Turn with me in your Bibles to
Luke 9. Luke 9. Begin reading in verse 1. Then he called his 12 disciples
together and gave them power and authority over all devils
and cure to diseases. And he sent them to preach the
kingdom of God and to heal the sick. And he said unto them,
Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor script, neither
bread, neither money, neither have two coats apiece. And whatsoever
house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. And whosoever
will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off
the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.
And they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel
and healing everywhere. Now Herod the Tetrarch heard
of all that was done by him, And he was perplexed, because
that it was said of some that John was risen from the dead,
and of some that Elias had appeared, and of others that one of the
old prophets was risen again. And Herod said, John have I beheaded,
but who is this of whom I hear such things? And he desired to
see him. And the apostles, when they were
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 of the kingdom of God and healed them that had need
of healing. Let's go to our Lord in prayer. Our Father, which art in heaven,
holy and reverent is thy matchless name. Lord, we thank you for
this evening, Lord, for gathering us together and bringing us in
from out of the world for a time to worship you. Lord, we thank
you for giving us this place where the gospel is preached,
but for all the many blessings of this life you've given us,
but above all, for Christ our Savior. Lord, for sending your
dear son to die for sinners such as we. Lord, while we have much
to be thankful for, we are a needy people. Lord, we need you this
night to meet with us. Lord, to bless us with your presence
or what we have met in vain. Please speak to us through your
servant this night. Lord, truly what man is sufficient
for these things? We pray for all your sheep that
are in a time of trouble, Lord. Lord, you know the needs of your
people. Please comfort and strengthen as only you can according to
thy will. Again, Lord, we thank you for all your blessings. Lord,
we thank you for your sovereignty. We thank you for who you are.
Above all, we thank you for Christ our Savior. Lord, we need you. Lord, we need the Lord Jesus
Christ. Please save us. Please speak
to us. Please have mercy upon us and
see us and hear us only in Christ our Savior. For it's in his name
we pray and give thee thanks. Amen. Good evening. Open your Bibles
with me to Hebrews chapter four. Hebrews chapter four, verse 16. Here we read in Hebrews 4.16,
let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that
we might obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Let us, believers, those who
love Christ, those who rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Come boldly. Think about that. We're instructed
to come boldly, to come without fear of being turned away. There's many reasons we could
be turned away, aren't there? Our sin, our infirmity. Come
boldly. without fear of condemnation.
Scripture says, come boldly. Where? Unto the throne of grace. Unto the presence of the Lord
Jesus Christ himself. Not a throne of judgment, not
a throne of justice, but a throne of grace. Christ obeyed the law. Christ
died for our sins. No reason to fear. Back in verse 14 of this same
chapter, we read, seeing we have a great high priest that is passed
into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us therefore
come boldly under the throne of grace. That we, again, we,
God's sheep, his people, his church, his bride, we. Isn't that a great group to be
one of? That we might obtain mercy and
grace to help. When? When's the time to do that? in the time of need. Spurgeon wrote this. I thought
this was so good. He said the best state in all
the world for washing is to be filthy. Is there ever a better
time to be washed than when you're filthy? A person who's filthy
is in need. Right? In need of cleansing. He said this, he said, the best
state for asking alms is to be a beggar. Beggar. Why does a beggar beg? He's in
need. Listen to this statement. The
best state in all the world to obtain help from a physician
is to be Terribly sick. Someone who's terribly sick is
in great need, aren't they? In need of a physician. Now, I'm slow. And I guess I
know a few other folks in here are like this as well. Often
slow to go to the doctor. There have been a number of times
around our house that I've cut a finger or suffered some type
of injury that I likely should have went to the doctor. I've
been encouraged at times by Clara and Abby, and they've said, you've
got to go to the doctor. I don't know, I'm still convinced
that some peroxide, a paper towel, and a roll of black tape go make
a great first aid kit. But a couple weeks ago, a couple
weeks ago on a Sunday morning, about 12.30 a.m., I woke up struggling
to breathe. I was gasping. gasping to take
a breath. And I don't know why. I was trying
to be very quiet about it because I didn't want to wake Abby up.
