Matthew chapter 9. Matthew chapter
9. The name of the message is The
Great Physician and Who He Heals. The Great Physician and Who He
Heals. Matthew chapter 9, verses 10
to 13. The scripture declares, And it
came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many
publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw it, they
said unto his disciples, why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? And you can just hear how much
they despise this in that question, can't we? But when Jesus heard
that, he said unto them, they that be whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that
meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice
for I am come not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Now, here in our text, we see
grace for the guilty. We see grace for the guilty because
sinners are guilty. Absolutely guilty, and we see
healing for the sick. And in our text, those who receive
grace and they're guilty are the publicans and sinners. So
let us ponder this, that this is God in the flesh who is sitting
with these publicans and sinners. God incarnate in the flesh, sitting
with publicans and sinners. And think of this, He's the only
one who's truly whole. See, the Pharisees, they thought
they were whole. They thought they were righteous.
But here's the very one who is truly righteous. The very one. And these religious Pharisees,
Question he who is sinless and perfect and spotless He has no
sin in him in thought word or deed And in verse 11 we see the
Pharisees who are the religious who's who of their day and They
despise Christ They absolutely despise our Savior And they question, they question
why he's eating with publicans and sinners. You know why? Because
they would never lower themselves to eat with them, publicans and
sinners. They're so full of self-righteousness. This is a portion of scripture,
I'll be honest with you, I absolutely love it. Because I see myself as the publicans and sinners.
And I see God's people as the publicans and sinners. And it's only by God's grace.
And it's only by God's mercy that we do see ourselves as those
publicans and sinners. Because I know for me, And it
may have been so for you, even if you didn't come out of religion.
Even if you're just dead and trespasses and sins, which we
all were, we'll see that later. We all were. We were all self-righteous,
whether we were religious and lost or whether we were just
lost. We were all lost and we were
all full of self-righteousness at that time. So we were like
the Pharisees at one time. I remember being that way. but
oh, the marvel of God's amazing grace right here before us. When
the Pharisees murmured against our Lord for eating with sinners, our Lord cleared himself of their
awful charge of eating with public and sin sinners, because as I
said, the Pharisees claimed that they were whole, but boy, he
gave it, he turned it right around on them. Now think of this. A sinner will
never have an interest in Christ until they have revealed to them
their natural state. They never have an interest until
God reveals to them who they are. And when a sinner is being
drawn to Christ by the Holy Spirit of God, they have revealed to
them their state before God. That we are sin sick sinners,
that's what we are. And that's what they have revealed
to them. And another thing that they have revealed to them is
their need for Christ. Their need for Christ. Because
look what our text says too. It says in verse 12, they that
behold need not a physician, but who? They that are sick.
Only those who see themselves as spiritually sick come to Christ. Those who believe themselves
to be whole, they're never come unless God makes them willing,
but if God leaves them in their natural state, if God does not
regenerate them, if God does not grant them faith and repentance,
they'll continue to think themselves whole. They will. And we see this all
around us, don't we? We see it all around us. We have
family members, we have friends, we have people we work with that
are in this state, and they think they're fine. They think they're
fine. All the while, they're sick with
sin. They have no care for Christ,
and they actually have no interest even in the Great Physician,
because as I said, they don't even think they're sick. They think they're whole. Now this sixth state which sinners
are in, and which can only be revealed by the Holy Spirit,
is revealed to God's people by God, the Holy Spirit. And those
are they who, in our text, are called the publicans and sinners,
the very ones whose Christ is found eating with. Now think
of this. A good physician, a good physician
is where the work needs to be done. He's where the work needs to
be done, he or she. And in our text, We see our Lord amongst
them where the work needs to be done. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 9. A good physician is among the
sick. So in our text, we see he's not
among the Pharisees because there's no work to be done. They don't
they don't think they're sick. They think themselves perfectly
whole, and yet they're sin sick, deceived into thinking that they're
fine, that they're whole by their own self-righteousness. And that's
what it is. It's their own self-righteousness. Look what scripture proclaims
in Romans chapter nine, verses 14 to 16. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. For he sayeth to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I have mercy. That means exactly what it says.
