the infected person may be declared “clean,” or healed from it. Throughout the whole process, the priest was to be involved. It was his job to identify leprosy in a person when symptoms became apparent, and it was his job to declare the person to be healed if the symptoms improved or disappeared. Especially in ancient times when medical knowledge and treatment was not as advanced as it is now, this was a practical system that helped to keep the general population protected! God is a practical God; He knows the best way for everything.
In our text in Luke 5, we see this man who was infected with leprosy. God had commanded that lepers be isolated from the healthy population. This would lead to leper colonies, where infected people would live together. There are places in the world today where leper colonies still exist. This leprous man in Luke 5 was suffering in many ways. First, he was no doubt suffering from the disease itself. Because “leprosy” was an especially generic term back then, we don’t know exactly the extent of his suffering. He was at least experiencing significant physical discomfort. He was also likely experiencing emotional and mental discomfort, brought on by the isolation that resulted from his leprosy. If this leprosy was the fatal kind, he was likely in dire straits, anticipating his approaching death in hopelessness. There was nothing anyone could do for him. They couldn’t cure him, they couldn’t even comfort him. Instead, they were required to avoid him.
How did this man end up in this situation? We’re not told. It’s possible that he didn’t do anything wrong or foolish, but was still infected with the bacteria somehow. Perhaps he was the unfortunate victim of another leper who was infected but not symptomatic, or was symptomatic but not honest about their condition. Or perhaps this man had been foolish in interacting with lepers. We don’t know how he became a leper, but it’s safe to assume that he regretted his condition every day of his life! He longed to be free of the disease, and to resume his life among his healthy fellow citizens. He had doubtless reflected on the events that had led to the discovery of the life-changing disease of leprosy, and he wished for another life-changing event that would return him to health. And then Jesus came to his city.
I find it interesting that Luke 5:12 says, “And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city...” I find it interesting to find the word “certain” here. It indicates precision and separates it from all other cities. When we read this verse from our position in the 21st century, it is hard to personally connect with the location being described. Even if the city was named, and we could find its location on a map, it would likely be merely a name in our minds. But to this leper, this “certain city” was highly significant to him because it was where he lived, and it was a life-changing event when Christ came to that certain city! I’m thankful that even when my situation is unknown or even irrelevant to others, the Lord Jesus Christ knows about it. My difficulties may not be significant to you, but they are to me, and I’m glad that there’s a God in Heaven who knows about them! God knows that there is a “certain man” in Grand Forks, North Dakota, named Ethan Custer, and He knows my needs and circumstances. My situation may not mean much to other people, but God knows all about it. He knows about the difficulties that every one of us are experiencing.
Next, we read that Jesus saw the leprous man in this certain city. Luke 5:12 says, “And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy.” The word “behold” means to look or see. It’s as though Luke is saying, “Christ is in a certain city, and Look! there’s a man full of leprosy.” May I remind you that no matter what your situation is, God sees you! He sees your behavior, your choices, your pain and your joy. He is not blind or distant. He sees it all.
Next, we read that this man was FULL of leprosy. This was no minor ailment; it was everywhere! It didn’t require a close examination to see that he was afflicted with the dread disease. It was immediately apparent what his problem was. There was no denying or hiding it.
Luke 5:12 goes on, “And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”
This man saw Jesus, and recognized him. We’re not sure how he knew who Jesus was. Did he guess? Had he heard accurate descriptions of what the Lord looked like? Did he hear rumors of Christ’s presence, and guessed it was Him? We’re not told, but we see that he wasted no time in asking for help.
First, we see that he asked Christ for help humbly: he fell on his face. The account of this man in Matthew 8 tells us that he worshipped the Lord. This leper didn’t curse God for making him a leper, or demand that Jesus heal him. He humbled himself, worshipped Christ, and “besought”—that means to beg or plead—the Lord to heal him.
Next, we see this man’s faith. He wasn’t in doubt as to Jesus’ abilities! He said, “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” The question wasn’t whether or not Jesus was able. The question in this leper’s mind was whether Christ was willing. And Jesus was willing!
Luke 5:13 KJV 1900
And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.