Isn't that foolish? Think about that. It didn't improve. And fortunately,
Abby woke up. And she heard me struggling to
breathe, and she said, we're going to the emergency room. And I didn't argue. I was in full agreement. You know, I drive by that emergency
room practically every day. I don't stop in. I mentioned earlier, there's
been times before that I probably should have went and didn't,
maybe even refused to. What was different on this occasion? I couldn't breathe. I was in
need. I was in need. of a physician. And I don't know if there's ever
been, I can't really ever think of another time when I felt that
I was in that great of need to go to the doctor. The best state in all the world
to obtain help from a physician is to be terribly sick. it's to be in great need. What did we just read from God's
word? Hebrews 4.16 says this, let us
therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we might
obtain mercy and find grace to help win. in time of need. Now for a few minutes this evening,
I'd like for us to look at a few folks in God's word that were
in a time of need. The title of my message is this,
a message for the needy. A message for the needy. Now, the first man we read of
in God's word here is a man who needed cleansing, a man in need
of cleansing. You know, David, he knew something
about the need to be cleansed. He asked this question in Psalm
119. Listen to this. He said, wherewithal
shall a young man cleanse his way? Why would he mention that? Wherewithal
shall a young man cleanse his way? I'm filthy and I need to be cleansed. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
eight. Matthew chapter eight. Look beginning with verse one.
Here we see a man that needed cleansing. Verse one, when he
was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, there came a leper
and worshiped 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, immediately
his leprosy was cleansed. Now in Luke's account, This man
is described as being full, full of leprosy. Nothing, nothing
to commend him to man, nothing to commend him to God. And I'm confident this man that
was full of leprosy as he walked around, if anyone came upon him,
and I believe we would have done the same thing, We'd have just
turned our heads. Just a despicable creature. We
wouldn't even want to look upon him. Full. Full of leprosy. And in the same manner, we are
full of sin. Leprosy throughout Scripture
pictures sin. In Isaiah 1, 6, we read this,
from the sole of the foot even to the head, there's no soundness
in it, nothing but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. They haven't been closed up,
they haven't been bound up, they haven't been mollified with ointment. And this leper was full of leprosy
and he no doubt knew he was defiled. He knew he was unclean. Why else would he come to the
Lord and ask to be cleansed? And we read that he worshiped
the Lord. Wouldn't that be a great thing
to do just at all times, to fall at his feet and worship him?
And he said, if thou will, thou canst make me clean. He knew the Lord had power to
save him. That wasn't even part of the
equation. He knew the Lord had power to
save him. But this question must have been
in his mind. Would he save a miserable soul
like me? Does that question linger in
your heart? When I consider how filthy I
am, When I consider the greatness of my sin, will the Lord cleanse me? I know He's able, but will He
cleanse me? I know He's able to justify me
by His righteousness. Scriptures clearly state that. I know He's able to cleanse me
by his blood. I know he is able to save me
by his sovereign grace. What's scripture say? Come boldly,
come boldly under the throne of grace that we might obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And he came
to the Lord and he said, if you will, You can make me whole. You can make me clean. He believed
the Lord could cleanse him. Isn't that what faith is? Believing
Christ? Resting in his power? Resting
in what he is able to do? And the scripture says this,
that the Lord reached forth his hand and touched him. Is there anything, I don't know,
I think about this, how reassuring a touch can be. You know, when we're troubled
by something, how reassuring a touch can be. And this man
was vile. No one had shown him any type
of affection. I'm just certain of that. And
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners, reached forth his hand and he touched that leper. You know, to touch a leper was
to be made unclean. Consider the goodness. and the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in touching this leper. Our Lord in his mighty healing
power reaches forth his hand and he touches it. And listen
to what he said, I will. Is he willing? I will. Be thou clean. and immediately. There wasn't
any delay, immediately his leprosy was cleansed. You know, a high
priest could pronounce a leper clean, but the Lord Jesus Christ
cleansed him. God in mercy cleansed him. I ask you, are you in need of
cleansing? Come boldly, come boldly unto
the throne of grace that we might obtain mercy and find grace to
help in time of need. Well, second, here we see another
example of a man in need, a beggar. Turn to Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18. 18 Look look beginning with verse
35 Luke 18 verse 35 it came to pass that that as he was coming nigh unto
Jericho, the Lord Jesus Christ was coming nigh unto Jericho,
a certain blind man sat by the wayside, begging. And hearing
the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant, and they told
him that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by, and he cried, saying, Jesus,
thou son of David, Have mercy on me. And they that went before
him rebuked him, and they told him to hold his peace. They basically
said, just be quiet. But he cried so much more. Thou
son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood and commanded
him to be brought unto him. And when he was come near, he
asked him, saying, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?
