Thou Canst Make Me Clean

When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will, be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. - Matthew 8:1-3

This is a notable miracle, and a most comfortable history, which though it were done upon a leper only, yet the doctrine of the same pertaineth to us and to all men, and so shall it do unto the end of the world. For Paul saith, "Whatsoever is written, is written for our instruction"; therefore if we will consider and ponder this story well, we shall find much matter in it to our great comfort and edifying.

"When he was come down." He had been upon the mountain preaching a sermon, which is contained in the fifth, sixth and seventh chapters of Matthew. That sermon is very notable, and containeth the sum of a Christian man's life. The people were greatly astonished, and marveled much at this sermon, whereby you may note the strength and efficacy of the Word of God, bringing a marveling, as it happened unto this people which had received the Word.

You may note also the inconstancy of the people, who now greatly esteemed and regarded our Savior and His Word, and shortly after consented to His death, by persuasion of the church leaders, which was a great and heinous wickedness in the sight of God. Therefore let us not follow their example, neither let us be persuaded by any living man to forsake God and His Word, but rather let us suffer death for it. Howbeit, I fear that if there should come a persecution, there would be a great number of those which now speak fair of the gospel who would be like this people, for I fear they would soon be persuaded to speak against Christ, to forsake His Word, and deny the gospel as these people did, clean forgetting, and setting aside all that which they had heard of our Savior upon the mountain. Let us therefore beware, and let us acknowledge the great love of God our heavenly Father, shown unto us so plainly in these latter days, that all except the willful and obstinate may understand that love, which is as great a benefit as may be.

There cometh a leper unto him, saying, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst help me." This leper took Christ to be a Savior, and therefore he cometh unto Him for help. So let us come unto Him, for He is the Savior of mankind, and He is the only Helper that succoreth both our bodies and souls. …Note here also the love and great charity of our Savior Christ, which first He showed to the whole multitude, in teaching them earnestly and diligently the way to everlasting life. And then He extended His great compassion and mercy upon this leper, whom all men abhorred because of his uncleanness. But Christ abhorred him not; yea, He is content not only to hear his request, and to talk with him, but also laid His hands upon his filthy body. Oh how great a kindness was this! Oh what a wonderful thing is this, that the King of all kings talketh here most familiarly with a poor wretched leper! Oh what profound and incomprehensible love beareth He unto us! It is esteemed a great thing when a king vouchsafes to talk with a poor man, being one of his subjects. What a great thing then is it, that the King of all kings, yea, the Ruler of heaven and earth, talketh with a poor man, heareth his request, and mercifully granteth it?

For although our Savior appeared like a poor man, yet this leper had conceived such a faith and trust in Him, that he had no respect of His outward appearance, but followed his faith, which faith told him, that this was the Savior. Therefore he set aside all outward show, and came with great reverence unto Him, desiring His help.

Moreover, this man was a leper and a miserable man, one despised of all men, and an outcast, for it was commanded in the law of God, that no man should keep company with a leper. Therefore it appeareth that he was in great misery, but what does he do? Where does he run for help and succour? Even to Christ, to Him only he runneth, not to witches or sorcerers as ungodly men do, but he seeketh the comfort of our Savior. Now when you are in distress, in misery, in sickness, in poverty, or any other calamity, follow the example of this leper: run to Christ, seek help and comfort only at His hands, and then thou shalt be delivered and made safe, like he was delivered after he came to Christ.

But what brought he with him? Only his faith: he believed that Christ was able to help him, and therefore according to his faith it happened unto him. Then it shall be necessary for thee to bring faith with thee, for without faith thou can get nothing at His hands. Strive, therefore, to bring faith with thee. Believe that He is able to help thee, that He is merciful and will help thee. And when thou come furnished with such a faith, surely thou shalt be heard. Thou shalt find Him to be a loving Father, a faithful Friend, and thy Redeemer out of all tribulation. For faith is like a hand wherewith we receive the benefits of God, and except we receive His benefits with the hand of faith, we shall never have them.

