Turn with me this morning to
the ninth chapter of Matthew, if you would please. Matthew
chapter nine. Matthew chapter nine. Here in Matthew chapter nine,
verse 11, the Pharisees asked the Lord's disciple this question. Why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? And the Lord said this, they
that be whole need not. They that be whole need not. That's my subject this morning.
Sinners having or having not a need. First, let's start by
defining the word need. What is a need? A need is the
requirement of something essential. The state of requiring help,
lacking something essential or crucial that you need, that you
must have, in need of something. Do you have a need? That's my
question. Now this much I know, only those
who truly need a Savior will want a Savior. And only those
who truly want a Savior will have a Savior. Here our Lord
tells us that there are some who have no need. They have no
need. These mentioned are said to be
whole. Mark recorded it this way. He
wrote that the Lord said, they that are whole have no need.
Same thing, they need not or they have no need. Now, who are
these that have no need? Well, it's said to be those who
are whole. And most of you that know me
know that I intend to be redundant when I preach. I want you to
understand that there are some who think themselves to be well,
that think themselves to be whole. and they have no need. So, I'm
interested in what the description of whole means. The word whole
in the text that describes these who are without need comes from
a Greek word called Ishku. Now, I don't know if I'm saying
that right or not. I'm not at all a Greek or Hebrew
scholar, but I do have a concordance. And I do look up words and it
tells you pretty much how to pronounce them. I think that's
how that's pronounced. But do you know what this word
ishku in the Greek means? I found it very interesting.
It means to be able. It means they that can do. They that are able. They that
can do something on their own behalf. Now, what do we really
know about these? Well, we know that they have
no need. Those that are whole, well, those
that be able, those that can do, have no need. They need not. Yet, as we go further into this
verse, we see that this need has something to do with health. It has something to do with a
sickness. It has something to do with one's
condition. For the Lord says, they that
be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. This is not a physical sickness
that the Lord is speaking of here. This is a spiritual sickness. This is a soul sickness. It's a sickness that plagues
every single son and daughter of Adam. It's a disease called
sin that we're sold under. And some think themselves to
be whole, to be well, to be able. They think themselves to be those
that can do. And they don't need a physician. They don't see a need of Christ,
the only one who can heal the brokenhearted. And that proves
that their hearts are truly broken, for this is the condemnation,
Scripture says, that Christ, the Light, came into the world. And men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were in John 3.19. And the whole
will and purpose of God in the coming of Christ was to save
His people from their sins. His people will be given life. They'll be given eyes to see,
ears to hear, hearts to believe that they in and of themselves
are not whole. Far from it. God's people, all
of them, are going to be made to see that they are sick. Bad sick. There have been times
in all of our lives when we were sick, and I mean really sick,
too sick to get out of bed sick. You know the kind of sick I'm
talking about. Now when you were sick like that, let me ask you,
could you will yourself to be well? Have you ever tried when
you're real, real sick to will yourself to be well? It don't
work. We have no control over such
things, even more so concerning spiritual and eternal things. Those that are sure that they're
able to do. Those that are positive that
they can do. Those that think themselves to
be whole. Those that are doing quite well
on their own. You ask them, they'll tell you.
They need not a physician. They have no need for one. And
again, our Lord's words in verse 12, they that behold need not
a physician, but they that are sick. That's who needs a physician.
When do we go to the doctor? When we're sick. And then the
Lord in verse 13 says, But go ye and learn what that meaneth."
You go and learn what that means. And then He says, look at it,
I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now let's just slow down for
a minute. We're in no hurry. Is the Lord saying here, go learn
what I just said means? Or go learn what I'm about to
say means. Go learn what it means. Does
the Lord mean, here go and learn what I mean when I say that those
who be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick? Or does
the Lord mean, here go and learn what I mean when He says that
He'll have mercy and not sacrifice? I actually believe that both
statements mean the same thing. First we see that God is going
to have mercy. God, according to His own will
and purpose, has determined to have mercy on some. He's going
to have mercy on some. Is He going to have mercy on
those that are whole? Those that are able? Those who
can do? No, because they have no need. They have no need for mercy.
