Follow Jesus Series 20

Turning Back To Jesus

Text: Luke 17:11-19

Introduction

Illustration: In 1860, the Lady Elgin was rammed by the Augusta and sank in Lake Michigan near Evanston, Illinois. A ministerial student named Edward Spencer waded again and again into the frigid waters to rescue passengers. In the process, his health was permanently damaged. Some years later at his funeral, it was noted that not one of the people he rescued ever thanked him.

Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

1) Connect Deeply With Your Need

A. Realization of their need led them to seek Jesus

These men were truly sensible of the wretchedness. They “stood afar off.”

These men were made up of both Jews and Samaritan.

A picture illustrating that sin lumps us all in the same category before God.

They did not however, stand by and do nothing!

They met Jesus upon His arrival.

In spire of His own fatigue, Jesus did not turn them away!

These men found the words to express their feelings. They cried from deep within for relief when a chance for healing appeared.

These men teach us a great deal on the subject of prayer.

If you and I are being honest, we would have to admit that many never pray at all!

I’m not talking about the shallow formalities of prayer.

Many even on their dying bed embrace it not with prayer but with a hardened spirit.

WHY??? It really comes down to having not real sense of their own sin.

There is a refusal to admit and feel their spiritual disease.

They choose to be conscience of everything else except their condemning guilt.

The distance from which the lepers cried reminds us how Jesus should be approached; GREAT HUMILITY.

The impure is approaching the infinitely pure.

The sinful is approaching the infinitely righteous.

This goes for genuine believers also! Often times their prayers are cold at best.

They have become a kind of lukewarm wondering prayer.

They too are living with an awareness of their weakness and helplessness apart from God.

My best advise for the believer who’s prayers are at best lukewarm…pray to God to renew a soul shaking awareness of your real necessities and dependence on God’s grace.

When a person embraces humility and honesty before God, they will find themselves learning very quickly how to pray!!! We see this example (in the physical sense) from these 10 lepers.

2) Connect Positively With Jesus’ Words

A. Jesus’ words were not what they seemed

On the surface, this seemed like a fools errand.

What happened to our child-like faith?

We’ve gotten older and more intelligent.

We’ve grown in the wisdom of the world and not that of holy scripture.

The Absence of faith is always a result from the absence of truth in our hearts.

These lepers illustrate to us what is called a child-like faith.

Jesus did nothing more than give them the opportunity to walk by faith.

Their walk of faith would be based solely on the words of Christ.

He did not say, “If you go and show yourselves to the priest, you will then be healed.” He said, “Go show yourselves to the priest.”

Their faith was on trial!

B. Pursuing in obedience is pursuing God’s blessings

There was not found any hesitation in their reaction to Jesus’ words.

If they had responded in any other fashion, their leprosy would have remained.

Actually, Jesus could have commanded anything and attached healing to their response of faith.

Faith in action is not exclusively trusting His words when we need healing, but rather trust His words for the simple fact He is Lord of my life.

God was taking action as they were actively obedient.

Obedience is not something you can accomplish while in bed snoring on the couch.

Idleness and obedience can never live in the same room.

What was the first word Jesus spoke in His commandment: GO!

The life of the believer is about forward motion (bible, prayer, worship, giving, service, etc.)

3) Connect To Christ With Thankfulness

One out of the nine did not make the full journey to the priest.

All lepers became former lepers at the same moment.

There was no mistake on the feeling of being healed.

You learn a lot about what a person loves as they follow their own desires while carrying around God’s blessings.

The Samaritan’s humility led him back to Christ.

Nine were filled with selfishness and greed while the one was emptied.

The Nine — “Now I can pursue my career” & “Now I can return to my family” & “Now I can return back to the temple”

The One — Nothing I am or now have can be accredited to me!

Try for a moment to hear the tone of Jesus’ response to the Samaritan’s arrival.

“Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?”

Sometimes the best of us are just like the nine!

We are more inclined to pray instead of praise.

We often ask for what we don’t have instead of thanking God for what He has already given us.

Notice the model the Samaritan displays for us how to pursue Jesus with thankfulness:

First — Have a great awareness from where all blessings originate.

Second — Respond with eagerness to pursue the origin of your blessings.

Third — Don’t be ashamed for all to witness your worship of the Blesser.

Fourth — Always approach with humility.

Fifth — Repeat the first four steps!

The samaritans humility brought about a greater healing than that of his leprosy.

“Thy faith hath made thee whole”

The nine were healed, but the one was made WHOLE!

The nine moved on with their cure while the one moved upward with his faith.

Conclusion

Un-Believer: Will you respond to God with faith in Christ as Savior? You won’t do this without coming to terms with a real sense of your wretchedness and your hopelessness.

Believer: Will you turn back to Christ with a real sense of your weakness without Christ and your complete dependence on Christ?

God is not calling you to formalities, He is calling you to humble yourself before Him.