Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: The Hallelujah of Confession

Faith & Gratefulness

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Covenant Theology

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2004-03-21

Synopsis: John Weaver examines Luke 17:11-19, the healing of ten lepers, to teach that faith and gratefulness are inseparable. He highlights the sin of ingratitude, the commonality of sin, the urgency of crying to Christ, and the importance of returning thanks. Only one leper, a Samaritan, returned to glorify God, and Christ noted both the ingratitude of the nine and the faith of the one. Applications emphasize that we must recognize our need, appreciate God's mercies, and offer praise, as those forgiven much love much.

[John Weaver] Luke chapter 17. And we're going to read verses 11 through 19. Luke 17, beginning there with verse 11. Luke 17, verse 11. And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

[John Weaver] And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God and fell down on his face and his feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed?

[John Weaver] But where are the nine? They are not found that return to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said of them, Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole." The message I have entitled today is Faith and Gratefulness. I suppose that one of the most heinous sins of Christians is the sin of ingratitude. Ingratitude and unthankfulness are usually a mark of the unconverted and the ungodly.

[John Weaver] For instance, in Luke 6, verse 35, the Lord tells us that our Heavenly Father is kind to the unthankful and to the evil. Notice how unthankful and evil are connected. And then in 2 Timothy 3, verse 2, the Word of God tells us that men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous. proud, boasters, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Notice once again how unthankfulness or ingratitude is connected with the ungodly.

[John Weaver] Now, such attitudes, of course, should not be in the Christian. But the truth is, we're still in the flesh and consequently, occasionally, we do have those attitudes, but thankfully, It should not be a permanent attitude. Have you ever stopped to think about your own personal life and how you have helped people in the past? And you and I are oftentimes personally incensed at those whom we help.

[John Weaver] when they turn out to be ungrateful and unthankful. And I might add, rightly so, because one should at least have the courtesy and the character to acknowledge the blessings and help.

[John Weaver] Now, if that is true with you and I, if that is true with each of us, how much more is it true with our Heavenly Father? We may only help someone occasionally, but our Heavenly Father helps us constantly, incessantly, and faithfully. So failure to realize this truth, of course, leads then to an attitude of ingratitude. So let me ask a couple of leading questions before I get into the text today. Why is it that by and large we are so unthankful to our Heavenly Father?

[John Weaver] Or why do we not praise Him more than we do? Or why do we not cheerfully acknowledge all of His blessings? And I believe the text today gives us the answer to those questions. As you can see in the text, our Lord was traveling between Samaria and Galilee and he encountered ten lepers, the Bible tells us. Verse 12, and there met him ten men that were lepers who stood afar off. Now as he sees these ten lepers, each of the ten unites his voice with the others, beseeching the Lord to have mercy upon them. Now I want you to note how the Bible tells us that one of them was a Samaritan.

[John Weaver] Now there's one truth here that you and I need to emphasize at the very beginning. I want you to note the commonality of sin. The commonality of sin. When I say that, here are men who were Israelites and here was a man who was a Samaritan who usually would not ever have anything to do with each other. And yet here they are sharing a commonality in their sin and in their suffering. I'll explain why I'm saying sin a little bit later.

[John Weaver] Look in your Bibles, whole Luke 17, but look in your Bibles to John chapter 4. John chapter 4, you remember how our Lord goes there to the woman at the well, beginning with verse 4, John 4 and verse 4. The Bible says that he must needs go through Samaria, then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now, Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied with this journey, sat thus on the well.

[John Weaver] It was about the sixth hour. Then cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. For his disciples were going away in the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? Watch, for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans." You remember the Samaritans, according to 2 Kings 17, were half-breeds. They had intermingled with the heathen, and many of the Judeans, those people of the tribe of Judah, they would walk all the way around Samaria just to keep from going through there, so despised were the Samaritans.

[John Weaver] And so here you have, in Luke chapter 17, some Israelites and a Samaritan bound together. So usually, when men will not have anything to do with each other, they will always come together in sin or in suffering. Do you remember the story in Luke chapter 23? It is in verse 12. Pilate and Herod were enemies, but Pilate sent Christ to Herod. And the Bible says that Herod had longed to see Christ for a long time. And the Bible also says that that day that Herod and Pilate were made friends, for before they were in enmity with each other. All I'm pointing out is here are men who will come together in sin and in wickedness and to hate and betray Christ when before they would not have anything to do with each other.

[John Weaver] The same thing is true with the Sadducees and the Pharisees and the Herodians. They despised each other, but they surely got together to betray Christ and attempt Christ. Sin and suffering many times will indeed bring men together.

[John Weaver] Now why am I talking about sin when the Bible talks about leprosy? The reason why is because leprosy in the Bible is a type of sin and a type of judgment. In fact, all through the Bible you can find, usually speaking, that leprosy was a special judgment of God against an individual who had sinned against Him. In fact, in Deuteronomy 28, verse 27, one of the curses that God places upon the disobedient is this, that He will smite them with a scab wherewith they cannot be healed. So one of the curses is leprosy. The words man cannot heal leprosy. God says you disobey me. I will curse you. I will smite you with a scab that cannot be healed. You remember in number chapter 12 in verse 10 when Miriam treated Moses with contempt, God smote her with leprosy instantly. Moses besought the Lord that he would heal her. God said if she had Spit in her father's face.

[John Weaver] Must she not bear her reproach and put her out of the camp? Let her bear her reproach overnight. I'll heal her tomorrow. I'm not going to heal her today." So God smote her with leprosy. In 2 Samuel 3, verse 29, David cursed Joab's house with leprosy. And do you not remember in 2 Kings 5, verse 21, it was Gehazi who was smitten with Naaman's leprosy after he lied to Naaman and took a bribe. Elijah said the leprosy of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and then in 2nd Kings chapter 15 in verse 5 it was King Uzziah who went into the temple to offer incense when he was not permitted to do so and when the Azariah the priest and the other priest confronted him he said well look here I'm the king but as he lifted his hand God smote him leprosy so leprosy then is a type of sin and judgment in the Bible. Now, when we think of leprosy, we normally think of men who are smitten with this dreaded disease. But may I remind you that leprosy in the Bible could also not be only in men, but in clothes and in houses as well.

[John Weaver] And there are certain laws in the Bible that regulate not only lepers, but also the healing and the cleansing of lepers. Now, the Bible says, and if you look at it in verse 12, and as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers who stood afar off. So they were in his path. They were in the road as he went into the village. Now, why were they simply On the road or in the path, because the lepers were not permitted to be in the village. In fact, they were not really permitted to have contact with anyone. Notice, if you would, the Bible in Luke, I'm not Luke, but Leviticus chapter 13, Leviticus 13.

[John Weaver] If you'll hold that passage, we'll look at a couple of verses there. Leviticus chapter 13 and verse 46. Look what God says. And all the days wherein the plague shall be in him, he shall be defiled. He is unclean." Here's the statement,"...he shall dwell alone, without the camp shall his habitation be." God said the leper cannot be around other people. Whole Leviticus, but look in the book of Numbers, chapter 5, if you would please, in verses 2 and 3. Once again, God says it like this. Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead, both male and female, shall you put out, without the camp shall you put them, that they file them up their camps, and in the midst whereof I dwell." God says the leper is to be put out of the camp.

[John Weaver] Now, moreover, according to the Bible, lepers had to keep a proper distance from anyone who was healthy. Look in Leviticus 13 and verse 45. And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean." So anytime he saw anyone, he had to warn them that he was unclean, that he was contagious, that he was a leper.

[John Weaver] That's why they stood afar off. That's why they lifted up their voice to our Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, although they could not have contact with someone who was healthy, That certainly did not stop the lepers from interacting with each other and doing that which is beneficial for a leprous group. In fact, all you have to do is read in 2 Kings 7 about the four lepers that were at the gate of Samaria there. It was those four lepers who were looking out for themselves that basically brought the good news back to Samaria that the enemy had disappeared and thus they saved the entire city. Now they were not able to go into the city. They were at the gates outside the walls, but they at least came back.

[John Weaver] Now the Bible tells us in Luke chapter 17 that Jesus as he was traveling in the way. He saw these lepers. And they turned aside and, of course, undoubtedly warned him, as they were required to do. And then they cried out for help. They kept their distance from the Lord. I hope you see a spiritual truth here. Here our Lord is walking down the path. The leper sees.

[John Weaver] They know who he is. but they cannot approach unto him. You know what the Bible says in Isaiah 59? The Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ears not heavy that he cannot hear. But your sins have separated between you and your God, and your iniquities have hid his face from you. Why is it that man by nature cannot come close to the Lord because of his sin, because of the judgment and the curse of God upon him. It's our sin that has separated us from God.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look at at least three things here, maybe four. First of all, note their cry. Look in verse 13. They stood afar off and they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us. First of all, I want you to note their cry was urgent. How do I know it was an urgent cry? Well, the Bible says they lifted up their voices. That is, they evidently were very loud, and usually when you get loud, you get very urgent. And when you realize that leprosy was incurable, except by divine intervention, That would certainly tend to make it more urgent. They understood the importance of their cry, because if Christ did not help them, then they were not going to be helped.

[John Weaver] It was probably like old Blind Bartimaeus in Mark chapter 10. When someone told him that Jesus of Nazareth walked by, Blind Bartimaeus began to cry, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy upon me. And what did the people around him do? They bade him to hold his peace. Be quiet. And the more they bade him to hold his peace, the louder he cried, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy upon me. Why?

[John Weaver] Because he knew if Christ did not help him, he would never, ever be helped. The same cry that Peter made. You remember when he looked at our Lord and said, Lord, if that's you walking on the water, bid me come unto you. And he said, well, it is me. So, Peter, you get out of the boat and walk to me. And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water until he took his eyes off Christ.

[John Weaver] When he saw the waves and the boisterous wind, he began to sink. And do you remember the lengthy prayer that Peter prayed? Two words, help Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, do you think that was an urgent cry? Yeah, because he realized if Christ didn't help him, he was a goner. Same thing with these lepers. They realized if Christ did not help them, it was all over. So it was an urgent cry. Secondly, it was not only an urgent cry, it was a unanimous cry. All ten of them raised their voices together. They cried, Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us. Now, those that expect help from Jesus Christ must recognize him as Master. Did you hear that? Those that expect help from Jesus Christ must recognize him as master. If you want him to be your Savior, he must also be your Lord. And the word Lord means boss, owner, master, sovereign. And I want you to note something.

[John Weaver] They did not necessarily ask to be cured from their leprosy. Isn't that interesting? What they asked for Do you realize it is sufficient to throw yourselves upon the compassion of Jesus Christ? It is sufficient to throw yourselves upon the mercy of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ will always do for us that which is for our good and for his glory. They had heard of Jesus Christ. They knew of his fame.

[John Weaver] Now they were encouraged to make application to him and say, just have mercy upon us. So here is their cry. Note secondly, if you would please, their cure in verse 14. And when he saw them, he said to them, go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass as they went, they were cleaned. They were cleansed.

[John Weaver] Now, amazingly enough, Christ just simply tells these 10 lepers to go show themselves to the priest. That's all. He did not do here, as he did in Matthew 8 in verse 1 and 2. In Matthew 8 in verses 1 and 2, a leper came to Christ, kneeling, and said, If thou wilt, thou can make me clean. And Christ just simply said, I will, and reached out and touched him and cleansed him.

[John Weaver] Here our Lord did not reach out and touch them. He did not bid them come near. He just said, look, go show yourselves unto the priest. Do you understand that Jesus Christ is not limited to a certain means or a certain method? Just because he heals someone one way in Matthew 8 does not mean that he has to use the same method in Luke chapter 17. So here in Luke 17 was displayed the divine power of Christ and his word.

[John Weaver] Here also is proof positive of a high estimation which God holds in the obedience of faith. Interestingly enough, our Lord just simply said to these ten lepers, go show thyself to the priest And they turned and obeyed his very word and went to the priest. They did not ask for any proof. They did not ask for any sign. They did not ask for any miracle. They just simply obeyed the command of Christ. Now, why did Christ send them to the priest?

[John Weaver] I hope you know and look back in your Bible, please, to the book of Leviticus chapter 14. But I hope you understand the priest, of course, could not cure anyone from leprosy. The only thing the priest could do is to inspect and judge the leper. If he was clean They could pronounce him clean. If he was not clean, they would pronounce him unclean. Look in Leviticus 14 verse 2. This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest and then he goes right on down and tells you the whole ritual that the priest was to go through for his cleansing. So it was the priest then who pronounced the man clean. Here was a ritual that was used But the priest certainly did not heal and could not heal leprosy.

[John Weaver] Interestingly enough, when Christ said, Go show thyself unto the priest, he did not even tell them positively that they would be healed. He didn't tell them what would happen to them. They just simply obeyed. What was he doing? He was testing their faith, and rightly it should be tested. Do you remember the man by the name of Naaman, Naaman the Syrian, when he came to Elisha the prophet. And Elisha just sent Gehazi out and said, you go tell Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan River and he'll be clean.

[John Weaver] And he turned and went away in a rage. He said, I thought at least the man would come out and strike me with his hand and call upon his God. And oh, he was angry and he was running back to Syria as fast as he could. And one of his men said, If the prophet had bid you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?"

[John Weaver] Well, he said, of course. Well, he said, how much more simple it is just to go duck yourself seven times in the Jordan River and be clean. And when he went and did so, he came up clean. You see, here was a test of faith. Those who expect Christ's favor must submit to his method and to his way. You and I cannot dictate to Christ who to heal or where to heal or when to heal or how to heal.

[John Weaver] That is solely and totally up to Him. Someone asked me in time past, they said, do you believe in divine healing? And my answer is yes, all healing is divine. It is. God may use means and methods, or God may not use means or methods, But all healing is divine, because if God doesn't heal you, you're not healed, period. And so he just simply told them to go show themselves to the priest. Now, why? Because at this point, the ceremonial law was still in effect, and Christ was going to honor that which God had given in the Old Testament. Moreover, here now the priest himself who inspects these lepers, is going to know of the perfection of the cure by the Son of God. He will know that these men were cured by Christ himself.

[John Weaver] And the Bible says, as they went, they were cleansed. Undoubtedly, they were going to do exactly as Leviticus chapter 14 says.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to learn this simple truth. Here it is. You and I may expect mercy from God in the path of obedience and duty. When we obey Christ and do what he requires us to do, then he will do for us that which we cannot do for ourselves. But do not expect Christ to do for you that which you cannot do for yourself if you're unwilling to obey him and submit to him. That's why they cried, Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us.

