And for God's watch care over us, and for the privilege to be here. Amen. I count it an honor and a privilege to be here at this church anytime that we're able to be here. Different meetings throughout the years, and the blessing that Brother Jones has been to us and our church, preaching for us at different times, and the fellowship that we've enjoyed with both him and Miss Kathy. often times come here and and it's always expressed that somebody's praying for somebody has been praying for us and we thank god for that tonight amen the gospel of mark tonight you have your bible i want you to turn there with us please march gospel chapter one i believe this is where the lord would have to be thank you sir appreciate that march gospel and chapter number one Lord's already spoke to my heart tonight in the service. I appreciate his presence. Amen. I don't take that for granted. Amen. I'm singing. Amen. I thank God for it. Amen. Just the testimony has been a blessing to my heart tonight. March gospel chapter number one. I feel like this is the direction the Lord would have us go in tonight. And you pray for us that the Lord would help us tonight. He knows what we need. Amen. Verse number 35 is where I want to pick up our reading tonight. Familiar story in the Word of God. I won't say anything you've not heard before. It could be impossible to do that, I'm sure. But I do want to try to obey the Lord, amen? And just give you the burden of my heart and we trust the Lord to help us. Mark's Gospel, chapter number one, verse number 35. The Bible said, in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he, speaking of Jesus, went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. And Simon and they that were with him followed him, or followed after him. And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee. He said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, and I may preach there also. For therefore came I forth. And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils. And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. And he straightly charged him, and forthwith sent him away. And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man, but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. But he went out, began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places, and they came to him from every quarter. If that's correct, Lorraine, let's pray and ask the Lord to bless the reading of his word. Father, thank you for the privilege to be in the house of God tonight, the opportunity that we have to open up the word of God and just read it together. What a privilege that is within itself. Just the privilege to have the word of God and just to read it publicly tonight without fear of what men might do unto us. We're grateful for that. We pray now tonight that you'd clear our thinking and settle our heart. And Father, let us just deliver the message that you've laid upon our heart to the people of God. There be someone here tonight that's lost that you'd deal with their heart about the condition of their soul and save them by the grace of God. And I pray you'd have your way in our heart tonight, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. I want, if I can, for just a few moments tonight to send your attention for a text verse. In verse number 40, where the Bible said, There came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Now I want to try, if I can, take this passage, just give you a couple of thoughts tonight, with the help of the Lord, on the Lord of the leper. the Lord of the leper. The Bible said in verse number 40, there came a leper to him, beseeching him. In verse number, back up just a few verses, verse number 35, the Bible said that in the morning, rising up a great while before day, went out and departed into a solitary place and there he prayed. And so in verse 35 we see Christ praying. We see Him rising up a great while before day and seeking the face of His Father. Then in the next verse, the Bible said that Simon and they that were with him followed after him and they came to him and they said, Lord, all men seek for thee. Basically, they were wanting to sit down with the Lord and they were wanting to discuss with him this new doctrine, this new thing that was being preached among the Jews and in the surrounding area. But I want you to notice what Jesus said in verse 38. He said to them, let us go into the next towns that I may Preach there also, for therefore came I forth. I don't want to get distracted tonight, but I believe that's the need of the hour. I tell you, I believe we've had enough of armchair discussions about the Bible and about the things of God. I believe it's time, amen, for men to rise up and preach the gospel. declared truth to sinners. The Bible said that He's chosen the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And I believe that there's ever been a need in the hours, a need in this hour, and that is for men to have that same purpose, that same desire with the unction and the anointing of God to preach the Word of God. Here in our text, Christ was praying then. He