Go Back & Tell The Lord Thank You/

Text: Luke 17:11-17

Luke 17:11–17 KJV

And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

A couple of applications from this text. Let’s exegete first:

Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. He reaches the border between Galilee and Samaria. Samaria was off limits to the Jews, they had nothing to do with the Samaritans not just because they were a mixed race, which the law told the Israelites not to intermingle with the heathen nations around them. But also, some of the Samaritans who came and inhabited the land that was given to the Israelites had no Israelite blood in them.

Hence we see the animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans. Not only that, but the Samaritans after they had worshipped idols, attempted to hijack worship of the one true God.

Jesus stands on the board of two lands, one which upholds the things of God, one which contains the Jews. And another land that had been desolated, a place and a people which the Jews had nothing to do with, it was even against the law to have company with a Samaritan.

The scriptures declare that as Jesus enters the village (verse 12) that there met him 10 men that were lepers, which stood afar off. I want you to notice this. They were sick, they were considered outcasts, they were separated from their families, they were not allowed to go to the synagogue nor the temple to worship. They had to holler out “unclean.....unclean” when they walked through the streets. They were in pain, full of open sores, no help was found for them and nobody wanted anything to do with them.

BUT THEN CAME JESUS!!! They stood at a distance and said “JESUS......MASTER”, the first two words got his attention. Because the name Jesus means “The Lord is my salvation”. He has the ability to save and we have to understand salvation from the standpoint of the Old Testament and also the New Testament. Salvation in the Old Testament meant that God saved his people from some type of calamity, persecution, or destruction. Salvation in the New Testament means that God saves his people from their sins.

So first the recognize that Jesus has the power to save them from their calamity, because remember.....Jesus hadn’t died yet, the Old Testament is still in force. So when they call on Jesus, they call on the one who they knew had the power to save them from their distress. WHEN I CALL ON JESUS.....I KNOW WHO I’M CALLING ON.....I’M CALLING ON THE ONE WHO HAS THE POWER TO SAVE. WOULDN’T IT BE AMAZING THAT BEFORE WE STEP INTO 2024 SOMEONE CALL ON THE NAME JESUS......AND THE LORD DELIVERS THEM!!!! SOMEONE SHOULD BE CALLING ON THE NAME NOW.....BECAUSE THERE IS POWER IN THAT NAME.......JESUS. I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU NEED FROM THE LORD BEFORE THE YEAR CLOSES OUT, BUT GET THAT NEED ON YOUR MIND AND START CALLING ON THAT NAME OF SALVATION!

Secondly, they called Jesus “Master” in the greek it is epistates which means “one who stands by”......eh......I get that. But what you don’t understand is usually when we read in the english we need to determine exactly what the word means. Because we often think that Master means one who is over something, one who is in control, one who teaches. And this is true. But there is a final definition that is often overlook, Master also means “DOCTOR”. So in essence, they were saying Jesus, the one who can save, you are a doctor and we know you have authority over our sickness.

DO YOU KNOW WHO JESUS REALLY IS!?!?!?

Because they knew who Jesus was they could cry out 4 more words “Master, have mercy on us.” There we go again, the most effective prayers aren’t always the ones where you go on a deep spiritual tangent......sometimes you need to just get to the point! When you have a need, when you have an issue, when you need deliverance, when you need help, when you need strength, when you are in trouble.....the BEST PRAYER YOU CAN PRAY IS “JESUS, Master......have mercy on me!” I dare someone to lift up their voice and believe God for whatever it is you need from Him right now before this year closes.

Jesus first hears! I said he heard them.......He heard you just now.

And then he tells them “Go shew yourselves unto the priests.” But there is one problem here. Lepers aren’t even allowed to be on the premises. But faith doesn’t seek to understand a thing.....it just operates on the word of God! They did exactly what Jesus told them to do, they didn’t question it, they didn’t doubt it, they believed it, and then they walked in their faith!

That’s why some people don’t get blessed, they start asking questions, they don’t obey God’s word, and they don’t walk in faith. Because when you walk in faith you are walking in God’s word and God’s promises.

Saints of God, the problem with some of you is that your looking for God to knock you out, you’re looking to speaking in tongues for an whole hour to be healed, when all you have to do is believe God’s word and then walk in your healing, walk in your blessing, obey God’s word and do what He says!!! The blessings......will come and overtake you!!!

Don’t believe me.....the next verse says “As they went, they were cleansed.....as they went....the sores started to disappear, as they went, the pain started to dissipate......they didn’t have to shout, they didn’t have to speak in tongues, they just had to obey The LORD!!! I dare someone tonight to just start walking in their faith, get it in your mind what you want the LORD to do and just start walking and praising Him for whatever you are believing the Master to do on your behalf.

NOW HERE IS THE SECOND PART!

