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GRACE CHANGES EVERYTHING
Luke 18:9-14 Dr. Chuck DeVane, Pastor Lake Hamilton Baptist Church Hot Springs, Arkansas October 28, 2018 9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” — Luke 18:9-14, ESV Jesus presents us with a parable that puts in our minds two people we can see and two prayers we can hear. Many sermons have been preached about the great differences between the two main characters. My contention, however, is that they were basically the same, except for one thing, an invisible and irresistible gift that changes everything. Two People Climbing up to the temple mount, these two people look drastically different. But, they are the same people with the same problem that plagues every member of the human race. They were clothed with everything they needed except for the one thing we all need the most. The Pharisee would be well-dressed in a conservative style, probably in some garments the equivalent of a black business suit. His shoes would be shiny, there’d be money in his pockets, and he would have the admiration of the crowd. In a world where religion pervaded every area of life, the Pharisees were the elites and the envy of Jews everywhere. The tax collector would appear quite differently, in person and in the public eye. He would be dressed well, too, only in a disco style from a distant decade. He’d have cash, too, taken from overcharged bills to his overtaxed countrymen. He would not be beloved by his fellow Jews, for he had sold his soul, or at least rented it, to the enemy, the oppressors of Israel, the Roman Empire. Ironically, the affections felt for these to people are as opposite as their appearance. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees were cheered while the tax collectors were jeered. In our day, we boo the Pharisees and root for the underdog publican. Perhaps thanking God we are not like the Pharisee is to miss the point of the parable. My point here is the two men look different, and we feel differently about them, but they are exactly the same before God as they enter the temple. God sees their sin, although only one admits he has it. God does not see true righteousness, although one thinks he already has it. The Pharisee is self-righteous and the tax collector is unrighteous, but they are the same, they both lack the righteousness God requires. So the two, in the same fashion, stand condemned before God as they kneel in the temple to pray. Two Prayers Both prayers were launched from the temple. Both prayers were honest. They reflected how each man felt about himself and God. I’m sure the Pharisee wasn’t like other men, engaged in strenuous religious activity, and separated himself from “this tax collector.” The tax collector was indeed a “sinner,” so both men can be heard telling the truth in the temple. But religious proximity and verbal integrity is where the similarity ends. Examine closely the Pharisee’s prayer, which reveals his sin-sick, self-righteous soul. It is a big-headed monster with four I’s. Or, maybe just two eyes, as the late, great Haddon Robinson said, “He had his good eye on himself, his bad eye on the tax collector, and no eye left for God.” The parable obviously summarizes the Pharisee’s prayer, because pharisaical prayers were well-known for being long and loud. The Pharisee’s prayer was anti-Christ, for these religious rulers had already rejected the Preacher of this parable. This prayer was anti-gospel, because it was all about what the Pharisee had done for God, not what God had done for the Pharisee. This prayer was anti-Reformation, because it rejected justification by faith and offered works as a means of obtaining the righteousness of God. The tax collector’s prayer begins the same way as the Pharisee’s, addressed to “God.” It too is summarized in the parable, because in full length many specific sins would have spilled out. It would not have been as long as the Pharisee’s, as it quickly cuts to the chase. But before this distinctive sinner’s prayer was uttered, something was going on and something was giving in this tax collector’s mind, heart, and will. Heretofore the sight of a tax collector would have made a Pharisee sick. But now, the sound of that Pharisee’s prayer made the tax collector sick. He was sick of self-righteousness, and knew that was not the path to God. He was sick of his own unrighteousness, after years of living in rebellion against God and ruining other people’s lives with his greed, lust, and pride. Something made the tax collector “beat his breast” as he began to pray, signifying a mournful remorse for his sinful condition, his earned reputation, and his inability to do anything about it. Then something happened that you cannot see before words were uttered that you could hear. One thing led to the other and everything in this sinner’s world, and this saint’s world to come, was changed. The Difference Between the Two Jesus makes plain the difference between the two. One was hardened by his sin and the other was humbled. One offered