said, let us go into the next towns and preach the Word of God. And then the Bible declares to us that there was a leper that came to him, beseeching him, kneeling down to him, saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Now I want us to notice just a couple of things tonight, amen, about this leper and what happened to him when he met the Lord. I want you to notice the condition of this man. and we understand somewhat about leprosy. We've been able to look at that, I guess, maybe in the reading and different things to know something about this dreaded disease in the Word of God and even in, still in days today about this dreaded disease of leprosy. But there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and we know that this disease from the Word of God was a very powerful disease. There was no cure for this destructive disease that this man had. Now we know from the Bible that leprosy was cleansable, but there was no cure for leprosy. It was a disease just like sin. Amen. There was no cure and there is no cure for sin tonight, but we know that sin can be cleansed. And here this man had a dreaded disease that was slowly but surely taking his life away. It was very powerful. There was nothing that he could do about this disease he had. And in that, his life was falling apart and he was being destroyed by it tonight. But also, not only was this disease of leprosy a powerful disease, a very destructive disease, but this disease was a parting disease. And as it progressed and as it began to separate, amen, we know that it might be a slow thing, but it was a sure thing, amen. And we know the word of God tells us, amen, in the book of Leviticus, that a man that was declared to be a leper was a man that would have to dwell outside the gate, outside the camp of Israel. He could no longer fellowship with his family. He could no longer be a part, amen, of a household of faith. And we can run reference after reference in the Word of God tonight, understanding that this disease was a parting disease. It was a disease that had great power to destroy a man's life. And it parted him from his family. and it progressed a man in his life. Probably started out as just an insignificant white spot, meaningless, harmless enough, didn't seem like much. Maybe one day he woke up and maybe just glanced in some looking glass, maybe saw a spot on his forehead. Just a little white blemish of some sort. Didn't look like a whole lot. Or maybe he was out in the field with some of his friends, working through the day, co-labors, if you will, or in the neighborhood. And maybe somebody said, something's wrong. There's a little place on your forehead. Or on the top of your hand, you may need to get that checked out. Seem to be insignificant enough, just a white spot, meaningless. But I'm telling you, that little white spot, amen, began to grow, began to spread. And slowly but surely, amen, the fingernail would begin to rot and fall off the finger. the toenail will begin to fall off the toe, and limb by limb, joint by joint, this dreaded disease of leprosy that this man has is going to consume his life, going to snatch it away, it's going to take, amen, every purpose and every worthwhile thing away from him. Leprosy is a parting disease tonight. It's a powerful disease. It's a progressive disease. This man is going to dwell alone. He's not going to be with his family. He's not going to spend time any longer with his children. Now we are not told in this text just how long this man had leprosy. We know that if we study the disease that sometimes it reaches its peak in about ten years, can to completely annihilate a human being, just destroy them. And we don't know exactly how far along this was. I don't know what it must have been like, Brother Jones, when this man was declared to be a leper. It probably went to the priest, went through the Levitical procedure of making sure that this thing was what he thought it may have been. The priest saw this spot, set him aside for a period of time, brought him back in, looked at it again, and sooner or later, this young man or this middle-aged man or this older man was declared by the priest to be a leper. And he said, Sir, I'm sorry, but you have leprosy and you're going to have to dwell without the calf. You're going to have to go and leave, amen, and dwell in a colony separated from your family, separated from your children. separated by those that love you and those that you love, and that is just the way sin is. I'm telling you tonight, sin will separate. I'm telling you it may progress slowly. It may seem like just an insignificant white spot. It may not seem like much to you young men and young ladies tonight, but I'm telling you the thing that is so destructing and unpowerful about sin is it starts out small. but it begins to spread and begins to leach through your life and begins to rot away at your purpose and your worthwhile purpose in life begins to fall apart. But I guarantee you the drunkard tonight who's lost everything that he has had and everything that he has possessed, when he first took a beer and ever dreamed that