THE CLEANSING POWER OF CHRIST JESUS by Pastor Dr Kumuyi

Mark 1:40-45

“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, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a 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.” (Mark 1:40-45). You might wonder why we are studying this passage again. God wants us to understand that leprosy was a terrible sickness, not because of the pain of the sickness. People with leprosy don’t feel any pain. The reason why we are studying this is that leprosy is contagious, and the lepers are kept outside the camp of the people of God. They will not mix with the congregation.

The same when you are unclean; you are outside the congregation of the righteous, and you must be cleansed before you can come into the congregation of the righteous. Also, the lepers will contaminate the normal people with their leprosy, which is why they are separated from the people. Likewise, sinners don’t catch salvation or holiness, but if you mix with them, you will be contaminated with their sinfulness and uncleanness. This is why we are studying so that we will not be contaminated with the uncleanness of the sinners around us. Lastly, if we must get to Heaven ultimately, we must be cleansed and kept holy to be in the congregation of the righteous forever and ever.

1. THE IMMEDIATE CLEANSING OF THE INCURABLE LEPER
   Mark 1:40-42

“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, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.” (Mark 1:40-42). He was cleansed immediately.

(i) The Leper’s Request for Cleansing – Mark 1:40; Luke 17:12-13; 2 Kings 5:5,9-14. “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.” (Mark 1:40). This is the only prayer that doubted the willingness of the Lord, that he spoke ‘If thou will’. Naaman in the Old Testament and the ten lepers who came to Jesus later never doubted the willingness of God. We cannot go to the Lord with a doubt of His willingness, we must go to Him in prayer with the assurance that as we pray according to His Will, the Word, promises, compassion and mercies of God are all the Will of God. We must come confidently to pray according to His Will and promises. The Lord later corrected him because he spoke in his ignorance. The Lord in His Will, will save and cleanse you in Jesus’ Name.

“And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass that, as they went, they were cleansed.” (Luke 17:12-14). The lepers were not to come near people who were clean and normal; when they tried to come near, people would run away from them because of their contagious leprosy. Except Christ, Who is the Lord and Saviour, He allowed the ten lepers to come near to Him. They knew the mercy of God and pleaded for His mercy in healing them. For these ten lepers, Christ asked them to go and show themselves to the priest, He did not touch or lay hands on them. You cannot constrain the Lord to do your bidding. He saves, cleanses and heals in different ways, and we must let Jesus do His way in our lives.

And as you are here tonight, the Lord will cleanse and heal you. Naaman was a captain, and yet he had leprosy. Position, wealth, fame, or money does not cleanse anyone from leprosy. Even a king in Israel who defied the authority of God was afflicted with leprosy, and he was separated from the throne and the people till he died. Mariam and Aaron looked down on Moses, gossiped, criticised and condemned the marriage of Moses. And God was wrath with them, that Mariam became leprous, and despite her position as the women’s leader, she was left outside the camp for seven days. Despite the prayer of Moses, God still carried out His judgment on Mariam at 95 years of age. Mariam was punished and put outside the camp.

Thank God the cloud did not move for seven days. While Naaman came and obeyed the instruction of the Prophet, he was cleansed. So whatever methods the Lord uses, let Him have His Will in your life, come to Him, repent and believe the gospel, and He will forgive and cleanse you from all your sinfulness. Let Him perform and perfect His sanctification in your life as you come to Him as well.

(ii) The Lord’s Response with Cleansing – Mark 1:41; Luke 17:14-19; Matthew 11:5. “And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.” (Mark 1:40-42). The man needed compassion, and Jesus had compassion on him and responded with cleansing for him.
The same with the ten lepers that came asking for mercy, and they were cleansed. “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” (Matthew 11:5). The Lord cleansed other lepers, but these were written so that we see the compassion of the Lord, and know that it for all who come to Him.

(iii) The Lasting Reassurance for Our Cleansing – Mark 1:42; Hebrews 13:8; James 1:17. We have the reassurance that Christ will do for us what He has done in the past. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8). Until the last soul is saved, the Lord is still saving and cleansing souls that come to Him even today. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17). God is still God. He saved, cleansed, forgave, healed, and sanctified others in the past, He will do for us today in Jesus Name.