[John Weaver] You've seen the cry, you've seen the cure. Look thirdly at the cordial in verses 15 and 16. Luke 17, verse 15. and one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face and his feet, giving him thanks, and he was a Samaritan."

[John Weaver] Now, I'm using the word cordial in the same sense that the old Puritans used it. The word cordial means that which is refreshing, sweet, delightful. And how refreshing, sweet, and delightful it is to find a humble thankful, grateful person.

[John Weaver] Now listen, one of the lepers, and only one, when he discovered he was cleansed, returned to give thanks. When he saw that he was healed, instead of continuing to go to the priest in order that he might be declared clean, thus ending his confinement Instead of rushing to the priest to get a certificate of cleanliness, he returns to the author of his cure, whom he wished to have the glory for that cure. And even before he received the benefits of that cure, he wanted to honor the one who gave it to him. The Bible tells us he returned and with a loud voice glorified God. Isn't that amazing? Now watch it. He lifted up his voice loudly in prayer for help. Now he's lifting up his voice loudly in praises. He's recognizing that he got the help. Now he said, I'm going to be careful to give the praise and the thanks to the one who gave me the help.

[John Weaver] Notice what else he did. The Bible says in verse 16, he not only turned back when he saw that he was healed, he not only used a loud voice to glorify God, but he fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. What did he do? He put himself in the most humble, reverent posture that is known to man. He simply fell down on his face. He lay in the dust before giving Christ honor and glory. We ought to give thanks for the face of favors Christ bestows upon us, particularly when he gives us recoveries from sickness and diseases, and we ought to return his thanks as speedily and as heartily as we cried for his help in prayer.

[John Weaver] Do you know what happens? Many times When Christ gives us mercies, when we delay to give Him the thanks, we tend to forget the mercies. Everyone in this room has been sick at one time or the other. Everyone in this room has been healed. Everyone in this room has been without. Everyone in this room has been supplied graciously by Christ. But isn't it amazing how we tend to forget the blessings that God has so graciously bestowed upon us? This one man was sensible not only to the power of God, but he was grateful for the mercies of God, and he returned immediately to give glory to God. He did not obey the letter of Christ's command instantly, but he certainly obeyed the spirit of that command, because instead of going directly to the priest, he turned back to give glory to God. His attitude was, I can get to the priest later. I know that I'm healed. Christ may not be here. When I get to the priest, therefore, I'll give him the praise of the honor and the glory right now.

[John Weaver] Do you realize the first duty of sinners? After they have been forgiven and after God has given them eternal life is to prostrate themselves at the feet of the great benefactor and consecrate themselves to his service. You know what the Bible said in 1 Peter 3 and verse 18? I'm going to show you some verses in just a moment, but let me quote this one. 1 Peter 3 and verse 18, the Bible says that Christ hath once suffered the just for the unjust, that he might bring us back to God. Why did Christ suffer the just for the unjust? What do you say? To save us. Well, that would be a great answer if you understood what saving us meant. In saving us, He brings us back to the Father. He brings us back in submission to the Father and His word and His truth and His law. Christ does not save us so that we can live any old way that we please. He saves us that we might be obedient.

[John Weaver] It's after we give him the honor and the praise and the glory, then we may go and be a witness to others. Do you remember the maniac of Gadara? When our Lord healed him in Luke chapter 8, what did he do? He immediately besought Christ that he might be with him. What did our Lord say? Our Lord said, You go and return to your own house and show how great mercy Christ has done unto you.

[John Weaver] But notice what he did first. He first besought Christ and what Christ wanted. And then he was a witness. Whatever God does for us, we must first learn to give him the honor and the glory and then give a witness to others. First, praise and worship. And then secondly, Now look forkly today at the culmination, verses 17-19. After this one who has fallen on his face with a loud voice, giving thanks unto God and worshiping Christ, verse 17, and Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed?

[John Weaver] But where are the nine? They are not found that return to give glory to God, save this stranger.

[John Weaver] Now, our Lord has been worshipped by this Samaritan, whom he calls a stranger, and he asks a simple question. Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? I want you to learn something. If you don't learn anything else from this message today, I want you to learn this. Jesus Christ takes notice of those who are thankful and grateful to him, and those who are not thankful and grateful to him. Is that interesting?

[John Weaver] Do you not do the same?

[John Weaver] every day. And every day I took it, never acknowledged that it came from you, never thanked you, never expressed my gratitude in any way. I just took it. Would you not soon tire of my taking you for granted and taking advantage of you? And pretty soon you're going to say, I know what I'll do. I'll stop giving him that hundred dollar bill. All of a sudden he'll realize where his money's been coming from.

[John Weaver] If you would take notice of those who are grateful and those who are ungrateful, do you not think Christ would do the same? The Lord publicly noted the indifference of the ingratitude of the nine, and he publicly noted the thanksgiving of the ten. You and I look around and we see all of the blessings that God has constantly and continually given us. And we stop and think how little we've really been grateful and thankful for all that he's done.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to observe several things. First of all, I want you to note how rich Christ is in doing good. He asks, where are the nine? Were there not ten cleansed? Can you imagine our Lord doing a wholesale cure at one time? I mean, he cleansed ten men instantly. I mean, here's a whole hospital full of lepers, so to speak, and he just cleanses them all. He cures them all. There is enough cleansing virtue in the blood of Jesus Christ sufficient for all of his patients. And let me tell you, just because God has mercy on this one man or these ten men does not mean that his grace and his mercy is going to run out.

[John Weaver] He's got plenty to go around. And so our Lord then richly and graciously and mercifully cleansed ten at one time. So notice how rich he is in doing good. Secondly, notice how poor we are in our returns. Because he asks, where are the nine? This insinuates and teaches us that ingratitude is a very common sin. Of the many that receive the mercies from God, there be few, very few, that return to give God the thanks in the proper manner that's due in his holy and blessed name. You stop and think of the dangerous sicknesses that people have been cured from in this world, and how few really publicly praise and thank God. You think of the ships that have wrecked. You think of the airplanes that have crashed. And here and there, one or two survive miraculously.

[John Weaver] And what burns me up is when they're being interviewed on TV, on the news, they say, man, I was lucky. Luck my foot! If God had not sovereignly protected them, they too would have been dead. But they're embarrassed to say, thank God He spared me. I've got news for you folks. It's amazing. How few people ever feel their obligation to give honor and glory to God for all that he's done for them. It's amazing. It's amazing.

[John Weaver] Our Lord asked where are the nine? Thirdly, we should understand this. How sometimes those proved most grateful from whom it was least expected. Please tell me again, who was it that returned and gave our Lord thanks? A Samaritan. A Samaritan. A stranger. These others were Israelites. They had the covenant. They had the blessing. They knew who God was. Is it not an absolute shame that many times those who profess no religion or a wrong religion do what is right? than those who profess the true religion.

[John Weaver] Now, I know morality will not save you folks. I understand that. But I have seen some unsaved men and women who are more moral and more upright than I have some professing Christians. That's a shame. That's a shame. And many times you might even find them more grateful and more thankful and more readily willing to acknowledge God. I've seen Christians who refuse to bow their head and thank God for food in a public restaurant. Why?

[John Weaver] It's amazing that our Lord teaches us a valuable lesson here, and that is this, that he justly resents the ingratitude of the world of mankind for whom he has done so much and from whom he has received so little. Where are the nine? The fourth thing I want you to see under this is the great encouragement that Christ gave this Samaritan. He said in verse 19, Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole.

[John Weaver] You know, I've often wondered about those other names. Of course, the scripture does not tell us. But I've often thought, I wonder if their leprosy returned. It would have been just had it done so. But probably not. They were probably cured even though they were ungrateful and unthankful. But I want you to note something. This Samaritan, this stranger, is set apart from the nine Israelites. He tells him, Thy faith hath made thee whole. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Now the rest were made whole by the power of Christ in compassion to their distress and in answer to their prayer, but he, this Samaritan, was made whole by faith, which Christ saw as distinguishing him from the rest. In other words, here's what I believe the Bible is teaching us that this Samaritan not only received a physical blessing, but a spiritual one as well. He was saved. The other nine may have received a physical blessing, But that physical blessing did not benefit them at all. They received no spiritual teaching or truth because of it.

[John Weaver] Isn't that interesting? You know what our Lord said? In fact, I'll show you. Look in your Bibles, Matthew chapter 21. This needs to be re-emphasized. Matthew 21. Notice, if you would please, verse 32. Matthew 21, verse 32. Look what he tells these Pharisees. He says, For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not. But the publicans and the harlots believed him, and you, when you had seen it, repented not afterwards that you might believe. Isn't it amazing that what our Lord is telling us, that we are responsible Not only to learn from the blessings of God in our lives, but we're responsible to learn from the blessings of God in the lives of others. He said you saw the harlots and the publicans, you saw them believe, you saw how they were changed.

[John Weaver] But did it have any effect upon you? No, you repented not that you might believe. Whatever God does for us, we are responsible to benefit from it spiritually. And so our Lord tells us, Samaritan, go thy way. Thy faith hath saved thee. You didn't get just a physical cleansing. You had a spiritual cleansing as well.

[John Weaver] Now, let me make some applications. And my applications are maybe not quite as long as the message, but I do want to make them. First of all, in Luke 17, verse 13. You see the ten men, bitter lepers, the Bible said, and lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us. They lifted up their voices. Do you realize how earnestly men cry for help? When they sense and discover their need for help. Men do not normally cry for help when they don't realize they're in trouble.

[John Weaver] Let me just illustrate it. Suppose I told you that in this tube of Chapstick, I have the only known cure for cancer in the entire world. You say, really? I said, sure. And I'll sell it to you for $100,000. You look at me and say, well, I guess you would. But I don't have $100,000 right now, and I don't have cancer, and I don't need it. But suppose you did have cancer, and you just didn't know it. And the next week you go to the doctor for a checkup, and the doctor tells you that you've got cancer, and unless you get a cure, you're going to be dead in three weeks. All of a sudden, guess what? You want this more than anything in the world. You're willing to only pay me $100,000. You're willing to pay me $500,000. You get the point?

[John Weaver] Here's what our Lord said in Matthew chapter 9. Go there. I want you to see it. Look at Matthew 9. Here is the spiritual principle. Matthew chapter 9. Let's begin reading there with verse 10. Matthew 9 verse 10. And it came to pass, as Jesus said it meet in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, why ye of your master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, they that behold need not a physician, but they that are sick, go ye and learn what that meaneth, and I'll have mercy and not sacrifice. What did he say? They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. Our Lord is saying, you will never ever call upon me till you realize your need.

[John Weaver] Let me tell you something, folks. If we don't realize our need and learn to cry to Christ, he may give us something to cry to him about. He may give us something that will make us cry.

[John Weaver] Secondly, here's a second application. If only one-tenth are grateful and thankful for the mercies and blessings of That means 90% ignore him. They presume upon his grace. They presume upon his blessings and take them for granted. So here's my question. Which percentile are you in? Or maybe we could make it another way. Maybe we could say that we probably only give him the glory in our lives 10% of the time. And the other 90% of the time, we take him for granted. Once again, I could ask you, which percentile are you in? Let me show you.

[John Weaver] Hold Luke 17, but look in your Bibles to Psalm 107. Psalm 107. This is a wonderful Psalm. You should read all of it, but I'm only going to read several verses. Psalm 107, look at verse 1. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Now watch. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. Why? For he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Now skip down to verse 8. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Skip down to verse 15. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. Now, verse 21. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. Now, verse 31. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men.

[John Weaver] I want to tell you something. In each one of those sections, He gives us many things that we should be praising Him about. We ought to praise Him that we were just unable to wake up this morning. We ought to praise Him that He gave us rest. We ought to praise Him for help, for finances, for friends, for family. Any goodness that God gives us, we ought to give Him the honor and the glory.

[John Weaver] Our Lord asks, where are the dying? Which percentile are you in? Do you give him the honor and the glory for all that he does in your life?

[John Weaver] Now, since we're in Psalms, I want you to turn to Psalm 50, because I want to make another application. And I want you to get ready to see this verse. Psalm 50, go ahead and turn there if you would, please. Here's the third application. Temporal mercies are doubled and sweetened to us when they are fetched by the prayer of faith and returned by the praises of faith.

[John Weaver] He said, what are you talking about? Well, look at Psalm 15, verse 23. God says, whosoever offereth praise glorify me. You want to glorify God? One of the ways is by offering him praise. So that means this. When I pray and I seek a blessing from God, and God gives me the answer to my prayer, that is one blessing. But then when I turn around and give God the praise for that answered prayer, that's another blessing. What a blessing it is to understand and know that I received a blessing through prayer, but now I may bless my heavenly Father through praise. So our temporal mercies then are sweetened and doubled when we give God the praise for what he's done. Here's the fourth application.

[John Weaver] In Luke chapter 17, our Lord said this. 18. They are not found that return to give glory to God, save this stranger. I hinted at this earlier, but oftentimes God receives more praise and affectionate obedience from those who lived a long time without His knowledge and fear, from those who were bred up and raised among His You say, what are you talking about? Well, this occurs not only in Isaiah 65, but the Apostle quotes in Romans chapter 10. Since we're in the New Testament, just look in Romans chapter 10. You could also read the same thing in Isaiah 65. But look in Romans chapter 10 at what he says beginning there with verses 20 and 21. Romans 10 verse 20. In fact, Let's read verse 19. But I say, did not Israel know?

[John Weaver] But Moses said, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation will I anger you. But Isaiah is very bold and said, I was found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest of them that asked not for me. But to Israel, he said, all day long I've stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

[John Weaver] Who ought to be giving God the most honor and glory? Those who had his truth belongs. Those who know him belongs. But all the time it's not like that. Sometimes someone comes in who's never ever been taught and raised up in the Christian faith. And then when he's converted, he learns to praise God more than we who have been raised in a Christian home and in a Christian school.

[John Weaver] Now let me ask and answer two more questions in my applications. Why are we so unmerciful, unthankful and ungrateful? Here's the answer. Because we have never learned to appreciate God's mercies. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 18. I want to take the time to read these last two passages because they're vitally important. Look at Matthew 18. Matthew 18. Let's begin reading there with verse 23. Look what our Lord says. I'm showing you why we are so unmerciful. Why we're so ungrateful? Why we're so unthankful? And the answer is, we've just never learned to appreciate the greatness of God's mercies. Here it is, Matthew 18, verse 23. Our Lord says, Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to a certain king who would take account of his servants.

