Let's read that verse of scripture
that I just read a moment ago in Luke chapter nine, verse 11. And the people, when they knew, followed him. And he received them and spake unto them of the kingdom
of God and healed them that had need
of healing. I've entitled the message for
tonight, Need. need. Who did he heal? Them that had need of healing. Need. Try to picture in your mind a
man that the Lord has saved and a man who has not been saved. Two men, one man going to heaven,
another man not going to heaven. What is the difference between
those two men? One is not better than the other. One is not more righteous than
the other. Not one is more sinful than the
other. as far as their natures go, these
two men. You can't say one's better. You
can't say another is worse. What is the difference between
these two men, the one who's going to heaven and the other
who is not going to heaven? What is the difference between
these two men? Now, we first have to say that
God's the difference. Amen. Who maketh thee to differ
from another? And what hast thou that thou
hast not received? If you differ, if the Lord's
done something for you, the reason you differ is God himself made
you to differ. He set his affection on you before
time began and chose you to be saved. He made you to differ. He sent His Son to pay for your
sins and work out a perfect righteousness for you. He made you to differ.
God the Holy Spirit made you to differ when He birthed you
into the kingdom and gave you a new heart. God made the difference. Yes, but as far as the way these
two men feel, in their experience, what is the difference? It can
be summarized by this one word, need. Need. The whole need, not a physician,
but they that are sick, need. Now there was a doctor by the
name of Tom Rice who worked at the Cleveland Clinic. I had never
heard of him, although he was very well known in his field.
And he was known as the best at performing a surgery called
an esophagectomy. Well known, nationally known,
well respected. I'd never heard of him. He meant nothing to me. And if you would have told me,
there's a man in Cleveland that is a thoracotomist, he's an expert
at esophageal, the esophagectomy, and he knows how to do it, and
he's the best at it, I would've said, big deal. Good, I'm glad. If that's information I ever
need, I'll be glad to know it. It just wouldn't have meant much
to me at all. When did I take an interest in
this man? When I found out that I had esophageal cancer. Paul Walmsley and Paul Harries,
I guess teamed up to find out who was the best man within driving
distance in the United States at this surgery. They came up
with this name. And they told me about him that before I had
esophageal cancer, big deal. You know, I'm not good to know,
I guess, but I had a new interest and a new need. When I heard
about this man, I can still remember. The first time I went into his
office, Len and I sitting there, I can't even tell you how carefully
I was listening to everything he said. You see, the whole,
those who have no esophageal cancer need not a physician like
that. But the sick, those who have
esophageal cancer, have a need. Take the Pharisee and the publican.
What was the difference between those two men? It could be summarized by the
word need. The Pharisee didn't need mercy,
he was a good guy. He could tell you about all that
God had enabled him to do. He gave God the credit. I thank
thee, but I'm not as other men are. Particularly like this pathetic
publican. But oh, the publican had a great
need. God be merciful to me, the sinner. Turn back a couple of pages to
Luke chapter four. Now this is when the Lord opened
his public ministry. Verse 16, and he came to Nazareth
where he had been brought up. And as his custom was, he went
into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto
him the book of the prophet Isaiah. You know why that particular
book was delivered to him? Because he decreed for it to
take place. He knew exactly what he would
be reading. They give him the book. And when
he opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
the spirit of the Lord is upon me. Would you like to have heard
the way he read this? The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me. Do you know, I have no doubt
that everybody there knew he's talking about himself. He's saying
the Spirit of the Lord is upon him. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. to heal the brokenhearted, to
preach deliverance to the captives, those who are enslaved, and recovering
of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Now, you know who
had no interest in that? Folks who were rich, who were
not brokenhearted, who were not enslaved. They had free will.
They were not slaves. They could see. They weren't
blind. They weren't crushed. And they
certainly did not see much rejoicing in the year of Jubilee. That's
what that's speaking of in verse 19, to preach the acceptable
year of the Lord. You know, I love to think of the year of Jubilee.