Here in this gospel you may learn the right use of Scripture, for when you shall hear and read such stories as this, you must not think that such stories and acts done by our Savior are only temporal, but you must consider that they are done for our sake, for our instruction and teaching. Therefore when you hear such stories, you must consider the eternal things which are set before your eyes by such stories, and so we must apply them to ourselves. For example, here is a leper who called upon Christ with a good faith, and was healed. You will say, "What is that unto us?" Even as he was a leper in his body, so are we lepers in our souls. He was unclean in his body, and we are unclean in our souls. He was healed by believing in Christ, so we must be healed by Him, or else perish eternally. Therefore if thou wilt not perish, then call upon Him as this leper did, and thou shalt be helped and cleansed of thy leprosy; that is, from all thy sin. So, I say, we must apply the Scriptures unto us, and receive something to strengthen our faith withal, and to edify ourselves with, from God's Word.

Now note here how this man came. See how humbly and meekly he cometh, and what a good and strong faith he had in Christ, which faith appeared by his coming. If he had been without faith, he would not have come unto Him, because our Savior kept but a humble estate, not a kings court; He was poor, and therefore the more despised of unbelievers. But this man believed, and therefore he came unto Him. Learn therefore by this example, to go to Christ in what affliction soever we be.

But peradventure you will say, "He was upon the earth when this man called upon Him, and therefore he was so soon heard." I answer, "He promised to His disciples, after His resurrection, that He would be with us to the end of the whole world." His words are true, for He cannot be made a liar; therefore we must believe Him, and doubt not for He will be present with us whensoever we call upon Him.

Therefore if I be sick, I must pray as this man, "Lord, if thou wilt"- it is a conditional prayer. [All prayers to Christ for the healing of the body are conditional for until Christ returns, the body will remain perishable whether healed or not.] So we may learn here to call upon God conditionally. But for our general salvation which is the salvation of our souls, we must not doubt in that, nor call for it conditionally, but apprehend God by His promise, saying "Lord, Thou hast promised that all that believe in Thee shall be saved: Lord, for Thy mercy and promise sake, for Thy death and passion sake, take away my sin, wash me with the blood which Thou hast shed upon the cross, and hast promised that all that believe shall be saved through Thee. Now Lord, for Thy promise-sake, help me; I believe, 0 Lord, help my infirmity and increase my faith." As touching thy bodily health, put it to His good-will, and offer thyself unto Him, saying, "Lord, I am Thy creature, Thou hast given unto me soul and body. My body is sick now, when it pleaseth Thee, help me; if not, give me grace to bear patiently this Thy visitation. In like manner didst Thou visit Thy holy martyrs which suffered great calamity. They desired to be delivered, but Thou delivered them not bodily, but yet Thou saved them in and after their death. So I trust thou wilt do with me."

Now, how came it to pass that this leper had such a great faith and confidence in our Savior? Truly by hearing the Word of God, for he had heard our Savior say, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." This he heard and believed, therefore he came boldly unto Him, desiring help of Him; and so here is verified the saying of Paul, "Faith cometh by hearing." The ordinary way to get faith is through hearing the Word of God, for the Word of God is of such a power that it entereth and pierceth the heart of the man that hears it earnestly, as it doth well appear in this leper.

"Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." I learn here that a few words spoken with faith, is better than long "babbling." For right prayer stands not in many words, or long babbling. Right prayer requireth the whole heart, for there is no greater thing in the world than right prayer. For prayer joined with faith, is the instrument wherewith we receive the benefits of God. Now when faith and prayer are joined together, it is impossible for God not to hear it; they must needs go together, for else it availeth nothing, except faith be joined with prayer, as Christ said unto the centurion, 'According to thy faith be it unto thee."

Here I might take occasion to call you to prayer, if time would allow. But to be short, I must tell you one thing. The commandment of God, which biddeth us to call upon Him in the day of trouble. That command hath no less authority than "Thou shalt not kill." The self-same God that saith, "Thou shalt not kill," saith, "Thou shalt pray"; that is, thou shalt call upon Me, whereby it appeareth, that we are in great danger when we neglect prayer.

Now to make an end, you have heard in this gospel of divers things which I will not rehearse. But I would have you keep in remembrance the great faith that this man had in our Savior, which faith restored him to his health again, and learn by him to believe as he did, that our Savior will restore unto us the health of soul and body. Also note here, the great love that our Savior bare unto this man, steadfastly believing that He will also be loving unto thee when thou callest upon Him with earnest prayer. Prayer with faith goeth through the clouds. It is a great matter to pray, it is ars artium, that is, an art above all arts. Let us therefore give ourselves to prayer and godly living, so that His name may be glorified in us both now and forever.

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