his own righteousness while the other begged God for His. “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (ref. vs. 14). They came to the temple that day exactly the same, lost, undone, lacking the righteousness of God. They left in two different directions, one downward and one Godward. What makes the difference? You cannot tell by looking at the Pharisee. The tax collector holds all the clues. Focus on this sinner, this one who became justified. What exactly happened to erase his past, change his present, and guarantee his future? There was a drawing near to God, but where does such a drawing come from, from man or from God? There was deep conviction of sin, but where does such conviction come from, from man or from God? There was a sincere calling upon the name of the Lord, but where does effectually calling come from, from man or from God? There was faith expressed, but where does faith come from, from man or from God? There was mercy requested and received, but where does mercy come from, from man or from God? What happened to the tax collector? If we could ask him, I can hear him singing the answer, in a tone lovelier than the great Larnelle Harris: Were it not for grace, I can tell you where I’d be, Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere, With my salvation up to me I know how that would go, The battles I would face, Forever running but losing the race, Were it not for grace. It is the grace of God the Father that draws a person to God (ref. John 6:44). It is the grace of God the Spirit that convicts a person of sin (ref. John 16:8). It is the grace of God the Son that pays the price for a person’s sin and gives them the righteousness of God (ref. 2 Corinthians 5:21). It is grace that begets faith (ref. Ephesians 2:8). It is the undeserved gift of grace that bestows upon us the mercy that withholds our punishment and puts in on Christ. Two spiritually dead men walked into the temple. Only one left alive. The first exited as he entered, rich, popular, and religious. The second walked out in the opposite direction, poor in spirit, willing to stand alone for Christ, declared righteous by God. Grace changes the way God looks at you. Grace changes the way you look at God. Grace changes the way you look at yourself and others. Grace changes your past, present, and future. Grace changes everything. Copyright © 2018 Lake Hamilton Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Check out the weekly happenings at Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
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GOD IS AN UNJUST JUDGE
Luke 18:1-8 Dr. Chuck DeVane, Pastor Lake Hamilton Baptist Church Hot Springs, Arkansas October 21, 2018 1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” — Luke 18:1-8, ESV Did you know that Morgan Freeman murdered his first wife? Did you know Tom Hanks was a low IQ child with a crippled back who blindly stumbled into fortune and fame? Did you know Robert Duvall was a dysfunctional young adult who lived with his parents until the day he killed a man for trying to harm two young children in the neighborhood? None of these things are true, of course, about the actual men. But it is true about the parts they played as actors in famous films. Freeman was Ellis “Red” Boyd in The Shawshank Redemption, Hanks was Forrest Gump, and Duvall’s first screen appearance came as Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird. This brings us to today’s sermon title. Did you know God is an unjust judge? Not that the Sovereign of the universe could ever do wrong, by no means; but, in a parable He plays the role of an unjust judge. It was the Son of God’s way of making some key points about God the Father, the kingdom of God, and those of us who live in it, now and forever. The kingdom of God is a kingdom you cannot see, but with faithful focus you can find yourself in the midst of it, and it in the midst of you. It is an invisible kingdom now and a visible kingdom to come, but before the days of glory there will be a season of darkness. The time just before the second coming of Christ will be like the “days of Noah” and the “days of Lot” (ref. Luke 17:26-28). Injustice and immorality will be rampant, and the size and strength of God’s people will wane to a small remnant. The going is going to get tough. So what are God’s people to do? Jesus said, “Pray and not lose heart.” Then He gave us this parable to build a platform for prayer, perseverance, and patiently waiting for the kingdom of God to come. The Interpretation of the Parable In the parable, God plays the part of “a judge who neither feared God nor respected man … the unrighteous judge.” He withholds justice for a time and people suffer for it. At the end, however, he rules in favor of the widow, against her adversary, and all is right in the world. Except for the fact that God is altogether righteous and absolutely holy, the parable pits Him spot on. God fears no one, but rather should be feared. He is sovereign, omnipotent, and His decree is the final word. God does not