God will have mercy on whom you have mercy. And I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that shows mercy. If you're saved, it's because
of the mercy of God. And because God, God showed mercy
to you. And he, oh, I'll have mercy on
whom I'll have mercy. And we who are saved say, I know
it wasn't anything in me. It's the mercy of God. It's the
pure mercy of God. Let's go back to our text and
we'll look at our first point. which is God's mercy graciously
regards sin as a disease. And we know that because Christ
is the great physician. God's mercy graciously regards
sin as a disease. Look at Matthew 9, verses 11 to 13. When the Pharisees saw
it and said unto his disciples, why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, He
said unto them, they that behold need not a physician, but they
that are sick. But go ye and learn what that
meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice for I come not
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. So if sin was only a sickness,
men would be should be pitied, but it's a disease. And scripture
looks at it like that because Christ is a physician. And it's a disease and a plague
with which the whole human race is infected. The whole human race. Think of this, the element of
a perverse will, an angry will, an angry temperament toward God
and toward men, involuntary rebellion against God in all men, these
all spring from the well of this disease called sin. And it has infected us all. And
again, we're born into the world with this disease. And it courses
through our veins like a plague. And I don't really believe we
can picture how awful it is. I know this. It's so awful that
the Son of God had to die for my sin and for yours. I know that. If you're a believer,
that's the truth, is that He is all. Now God's mercy, now mercy, God's
mercy, chooses to view it as a disease and scripture claims
it to be a deadly disease. And everything that can be said
of a deadly disease can be said of sin. It's a hereditary disease. Psalm 51, verse five, Scripture
declares this. Behold, I was shaped in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalm 51, five. I was shaped
in iniquity, and behold, or in iniquity, and in sin did my mother
conceive me. So that means that we're sinners
from birth. That's what the Scriptures declare,
whether people believe it or not. Turn, if you would, to Ezekiel
16. Ezekiel 16, verses 4 and 5. We are sinners because our father
Adam was a sinner. And thus, we who sprang out of
him are sinners as well. Ezekiel 16, verses 4 and 5. And as thy nativity in the day
that thou was born, thy navel was not cut, neither was thou
washed in water to supple thee. Thou was not salted at all, nor
swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee to do any
of these unto thee, to have compassion unto thee. But thou was cut out
in the open field to the loathing of thy person in the day that
thou was born. So we have not only the weakness
and helplessness of every man's state by nature here represented
to us in Ezekiel, but the great object intended to be shown by
from Ezekiel's preaching. We have total room of that nature
by the fall, which is set forth in this text to the loathing
of thy person in the day that thou was born. Job asked this
question, how then can a man be justified with God? Or how
can he be clean that is born of a woman? Speaking of our depravity. And every son and daughter of
Adam may be truly said to be cast out to the loathing of thy
person and left to perish if it were not for the help and
the mercy of God towards his people. If God didn't show us
mercy, If God hadn't chosen us an attorney, we'd all perish.
And we'd all deservingly perish. And this is our state. My state,
your state, and the state of all who are born into this world.
Original sin and actual transgression. And we see that this is a hereditary
disease called sin. The next point is sin is like
a disease. It's very disabling. A disabled
man cannot do as others in life, so sin disables us from service
and enjoyment of God. We come into this world spiritually
disabled, dead in trespasses and sins, and it is our sin that
keeps us from God, and our pride which springs forth from the
fact that we are that were sinners. And I can personally relate to
that. I was born disabled. I know what that's like. I know the limitations that I
had compared to some of my friends because of how I was born. But
we're all born disabled by sin. That's how we are. And sin is
like a disease. It's very loathsome. It's the
next point. Some diseases are so awful that
they cannot be described. the pain they wreck through a
body, and the one who is sick, the agony that sometimes people
go through, both in heart and physical pain, it's so debilitating,
it can just wreck a person's body. One preacher brings forth
that sin is the mother and father of all diseases, as it is the
most horrible and very loathsome. For those who know that they
are sinners, I ask you who believe, how do you feel about your sin?