Every 50 years, that silver trumpet would sound. There would be people
who'd lost everything because they weren't able to pay their
debts and they'd become enslaved. They lost everything. They were
in debt and there's nothing they can do about it. There's no way
they could pay their bills. And when that silver trumpet
sounded, those who were enslaved knew they had been set free and
all their debts were canceled. And everything they lost was
restored and they were given a year's vacation, no work. Now I'll tell you who didn't
like that, the people, I've said this before, if you owed me money
and all of a sudden that silver trumpet sounded and you didn't
owe me that anymore, if you were my slave and you weren't my slave
anymore, oh, I wouldn't hear that good, but I know who did
rejoice in that, the person who was a slave, the person who was
in debt. And when the Lord opened this
scripture, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, I'll tell you
who rejoiced in it, the poor. Those who had nothing to recommend
them to God, nothing. The brokenhearted, their heart's
no good. It's broke, it doesn't work. It doesn't do them any
good. The captives, the enslaved, the
blind, the crushed. They heard this as good news
because this is what they needed. You know, when the Lord spoke
to the church at Laodicea, the church that he said, I'll spew
you out of my mouth, what was wrong? Well, he tells us, because you
say I'm rich and increased with goods and have no need, need
of nothing. Now, I bet all of us have heard
the phrase necessity is the mother of invention. You've probably
heard that. It's attributed to Plato, the Greek philosopher.
I don't know if that's so, but it's certainly true with regard
to most inventions. They were invented out of a need.
There was a need for something. Somebody came up with the idea
and they did it, but spiritual needs not like that. God's got
to give you the need. You'll never need. unless God
himself gives you that need and creates that need. But the worst
place a man can be is to be without need. Let me repeat that. The worst
place a man can be, a woman can be, a boy or girl can be, is
to be without need. I repeat, who did he heal? He
healed them that had need of healing. Now in our text, it
says when they knew. Now here's where we've got to
begin. When they knew. Now this is talking
about when they knew the Lord was going in this direction,
they wanted to follow him when they knew. You'll notice the
word it is in italics. It was supplied there by the
translators. Let's take it just as it stands. When they knew, as far as their
experience goes, as far as our experience goes, it begins, this
thing of need begins with knowledge. We don't just wake up feeling
need. It begins with knowledge. Now we know from Matthew and
Mark's account that this story begins with Christ being moved
by compassion toward them. Mark 6, 34 says, and Jesus, when
he came out, saw much people, these same people described in
Luke chapter nine. He saw much people and was moved
with compassion toward them. They were sheep not having a
shepherd. This is the same compassion that
is said with regard to our Lord when that leper said, Lord, if
you will, you can make me clean. And the scripture says, Jesus
moved with compassion, said, I will. Be thou clean. Do you know there's never been
anyone who prayed that prayer, Lord, if you will, nothing I
can do. If you will, you can make me
clean. He's moved by compassion. That's who he is. So this story
actually begins with the compassion of the Lord. The reason they
had this need of healing begins with his compassion toward them. Now we don't begin a gospel message
with us and our need and his ability to fulfill that need.
We begin a message with him. and his compassion that creates
that need in the first place. Don't you love the scripture
in Romans chapter nine, verse 15, for he will have mercy on
whom he will have mercy, and he'll have compassion on whom
he will have compassion. When they knew, they did not
know until he made himself known, neither were you or I. But when
he does, you know, when they knew." There is no salvation
apart from knowledge. There is no faith apart from
knowledge. There is no repentance apart
from knowledge. Romans chapter 10 verse 1, Paul
said, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
is that they might be saved. For I bear them record, they
have a zeal for God. They're very religious and they're
zealous of the God of the Bible. Not according to what? Knowledge. For they being ignorant
of God's righteousness, his essential righteous character. What do
they do as a result? They go about to establish their
own righteousness thinking that they can give God something that
He could accept to help their salvation. They go about to establish
their own righteousness and in doing that they've not submitted
themselves to the righteousness of God. Now, when have I submitted
myself to the righteousness of God? When I've submitted myself
to His righteousness in my damnation. I might not like it, but he's
righteous. And I've submitted myself to
the righteousness of God when I've submitted myself to his
righteousness and my salvation, the righteousness of Jesus Christ. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. When they knew. Now, when you know, there's something, you know,
you did that you did not know before. I love Paul's words in 2 Timothy
1, 12, I know whom I had believed. There was a time I didn't know
him. I do now. You see, faith is knowing him. knowing who He
is. Now that's not talking about
some buddy-buddy relationship. Me and Jesus are co-pilots or
He's my co-pilot. I'm not talking about that. I'm
talking about knowing who He is. You recognize who He is when
you hear His words. That's Him. That's Him. Holy. Sovereign. Just. Everything the
Bible declares Him to be. When you know Him, you know what
you do? You'll trust Him. I know whom I have believed And
I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
to him against that day. Now, they demonstrated that they
had this spiritual knowledge when they followed him. Notice what it says in verse
11 of Luke chapter nine. And the people, when they knew,
Followed him now. This is what folks do who know
they follow him and please hear this Somebody wrote a book many years
ago Thomas a campus. I think was the guy's name called
the imitation of Christ The imitation of Christ and most people when
they hear the Lord say follow me they think well that means
I need to imitate him well Would I deny that of course not we
ought? to imitate him, but that's not
the word that's used. Now, when Paul says, follow me
as I follow Christ, that's the word to imitate me. It's a different
Greek word, but here the word simply means keep your eyes on
me. Don't look down at your feet.