[John Weaver] And when he began to reckon, one was brought unto him who owed him ten thousand talents, a humongous amount of money. For as much as he had not to pay as the Lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and children, and all they had in payment to be made, they were thrown into slavery. The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred pence. That is a pitiful, small amount. And he laid hands on him and took him out of the throat, saying, Pay me that thou ow'st. And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and he sought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not, but went and cast him into prison, that he should pay all the debt.

[John Weaver] So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry and came and told unto their Lord all that was done. And the Lord, after that, he called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desirest me. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on my fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his Lord was rocked.

[John Weaver] and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."

[John Weaver] Now what is the point of this parable? God had forgiven this one man an enormous debt, and yet someone owed him very little. And what did he do? He went, put his hands around the man's throat, pay me or else." The man had no method of payment. He begged for the same mercy this man begged for, and he would not be merciful but cast him into prison.

[John Weaver] Why did he do that? Because he had no appreciation, he had no thankfulness, he had no gratefulness for the enormous debt that his Lord had forgiven him from. See folks, if you and I do not learn to appreciate what our Heavenly Father does for us, we cannot even be merciful to other people. We cannot be forgiving to others until we realize what God has forgiven us from.

[John Weaver] Let me go a step further. Here's my sixth application. Why are our mouths so muted when it comes to praising our Heavenly Father? Why are we so insensitive to His praise? To continue this same thought, because we have not realized the greatness of our sin, nor the greatness of His forgiveness. That one leper, that Samaritan knew, he knew that if Christ did not have mercy upon him, there was no help for him. He knew that leprosy was incurable by man. He would never be cleansed if Christ did not cleanse him. And so consequently, he felt very deeply the enormity of the grace and mercy that had been extended to him.

[John Weaver] Now, look in your Bibles to Luke chapter 7. Here's a continuation of the same thing. Look at Luke chapter 7, beginning there with verse 36. Luke 7, verse 36. Luke 7, verse 36. And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and sat down to meet. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, When she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisees' house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him, weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and had wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment."

[John Weaver] You know how humble, broken. And when the Pharisees who had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what man or woman this is that touched him, for she is a sinner. Jesus, answering, said unto him, Simon, I have some what to say unto thee. He said, Say on, master. There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.

[John Weaver] The one owed five hundred pence and the other fifty. Well, they had nothing to pay. He frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, but thou gavest me no water for my feet. But she hath washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head thou didst not anoint with oil, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

[John Weaver] Wherefore I say unto you, her sins, which were many, are forgiven, for she loved much." But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven." Did you hear what our Lord said? But to him whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. If you do not recognize and realize the greatness and the enormity of your sins. If you do not recognize and realize the depravity and the wickedness of your own life, you will never ever recognize the enormity and the greatness of God's love and God's mercy and God's forgiveness.

[John Weaver] Why did that one turn back? He knew the depth of his condition and the greatness of the mercy of Christ. Our Lord is teaching us that a genuine child of God should be humble, thankful, and grateful for everything that our Lord has done for us. As you and I never tire of receiving God's blessings, so likewise we should never tire of giving him his praises for those blessings. If we are men and women of faith, the Bible teaches will be grateful and thankful, men and women, for faith and gratefulness go together. Let's pray. Father, we thank you in the name of Jesus Christ for all that you've done. Lord, we acknowledge and confess today our own unthankfulness. our own ingratitude, our own lack of praise and worship. You've been so good, so gracious, so loving, so kind.

[John Weaver] We've been so impatient and unthankful and ungrateful. We do ask for forgiveness. We ask that you would open our eyes Let us see, Father, the depth of our sin and the greatness of Thy mercy. Let us see, Father, how unworthy we are of the least of Thy blessings, and yet, Lord, the greatness and the innumerability of Thy blessings to us. Lord, truthfully, if You never blessed us again, in our entire lives, we could honestly and truthfully say we've already received more blessings than we've ever deserved. And the only reason we're blessed is because of the person and work of Jesus Christ, for whom we are thankful and grateful. We fall at his feet today, acknowledging him as Lord and Master, as well as Savior.

[John Weaver] Receive our thanksgiving and our praises. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Faith & Gratefulness

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	3250482935
Subject	Covenant Theology
Course	Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: The Hallelujah of Confession
Genre	Sermon
Date	2004-03-21
Dictation Name
Book	Book 042: Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: God's Answer to America's Problems — Chapter 3
Source Timed Segments	88

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: The Sin of Ingratitude

Weaver introduces the topic by stating that ingratitude is a heinous sin among Christians, often marking the unconverted, and contrasts human ingratitude with God's constant blessings.

Luke chapter 17. And we're going to read verses 11 through 19. Luke 17, beginning there with verse 11. Luke 17, verse 11. And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed?

But where are the nine? They are not found that return to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole.

Scripture Reading — Luke 6:35

" The message I have entitled today is Faith and Gratefulness. I suppose that one of the most heinous sins of Christians is the sin of ingratitude. Ingratitude and unthankfulness are usually a mark of the unconverted and the ungodly. For instance, in Luke 6, verse 35, the Lord tells us that our Heavenly Father is kind to the unthankful and to the evil. Notice how unthankful and evil are connected. And then in 2 Timothy 3, verse 2, the Word of God tells us that men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, proud, boasters, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Notice once again how unthankfulness or ingratitude is connected with the ungodly.

Now, such attitudes, of course, should not be in the Christian. But the truth is, we're still in the flesh and consequently, occasionally, we do have those attitudes, but thankfully, it should not be a permanent attitude. Have you ever stopped to think about your own personal life and how you have helped people in the past? And you and I are oftentimes personally incensed at those whom we help.

when they turn out to be ungrateful and unthankful. And I might add, rightly so, because one should at least have the courtesy and the character to acknowledge the blessings and help. Now, if that is true with you and I, if that is true with each of us, how much more is it true with our Heavenly Father? We may only help someone occasionally, but our Heavenly Father helps us constantly, incessantly, and faithfully. So failure to realize this truth, of course, leads then to an attitude of ingratitude. So let me ask a couple of leading questions before I get into the text today. Why is it that by and large we are so unthankful to our Heavenly Father?

The Commonality of Sin and Suffering

The ten lepers, including a Samaritan, illustrate how sin and suffering bring together those who normally would not associate, as leprosy is a type of sin and judgment.

Now there's one truth here that you and I need to emphasize at the very beginning. I want you to note the commonality of sin. The commonality of sin. When I say that, here are men who were Israelites and here was a man who was a Samaritan who usually would not ever have anything to do with each other. And yet here they are sharing a commonality in their sin and in their suffering. I'll explain why I'm saying sin a little bit later. Look in your Bibles, hold Luke 17, but look in your Bibles to John chapter 4. John chapter 4, you remember how our Lord goes there to the woman at the well, beginning with verse 4, John 4 and verse 4. The Bible says that he must needs go through Samaria, then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now, Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well.

It was about the sixth hour. Then cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? Watch, for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans." You remember the Samaritans, according to 2 Kings 17, were half-breeds. They had intermingled with the heathen, and many of the Judeans, those people of the tribe of Judah, they would walk all the way around Samaria just to keep from going through there, so despised were the Samaritans.

And so here you have, in Luke chapter 17, some Israelites and a Samaritan bound together. So usually, when men will not have anything to do with each other, they will always come together in sin or in suffering. Do you remember the story in Luke chapter 23? It is in verse 12. Pilate and Herod were enemies, but Pilate sent Christ to Herod. And the Bible says that Herod had longed to see Christ for a long time. And the Bible also says that that day that Herod and Pilate were made friends, for before they were in enmity with each other. All I'm pointing out is here are men who will come together in sin and in wickedness and to hate and betray Christ when before they would not have anything to do with each other.

The same thing is true with the Sadducees and the Pharisees and the Herodians. They despised each other, but they surely got together to betray Christ and tempt Christ. Sin and suffering many times will indeed bring men together. Now why am I talking about sin when the Bible talks about leprosy? The reason why is because leprosy in the Bible is a type of sin and a type of judgment. In fact, all through the Bible you can find, usually speaking, that leprosy was a special judgment of God against an individual who had sinned against Him. In fact, in Deuteronomy 28, verse 27, one of the curses that God places upon the disobedient is this, that He will smite them with a scab wherewith they cannot be healed. So one of the curses is leprosy. The words man cannot heal leprosy. God says you disobey me. I will curse you. I will smite you with a scab that cannot be healed. You remember in Numbers chapter 12 in verse 10 when Miriam treated Moses with contempt, God smote her with leprosy instantly. Moses besought the Lord that he would heal her. God said if she had spit in her father's face.

The Cry of the Lepers

The lepers' cry was urgent, unanimous, and recognized Jesus as Master, demonstrating that those who expect help must submit to His lordship and throw themselves on His mercy.

They know who he is, but they cannot approach unto him. You know what the Bible says in Isaiah 59? The Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy that he cannot hear. But your sins have separated between you and your God, and your iniquities have hid his face from you. Why is it that man by nature cannot come close to the Lord? Because of his sin, because of the judgment and the curse of God upon him. It's our sin that has separated us from God.

Now, I want you to look at at least three things here, maybe four. First of all, note their cry. Look in verse 13. They stood afar off and they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us. First of all, I want you to note their cry was urgent. How do I know it was an urgent cry? Well, the Bible says they lifted up their voices. That is, they evidently were very loud, and usually when you get loud, you get very urgent. And when you realize that leprosy was incurable, except by divine intervention, that would certainly tend to make it more urgent. They understood the importance of their cry, because if Christ did not help them, then they were not going to be helped.

It was probably like old Blind Bartimaeus in Mark chapter 10. When someone told him that Jesus of Nazareth walked by, Blind Bartimaeus began to cry, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy upon me. And what did the people around him do? They bade him to hold his peace. Be quiet. And the more they bade him to hold his peace, the louder he cried, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy upon me. Why?

Because he knew if Christ did not help him, he would never, ever be helped. The same cry that Peter made. You remember when he looked at our Lord and said, Lord, if that's you walking on the water, bid me come unto you. And he said, well, it is me. So, Peter, you get out of the boat and walk to me. And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water until he took his eyes off Christ.

When he saw the waves and the boisterous wind, he began to sink. And do you remember the lengthy prayer that Peter prayed? Two words, help Lord. Now, do you think that was an urgent cry? Yeah, because he realized if Christ didn't help him, he was a goner. Same thing with these lepers. They realized if Christ did not help them, it was all over. So it was an urgent cry. Secondly, it was not only an urgent cry, it was a unanimous cry. All ten of them raised their voices together. They cried, Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us. Now, those that expect help from Jesus Christ must recognize him as Master. Did you hear that? Those that expect help from Jesus Christ must recognize him as master. If you want him to be your Savior, he must also be your Lord. And the word Lord means boss, owner, master, sovereign. And I want you to note something.

They did not necessarily ask to be cured from their leprosy. Isn't that interesting? What they asked for. Do you realize it is sufficient to throw yourselves upon the compassion of Jesus Christ? It is sufficient to throw yourselves upon the mercy of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ will always do for us that which is for our good and for his glory. They had heard of Jesus Christ. They knew of his fame.

Now they were encouraged to make application to him and say, just have mercy upon us. So here is their cry. Note secondly, if you would please, their cure in verse 14. And when he saw them, he said to them, go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass as they went, they were cleansed.

The Cure: Obedience and Faith Tested

Jesus commanded the lepers to show themselves to the priests, testing their faith; as they obeyed, they were cleansed, showing that mercy comes in the path of obedience.

Now, amazingly enough, Christ just simply tells these 10 lepers to go show themselves to the priest. That's all. He did not do here, as he did in Matthew 8 in verse 1 and 2. In Matthew 8 in verses 1 and 2, a leper came to Christ, kneeling, and said, If thou wilt, thou can make me clean. And Christ just simply said, I will, and reached out and touched him and cleansed him. Here our Lord did not reach out and touch them. He did not bid them come near. He just said, look, go show yourselves unto the priest. Do you understand that Jesus Christ is not limited to a certain means or a certain method? Just because he heals someone one way in Matthew 8 does not mean that he has to use the same method in Luke chapter 17. So here in Luke 17 was displayed the divine power of Christ and his word.

Here also is proof positive of a high estimation which God holds in the obedience of faith. Interestingly enough, our Lord just simply said to these ten lepers, go show thyself to the priest. And they turned and obeyed his very word and went to the priest. They did not ask for any proof. They did not ask for any sign. They did not ask for any miracle. They just simply obeyed the command of Christ. Now, why did Christ send them to the priest?

I hope you know and look back in your Bible, please, to the book of Leviticus chapter 14. But I hope you understand the priest, of course, could not cure anyone from leprosy. The only thing the priest could do is to inspect and judge the leper. If he was clean, they could pronounce him clean. If he was not clean, they would pronounce him unclean. Look in Leviticus 14 verse 2. This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest and then he goes right on down and tells you the whole ritual that the priest was to go through for his cleansing. So it was the priest then who pronounced the man clean. Here was a ritual that was used, but the priest certainly did not heal and could not heal leprosy.

Interestingly enough, when Christ said, Go show thyself unto the priest, he did not even tell them positively that they would be healed. He didn't tell them what would happen to them. They just simply obeyed. What was he doing? He was testing their faith, and rightly it should be tested. Do you remember the man by the name of Naaman, Naaman the Syrian, when he came to Elisha the prophet. And Elisha just sent Gehazi out and said, you go tell Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan River and he'll be clean.

And he turned and went away in a rage. He said, I thought at least the man would come out and strike me with his hand and call upon his God. And oh, he was angry and he was running back to Syria as fast as he could. And one of his men said, If the prophet had bid you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?" Well, he said, of course. Well, he said, how much more simple it is just to go duck yourself seven times in the Jordan River and be clean. And when he went and did so, he came up clean. You see, here was a test of faith. Those who expect Christ's favor must submit to his method and to his way. You and I cannot dictate to Christ who to heal or where to heal or when to heal or how to heal.

That is solely and totally up to Him. Someone asked me in time past, they said, do you believe in divine healing? And my answer is yes, all healing is divine. It is. God may use means and methods, or God may not use means or methods, but all healing is divine, because if God doesn't heal you, you're not healed, period. And so he just simply told them to go show themselves to the priest. Now, why? Because at this point, the ceremonial law was still in effect, and Christ was going to honor that which God had given in the Old Testament. Moreover, here now the priest himself who inspects these lepers, is going to know of the perfection of the cure by the Son of God. He will know that these men were cured by Christ himself.