And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said
unto him, Receive thy sight. Thy faith has saved thee. And
immediately, he received his sight, and he followed him, glorifying
God, And all the people, when they saw it, they gave praise
unto God. Here we read of a beggar and
his condition. He is blind. Another picture,
another picture of a sinner. That's how we're born into this
world, blind. We must be just as back there
in creation when darkness covered the face of the deep. And God
spoke and he said, let there be light. We have to be brought
from darkness to light. We have to be brought from the
power of sin and Satan to the living God. And here, blind Bartimaeus
sits by the roadside begging alms. He's asking for money. You know, initially, he has no
concern for his soul. He has only the flesh. He's asking for alms. Isn't that
a picture of us? Isn't that our natural state,
taken up with the things of this world? But something happens
here. What happened? It says the Lord
passed by. Isn't that an amazing thought? Couldn't we just sit and just
dwell on that? The Lord passed by. I was thinking about part of that
hymn. Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
hear my humble cry, while on others thou art calling, do not
pass me by. And in the presence of the Lord,
Bartimaeus goes from begging for alms to begging for mercy. Those around him tried to silence
him, and yet he cried out louder and louder, Jesus, thou son of
David, have mercy on me. Was he in need? Was he helpless
to do anything about it? Did the Lord pass him by? No. In verse 40, we read that the
Lord commanded he be brought to him. In Mark's account, it
says that Jesus commanded that he be called. There's no mistake
with that wording, is there? That he be called. Romans 8 verse
29, let me just read this to you. For whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, then he also, what, called. and whom he called, them he also
justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What
shall we say to these things? Oh, if God be for us, if God
be for us, who can be against us? Bartimaeus, the master, has
called you. I don't believe he sat there
on the roadside very long, did he? I don't think he said, let
me sit here and think about this. He probably couldn't get up quick
enough, could he? And the Lord said to him, what shall I do
today? Bartimaeus, what is your need? What is your need? And he said, Lord, that I might
receive my sign. And immediately, there's that
word again, immediately. He received his sight. He woke up again. He woke up
that morning just begging for alms, doing what he probably
did forever, begging for money. And the Lord in mercy passes
by and gave him more than his heart could ever desire. And he followed the Lord. He
followed the Lord and glorified him. Any question, is there any doubt
that Bartimaeus was in need? Well, third, here we read of
a woman in need of healing. Turn to Luke, turn back a few
pages to Luke chapter eight. Luke chapter eight, look beginning
with verse 43. Luke eight, verse 43. And the woman having an issue
of blood, 12 years, she had suffered for 12 years. And she had spent
all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,
and she came behind him and touched the border of his garment, and
immediately her blood, that issue of blood, was stanched. It was
stopped. Here we read of this woman. She
had this issue of blood. She had suffered in this condition
for 12 years. You know, I get a headache and
about after five minutes, Sometimes I'm about to just lose my mind. She had suffered for 12 years. Any question, any question she
was in need. Again, this is another picture
of sin. She had an issue of blood, which
by the law would have made her unclean. And when she had spent
all that she had, she still was not healed. In Mark's account, it says that
she suffered many things of many physicians and spent all that
she had and was nothing better. In fact, she only grew worse. Our Lord said this, he said,
woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites. You compass land
and sea to make one proselyte, and when he's made, he's no better,
is he? No, you make him twofold more
the child of hell than yourselves. I see these physicians as religious
men. And she had went to every church
in town, hadn't she? Everybody had something different
for her to do, and they took everything she had, and she was
no better. She was worse. You know, I believe
men are often conscious of sin, have some understanding of sin,
but are completely ignorant of the cure. They would look to their works
of righteousness. Men are happy to do works of
righteousness. They'll look for religious duty,
ways to serve. I've heard of men and women required
publicly to stand before a congregation and publicly confess their sins. Can you imagine the humiliation
of that? My suspicion is this. Their condition
is not going to be any better. Just worse. But this woman, after years of
suffering, she hears of the Lord Jesus Christ. And she says within
