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You're listening to Heed the Word with our pastor and teacher Ken Davis. Pastor Ken is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro in Burleson, Texas. Please join us as we study the Gospel of Luke verse by verse.

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We get into trouble because of our own stupidity, because of our own foolishness, because of our own rebellion, and because of these things, God has no choice but to bring judgment in our lives. And in the midst of that judgment, when we are brought low, when we are hungry, when we are hurting, we say, I don't want to be like this anymore, and we cry out to God and say, God save me from this, and He does. How glorious is that!

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The Gospel of Luke is the third account in the Gospels of the life and teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As believers, there are few studies that will benefit us more spiritually than studying the life and teachings of the Master. None of us are perfect. We all still struggle with sin. We're in a battle every day of our lives, a battle for the flesh. Thankfully, as believers, we're not left alone in this battle. We know that we can cry out to the Father in our times of need, just as the scriptures teach us. When we're weak, he is strong. Don't forget to stay with us after today's message to hear more information about He the Word, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 8, verse 1, as we join Pastor Ken.

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When we come to God and we say, Lord, what do you want me to do about this, that, or whatever? We don't hear an answer because what he's really saying is, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Before I tell you anything else that I need you to do, there's this other thing I've already told you to do that you haven't done yet. Go back and do this other thing I've already told you to do. And then once you've done that, then come and ask me about what it is you want me to do here. You see, if we are walking in disobedience to God, why should he give us any other guidance? He has told us at some point in our lives what it is he wants us to do. And very often we don't want to hear about that. These guys right here could have said, Well, Lord, yeah, oh, that's nice. Go show ourselves to the priest, sure, but could you heal us first? And we'll be happy to go show ourselves. Jesus says, No, go show yourself to the priest. And they did it. And the Bible tells us that as they went, they were healed. You see, Jesus did what the law could not do. Jesus did what the priests could not do. In keeping with the law, each of these men, prior to having been cast out, would have gone to the priest for that diagnosis, right? And could the priest do anything for them other than to say, yep, that's leprosy. Nothing. And yet they come to Jesus and He has mercy on them. You see, the law is justice, it gives us what we deserve. But the grace of God is mercy that gives us what we do not deserve. And that is forgiveness and healing and fellowship with him. And so it was that they went, that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned 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 there's an interesting point here that doesn't necessarily fit into the context of the message that I'm sharing with you today, but it's important. It's important enough for me to take this little rabbit trail to show you something about Jesus right now. This Samaritan comes to Jesus and he's glorifying God, he's giving glory to God, he's praising God, and he falls down at Jesus' feet. This man is worshiping at the feet of Jesus. He's worshiping. How many of us, when we are healed, when we are touched, when we look and we see that God has healed us? How many of us go back and give glory to God? Give praise to God, magnify the one who has done so much for us. How many of us give thanks to Jesus and bear witness, bear testimony of what God has done? Now, here's the interesting thing to me. This man is worshiping at the feet of Jesus, and Jesus allows him to do so. Jesus does not correct him. He does not redirect him and say, Hey, don't give thanks to me. Don't worship at my feet. You should be worshiping God. Jesus doesn't say that. Do we have an example in scriptures of where someone does say that? Yes, we do. Look at Revelation chapter 19, starting in verse 1. After these things, John says he's having a revelation of things to come. After these things, I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying, Alleluia, salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God. What's happening here? They're glorifying God the same way this leper had been. They're glorifying God there in heaven. And they go on, For true and righteous are his judgments, because he has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has revenged on her the blood of his servants shed by her. This is talking about the time of the great tribulation. Again they said, Alleluia, her smoke rises up forever and ever. And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God, who sat on the throne, saying, Amen, Alleluia. Then a voice came from the throne saying, Praise our God, all you his servants, and those who fear him, both small and great. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready. That's us, guys, right there, the church. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, John is speaking here, write, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God. Now who's saying this to John? The representative that has been sent, the angel that is there. This is not Jesus. We saw Jesus earlier, but there's a person right here who's standing there with John, who's showing him all these things, who's acting almost as his tour guide of heaven, so to speak. And he's turning to him and he's saying to John, Write, Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, See that you do not do that. I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. We know it's not Jesus. This is someone who has the testimony of Jesus. He says, Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And so we have here an example of when John falls at the feet of someone and begins to worship, that they say, Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, buddy, man, I'm just like you. I'm just a servant of Jesus, man. Worship God. But Jesus doesn't say that, does he? Jesus here in Luke 17 receives the worship of this man. And so that tells us one of two things. Either Jesus is God, or Jesus is usurping the worship of God. And who is it that wanted to usurp the worship of God? Who wanted to receive for himself the worship that was due only to God? Who was that? Anybody know? Satan, that's right. That's what got him kicked out of heaven in the first place. And so that tells us something about Jesus right here. That he is either God or he is a demon from the pit of hell. One of the two. You know, a lot of times people say, Oh, I think Jesus was a good moral teacher. I think he was a good man. I believe in following the teachings of Jesus. Really, which ones are those? Because a lot of the teachings I see of Jesus tell me that he was God. And this is one of them right here. Jesus receives this worship. Guys, we serve the Lamb who was slain and who rose again on the third day. We serve a God who died for us. You know, you look at a lot of religions in the world, and there are a whole lot of quote-unquote gods out there that want people to die for them. But our God died for us. Amen. And how glorious a thing that is. Let's continue in Luke 17. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned and with a loud voice glorified God and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? And he said to him, Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well. Now you think, well, isn't that kind of redundant? He had already been made well. He had already had faith to believe that Jesus was the one. Can I tell you that there are two words that are used here that are very different in their meaning and in their nature? When Jesus said, Were there not ten cleansed? When he's talking about the cleansing that has taken place there, the Greek word for that is kathorizo. And it means literally to make clean, to be clean, to purge or to purify, to cleanse from physical stains and dirt, a leper to cleanse by curing, to remove by cleansing, in a moral sense, to free from defilement of sin and from faults, and to purify from wickedness, to free from guilt and sin, to purify, to consecrate by cleansing or purify, to consecrate, dedicate, or to pronounce clean in a Levitical sense. So Jesus said, weren't there ten that I cleansed? Now, some commentators will say that these men received a physical healing, but that they weren't necessarily forgiven of their sins, and I tend to disagree. Now I'm not going to be dogmatic on that point, but I think that the word cleansed here means both the physical cleansing and can also mean a cleansing from sin, okay? But it's one thing to be cleansed from our sins, to be forgiven, as it were, by Jesus, and then it's an entirely different thing to walk in victory over sin. Because there are many Christians today who've come to Jesus as their Lord and their Savior and asked for forgiveness. The Bible tells us if you confess your sins to God, that He is faithful to forgive you your sins, right? So they've come to Jesus and they've been forgiven, and yet they don't walk in victory because they submit themselves to sin. While they have been forgiven from sin, they have not been delivered from sin because they continue to submit themselves to it, because rather than falling at the feet of Jesus and worshiping him and entering into fellowship and relationship with him, they have their eyes on the world and on the things of this world, and their growth is stunted as Christians. And so I believe that these other nine lepers, I believe they were cleansed of both their leprosy and of their sins. I do believe that. Now, could you dispute with me on that fact? Might I be wrong on that fact? Absolutely, I could be wrong. I'm not going to be dogmatic, as I said, but that's what I think. But with this man, this tenth leper, this one who came back and fell at the feet of Jesus and worshipped and glorified God and gave thanks to the one who had had mercy upon him, this one, something different entirely, happened with. Because when Jesus told him that his faith had made him well, that word made well is sodezo, which means literally to save, to keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction, to save a suffering one, one suffering from disease to make well, heal, or restore to health, to preserve one who is in danger of destruction, to save or rescue, to save in the technical biblical sense, to deliver from the penalties of the messianic judgment, and to save from the evils which obstruct the reception of the messianic deliverance. In other words, Jesus could just as easily have said, Your faith has delivered you. You see, this man wasn't just healed, this man was delivered. And what was the key to his deliverance? It was his faith that was exhibited in the fact that he returned and gave glory to God. He bore witness to that which God had done for him. It's notable that when we give glory to God, or that when we speak of the things of God, that it blesses the Lord, that he loves to hear it. Malachi chapter 3, starting in verse 16, tells us this. Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them. So a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on his name. They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, on the day that I make them my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. You see, God takes note of the things that we say about him. He takes note of the things that we do, but he also takes note of the things that we do not do. The Bible says that he who knows to do right and does not do it, to him it is sin. And when God has delivered us, when God has healed us, when God has blessed us, it is right that we give glory to God for what he has done. You don't think God takes note? Look again at Luke 17, verses 17 through 19, when Jesus said, Were there not ten cleansed, but where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? You see, Jesus took note not only of the one that returned, but also of the nine that did not. How good is God. Turn to Psalm 107. I want you to look for a phrase that is repeated several times. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered out of the lands from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way. They found no city to dwell in, hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses, and he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city for a dwelling. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. For he satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness. Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and irons, because they rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High, therefore he brought down their heart with labor, they fell down and there was none to help. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their chains in pieces. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. For he has broken the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron in two. Fools, because of their transgression and because of their iniquities were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. Do you notice a pattern here? We get into trouble because of our own stupidity, because of our own foolishness, because of our own rebellion, and because of these things, God has no choice but to bring judgment in our lives. And in the midst of that judgment, when we are brought low, when we are hungry, when we are hurting, we say, I don't want to be like this anymore. And we cry out to God and say, God, save me from this, and he does. How glorious is that! Let's read on. Fools, verse 17. Because of their transgression and because of their iniquities were afflicted, their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoicing. Those who go down to the sea and ships who do business on the great waters, they see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep, for he commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths. Their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wit's end. You ever been in that situation when everything's going wrong? When your life hangs by a thread, when you know that if just one more thing happens, you're done for? It's that foxhole religion, isn't it? Lord, save me, I'll do whatever you want, right? They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits' end. You know, being at your wit's end is a good place to be. Because when you come to the end of your wits, maybe you'll start relying on something else. Maybe that's when it finally dawns on you that you need to cry out to the Lord as these men do. Verse 28. Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm so that the waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet, so he guides them to their desired haven. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people. Where is that? Right here. And praise him in the company of the elders. He turns rivers into a wilderness, and the water springs into dry ground, a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of those who dwell in it. He turns a wilderness into pools of water, and dry land into water springs. There he makes the hungry dwell, that they may establish a city for a dwelling place, and sow fields and plant vineyards, that they may yield a fruitful harvest. He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly, and he does not let their cattle decrease. When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow, he pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way. Yet he sets the poor on high, far from affliction, and makes their families like a flock. The righteous see it and rejoice, and all iniquity stops its mouth. Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the loving kindness of the Lord. So what is that phrase? Did you catch it? Oh, that men would give. Thanks to the Lord for his goodness. Oh, that men would, but the sad thing is, most men don't. The psalmist is crying out. He's saying, Oh, that men would give thanks to God for his goodness. Have you given thanks to God for his goodness today? When we come together and worship like that, guys, what we're doing is we're giving thanks to God for his goodness, for his wonderful works, to the children of men. And there's so much we have to be thankful for, so much we have to worship him for, so much glory that he is deserving of for all that he has done for us. What has he done for us? Turn to First Corinthians chapter one. You see, God, through Jesus, has delivered us. And often we fail to realize exactly what that means. You see, we think that going to church is something that we do because it's good for us, and it is, or maybe because we should take our kids there because it's good for them, and it is. Or that maybe we should come to fellowship out of a sense of obligation, and really we are obligated because God has done so much for us. But if we really think about it and we really begin to consider the goodness of God, then we will recognize the fact that He has delivered us from death. He has delivered us from sin. He has delivered us from bondage. You see, the Bible tells us that you are a slave to he whom you serve. And you will either serve sin in this life or you will serve God. I talked to a young man one time who says, Well, I don't serve anybody but myself. And I said, Exactly. You see, yourself is the worst master you could ever have. Jesus died so that I wouldn't have to, so that you wouldn't have to. And when we really begin to recognize what that means, then it's no burden to be in fellowship, it's no burden to be a church, it's no burden to read my Bible. Because when I do those things, I'm learning about the one who gave it all for me. I want to worship him. I want to praise him. I want to be in fellowship with his body. You guys. You know, when I don't see you for seven days, it hurts me. I miss you. Hard to believe. I'm kidding. But I would hope that you feel the same way. And that when we come together on a Sunday morning in this place, that it's a reunion, it's a family reunion. It's we're all coming together, members of the family of God, and we're glad to see one another. And what's better is we're glad to be in God's presence together. Sometimes I wonder when I look at our number and we come to worship God, if Jesus doesn't say, weren't there 50 that were cleansed? Where are the others? Weren't there a hundred or weren't there however many? Because you see, not that we can't worship God at home or throughout the week in our life. We're supposed to do all that, yes. But you see, this is the time for us to come together and celebrate the Lord today. Not trying to put you on some guilt trip or legalism that you can't miss a day at church. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying, where's your heart?

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Does it long to worship God? Because it should. Because he's done so much for us.

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Truly, these are some of the most difficult times that many of us have ever seen. The economy is bad, work is sparse, and there's no shortage of strife throughout the world. But as believers in Jesus, we've been given many great and precious promises. For instance, listen to this verse, taken from our current study. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. You see, it doesn't matter how bad things get, God has promised to take care of us. Today's teaching was only part of a full-length message taught by Pastor Ken Davis on a Sunday morning at Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro in Burleson, Texas. To hear this message in its entirety, log on to heedheword.org. That's heedtheword.org. Once you're there, select the listen online page. Or if computers aren't your thing, that's okay, you can always call us. That number to call is 817-447-5675. That's 817-447-5675. Even if you're if you're not ordering a copy of today's study, we'd love to hear from you. Knowing that God is using He, the Word for His glory, and to encourage His saints is one of our greatest joys. So call us today. This study through the Gospel of Luke has been a rear. Maybe you've been challenged in some areas in your walk with Jesus. Well, we want to exhort you not to just hear God's word, but to do it. Begin to walk in obedience to the things you're learning. From all of us here at Heather Word, we want to say thank you for tuning in, and may God richly bless you as you seek his face.