respect man, in the sense that no man is His equal, no man is His peer, no man can thwart His power. And, at the present time, God is withholding justice from our increasingly unjust world, a world where good and godly people suffer persecution while the most petulant perpetrators seem to gain power and go free. What about the “widow in that city?” Widows in Jesus’ day were the most dependent people in town. Their basic needs often had to be met by others. They could by no means afford a paid advocate and had to plead their own cases in court. Without a kinsman redeemer or a kind judge, they lived with little or no hope. So are we, my fellow Christians, in this present world, whether we know it or not. The widow is you and me, my male Christian friends. The widow is you, too, all you married and unmarried Christian women. The widow represents “the elect,” all of the children of God, living in the kingdom of God, often suffering and crying out for help, until justice and the kingdom of God come fully and visibly into view. Every Christian should ask, who is “my adversary?” Jesus said it is the world, or the secular systems of power and authority that are opposed to the kingdom of God. Concerning this Jesus prayed in John 17:14, “The world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” Paul wrote we are betrayed by our own flesh or earthly desires and desperately cried, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death” (ref. Romans 7:24)? Peter warned us, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (ref. 1 Peter 5:8). So there you have it, the classic Christian identification of our adversaries. They are the world, the flesh, and the devil. They want to rob God of His glory. They fight to keep people away from God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, they delight in doing as much harm as possible to the name of God and the named children of God. All that remains to be interpreted is the concept of “justice” and the answer to the painful, Job-like question, “Will not God give justice to his elect?” What is justice? Justice is the vindication of God and His word, the complete redemption of God’s people, and the final punishment of evil and unbelief. Will it come? Yes, there is no doubt about it. When will it come? The parable concludes, “Speedily … when the Son of Man comes.” Therefore, the picture painted by the parable is perfectly plain. God is in control and His word is the final authority. Christians are completely dependent upon God’s word, God’s grace, and God’s timing. Our adversaries will wax worse as the time nears for the second coming of Christ. Justice will be seen and served, then. Yet the revelation of eschatological fulfillment is not the primary purpose of the parable. It is such more practical and applicable. The parable is pointed at us to motivate and mobilize us to pray, “Always to pray and not lose heart.” The Application of the Parable Prayer is communication, a Father and child talk between God and the Christian. It is a dialogue, not a monologue. That’s why the parable features two characters, not one. I have a friend who does all the talking when I call, then tells me it’s been nice to hear from me. But I didn’t say anything! God must feel that way sometimes when we pray. We are to speak, to make our requests known, to ask boldly for justice and mercy. Then we are to listen, to the Spirit’s pen mediated through human history and personality in the Bible, and to the still small voice of the Spirit inside of every Christian. We strain our inner ears until we hear the Spirit speak the language of peace. Peace can be spoken with a “no,” when conjoined with contentment. Peace can be spoken with a “yes,” which brings anticipation and excitement. However, peace is most often spoken with a “wait,” and wait on the Lord we must, with patience and perseverance. Learning how to pray is a life-long pursuit for the sincere Christian. It requires time, practice, and most of all, trouble. If time spent in honest prayer could be posted on a graph, the spikes would be highest in times of sorrow and suffering. Never waste them, for all believers can testify that it is in the valleys where our prayer life is most fervent and our faith deepens. Prayer is communication and connection. I have life-long friends with whom I remain close. I have other friendships, equally important in my life, which no longer remain. What’s the difference? Those whom I remain in constant contact with remain close friends, while others drift away. It sounds trite but it is true, God is the best friend you will ever know. Keep Him close, in prayer. Prayer is communication, connection, and control. God does not need your permission to take control of your life. Grace is sovereign and violent, the Spirit goes where He wills, and “the elect” will be His! Yet once you become a child of the King, you have a responsibility to constantly submit to His reign in His kingdom, to His loving and wise rule over all of life. This is maintained by various spiritual disciples, not the least