We hate it, don't we? We loathe it. And we loathe it
more than us, in us, than anyone else. Oh my. That day, I was talking to a
brother today, and that day to be free from sin, what a glorious
day that'll be for every believer. Oh my. And sin, like some diseases,
is fearfully polluting. Now leprosy, When someone gets
leprosy and it runs its course, now we don't see it as much nowadays,
but in biblical times it happened quite a bit, it will take over
the whole body. And it pollutes the whole body
from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet. And the plagues of old were deadly.
And they wrecked the body of their victims. And think of this. Scripture declares that we are
fully polluted by sin. In our natural state, we cannot
come near God. Can you or I approach God in
our natural state? No. Because what? God cannot have sin in his presence,
can he? Not at all. Not at all. And so just as the leper, we're
polluted. And the leper, everything he
touched was polluted. Well, everything we touch in
our natural state is polluted. And until he was purified, think
of this too. Until the leper was purified,
what? He was separated from the people, wasn't he? But once he
was purified, he came back. Oh my, what a picture right there.
That's a whole nother sermon right there. Because that's the
natural state. were polluted. And then when
we're washed clean by the precious blood of Christ, we're no longer
separated. So for the unclean, there was
a plain and clear separation until he had been purified. Now,
now, sin, like many diseases, is also contagious. A man often
wants others to sin with him. And their children, we have children,
our children often imitate us, too. And sometimes, I remember before
I was saved, men liked to, we used to like to throw our hats
in with each other. Oh yeah, let's go and just live right.
That's what men do. That's what sinners do. My goodness. Sin, like some diseases,
is very painful. At certain stages it produces
deadness. You know, most people never even
feel the effect of the fall. Turn, if you would, to Revelation
3.17. They never feel the effects of
the fall. Revelation 3.17. And this is
what most unsaved people say in a portion of the Scripture
here. Revelation 3.17, Because thou
sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of
what? Romans 3.17 because our Revelation
3.17 because thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods
and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou are wretched
and miserable and poor and blind and naked. There it is. Now sin is also rooted deep,
it has roots deep in the heart. Jeremiah 17.9 scripture declares
this, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked. Who can know it? So sin is not
just in the hand or the foot. It's consumed the whole man. It might not show itself outwardly.
Remember the Pharisees? It didn't show itself outwardly
with the Pharisees. They kept all their checks and
balances, but inwardly. Man cannot cure himself. Matthew
9 again, our text, verses 12 and 13, But when Jesus heard
that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick. So the Pharisees This self-righteousness
was deep-rooted in their hearts, beloved. Deep-rooted. Sin is wholly incurable by our doing. Jeremiah 13.23, the scripture
declares this. Can the Ethiopian change his
skin or the leopard his spots? Then may you do good that are
accustomed to do evil. Man cannot cure himself of this
disease called sin. It's an incurable plague that
man cannot cure on their own. He may restrain himself for a
while. He may clean himself up a little while. But the disease is there if it's
not being cured. And only God can cure this disease. Only God can give him a new nature.
Only God. And it's a mortal disease, too.
Sin is a mortal disease. Turn, if you would, to Ezekiel
18, verse 4. Look at this. We see God's sovereignty declared,
and then we see that sin is mortal. It's terminal. Ezekiel 18, verse
4. Behold. Remember, whenever we
see a behold, that's look, pay attention. Behold, all souls
are mine. There's the sovereignty of God
right on display right there in just those three little words.
