Practice What You Preach:He Touched Me

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The willingness of Jesus to have intimate contact with people of all walks of life.

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THESIS

The availability of Christ to all is a foundational truth that should be taught and practiced everyday because the art of practicing what we preach is a virtue that all Christians need to understand and master.

INTRODUCTION

Paul said for I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power God for Salvation to everyone who will believe. This statement coincides with the declaration of Christ himself in John 3:16 . It is that whosoever that is most compelling to me and inclusive for all. Why do you say this preacher. Well it is well known and documented that everybody in society is not a part of the “in crowd”. There are always people who through their social economic condition, legal status, medical diagnosis, age, mental health status, or sexual preference have been set at the margins of societal life. They are shunned and looked upon with disdain and disgrace. They are placed in what would be seen as societal jail kept at arms length so as not to defile anyone else around them. It is these people some of whom want to be reinstated and given a second chance that I want to speak to. These are the people who we want to talk about today. Those who recognize a need for and welcome Divine intervention into their circumstances. Those who recognize the need of just a touch from Jesus.

EXPOSITION

What we must understand as teachers, preachers of the Gospel, as missionaries and Evangelists and witnesses of Christ we can’t stay at the place of Verbal instruction only. There is a time to instruct through our practice and you
PRACTICE IN THE VALLEY NOT ON THE MOUNTAINTOP

When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

As Jesus concluded His Sermon on the Mount teaching and exhorting all that heard and especially His disciples to love everyone, to forgive, to be patient with, to be the light of the World, and to not be respecter of person when it came down to these virtues.
The bible says:

41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

The Bible says:

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

The Bible says:

Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Now this does not mean to avoid correction but to not be judgemental in such. the bible will call our sins into the light. you point them to the scripture
Jesus had to come down from His seat of Teacher and put it to work as our Exemplar or become an example for us to follow.

OPPORTUNITY WILL PRESENT ITSELF

2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

Behold there came a leper
Why a leper the reviled and ostracized person in society at that time. The leper was an outcast from normal society.
A leper was contagious but in actuality Not all were in fact serious or contagious, but all were lumped together and covered by the strict ‘quarantine’ regulations of Leviticus 13–14. The sufferer was not only potentially a health hazard, and likely to be physically objectionable; he was also ceremonially unclean.
the leper was one who had to announce their sin everywhere they went or risk being further ousted from the community
The leper represents anyone set outside of the love, compassion, and concern of the community:
the drug dealer, the whoremonger and prostitute, the drug addict, the mentally ill, black or white, the known sex offender, the alcoholic, AIDS patient, Gay or Lesbian… these people are set at nought because of their conditions and seen as hopeless by most of society
BUT THIS LEPER HAD THE COURAGE TO APPROACH JESUS
he came with only a glimmer of hope seeking the one in whom he may have heard from a far off that could help him

the leper approached Jesus with the conviction of his ability to help is therefore an indication of an awareness of the authority of Jesus

Do you believe you can be helped
Do you believe you need help
are you willing to worship
The leper stated that if though will though can make me clean
the leper knew his condition (a need to be clean). He did not ignore his state as if it was everybody else that has the problem
THE key to the lepers cleansing was that he put his self righteousness aside, put down all of the excuses, stopped blaming others,
he came just as he was

HE TOUCHED ME ANYWAY

3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Jesus did the improbable, the unthinkable, he touched him
The shout is not the touch but that he put forth His hand
he put all the Jewish laws aside, he stopped worrying about what the multitude was going to say and think of him
he laid down His own proclivities, biases, prejudices, and tendencies. Mark says that he had compassion or “moved with pity” he had mercy
HE TOUCHED HIM ANYWAY ( Can I Encourage somebody)
JESUS SAYS I WILL
You may be the drug dealer, the whoremonger and prostitute, the drug addict, the mentally ill, black or white, the known sex offender, the alcoholic, AIDS patient, Gay or Lesbian
It is at that moment that you really want it, really ask for, really seek the Lord for deliverance, when you put your feelings aside. He will say I will be thou clean and you shall be
THE EVIDENCE WILL SPEAK FOR ITSELF

See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

you don’t have to tell anybody
Jesu was more concerned with him getting to the priest so the priest could declare him clean and therefore reinstate him back into society
Jesus used the declaration of the priest to be the verification of the cleansing
the multitude that saw the leper address Jesus and saw and heard what Jesus said even though they saw and heard it for themselves . Jesus knew they would only believe when it was verified by the priests
So it is with us. We need someone to say i remember what you used to be and do but now...
Jesus was concerned with getting the leper back into right standing in society so that is previous state would not hinder his testimony. The same way Jesus brings us back into Kingdom relationship
Gospel
Shackled by a heavy burden, 'Neath a load of guilt and shame.
Then the hand of Jesus touched me, And now I am no longer the same.
He touched me, Oh He touched me, And oh the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened and now I know, He touched me and made me whole.
Since I met this blessed Savior, Since He cleansed and made me whole,
I will never cease to praise Him, I'll shout it while eternity rolls.
He touched me, Oh He touched me, And oh the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened and now I know He touched me and made me whole.
R. T. France, Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 1, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 156.
R. T. France, Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 1, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 156.
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