of which is prayer. False prophets say that prayer is a means to control God. Their so-called word of faith can compel God to surrender anything asked for in prayer, just name it and claim it. Such nonsense it utterly contrary to what Holy Scripture and history reveal about our sovereign God. Prayer, as taught by the Lord Himself, is a matter of saying to God, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.” As illustrated in the parable, prayer is serious and joyful communication between the sovereign Father and needy child, which maintains a rich, warm, and trusting Father and child relationship, which helps the child find peace in the Father’s kingdom, even if it is a kingdom we cannot quite see, yet. The Answer to the Question The parabolic passage is not over yet. Strangely, it ends with a rhetorical question fit with an implied negative answer. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? Given the prevailing context in the Gospel of Luke, the answer is, not much. There was not much faith on earth in days of Noah, nor Lot, nor at the first coming of the Messiah, nor will there be during the last days of planet Earth before Christ comes again. But there will surely be some. There will be some Christians on earth when Christ comes again, this is promised in Scripture. There will be some churches still true to the gospel of Jesus Christ, holding fast to word and Sacrament, public worship and witness, and engaged in good works for the kingdom of God. Chief among the good works the Good Shepherd will find us doing when He returns is the one highlighted in this parable, prayer. The King and the kingdom are here. The King and the kingdom are coming. So let us “pray and not lose heart.” Our God is no unjust judge. He is absolutely just and abundantly merciful. He will hear us and help us when we pray. Copyright © 2018 Lake Hamilton Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Check out the weekly happenings at Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas. LOOKING AT THE KINGDOM YOU CANNOT SEE
Luke 17:20-37 Dr. Chuck DeVane, Pastor Lake Hamilton Baptist Church Hot Springs, Arkansas October 14, 2018 20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” 22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 Remember Lot's wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” — Luke 17:20-37, ESV I will never forget the look on my girls’ faces when the tram rounded the turn and there it was, Cinderella Castle, right in the middle of Disney World. Their eyes were as big as headlights. They were given Disney toys from birth and had looked at many pictures of the castle, but there is nothing like seeing the Magic Kingdom with your own eyes. There are many other castles and kingdoms we can see on this earth that evoke awe and wonder. Some of you have toured our nation’s capital or been pictured in front of Buckingham Palace. A good friend recently sent an e-mail with a picture of the Taj Mahal. All of these places represent majesty, authority, a kingdom you can see with your own eyes. Today I want you to look at a kingdom you cannot see. It is infinitely greater and of more consequence that all the collective kingdoms of this world. It is referenced ninety-nine times in the New Testament and explained in some detail in this passage in Luke’s Gospel. It is the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God holds authority and power over all of heaven and earth. It paved all past roads, controls all present circumstances, and guarantees future promises. Though we cannot see it, we look at it every day. How do we look at the kingdom we cannot see? You cannot see the kingdom of God in the past, but it was there. Our Lord probably uttered these words during His last look at Jerusalem before His betrayal, arrest, mock trials, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. The Pharisees were aggressively questioning Jesus concerning claims that He is the true King of the Jews and Savior of the world. It was with sarcasm and unbelief that Jesus was “being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come.” To the Pharisees, the kingdom of God had already come in the past, and they fancied themselves the keepers of the keys. They saw the kingdom of God in their built, rebuilt, and remodeled Temple Mount. They felt they had entered the kingdom through the doors of religious rituals, rules, and regulations. They could count the number of nickels and noses in their denomination, and to them it represented the kingdom of God. But a thousand Pharisees, or a billion Roman Catholics, or sixteen million Southern Baptists, does not a kingdom make. Never at any time in past history could the Jerusalem Temple, or the Vatican, or the First Baptist Church, be called the kingdom of God. These are places you can see and people you can count, and Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed.” You cannot see the kingdom of God in past religious expression or experience. Just being a Pharisee or a Jew in Old Testament times did not make you a member of the