ThusSaith God
by Pastor led Brooks, West Saddler'ee Baptist ( hurch
"The World of Jesus In Which
He Entered."
"And the leper in w horn the plaque,
in his eloihes shall be (torn) and his
head bare and he shall put a cover
upon his upper hp and he shall eryunelean.
unclean. All the days wherein
the plague shall be in him. he shall de
defiled, he is unclean and he shall
dwell alone outside the camp shall his
habitation be " Leviticus 13 45-46
"Atid there came a leper to him
blessing him. and kneeling down to
him. and saying unto him. lfthouwilt.
thou canst make mc whole" Mark
1 40-41 "And Jesus moved with compassion
put forth his hand and touched
him. and said unto him. I will be thou
clean "
Lepers were unwanted people
Tlicy were their own neighbor When
entering into town they would cover
their faces, crying uncican. unclean
Loneliness, mv friend, can often be
more than one can bare To be left
alone with a phone that never rings
and a door knob which never turns,
mail boves and yet no mail, a tabic
which once occupied a large family
and one .day you are your own com-,
pany. Ask any mother or dad who
once had the pleasure of the company
of his family now they arc left alone
L.Cj>crs were left alone What food
they got was thrown to them No one
took tunc to speak to llicni When
entering a town you could hear them
crying unclean, uncican. his or her
head was bare and yet their face and
lips were covered With them was
putrid odor, along with cars and nose
and face of decay ing a breaking dow n
of mankind ?'
Lepers did not enjoy being plagued
with this sin Also in the world Jesus
entered was always on the verge of
economic disaster Therefore, many
i :
of them went to bed ;i mglu not know ing
whether I lies would eat on the
morrow, for them the prayer of Jesus
would bevery real "Give us this day
our daily -bread "
In fact life was very difl'ieult. the>
had and lived a marginal ty peofliv ing
which means that poverty was never
far away A severe illness or a season
of drought could rcsAill in economic
ruin The people in Jesus world in
which he entered were heavily taxed,
pay ing tithes on their crops and making
countless offerings such as first
born children, animals, the poor, the
temple, synagogues. priests and rabbis.
also poll tax. salt tax. crown tax.
bride and bridegroom, land tax. cattle
tax You can see. my friend, as modern
communists have demonstrated
anew, poverty and economic unrest
and breeding grown for revolutionary
change, such as the world Jesus
entered In fact. Matthew 4:15 said,
"by (he wax of the sea beyond Jordan,
galilcc of the n_ation "
The people who sat in darkness
saw great light, a and to them w ho sat
in the region and shadow of death,
light is springing up This was the
world Jesus entered John, the Baptist!
declared; is this him or do we look
for another''
Jesus loved everybody He went
about doing good He was not a provincialism.
He was truly I lis brother's
keeper.
He taught as lie healed, healed as
lie taught He prayed all the time,
suffering ceaselessly in his wearied
body He never left off fighting ev il
He fought evil and taught us that our
mortal bodies are of little importance
compared to our immortal souls. Yes
his lov e never failed to Icap out in our
defense of our suffering bodies
Verily, verily, lie would cry. I say
unto >ou believe He wouldonK heal
where there was faith or belief in His
power
1 n Jesus world in w hich he entered
wherever He went, the sick and the
dying were everywhere He was
pressed upon by the siek. the ntndutid
the dying
Nou and I my friend live in a
world of hospitals, ambulance serucc.
urgent care well trained doetors.
it is hard for us to imagine how
the sick was. where theyhad none of
these things Here in Robeson Counts
we do not sec the crippled, blind beggars
King in dark cor-ncrs. covered
with sores, dirty ragged, sobbing and
cry nig Here in iliese United Slates the
dy tug and starv anon, the ill. the mad
care hid away in sanaloriums
The sights and siucll was real in
Palestine and Jesus was pressed niglu
and day
Think of it. inv friend. Matthew
said they sat in darkness and rain and
shadow of death They laid in the
street No drug stores on cv crv corner
nothing for pain Thconly portion for
tlic women who were of large discharge
ofblood from hemorrhage were
told to straddle a ditch and to burn
fresh grape vines
Bro. Paul cried out. "O wretched
man that I am. who shall deliver me
from this bodv of death?" Romans
7.24
Brother Paul was looking for an
open window through which a soul
may find liberation from the confinement
of those things which bind and
to expand a bit to meet the everexpanding
love ^f God David in
Psalnts declared the Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want. Mallhcw'sbook
savs that Jesus declared. "Our father,
which arc in heaven."