Verse 15 says, one of them when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a LOUD VOICE......NOT A QUIET VOICE. Tell your neighbor get ready. With a LOUD VOICE glorified God and fell down on his face at his feet (humility) BECAUSE PRIDE WILL CAUSE YOU TO KEEP YOUR MOUTH CLOSED, PRIDE WILL CAUSE YOU TO ACT ALL DIGNIFIED AND SIDITY. BUT WHEN YOU ARE LOW, WHEN YOU ARE IN THE GUTTER AND THE LORD BRINGS YOU OUT OF A LOW, HARD SPOT.....YOU DON’T HAVE TIME TO LOOK QUTE, YOU DON’T HAVE TIME TO BE QUITE, YOU DON’T HAVE TIME TO BE DIGNIFY. I GOT SOMETHING I GOTTA DO......I GOTTA GO BACK AND TELL THE LORD THANK YOU!!!

AND WATCH THIS, 9 OF THEM WERE JEWS, BUT THE LAST ONE THAT CAME BACK WAS A SAMARITIAN! HE WASN’T EVEN SUPPOSE TO BE COUNTED WORTHY......BUT THE LORD HAD MERCY ON HIM.

LET’S STACK RIGHT HERE:

FIRST OF ALL GOD DIDN’T HAVE TO SAVE YOU. HE COULD HAVE LEFT YOU IN YOUR SINS. I GOT TO GO BACK AND TELL THE LORD THANK YOU FOR SAVING ME.

I GOT TO GO BACK AND TELL THE LORD THANK YOU FOR YOUR BLOOD, THANK YOU FOR DYING FOR ME.

THANK YOU FOR CALLING ME OUT OF A WORLD OF SIN.

THANK YOU FOR NOT LETTING ME DIE IN MY SIN.

GO BACK AND TELL THE LORD THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU FOR NOT SENTENCING ME TO HELL!!!

COME ON LET’S STACK SOME MORE:

IT’S 2023 GETTING READY TO BE 2024.

SOME OF US COULD HAVE DIED A LONG TIME AGO.

SOME OF US MAY HAVE EVEN BACK SLIDDEN BUT THE LORD BROUGHT US BACK AND FORGAVE US.

SOME OF US ALMOST DIED WHEN THE PANDEMIC FIRST HIT, BUT THE MASTER WAS IN CONTROL, THE DOCTOR WAS IN THE HOUSE.

TELL SOMEBODY I GOT TO GO BACK AND TELL THE LORD THANK YOU!!!!

LET’S STACK ONE MORE TIME:

WE’VE BEEN THROUGH SOME ADVERSITY THIS YEAR.

SOME OF US BEEN SICK BUT THE LORD HEALED US.

MARRIAGES WAS ROCKY BUT HE RESTORED THEM.

WE’VE SEEN FAMILY MEMBERS SAVED.

HE BROUGHT US OFF OPERATING TABLES.

HE PROVIDED FOR US WHEN WE DIDN’T HAVE.

WE LOST LOVE ONES BUT HE KEPT OUR MINDS.

WE LOST JOBS BUT HE GAVE ANOTHER JOB.

SOME OF US WRESTLED WITH DEPRESSION BUT HE FREED US.

SOME OF US HE FINALLY ANSWERED THE PRAYER WE HAD BEFORE HIM.

HE BROUGHT US THROUGH.....NO......HE CARRIED US THROUGH THIS YEAR, I LOOKED DOWN AND SAW ONE SET OF FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND. IT WAS THE LORD CARRYING YOU THIS YEAR......CARRYING WHEN YOU WERE TIRED, CARRYING WHEN YOU WERE FRUSTRATED, CARRYING YOU WHEN YOU WERE HURTING, CARRYING YOU WHEN YOU WERE BETRAYED.

IF YOU KNEW THE PLANS THE DEVIL HAD FOR YOU THIS YEAR YOUR MIND WOULD BE BLOWN....BUT THANK GOD JESUS ABORTED THEM!!!

LOOK AT SOMEBODY AND TELL THEM......EXCUSE ME......BUT I GOT TO GO BACK OVER THE YEARS, I GOT TO GO BACK OVER THIS YEAR......AND I GOT TO GO BACK AND TELL THE LORD THANK YOU!!!! COME ON AND LIFT YOUR VOICES, COME ON AND WALK IN YOUR BLESSING........AND JUST TELL THE LORD THANK YOU!!!

ALL I NEED IS THE ONE LEPER, THE ONE THAT IS WILLING TO GO BACK AND TELL THE LORD THANK YOU! EVERYONE ISN’T GOING TO DO IT, 1 OUT OF 10 ONLY SHOWED SOME APPRECIATION FOR WHAT THE LORD HAD DONE.

THE REST WENT ON LIKE BUSINESS AS USUAL.