kingdom of God. Just because you joined a Christian church in the past and have your name on a church roll does not guarantee citizenship in the kingdom of God. You cannot see the kingdom of God in the collective past professions of faith, places of worship, and myriads of religious activity. But, it was there, at least for a chosen few. There were always some Jews during the Old Covenant days who trusted in the person of Jehovah rather than their place at the Temple. There have always been professing Christians during the past two thousand years who not only professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ but actually practiced their faith in worship and works. The elect of past ages could not see an earthly kingdom of God, because they were the kingdom of God. Such is our opportunity in the present. You cannot see the kingdom of God in the present, but it is here. After Jesus denounced the Pharisees for clinging to a kingdom they could see, He made one of the most startling and serious revelations in all of Scripture. He revealed the secret place of the spiritual kingdom of God. He said, in present tense language, “The kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” In this great revelation the Lord means at least three important things. Christ is calling us to focus on a kingdom that Pharisees cannot see. Those village idiots in Jesus’ day were looking over their shoulders at places built in the past, and could not see the person right in front of them, the promised Messiah. No one who trusts in religion, or works, or human goodness, instead of the person and work of Jesus Christ will ever see the kingdom of God. We cannot see Christ physically right now, but He is here. Christ is calling us to focus on a kingdom that is built from the inside out. God, in Christ, through the Spirit, enters into us, regenerating the heart, renewing the mind, rearranging our total being to be totally committed to Him. This cannot be seen with the human eye, nor the most sophisticated x-ray and scanning machines. But believers know what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote, “Christ in you [is] the hope of glory” (ref. Colossians 1:27). You cannot see Him, but He is there. Christ is calling us to focus on a kingdom that is corporate, a team, a family, where there are no lone rangers. At this precise moment, Christ is building His church, a particular plurality of persons who are promised, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (ref. Matthew 18:20). Sadly, you cannot see Christ in every visible church, but when God’s people gather around God’s word and engage in godly worship, the kingdom of God has come, and the King is in our midst. At our present moment, God is with us. We cannot see Him, save with eyes of faith. “We walk by faith, not by sight” (ref. 2 Corinthians 5:7). At some point in the future, however, according to the word of our Lord, the faithful will see and rejoice, and the unfaithful will look on with horror, as the invisible kingdom of God focuses into full spectacular sight. You cannot see the kingdom of God in the future, but it is coming. Unlike Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox, we cannot go back to the future and see what is going to happen. And I hate to break it to you, but the lady downtown with the crystal ball is a fake. No one can see the future, except God, but every person who has ever lived will be exist in the future, either inside or outside the coming, visible kingdom of God. Jesus came the first time to suffer and die on the cross for the sins of citizens of the kingdom of God. Jesus will come again to make His kingdom visible, powerful, eternal. When Jesus comes, you will find yourself either in or out, and there will be no second chances. In order to get us ready, Christ gives us some clues. The second coming of Jesus Christ will occur quickly and unexpectedly like “lightning flashes and lights up the sky” and “like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2). Even saved people will be somewhat surprised, and lost people will watch in immediate astonishment and eventual panic. The second coming of Jesus Christ will follow a time of decay in society and apostasy in the church, like “the days of Noah” and “the days of Lot.” In those days there was very little faith on earth (look ahead to Luke 18:8). The kingdom of God is like a grain of sand beside an ocean of sin. Once again people around us are adopting the morals of animals and most professing believers really do not believe at all. God’s previous forays into destruction are just a foretaste of the wrath to come, when the kingdom comes. It took nearly two thousand years for Christianity to cover the world, deeply influencing first world culture and offering hope to second and third world societies. It has only taken our lifetimes to see that influence unravel in the West and be replaced in the East with secular humanism and radical Islam. “Concerning that day or that hour, no one knows” (ref. Mark 13:32), I know, but I know when Jesus