' Now look at the leper siltingbv the
wayside He had for years been an
outcast. No one spoke to him. or came
near him. except others like him. His
face. eyes. cars. feet, hands. wercea|cn
aw ay by the disease. He slept w here he
could in rocks and stony places You
must remember he had been shul up
and deelared a leper His eloihcs had
been burned, his home was destroyed
Oli. ni> friend, sin will cause >ou lo
lose all the things sou lo\ed
Now he is sitting by the was side
begging He was in pain and going
bind He was slowly getting svorsc
Then one das he heard about Jesus
who ssas going about healing lire sick
111 si bv I using hands 011 them
I le probably consideredhimsclftoo
repulsive. Jesus would ncscrheal him
But the leper cried out "If thou ss ill.
thou canst make inc clean " Mark
I 4()
I he leper stretched his muscles It
is not the muscle that are seen that are
so important as the muscle that arc
unseen We arc talking about the
muscle under the rib. that muscle that
Israel said "Hear, the Lord our God is
a One Lord, and thou shall lose the
Lord tin God ssithall thine heart and
with all ths might " Dcut 6:4-5. You
sec. \ou mujl take and stretch the
mind to lake in all of God He is and
there is no one else beside Hun This
kind of mind is out of sight, the mind
that is under the rib
Jesus, my friend, had a power of
overcoming trouble A power of triumphing
over the Prince of (his world,
which was unique 111 the history of
mankind "Verily. verily. I say unto
>011 " Jesus stretched his mind He
that believed on me. the works I do
shall he do also and greater works
than these shall he do because I go to
my father Jesus, my friend, looked at
reality through thclensofdiv incimagination
Troublevanishedaround him
Obstacles fell away. The lost became
found The sick became well. Sinners
became redeemed And rough places
became smooth Moreover, he promised
those who followed him and used
the way he used should have similar
dominion overall thingson earth. My
friend, this art of healing has been lost
our churches today. Our imagination
of the promise of the things of
God has grown weak beneath our rib.
Wccan'tsa> vvcloveGodalloui heart
Jesus loved his father \\ nh all his
heart, soul an mind Notice w ilh me in
Mark's gospel inClutpter 5 verses IX42
every time Jesus converted a lael
into renins the people exclaimed that
a miracle had been wrought Bear in
mind vvt do not imply Jesus disregarded
or ov crloohed the facts ofhfc
But he looked at them so much more
steadily. understanding the needs of
mankind Notieewhcuhecainotolhis
house and he saw the trcalinenl ol
those who wept and wailed great I)
Verse 4X He asked why all the crying'*
"The child is not dead " You see.
he looked stcadilv at the dead girl
until He could utter with absolute
conviction based upon perfectly clear
understanding these startling words
"The maid is noi dead, but sleepelh "
Verse J9 Jesus, m friend, was one
above all olherswho never let Ins lips
say what his mind and head did not
authori/c Out of the abundance of the
heart (he mouth speaketh
So the leper stretching the muscle
of his mind saw the crowd coining his
wax Possibly he asked someone what
was happening his JcsusofNa/arcth.
He is coming and he is preaching and
healing in the hills of Judca
Oh. my friend, it is always a glad
day when Jesus comes to town and
walks the aisles of our churches.
1 imagine the leper drew back into
the rocks. He did not want to be ridiculed
or have rocks thrown at him or
be told to get out of the way.
When the crowd god close, he saw
the face of the young man. unconsciously.
he moved and crawled Out
from those rocks. The eyes of Jesus
compelled him to get up. Pulling his
sore feet, scarcely carrying him. leaving
his crutches, lying against the
walks, he staggered to his feet in all of
Jus fillhincss and wretchedness. HE
fell at the feel of Jesus for pit and for
power. V.
