If you would turn with me in
your Bible to Matthew chapter 9, please. Matthew chapter 9. Beginning in verse 10. Matthew
9 verse 10. And it came to pass, as Jesus
said at meet in the house, He was having dinner. Behold, many
publicans and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.
And when the Pharisees, that being the religious leaders,
saw it, they said unto his disciples, why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? Why does he socialize with such
folks? But when Jesus heard that, he
said unto them, they that be whole, or those that are well,
need not a physician, but they that are sick. Sick people need
doctors. but go 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. You know, I never cease to be
amazed at how man-made religion always gets the things of God
backwards. That's why the Lord said, but
go ye and learn what that meaneth. The Lord's referring to what
is written in Hosea chapter 6 verse 6 which reads, for I desire mercy,
God speaking, I desire mercy and not sacrifice in the knowledge
of God more than burnt offerings. Now if the Pharisees had known
that that verse and what that verse in Hosea chapter 6 meant,
It would have silenced, I believe, their objections to him socializing
with publicans and sinners, but they didn't know what it meant.
The Lord never desired, now listen, the Lord never desired, the Lord
never delighted or found pleasure in all the Old Testament sacrifices. They served one purpose, and
that was they pointed to Christ. They pointed to Christ. All the
sacrifice and the blood of bulls and goats never put away the
first sin. They just pointed to the one
who was coming that would put away all sin forever. The Lord
is saying, I came to show mercy, not to receive from you sacrificial
gifts and offerings. I didn't come for you to offer
something to me. See, folks have that backwards.
I didn't come for you to do service to me. I didn't come to be ministered
to by you. I came to minister to you. I came to have mercy on the diseased. I came to save sick sinners. I didn't come to call the righteous,
those who don't know that they're sick, those who think they're
well in their own eyes. I came to call sinners to repentance,
to change. I came in the world to save those
who want help and need help. Do you need help? Go and learn
what that means. Has the Lord taught this to you?
The Lord said, you ask why do I eat with publicans and sinners?
Because I came to call publicans and sinners. I came to save publicans
and sinners. I am the great physician and
that's why I came. To heal the broken heart. To
set at liberty those that are captive. I came to call those
who need a physician's help. People who are well need not,
need not a physician. But it's a different story altogether
for those that are sick. Do you see that you're sick?
Solomon in Proverbs chapter 21 verses one through three tells
us just that. Solomon wrote, the king's heart's
in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water. He turneth it
whether so ever he will. You see, the Lord is the only
one that can save. Every heart, even the king's
heart is in his hand to do with as he sees fit. Who is salvation
of? It's of the Lord. He turns a
sinner's heart as He wills. It has nothing to do with the
dead sinner's will. Because all sinners are dead
in trespasses and sin and have no will. What good is my will
going to do when I have no will? Solomon said in verse 2, he went
on to say, every way of a man is right in his own eyes. But
the Lord pondereth the hearts. Why does the Lord ponder the
hearts? He tells us to do justice and judgment is more acceptable
to the Lord than sacrifice. Everything that natural men and
women do, they think is right. It's right in their own eyes.
They see it as right. And there's a way that seems
right in the man, but the end thereof are the ways of what?
Death. You got it backwards. But the Lord pondered, that word
I found interesting. It means to measure in the balances,
to weigh in the scales of his holiness, the hearts of men and
women. And what does he find there?
What does the Lord find in our hearts? Hearts deceitful above
all things. Hearts that were and are desperately
wicked. God saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the
thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually. And there are
always gonna be some that say, well, not, I think some bad things,
but not every thought is only evil continually. In God's eyes,
they are. Compared to a thrice holy God,
they are. So evil that God repented. God
was sorry that He made man on the earth. And it says it grieved
Him in His heart. God ponders. God weighs in the
balance the scales of justice to do justice and judgment which
is more acceptable unto the Lord than sacrifice. Christ didn't
come into the world to receive something from us. Aren't you
so glad? We don't have anything to offer
God. Nothing that God would accept. He came in the world to give
Himself for sinners. This is the message of the Bible
from beginning to end. Even as the Son of Man came not
to minister unto, but to minister and to give His life a ransom
for many. Man-made religion has backwards.