comes again it will be in a day and hour much like our own. The second coming of Jesus Christ will separate everyone into two groups, forever and ever. “One will be taken and the other left,” Jesus said. One will be taken into the visible, glorious, indescribably wonderful kingdom of God. The others will be left behind to endure the wrath of God and an eternity separated from Him, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” What a warning this is to unbelievers everywhere! May they repent and believe and be saved! But the primary audience of the word of God is the people of God. So let us be warned and encouraged, too. There is no kingdom of God on earth that we can see. We cannot make a perfect family or a perfect church, no matter how hard we try. We will never live in a perfect country, ruled by righteousness and truth. We should not strive to enrich our lives with an abundance of wealth and material things, for material kingdoms cannot last. We must be true to our family, active in our church, supportive of our country, and work for what we own, but in none of these things can we see the kingdom of God. Rather, we must focus on the King, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Focus on the King you cannot see. He is lovely, worthy, supreme. He is in our midst, and those who follow the King find themselves in the kingdom of God. You just can’t see it, yet. Copyright © 2018 Lake Hamilton Baptist Church, All rights reserved. THE DOUBLE CURE
Luke 17:11-19 Dr. Chuck DeVane, Pastor Lake Hamilton Baptist Church Hot Springs, Arkansas September 30, 2018 11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” — Luke 17:11-19, ESV Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee; Let the water and the blood, From Thy wounded side which flowed, Be of sin the double cure, Save from wrath and make me pure. What is the “double cure” spoken of by this familiar hymn? Theologians refer to it as double imputation. It is the two-fold application of grace given to us by God when we are justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. On one hand, my sins are given over to the Messiah, who satisfied the wrath of God against those sins on the cross. On the other hand, Jesus’ perfect righteousness is put on my account to “make me pure” before a holy and righteous God. The ongoing result in the doubly cured child of God is a hatred for sin and a hunger for righteousness. Apart from such holy affections, no one can claim assurance of salvation (ref. Hebrews 12:14). Such confidence seems missing in the majority of people involved in this miracle of Jesus, just as the sacred “double cure” of salvation seems strikingly absent from most modern professions of faith today. For most there is no cure. There was no medical cure for leprosy in Jesus’ day. As a matter of fact, up until our own era, leprosy was simply a slow, sickening, and sorrowful way to die. The leprae bacteria revealed itself in a skin rash, which moved down into the nervous system, created sores and left behind numbness, which led to infections and toxins, until vital organs were attacked and death followed. Since it was contagious, victims were left to die in the company of other lepers at best, or in lonely isolation at worst. Many in biblical history contracted it and almost all of them died from it. Occasionally a misdiagnosis or unexplained remission could be verified by a priest (ref. Leviticus 13-14), and on one occasion a foreigner named Naaman was introduced to a miraculous cure by the prophet Elisha (ref. 2 Kings 5). But for most people in the ancient world, there was no cure. This brings us to this story told only by Luke which tells of this miracle performed by Jesus, a miracle which cured a few men from leprosy. We must also note it was a miracle that most lepers never received, for relatively few encountered the Savior during His public ministry, and fewer still received miracles. All of Jesus’ parables are about the miracle of salvation, and all of His physical miracles are gospel parables. The miracle over leprosy is about Jesus’ power to heal and forgive sin. Sin is spread through contact with someone else’s blood, as we inherit it from our parents, who inherited it from theirs, and so on and so forth. It is not only contagious, it is addictive and we soon learn to love it. It seeps steadily into our souls and eventually causes death, eternal death, eternal separation from God and all that is holy. That is, unless we experience the miracle of God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Like most lepers in Jesus’ day, most modern sinners never meet God, they are not looking for God, and they do not want God in their lives. They cling to their leprosy and live it up in leper colonies until they day they die. Sadly, most lost people in the world never meet the cure. For some there is a single cure. While those with no cure are outside the periphery of this pericope, the single cure makes its way to ten men in the middle who cried out for “mercy.” In war there are no atheists in foxholes, and