2. THE INDISPENSABLE CLEANSING OF OUR INNER LIFE
   Mark 7:21-23; Matthew 23:28

The lepers today are very small in comparison with the population of our nation. So we should not be teaching to a large audience like this, but all these things were written in the Bible for our learning, so that our inner lives will be cleansed. Many are blind to the truth of the Scriptures, so we learn about how the Lord opened the eyes of the blind, so that He can open our eyes to the Scriptures. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” (Mark 7:21-23).

We are unclean if all these are in our lives and hearts, so we can come to the Lord for cleansing from all these evils. “Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” (Matthew 23:28). We require our inner cleansing.

(i) The Prayer for Indispensable Cleansing – Psalm 51:2,6-10; 19:12-13; 2 Corinthians 7:1. Like that leper came, we also need to come to the Lord so that our inner life, heart and disposition will have cleansing from the Lord. “Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:2,6-10).

We need to come to the Lord in prayer for indispensable cleansing. “Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.” (Psalms 19:12-13). Some faults hide inside us that are secret within us, that we do not know. But as the Lord reveals them through the light of the word of God, we go to the Lord in prayer for cleansing from all secret faults.
Presumptuous sins, that you knew it was wrong, and you rush into evil, immorality, and fornication until your name is blotted out of the Book of Life.

This was what the Psalmist did, King David, he committed adultery with Uriah’s wife, tried to cover it up with his servants, who were helping the king to cover it up. How are you helping your own David, a respected leader over you, to cover up his presumptuous sins? Thank God Uriah went to heaven, for he was a dependable, reliable, faithful, saved and sanctified soldier of the Lord. “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1). The filthiness of the spirit is hidden within, so we need the inner indispensable cleansing.

(ii) The Performance of Our Inward Cleansing – Ezekiel 36:25-28; Ephesians 5:2627; 2 Timothy 2:21-22. “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.” (Ezekiel 36:25-28).

The Lord wants to cleanse us from all idols. Covetousness, love of money, or filthy feeling and passion of the flesh of the opposite sex, that is the idol inside. And the Lord will cleanse you, and give you a new spirit that affects our inner disposition, longing, desire and passion. “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:26-27). We need sanctification and inner cleansing by Christ. “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:21-22). After the Lord has saved, sanctified and purified us, we need to preserve that holiness, for this is the greatest inheritance that we have, because this is the ticket that will take us to heaven. We must jealously guard and protect this passport, visa and ticket that will take us to Heaven. Joseph did not know there was any danger around him. He was serving faithfully in Potiphar’s house until the woman came with her temptation, and Joseph fled, losing his coat of many colours rather than to lose his relationship with God. Pray that God will show the way out of that inner corruption and temptation in Jesus Name.

(iii) The Preservation of Our Inner Cleansing – Matthew 5:8; Hebrews 12:14-17;
Psalm 24:3-4. “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8). Sad and sorrowful are the impure in heart; they will not see God. “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.” (Hebrews 12:14-17). Do not be a pugnacious fellow, always fighting.

Follow peace with all men, fight the good fight of faith, and not the carnal one. “Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” (Psalms 24:3-4). We must have clean hands and pure hearts for us to get to Heaven. Everything we do or say must preserve us for Heaven. If you have done any wrong that your servants cannot confront you. But if you have a man like Nathan that can confront you, don’t begin to swear deceitfully, calm down, and understand that this is not the end of life, there is eternity ahead of you. You must repent and be cleansed to get yourselves ready for Heaven.

3. THE IRREVOCABLE COMMAND FOR HIS IMPLICIT LOYALTY
   Mark 1:43-45

“And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a 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.” (Mark 1:43-45). When the Lord commands you and you don’t understand, stay and ask for further clarification from the Master. The priests were the ones who knew the rites to perform for the cleansing of lepers. This was never done before in the land of Israel.

