From His Heart

Speaker 1

God is ready, willing and able to meet your deepest need. Here's Pastor Jeff Shreve to show us how we can know that truth.

Speaker 2

AW Tozer said this: what we think of when we think about God is the most important thing about us. That is the most important thing about you. That's the most important thing about me.

And I pray God that He would use this message today to help you see that the Lord Jesus Christ is good and he's ready, willing, and able to help you in your deepest need. He can heal every scar with real truth, real love, real hope—from his heart.

Speaker 1

A lowly, desperate leper reaped a blessing beyond measure from the Lord. And believe it or not, Jesus is ready, willing, and able to bless you too. In times of our deepest need, when we often feel lonely and forgotten, Jesus is ready to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we could ask or think.

This is from his heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, where today you're in store for a comforting and empowering hope-filled lesson about a leper who came to Jesus with complete faith and hope in the Savior's readiness, willingness, and ability to bless him. And he did.

Are you ready and willing to trust Jesus? He supplies the able. And we'll learn what that means in the message called "Ready, Willing and Able" from the series we're in now entitled "Encountering the Real Jesus."

If you can, open your Bible to the fifth chapter of the book of Luke as Pastor Jeff begins the lesson called "Ready, Willing and Able."

Speaker 2

Years ago, I heard a story about a man who was out in the country, long before the time of cell phones. He was driving along a pretty much deserted country road when he got a flat tire. He said, "Oh crud," and pulled over to the side of the road to get the spare tire from his trunk. However, when he opened the trunk, he realized he didn't have a jack. He thought to himself, "Man, what am I gonna do? I need a jack."

Way off in the distance, he spotted a farmhouse. There was nothing around except this farmhouse, and as it was starting to get a little dark, he could see a light burning. He thought, "Well, I don't have any choice but to walk to that farmhouse and see if they have a jack that they would loan me." As he walked, negative thoughts began to fill his mind. He worried that the people there wouldn't want to see him, that he might scare them, and that they might not even have a jack. He thought, "I'm just wasting my time walking over there." Then another thought dawned on him: "What if they have a jack but don’t want to let me use it? Well, that's just terrible."

With all these thoughts swirling in his mind, he finally reached the farmhouse and knocked on the front door. The farmer answered with a smile and said, "Hello, sir, what can I do for you?" The man, overwhelmed by his negative thoughts, snapped back, "Let me tell you something you can do for me. You can take your jack and stick it in your ear."

Negative thoughts produce negative images. When it comes to the Lord Jesus Christ, many people have negative thoughts, negative images, and a negative perception built on lies. Just like in that fictitious story, the farmer was ready to help him and was glad to see him, but the man had built up lies in his mind. He perceived the farmer, before ever meeting him, as someone who didn’t want to help, even though he had the means to do so.

Many of us have a similar perception of the Lord because we look at our lives in snapshots. We determine God based on the snapshot of our lives. What do I mean by a snapshot? It’s how your life is going right now. You've heard me say before that many of us have a "daisy theology," where we say, "He loves me, he loves me not. He loves me, he loves me not." It's all based on snapshots—what's going on right now. If things are going well, we think, "He loves me." If things are going poorly, we think, "He must love me not."

We look at tough periods in our lives and develop attitudes toward God based on those moments rather than on the truth of God's Word about who He really is. We are in a series called "Encountering the Real Jesus." We don’t want to encounter a make-believe Jesus or a false Jesus; we want to encounter the real Jesus revealed in His Word.

Luke chapter five gives us a wonderful picture of who Jesus really is as we see Him interacting with a leper. This is an important story because it is covered in Matthew's gospel, Mark's gospel, and here in Luke chapter 5. I’ll begin reading in verse 12: "And it came about that while he was in one of the cities in Galilee—doesn't tell us which city—behold, there was a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, begging Him, saying, 'Lord, if you’re willing, you can make me clean.' And Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, 'I am willing; be cleansed.' And immediately the leprosy left him. He ordered him to tell no one, but go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded for a testimony to them. But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and great multitudes were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sickness. But He Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray."

A.W. Tozer, the theologian from a few years ago, made a great statement: "What we think of when we think about God is the most important thing about us." The image we have in our minds when we think about God is crucial. I pray that God would use this story and this message today to help you see that the Lord Jesus Christ is good, and He is ready, willing, and able to help you in your deepest need.

I want you to notice with me three encouragements from this passage—three actions that the leper took that you and I can take today, which made a difference in his life and will make a difference in ours. These will encourage you just as they have encouraged me.

**Encouragement number one:** Like the leper, you can come to Jesus. Luke says that when the leper saw Jesus, he fell down before Him and begged Him. But Matthew and Mark both add that a leper came to Him. It’s not just that the leper saw Him; the leper sought Him. He came to Him, which was a big deal because if you had leprosy, you didn’t come where the people were. You were unclean and separated from society.