All souls are mine. God is absolutely sovereign. As the soul of the father, so
also the soul of the son is mine. The soul that's in it. It shall
die. Sin is terminal. There's no cure
by our own doing and we're all mortally sick with sin. And sin
shuts us out from God's presence. As I said earlier, we cannot
come into holy fellowship with God. We cannot come into His
presence because of our sin and our natural state. And we dare
not attempt to come. The fire of his anger would consume
us as it did. Nate, Nate, Nate, Nate, Avin
and a Bayou. If we sinners should venture
near him apart from Christ, no, we who believe we approach God
in the righteousness of Christ, in Christ alone, nowhere else. Turn, if you would, to Exodus,
Exodus. Chapter 28, we will see here
a picture of Christ in Aaron. in Exodus 28, 38, but before
we get there, let's read from 29 to 39. And Aaron shall bear the names of
the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon
his heart when he goeth into the holy place for a memorial
before the Lord continually. And thou shalt put in the breastplate
of judgment the yrm and the thyrm, and they shall be upon Aaron's
heart when he goeth in before the Lord. And Aaron shall bear
the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before
the Lord continually. And thou shalt make the robe
of the ephod all of blue, and there shall be a hole in the
top of it in the midst thereof. It shall have a binding of woven
work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of a
habergeon, that it be not rent, and beneath upon the hem of it
thou shalt make pomegranates of blue and of purple and of
scarlet round about the hem thereof, and the bells of gold between
them round about, a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell
and a pomegranate upon the hem of the robe round about, and
it shall be upon Aaron to minister and his sound shall be heard
when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord and when
he cometh out that he die not. So if they heard the bells, they
knew he didn't die. But look at the next verse and thou shall
make a plate of gold and grave upon it like the engravings of
a signet holiness to the Lord. And notice it's all capitals
holiness to the Lord. And thou shalt put on a blue
lace that it may be upon the mitre, upon the forefront of
the mitre it shall be. And it shall be upon Aaron's
forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things,
which the children of Israel shall hollow in all their holy
gifts. And it shall be always upon his
forehead that he may be accepted before the Lord. And thou shalt
embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the mitre
of fine linen, and thou shalt make the girdle of needlework.
Now on his forehead, it says in verse 38, and upon and it
shall be upon Aaron's forehead that Aaron may bear the iniquity
of holy things. On his forehead is the plate
of gold in the inscription of it is holiness to the Lord. Holiness to the Lord. And it's visible and legible.
And Aaron, the high priest, having this plate of gold with the inscription
upon it, holiness and holiness to the Lord. Their sins were expedited, expedited,
and they they were bore away, they were bore away. From the people and not placed
to their account, but they were cleared and discharged of them.
And let us not forget that these sins could not be borne or taken
away by the offerers of the sacrifice. And if God should mark sins,
oh, who should stand before him? None. None. It pictured Christ. It's a picture of Christ. Who
is our great high priest going before the Lord. Holiness unto
the Lord. In Christ, the high priest. Christ,
the high priest. Look what it says in verse 38,
and it shall be upon Aaron's forehead that Aaron may bear
the iniquity of the holy things. Christ, the high priest of his
people, bears and takes away the sins of his people, which
were laid upon him, which were imputed to him. Turn, if you
would, to Isaiah 53, and we will see this. Isaiah 53. They were laid upon Christ. The
sins of all His people were laid upon Him, imputed to Him. He's
perfect, spotless, sinless. The just one dying for the unjust. And the striking expression to
bear the iniquity of the holy things. Oh, in Exodus 28, 38. Christ bears the sins of his
people and pays for them. Look at Isaiah 53 verses 4 to
6. Surely he hath what? Borne our
griefs. He bore them. If you're a believer, he bore
your sins. He bore your griefs. He carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions. Remember, he sins. He's perfect. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. And look at this the great physician
and with his stripes we are healed All we like sheep have gone astray
We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord hath laid
on him he bore it had laid on him the iniquity of us all All
the sins of all the elect of all the ages were laid upon Him. Now let's look at how Divine
Mercy, this leads right into our next part. Divine Mercy gives
a physician, a great physician, Now, what does the law of God
do? It exposes sin, doesn't it? And it convicts us of our sins
and it points us right to Christ, points us right to Christ. Turn,
if you would, to Romans chapter seven. It points us right to
Christ. The law can never save us. It
can't save us because we've broken it all. But what does it do?
It exposes our sin. It exposes our sin. And praise
be to God, the Lord Jesus Christ came to what? What did Christ
come to do? He came to put away sin. He came by the sacrifice
of Himself. Look at Romans 7, verses 7 to
9. What shall we say then? Is the
law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known
sin, but by the law. For I had not lust, except the
law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taken occasion
by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of conspicuousness.