The priests have been waiting for the coming of the Messiah, Who will cleanse the lepers, and they will be able to perform the long-awaited rites for the cleansing of the lepers.

(i) The Irreversible Command of the Lord – Mark 1:43-44; Matthew 17:5-9; 16:1620. “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.” (Matthew 16:16-20). The Lord gave a similar irreversible command to His disciples as well, not to make Him known at that time when they made a revelation of Jesus as the Christ. We must be able to listen to the command of the Lord to say nothing to any man. It is not everything we hear that we should speak. “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.” (Matthew 17:5-9). Whatever He says in His word, that is what we are to obey.

(ii) The Irresponsible Contradiction of the Lawless – Mark 1:45; Judges 21:25; Proverbs 14:12. “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.” (Mark 1:45). A leper cleansed but not converted, healed but not saved and obedient unto the Lord. The leper was outside in the desert, and Jesus was inside the city, but the man came to Jesus, and he was cleansed. And as the man did his own thing, he took the place of the Master, so that Christ was driven to the desert, and the man was in the city. What a terrible exchange! “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25). The leper did not have Christ controlling him again, but he was walking according to his own feelings and self-control. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12). Listen to the commandment of the Lord and do what He says.

(iii) Our Implicit Commitment to His Lordship – Mark 5:18-20; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 26:16-19. When the Lord rose from the dead, He removed the restriction and asked them to go everywhere to preach the gospel to every creature. Understand what he commands and wants you to do today. “But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:” (Acts 26:16-19). The leper was disobedient, he did not interpret and apply the commandment of the Lord to him properly; he did what was right in his own eyes. But Paul the Apostle said that he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. The Lord will give you the grace and the heart to do all that He has commanded in Jesus Name.

Quotable Quotes from Pastor (Dr) W.F Kumuyi.

God wants us to understand that leprosy was a terrible sickness, not because of the pain of the sickness. People with leprosy don’t feel any pain.

The same when you are unclean; you are outside the congregation of the righteous, and you must be cleansed before you can come into the congregation of the righteous.

Likewise, sinners don’t catch salvation or holiness, but if you mix with them, you will be contaminated with their sinfulness and uncleanness. This is why we are studying so that we will not be contaminated with the uncleanness of the sinners around us.

We cannot go to the Lord with a doubt of His willingness, we must go to Him in prayer with the assurance that as we pray according to His Will, the Word, promises, compassion and mercies of God are all the Will of God.

Position, wealth, fame, or money does not cleanse anyone from leprosy.

Until the last soul is saved, the Lord is still saving and cleansing souls that come to Him even today.

Like that leper came, we also need to come to the Lord so that our inner life, heart and disposition will have cleansing from the Lord.

After the Lord has saved, sanctified and purified us, we need to preserve that holiness, for this is the greatest inheritance that we have, because this is the ticket that will take us to heaven.

We must have clean hands and pure hearts for us to get to Heaven.

Everything we do or say must preserve us for Heaven.

Whatever He says in His word, that is what we are to obey.

A Call to a Decision

This message, delivered by the Lord through His servant, aims to guide unbelievers to recognize Jesus Christ as the Sole Path to escape eternal judgment. It also provides believers with guidance for victory in life and ministry. Young people can learn principles of success in academics and careers, while ministers can find ways to be role models by embodying the fruit and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

If you feel convicted of your sins after reading this message outline, pause and say this simple prayer of faith for your salvation and forgiveness of sin:

“Father, thank You for revealing my true state through Your Word. I acknowledge my sins and recognise that Jesus died and rose again for my redemption. I repent and put my faith in Jesus’ sacrifice. Thank you for saving me, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Connect With Christ
If you just gave your life to Jesus Christ as a result of this Message, kindly click on the link https://gckhq.org/connect/. to help assist you further in your walk with the Lord

Note:
This is an outline from the message preached by Pastor (Dr) W.F Kumuyi, the General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry Worldwide at the Monday Bible Study in Lagos HQ Church, Nigeria, West Africa on Monday, 19th May 2025.

Watch the GS Message Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv65NX3WKgs.