that little white spot would snatch away everything he had, That individual and I that's teeths rotted out of their head and they look like something that's just about to fall over in the grave because of meth. Never dreamed in a thousand lifetimes, amen, that what they were fixing to do that seemed to be just a little thrill, just a little fun, just a little fitting in thing, with the crowd, they never thought, amen, in their mind that it would ever go this far, that it would ever take them this far. Just a beer, amen, just a drink, just a smoke, just a little touch, just a casual text, just a look on the internet, amen, just a little listening of the easy listening music, just a little here, just a little there, and all of a sudden hell, amen, sin has got a hold of them and is destroying their life. I'm going to tell you something tonight. The condition of this leper. A man, he had a disease that was powerful. He had a disease that was parting. He had a disease that progressed in his life. And he had to leave his family. I can't imagine what it must have been like when he walked home that day after being declared a leper. And he looked as he approached the tent, or whatever it was he lived, and I'm not trying to read between the lines, but I believe this could have been a great possibility, that he went that day, maybe one of the kids come out to greet him, or maybe his wife was out in the yard and walked toward him to welcome him home from a day's labor, and he said, you're going to have to stop. You can't come any closer. You're going to have to give my belongings and pitch them outside the house, and tell the kids that I can't hug them, I can't kiss them no more, I can't have the relationship with them that I've once had. Honey, I can't come and embrace you any longer. Amen. The companionship that we've enjoyed all these years has ended today because I've been declared a leper. and I'll have to dwell without the camp. I'll have to walk through the streets with a rag over my mouth crying unclean, unclean, unclean. I'm telling you the priest was not to come near this man. I'm telling you the disease that he had would spread in his own body, but it could reach out and touch others. and they put him without the camp. That's exactly what sin is doing in this land, what sin is doing in our families, what sin is doing in the lives of our young people. I'm telling you, I've never seen so many insignificant things get so destructive. Just in the last little while, I've seen just an insignificant casual text on the phone about destroying a home of nearly 20 years. Just a white spot, that's all it is. It's just a meaningless white spot that just started out small. I've seen young people, I've seen young people, and I have a lot of young people in the church, I've seen young people listen to the wrong kind of music. Oh, I mean it wasn't rock and roll, and wicked lyrics, it wasn't country music, it was just, you know, contemporary Christian music, there's such a thing. but the rhythm and the beat and the wickedness and the demonic, amen, oppressive spirit that that kind of stuff, amen, promotes and puts in the minds and the lives of young people all of a sudden, amen, before you know it, the beat's not enough. Before you know it, amen, that text gets a little out of hand. Before you know it, what you're looking at goes a little too far. Are you listening to me tonight? I'm telling you the condition of this leper. I'm telling you he didn't wake up one day with his limbs falling off. He didn't wake up one day with this awful dreaded disease, walk in the mirror, look in the mirror, or his wife say, you got to get out of here, man. I mean, your hands are about to fall off. I mean, it started out as just a little insignificant white spot, probably on his forehead or the back of his hand, that seemed to be meaningless, that seemed to be innocent, that really didn't matter, now all of a sudden it separated him from his home. from his momma, from his dad, from his family, from his children. This thing is very powerful. Amen. And I'll guarantee you, I've been coming here for a number of years, and I got enough sense to know that some of you have been here a whole lot longer than I've been coming here. And you've got families, and you've seen other families coming to this church, and you've tried to stay faithful in the house of God, and you've seen little things grow, amen, to a degree that it's about to wreck people's lives. And all it is, is an insignificant white spot that for some reason, Brother Jones, our people, young and middle-aged and old alike, think it's just not a big deal. I mean when you consider this in lieu of what is going on in our world, this is really not that bad. I mean preacher the prevalence of sin, I tell you the prevalence of sin is so prevailing in our day that we stomach about anything and just count it as nothing. I remember a number of years ago in a major Christian university that once held a very high standard of separation and they brought up a question about godliness and living holy and they brought up just a real small issue of separation in that classroom. And here's what the professor said. The professor said, Brother Johns, he said, well, he said, I understand how wrong and bad that appeared to be and seemed to be in years gone by. But it prevailed so much in this day, somebody that would do that as a Christian, it would not even be considered by the world as being wrong or bad. And we have discounted what the word of God has to say about right and wrong. I preached yesterday on the battle that we face in our homes, and here's what the Bible said in Ephesians chapter 6. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. I don't understand why those three words can't, amen, motivate us just to do what we know we're supposed to do. It's just right. I don't understand why we have to have any more explanation. I don't understand why we have to have a further detailed exposition. It's just right. I'm telling you tonight, sin, it may seem simple, but I'm going to tell you something. When you begin to allow sin to get in your life, whatever it may be, if you are saved by the grace of God, No matter how insignificant or small it may be, the Spirit of the Lord has and will touch and deal with your heart about what you're doing. I mean, just in the last couple of weeks, just a little simple thing come my way. And everybody would have thought it would have been funny or humorous, but I'm going to tell you what, God dealt with me about that. I mean, if I could gather a group of men in a corner somewhere and say something about it, and they'd all laugh. Probably in the corner of the back of the church. But I'm telling you, God dealt with me about it. Foolish jesting. You know that's in the Bible. I mean, things that are unprofitable that we communicate. things that we say that's unholy and ungodly. I'm telling you, those things lead down the path of a disease that will totally destroy your life. The condition of this leper, he had a very powerful disease. This disease was parting. It had separated him from his family. It was a progressive disease. You see, the devil never shows you the end result of sin. And you've heard this said before, but you see the billboard with the, you know, the Marlboro Man up there with a cowboy hat on and a saddle swung over his shoulder. But he never shows you that guy that's coughing his brains out trying to grasp for one more breath of air that sucked cigarettes all his life. He'll show you a young lady in a sleek gown with a champagne bottle or a wine bottle in one hand, but he won't show you that old woman on the side of the road down there who's trying to find somebody that'll give her enough money to get her one more drink to get her through one more night and one more day because she's consumed with it. He paints sins pictures lasting and lustrous, but he never paints the finished portrait, you know what I mean? I'm going to tell you something. I'm pretty, I guess, maybe very simple in my thinking, but nobody has, nobody has ever got away with sin. Nobody. And I don't know why people think that they're going to be the first one. I had a man in my church years ago. He's kind of a humorous fellow. He's a great Bible expositor. He teaches some Sunday school classes and I'll use him every now and then to do maybe a layman's message or whatever. And he taught or gave a little lesson one time on the topic of the stupidest people in the Bible. And he said, you know like that thousandth Philistine. He said, now that guy, he wasn't too smart. I mean here they are, all these Philistines laying over there piled up in a pile where, amen, where Samson had just beat the living daylights out of them, amen, scattered them all over here and he stands back there thinking in his mind that he's going to be the very one that'll take him down. And that's exactly the way church people consider sin. They think that they're going to be the first one ever to get by with flirting with sin and toying with the things of the flesh and sexuality. But I'm telling you tonight, nobody has ever got by with it. The greatest preacher that has ever lived and the bravest man that's ever prayed and the most knowledgeable man that has ever read the Bible, not a one of them has ever got by with sin. I'm telling you, Samson didn't get by with it. Yes, he's in the Hebrews 11, and yes, amen, he done great things for God, but I'm gonna tell you, Samson didn't get by with sin. Nobody has ever got by with sin. Are you listening to me? Moses didn't get by with sin. Noah didn't get by with sin. Abraham didn't get by with lying. Nobody has ever got by with sin, no matter how insignificant it may have been. The condition of this leper. He had a disease that was powerful. It was going to destroy him. He had a disease that was progressive. I mean, it was slowly but surely eating away at him. He had a disease that was separating and parting. It snatched him away from his family, from those he loved and from those that loved him. Boy, isn't that sad? It is so sad that sin, amen, is allowed in our life when it is so destructive. But then we see the condition of the leper, then the compassion of the Lord. The Bible