For without the law, sin was dead. For I was alive without
the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.
Lamentations, chapter 1, there's a verse in verse 12 that says
this, Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? That's speaking
of when Christ died upon the cross. Behold and see if there
be any sorrow like unto my sorrow. Is there any sorrow that can
even match what our Lord went through? Which is done unto me wherewith
the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. My Lord, the anger and wrath of God was
poured out upon Christ. If you're a believer, for you. And the scripture declares in
the day of his fierce anger, righteous
anger. Turn, if you would, to Galatians
chapter three, the justice of God was fully poured out upon
Christ who bore our sins upon the tree, the sins of his people.
Look at Galatians chapter three, verse 13, and look at this. Now
we know the law condemns us, right? But look at what this
wonderful verse says in Galatians 3. It says this, verse 13, Christ
hath, and there's another one of those little hinge words that
are so magnificent, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law. And Paul's writing the believers here. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of law, being made a curse for us. For it is
written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. How did Christ
redeem his people? By the shedding of his own precious
blood, by dying on Calvary's cross. Do you know that we preach
salvation, not as an escape from hell? Gospel preachers don't preach
salvation as escape from hell. Religion does that. We preach salvation from sin. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
1.21. And you'll see it right here in the scripture. I preach
salvation from sin. The believers save from their
sins. That's what would condemn me. Hell's just the punishment. And it's awful. I've been saved
from my sins. Praise be to God. And if you're
a believer, you've been saved from your sins. And you know
what? That's why Christ came. Look what the scripture says
in Matthew 121. And I know we're familiar with this, but I want
us to read this in this context. Look at this. And she shall bring
forth a son, that's speaking of Christ. And thou shall call
his name Jesus, for he shall, he shall, he won't fail. He shall
save his people from their sins. Salvation is from our sins. It's
wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. The
believer can say, I'm saved from all my sins. Past, present, and
future. I was talking to a dear brother
this week on the phone, and we were rejoicing because in religion,
we both came out of religion. We were actually in the same
group together when we were in religion. And we were talking
about how when, you know, we used to always think, well, you
know, your sins are forgiven, your past sins, of course. and the
ones that you confess, but you know, then future ones. And we
were rejoicing how that now that we're out of religion and how
that we're saved by the grace of God in Christ, we can rejoice
that all my sins are forgiven. And we kept going back to this
very point that every single one of my sins and I know every
single one of your sins, if you're a believer, was future at Calvary's
cross. Just let that sink in. Again, it doesn't give us a license.
We're not antinomians. We don't say we have a license
to sin. But if all my sins are forgiven,
that's all of them. That's every sin I'll ever commit.
That's reason to rejoice. That's salvation. And Scripture
says He came to save His people from their sins. And you know
what? He did. He did. Praise God, He did. So the salvation
we preach is only found in Christ, in Christ alone, who is the Great
Physician. That's why He's called Jehovah-Raphai,
the Lord that heals you. The Lord that heals you. He must
manifest His omnipotent power. And He does. He does in the salvation
of a sinner. Now think of this. We go to a
doctor. And when we go to the doctor, sometimes we want to
know what the qualifications are, don't we? We want to know,
well, we sometimes ask our friends, too, you know, what do you think
of that doctor? So we wonder what the qualifications
are. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah 61. We'll see the qualifications
of the Lord as a great physician. And then put your finger on Jeremiah
chapter 8. We'll go there, too. Isaiah 61 and Jeremiah chapter
8. Look at this in Isaiah 61 verses
1 to 3. Speaking of our Savior, speaking
of the Great Physician, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings.
Now these are the good tidings. Good tidings. Christ came to
save his people from their sins. That's good news for sinners.
That's good tidings. The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me because the Lord anointed me to preach good tidings unto
the meek. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted and sinners. When God reveals to us what we
are, we're brokenhearted. Oh my. To proclaim liberty. That means freedom. Freedom to
the captives. Remember how we who are redeemed,
no matter what we came out of, we were in such bondage to sin.