Don't look down at your walk. Don't look to your side to look
at somebody else to see how you compare with him. Don't look
behind you looking for some kind of evidence that you've done
or experienced to prove to you you're saved. Look to Him only,
always. Folks know that's what they do. They follow Him. How do you follow someone? You
keep your eyes on them. The moment you look down, you
lose them in a crowd, won't you? If you look to the side, you'll
lose him. You've all experienced that. When they knew, they followed
him. And what happened? He received them. They found out the truthfulness
of the accusation brought against him. This man receives sinners. He receives them. Doesn't he
care about his testimony? Is he just saying everything
about them is okay? He receives them and he even
eats with them. He received them. What I think
is so glorious, one of the many glorious things about the Lord
Jesus Christ is sinners Jesus received. They didn't feel threatened. They didn't feel judged. They
felt received. He received them. I love the verse of Scripture,
John 6, 37, where the Lord said, all that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise,
for no reason whatsoever, cast out. Sinners, Jesus will receive. Sound the word of grace to all, all who languish dead in sins,
all who linger, all who fall. Christ receiveth sinful men,
men full of sin. Even me with all my sin, purged
from every spot and stain, heaven with him, I'll enter in. He received
them and he spake unto them, the scripture says, of the kingdom
of God. That was his subject, the kingdom of God. I like the way Young's literal
translation states this, he spoke unto them of the reign of God. That's what the kingdom of God
is, it's his reign. He's the king of this kingdom.
and He's the King of kings, He's the Lord of lords, the subject
of His kingdom. I love Revelation 17 14. He's King of kings and Lord of
lords and they that are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful. Who are His subjects? Those He
calls by the gospel. Why did they do it? They were
chosen by Him. What's the proof they were chosen?
They're faithful. They believe and they can be
believed. Oh the jurisdiction of His kingdom. Daniel said this,
I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion
is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to
generation, and he doeth according to his will in the armies of
heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can say
his hand, or say unto him, what are you doing? Nobody has the
right. He's king of kings. He's Lord
of lords. And then we have this delightful
phrase concerning him that is the king of this kingdom. He
healed them that had need of healing. I go back to the whole, the Lord
said, the whole. need not a physician but they that are sick. And you
know the word sick in that verse of scripture means literally
evilly sick. Their sickness is brought on
by their own personal evil. It's a strong word. The whole need not a physician,
but they that are evilly sick. Would that be me? Would that be you? The whole need not a physician. But they that are sick need,
need. God has no needs outside of himself. He is not worshiped with men's
hands as though he needed anything. He said, if I were hungry, I
wouldn't tell you. The cattle on a thousand hills
are mine. God is absolutely independent. The Lord said, as the father
hath life in himself, even so hath he given this to the son
to have life in himself. The independent being, no needs. Don't you love thinking about
that? He has no needs. He doesn't need me. He doesn't
need you. We sure enough need him, but
he has in and of himself no needs. The self-existent one. I am that I am. The God who has no needs. But I have needs. Poor and needy. Let's put it this way. Let me
begin here. I need the need. I won't even need if the Lord
doesn't give me the need. I need that need. If I don't have that
need, I'll never know him. I'll never be saved. I need Lord,
create in me this need of you. That's what David was saying
when he said, create in me a clean heart. Oh God, create this need
in me. I don't want to be like the Laodiceans,
rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing. I need
to need. I need the Bible. to be the inspired Word of God. I need that. If it's not, I'm
in trouble. I have no way of knowing the
truth. I need this book to be the inspired, inerrant Word of
God to tell me who God is and who I am. I need a written revelation. And I need to know the character
of the God who inspired this book. I need him to reveal his
character to me. I need this. You know, I can't
know him unless he makes himself known. And the only way he makes
himself known is through this book. And I can't know it unless
he makes himself known. I need this. And I need to know what my state
before God is. You know, I don't need for his
existence to be proved to me. I really don't. I know he is. You know, atheism is illogical,
irrational, anti-intellectual, and unreasonable. Enough said. I don't need to have God's existence
proved to me. Everybody's born knowing God
is. But I do need to know what my
stake before him is. Now we know that whatsoever things
the law sayeth, it sayeth to them who are under the law, that
every mouth may be stopped and all the world become guilty before
God. From that position of guilt,
I need for God to be precisely who he says he is in his word
to save me. I need him to be just, holy,
sovereign, all powerful, all that he says he is. When we read
the scripture, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. I need Him to be just that to
save me. The whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick, I'm sick. He healed them that had need
of healing. I have need of healing. All who cannot heal themselves
need Him to heal them. Now listen to this statement.