And the Bible says, as they went, they were cleansed. Undoubtedly, they were going to do exactly as Leviticus chapter 14 says. Now I want you to learn this simple truth. Here it is. You and I may expect mercy from God in the path of obedience and duty. When we obey Christ and do what he requires us to do, then he will do for us that which we cannot do for ourselves. But do not expect Christ to do for you that which you cannot do for yourself if you're unwilling to obey him and submit to him. That's why they cried, Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us.

The Cordial: One Returns to Give Thanks

Only one leper, a Samaritan, returned to glorify God with a loud voice and fell at Jesus' feet in humble gratitude, refreshing the heart of Christ.

You've seen the cry, you've seen the cure. Look thirdly at the cordial in verses 15 and 16. Luke 17, verse 15. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks, and he was a Samaritan."

Now, I'm using the word cordial in the same sense that the old Puritans used it. The word cordial means that which is refreshing, sweet, delightful. And how refreshing, sweet, and delightful it is to find a humble, thankful, grateful person. Now listen, one of the lepers, and only one, when he discovered he was cleansed, returned to give thanks. When he saw that he was healed, instead of continuing to go to the priest in order that he might be declared clean, thus ending his confinement, instead of rushing to the priest to get a certificate of cleanliness, he returns to the author of his cure, whom he wished to have the glory for that cure. And even before he received the benefits of that cure, he wanted to honor the one who gave it to him. The Bible tells us he returned and with a loud voice glorified God. Isn't that amazing? Now watch it. He lifted up his voice loudly in prayer for help. Now he's lifting up his voice loudly in praises. He's recognizing that he got the help. Now he said, I'm going to be careful to give the praise and the thanks to the one who gave me the help.

Notice what else he did. The Bible says in verse 16, he not only turned back when he saw that he was healed, he not only used a loud voice to glorify God, but he fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. What did he do? He put himself in the most humble, reverent posture that is known to man. He simply fell down on his face. He lay in the dust before giving Christ honor and glory. We ought to give thanks for the face of favors Christ bestows upon us, particularly when he gives us recoveries from sickness and diseases, and we ought to return his thanks as speedily and as heartily as we cried for his help in prayer.

Do you know what happens? Many times when Christ gives us mercies, when we delay to give Him the thanks, we tend to forget the mercies. Everyone in this room has been sick at one time or the other. Everyone in this room has been healed. Everyone in this room has been without. Everyone in this room has been supplied graciously by Christ. But isn't it amazing how we tend to forget the blessings that God has so graciously bestowed upon us? This one man was sensible not only to the power of God, but he was grateful for the mercies of God, and he returned immediately to give glory to God. He did not obey the letter of Christ's command instantly, but he certainly obeyed the spirit of that command, because instead of going directly to the priest, he turned back to give glory to God. His attitude was, I can get to the priest later. I know that I'm healed. Christ may not be here when I get to the priest, therefore, I'll give him the praise and the honor and the glory right now.

The Culmination: Christ's Response

Jesus noted the ingratitude of the nine and commended the faith of the one, indicating that the Samaritan received not only physical healing but spiritual salvation.

But where are the nine? They are not found that return to give glory to God, save this stranger. Now, our Lord has been worshipped by this Samaritan, whom he calls a stranger, and he asks a simple question. Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? I want you to learn something. If you don't learn anything else from this message today, I want you to learn this. Jesus Christ takes notice of those who are thankful and grateful to him, and those who are not thankful and grateful to him. Is that interesting?

Do you not do the same?

every day. And every day I took it, never acknowledged that it came from you, never thanked you, never expressed my gratitude in any way. I just took it. Would you not soon tire of my taking you for granted and taking advantage of you? And pretty soon you're going to say, I know what I'll do. I'll stop giving him that hundred dollar bill. All of a sudden he'll realize where his money's been coming from.

If you would take notice of those who are grateful and those who are ungrateful, do you not think Christ would do the same? The Lord publicly noted the indifference and the ingratitude of the nine, and he publicly noted the thanksgiving of the one. You and I look around and we see all of the blessings that God has constantly and continually given us. And we stop and think how little we've really been grateful and thankful for all that he's done.

Now I want you to observe several things. First of all, I want you to note how rich Christ is in doing good. He asks, where are the nine? Were there not ten cleansed? Can you imagine our Lord doing a wholesale cure at one time? I mean, he cleansed ten men instantly. I mean, here's a whole hospital full of lepers, so to speak, and he just cleanses them all. He cures them all. There is enough cleansing virtue in the blood of Jesus Christ sufficient for all of his patients. And let me tell you, just because God has mercy on this one man or these ten men does not mean that his grace and his mercy is going to run out.

He's got plenty to go around. And so our Lord then richly and graciously and mercifully cleansed ten at one time. So notice how rich he is in doing good. Secondly, notice how poor we are in our returns. Because he asks, where are the nine? This insinuates and teaches us that ingratitude is a very common sin. Of the many that receive the mercies from God, there be few, very few, that return to give God the thanks in the proper manner that's due in his holy and blessed name. You stop and think of the dangerous sicknesses that people have been cured from in this world, and how few really publicly praise and thank God. You think of the ships that have wrecked. You think of the airplanes that have crashed. And here and there, one or two survive miraculously.

And what burns me up is when they're being interviewed on TV, on the news, they say, man, I was lucky. Luck my foot! If God had not sovereignly protected them, they too would have been dead. But they're embarrassed to say, thank God He spared me. I've got news for you folks. It's amazing how few people ever feel their obligation to give honor and glory to God for all that he's done for them. It's amazing. It's amazing.

Our Lord asked where are the nine? Thirdly, we should understand this. How sometimes those proved most grateful from whom it was least expected. Please tell me again, who was it that returned and gave our Lord thanks? A Samaritan. A Samaritan. A stranger. These others were Israelites. They had the covenant. They had the blessing. They knew who God was. Is it not an absolute shame that many times those who profess no religion or a wrong religion do what is right than those who profess the true religion.

Now, I know morality will not save you folks. I understand that. But I have seen some unsaved men and women who are more moral and more upright than I have some professing Christians. That's a shame. That's a shame. And many times you might even find them more grateful and more thankful and more readily willing to acknowledge God. I've seen Christians who refuse to bow their head and thank God for food in a public restaurant. Why?

It's amazing that our Lord teaches us a valuable lesson here, and that is this, that he justly resents the ingratitude of the world of mankind for whom he has done so much and from whom he has received so little. Where are the nine? The fourth thing I want you to see under this is the great encouragement that Christ gave this Samaritan. He said in verse 19, Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. You know, I've often wondered about those other nine. Of course, the scripture does not tell us. But I've often thought, I wonder if their leprosy returned. It would have been just had it done so. But probably not. They were probably cured even though they were ungrateful and unthankful. But I want you to note something. This Samaritan, this stranger, is set apart from the nine Israelites. He tells him, Thy faith hath made thee whole. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Now the rest were made whole by the power of Christ in compassion to their distress and in answer to their prayer, but he, this Samaritan, was made whole by faith, which Christ saw as distinguishing him from the rest. In other words, here's what I believe the Bible is teaching us: that this Samaritan not only received a physical blessing, but a spiritual one as well. He was saved. The other nine may have received a physical blessing, but that physical blessing did not benefit them at all. They received no spiritual teaching or truth because of it.

Isn't that interesting? You know what our Lord said? In fact, I'll show you. Look in your Bibles, Matthew chapter 21. This needs to be re-emphasized. Matthew 21. Notice, if you would please, verse 32. Matthew 21, verse 32. Look what he tells these Pharisees. He says, For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not. But the publicans and the harlots believed him, and you, when you had seen it, repented not afterwards that you might believe. Isn't it amazing that what our Lord is telling us, that we are responsible not only to learn from the blessings of God in our lives, but we're responsible to learn from the blessings of God in the lives of others. He said you saw the harlots and the publicans, you saw them believe, you saw how they were changed.

But did it have any effect upon you? No, you repented not that you might believe. Whatever God does for us, we are responsible to benefit from it spiritually. And so our Lord tells us, Samaritan, go thy way. Thy faith hath saved thee. You didn't get just a physical cleansing. You had a spiritual cleansing as well.

Now, let me make some applications. And my applications are maybe not quite as long as the message, but I do want to make them. First of all, in Luke 17, verse 13. You see the ten men, bitter lepers, the Bible said, and lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us. They lifted up their voices. Do you realize how earnestly men cry for help? When they sense and discover their need for help. Men do not normally cry for help when they don't realize they're in trouble.

Let me just illustrate it. Suppose I told you that in this tube of Chapstick, I have the only known cure for cancer in the entire world. You say, really? I said, sure. And I'll sell it to you for $100,000. You look at me and say, well, I guess you would. But I don't have $100,000 right now, and I don't have cancer, and I don't need it. But suppose you did have cancer, and you just didn't know it. And the next week you go to the doctor for a checkup, and the doctor tells you that you've got cancer, and unless you get a cure, you're going to be dead in three weeks. All of a sudden, guess what? You want this more than anything in the world. You're willing to not only pay me $100,000. You're willing to pay me $500,000. You get the point?

Applications: Recognizing Need and Giving Praise

Weaver applies the text by urging believers to cry earnestly to Christ, examine their percentile of gratitude, and understand that temporal mercies are sweetened by praise.

Here's what our Lord said in Matthew chapter 9. Go there. I want you to see it. Look at Matthew 9. Here is the spiritual principle. Matthew chapter 9. Let's begin reading there with verse 10. Matthew 9 verse 10. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. Go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. What did he say? They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. Our Lord is saying, you will never ever call upon me till you realize your need.

Let me tell you something, folks. If we don't realize our need and learn to cry to Christ, he may give us something to cry to him about. He may give us something that will make us cry. Secondly, here's a second application. If only one-tenth are grateful and thankful for the mercies and blessings of God, that means 90% ignore him. They presume upon his grace. They presume upon his blessings and take them for granted. So here's my question. Which percentile are you in? Or maybe we could make it another way. Maybe we could say that we probably only give him the glory in our lives 10% of the time. And the other 90% of the time, we take him for granted. Once again, I could ask you, which percentile are you in? Let me show you.

Hold Luke 17, but look in your Bibles to Psalm 107. Psalm 107. This is a wonderful Psalm. You should read all of it, but I'm only going to read several verses. Psalm 107, look at verse 1. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Now watch. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. Why? For he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Now skip down to verse 8. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Skip down to verse 15. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. Now, verse 21. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. Now, verse 31. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men.

I want to tell you something. In each one of those sections, He gives us many things that we should be praising Him about. We ought to praise Him that we were just able to wake up this morning. We ought to praise Him that He gave us rest. We ought to praise Him for help, for finances, for friends, for family. Any goodness that God gives us, we ought to give Him the honor and the glory. Our Lord asks, where are the nine? Which percentile are you in? Do you give him the honor and the glory for all that he does in your life?

Now, since we're in Psalms, I want you to turn to Psalm 50, because I want to make another application. And I want you to get ready to see this verse. Psalm 50, go ahead and turn there if you would, please. Here's the third application. Temporal mercies are doubled and sweetened to us when they are fetched by the prayer of faith and returned by the praises of faith. He said, what are you talking about? Well, look at Psalm 50, verse 23. God says, whosoever offereth praise glorify me. You want to glorify God? One of the ways is by offering him praise. So that means this. When I pray and I seek a blessing from God, and God gives me the answer to my prayer, that is one blessing. But then when I turn around and give God the praise for that answered prayer, that's another blessing. What a blessing it is to understand and know that I received a blessing through prayer, but now I may bless my heavenly Father through praise. So our temporal mercies then are sweetened and doubled when we give God the praise for what he's done. Here's the fourth application.

Applications: Why We Are Ungrateful and Muted in Praise

Ungratefulness stems from not appreciating God's mercies or the greatness of our sin and forgiveness; those forgiven much love much, as seen in Luke 7.

In Luke chapter 17, our Lord said this. Verse 18. They are not found that return to give glory to God, save this stranger. I hinted at this earlier, but oftentimes God receives more praise and affectionate obedience from those who lived a long time without His knowledge and fear, than from those who were bred up and raised among His people. You say, what are you talking about? Well, this occurs not only in Isaiah 65, but the Apostle quotes in Romans chapter 10. Since we're in the New Testament, just look in Romans chapter 10. You could also read the same thing in Isaiah 65. But look in Romans chapter 10 at what he says beginning there with verses 20 and 21. Romans 10 verse 20. In fact, let's read verse 19. But I say, did not Israel know?

But Moses said, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation will I anger you. But Isaiah is very bold and said, I was found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest of them that asked not for me. But to Israel, he said, all day long I've stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. Who ought to be giving God the most honor and glory? Those who had his truth belongs. Those who know him belongs. But all the time it's not like that. Sometimes someone comes in who's never ever been taught and raised up in the Christian faith. And then when he's converted, he learns to praise God more than we who have been raised in a Christian home and in a Christian school.

Now let me ask and answer two more questions in my applications. Why are we so unmerciful, unthankful and ungrateful? Here's the answer. Because we have never learned to appreciate God's mercies. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 18. I want to take the time to read these last two passages because they're vitally important. Look at Matthew 18. Matthew 18. Let's begin reading there with verse 23. Look what our Lord says. I'm showing you why we are so unmerciful. Why we're so ungrateful? Why we're so unthankful? And the answer is, we've just never learned to appreciate the greatness of God's mercies. Here it is, Matthew 18, verse 23. Our Lord says, Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to a certain king who would take account of his servants.

And when he began to reckon, one was brought unto him who owed him ten thousand talents, a humongous amount of money. For as much as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and children, and all they had in payment to be made, they were thrown into slavery. The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred pence. That is a pitiful, small amount. And he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and he besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not, but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay all the debt.

So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry and came and told unto their lord all that was done. And the lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth. and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."

Now what is the point of this parable? God had forgiven this one man an enormous debt, and yet someone owed him very little. And what did he do? He went, put his hands around the man's throat, pay me or else." The man had no method of payment. He begged for the same mercy this man begged for, and he would not be merciful but cast him into prison. Why did he do that? Because he had no appreciation, he had no thankfulness, he had no gratefulness for the enormous debt that his lord had forgiven him from. See folks, if you and I do not learn to appreciate what our Heavenly Father does for us, we cannot even be merciful to other people. We cannot be forgiving to others until we realize what God has forgiven us from.