in ancient times there were none in leper colonies. These men were waiting to die, with no help from priest or physician. Jesus, walking to Jerusalem for the last time, had earned a reputation as an actual faith healer, even over leprosy. So, the dying men thought, why not give it a shot? And, it worked! Hallelujah! Ten out of ten received the cure for their severe medical problem. They called upon the name of the Lord and they were healed, at least physically. Then, nine out of ten took off, presumably never to take a second look at the Lord Jesus Christ. They got what they wanted, forgiveness from leprosy, but never considered the weightier matter of the Lordship of Christ. Remember this miracle is also a parable. Leprosy stands for sin. Sin does not bother most people in our world, but occasionally someone can be made to feel guilty about it. This usually happens in childhood or youth, especially connected with the evangelistic ministry of a church. Forgiveness of sins is promised for those who will walk an aisle, pray a prayer, complete a pledge card, or otherwise make a desperate decision in vacation Bible school, youth camp, or at the end of a church service. Then, nine out of ten run off and never take a second look at discipleship, responsible church membership, witness and service to others, and the Lordship of Jesus Christ. People made aware of their sin do want to be rid of it, of course. But they want the single cure. But they do not want the double cure, which includes the righteousness of Christ and the righteous requirements that go along with it. The double cure of true salvation is as free as the single cure, but it demands respect, obedience, and love for the righteous rules of the Christian life. Only one character displays this kind of devotion in this story. For a few there is the double cure. In this record there is only one out of ten who receives the double cure, and ironically he is a double outcast. He is a leper and He is a Samaritan. I won’t make too much of the latter, except to point out Luke’s affinity for showing Christ’s love for the lesser castes of society in His day, the children, the women, and the half-breed Jews. The double cure indeed reaches out to all people without discrimination. This one out of ten, who truly represents the one out of tens of thousands, caught the double cure thrown to Him by the Lord Jesus Christ. He was healed of his leprosy and he became a devout follower of the Messiah. Jesus told him, and only him, “Your faith has made you well.” The evidence of the single cure is the physical absence of leprosy. The evidences of the double cure are more complex, spiritual, but nonetheless visible. Take a long look at this one leper. Like many sinners, he cried out for “mercy,” the withholding of death due to his disease. The healing of his body and soul came with many tangible proofs. This man was marked by the fact that he “turned back,” or made a “return” to God, a beautiful illustration of repentance. He witnessed for Christ, “Praising God with a loud voice.” “He fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks,” which was the first of many services of public worship. And, “Rise” he did, at the command of Christ, in absolute justification, ongoing sanctification, with the promise of glorification. There is no forgiveness of sins for the mere asking. If that were true, almost everyone would go to Heaven. The miracle of forgiveness and salvation, the double imputation or “double cure,” is given only to those who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, repent of sin and selfishness, and with the Spirit’s urging strive to worship and obey God. Only the double cured will “rise” on the last day, take their stand in the new heaven and new earth, forever in fellowship with the Rock of Ages Himself. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee; Let the water and the blood, From Thy wounded side which flowed, Be of sin the double cure, Save from wrath and make me pure. Not the labors of my hands Can fulfill Thy law's demands; These for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone; In my hand no price I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling. While I draw this fleeting breath, When mine eyes shall close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown, And behold Thee on Thy throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee. — Augustus Toplady Copyright © 2018 Lake Hamilton Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Check out the weekly happenings at Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas. |
AuthorDr. Charles F. "Chuck" DeVane, Jr., is the Pastor of Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas. His weekly sermon article, "The Gospel Truth," has been published in newspapers in Arkansas and Georgia. Dr. DeVane is a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and has served in the pastorate for over 20 years. Contact Pastor Chuck at PastorChuck@lakehamiltonbaptistchurch.org
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