In this sermon, the preacher begins by expressing the anticipation and joy of beholding the King in His glory. The sermon then transitions to the story of Jesus healing a leper in the Gospel of Mark. The preacher emphasizes that all people have the "leprosy of sin" and need to come to Jesus for cleansing. The sermon concludes with a call to embrace the gospel and the hope of the coming white city.

Free in Cooperation with Fuller Seminary proudly presents the Old-Fashioned Revival Hour, a broadcast of the Gospel with Dr. Charles Eagle. We pray especially for thy people who are in countries where the oppression of evil is felt so tremendously. We pray they may find resources and strength as they look up unto thy face and trust in thee. We pray also for those of the body of Christ who are behind the iron curtain, and we do pray that in these difficult times they may be given wisdom and that they may be able to win others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. And so we pray today that many throughout this world may be added to the body of Christ. We ask it in his name and for his sake. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. You're listening to the Old-Fashioned Revival Hour from the Municipal Auditorium at Long Beach, California. Charles E. Fuller speaking. In loving kindness he does gain, my soul in mercy to reclaim. And from the depths of sin I'm saved. Through grace he lifted me. From sinking sand he lifted me. With tender hand he lifted me. From shades of night through flames of night. O praise his name, he lifted me. His brow was pierced with many a thorn. His hands like cruel nails were torn. When from my guilt and grief alone, in love he lifted me. From sinking sand he lifted me. With tender hand he lifted me. From shades of night through flames of night. O praise his name, he lifted me. May you take your Bibles quickly and turn to the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, beginning at the 40th verse. Listen attentively to the reading of God's word. And there came a leper to him, beseeching him and kneeling down to him and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, wooed with compassion, put forth his hand and touched him and said unto him, I will be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was clean. And he straightly charged him and forthwith sent him away. And saith unto him, See that thou say nothing to any man, but go thy way, show thyself to the priests, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded for testimony unto them. But he went out and began to publish it much and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places. And they came to him from every quarter. All through Mark we see the glorious gospel in dynamic action against the powers of darkness, against Satan and all of his hosts, and all of Satan's work. And we see the gospel of Jesus Christ in a head-on collision against the forces of evil, but always coming off victorious. And truly the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it. And my earnest prayer is that we open up this portion of God's word, the cleansing of the leper, that you may see your need, and in seeing your need come to the one and only fountain of cleansing, the Lord Jesus Christ. Last Lord's Day we spoke upon demons, Satan's cohorts, for demons are fallen angels under Satan's direction. Those fallen angels are ever seeking to be clothed upon with human flesh. Demons, however, are subject to the Lord, for Christ has all power in heaven and on earth. He met demons in our message last Sunday. Today it's disease, and next Lord's Day, Lord willing, it will be the last enemy called death. Now, today in Mark 140-45, Christ the Great Physician meets a poor, helpless outcast, a leper, one held in the depths of a loathsome disease. And here is a man under the curse and dominion of a terrible, dreadful disease called leprosy. Now, leprosy is an internal blood disease. In its infant stages it is not easily detected. It is gradual in its development and is one of the most loathsome and offensive of malady. Leprosy separates from friends and loved ones. Life and comeliness are gradually eaten away by this dreadful disease until finally it is necessary for the leper to go to the abode of the lepers, where finally he passes from time to eternity. Leprosy ends in a terrible death, and all this is a great Bible picture of inbred sin. Sin separates one from the Holy God, and since the wages of sin is death, and since all have sin, all men by nature therefore are separated from God, dead in trespasses and sin. All men by nature are afflicted by the leprosy of sin. In some it's hard to detect, in others it's very obvious. Scarlet sinners cannot hide their sin. But before God, all men have the leprosy of sin. And all men need to come to the fountain of cleansing, need to come to the great physician. And so here in Mark, the first chapter in these few verses, we see the gospel of Christ again in action. The Lord Jesus meets a poor, helpless leper, one who dwelled alone outside the city wall. Now we know very little about this leper, even his name is not mentioned. And this leper no doubt spent much of his time in dreary solitude, or perhaps in begging, for he could not follow the ordinary pursuits of other men, nor earn his bread like other men. The disease of utter despair was upon him. None could help him in his trouble until, until, the fortieth verse, notice it, And there came a leper to him, until Jesus came his way. This is why we love to preach the glorious gospel. There is no lasting help nor complete healing until Jesus comes your way, sinner friend. And as the leper of old was healed, so you now deep in your sin can be likewise cleansed and made a new creation in Christ Jesus. Every word of these few verses is filled with so much spiritual meaning. Let's meditate upon these words and be not only instructed, but be enriched. This leper, this hopeless outcast, thank God, came to Jesus. Oh, how this sets the chords of one's heart, a heart vibrating with a beautiful heaven-sent harmony. He came to Jesus. He did not come to any earthly organization, or the head of any earthly religious group, or any group, any place, but he came to the one and only person in heaven and in earth that could heal him, and that's God's beloved Son. Notice, And there came a leper to him. Bear in mind this, that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, and that faith without works is dead. Now, previous to this account of the healing of the leper, we see in verse 28 these words, And immediately his fame spread about throughout all the region about Galilee. Then dropping down to the thirty-fourth verse, And he healed many that were sick of diverse diseases, and cast out many demons, and suffered not the demons to speak, because they knew him. Now, here's the background. No doubt were it come to this poor leper's heart that others had been healed by the great physician, that demons had been cast out, and this leper upon hearing said, I too can be healed. And this faith led him to a definite action. There