Oh my. Now we still struggle with sin,
let's not fool ourselves. We still struggle, but this says,
to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison
to them that are bound. We were in the prison house of
sin, one old preacher said. In Christ, he demolished the
door and the chains fell away. To proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that
mourn, and sinners mourn, mourn sinners who have been awakened
by the Holy Spirit and had revealed to them Christ, mourn over their
sin. To appoint unto them that mourn
in Zion, and that's the church, to give unto them beauty for
ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, and He is the one who, He's the one
the planting of the Lord, it's salvations of the Lord. It's
all the Lord. Why? That he might be glorified.
That he might be glorified. That he might receive all the
glory, honor, and praise. Turn, if you would, to Jeremiah,
chapter 8, where we see that Christ is the balm of Gilead
to his people. Now, Gilead was a place remarkable
in the land for loveliness and for health and for fertility,
and therefore the question becomes striking that we'll look at,
because it was, and it's intended to be striking when When the
questions asked, is there no balm in Gilead, no physician
there? Look at Jeremiah chapter eight. Look at verses 18 to 22. When I would comfort myself against
Saul, my heart is faint in me. Behold, the voice of the cry
of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in
a far country is not the Lord in Zion, is not the Lord amongst
his church. Is not he in Zion? Is not her
king in her? Why have they provoked me to
anger with their graven images and with strange vanities? The
harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter
of my people, am I hurt? I am black. Astonishment hath
taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is
there no physician there? Why then is not the health of
the daughter of my people recovered? Now let us have an eye which
looks to Christ here. There is a balm in Gilead. There
is a balm amongst the church. There is a physician amongst
the people of God. The Lord Jesus Christ, in his
blood, in his righteousness, is a never failing balm. It's
anointing. Anointment of praise. And Jesus
himself is the balm of Gilead. It's Christ. The great physician,
the almighty, the all present, the all sufficient physician. And it is he who is people trust
in. We who are naturally diseased and plagued by sin. are healed
of this plague, of this disease, of the leprosy of sin by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Clothed in His righteousness.
Yet, men will not come to Him that they may have life. Why? Because they're evil. They're
sinners and they reject the counsel of God against their own souls.
They do not hear the voice of the Savior. They've not been
given hear and ears. And they will not come to Christ
that they might live. Now, I know we who believe we
were all in that state. God had mercy on us. He drew
us and he will he will draw his people to himself. John 540 says
this, and ye will not come to me that ye might have life. Now, that's man's natural state. They will not have this man rule
over them. And this was the state of the
Pharisees in our text. This was their state. They thought
themselves whole. Let's go back to our text in
Matthew chapter 9. They thought themselves whole
and in absolutely no need of a physician. Verse 11, and when the Pharisees
saw it, they said unto the disciples, why eateth your masters with
publicans and sinners? But again, where is our Savior? Where is the great physician?
He's among those who are sick. He's among those who are sick.
He's among those who are sick with sin. He's among those who
the ones who thought they were whole would never be around. My goodness, what a Savior. He's among the publicans and
sinners. Verses 12 and 13, But when Jesus heard that, he said
unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they
that are sick. But go ye and learn what that
meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And do you know
that our great God, turn if you would to Mark chapter 1, do you
know that our great Physician cures quick, very quickly? And do you know that there's
life in the look? There's life in the look to Him, there's life
in the touch from Him. Look at Mark chapter 1 verses
29 to 34, and His cures are radical, they are complete too. They're
complete, His cures are complete. And they are sure, and they are
certain. Look at Mark chapter 1, verses 29 to 34. And for when they were come out
of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon, and
Andrew, and James, and John. But Simon's wife's mother lay
sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her. And he came
and took her by the hand, and lifted her up, and immediately,
just like that, immediately, the fever left her. And she ministered
unto them. And at evening, when the sun
did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them
that were possessed with devils. And all the city was gathered
together at the door, and he healed many that were sick of
divers' disease, and cast out many devils. And look at the
power, look at the sovereignty here in this last part of the
verse. And suffered not the devils to
speak, because they knew him. They knew who he was. Oh, my. He's the king of kings and the
Lord of Lords. He's the holy one of Israel.