Let me go a step further. Here's my sixth application. Why are our mouths so muted when it comes to praising our Heavenly Father? Why are we so insensitive to His praise? To continue this same thought, because we have not realized the greatness of our sin, nor the greatness of His forgiveness. That one leper, that Samaritan knew, he knew that if Christ did not have mercy upon him, there was no help for him. He knew that leprosy was incurable by man. He would never be cleansed if Christ did not cleanse him. And so consequently, he felt very deeply the enormity of the grace and mercy that had been extended to him.

Now, look in your Bibles to Luke chapter 7. Here's a continuation of the same thing. Look at Luke chapter 7, beginning there with verse 36. Luke 7, verse 36. Luke 7, verse 36. And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and sat down to meat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him, weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment."

You know how humble, broken. And when the Pharisee who had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that touched him, for she is a sinner. Jesus, answering, said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. He said, Say on, master. There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. The one owed five hundred pence and the other fifty. Well, they had nothing to pay. He frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, but thou gavest me no water for my feet. But she hath washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head thou didst not anoint with oil, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

Wherefore I say unto you, her sins, which were many, are forgiven, for she loved much." But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven." Did you hear what our Lord said? But to him whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. If you do not recognize and realize the greatness and the enormity of your sins, if you do not recognize and realize the depravity and the wickedness of your own life, you will never ever recognize the enormity and the greatness of God's love and God's mercy and God's forgiveness.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Ingratitude as a Heinous Sin

Summary: Ingratitude is a mark of the unconverted and should not characterize Christians, yet it often does because we fail to recognize God's constant blessings.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'I suppose that one of the most heinous sins of Christians is the sin of ingratitude.' He cites Luke 6:35 and 2 Timothy 3:2 linking unthankfulness with evil.

Leprosy as a Type of Sin and Judgment

Summary: Leprosy in Scripture symbolizes sin and divine judgment, as seen in cases like Miriam, Gehazi, and Uzziah, and it separates the unclean from God and community.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'leprosy in the Bible is a type of sin and a type of judgment,' referencing Deuteronomy 28:27, Numbers 12:10, 2 Kings 5:21, and 2 Chronicles 26.

Faith Tested Through Obedience

Summary: Jesus tested the lepers' faith by commanding them to go to the priests without promising healing; their obedience resulted in cleansing, illustrating that mercy follows submission.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'He was testing their faith, and rightly it should be tested,' comparing it to Naaman's healing in 2 Kings 5.

The Rarity of True Gratitude

Summary: Only one out of ten returned to thank Jesus, highlighting how uncommon genuine gratitude is, even among those who receive great mercies.

Evidence: Weaver notes, 'Of the many that receive the mercies from God, there be few, very few, that return to give God the thanks in the proper manner.'

Faith and Gratefulness Are Inseparable

Summary: The Samaritan's faith was evidenced by his gratitude, and Christ's commendation shows that saving faith produces thankfulness and worship.

Evidence: Weaver concludes, 'If we are men and women of faith, the Bible teaches we will be grateful and thankful, men and women, for faith and gratefulness go together.'

Key Arguments

Ingratitude is characteristic of the ungodly, not the redeemed.

Summary: Scripture associates unthankfulness with evil and unholiness, so persistent ingratitude in a professing Christian is a serious spiritual problem.

Evidence: Weaver cites Luke 6:35 and 2 Timothy 3:2, saying, 'Notice how unthankful and evil are connected... unthankfulness or ingratitude is connected with the ungodly.'

Sin separates us from God, just as leprosy separated lepers from the community.

Summary: The lepers stood afar off, unable to approach Jesus, illustrating how sin creates distance between man and God, as stated in Isaiah 59:2.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'Why is it that man by nature cannot come close to the Lord? Because of his sin... It's our sin that has separated us from God.'

True prayer recognizes Jesus as Master and throws itself on His mercy.

Summary: The lepers' cry, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us,' shows that effective prayer acknowledges Christ's lordship and relies on His compassion rather than dictating terms.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Those that expect help from Jesus Christ must recognize him as master... It is sufficient to throw yourselves upon the mercy of Jesus Christ.'

Obedience to Christ's commands is the path to receiving His mercy.

Summary: The lepers were healed as they went in obedience; we cannot expect God to do for us what we refuse to do in submission to His Word.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'You and I may expect mercy from God in the path of obedience and duty... do not expect Christ to do for you that which you cannot do for yourself if you're unwilling to obey him.'

Christ takes special notice of both gratitude and ingratitude.

Summary: Jesus publicly questioned the absence of the nine and commended the one, demonstrating that He observes and values thankful hearts.

Evidence: Weaver emphasizes, 'Jesus Christ takes notice of those who are thankful and grateful to him, and those who are not thankful and grateful to him.'

The one who returned received a greater blessing—spiritual salvation.

Summary: Christ's words, 'Thy faith hath made thee whole,' imply that the Samaritan's faith brought not just physical healing but eternal salvation, distinguishing him from the nine.

Evidence: Weaver argues, 'this Samaritan not only received a physical blessing, but a spiritual one as well. He was saved.'

Lack of gratitude stems from failure to appreciate the greatness of God's mercy and our sin.

Summary: Using the parable of the unforgiving servant and the woman who anointed Jesus' feet, Weaver shows that those who realize the enormity of their forgiven debt love and praise much.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'If you do not recognize and realize the greatness and the enormity of your sins... you will never ever recognize the enormity and the greatness of God's love and God's mercy.'

Scripture References

Luke 17:11-19

Context: The primary text of the sermon, recounting the healing of ten lepers and the one who returned to give thanks.

Luke 6:35

Context: Cited to show that God is kind to the unthankful and evil, linking ingratitude with wickedness.

2 Timothy 3:2

Context: Lists unthankfulness among the sins of the last days, connecting it with unholiness.

John 4:4-9

Context: Illustrates the hostility between Jews and Samaritans, emphasizing the unusual unity of the lepers.

2 Kings 17

Context: Referenced to explain the origin of the Samaritans as half-breeds despised by the Jews.

Luke 23:12

Context: Shows how Pilate and Herod, though enemies, became friends in their opposition to Christ, paralleling the unity of sinners.

Deuteronomy 28:27

Context: Leprosy is listed as a curse for disobedience, supporting the view of leprosy as divine judgment.

Numbers 12:10

Context: Miriam was struck with leprosy for speaking against Moses, an example of leprosy as judgment.

2 Samuel 3:29

Context: David cursed Joab's house with leprosy, another instance of leprosy as a curse.

2 Kings 5:21

Context: Gehazi was struck with Naaman's leprosy for greed and lying, illustrating leprosy as judgment.

2 Kings 15:5 (2 Chronicles 26)

Context: King Uzziah was smitten with leprosy for unlawfully offering incense, showing leprosy as divine punishment.

Leviticus 13:46

Context: Commands that lepers dwell alone outside the camp, illustrating their separation from the community.

Numbers 5:2-3

Context: Instructs Israel to put lepers out of the camp to avoid defilement, reinforcing their isolation.

Leviticus 13:45

Context: Requires lepers to cry 'Unclean, unclean' and maintain distance, explaining why the lepers stood afar off.

2 Kings 7

Context: The story of four lepers who brought news of the Syrian army's flight, showing lepers could still act for good.

Isaiah 59:2

Context: Quoted to explain that sins separate people from God, just as leprosy separated the lepers from Jesus.

Mark 10:46-52

Context: Blind Bartimaeus cried urgently to Jesus, similar to the lepers' urgent cry for mercy.

Matthew 14:28-30

Context: Peter's brief cry 'Lord, save me' when sinking illustrates urgent, desperate prayer.

Matthew 8:1-2

Context: Jesus healed a leper by touch, contrasting with His method in Luke 17 to show He is not limited to one means.

Leviticus 14:2

Context: The law for cleansing a leper involved the priest's inspection, explaining why Jesus sent the lepers to the priests.

Historical References

Samaritans as half-breeds (2 Kings 17)

Context: Weaver explains that Samaritans were despised by Jews because they intermingled with heathens, leading Jews to avoid Samaria.

Pilate and Herod's enmity and friendship (Luke 23:12)

Context: Used as an example of how enemies unite in sin and opposition to Christ, similar to the lepers' unity in suffering.

Sadducees, Pharisees, and Herodians uniting against Christ

Context: Mentioned as another instance of groups setting aside differences to oppose Jesus, illustrating the commonality of sin.

Miriam's leprosy (Numbers 12)

Context: Cited as an example of leprosy being a direct judgment from God for sin.

Gehazi's leprosy (2 Kings 5)

Context: Gehazi was struck with leprosy for lying and taking a bribe, showing leprosy as divine punishment.

King Uzziah's leprosy (2 Chronicles 26)

Context: Uzziah was smitten with leprosy for presumptuously offering incense, another example of leprosy as judgment.

The four lepers at the gate of Samaria (2 Kings 7)

Context: These lepers discovered the Syrian camp deserted and brought news that saved the city, showing lepers could still act beneficially.

Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings 5)

Context: Naaman's healing after initially rejecting Elisha's simple command illustrates the test of faith through obedience.

Blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10)

Context: Bartimaeus cried out urgently to Jesus despite being told to be quiet, exemplifying desperate, persistent faith.

Peter walking on water (Matthew 14)

Context: Peter's brief cry 'Lord, save me' when sinking illustrates urgent prayer born of realized need.

Important Quotes

I suppose that one of the most heinous sins of Christians is the sin of ingratitude.

Significance: Sets the central theme of the sermon, identifying ingratitude as a serious sin even among believers.

Those that expect help from Jesus Christ must recognize him as master.

Significance: Emphasizes that effective prayer acknowledges Christ's lordship, not just His ability to help.

You and I may expect mercy from God in the path of obedience and duty.

Significance: Teaches that God's blessings come as we obey His commands, not apart from submission.

Jesus Christ takes notice of those who are thankful and grateful to him, and those who are not thankful and grateful to him.

Significance: Highlights Christ's personal attention to our gratitude or lack thereof.

If we are men and women of faith, the Bible teaches we will be grateful and thankful, men and women, for faith and gratefulness go together.

Significance: Concludes the sermon by tying faith and gratitude as inseparable marks of a genuine believer.

But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

Significance: Quoting Jesus from Luke 7 to explain that our love and gratitude correspond to our awareness of forgiveness.

Whosoever offereth praise glorify me.

Significance: Cites Psalm 50:23 to show that praise is a direct way to glorify God and sweeten our blessings.

Discussion Questions

Why does Weaver consider ingratitude a 'heinous sin' for Christians, and how does he support this from Scripture?

Context: Weaver opens by stating ingratitude is a serious sin, linking it to the ungodly in Luke 6:35 and 2 Timothy 3:2.

How does leprosy function as a type of sin and judgment in the Bible, and what does this teach us about our separation from God?

Context: Weaver explains leprosy as a symbol of sin, citing examples like Miriam and Uzziah, and connects it to Isaiah 59:2.

What does the lepers' cry, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us,' teach us about the nature of true prayer?

Context: Weaver emphasizes that prayer must recognize Christ as Master and rely on His mercy rather than dictating terms.

Why did Jesus send the lepers to the priests, and what does this reveal about the relationship between faith and obedience?

Context: Weaver explains that Christ tested their faith through a simple command, and healing came as they obeyed.

What is significant about the one leper returning to give thanks, and how does his example challenge our own gratitude?

Context: The Samaritan's immediate, loud, and humble praise contrasts with the nine who took their healing for granted.

How does Christ's question, 'Where are the nine?' reveal His heart toward ingratitude, and what does it imply for us?

Context: Weaver notes that Jesus publicly noted the ingratitude of the nine, showing He values thankful hearts.

In what way did the Samaritan receive a greater blessing than the other nine, and what does this teach about saving faith?

Context: Weaver argues that 'thy faith hath made thee whole' indicates spiritual salvation, not just physical healing.

According to Weaver, why are we often ungrateful and muted in praise, and how can we cultivate a more thankful heart?

Context: Using Matthew 18 and Luke 7, Weaver explains that ingratitude stems from failing to appreciate the greatness of our sin and God's forgiveness.

Applications

Cry earnestly to Christ when you recognize your need.

Summary: Just as the lepers cried urgently, believers must realize their spiritual need and call upon Jesus as Master for mercy.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'If we don't realize our need and learn to cry to Christ, he may give us something to cry to him about.'

Examine your percentile of gratitude.

Summary: If only one in ten returned thanks, believers should assess whether they are in the grateful minority or the ungrateful majority.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'Which percentile are you in? ... we probably only give him the glory in our lives 10% of the time.'

Praise God for all blessings to sweeten and double them.

Summary: Temporal mercies are enhanced when received by prayer and returned with praise, as Psalm 50:23 teaches that praise glorifies God.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'When I pray and I seek a blessing from God... then when I turn around and give God the praise... that's another blessing.'

Appreciate the greatness of God's mercy to foster gratitude.

Summary: Ungratefulness stems from not realizing the enormity of our sin and the greatness of His forgiveness; meditating on this produces love and thanks.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'If you do not recognize and realize the greatness and the enormity of your sins... you will never ever recognize the enormity and the greatness of God's love.'

Be merciful to others as a response to God's mercy.

Summary: The parable of the unforgiving servant shows that failure to appreciate God's forgiveness leads to mercilessness; gratitude should produce compassion.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'If you and I do not learn to appreciate what our Heavenly Father does for us, we cannot even be merciful to other people.'

Prioritize worship and thanks before service or witness.

Summary: Like the healed demoniac who first sought to be with Jesus, believers should give God glory before engaging in witness or duty.

Evidence: Weaver notes, 'First, praise and worship. And then secondly, now look fourthly today at the culmination.'