came a leper to him. Faith without works is dead. What good is it for me or anyone else to preach that you can be saved by the Lord Jesus through faith in Him unless that faith leads you to action and you personally experience salvation and regeneration? This leper knew in himself that his case was a terrible, hopeless one, that he was looked upon as one that's dead. While he lived, that his case was viewed beyond any known human health. Luke describes him as full of leprosy. That is, he was in the final stages. His skin was so sore. His joints were rotting. His fingers, no doubt, were gone. His teeth and his hair were gone. And that soon, very soon, he must die. Yet he heard, he believed, and he came to Jesus. No doubt there are many, or some at least, listening to this broadcast of the Old-Fashioned Revival Hour. If you are listening right now, you have said to yourself, I can never be saved. I'm too terrible a sinner. I have broken every commandment not once, but hundreds of times. My sins are mountain high. I am too far gone. I want you to bear in mind that this leper, full of leprosy, too far gone in the natural, he came to Jesus and was cleansed. And I send out the glad tidings to you who feel so far gone that there's no hope. There is hope if you'll do what the leper did and come to Jesus. And if you feel yourself to be one full of corruption and sin, and perhaps hardened and insensible in conscience, I say to you, come now. Come unto Jesus for cleansing, for pardon, for forgiveness. For him that cometh, God says, I will in no wise cast out. Come at once. Come now. There's no time to lose. You may die in your sins and be a lost soul forever unless you come now. Notice also, no one could or would take him to Jesus, that is, this leper. He was too foul to be touched. He was too far gone to be the subject of any hope. Well, notice, he came beseeching. That is, he was dead in earnest. He sought God with his whole heart. I have good news for you. God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. And no matter how dark or damnable your past or your present is, if you will come with an honest, open, believing heart, God says, I'll blot out your transgressions, put them behind my back, and I'll never remember them against you anymore forever. Notice further his humility, kneeling down so much as to say, I'm not in any way worthy to be in thy presence, Lord. I have nothing to commend myself before thee. I am completely undone, an outcast, helpless, hopeless. Then notice his plea. If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Underline those three words, make me clean. And may that be the prayer of your heart. Make me clean. Not your neighbors, not your relatives, but make me a personal matter. Make me clean. And here it comes from an honest heart. And this leper, an outcast, full of leprosy, most hopeless of cases from the natural, says, Lord, make me clean. Now you notice verse 41, And Jesus, I like this, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will be thou clean. Jesus, notice it, not any earthly potency or ruler, but Jesus, the sweetest name among all names, God's beloved Son, moved with compassion, that is, moved with a great inward heart affection, a divine characteristic, love for the unlovely, put forth his hand. This great compassion led to action as it did on God's heart. Back before the foundation of the world, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And while we were yet sinners, unlovely, full of leprosy, of sin, Christ died for us. And here in this case, led Christ to put forth his hand. The sinless one, God's beloved Son, touching the sinless one, the sinful one. And there you have a picture of his mediatorial work, bridging the gap between the holy, spotless, eternal God, touching the vile, the sinful, the lowest of humanity. We come up with these words that he's the one mediator. Between man and God, the man Christ Jesus. What a scene! If I know anything about the Bible, I believe this was true. That when Christ put out his hand to touch that man full of leprosy, that the angels in heaven stopped their singing, stopped their worship, and looked down upon that scene, down upon the Judean hills of God's Son touching the lowest in humanity. Notice the word, I will. Be thou clean. And I want to call it to your attention that Christ did not say, I will not. Search the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation and you will never find a soul honestly seeking God to be refused. I have never heard of a case throughout history or in the Scriptures where a soul has come to Christ seeking redemption and forgiveness and pardon of sins. And Christ has said to that soul, I will not. I will. Be thou clean. And will you notice it? And here's the simplicity of the Gospel. Verse 42, And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was clean. As soon as those words were spoken, that leprosy departed from this man, and he was cleansed. Now will you notice the simplicity of the Gospel? First the plea, make me clean. Christ answered, be thou clean. And then the conclusion, he was cleansed. And I talk to you from the bottom of my heart now. Listen to me carefully. On the authority of God's word, if you will come right now in faith believing, and pray this sinner's prayer, God be merciful to me, a sinner, and save me for Christ's sake. Make me clean. The answer from heaven will be heard instantly. And God will say, I will. Be thou cleansed. And you too, like the leper of old, will become a new creation in Christ Jesus, passing from death unto life instantly. Come now. Let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. And though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. God laid this simple Gospel message on my heart today. Perhaps there's some out in the farms, out in the mountains, that have never heard the Gospel message before. I pray with you right now that you'll pray the leper's prayer. Make me clean. And hear God say, I will. Be thou cleansed. And then have thee a witness in your heart that you are cleansed, passing from death unto life. Let's bow our heads in prayer. ♪ Listen to me carefully. God's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repent. And if the leper of old, coming to Jesus by faith, was cleansed, there's hope for you. And I say to you out in the radio audience, or perhaps in this splendid visible audience here today, God knows your heart, and some of you may be so deep down in sin you're saying to yourself, there's no hope, there is hope, and I say to you now, if it's the last thing you ever hear me say, come now, come now, I'll cleanse you and make you as white as snow. Take God at His word and kneel in His presence and look up into the Father's face through Christ and thank Him for receiving you. For as I said a moment ago, Him that cometh unto me, God said, I will in no wise cast out. There's hope, and this is the glorious, glad-tiding, the gospel of Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it. This is Charles E. Fuller bidding you goodbye and God's richest blessing upon you. Amen.