Free will religion's got it reversed. You go and learn what that means,
our Lord said. This is the message men and women
need to learn. Learn that the Lord doesn't need
to do... I don't need to do something
for the Lord. The Lord must do something for me. Men and women hear the gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace, and the first thing they say
is, what must I do to be saved? That's just part of our nature
that's instilled in us. That's what we need to go and
learn. That's what we need to be taught. We can't do anything
to be saved. That's why Christ came. Nothing
we can do. And you know what? It's not our
sin that keeps us from Christ. It's our righteousness that does.
Man-made righteousness keeps us from Christ. Your sins make
you a candidate for salvation. Christ came into the world to
save sinners. The only qualification required
for salvation is that you feel your need of Him, that you're
a sinner. Has God shown you you're a sinner? That's what Christ
came to seek and to save. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement, the punishment
for our peace was laid upon Him. This is a message of what God
in Christ has done for wretches like me and you. That's why it's
good news. Peter wrote, Christ died the
just for the unjust. Christ died for unjust sinners.
Why? That He might bring them to God. It was the only way. Paul wrote,
Christ died for the ungodly. God commended His love toward
us in that while we were yet what? Sinners! Christ died for
us. Oh, if you're a sinner, this
is the best news you've ever heard. It's the gospel. It's
good news. Most religion today concentrates
on all its efforts on outward morality. Their directions to
eternal life is turn right and go straight. I'll never forget
they taught me that in Sunday school. And man, I thought it
was a cute little thing. Turn right and go straight. I
like that. Only one problem with it, Shelley. We can't turn right
and go straight. And yet, like the Pharisees of
old, they say and do not. It's nothing but an outward show
of hypocrisy. Turn over a few pages to Matthew
chapter 23. Matthew chapter 23, beginning
in verse 1. Then spake Jesus to the multitude
and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees
sit in Moses' seat. All therefore whatsoever they
bid you observe, they observe and do, but do not ye after their
works, for they say and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and
grievance to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders, but
they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
but all their works they do for to be seen of men. They make
broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their
garments, and love the uttermost rooms at feasts, and the chief
seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the marketplaces,
and to be called of men rabbi." Then look down at verse 12, the
Lord added, "...and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be
abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted." But
woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut up the
kingdom of heaven against men, for you neither go in yourselves,
neither suffer you them that are entering to go in. Woe unto
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you defier widows' houses,
and for a pretense make long prayer. Therefore ye shall receive
the greater damnation. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you compass a compass sea
and land to make one proselyte, and when he's made, you make
him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves." And friends,
it's the same today. In works religionists, they say
one thing and do another. Nothing but hypocrisy. And like
the Pharisees, they put burden on folks that they themselves
will not bear. And like the Pharisees of old,
they do their works to be seen of men. And like the Pharisees
of old, they call Christ Lord with their lips, but their hearts
are far from Him. Men in our Lord's day like to
be called titles, like Master and Father and Rabbi. It's no
different today. Men like to be called Pastor
and Reverend and Doctor. To me it's kind of like sticking
a pretty hair bow and diamond earrings on a pig. Or putting
a tuxedo on a pig. It's still a pig. Right? The religious Jews bragged on
the dead prophets and they killed the living ones. That's what
they did to John the Baptist, the greatest of all prophets.
The Lord Himself said there's no greater man, no greater prophet
than John the Baptist. They loved Abraham, they loved
Moses, they quoted Isaiah, but they denied the very things that
those men said. These men missed the gospel.
They missed the person and work of Christ. That's what it's all
about. Not what you do, what God has
done for you. They didn't understand that publicans
and sinners were who Christ came to save. They turned up their
noses. The publicans and sinners were
drawn to Christ, and they came and they sat down with Him. And
He welcomed them. They felt so comfortable. I feel
so comfortable around my Lord. I don't feel that I'm being judged.
I know that's who He came to save. However, the scribes and
the Pharisees, they stood at a distance. I could just see
them, you know, pompous and proud. They stood at a distance and
said, Why? Why? Why does your Master eat,
socialize with publicans and sinners? This is why, friends. Those who be whole need not. They have no need. You know the
Greek word for whole is a derivative of the word forcefulness. It
means to be able. Those who are able. Those who
can do. That's what it means, those who
can do. It means those who can be good. Those who can prevail
by their own forceful work. They don't need a physician.