Those who can do on their own, those that are able to do for
themselves, have no need of mercy. Mercy is granted according to
need. Who gets this mercy? Those who need it. Who has the
need? Those that are sick. The needy. God's going to have mercy on
them. That's the first thing we see.
God's going to have mercy on the sick. Those who need a physician.
And then the next thing we see is this. Those who think themselves
to be whole, they offer up their own sacrifice for righteousness. which is the work of righteousness
that they do with their own hands. And they have no need for Christ
and His righteousness. Do you know why? Because God
will have mercy and not sacrifice. God in mercy will accept only
the perfect work of His Son. He will not accept the imperfect
work of our hands. For He came not to call the righteous,
those righteous in their own eyes. That's who He's talking
about here. Those who are righteous in their own minds and in their
own heart. He didn't come to call them. He came to call sinners
to repentance. Those that are sick. Those that
have need. Now let me ask you, which one
are you? Which one are you? Righteous people have nothing
to repent of, but sinners certainly do. And that's who Christ came
to call, and that's who Christ came to save sinners. God delights in showing mercy
to poor miserable sinners. in acts of mercy and compassion,
more so than all the rituals and all the sacrifices of the
ceremonial law, and especially more so than all the so-called
righteousness that man endeavors to sacrifice to God. That God
will not accept. Mercy is given where mercy is
needed, and it's God who gives mercy, and it's enlightened sinners
that see that they need it. Do you need mercy? Key word,
need. Need. Now I want to quickly give
you five things this morning that has to do with need. That's
our subject, need. My first point of the five is
this. A sovereign God, the God of the Bible, the God this book
declares, has no need. Modern day religion has got this
backwards. God does not need us. He's God. Our love for Christ
adds nothing to Him. Why, He who is the fullness of
the Godhead bodily, we don't add anything to Him, do we? Religion
has made Christ out to be a pleading beggar on the portals of heaven
who loves everybody and just wants so badly for somebody to
love him back. That's not the God of this Bible.
That's not the Christ of the Scriptures. How do folks read
this book and believe such things? I don't understand. They're blinded. That has to be the answer. Their
eyes are blinded to the truth. Men and women act as if the Lord
needs them, but God does not dwell in temples made with hands. Did you know that? And God doesn't
beg for the donations of men to support Him. Never has, never
will. Our God is in the heavens, and
He hath done whatsoever He has pleased. Whatsoever the Lord
pleased, that did He. He hath done, that did He. He
did it in heaven and earth and in the seas and in all deep places.
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He
is the Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made
with hands, neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though He
needed anything. Does God need anything? Seeing
He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things. He's the one
that's given these things, Tom. We're not giving anything to
Him. There's nothing that we do that at all adds anything
to God's essential glory or His eternal happiness. As though
He needed anything. In Psalm chapter 50 verse 12,
God said this, He said, If I was hungry, I wouldn't tell you.
And I wouldn't say or ask you anything. You know why? He doesn't
need to. He said, the world is mine in
the fullness thereof. Man-made religion, I've got to
call it that. Today's religion is not made
by God. Not of God, no sir. How has man-made religion turned
it around so that God is somehow dependent on the sinner to let
the sinner save them? How is it now that salvation
is a collaborative effort between God and the sinner? I'll never
forget as a young boy, a preacher telling me, God has cast His
vote for you, and Satan has cast his vote against you, and the
deciding vote is up to you. Now let me tell you something. If that's true, I'm in big, big
trouble. Big, big trouble. You know why? Because I will not come to Christ
that I might have life. And I cannot come to Christ,
I don't have the ability that I might come. And if God doesn't
give me the ability and make me willing in the day of his
power, I'll never come. It's just that simple. When is
God dependent on his fallen creation to help him in anything? People
say things like, God has no hands but your hands, no feet but your
feet, no voice but your voice, and God laughs and says, I'm
able to raise up these stones in the children of Abraham. That
brings me to the second point that we've really already answered.