Christ demonstrated His power and His love in this response. He showed His power by immediately cleansing the man. If your body is fighting an infection, some time needs to pass before the symptoms disappear, once the infection is gone. But when Christ healed this leper, both the infection AND the symptoms were instantly gone! Only God could make this happen!
Christ also showed His love with a very personal response. He reached out and touched this man, say, “I will: be thou clean.” He didn’t need to touch him to heal him. Christ is God, and He created the universe with His mere words! He could have healed this leper in any way He chose. But He touched him. God is a very personal, very loving God to us. I’m so thankful that He loves us with a perfect love!
Next, the Lord showed a concern for this man’s future.
Luke 5:14 KJV 1900
And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
The Lord Jesus Christ knew that this man would remain a social outcast until he was declared clean by the priest. He could then resume his life among society, and rejoin his family. There was more to this man’s suffering than just his physical torment! His disease had affected his relationships with others as well. Christ didn’t want him to remain in that condition, and so He told the man to immediately go show himself to the priest, and to offer the sacrifices to obey God’s commands for purification.
It’s amazing to think about how this man’s life changed that day! When the day began, he was full of leprosy, and probably void of hope. Perhaps he expected the leprosy would take his life soon, and he was grieving over his plight. Perhaps he regretted the events that had begun his diseased sufferings. But then he had a life-changing experience: he met the Lord Jesus Christ! Within minutes, the whole direction of his life was radically different. Until the day he died, he no doubt remembered this moment in vivid detail, and thanked God many times over.
I doubt that you have ever been infected with the leprosy bacteria. I know I’ve never experienced these symptoms. I’ve never lived in a leper colony. But this man’s experience has more similarity to us today than we might think. You see, leprosy in the Bible is a picture of sin. There are many commonalities that this disease shares with the moral affliction that is sin.
Let’s go back to the beginning of this leper’s situation. The disease of leprosy is a bacterial infection that usually exists for a long time in the infected person before it begins to show symptoms—sometimes as long as 20 years! And sin can be that way, too. Sometimes a person’s sinful choices bring drastic and immediate results—drug use, theft or murder, for instance—but sometimes the sin can exist under the surface for some time before it becomes visible. But like leprosy, it will always come to the surface.
Proverbs 20:11 KJV 1900
Even a child is known by his doings, Whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
It wasn’t until the 1940s that a cure for leprosy was discovered. And just like leprosy in ancient times, there is no human cure for sin. People have come up with all sorts of theories on how to encourage right behavior and discourage wrong behavior, and inevitably these rehabilitation projects fail. Man may try to reform and may see some limited success in a few areas of his life, but his efforts to eradicate sin from his life always fail miserably. The tendency to sin is always present in us, because it is part of us. And there is nothing we can do to quit sinning for good.
Like leprosy, sin is a terminal condition.
Romans 6:23 KJV 1900
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ezekiel 18:20 says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Friend, don’t deceive yourself into thinking that God will overlook your sin and let you into Heaven anyway. He promised Adam and Eve that the day that they ate the forbidden fruit, they would die. Do you think your sin is less objectionable to God than eating some fruit from a tree? Every sin is wicked, and will be punished.
Heb. 2:2 tells us that “every transgression and disobedience [receives] a just recompence of reward;” God is totally just in His judgment of sin, and He tells us that sin brings death; always. That includes your sin and my sin. This leper was hopeless; he was full of leprosy. And sinners are full of sin, thinking and acting according to their lusts. They have no way of cleansing themselves and being justified before a holy and sinless God. They are hopeless.
But this hopelessness pertains to their own ability to save themselves. Thankfully, there is hope in God! Just as the leprous man was given a wonderful opportunity for healing by the entrance of Jesus Christ into his “certain city,” so are sinners given a wonderful opportunity to receive the great gift of God’s salvation through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But it only comes in a similar fashion to the healing of this leper.
Like the leper, sinners are helpless in their condition. John 3:18 says, “He that believeth on him [Christ] is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Sinners don’t have to do anything to go to Hell—they are condemned to Hell already, because of their sin! Like the leper, sinners need to meet Jesus Christ.