Our Lord Jesus was not the Savior of good men. He was the Savior
of sinners. The diseased, the evil, the miserable
and sick. Those who are well don't need
a physician, but they are sick. They that are sick. The Word
of God does not picture sinners in a good light. How can folks
not see it? They're blind and they cannot
see. Why can't they hear it? They're
deaf and they don't have ears to hear. Why can't they believe
it? They've not been given hearts
that can. The only difference between us
and them is the difference that God makes. The only difference
between them is that the Lord has revealed them unto babes
and hidden them from the wise and the prudent. Those who think
themselves to know everything. Go and learn what this means.
Christ will have mercy and not sacrifice. Your personal sacrifices
will not save you. They'll only make you feel righteous.
They'll only convince you that you are righteous. The Pharisees
are a perfect example. They were holier than thou. They
stuck their phylacteries with their robes with all these prayer
requests. And as they walked down the street,
people goes, wow, they're so holy. Furthest thing from it. Furthest thing from it. Now I
want you to look back just a couple of pages to Matthew chapter 5,
verse 20. Matthew 5, verse 20. Our Lord said here, For I say
unto you that except your righteousness, your righteousness shall exceed
the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall
in no case, under no circumstance, enter into the kingdom of heaven.
And you've heard that it was said by them of old time, thou
shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall
be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you that whosoever
is angry with his brother and without a cause shall be in danger
of judgment and hell fire. Then look down at verse 27. Our
Lord went on to say, now you've heard that it was said by them
of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you
that whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart." You see, this is
a hard matter. Salvation is not what we sacrifice
to God. Salvation is Christ who sacrificed
for us. It's not an outward work of morality. Every fallen sinner's got a heart
disease. Salvation is an inward healing
of the heart and actually a heart transplant. God taking out the
old heart, that deceitfully wicked and desperately wicked heart
and giving us a new one. Has God taught you what these
sayings mean? If not, go and learn what they
mean. Do you know why Christ came into the world? Do you know
why Christ became a man born of a woman? Why He was born under
the very law that He wrote? Why He was tried and tempted
and tested as we are? In all points the Scripture says,
in every way. yet without sin. Why did he die
on the cross such a shameful death? You ever think about that?
Why did he suffer and die under the wrath of God? Why did he
lay in the grave for three days and nights? Why did he arise
from that grave? Paul said, this is a faithful
saint and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. Paul said, of whom I am chief.
And if Paul was the chief of sinners, boy, what does that
make me? Who did Christ come to seek and to save? That which
was lost. Who in the world is lost? Those
in the world that doesn't have Christ. John said, he that hath
not the Son hath not life. God, the Son, and eternal life
are synonymous. Did you know that? When you,
Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man
comes to the Father but by me. Those who believe on Christ,
they shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Those who believe
not are condemned already. That's what the Lord said. Why?
Because they had not, not believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, the
name of the only begotten Son of God. Christ died for those
in the world who believed. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son. And everybody takes that and
runs with it and says, see, God loves the whole world. Read the
rest of the verse. That whosoever believeth in Him
shall not perish, but have everlasting life. And those that don't believe
on it, they're condemned already. They're born condemned. And this
is the condemnation, that light's coming to the world, and men
love darkness rather than light. I did and so did you. Until God
revealed Christ to us. That's why publicans and sinners
were drawn into him. And that's why believing sinners
still are today. If I be lifted up from the earth,
I will draw all men unto me. That word men is italicized and
it was added. And we know this doesn't mean
all the world. If Christ died for all the world,
all the world's gonna be saved. None will perish for whom Christ
died. There'll be none in hell for
whom Christ died. All here means all His elect
people. Well, there you go again. Listen,
that's what the Bible says. All that the Father gave to Him.
Everyone would see it, the Son. All who believe on Him. All He
will raise up at the last day. All that are taught of God. All
that have learned of the Father. All that come unto Christ. That's
who that all is. Our Lord is sitting and socializing
with people that need Him. Sinners that need grace. That's
why Christ came. That's why Christ died. Cursed
is everyone that continueth not in all things written in the
law to do them. Have you kept God's law perfectly,
all of it? No. No, I haven't even come close. Never kept one thing perfectly.
But Christ hath delivered us from the curse of the law. How?