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Faith & Gratefulness

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Luke chapter 17. And we're going to read verses 11 through 19. Luke 17, beginning there with verse 11. Luke 17, verse 11. And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
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And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed?
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But where are the nine? They are not found that return to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole." The message I have entitled today is Faith and Gratefulness. I suppose that one of the most heinous sins of Christians is the sin of ingratitude. Ingratitude and unthankfulness are usually a mark of the unconverted and the ungodly.
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For instance, in Luke 6, verse 35, the Lord tells us that our Heavenly Father is kind to the unthankful and to the evil. Notice how unthankful and evil are connected. And then in 2 Timothy 3, verse 2, the Word of God tells us that men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, proud, boasters, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Notice once again how unthankfulness or ingratitude is connected with the ungodly.
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Now, such attitudes, of course, should not be in the Christian. But the truth is, we're still in the flesh and consequently, occasionally, we do have those attitudes, but thankfully, it should not be a permanent attitude. Have you ever stopped to think about your own personal life and how you have helped people in the past? And you and I are oftentimes personally incensed at those whom we help.
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when they turn out to be ungrateful and unthankful. And I might add, rightly so, because one should at least have the courtesy and the character to acknowledge the blessings and help.
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Now, if that is true with you and I, if that is true with each of us, how much more is it true with our Heavenly Father? We may only help someone occasionally, but our Heavenly Father helps us constantly, incessantly, and faithfully. So failure to realize this truth, of course, leads then to an attitude of ingratitude. So let me ask a couple of leading questions before I get into the text today. Why is it that by and large we are so unthankful to our Heavenly Father?
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Or why do we not praise Him more than we do? Or why do we not cheerfully acknowledge all of His blessings? And I believe the text today gives us the answer to those questions. As you can see in the text, our Lord was traveling between Samaria and Galilee and he encountered ten lepers, the Bible tells us. Verse 12, and there met him ten men that were lepers who stood afar off. Now as he sees these ten lepers, each of the ten unites his voice with the others, beseeching the Lord to have mercy upon them. Now I want you to note how the Bible tells us that one of them was a Samaritan.
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Now there's one truth here that you and I need to emphasize at the very beginning. I want you to note the commonality of sin. The commonality of sin. When I say that, here are men who were Israelites and here was a man who was a Samaritan who usually would not ever have anything to do with each other. And yet here they are sharing a commonality in their sin and in their suffering. I'll explain why I'm saying sin a little bit later.
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Look in your Bibles, hold Luke 17, but look in your Bibles to John chapter 4. John chapter 4, you remember how our Lord goes there to the woman at the well, beginning with verse 4, John 4 and verse 4. The Bible says that he must needs go through Samaria, then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now, Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well.
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It was about the sixth hour. Then cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? Watch, for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans." You remember the Samaritans, according to 2 Kings 17, were half-breeds. They had intermingled with the heathen, and many of the Judeans, those people of the tribe of Judah, they would walk all the way around Samaria just to keep from going through there, so despised were the Samaritans.
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And so here you have, in Luke chapter 17, some Israelites and a Samaritan bound together. So usually, when men will not have anything to do with each other, they will always come together in sin or in suffering. Do you remember the story in Luke chapter 23? It is in verse 12. Pilate and Herod were enemies, but Pilate sent Christ to Herod. And the Bible says that Herod had longed to see Christ for a long time. And the Bible also says that that day that Herod and Pilate were made friends, for before they were in enmity with each other. All I'm pointing out is here are men who will come together in sin and in wickedness and to hate and betray Christ when before they would not have anything to do with each other.
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The same thing is true with the Sadducees and the Pharisees and the Herodians. They despised each other, but they surely got together to betray Christ and tempt Christ. Sin and suffering many times will indeed bring men together.
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Now why am I talking about sin when the Bible talks about leprosy? The reason why is because leprosy in the Bible is a type of sin and a type of judgment. In fact, all through the Bible you can find, usually speaking, that leprosy was a special judgment of God against an individual who had sinned against Him. In fact, in Deuteronomy 28, verse 27, one of the curses that God places upon the disobedient is this, that He will smite them with a scab wherewith they cannot be healed. So one of the curses is leprosy. The words man cannot heal leprosy. God says you disobey me. I will curse you. I will smite you with a scab that cannot be healed. You remember in Numbers chapter 12 in verse 10 when Miriam treated Moses with contempt, God smote her with leprosy instantly. Moses besought the Lord that he would heal her. God said if she had spit in her father's face.
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Must she not bear her reproach and put her out of the camp? Let her bear her reproach overnight. I'll heal her tomorrow. I'm not going to heal her today." So God smote her with leprosy. In 2 Samuel 3, verse 29, David cursed Joab's house with leprosy. And do you not remember in 2 Kings 5, verse 21, it was Gehazi who was smitten with Naaman's leprosy after he lied to Naaman and took a bribe. Elisha said the leprosy of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and then in 2nd Kings chapter 15 in verse 5 it was King Uzziah who went into the temple to offer incense when he was not permitted to do so and when Azariah the priest and the other priests confronted him he said well look here I'm the king but as he lifted his hand God smote him with leprosy so leprosy then is a type of sin and judgment in the Bible. Now, when we think of leprosy, we normally think of men who are smitten with this dreaded disease. But may I remind you that leprosy in the Bible could also not be only in men, but in clothes and in houses as well.
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And there are certain laws in the Bible that regulate not only lepers, but also the healing and the cleansing of lepers. Now, the Bible says, and if you look at it in verse 12, and as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers who stood afar off. So they were in his path. They were in the road as he went into the village. Now, why were they simply on the road or in the path? Because the lepers were not permitted to be in the village. In fact, they were not really permitted to have contact with anyone. Notice, if you would, the Bible in Leviticus chapter 13, Leviticus 13.
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If you'll hold that passage, we'll look at a couple of verses there. Leviticus chapter 13 and verse 46. Look what God says. And all the days wherein the plague shall be in him, he shall be defiled. He is unclean." Here's the statement, "...he shall dwell alone, without the camp shall his habitation be." God said the leper cannot be around other people. Hold Leviticus, but look in the book of Numbers, chapter 5, if you would please, in verses 2 and 3. Once again, God says it like this. Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead, both male and female, shall you put out, without the camp shall you put them, that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell." God says the leper is to be put out of the camp.
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Now, moreover, according to the Bible, lepers had to keep a proper distance from anyone who was healthy. Look in Leviticus 13 and verse 45. And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean." So anytime he saw anyone, he had to warn them that he was unclean, that he was contagious, that he was a leper.
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That's why they stood afar off. That's why they lifted up their voice to our Lord.
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Now, although they could not have contact with someone who was healthy, that certainly did not stop the lepers from interacting with each other and doing that which is beneficial for a leprous group. In fact, all you have to do is read in 2 Kings 7 about the four lepers that were at the gate of Samaria there. It was those four lepers who were looking out for themselves that basically brought the good news back to Samaria that the enemy had disappeared and thus they saved the entire city. Now they were not able to go into the city. They were at the gates outside the walls, but they at least came back.
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Now the Bible tells us in Luke chapter 17 that Jesus as he was traveling in the way, he saw these lepers. And they turned aside and, of course, undoubtedly warned him, as they were required to do. And then they cried out for help. They kept their distance from the Lord. I hope you see a spiritual truth here. Here our Lord is walking down the path. The leper sees.
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They know who he is, but they cannot approach unto him. You know what the Bible says in Isaiah 59? The Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy that he cannot hear. But your sins have separated between you and your God, and your iniquities have hid his face from you. Why is it that man by nature cannot come close to the Lord? Because of his sin, because of the judgment and the curse of God upon him. It's our sin that has separated us from God.
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Now, I want you to look at at least three things here, maybe four. First of all, note their cry. Look in verse 13. They stood afar off and they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us. First of all, I want you to note their cry was urgent. How do I know it was an urgent cry? Well, the Bible says they lifted up their voices. That is, they evidently were very loud, and usually when you get loud, you get very urgent. And when you realize that leprosy was incurable, except by divine intervention, that would certainly tend to make it more urgent. They understood the importance of their cry, because if Christ did not help them, then they were not going to be helped.
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It was probably like old Blind Bartimaeus in Mark chapter 10. When someone told him that Jesus of Nazareth walked by, Blind Bartimaeus began to cry, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy upon me. And what did the people around him do? They bade him to hold his peace. Be quiet. And the more they bade him to hold his peace, the louder he cried, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy upon me. Why?
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Because he knew if Christ did not help him, he would never, ever be helped. The same cry that Peter made. You remember when he looked at our Lord and said, Lord, if that's you walking on the water, bid me come unto you. And he said, well, it is me. So, Peter, you get out of the boat and walk to me. And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water until he took his eyes off Christ.
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When he saw the waves and the boisterous wind, he began to sink. And do you remember the lengthy prayer that Peter prayed? Two words, help Lord.
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Now, do you think that was an urgent cry? Yeah, because he realized if Christ didn't help him, he was a goner. Same thing with these lepers. They realized if Christ did not help them, it was all over. So it was an urgent cry. Secondly, it was not only an urgent cry, it was a unanimous cry. All ten of them raised their voices together. They cried, Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us. Now, those that expect help from Jesus Christ must recognize him as Master. Did you hear that? Those that expect help from Jesus Christ must recognize him as master. If you want him to be your Savior, he must also be your Lord. And the word Lord means boss, owner, master, sovereign. And I want you to note something.
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They did not necessarily ask to be cured from their leprosy. Isn't that interesting? What they asked for. Do you realize it is sufficient to throw yourselves upon the compassion of Jesus Christ? It is sufficient to throw yourselves upon the mercy of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ will always do for us that which is for our good and for his glory. They had heard of Jesus Christ. They knew of his fame.
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Now they were encouraged to make application to him and say, just have mercy upon us. So here is their cry. Note secondly, if you would please, their cure in verse 14. And when he saw them, he said to them, go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass as they went, they were cleansed.
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Now, amazingly enough, Christ just simply tells these 10 lepers to go show themselves to the priest. That's all. He did not do here, as he did in Matthew 8 in verse 1 and 2. In Matthew 8 in verses 1 and 2, a leper came to Christ, kneeling, and said, If thou wilt, thou can make me clean. And Christ just simply said, I will, and reached out and touched him and cleansed him.
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Here our Lord did not reach out and touch them. He did not bid them come near. He just said, look, go show yourselves unto the priest. Do you understand that Jesus Christ is not limited to a certain means or a certain method? Just because he heals someone one way in Matthew 8 does not mean that he has to use the same method in Luke chapter 17. So here in Luke 17 was displayed the divine power of Christ and his word.
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Here also is proof positive of a high estimation which God holds in the obedience of faith. Interestingly enough, our Lord just simply said to these ten lepers, go show thyself to the priest. And they turned and obeyed his very word and went to the priest. They did not ask for any proof. They did not ask for any sign. They did not ask for any miracle. They just simply obeyed the command of Christ. Now, why did Christ send them to the priest?
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I hope you know and look back in your Bible, please, to the book of Leviticus chapter 14. But I hope you understand the priest, of course, could not cure anyone from leprosy. The only thing the priest could do is to inspect and judge the leper. If he was clean, they could pronounce him clean. If he was not clean, they would pronounce him unclean. Look in Leviticus 14 verse 2. This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest and then he goes right on down and tells you the whole ritual that the priest was to go through for his cleansing. So it was the priest then who pronounced the man clean. Here was a ritual that was used, but the priest certainly did not heal and could not heal leprosy.
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Interestingly enough, when Christ said, Go show thyself unto the priest, he did not even tell them positively that they would be healed. He didn't tell them what would happen to them. They just simply obeyed. What was he doing? He was testing their faith, and rightly it should be tested. Do you remember the man by the name of Naaman, Naaman the Syrian, when he came to Elisha the prophet. And Elisha just sent Gehazi out and said, you go tell Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan River and he'll be clean.
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And he turned and went away in a rage. He said, I thought at least the man would come out and strike me with his hand and call upon his God. And oh, he was angry and he was running back to Syria as fast as he could. And one of his men said, If the prophet had bid you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?"
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Well, he said, of course. Well, he said, how much more simple it is just to go duck yourself seven times in the Jordan River and be clean. And when he went and did so, he came up clean. You see, here was a test of faith. Those who expect Christ's favor must submit to his method and to his way. You and I cannot dictate to Christ who to heal or where to heal or when to heal or how to heal.
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That is solely and totally up to Him. Someone asked me in time past, they said, do you believe in divine healing? And my answer is yes, all healing is divine. It is. God may use means and methods, or God may not use means or methods, but all healing is divine, because if God doesn't heal you, you're not healed, period. And so he just simply told them to go show themselves to the priest. Now, why? Because at this point, the ceremonial law was still in effect, and Christ was going to honor that which God had given in the Old Testament. Moreover, here now the priest himself who inspects these lepers, is going to know of the perfection of the cure by the Son of God. He will know that these men were cured by Christ himself.
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And the Bible says, as they went, they were cleansed. Undoubtedly, they were going to do exactly as Leviticus chapter 14 says.
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Now I want you to learn this simple truth. Here it is. You and I may expect mercy from God in the path of obedience and duty. When we obey Christ and do what he requires us to do, then he will do for us that which we cannot do for ourselves. But do not expect Christ to do for you that which you cannot do for yourself if you're unwilling to obey him and submit to him. That's why they cried, Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us.
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You've seen the cry, you've seen the cure. Look thirdly at the cordial in verses 15 and 16. Luke 17, verse 15. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks, and he was a Samaritan."
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Now, I'm using the word cordial in the same sense that the old Puritans used it. The word cordial means that which is refreshing, sweet, delightful. And how refreshing, sweet, and delightful it is to find a humble, thankful, grateful person.
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Now listen, one of the lepers, and only one, when he discovered he was cleansed, returned to give thanks. When he saw that he was healed, instead of continuing to go to the priest in order that he might be declared clean, thus ending his confinement, instead of rushing to the priest to get a certificate of cleanliness, he returns to the author of his cure, whom he wished to have the glory for that cure. And even before he received the benefits of that cure, he wanted to honor the one who gave it to him. The Bible tells us he returned and with a loud voice glorified God. Isn't that amazing? Now watch it. He lifted up his voice loudly in prayer for help. Now he's lifting up his voice loudly in praises. He's recognizing that he got the help. Now he said, I'm going to be careful to give the praise and the thanks to the one who gave me the help.
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Notice what else he did. The Bible says in verse 16, he not only turned back when he saw that he was healed, he not only used a loud voice to glorify God, but he fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. What did he do? He put himself in the most humble, reverent posture that is known to man. He simply fell down on his face. He lay in the dust before giving Christ honor and glory. We ought to give thanks for the face of favors Christ bestows upon us, particularly when he gives us recoveries from sickness and diseases, and we ought to return his thanks as speedily and as heartily as we cried for his help in prayer.
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Do you know what happens? Many times when Christ gives us mercies, when we delay to give Him the thanks, we tend to forget the mercies. Everyone in this room has been sick at one time or the other. Everyone in this room has been healed. Everyone in this room has been without. Everyone in this room has been supplied graciously by Christ. But isn't it amazing how we tend to forget the blessings that God has so graciously bestowed upon us? This one man was sensible not only to the power of God, but he was grateful for the mercies of God, and he returned immediately to give glory to God. He did not obey the letter of Christ's command instantly, but he certainly obeyed the spirit of that command, because instead of going directly to the priest, he turned back to give glory to God. His attitude was, I can get to the priest later. I know that I'm healed. Christ may not be here when I get to the priest, therefore, I'll give him the praise and the honor and the glory right now.
