Intro: Series - Just a Touch is All We need -
Matthew 8:2 "And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed."
This is a story that will preach well, though it is not our sermon for tonight, I am merely using it to introduce a three sermon series. This text is a beautiful picture of salvation.
1. The Terrible Disease
-No Cause to Live, No companions to Love, No cure for Life
2. The Touch that Delivered -Notice-Jesus put forth His hand, and touched him!
There are many touches of Christ in the Bible, but there is none to be discussed until you have been delivered. ALL ARE SINNERS, But Jesus came and by grace will touch any that come to Him for deliverance! But salvation is not the only touch of God that we need. Many never seek a touch from God. Many are stagnant. Why?
Enjoyment increases capacity, capacity increases desire, desire increases enjoyment. The more we enjoy the things of God, the more of the things of God we will desire - When we get closer to the Lord’s presence, we will want more of Him.
We look for things to be new and improved. What we need in the church today is a genuine touch from God. Not new, but fresh and improved by the touch of God. Now what does that mean? I do not want a new and improved church, I am not looking for a worldy friendly church. I want a Spirit filled church where God touches His people.
So what kind of church should we be? I’ve told you before:
We need to be a church that is Lively, but not carnal.
We need to be a church that is Separated but not Pharisaical (some are too critical).
We need to be a church that is Spiritual, but not Spooky (Spirit led and controlled).
We need to be a church has great fellowship without losing sight of our purpose, to reach others with the Gospel of Jesus.
(Our main purpose is to reach and disciple souls for the Lord)
More than anything, we need to be a church that has a Genuine Touch of God! What we need in the church today is a genuine touch from God.
As in this passage, those that are saved have been touched by the delivering hand of God, through Jesus Christ. But we must admit that we need a continual touch. Now what does that mean?
In the book of Numbers, chapter 29, God is about to send quail to the ungrateful children of Israel until it came out their noses. But before this happened, God made an opportunity for them to repent. Moses had 70 with him, and God’s power came on them all. Two that did not come, were in the camp, and God touched them. Joshua thought something was wrong and complained to Moses, to which Moses made a very profound observation that identified the problem of the nation of Israel! Vs, 29 "And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD’S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!" The problem in Israel, just like the church today, is they all believed, but did not wholly trust the Lord. Moses merely said that it was his desire that the touch of God would be on all of God’s people - no different today!
Do you want a typical Christian life or do you want to be touched by God. Not something against the scriptures, but a real touch from heaven.
Even in the life of Christ, you find where his touch brought blessing. You find different touches by Christ. You even see times that others touched Him, the hem of His garment, and His heart. What WONDERFUL HANDS
I. A Home that Received His Presence - Peter’s home is where Jesus is found often. It was a simple fisherman’s home in the center of Caperaum, not far from the synagogue.
A. He was Willing to Come - Jesus is willing to touch us!
Titus 2:14 "Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
B. He was Welcome to Come - Mark 1:30 "But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon (immediately) they tell him of her."
There was a time that Christians’ lives revolved around Jesus and the church, sadly today, the church must revolve around our lives. Is Jesus welcome, or do we neglect His presence?
II. A Heart that Revealed His Purpose - Jesus came to this earth to change us! Romans 5:6 "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."
A. He Saw Her condition - without Strength
B. He Saw Her Corruption - fever meant there was a contagious problem!
We were all born with the disease of sin, but Jesus still came! Jesus let no corruption keep Him away! (Our flesh)
Jesus came that we might have life. He came to deliver us from the death of Sin’s fever! Galatians 1:4 "Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:"
Corruption has slipped back into Christian’s lives. I do no know who said it, but the way we can tell if we have Worldliness slipping into our lives is if Sin looks normal, and righteousness seems odd! So true. We need a new, fresh touch from God, because the church has a fever!
III. A Hand that Remedied the Problem
A. The Compassion of His Touch (tender touch of the hand)
He touched the hand that represents serving.
B. The Curing of His Touch - The Fever left
By the simple, tender touch - She was changed.
C. The Consequence of His Touch - She served
1. What a wonderful act of Grace! She was healed, but it caused something.
2. What a wonderful reaction of Gratitude! No one can truly be touched of God and have no desire to serve the Lord. Psalms 2:11 "Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling." Psalms 100:2 "Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing."
Hebrews 12:28 "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:" In the days ahead, I am going to teach you different levels of those that sit in our pews, but understand, when someone experiences the touch of Jesus on their lives, it will be evident by their actions.
Concl. Do you know for sure you are saved? Is Jesus Welcome in the home of your life?
Will you surrender to Him, and ask Him for a touch that will bring ability and usefulness back to your service for Him?
Does your Christian walk suffer from a fever? Sluggish, not feeling like moving, in need of someone else serving you? No Child of God has been touched to SIT, you have been touched to SERVE.
Disclaimer: A man once told me that if it is true, it is not new. If it is new, it is not true. We all know there is nothing new under the sun. With that said, I glean ideas for my sermons from God’s Word, my own thoughts and work, and many other sources. Any similarity to my sermons and others, where credit is not given, is either coincidental, or an unintentional mistake on my part. As none of us have a corner on the wisdom and teaching of God’s Word, it is my desire that any of my outlines be an encouragement, a help, and hopefully a motivation for others to preach God’s Word clearly. Please feel free to use any portion of my sermons if they can be of help to you and your ministry. It is all for His Glory.