By being made a curse for us. That's the message. That's the
gospel. That's the good news. He's the
sinner's savior. Who did Christ come in the world
to save? He came in the world to save sinners. He came to save
those who had great need. He came to save those who could
make no perfect sacrifice unto Him. Now let me show you that
from the scriptures. Turn back to Matthew chapter
eight, verse one. When he came, when he was come
down, that's Christ 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
his leprosy was cleansed. Look at chapter 9, verse 20. And behold, a woman which was
diseased with an issue of blood for 12 years. And we're told in another place
that she'd spent all she had, all her living, on doctors to
get well, and none of them could heal her. But she had an issue of blood
12 years. She came behind him. and touch the hem of his garment.
For she said within herself, if I may but touch his garment,
I shall be whole." Now, Matthew chapter 20. We could go so many
places in the Scripture, but trying to keep you close here
in Matthew, look at chapter 20, verse 30. And behold, two blind men, sitting
by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out,
saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. Now here we
have three accounts. We have an account of an incurable
leper, and he's at death's doorstep. Here we have a woman bleeding
to death, and she's near death. She's dying. For 12 years she's
been bleeding. We've got two blind men reduced
to begging. What did they all have in common?
Well, several things, but one in particular. First, they'd
all heard of Christ. But there's more than that. Secondly,
they all know who Christ was. The leper called Him Lord. In
Mark's account, it is said of the woman with the issue of blood,
when she heard of Jesus, the blind man called Christ the son
of David. That was the same as calling
him Lord and Christ. Thirdly, they all knew what he
could do for them. The leper said, Lord, if you
will, you can make me whole. The issue is not, can you? I
know you can do anything. You can do everything. The question
is, will you? What did the Lord say? I will,
I will. The woman said, if I could but
touch the hem of his garment, he need not look at me, he need
not pray over me, all he's got to do, all I have to, all needs
to be done is just to touch him, just a touch. I shall be made
whole. The blind men cried, have mercy
on us, Lord. And they cried all the more when
they were told to be quiet. You see, they knew some things
a lot of folks didn't know. Fourthly, they all came to Him. They didn't come to His disciples.
They didn't come to the temple. The church can't give you life. They didn't come to the altar.
Coming up front is not going to save anybody. They didn't
come to marry His mother. a particular denomination to
tell you today. They all came to Him. They came to Christ. They had many things in common,
but the one thing they all had in common was their need of Him. I'm going to call this, Christ
has made me all I need. He is. He's all I need. He is the one thing needful. God shall supply all your need. How? According to His riches
in glory in, by, and through Jesus Christ. These sick folks
had nothing to sacrifice. These dying sinners had nothing
to give, but they needed the very thing that He was giving,
and that was mercy. If you're a sinner, you need
mercy. And if you're a sinner, then
you need Christ, because He is God's mercy. That's what makes
us all needy. You and I are lepers. It's eating
us from the inside out. Sin is. We have leprosy of the
soul and we're dying. We have an issue of blood. Our
blood is bad. You got bad blood. I've had that said about me a
few times. It's true. We need a miracle of grace. We
need a new heart. We need new blood. Without it,
death is sure. Judgment is certain. Eternal
destruction awaits us. We're spiritually blind, like
Bartimaeus and his friend. We're walking in total darkness,
and only Christ can give us these blind eyes sight. Our need and
His remedy. It's our need that brings us
to Christ. People don't come to church,
not come to church because of a lack of interest. They don't
come to church because of a lack of need. Why don't sinners come to Christ?
They don't need Him. Why don't people flee to Christ?
Why don't they seek the Lord? Why don't they search the Scriptures?
Why don't they seek healing? One reason only, they're not
sick. They don't believe they're sick. What brings a man to the
well? Thirst. What brings a man to
the table? Hunger. When does a man see a doctor?