We don’t know much about leprosy today, but in ancient times, it was a well-known and feared disease. If you had leprosy, you had a huge problem. In the law, Leviticus chapters 13 and 14 detail the issue of leprosy. If you had a spot or rash, you had to go to the priest for inspection. If the priest determined it was leprosy, you were declared unclean and had to separate yourself from family and friends, living with other lepers.

Leprosy is a skin disease that goes deeper than the skin, affecting the nervous system and causing disfigurement. It was a horrible disease, and those with leprosy were often referred to as the walking dead. This man sought Jesus out despite his condition.

Leprosy represents our sin problem. Just as leprosy is an external disease, sin is an internal disease that affects every person. Leprosy goes deeper than the skin, and sin goes deeper than the external; it is in our hearts. David said in Psalm 51, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me." The Scripture says, "In Adam all die," and we are all sinners by nature, birth, choice, and practice.

The wages of sin is death, and just as physical leprosy deforms, spiritual leprosy—the disease of sin—deforms us in the sight of God. It isolates us, and the deeper we go into sin, the more isolated we become from others and separated from God. It is incurable.

Just as the man in the story was full of leprosy, we are all full of spiritual leprosy apart from Jesus Christ. There is nothing we can do to cure ourselves. The Lord says in Jeremiah 2:22, "Although you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your iniquity is before me." How can we get rid of the stain of sin in our hearts?

Can you go to church enough? No. Can you pray enough? No. Can you give enough? No. Can you sacrifice enough? No. Can you read the Bible enough? No. There is nothing you can do. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

So, like the leper, you can come to Jesus. The word "behold" in verse 12 is a word of surprise and astonishment. This leper came to Jesus, breaking all social barriers because he was desperate. He had a huge problem and was willing to bring it to the Lord.

**Second encouragement:** Like the leper, you can cry out to Jesus about your problems. The leper came to Jesus, fell on his face, and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if you’re willing, you can make me clean." He humbled himself before the Lord.

To get God, the Lord Jesus Christ, to respond to you, you must come to Him. You must be willing to humble yourself, regardless of what others think. This man broke through the crowd, despite the judgmental looks he received. He fell down before Jesus, calling Him "Lord," which means supreme authority.

If you want God to work in your life, you must be humble before Him. The Scripture says repeatedly that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. In Ecclesiastes, King Solomon concludes that the ultimate purpose is to fear God and keep His commandments.

To fear God means to understand and give Him His rightful place as God while taking your rightful place as a servant. This man humbled himself before Jesus, and God looks favorably upon the humble.

This man believed that Jesus was able to heal him. He said, "Lord, if you’re willing, you can make me clean." Within that request lies faith. He didn’t say, "If you’re able," but "If you’re willing." He believed Jesus was able to heal him.

You and I can come before the Lord with our needs and say, "Lord, I believe you are able in this situation." In your life, outside of salvation, which is the greatest need for every person, this man’s problem was greater than any problem you might face. He came to Jesus, humbled himself, and said, "Lord, if you’re willing, you can make me clean."

Speaker 1

Well, he is able to do this for the leper and for you and me. No matter what our struggles are today, what a hope-filled and guaranteed promise from God. You're listening to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve and today's lesson, ready, Willing and Able from the seven-message series, Encountering the Real Jesus.

Did you know there are some things that God can't do? It's true. And one of them is He can't lie. He always fulfills His promises, and He promises to renew us as we surrender our lives even more fully to Him. Do you want God to do something fresh in your life? As we follow Him in obedience, the resulting joy will be greater than any passing pleasure this world could possibly offer.

We will be refreshed this month to help refresh your soul. Pastor Jeff is in his seven-message series, Encountering the Real Jesus. You can get a copy of the series when you go to fromhisheart.org. Click the listen link there, too. You can listen to any of the broadcasts that you may have missed and also get the series in the format of your choice from our resource center. That's fromhisheart.org.

While you're there, we would appreciate you asking God what He might have you do to give to support this outreach. In our 21st year of telling the world about God's truth, love, and hope we find in Christ, it's a blessing to know that you are with us all the way.

Hey, this is a ministry that depends on your support. Pastor Jeff is simply our speaker and our full-time volunteer, receiving no income from what you give to From His Heart. He supports his family by the salary he's given through his other full-time job as Pastor of First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Texas.

When you give a gift this month to From His Heart, we'll say thanks by sending you the series that we aired earlier this month called Soldiers of the Cross and the companion booklet, The Lord's Army. Call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) or go online to fromhisheart.org, and thank you so very, very much for partnering with us to speak the truth in love to a lost and hurting world.

But we're going to pause right there in this lesson for today. We'll be back tomorrow when Pastor Jeff continues looking into the Savior's readiness, willingness, and ability to bless this poor leper—and bless you and me too. Make sure you're with us then, and be with us on Friday for part two of Ready, Willing and Able right here on From His Heart.

Speaker 2

There is treasure, there is blessed There is hope that you always dream of he can heal every scars of truth Real love you hold from his heart.

Speaker 1

From his heart is the listener supported Broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world.

Remember, no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out more about that when you go to fromisheart.org.