said when this leper came to Jesus, I mean, I don't know how many lepers was in was in the world or in the nation of Israel at this time but there came a leper to him and there come a time in this man's life when he realized what he was and what was destroying his life the only one that could help him the Bible said that this man came to Jesus The Bible said, He came to him, beseeching him, kneeling down to him, saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Now, He didn't say, He said, If thou wilt, thou canst, He didn't say, If you can, you will. He said, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. He didn't say, now if you can make me clean, will you? Or, if you can make me clean, I believe you will. He came to him in faith, understanding, and knowing in his heart that the condition that he was in, and the position that he was in, who he was, and what was destroying his life, there was only one, amen, that could be cleansing and deliver him from the condition that he was in, and it was Jesus. We see the leper's will. Now this is very important. No man has ever got saved that has not willingly exercised his responsibility in faith and repented of his sin. I just believe that. I've heard people say that they won people to God. I've heard people say that somebody got saved and didn't even really know what happened to them. I'm going to tell you something. I don't believe that. I'm going to tell you what. I was raised in church. I was raised in church all my life. I mean I don't remember a time that I wasn't in the house of God I hadn't always been saved always been right with God but I'm going to tell you something I don't remember a time that I didn't hear preaching as a young man Brother Josh but there come a time in my life when I realized the condition that I was in and where I was headed and the very thing that was destroyed in my life. And when I understood that, I realized that there was nothing my daddy, even though he was a deacon, could do about it. I mean, I'd sing, play the, you know, chord to piano a little bit and sing in church. But I'm gonna tell you what, I couldn't sing my way out of a thing that had a hold of me. I mean, there could, there was nothing that I could do that would bring peace and contentment and deliverance to my soul. You see, I was a leper. I had a disease that was so powerful that I could not do anything with it. And it was progressing in my life as a young man. And it had its claws and I was bound with the cords of my iniquity. I was bent and seemingly oppressed with the nature that I couldn't do anything with. I couldn't do nothing with it. Amen. Well there come a day in my life But I realized that I couldn't go to sleep another night with the restlessness and the turmoil that was in my soul. Amen. And I'm going to tell you what, I realized, you know, everybody wants to talk about a whosoever will gospel. But you know they seem like they emphasize the whosoever but they leave out the will part. Hey man you know what I'm saying. But there's a will in that whosoever will. Will you. You either will or you won't. Amen. And if you're here tonight lost and you don't know the Lord Jesus and Everybody in this building may be saved tonight. I don't know that, but it don't make any difference where you're saved or lost. Sin's still gonna be, amen, a destructive thing in your life if you don't deal with it. But if you're in the condition of this leper tonight, amen, you have a will. This man came to Jesus. There were many, I'm sure, many, probably even thousands of lepers that were rotting away and dying and being destroyed by sin. But yet this man got up this day and said, I'm tired of who I am. I'm tired of what I am. I'm tired of what's destroying my life. And he came to Jesus. There came a leper to him, beseeching him. kneeling down to him saying unto him if thou wilt thou canst make me clean if you ever came to Jesus with that attitude you ever came to God with that request in your heart thou wilt there came a leper to him now you can come to the preacher And I have as much confidence in this man's prayers as anybody I would know. But there's nothing he can do for you. You can come to this church and it's a light and a beacon in a dark world. But I'm telling you, you can join up. They can dunk you back there, amen, in the water. Amen to you shrivel up like a prune. But it's not going to do you any good until you and your heart have the same Amen experience that this leper had and come to Jesus. You see the leper's will. He came to him, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean. And then I want you to notice verse 41 and I'm finished tonight. The Bible said, And Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will Be thou clean. Now have you ever experienced that tonight? Being clean. I'm talking about coming to Jesus in the filthy rags of your iniquity and sin. Understanding who you are and what you are. and coming to Him with a faith and a heart that is pure and not pure as far as being washed of its sin at that time but pure in its motive to God and said Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean I promise you tonight there's never been a one there's never been one sinner that's ever come to Christ with the attitude that this leper had in verse forty that Jesus was not moved with compassion and said I will be thou clean not a one not a one and tonight I ask you the question have you ever met Jesus do you know him tonight And you can say, preacher, I know the Lord. And I've been saved by the grace of God. And I hope everybody in this building is saved. I know I've obeyed the Lord tonight. And I've tried to pray, tried to find the mind of God about what to preach tonight. But I believe the Lord, amen, dealt with my heart about dealing with this little old story about this leper tonight. I mean, his condition and what sin has done and was doing in his life and his willingness to come to Christ and deal with that sin. Now listen to me, Carol. I know it's an application tonight, but you may be here saved. And you may have a little white spot that's popped up. It don't mean a whole lot. It ain't that bad, but you gotta understand we're overrun with sodomy and drugs and liquor runs through our land like a raging river. And this little thing I got in my life, it don't mean a whole lot. It's not a big deal. It's not that significant. This little white spot don't mean that much. But I'm gonna tell you something, that's where this man started. Just one little insignificant white spot popped up. A little time, a little playing, toying with sin. Now all of a sudden, now all of a sudden, he's separated from his family. He's rotting away, slowly but surely, all because of sin. Nobody will get by with it. I have never got by with it. You'll never get by with it no matter how small no matter how meaningless it may seem or be in your mind. I'm going to tell you something I had a lot of young young people here not young families that's a blessing. He may thank God for it. I will tell you something the night there's pleasure and sin for a season that season comes to an end quickly. and those little insignificant white spots that I mean I have seen I have seen the devil I have seen the devil I mean just wreck and ruin life I sat down with a young man that's out of our church right now that's out of the will of God I don't even know if he's saved or not just in sin and I said across from him at my house I guess probably Thanksgiving And here's what he said. He said, here's what he said. He said, I want to do my own thing. I want to live my own life. And he said, you know, we have different views. And I said, OK. I said, I want to ask you a question. I said, you have peace in your heart? No, here's what he said. He said I've seen other people claim to be Christian and I thought they loved the Lord that didn't believe like we believe. That's what he said about God. And he said but now he said I'm doing what they are doing and living the way they are living. But I don't feel like I love God at all. I'm talking about a good young man raised in church knew the word of God sang in the choir did all the things that good Christian young men do. And now, he very seldom communicates with his mom and dad. I don't even know the last time they've even heard from him. The people that's loved him, that's paid thousands of dollars to educate him, and to help him in life when he was young, and to be a blessing to him, he don't even consider us to be alive. Because this kind of sin separates and destroys. I don't know what it does to a person. I sit there and question that young man, Brother Jones. I said, Are you happy? His lip quivered a little bit. I'd say, Do you have peace in your heart? He'd say, Not really. I said, Are you content? Are you satisfied? Is this bringing you fulfillment? Not really. But here's what he said. He said, It's just so hard when you leave to come back. You listen to me. He said it's just so hard to come back. And you know there ain't but one leper that came to Jesus. Just one. There's a lot of them out there. But only one come to God. I don't know where you're at tonight. I don't know what's maybe some white spot that you've let in your life. I don't know if you're lost or the condition of your soul tonight. But it's very important tonight that you understand the power of sin. Nobody's ever got victory over it but Jesus. Amen. And He nailed it to the cross. the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. He nailed it to the cross. He bore our shame and our sin at Calvary that He might be able to say these words, I will be thou cleansed. I wonder tonight, have you ever experienced the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus in your life? We'll stand to our feet. Every head is bowed for a moment. The pastor will come. We'll pray. I don't know where you're at tonight, what may be going on in your life. What kind of sin that might seemingly be insignificant to you, meaningless to you tonight. Folks coming to the altar to pray. I wonder tonight if you're saved. With every head bowed and every eye closed, I wonder tonight if you I can honestly say, Preacher, I know I'm saved tonight. I know I'm ready to meet God.