When he's sick. Isn't it amazing that men cannot
understand what should be so obvious? I'm speaking of our
sin. How could we think the things
that we think? How could we say the things that
we say? How could we do the things that we do and not realize that
we're sick and needy? Actually, there's a simple explanation
that's impossible to understand with natural understanding. It
has to be revealed. Just as the good news for sinners
must be revealed, so must the sinner's nature and sin be revealed
to them. Now let me finish up by turning
you to Romans chapter 7. I pray here that the Lord will
shed some light on the unexplainable. I sure don't understand this
to the point I can explain it, but the Scriptures do a great
job in doing so. Paul wrote, what shall we say
then? Is the law sin, God forbid? Now listen to what he says. Nay,
I had not known sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust,
except the law had said, thou shalt not covet. You see, it
was the restraints of God's law, the commandment not to covet,
that revealed to Paul his own sinful nature. Greedy desire,
lust for the possession of others was made aware to Paul when God's
law forbid it. What a strange psychological
fact it is, but true nonetheless, that what the carnal nature of
the mind, what is forbidden seems to make it especially desirable. That's just how messed up we
are. Do you think that Adam and Eve would have desired the forbidden
fruit had it not been forbidden? Have you ever thought about that?
When a sinner's freedom is limited, the sinner rages against that
limitation. Our carnal, fleshly, fallen,
depraved nature rebels whenever it's restrained. In verse 9,
Paul said, I was alive once without the law. That simply means that
he was unconscious of his condemnation that his sin brought, and his
conscience didn't trouble him. But when the commandment came,
he said, when Paul realized that the commandment of God required
a heart service as well as an outward service, that's when
sin revived and Paul died. That dormant sin within was brought
to light when the restraint of that was made known to Him. Paul
said, I died. I realized that I was a sinner.
I was convinced and convicted of my sin. The commandments of
God had a promise of life. There's nothing wrong with the
law. Men preach today like there's something wrong with the law.
The law is perfect. It's weak through the flesh.
That's talking about us. We can't keep the law. It's of
no benefit for us to do it because we can't do it. We can't keep
it. We can't keep it perfectly. When Paul found out that he had
broken God's commandments, he realized that he was under condemnation. Verse 11, For sin, taking occasion
by the commandment, deceived me. And by it slew me." You know,
sin is always a deceiver. Paul had followers of Christ
in prison. He held the coats of those that
killed Stephen. Paul sinned thinking that he
was doing a service to God. When it was revealed to Paul
by the Holy Spirit that sin had deceived him, it slew him. He was convicted before God. Verse 12, wherefore the law is
holy, and the commandment holy, and it's just, and it's good.
But this is our problem. We cannot perfectly keep the
law of God, which is holy, just, and good. And therefore, God
reveals to us that we have a great need. We're not whole, we're
sick. And we need Christ, the Great
Physician. Our Lord said, go and learn what that means. And
we can only learn what it means when we've been taught of God,
and when we've heard Him, and learned of Him, and from Him,
and that's when we come to Christ. When God reveals to us what we
are. And He's the one that must do, He's the only one that can.
This is why Christ is the chief issue of this book. That's why
He has the preeminence. He's the one great subject because
of our great need. I need Christ because I'm a sinner.
I need Christ because I'm sick. I broke God's holy law. I'm the
one who sinned. I'm the one that deserves to
die. I'm the one that deserves hell. I need a Savior. I need a substitute. I need a
mediator. I need a righteousness. I need
someone to pay my sin debt. Can you pay it for me? Nope. Can I pay yours for you? No.
I must have a sacrifice, but I can't provide it. It's got
to be a perfect sacrifice. I need Christ to pay my sin debt.
Only God can forgive my sin and yours on the basis of that sin
being satisfied and paid for by the precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. What can wash my sin away? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Jesus Christ in my room instead
satisfied justice, and He justified me. Best news I ever heard. They that be whole need not a
position, but they that are sick most certainly do. Have you learned
what that means? Christ will have mercy and not
sacrifice. He did not come to call those
who see themselves as righteous. The blind sinner can't see. He
came to call sinners to repentance. Joseph Hart wrote and said it
well in a hymn that he wrote. What comfort can a savior bring
to those who never felt their woe? A sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost had made him so.
Mr. Hart continued, new life from
him we must receive, before for sin we rightly grieve. This faithful
saying, let us own well worthy tis to be believed, that Christ
into the world came down, that sinners might by him be saved. Sinners are high in His esteem,
and sinners highly value Him. Why is a sinner a precious thing,
a sacred thing? Because God has to reveal it
to you. God has to show you what you are. God's got to show you
who you need. And He is faithful, that promise.
May God be pleased to make it so His glory our good, and for
Christ's sake.