But you see, when he cures, it's it's instantaneous. Oh, my. He's a physician who's been healing
for 6000 years. You say, what? But he died 2000
years ago. Yeah, but everyone before. The cross was looking
to him. Abraham believed and it was counted
to him for righteousness. He has the same faith you and
I have. Clothed in the same righteousness
you and I are clothed in. Oh my. So ponder the multitude
that he's healed. Just ponder that. They are a
number that no man can number. And everyone who he's healed
looks to him. looks to Him for healing. They
don't look anywhere else. They may have one time been looking
to themselves, but they're not looking to themselves now. And
those who He's glorified are now looking at Him in glory. They look to Christ alone. He
heals the sinner, gives us a new heart. We're born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. Our thoughts change about God
and how we feel about him, how we feel about his people, how
we feel about the Bible, how we feel about the gospel. Everything
changes for the believer. Because now we look to the great
physician. He's healed us. Now we love the great physician.
One time we may have despised him. Now we love him. And we marvel in this. I know
every believer marvels in the fact that he has healed us. He
has forgiven us for all our sins. What a marvel. If you leave with
anything, leave with the marvel that Christ is the one, that
Christ is the one who cleanses us from all our sin. Oh, my. That he is the one we look to.
So we marvel in the fact that he has healed us, that he has
had mercy upon us, and that just as Noah, we have found grace
in his sight. That's all Noah. Scripture says
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. That's every believer.
We found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Remember this, too. The great physician is a specialist.
There's no disease that's too hard for him. There's no case
that's too hard for him. Now, someone says, oh, but you
don't know how much of a sinner I am. Well, I know how much of
a sinner I am, and he healed me. Right? My goodness. Oh, the great physician
is a specialist. He can cure and does cure every
sinner who comes to him. And you know what? Think of this. I was thinking about this. You
know, we we sometimes measure people by sin sometimes. Right.
But you know that really no case is worse than that because we're
all sinners by birth, nature and choice. Really. So all of us who have
been redeemed We just marvel. We just marvel that he's healed
us. And his medicine to cure sin is himself. But he was wounded for our transgression.
He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. And with his stripes, we are healed. So we trust in
him. And one commentator says, sin
dies. Eventually it will when we go or be without the presence
of sin. But think of this, the guilt
of sin, the penalty of sin has been paid for for the believer.
by Christ. The presence is still with us,
but one day it will be gone, too, when we depart this world.
Praise be to God. So we're fully dependent upon
him. And grace is strengthened by this fact of trusting in him. And think of this. This is a
physician who doesn't charge anything for his services. I
won't find one of them today. But this physician doesn't charge
anything. Now it costs his precious blood
shed to redeem us. But he says, come ye without
money and without price. And so let us consider that need
alone is that which causes our great physician to come to our
rescue. Look at verse 12 again in our text. But when Jesus heard
that, he said unto them, they that behold need not a physician,
but they that are sick. So the whole need not a physician,
scripture says. And the reason he goes anywhere
is because he's needed. He's needed. Turn, if you would,
to Luke chapter nine, verses 10 and 11. Do you know what makes
Christ needed as a savior? Sin. Sin makes Christ needed
as a Savior. He's needed by publicans and
sinners. Look at Luke, chapter 9, verses
10 and 11. And the apostles, when they returned,
told him all that they had done. And he took them and went aside
privately into a desert place belonging to the city called
Bethsaida. And the people, when they knew
it, followed him, and he received them and spake unto them, the
kingdom of God and healed them that had need of healing. Are
you needy? I'm needy. I'm saved and I'm
still needy. I'm needy. Here's a question, did he come
to suffer because of man's goodness or the wholeness? That's absurd,
isn't it? From what we read, but people
believe that. He makes intercession for who?
The righteous? No. Sinners. Amen. Sinners. Sinners. Hebrews 7 25 says this. Wherefore, he is able also to
save them to the uttermost. That come unto God by him, seeing
he ever live it to make intercession for them. Turn, if you would, the first
John chapter two. And then put your finger in first
Timothy one. He makes intercession for sinners.
