Heeding the Master’s Touch

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Begin by giving honor to the Pastor and first lady of the Rock Church. Give honor to Brother Robinette and of course my pastor.

Matt 8:1-4 “When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, 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.”

1 Cor 2:9 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

You may be seated

You see in Jesus’ day lepers did not simply approach the community, let alone fall at the face of a Jew who saw such diseases as unclean. The poor leper knew something was different about Jesus. He knew if he could just get him to administer a few words, he’d be healed.

If the son of God would just speak to me, maybe I’d be healed. Jesus, however, defies expectations because he doesn’t give lepers a simple word. He touches them when no one else will.

Today, with the help of the Lord I would like to minister to you for a few moments Heeding the Master’s Touch!

Moving From One Place to the Next:

The Bible indicates that a man, many scholars identify that he was a poor man, made his way to something that he knew would change his life. Luke 5:12 states that the man was full of leprosy. He wasn’t partially touched by this disease of isolation, but fully consumed.

Today, all we hear about is COVID-19 this and COVID-19 that or Monkey Pox this and Monkey Pox that. The reality is neither one of these diseases are untouchable by the master. The problem is people have refused one important step demonstrated by the leper: he moved toward the master for redemption.

“And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” (Matt 8:2)

Erchomai - to move toward, travel toward, or approach something or somebody; whether physically or as an abstract location.

Mark 1:40 uses this same verb, where both passages say that the man begged Jesus to heal him.

The beggar didn’t know if Jesus would heal him. He said, “master if you will”

He didn’t deny that Christ was able…he believed he was able, but the question was whether or not a righteous God would heal an unrighteous man.

The man was lowly, where many scholars identify that he was poor.

For the leper, Jesus wasn’t option B - he was option A. There was not alternative to Jesus because Jesus was his only hope.

Often, we set Jesus as our secondary answer for when things don’t go our way:

Finances

Health

We’ll wait till all options are exhausted before going to the Lord with our troubles. Will wait till everything has gone awry before seeking prayer at church and then when the minister does pray doubt that God will do what he said he’d do in Scriptures.

Let me enlighten you on a fact - this church won’t be any different to unbeliever in Defuniak Springs if they don’t see the genuine demonstration of God’s Spirit. If you are the ones Paul was talking about in 1 Cor 2:10 - that means you ought to be operating in God’s power.

Everyone say that’s me

Mark 11:24 states - Mark 11:24 “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

TW Barnes, an anointed prophet of God, stated, “Notice what gets the prayer answered is not the promise; it is our receiving the promise…The man or woman, who after they pray, believe, and do not allow visible or natural things to alter their faith brings this invisible promise to pass right from the spirit world.”

Looking back to Matt 8:2, the leper wasn’t even following Jesus. He simply had faith and knew the power of a spoken word from God.

There are drug addicts crying out for help in this city. Another 6000 or so who fail to know Christ through the Spirit and worship him in truth.

Jesus has planted you here to be his hands and feet. They may not be following you, but will you move toward them. Will you teach them. Will you disciple them even when it gets tough.

Or have we come to the point of giving up. God’s not done here, nor should we be. The reality is you are one conversation away from a breakthrough in Defuniak Springs. The people you are ministering to are the very key to revival and amplified harvest in this church, but you fail to see how God’s promise to you could ever become a reality.

God hasn’t given you the increase of your promise because you don’t believe he will.

So I want to beg this question: will you move from the current location of unbelief to belief in Christ’s power to break every stronghold, every malignity in your body, and every curse that effects your family.

Miracles Lead to Testimonies

We know that Jesus told the man to go and show himself to the priest. Additionally, he was to offer the gift that Moses commanded in Lev 14. However, if the man was poor, as many suppose, we would have to understand that the Law accounted for those without. Here is what was to be brought before the priest:

Lev 14:21 “And if he be poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make an atonement for him, and one tenth deal of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, and a log of oil;”

You see, the Pharisees always were looking for a sign from Jesus. Jesus was prepared to give them a sign through this man’s testimony, but the man disobeyed Jesus and Mk 1:39 says he set ablaze the entire city so that Jesus could not enter it openly.

The Jews understood that leprosy would be healed during the Messianic age. Such a miracle would have no doubt of alerted the pharisees to Christ’s arrival. However, what would they have understood if they realized the lamb to be sacrificed for this man’s sins was the very one who healed him to begin with!

A single testimony could have altered many scribes, pharisees, and even sadducees.

A miracle is given to bring about faith, but to often Christians fail to the faith needed to birth a miracle. That’s why Paul talked of the gift of Faith.

That’s where we look to the Faith of Christ and not our own. I don’t have enough faith to work a miracle, but Christ’s faith sure does!

Closing

Maybe today you’ve come seeking a miracle.

The Holy Ghost

Baptism

Physical

I want to beg the question will you come just as the leper came to Jesus? Will you use your testimony to glorify God and celebrate him to others? The reality is God wants to use this instance in time to produce fruit through you, but will you allow him to?

Altar Call