Those that are whole have no need. Let me go a step further. Those that are dead have no need. Because that's what we are, spiritually
speaking. Dead in trespasses and sin. Adam,
in the day you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt die. Adam and his wife ate. Adam lived
930 some years. Was God just teasing? Was God
just talking about something he didn't know what he was talking
about? No, he died spiritually. And every single son and daughter
of Adam since, born condemned, born dead, dead in trespasses
and sin, we've got to be given life. Those that are whole have
no need. But those that are sick certainly
do. Have you ever heard a dead man call out for a doctor? Nope. He's dead. He only has one need. He needs life. But those who
think they have life don't need life. Let me tell you a very
scary and alarming truth. There are many who think that
they have life when they really don't. That's so alarming, isn't
it? I know a sure way you can tell
if a sinner has life. Do you know what it is? They
have a need. They have a need. A real need. A desperate need. And it's a continual need. And
it's a supernatural spiritual need. It's a need of healing.
It's a need for life. Spiritual life. Eternal life. And that brings me to the third
point. Those that are sick have great
need. Those that are dead have a greater
need still. Who are those that have great
need? Well, David wrote in Psalm 103
verse 14, he said, God knoweth our frame, He remembers that
we're dust. The problem is, do we remember
that? That's the problem. We don't
remember. Are we conscious of our frame?
Do we remember where we came from? Do we remember that we're
dust? Have we forgotten that we are
such needy people? God says there's none that doeth
good, no not one. God says we are together become
unprofitable. That's what God says about you
and I. Do we admit and confess that
for ourselves? God says that you and I, in and
at our best state, are altogether vanity. All within us is vanity,
and all of us together are nothing but vanity. And the word vanity
simply means empty. We're just empty. He threw us
all together in our best state. Empty. Vain. In and of ourselves,
we are nothing, we have nothing, we can do nothing. And people
will say, well, that's kind of a depressing message. You know,
that just seems so hopeless. That just seems so helpless.
No sir, not at all. Christ did not come to call the
righteous. He came to call sinners to repentance. He came to call those who have
a great need. Do you have a great need? When
we are nothing, when we have nothing, when we can do nothing,
that's when we have a need. And those that are sick have
need of a physician. And I'm telling you, this physician,
that physician is Christ. He's the great physician. He's
the only one that can do for you what needs to be done for
you. Can you sincerely say with the Apostle Paul, I know that
in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing? Paul didn't speak
there concerning someone else, did he? He said, I know that
in me, that is in my flesh. Not in you, not in your flesh,
but in me dwelleth no good thing, nothing good. Is that your experience? Can you speak personally of your
sin and depravity? I know that in me, that is in
my flesh, dwells nothing good, nothing that would commend me
to God, nothing that would cause God to be mindful of me in any
way. God has revealed to me, to some
degree anyway, just what I'm capable of if He would let me
go. What I'm capable of if He'd let
me have my own way. Some idea I have now of the evil
that I'm capable of if God didn't keep me by His power and His
grace. Thank God that His people are
kept by the power of God. 1 Peter 1 verse 5. One day, Nathan
the prophet came to King David. And he told him the story of
a rich man that took a little ewe lamb, a little female lamb
of a poor man. And to this poor man, that little
ewe lamb was, in the Scriptures, like a daughter. You know how
we are with our pets. We get pretty attached to them.
They become family, don't they? But that rich man, he took that
ewe lamb of that poor man and he killed it and he dressed it
for a dinner guest and served it for a meal. Instead of taking
a lamb from the bounty of his own flock, he took this little
ewe lamb from this poor man and his family and killed it. And
do you remember what David did? The Scripture said his anger
was kindled against the man. He wanted to kill him. And the
words out of his mouth were, as the Lord liveth, meaning it's
for certain. If I can get my hands around
his neck, I'll choke the life out of him. I'll personally see
to it. And Nathan said to David four
words that forever changed his life. David, thou art the man. Thou art the man. Oh sinner,
do you see that you are the man, that you are the woman? After
that, David's life was never really the same, but God forgave
him. God said that David had given occasion to the enemies
of the Lord to blaspheme. Oh, I don't want to do that,
do you? I don't want to give this world any reason or occasion
to blaspheme my Lord and Savior because of something that I do.
Oh, David was so ashamed so much that he later wrote on many occasions
praying and asking God for mercy and grace for the poor and needy.