From beneath that spiritual muscle,
lie cried out. "Lord, help thou inc. If
thou wilt, thou canst make mc whole "
Jesus moved with compassion, put
lor I li Ins hand. i he leper leli ihe touch
of Jesus No one luid louehed Iuiii
Ivl'ore >el Jesus l;nd his hand upon
Iuiii and said. "Be lliou elean "
Do sou need a touch Let ine ask
sou ai|iicstion How issour thinking'
Jesus said for us to think on honest
tilings things which are just and
pure, things which are losels il there
be au>. please think on tliec things
I'lulippians 4 S
W hat about son sinner man'' Ale
voiu tired of sinning'' Stretch sour
imagination ofsour iiiind. reachdown
and ers out "l ord if thou will thou
canst make me wliole "
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Cunday
School
Lesson
by Jowv R. Brayboy
Salem Missionary Baptist Church
God'i Great Gift
(Matthew 2: i-12)
I. Wise Men (2:1-2)
II. Troubled Man (2:3-6)
III. Deceptive Plan (2:7-8)
IV. Joyful Worship (2:9-12)
L Wise Men (Matthew 2:1-2)
The wise men came from the Ea=st- >
looking for Jesus. Bible scholarssay
that these wise men were probably
astrologers; and jtharihey. lived in
Persia (present day Iran). They '"Saw
the star in the East and came to
worship Jesus. They must have had
some knowledge about Bible prophecy
because they recognized the
star as that of Jesus. Apparently
they were looking for the Messiah
that the prophets had foretold. They
came to seek out the one who was
bom King of the Jews.
.Troubled Man
Herod was King of Israel at the
time of Jesus' birth. When the wise
men asked about where the King of
the Jews was, the news got to Herod
and he got very upset Herod was
disturbed mainly because he was
. f.insOOure. He-loved being King and
J} aid not want to give up his throne.
When he heard the wise men asking
about the King of the Jews, he
thought Jesus was coming to take
his throne. Herod was like many
pepple today, they love their social
standing, wealth, etc. more than
having the peace that Jesus can
give. In other words, Jesus is a
threat to their life, as they see it In
Herod's anxiety he called for the
Scribes and Chief Priests to find out
where Jesus would be bom. It is like
the natural man when he gets disturbed
about something, he asks
advice from a man of God to get an
answer to his problem Sometimes
the answer is not what they want to
hear, but it may also soothe things
over for a while. The Chief Priests
and Scribes told Herod what he
wanted to know. Sometimes lost
.
people know what they need to do1
when under conviction, but they
want to work it out syrne other way:
Herod found out that Jesus was to
be bom in Bethlehem of Juidea, the
first of the princes.
1IL Deceptive Plan (2:7-9)Herod
sent for the wise men and
asked them when they saw the star
After talking to them, he told them to
find Jesus and come back to let him
know where he was. Herod told them
that he wanted to go and worship
him. Of course, Herod's plan was to
find Jesus and kill him. Many people
today would like to rid the world of
Jesus because like Herod he is a
threat to their life style. Sometimes
like Herod they use deception in the
name of religion to try to thwart the
gospel of Jesus Christ They cannot
see that Christ offers them dtemal
life and peace that passes all understanding
IV. Joyful Noise (2:9-12)
The star led the wise men to the
house were Jesus was. They rejoiced
at seeing the star. The star
stopped over the house where Jesus
was and they went in to worship him.
They had brought gifts of myrTh,
gold and frankincense. The myrTh
was symbolic of the death of Christ
because it was used in the preparation
of deceased bodies. The gold
was a symbol of the purity of the Son
of God. The frankincense was symbolic
of Jesus' authority, after worshipping
Jesus, the wise men left,
but God warned them in a dream to
go home another direction. God let
them know of Herod's deceptive
plan to kill Jesus. Many times we are
faced with people who try to deceive
us, bujjfwe listen to the Lord, He will
reveal it to us When we are in God's
will, we will be able to see deception
of others. The day that we live in we
definitely need the wisdom of God
more than ever to know when people
are being deceitful or are for real. In
today's world, people will use other
people in the name of Jesus and
think nothing of it. If you have not
found the Lord's will for your hfe,
first of all God's will foryour life is to
save you for Christ's sake. If you
don't know Jesus as personal savior,
why don't you accept God's
greatest gift to the world right now
and find out the real meaning of
Christmas
God bless you until next week
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