And you know that we who believe have an advocate who makes intercession
for us before the Father. 1 John 2.1, My little children,
these things write I unto you, that ye sin not, and if any man
sin, We have an advocate. Oh, praise God for our advocate
with the Father. Jesus Christ. Righteous. Righteous. That's my advocate. Is he yours? Jesus Christ, the
righteous. And then turn, if you would,
the first Timothy 115, the need of his people to be saved from
their sins, bought Christ into this world need and need alone. That's what bought Christ here.
Our need. Oh my, this is a faithful saying,
1 Timothy 1.15, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save what? Sinners. Of whom I'm chief, and every
believer says that, I'm the chief. First Timothy 1 15. This is a
faithful, sane and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners of whom I'm chief. Remember,
we don't preach salvation from hell. We preach salvation from
your sins. And that scripture there even
says that he came in this world to save sinners. And we are saved from hell by
him saving us. But that's, we focus on the fact
that Christ came to save His people from their sins, and He
did it. We proclaim a successful Savior. Now those who have no need for
Christ will never come to Him. No doctor will treat a well person.
They will not give a prescription to those who are not sick. Those who think themselves whole
feel no need of Christ. And yet they are unaware of their
state. We looked at that earlier. They're
unaware of their state. They're unaware of the plague,
the disease that runs through their veins, and they see no
need for Christ. No need for Christ. And they
see no need to be healed because they don't believe they're sick
and left in that state. They will lead to their eternal
doom. And we would have been there and not for the mercy of
God. So we don't get high-minded about
that, because we know, there go I, but for the grace of God.
Turn, if you would, to Isaiah 55. Our last point is those who
are sick shall be helped. They shall be healed by the Lord
Jesus Christ. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor fitness fondly dream. All the fitness He requires. is to feel your need of him. And in Matthew 9, 13, our Savior
said, but go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy
and not sacrifice. I am not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. And if you do not know Christ,
if someone's listening and they do not know Christ, I pray, I
pray that God, the Holy Spirit would reveal Christ to you, that
he'd show you your need for the great physician. that He would
show you that you're a sinner in desperate, desperate need
of Christ. Look at Isaiah 55 verses 6 and 7. Seek the Lord
while He may be found. Call ye upon Him while He is
near. Let the wicked forsake His way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord,
and He will have mercy upon him. And to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. Now, I want us to leave here,
we who are redeemed. I want us to think about how
abundantly we've been pardoned. All your sins are forgiven. They're all paid for. Abundantly,
not just pardoned, abundantly pardoned. abundantly, and it's
all because Christ shed his blood upon Calvary's cross for us. And now we are clothed in his
perfect, spotless righteousness, we who are being healed by the
great physician, let us continually keep coming to him. Let us keep
coming to him. I had a brother today who he
did something and he blew up at his brother who's not a believer
and he was just feeling, he was just really feeling grieved. And we've all been there. I said
we've all said things that we regret, we've all done things
that we regret, but look to Christ. Look to the one having forgiven
you all trespasses. Rest in him. Trust in him. Keep
going. Just keep looking to him. We
are needy people. But let us remember this. We've
been abundantly pardoned. And all our needs are fulfilled
in Christ. All that a sinner needs. is in
Christ, the Great Physician, the Great Physician. Heavenly
Father, we come before thy throne. We who are redeemed rejoice,
rejoice in the healing that we have received from the Great
Physician, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we know, Lord, that the cost
of our healing, we saw that in Isaiah, the cost of our healing
was that our sins were laid upon thee and that you bore them,
bore them before the the Father's fierce anger for our sins. And you paid it all, you cried
out, it is finished. Praise God for those words, that
our salvation is complete in you. It's not dependent at all
upon us, but it's all upon what you've done. Oh Lord, may we
leave here praising your mighty name, and may you be glorified
in our thoughts this week as we meditate and think upon this
wonderful truth that we've learned tonight, in Jesus' name, amen.