herself, if I can just touch His garment, if I can just touch
the border of His garment, and she came behind Him, I wonder maybe knowing something
of her sin, didn't even want to be seen by the Lord. She comes behind Him and touches
His garment. Was she in need? Was she in need of healing? She
touched the hem of his garment, and what did we read? Immediately. Immediately. That blood was dried
up, it was stanched. Immediately, she was healed. God's word declares this, that
he is able to save to the uttermost. them that come to God by him. Now, all three of these examples
share a common problem, whether it's a leper in need of cleansing,
a beggar in need of mercy, a sick woman in need of healing. They're all pictures of sinners
in need, in need. I won't have you turn to Matthew
15, 30. I'll just read it. It says this, great multitudes
came to him. Great multitudes came to the
Lord Jesus Christ. They came to him. And among those
were the lame, the blind, the dumb, the maimed, and many others. They were all in need. Every
last one of them in need. And they cast them down at the
Savior's feet. And what did he do? He didn't say, you need to pick
yourself up by your bootstraps. He didn't say, straighten up
and get your life right and then come back to me. He didn't say,
you need to figure out, you need to give some careful thought
about whether you're one of God's elect or not. No. Scripture says this, he healed
them. Isaac read to us there from Luke
chapter nine. It says, In verse 11, the people followed him. He received them. He spake unto them concerning
the kingdom of God, and he healed them. And listen to me, don't miss
this last part. He healed them that had need
of healing. Our Lord sat and ate with a bunch
of publicans and sinners, and they came and ate with him as
disciples. And one of the Pharisees saw it and they said, why does
your master eat with publicans and sinners? Why is it that's
the group of people he chooses to allow to surround him? This is what our Lord said. He
said, the whole don't need a physician, but they that are sick. You go and learn what that means.
I'll have mercy and not sacrifice. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners, sinners to repent. I'll ask again. Are you in need? Are you a sinner? I won't have you turn there for
time's sake. But back in Genesis 41, we read
that there was a famine. Remember that famine that was
foretold. There were going to be seven
years of plenty and seven years of famine. And we read that the
famine was sore in the land of Egypt. In fact, it says the famine
was all over the face of the earth. It was sore in all the
lands. And in chapter 42, Jacob, we
read this, Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt. Don't know how he came to know
that. Somehow it was revealed to him, there is corn in Egypt. And he said, I just picture him
kind of, I don't know if they had living rooms, but I just
kind of picture him and his boys sitting around the living room
talking about it. And he says this, why do you
look one upon another? Why are you sitting there staring
at each other? Huh? We're here starving and there's
corn in Egypt. Why are we sitting around staring
at each other? Go down thither and buy from
thence that we might live and not die. I believe he's saying we're in
need. We're gonna just, if we stay here, we're just gonna sit
here and starve to death. We're in need. We know where
the food is. Let's go there and buy it that
we might live. Doesn't that seem pretty, seems
pretty simple, doesn't it? I'd ask you the same question
this evening. I'd ask everybody in here, are
you in need? Are you in need? And if you are, why are you just
sitting there staring at each other? Go to Him. You've heard that
time and time and time. And you'll continue to hear,
I'm confident from this pulpit. Go to Him. Flee to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Turn with me back to Hebrews.
Chapter 4 Hebrews 4 verse 16. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we might obtain mercy and find
grace to help when in time of need. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor fitness fondly linger. All the fitness he requires is
what? To feel your need of him. Well, that's a message. That's
a message for the needy. I pray, I pray our Lord would
bless it. Let's go to our Lord in prayer. Our God and Father in heaven,
we thank you for this day. We thank you again for this opportunity
to gather together as a people. Lord, that you have assembled
us here together this evening. Lord, bless your word. Lord,
cause us Lord, cause us to see our need. Lord, cause us to see
the Lord Jesus Christ. Enable us to look to Him, to
rest in Him. Lord, we pray again your blessing
upon this message, Lord, upon this place, upon our pastor.
Lord, be with us throughout the remainder of this week, and Lord,
return us again at the next appointed time. Lord, again, we beg thee,
cause us to see Christ. Cause us to rest in him. In his
name we pray and give thee thanks.