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Do you realize the first duty of sinners after they have been forgiven and after God has given them eternal life is to prostrate themselves at the feet of the great benefactor and consecrate themselves to his service. You know what the Bible said in 1 Peter 3 and verse 18? I'm going to show you some verses in just a moment, but let me quote this one. 1 Peter 3 and verse 18, the Bible says that Christ hath once suffered the just for the unjust, that he might bring us back to God. Why did Christ suffer the just for the unjust? What do you say? To save us. Well, that would be a great answer if you understood what saving us meant. In saving us, He brings us back to the Father. He brings us back in submission to the Father and His word and His truth and His law. Christ does not save us so that we can live any old way that we please. He saves us that we might be obedient.
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It's after we give him the honor and the praise and the glory, then we may go and be a witness to others. Do you remember the maniac of Gadara? When our Lord healed him in Luke chapter 8, what did he do? He immediately besought Christ that he might be with him. What did our Lord say? Our Lord said, You go and return to your own house and show how great mercy Christ has done unto you.
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But notice what he did first. He first besought Christ and what Christ wanted. And then he was a witness. Whatever God does for us, we must first learn to give him the honor and the glory and then give a witness to others. First, praise and worship. And then secondly, now look fourthly today at the culmination, verses 17-19. After this one who has fallen on his face with a loud voice, giving thanks unto God and worshiping Christ, verse 17, and Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed?
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But where are the nine? They are not found that return to give glory to God, save this stranger.
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Now, our Lord has been worshipped by this Samaritan, whom he calls a stranger, and he asks a simple question. Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? I want you to learn something. If you don't learn anything else from this message today, I want you to learn this. Jesus Christ takes notice of those who are thankful and grateful to him, and those who are not thankful and grateful to him. Is that interesting?
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Do you not do the same?
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every day. And every day I took it, never acknowledged that it came from you, never thanked you, never expressed my gratitude in any way. I just took it. Would you not soon tire of my taking you for granted and taking advantage of you? And pretty soon you're going to say, I know what I'll do. I'll stop giving him that hundred dollar bill. All of a sudden he'll realize where his money's been coming from.
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If you would take notice of those who are grateful and those who are ungrateful, do you not think Christ would do the same? The Lord publicly noted the indifference and the ingratitude of the nine, and he publicly noted the thanksgiving of the one. You and I look around and we see all of the blessings that God has constantly and continually given us. And we stop and think how little we've really been grateful and thankful for all that he's done.
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Now I want you to observe several things. First of all, I want you to note how rich Christ is in doing good. He asks, where are the nine? Were there not ten cleansed? Can you imagine our Lord doing a wholesale cure at one time? I mean, he cleansed ten men instantly. I mean, here's a whole hospital full of lepers, so to speak, and he just cleanses them all. He cures them all. There is enough cleansing virtue in the blood of Jesus Christ sufficient for all of his patients. And let me tell you, just because God has mercy on this one man or these ten men does not mean that his grace and his mercy is going to run out.
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He's got plenty to go around. And so our Lord then richly and graciously and mercifully cleansed ten at one time. So notice how rich he is in doing good. Secondly, notice how poor we are in our returns. Because he asks, where are the nine? This insinuates and teaches us that ingratitude is a very common sin. Of the many that receive the mercies from God, there be few, very few, that return to give God the thanks in the proper manner that's due in his holy and blessed name. You stop and think of the dangerous sicknesses that people have been cured from in this world, and how few really publicly praise and thank God. You think of the ships that have wrecked. You think of the airplanes that have crashed. And here and there, one or two survive miraculously.
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And what burns me up is when they're being interviewed on TV, on the news, they say, man, I was lucky. Luck my foot! If God had not sovereignly protected them, they too would have been dead. But they're embarrassed to say, thank God He spared me. I've got news for you folks. It's amazing how few people ever feel their obligation to give honor and glory to God for all that he's done for them. It's amazing. It's amazing.
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Our Lord asked where are the nine? Thirdly, we should understand this. How sometimes those proved most grateful from whom it was least expected. Please tell me again, who was it that returned and gave our Lord thanks? A Samaritan. A Samaritan. A stranger. These others were Israelites. They had the covenant. They had the blessing. They knew who God was. Is it not an absolute shame that many times those who profess no religion or a wrong religion do what is right than those who profess the true religion.
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Now, I know morality will not save you folks. I understand that. But I have seen some unsaved men and women who are more moral and more upright than I have some professing Christians. That's a shame. That's a shame. And many times you might even find them more grateful and more thankful and more readily willing to acknowledge God. I've seen Christians who refuse to bow their head and thank God for food in a public restaurant. Why?
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It's amazing that our Lord teaches us a valuable lesson here, and that is this, that he justly resents the ingratitude of the world of mankind for whom he has done so much and from whom he has received so little. Where are the nine? The fourth thing I want you to see under this is the great encouragement that Christ gave this Samaritan. He said in verse 19, Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole.
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You know, I've often wondered about those other nine. Of course, the scripture does not tell us. But I've often thought, I wonder if their leprosy returned. It would have been just had it done so. But probably not. They were probably cured even though they were ungrateful and unthankful. But I want you to note something. This Samaritan, this stranger, is set apart from the nine Israelites. He tells him, Thy faith hath made thee whole. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Now the rest were made whole by the power of Christ in compassion to their distress and in answer to their prayer, but he, this Samaritan, was made whole by faith, which Christ saw as distinguishing him from the rest. In other words, here's what I believe the Bible is teaching us: that this Samaritan not only received a physical blessing, but a spiritual one as well. He was saved. The other nine may have received a physical blessing, but that physical blessing did not benefit them at all. They received no spiritual teaching or truth because of it.
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Isn't that interesting? You know what our Lord said? In fact, I'll show you. Look in your Bibles, Matthew chapter 21. This needs to be re-emphasized. Matthew 21. Notice, if you would please, verse 32. Matthew 21, verse 32. Look what he tells these Pharisees. He says, For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not. But the publicans and the harlots believed him, and you, when you had seen it, repented not afterwards that you might believe. Isn't it amazing that what our Lord is telling us, that we are responsible not only to learn from the blessings of God in our lives, but we're responsible to learn from the blessings of God in the lives of others. He said you saw the harlots and the publicans, you saw them believe, you saw how they were changed.
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But did it have any effect upon you? No, you repented not that you might believe. Whatever God does for us, we are responsible to benefit from it spiritually. And so our Lord tells us, Samaritan, go thy way. Thy faith hath saved thee. You didn't get just a physical cleansing. You had a spiritual cleansing as well.
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Now, let me make some applications. And my applications are maybe not quite as long as the message, but I do want to make them. First of all, in Luke 17, verse 13. You see the ten men, bitter lepers, the Bible said, and lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us. They lifted up their voices. Do you realize how earnestly men cry for help? When they sense and discover their need for help. Men do not normally cry for help when they don't realize they're in trouble.
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Let me just illustrate it. Suppose I told you that in this tube of Chapstick, I have the only known cure for cancer in the entire world. You say, really? I said, sure. And I'll sell it to you for $100,000. You look at me and say, well, I guess you would. But I don't have $100,000 right now, and I don't have cancer, and I don't need it. But suppose you did have cancer, and you just didn't know it. And the next week you go to the doctor for a checkup, and the doctor tells you that you've got cancer, and unless you get a cure, you're going to be dead in three weeks. All of a sudden, guess what? You want this more than anything in the world. You're willing to not only pay me $100,000. You're willing to pay me $500,000. You get the point?
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Here's what our Lord said in Matthew chapter 9. Go there. I want you to see it. Look at Matthew 9. Here is the spiritual principle. Matthew chapter 9. Let's begin reading there with verse 10. Matthew 9 verse 10. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. Go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. What did he say? They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. Our Lord is saying, you will never ever call upon me till you realize your need.
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Let me tell you something, folks. If we don't realize our need and learn to cry to Christ, he may give us something to cry to him about. He may give us something that will make us cry.
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Secondly, here's a second application. If only one-tenth are grateful and thankful for the mercies and blessings of God, that means 90% ignore him. They presume upon his grace. They presume upon his blessings and take them for granted. So here's my question. Which percentile are you in? Or maybe we could make it another way. Maybe we could say that we probably only give him the glory in our lives 10% of the time. And the other 90% of the time, we take him for granted. Once again, I could ask you, which percentile are you in? Let me show you.
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Hold Luke 17, but look in your Bibles to Psalm 107. Psalm 107. This is a wonderful Psalm. You should read all of it, but I'm only going to read several verses. Psalm 107, look at verse 1. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Now watch. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. Why? For he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Now skip down to verse 8. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Skip down to verse 15. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. Now, verse 21. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. Now, verse 31. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men.
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I want to tell you something. In each one of those sections, He gives us many things that we should be praising Him about. We ought to praise Him that we were just able to wake up this morning. We ought to praise Him that He gave us rest. We ought to praise Him for help, for finances, for friends, for family. Any goodness that God gives us, we ought to give Him the honor and the glory.
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Our Lord asks, where are the nine? Which percentile are you in? Do you give him the honor and the glory for all that he does in your life?
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Now, since we're in Psalms, I want you to turn to Psalm 50, because I want to make another application. And I want you to get ready to see this verse. Psalm 50, go ahead and turn there if you would, please. Here's the third application. Temporal mercies are doubled and sweetened to us when they are fetched by the prayer of faith and returned by the praises of faith.
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He said, what are you talking about? Well, look at Psalm 50, verse 23. God says, whosoever offereth praise glorify me. You want to glorify God? One of the ways is by offering him praise. So that means this. When I pray and I seek a blessing from God, and God gives me the answer to my prayer, that is one blessing. But then when I turn around and give God the praise for that answered prayer, that's another blessing. What a blessing it is to understand and know that I received a blessing through prayer, but now I may bless my heavenly Father through praise. So our temporal mercies then are sweetened and doubled when we give God the praise for what he's done. Here's the fourth application.
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In Luke chapter 17, our Lord said this. Verse 18. They are not found that return to give glory to God, save this stranger. I hinted at this earlier, but oftentimes God receives more praise and affectionate obedience from those who lived a long time without His knowledge and fear, than from those who were bred up and raised among His people. You say, what are you talking about? Well, this occurs not only in Isaiah 65, but the Apostle quotes in Romans chapter 10. Since we're in the New Testament, just look in Romans chapter 10. You could also read the same thing in Isaiah 65. But look in Romans chapter 10 at what he says beginning there with verses 20 and 21. Romans 10 verse 20. In fact, let's read verse 19. But I say, did not Israel know?
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But Moses said, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation will I anger you. But Isaiah is very bold and said, I was found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest of them that asked not for me. But to Israel, he said, all day long I've stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
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Who ought to be giving God the most honor and glory? Those who had his truth belongs. Those who know him belongs. But all the time it's not like that. Sometimes someone comes in who's never ever been taught and raised up in the Christian faith. And then when he's converted, he learns to praise God more than we who have been raised in a Christian home and in a Christian school.
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Now let me ask and answer two more questions in my applications. Why are we so unmerciful, unthankful and ungrateful? Here's the answer. Because we have never learned to appreciate God's mercies. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 18. I want to take the time to read these last two passages because they're vitally important. Look at Matthew 18. Matthew 18. Let's begin reading there with verse 23. Look what our Lord says. I'm showing you why we are so unmerciful. Why we're so ungrateful? Why we're so unthankful? And the answer is, we've just never learned to appreciate the greatness of God's mercies. Here it is, Matthew 18, verse 23. Our Lord says, Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to a certain king who would take account of his servants.
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And when he began to reckon, one was brought unto him who owed him ten thousand talents, a humongous amount of money. For as much as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and children, and all they had in payment to be made, they were thrown into slavery. The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred pence. That is a pitiful, small amount. And he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and he besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not, but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay all the debt.
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So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry and came and told unto their lord all that was done. And the lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth.
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and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."
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Now what is the point of this parable? God had forgiven this one man an enormous debt, and yet someone owed him very little. And what did he do? He went, put his hands around the man's throat, pay me or else." The man had no method of payment. He begged for the same mercy this man begged for, and he would not be merciful but cast him into prison.
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Why did he do that? Because he had no appreciation, he had no thankfulness, he had no gratefulness for the enormous debt that his lord had forgiven him from. See folks, if you and I do not learn to appreciate what our Heavenly Father does for us, we cannot even be merciful to other people. We cannot be forgiving to others until we realize what God has forgiven us from.
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Let me go a step further. Here's my sixth application. Why are our mouths so muted when it comes to praising our Heavenly Father? Why are we so insensitive to His praise? To continue this same thought, because we have not realized the greatness of our sin, nor the greatness of His forgiveness. That one leper, that Samaritan knew, he knew that if Christ did not have mercy upon him, there was no help for him. He knew that leprosy was incurable by man. He would never be cleansed if Christ did not cleanse him. And so consequently, he felt very deeply the enormity of the grace and mercy that had been extended to him.
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Now, look in your Bibles to Luke chapter 7. Here's a continuation of the same thing. Look at Luke chapter 7, beginning there with verse 36. Luke 7, verse 36. Luke 7, verse 36. And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and sat down to meat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him, weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment."
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You know how humble, broken. And when the Pharisee who had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that touched him, for she is a sinner. Jesus, answering, said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. He said, Say on, master. There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.
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The one owed five hundred pence and the other fifty. Well, they had nothing to pay. He frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, but thou gavest me no water for my feet. But she hath washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head thou didst not anoint with oil, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
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Wherefore I say unto you, her sins, which were many, are forgiven, for she loved much." But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven." Did you hear what our Lord said? But to him whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. If you do not recognize and realize the greatness and the enormity of your sins, if you do not recognize and realize the depravity and the wickedness of your own life, you will never ever recognize the enormity and the greatness of God's love and God's mercy and God's forgiveness.
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Why did that one turn back? He knew the depth of his condition and the greatness of the mercy of Christ. Our Lord is teaching us that a genuine child of God should be humble, thankful, and grateful for everything that our Lord has done for us. As you and I never tire of receiving God's blessings, so likewise we should never tire of giving him his praises for those blessings. If we are men and women of faith, the Bible teaches we will be grateful and thankful, men and women, for faith and gratefulness go together. Let's pray. Father, we thank you in the name of Jesus Christ for all that you've done. Lord, we acknowledge and confess today our own unthankfulness, our own ingratitude, our own lack of praise and worship. You've been so good, so gracious, so loving, so kind.
#86 | 59:03 to 1:00:51 | cleaned
We've been so impatient and unthankful and ungrateful. We do ask for forgiveness. We ask that you would open our eyes. Let us see, Father, the depth of our sin and the greatness of Thy mercy. Let us see, Father, how unworthy we are of the least of Thy blessings, and yet, Lord, the greatness and the innumerability of Thy blessings to us. Lord, truthfully, if You never blessed us again in our entire lives, we could honestly and truthfully say we've already received more blessings than we've ever deserved. And the only reason we're blessed is because of the person and work of Jesus Christ, for whom we are thankful and grateful. We fall at his feet today, acknowledging him as Lord and Master, as well as Savior.
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Receive our thanksgiving and our praises. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T22:10:12Z

Faith & Gratefulness

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver examines Luke 17:11-19, the healing of ten lepers, to teach that faith and gratefulness are inseparable. He highlights the sin of ingratitude, the commonality of sin, the urgency of crying to Christ, and the importance of returning thanks. Only one leper, a Samaritan, returned to glorify God, and Christ noted both the ingratitude of the nine and the faith of the one. Applications emphasize that we must recognize our need, appreciate God's mercies, and offer praise, as those forgiven much love much.