When the leper saw Christ, he came to Him and fell on his face to worship Him. Dear listener, when did you meet Jesus Christ? When did you recognize Him to be your only hope of salvation and eternal life? When did you humble yourself and repent of your sin, and trust only in His shed blood to cleanse you of your sin? This leper didn’t have a “Plan B” if Christ refused to heal him. He wasn’t planning to look up several other prophets or doctors or Pharisees for healing. He was dying, he was full of leprosy, and he was desperate. Have you ever seen your sin for the terrible blight that it is? Has it made you desperate to give your life to Christ and put your trust in Him alone? If not, it is likely that you are still in your sins; it is likely that you still are under sin’s curse and condemnation.
I have mentioned faith and trust in Christ, and sinners, like this leper, must trust in Christ for salvation. The leper was confident that Christ was able to heal him, and the Lord rewarded his faith. Sinners cannot be saved until they believe that Christ can save them, and that Christ will save them. Simply “adding Jesus to your life” will not save you. Simply praying a prayer will not save you. Salvation comes when you agree with God about the wickedness of your sin, give your life to Him, and trust Christ alone to forgive and cleanse you. Unlike the leper, Christ has promised before we ever come to Him, that if we come in faith and repentance, He WILL save us!
Romans 10:9–13 KJV 1900
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
What a kind and loving Saviour He is! And just like the leper, when a sinner is saved and forgiven of their sins, they are instantly and completely rescued from their condemnation! Jesus described salvation as a new birth in John chapter 3.
John 3:3 KJV 1900
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Just as physical birth happens at a moment in time, spiritual birth happens in a moment. It is complete, and it is permanent. Once a sinner is forgiven, they can never be lost again! They may still sin, but they don’t enjoy it. They desire above all to serve and please their Lord Jesus Christ. They are different. They are no longer a moral “leper.” They have been made clean by the blood of Christ. They are children of the King of kings!
Galatians 4:3–7 KJV 1900
Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Have you ever met Jesus Christ personally? Is He your Saviour? Do you know His presence in your daily life? How has He changed you? Once the leper met Christ, his life was never the same again. Christ’s miracle of healing provided the man with a life-changing experience! And sinners who have their sins washed in the blood of Christ have a life-altering, eternity-changing experience. They have been forgiven, made right with God, and given a home in Heaven! Their life is never the same again. Has this ever happened to you?
One more thing about this leper: he was healed because Christ first came to him, to his city. And in a similar way, we sinners are able to be saved because God seeks us, to bring us unto Him.
John 6:43–44 KJV 1900
Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
2 Corinthians 4:6 KJV 1900
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
God doesn’t save sinners in a compulsory fashion. No sinner is saved against their will. But no sinner “chases God down” in order to be saved. We are first loved and sought by Him, before we become aware of our need and ask Him for forgiveness.
1 John 4:19 KJV 1900
We love him, because he first loved us.
What about you? Have you ever seen your sin for what it is? Leprosy in ancient times was a repulsive and deadly disease, but sin is infinitely worse. Leprosy can only afflict the physical body, but sin afflicts the soul and damns it to eternal fiery judgment. Don’t try to justify yourself and claim that you are good! God says you are condemned already.
Instead, come to Christ. He has already been seeking you; He has already been speaking to your heart and giving you opportunities to know truth. He is speaking to you through the Scriptures even this morning. Will you humble yourself before Him, and repent of your sin, trusting in Him alone for salvation? Will you ask Him to make you clean and whole? Like He said the leper, when you come to Him in faith and repentance, He will answer, “I will: be thou clean.”
When you meet the Saviour, it is a life-changing experience! You are never the same again. When did your life change because you met the Saviour? If you never have, you may do it today. Won’t you come to Him for salvation?
If you have any questions about this broadcast or about other truths from the Bible, we at Bible Baptist Church would be glad to visit with you! You may contact us in a number of ways. First, you may contact me via email by writing to truthfortoday@bbcgf.org. You may also find our website at www.bbcgf.org. Bible Baptist Church is located at 6367 Gateway Drive in Grand Forks, and we have regular Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening services. You are welcome to attend any of them. If you would rather watch the livestream of our services, or if you would like to watch archives of past services, you may find them on our website as well.
Thank you for listening today! Please tune in again next week at this same time for more truth from God’s Word, on Truth for Today.
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