There's no real understanding of anything without need. You might know the logic of something.
You might look in the Bible and see, well, that's what it says,
but there is no spiritual understanding of anything without need. There's no hearing of the gospel
without need. You know, I was thinking about this
thing of even being in a church. I don't want to be in a church
that needs me. A church is in pretty bad shape
if it needs me. I want to be in a church where I need to be
because I need the gospel that is preached in that place. It's
the only thing that'll do me any good. Listen to this. I need God to elect me. I need to be chosen of God. It's
one thing to understand the logic of election. As a matter of fact,
if anyone reads the Bible, they ought to be able to see that.
It's one thing to understand the logic of it. It's another
thing to need God to elect you or you won't be saved. You need
Him to reach down and choose you and bring you to Himself.
You know, in several of the systematic theology books I've got, they'll
say the theory of the atonement, and they'll give five different
theories of the atonement. I don't need a theory of atonement.
I need an atonement that atones. A theory of atonement, that doesn't
even make sense. A theory of atonement? I need
an atonement that actually atones for me and that puts away my
sins. Here's what I need. I need for Jesus Christ to take
my sins and put them away so that they are no more. Give me
his righteousness so I stand before God without guilt. And if you tell me of an atonement
where Jesus Christ can die for me and pay for my sins and I
might end up in hell if I don't do my part, That doesn't do me
any good. I don't need that. I don't want
that. I need an atonement by Jesus
Christ that actually atones. I need for the grace of the Holy
Spirit to be, listen to these words, Irresistible and invincible. I need an irresistible work of
grace done in me, a work that I can't resist, that I can't
fight off because if I can resist it, I will resist it. And I know
that. And I need, this is what I need.
I need a sovereign work of grace that's irresistible that actually
saves me. If it's not irresistible, I can't
be saved. If God didn't elect the people,
I can't be saved. If what Christ did on the cross
is not successful and complete, lacking nothing, I can't be saved. And I need to be preserved by
His grace in order to persevere. Jude 24, now unto Him that's
able to keep you from falling. and to present you faultless
before his presence with exceeding joy. That's exactly what I need.
I need to be kept from falling, preserved because if I'm not,
I will fall away. I need it to be this way. I need
Christ to be everything in my salvation. I need that. I need for everything God requires
of me for him to look to his son for. I need that. He healed them that had need
of healing. You know, I need faith to be
a gift. I really do. If it's not a gift, I won't have
it if you didn't give it to me. I need repentance to be a gift He gives
me. I need the heart that I believe
with to be a gift that He gives me. This is what I need. I need Ephesians 1.3 to be so. He hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. If I don't have
them all, whatever ones I don't have, I'll never have. I need
them all to be in Christ Jesus. I need to be complete in him. As Colossians
2.10 says, you are complete in him. I need that. I need Philippians
3.3 to be so. I love that scripture. Now listen
to me. Philippians 3, 3, we are the
circumcision. We are the true believers, which
worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence in the flesh. Now listen to this statement,
all false religion has you having a changed life as
the evidence of salvation. I don't care if it's Christianity,
Buddhism, Confucius, Muslim, I don't care what it is. It has
a changed life as the evidence of salvation. That's the religion
of Babylon. That's works religion. Do you hear that? That is works
religion. Here is the evidence of being
saved. You worship God for who he is. And you know that the only reason
you do it is because you do it in the spirit as God, the Holy
Spirit has given you a spirit to do it. There's no worshiping
of God in the flesh. you worship God in the Spirit,
here's the second mark, you rejoice in Christ Jesus. All you have confidence in is
Christ Jesus. You rejoice only in Him. You rejoice nowhere else, only
in Him. Now, what's the evidence somebody
does that? We are the circumcision, which
worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence in the flesh. That's somebody who is saved. They worship God for who He is,
and they know the only reason they do it is in the Spirit.
They rejoice only in Christ Jesus and they have no confidence in
the flesh. I need Jesus Christ. And I need what we're getting
ready to observe in the Lord's table. I constantly, continually,
nonstop, need the body, the broken body, and the shed blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ as everything in my salvation all the time.