Let me show you that. Turn with me to Psalm chapter
40. Psalm chapter 40. Look at verse 17. David said, Am poor and needy, yet the Lord
thinketh upon me. Thou art my help and my deliverer,
make no terror in O my God. Now by experience, David had
learned some things. It had been revealed to David
that in, by, and through divine providence, through, I might
add, costly mistakes. We're going to make mistakes.
We sure are. Through selfish acts of lust
and even murder, David realized that he had great needs. God
taught David that he was poor and needy. Has the Lord taught
you that? This wasn't something that David just knew some facts
about. He had personally experienced
the poverty of his own soul and his own personal spiritual need. We can only truly know what we've
experienced. Isn't that right? David said,
I'm poor and needy. I am right now poor and needy. I am poor and needy. Not I was
poor and needy. I am poor and needy. That's not
a bad thing. Do you know why? Well, His next
words tell us, Yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Yet the Lord thinketh
upon me. I'm poor and needy, but the Lord
thinketh upon me. Thou art my help and my deliverer. Are you poor and needy? If you
are, it could be Yet the Lord thinketh upon you. Joseph, you
remember Joseph? Joseph was poor and needy. He
was sold into slavery by his brothers. He was made to serve
in Potiphar's house. Potiphar's wife made advances
toward him, and then when he didn't respond, she wrongly accused
Joseph of rape. Joseph, he's there in Potiphar's
house, he ain't got a friend in the world, and the mistress
of the house accuses him of something that he didn't do. He's thrown
into a dark pit in Egypt's dungeon. He was constantly forgotten by
those that he helped. I would say Joseph was poor and
needy, wouldn't you? He was poor and needy right then.
And yet it is then that we read, and the Lord was with Joseph. Yet the Lord thinketh upon me.
Israel begin to march around the city of Jericho. God's going
to bring the walls down. But there's a house on the wall
that cannot fall. You know why? Because there's
a woman there by the name of Rahab the harlot that the Lord's
going to be merciful to. You see, she's got great need.
She's got a great need. She heard some things about Jehovah.
She had heard how God had dried up the Red Sea. She had heard
what had happened to the two kings of the Amorites whom Israel
utterly destroyed. She said, we heard the Word come
before you did. We've heard how your God did
these things. She told the spies, and as soon
as we heard these things, our hearts didn't melt. And there
remained no more courage in any man. And Rahab is telling these
men that she's poor and needy. She's asking them to show kindness
to her. Rahab has a great need. And the
spies said, you remember what they said? They said, our life
for yours. I think they call that substitution.
What about Ruth? Oh, I love the story of Ruth,
don't you? Louie, I know you do. Love the story of Ruth. She was a Moabite. She came from
a heathen country. She served a heathen idol. She now finds herself in a strange
land with her mother-in-law. And she's a beggar. And she's
gleaning what little there is left behind. And then she finds
out later that these were handfuls of purpose left on purpose by
God for her. Oh, dear Ruth, though poor and
needy you are, the Lord thinketh upon thee. He's your helper and your deliverer.
Dear Ruth, you've got a near kinsman Redeemer. His name is
Boaz, and He says to you, I will do the part of a kinsman to thee. Is there anyone here this morning
that's poor and needy? Is there anyone here this morning
that has seen that they're the fallen child of Adam, and that
they are also guilty by practice? Are you distressed? Are you despondent? Are you broke, weary, sinful,
poor, and have a great need? That sounds like those for whom
Christ came to save. That sounds like those for whom
Christ came to die for. Once a great king who would go
to the prison in his kingdom As his custom was, he would release
a prisoner in honor of his so-called gracious visit. Going to be merciful
to somebody today. King first spoke to a man who
said, I don't belong here. I'm basically a good person. How many people you heard say
that? Well, I'm not perfect, but I'm sure not that bad. He
said, I'm basically a good person. He said, I just got in with the
wrong group. Wasn't me who really committed
the crime. I'm just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The
next prisoner that the king went to said, hey, I've straightened
up. I'm straightened up and I'm flying right. I've been rehabilitated. I can now live a productive life. I made a series of bad choices,
but I know what I'm doing now. I've improved. I'm not the same
person I used to be. Then the king came up on this
old boy just crying in his cell. When he saw the king, he said,
sir, depart from me. He said, I'm a sinful man. He
said, I'm guilty. I deserve to be here. He said,
one day in a rage, I got angry and I killed a man and I showed
him no mercy. Therefore, I deserve no mercy.