Introduction: The Sin of Ingratitude

Weaver introduces the topic by stating that ingratitude is a heinous sin among Christians, often marking the unconverted, and contrasts human ingratitude with God's constant blessings.

But where are the nine? They are not found that return to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole.

Scripture Reading — Luke 6:35

" The message I have entitled today is Faith and Gratefulness. I suppose that one of the most heinous sins of Christians is the sin of ingratitude. Ingratitude and unthankfulness are usually a mark of the unconverted and the ungodly. For instance, in Luke 6, verse 35, the Lord tells us that our Heavenly Father is kind to the unthankful and to the evil. Notice how unthankful and evil are connected. And then in 2 Timothy 3, verse 2, the Word of God tells us that men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, proud, boasters, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Notice once again how unthankfulness or ingratitude is connected with the ungodly.

The Commonality of Sin and Suffering

The ten lepers, including a Samaritan, illustrate how sin and suffering bring together those who normally would not associate, as leprosy is a type of sin and judgment.

The Cry of the Lepers

The lepers' cry was urgent, unanimous, and recognized Jesus as Master, demonstrating that those who expect help must submit to His lordship and throw themselves on His mercy.

The Cure: Obedience and Faith Tested

Jesus commanded the lepers to show themselves to the priests, testing their faith; as they obeyed, they were cleansed, showing that mercy comes in the path of obedience.

The Cordial: One Returns to Give Thanks

Only one leper, a Samaritan, returned to glorify God with a loud voice and fell at Jesus' feet in humble gratitude, refreshing the heart of Christ.

The Culmination: Christ's Response

Jesus noted the ingratitude of the nine and commended the faith of the one, indicating that the Samaritan received not only physical healing but spiritual salvation.

Do you not do the same?

Applications: Recognizing Need and Giving Praise

Weaver applies the text by urging believers to cry earnestly to Christ, examine their percentile of gratitude, and understand that temporal mercies are sweetened by praise.

Applications: Why We Are Ungrateful and Muted in Praise

Ungratefulness stems from not appreciating God's mercies or the greatness of our sin and forgiveness; those forgiven much love much, as seen in Luke 7.

Faith & Gratefulness

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	3250482935
Subject	Covenant Theology
Course	Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: The Hallelujah of Confession
Genre	Sermon
Date	2004-03-21
Dictation Name
Book	Book 042: Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: God's Answer to America's Problems — Chapter 3
Source Timed Segments	88

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Sin of Ingratitude: Weaver introduces the topic by stating that ingratitude is a heinous sin among Christians, often marking the unconverted, and contrasts human ingratitude with God's constant blessings.
The Commonality of Sin and Suffering: The ten lepers, including a Samaritan, illustrate how sin and suffering bring together those who normally would not associate, as leprosy is a type of sin and judgment.
The Cry of the Lepers: The lepers' cry was urgent, unanimous, and recognized Jesus as Master, demonstrating that those who expect help must submit to His lordship and throw themselves on His mercy.
The Cure: Obedience and Faith Tested: Jesus commanded the lepers to show themselves to the priests, testing their faith; as they obeyed, they were cleansed, showing that mercy comes in the path of obedience.
The Cordial: One Returns to Give Thanks: Only one leper, a Samaritan, returned to glorify God with a loud voice and fell at Jesus' feet in humble gratitude, refreshing the heart of Christ.
The Culmination: Christ's Response: Jesus noted the ingratitude of the nine and commended the faith of the one, indicating that the Samaritan received not only physical healing but spiritual salvation.
Applications: Recognizing Need and Giving Praise: Weaver applies the text by urging believers to cry earnestly to Christ, examine their percentile of gratitude, and understand that temporal mercies are sweetened by praise.
Applications: Why We Are Ungrateful and Muted in Praise: Ungratefulness stems from not appreciating God's mercies or the greatness of our sin and forgiveness; those forgiven much love much, as seen in Luke 7.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Ingratitude is characteristic of the ungodly, not the redeemed.

Scripture associates unthankfulness with evil and unholiness, so persistent ingratitude in a professing Christian is a serious spiritual problem.

Weaver cites Luke 6:35 and 2 Timothy 3:2, saying, 'Notice how unthankful and evil are connected... unthankfulness or ingratitude is connected with the ungodly.'

Sin separates us from God, just as leprosy separated lepers from the community.

The lepers stood afar off, unable to approach Jesus, illustrating how sin creates distance between man and God, as stated in Isaiah 59:2.

Weaver explains, 'Why is it that man by nature cannot come close to the Lord? Because of his sin... It's our sin that has separated us from God.'

True prayer recognizes Jesus as Master and throws itself on His mercy.

The lepers' cry, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us,' shows that effective prayer acknowledges Christ's lordship and relies on His compassion rather than dictating terms.

Weaver states, 'Those that expect help from Jesus Christ must recognize him as master... It is sufficient to throw yourselves upon the mercy of Jesus Christ.'

Obedience to Christ's commands is the path to receiving His mercy.

The lepers were healed as they went in obedience; we cannot expect God to do for us what we refuse to do in submission to His Word.

Weaver says, 'You and I may expect mercy from God in the path of obedience and duty... do not expect Christ to do for you that which you cannot do for yourself if you're unwilling to obey him.'

Christ takes special notice of both gratitude and ingratitude.

Jesus publicly questioned the absence of the nine and commended the one, demonstrating that He observes and values thankful hearts.

Weaver emphasizes, 'Jesus Christ takes notice of those who are thankful and grateful to him, and those who are not thankful and grateful to him.'

The one who returned received a greater blessing—spiritual salvation.

Christ's words, 'Thy faith hath made thee whole,' imply that the Samaritan's faith brought not just physical healing but eternal salvation, distinguishing him from the nine.

Weaver argues, 'this Samaritan not only received a physical blessing, but a spiritual one as well. He was saved.'

Lack of gratitude stems from failure to appreciate the greatness of God's mercy and our sin.

Using the parable of the unforgiving servant and the woman who anointed Jesus' feet, Weaver shows that those who realize the enormity of their forgiven debt love and praise much.

Weaver states, 'If you do not recognize and realize the greatness and the enormity of your sins... you will never ever recognize the enormity and the greatness of God's love and God's mercy.'

Scripture References

Luke 17:11-19: The primary text of the sermon, recounting the healing of ten lepers and the one who returned to give thanks.
Luke 6:35: Cited to show that God is kind to the unthankful and evil, linking ingratitude with wickedness.
2 Timothy 3:2: Lists unthankfulness among the sins of the last days, connecting it with unholiness.
John 4:4-9: Illustrates the hostility between Jews and Samaritans, emphasizing the unusual unity of the lepers.
2 Kings 17: Referenced to explain the origin of the Samaritans as half-breeds despised by the Jews.
Luke 23:12: Shows how Pilate and Herod, though enemies, became friends in their opposition to Christ, paralleling the unity of sinners.
Deuteronomy 28:27: Leprosy is listed as a curse for disobedience, supporting the view of leprosy as divine judgment.
Numbers 12:10: Miriam was struck with leprosy for speaking against Moses, an example of leprosy as judgment.
2 Samuel 3:29: David cursed Joab's house with leprosy, another instance of leprosy as a curse.
2 Kings 5:21: Gehazi was struck with Naaman's leprosy for greed and lying, illustrating leprosy as judgment.
2 Kings 15:5 (2 Chronicles 26): King Uzziah was smitten with leprosy for unlawfully offering incense, showing leprosy as divine punishment.
Leviticus 13:46: Commands that lepers dwell alone outside the camp, illustrating their separation from the community.
Numbers 5:2-3: Instructs Israel to put lepers out of the camp to avoid defilement, reinforcing their isolation.
Leviticus 13:45: Requires lepers to cry 'Unclean, unclean' and maintain distance, explaining why the lepers stood afar off.
2 Kings 7: The story of four lepers who brought news of the Syrian army's flight, showing lepers could still act for good.
Isaiah 59:2: Quoted to explain that sins separate people from God, just as leprosy separated the lepers from Jesus.
Mark 10:46-52: Blind Bartimaeus cried urgently to Jesus, similar to the lepers' urgent cry for mercy.
Matthew 14:28-30: Peter's brief cry 'Lord, save me' when sinking illustrates urgent, desperate prayer.
Matthew 8:1-2: Jesus healed a leper by touch, contrasting with His method in Luke 17 to show He is not limited to one means.
Leviticus 14:2: The law for cleansing a leper involved the priest's inspection, explaining why Jesus sent the lepers to the priests.

Historical References

Samaritans as half-breeds (2 Kings 17): Weaver explains that Samaritans were despised by Jews because they intermingled with heathens, leading Jews to avoid Samaria.
Pilate and Herod's enmity and friendship (Luke 23:12): Used as an example of how enemies unite in sin and opposition to Christ, similar to the lepers' unity in suffering.
Sadducees, Pharisees, and Herodians uniting against Christ: Mentioned as another instance of groups setting aside differences to oppose Jesus, illustrating the commonality of sin.
Miriam's leprosy (Numbers 12): Cited as an example of leprosy being a direct judgment from God for sin.
Gehazi's leprosy (2 Kings 5): Gehazi was struck with leprosy for lying and taking a bribe, showing leprosy as divine punishment.
King Uzziah's leprosy (2 Chronicles 26): Uzziah was smitten with leprosy for presumptuously offering incense, another example of leprosy as judgment.
The four lepers at the gate of Samaria (2 Kings 7): These lepers discovered the Syrian camp deserted and brought news that saved the city, showing lepers could still act beneficially.
Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings 5): Naaman's healing after initially rejecting Elisha's simple command illustrates the test of faith through obedience.
Blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10): Bartimaeus cried out urgently to Jesus despite being told to be quiet, exemplifying desperate, persistent faith.
Peter walking on water (Matthew 14): Peter's brief cry 'Lord, save me' when sinking illustrates urgent prayer born of realized need.

Important Quotes

I suppose that one of the most heinous sins of Christians is the sin of ingratitude.

Sets the central theme of the sermon, identifying ingratitude as a serious sin even among believers.

Those that expect help from Jesus Christ must recognize him as master.

Emphasizes that effective prayer acknowledges Christ's lordship, not just His ability to help.

You and I may expect mercy from God in the path of obedience and duty.

Teaches that God's blessings come as we obey His commands, not apart from submission.

Jesus Christ takes notice of those who are thankful and grateful to him, and those who are not thankful and grateful to him.

Highlights Christ's personal attention to our gratitude or lack thereof.

If we are men and women of faith, the Bible teaches we will be grateful and thankful, men and women, for faith and gratefulness go together.

Concludes the sermon by tying faith and gratitude as inseparable marks of a genuine believer.

But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

Quoting Jesus from Luke 7 to explain that our love and gratitude correspond to our awareness of forgiveness.

Whosoever offereth praise glorify me.

Cites Psalm 50:23 to show that praise is a direct way to glorify God and sweeten our blessings.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

Why does Weaver consider ingratitude a 'heinous sin' for Christians, and how does he support this from Scripture?

[Context]

Weaver opens by stating ingratitude is a serious sin, linking it to the ungodly in Luke 6:35 and 2 Timothy 3:2.

[Question]

How does leprosy function as a type of sin and judgment in the Bible, and what does this teach us about our separation from God?

[Context]

Weaver explains leprosy as a symbol of sin, citing examples like Miriam and Uzziah, and connects it to Isaiah 59:2.

[Question]

What does the lepers' cry, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us,' teach us about the nature of true prayer?

[Context]

Weaver emphasizes that prayer must recognize Christ as Master and rely on His mercy rather than dictating terms.

[Question]

Why did Jesus send the lepers to the priests, and what does this reveal about the relationship between faith and obedience?

[Context]

Weaver explains that Christ tested their faith through a simple command, and healing came as they obeyed.

[Question]

What is significant about the one leper returning to give thanks, and how does his example challenge our own gratitude?

[Context]

The Samaritan's immediate, loud, and humble praise contrasts with the nine who took their healing for granted.

[Question]

How does Christ's question, 'Where are the nine?' reveal His heart toward ingratitude, and what does it imply for us?

[Context]

Weaver notes that Jesus publicly noted the ingratitude of the nine, showing He values thankful hearts.

[Question]

In what way did the Samaritan receive a greater blessing than the other nine, and what does this teach about saving faith?

[Context]

Weaver argues that 'thy faith hath made thee whole' indicates spiritual salvation, not just physical healing.

[Question]

According to Weaver, why are we often ungrateful and muted in praise, and how can we cultivate a more thankful heart?

[Context]

Using Matthew 18 and Luke 7, Weaver explains that ingratitude stems from failing to appreciate the greatness of our sin and God's forgiveness.

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T13:51:39Z