Bruce Collins, Evangelist

The personal website of Bruce Collins

Music to the Ears!

 

 

Matthew 8:2-3  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

 

The True Story of What Happened

This leper needed to be healed.  A leper in the days of the Lord was to be socially segregated so that others would not get the disease.  We would call that being quarantined except a quarantined person is usually restricted to their house while a leper was generally put outside the city.  If someone approached them, they were to cry “unclean, unclean.”  They were to dwell alone “outside the camp.”  So when this leper approached the Lord, he probably shouldn’t have.  But he knew his need and he was confident the Lord could meet it.  And the Lord did meet his need.  Those words, “I am willing” had to be music to his ears.

 

The Application to us Today!

Leprosy has always been considered to be a picture of sin.  But since we are all sinners, it must represent the kinds of sins that we can share with others.  These would be social sins of our society.  It isn’t the sins that we commit unintentionally; leprosy must represent the intentional sins that we learn from others.   But at some point, many people involved in sins such as selling drugs, murder, lying, cheating, and immorality come to hate themselves.  Some end up in prison and when they realize how damaged they are both before men and before God, some of them truly repent and realize that their rebellion is not just against man but their rebellion is really against God.  When they do, Satan often tries to convince these people that they are beyond hope and that God would never want them or forgive them.  And yet that is just what God wants to do.  He sent His Son so that we who are sinners of any kind can be forgiven.  But often it is the gross sinner that society rejects that comes to the Lord and gets the blessing of spiritual healing.  The people who think that they are “good enough” on their own to get to heaven, miss out on the beauty of those words, “I am willing: be cleansed.” 

 

The cleansing of this leper had to be proven to be real so he had to go to the priest and offer a sacrifice and be pronounced clean.  The priests were often like doctors in the Old Testament and were taught how to discern leprosy and how to determine if it had run its course.  They determined if the person was no longer able to give it to others. 

 

Hearing those Words Today!

I wish that when we were sick with any disease, we could approach the Lord and hear those words, “I am willing be cleansed.”  But while there are a lot of differences of opinion with regard to current “faith healing” and “faith healers”, I am convinced that whenever we are healed physically it is because of the healing power of the Lord.  We may get healed from the flu, from colds, from gall bladder attacks, from heart disease and from other maladies.  In each case the healing process may be different.  In some cases, the apparent healer is a doctor but in each case, the real healer is the Lord.  However, we must admit that many times we pray for healing and the sick person is not healed.  So we don’t always get to hear those words in this dispensation.  That is a practical reality even for those who try to practice faith healing.

 

But spiritually we can all hear those words, “I am willing!”  Sin is a disease that kills.  It destroys relationships.  It destroys mental health.  Ultimately, it leads to death.  But what about eternity?  What happens after death?  The Bible says that we can all be prepared for this “afterwards.”  If we realize our need, if we come in simple trusting faith to the Lord, He says He will cleanse us and make us fit for heaven.  And He wants to do that.  The repentant thief that died beside the Lord was cleansed and saved in the eleventh hour of his life.  Did He deserve his salvation?  NO!  Did the Lord want to save Him?  YES!  I am convinced the Lord also wanted to save the other thief, but the other thief said NO to the Lord. 

 

Conclusion

There is a straight forward verse in the New Testament that has always encouraged me.  It is found in Paul’s writings to Timothy.  Paul says that the Lord “will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).”  I love those words “all men” and of course that includes all women.  “I am willing, be cleansed.”  Those are beautiful words and words that are music to the ears of any who have spiritual leprosy.

 

Bruce Collins

 

Meditation for the week of January 10, 2016

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