I deserve exactly what I have coming to me. And the king yelled
to the guard and he said, release this man. This sinner doesn't
belong in here with all these good people. Christ died for
sinners. He came into the world to save
sinners. For when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. That brings me to the fourth
thing. Only God can supply our needs. Philippians chapter 4,
you don't have to turn there. Verse 19, Paul wrote, But my
God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory
by Christ Jesus. That's what we're talking about
this morning. We're talking about needs. We all have need. Need
of food, need of water, need of rain, need of air, need of
sunshine, need of breath. We need our hearts to continue
pumping blood throughout the rest of our body. No doubt God
supplies every single need that we have. His Son and His rain
fall on the just and the unjust. It goes for unbelievers the same
as believers. But those are not the things
that Paul is talking about there in Philippians chapter 4. There
are two things worth mentioning here. First, God is the one who
does the supplying. God shall supply all your need. Now that word supply here means
to cram full. I just love that. It means to
furnish, to accomplish, to complete, to satisfy. It means to fulfill. It means to fill up. It means
cram full. I love the thought that God shall
cram you full of what you need. And that being what He requires
and what His justice demands. God shall complete, satisfy,
fulfill, fill up every need. Now secondly, notice that Paul
says that God shall supply all your needs. Singular, not needs,
plural. That's important. The word need
here comes from a Greek word that means requirement. It means
demand. God supplies. He's satisfied. He fulfills. He crams full. He completes every requirement
and demand of the holy law and justice of God. How does He do
so? He tells us right here. But my
God shall supply all your need. How? According to His riches
in glory by Christ Jesus. That's how He does it. And that
brings me to the last point. Jesus Christ is the one thing
needful. He sure is. He's the one thing
needful. He's the good part that can never
be taken away. There's no need for me to go
into the whole story about the day that the Lord came to Bethany
for dinner with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. You remember the
story well. Mary is sitting at the feet of
Christ, hanging on to every word He sings. And Martha, well, she's
cumbered about much serving. She's busy in the kitchen. She's
preparing the meal. She's doing it all. And there
sits Mary in there at the Lord's feet. So she comes in and she
asks the Lord if He cared that Mary left her to do all the work.
And the Lord told Martha that she was careful and troubled
about many things. You know what? A lot of God's
people are troubled and careful about so many things. The Lord's response to Martha
here It's direct and simple and it cuts to the chase as they
say. We do good to heed the Lord's
advice ourselves. So insert your name here. I'm
going to. David. David. You're careful and troubled about
many things. That word careful means anxious. And the word troubled means disturbed. By nature, you and I are so careful
and troubled, we're so anxious and we're so disturbed about
so many things that just don't matter in the overall scheme
of things. Especially the overall scheme
of eternal things. How many times have I worried
and fretted about things that never happen? And how many times
have I worried and concerned myself with things that did happen,
but they weren't all that bad. Matter of fact, in the providence
of God, God worked them together for my good and for His glory.
Just one thing needful. One thing that shall never be
taken away from us. That was the part that Mary chose.
She sat at His feet. She listened to His every word.
May God enable us to see and to understand that Jesus Christ
is the one thing needful. If I have Him, then I have everything
that I need. Isn't that what we've been talking
about? Do you have a need? Or do you need not? Those of
you who have no need, I leave you with the words of our Lord
in Revelation chapter 3 verse 17. He said, Because thou sayest,
I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. There are some who said, I'm
rich, I'm increased with goods, and I don't have need of nothing. And to them the Lord said, and
knowest not, you don't know this, that you are wretched, you are
miserable, you are poor and blind and naked. Wretched, miserable,
poor, blind, naked. No covering, no righteousness
of our own. Those that are whole. Those who
are able. Those who can do. Remember, they
don't have a need. May God show you that you're
not able. May God show you that you cannot
do so that you might have a need. Only He can supply all your need,
all your requirements for you. It's called substitution, and
it's the good news of the Gospel. May God be pleased to add His
blessing to His Word.