Where Are the Nine?

Luke 17:11-19

I: There met him ten men that were lepers.
1. They stood afar off:
2. Their leprous condition cut them off from close contact with other people.
3. They were outcast and compelled to cry unclean.
4. Their misery had caused them to bind themselves together with disregard for former differences.
5. Every man lifted his voice and cried for mercy.
6. Their meed was felt and their helplessness acknowledged.

Powerful Medicine to Cure – Calvary
II: “Go show yourselves unto the priest.”
1. There was something for them to do.
2. They were promised healing if they obeyed.
3. As they went they were cleansed.
4. Up to this point they had one common interest to share one another’s burdens and to seek help for all.

III: “And one of them … turned back.”
1. This mans heart rejoiced in thankfulness.
2. He went to the one that had shown mercy.
3. His lips were moved with praise and his feet turned back to the place of blessing.
4. He was a Samaritan from who the least was expected.

IV: “Where are the Nine?”
1. They were united by this dreadful disease but it seems that health separated them.
2. Was it possible they forgot Jesus in their joy of being healed?
3. Could they have been persuaded by the priest not to return to give thanks?
4. Did they rush home to tell family and friends of their good fortune?
5. Or did they become engrossed in their former trade and forget to be thankful?
6. The thankless heart will soon be filled with bitterness.

V: Unthankfulness becomes the dry rot of the soul.
1. We should learn to be thankful when barns are full and when they are empty.
2. We should be thankful in sickness and in health.
3. It is a sin to forget to be thankful.

Japan as a nation forgot to be thankful in Dec. 7, 1941. In September 1923, an earthquake brought disaster over 45,000 sq. miles and to 7,000,000 people, 300,000 dead and 2,500,000 homeless. She forgot the goods of America. It is easy to drift with the nine but it is blessed to be thankful in action with the one.

VI: How does a Christian say thank you?
1. When he becomes an active member of a local body.
2. When he practices using his talent.
3. When he brings the faith to God’s house.
4. When he practices Christian love and Council.
5. When he brings another to be healed!