Good evening. If you would, open
back to Matthew chapter 9. Matthew 9, and let's read verses
10 through 13 again. Matthew 9 verse 10, And it came
to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans
and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And
when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why
eateth your master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard
that, he said unto them, they that be whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that
meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. Here of late, like several of
you, doctors have been a focus of attention. And as I was about
to have my surgery performed, I found myself a little surprised
as the day approached my calmness. Every now and again, a bit of
doubt would enter and the thought would occur, what are you concerned
about? This doctor that you're going
to go see is but a tool in the great physician's hand. Calm down. As I studied and tried to prepare
for tonight, that became my focus of attention, our great physician. Who is he? What is his area of
expertise? What disease is he the physician
for? How does he cure and his ongoing
care? In this world, as we move from
place to place, we often have to find a new primary care physician. And when we're younger, we don't
care. Just give me a doctor to sign
the form that says I came to see the doctor and I get my insurance
discount. Move on with life. But as we get older, we begin
to search for new doctors. And we want someone that's capable,
someone responsible, someone knowledgeable, someone that shows
a little interest, that's caring. And specifically, we want the
doctor that can deal with the condition we're having at the
time. Does our great physician meet
that bill? Let's consider this man, Jesus
Christ, the Lord, who is our great physician. Above being the physician, though,
he is Lord. He is sovereign. He is the reigning
king. In 1st Timothy 6, Paul wrote
of him, he is the blessed and only potentate, the king of kings,
and lord of lords. And again, he wrote in Ephesians,
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, hath put
all things under his. under the Lord Jesus Christ feet. Our great physician sits upon
his throne and he does as he wills. We have a physician who
is able. On this earth, such men that
are in this position of authority, they typically surround themselves
with people like themselves. People of power, people of influence,
people of wealth. But our king, while he walked
the earth in the flesh, he was found with publicans and sinners. The king of all the earth came
and he displayed such meekness, such compassion, such tenderness,
such love that the common people heard him gladly. In Luke 18,
our Lord spoke a parable concerning a Pharisee and a publican. And
he said that the Pharisee prayed thus with himself. I thank thee
that I am not as other men. You've probably come across such
people in your life who, while they won't say those
words out loud, typically, they do give off that air. And when
you're in their presence, You don't hear them gladly. A lot of times our skin's crawling
and we want to leave. Our Lord was heard gladly of
the common people. Although he above all men has
the right and is separate from sinners, he is not ashamed to call them
brethren. When the sick, the infirm, the
deaf, blind, lame, even lepers came to him, he touched them. He didn't recoil. He didn't say,
I'll take care of you. Meet me around back. But he touched them. He had compassion
upon them. And he healed them. Our Lord,
our physician, is kind and caring, and he has the authority to heal. The doctors we go to today are
board certified. They've been examined by others. They've been examined by their
peers, and they have been declared healers. Our great physician
has a far greater authority than a board. Peter proclaimed in
Acts 10, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost
and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that
were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. When we search for our doctors,
We want a doctor with a proven record, a doctor who has treated
the disease that we have successfully. Hold your place here and turn
over to Luke chapter 7. In Luke chapter 7, we'll start
reading verse 21 and listen to the healings of our great physician. Luke 7 verse 21. And in the same hour, he cured
many of their infirmities and plagues and of evil spirits. And unto many that were blind,
he gave sight. Then Jesus, answering, said unto
them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and
heard. How that the blind see, the lame
walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised. To the poor the gospel is preached. Our Lord is a successful physician
for our diseases. This has been a brief, very brief
look at our Lord's character as a physician. And we could
continue through all time. But suffice it to say, our great
physician is the Lord of glory. He has the ability and the authority
to heal. He is kind, meek, gentle, caring,
and he is a proven healer. While our Lord is the great physician
who heals our physical ailments, he specializes in a particular
disease that only he can cure. Go back to Matthew 9, verse 2. Matthew 9, verse 2. And behold, they brought to him
a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their
faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. So very often when we're sick,
particularly, it seems, when we're having to go into a hospital, Getting a diagnosis is a difficult
process. So often when we're in the hospital
ourselves or with a loved one, and we're sending out status
updates, how are things going? There are people that can't be
there with you that want to know, how's the loved one getting along? And so, so very often. We send
out a note that says something like, they think it might be
this, and they're going to treat like this. But if that doesn't
work, they think maybe this is where we're going to go, and
they'll do this. Uncertainty. They're just not
sure. This man, sick of the palsy,
any doctor, any person could look at him and say, that is
a sick man. But when the great physician
looked upon him, he got to the root of his problem, thy sins. Do we realize our disease, our
sickness is the same as this man? Thy sins. Sin is our disease. Sin has corrupted
us through and through. And the only physician capable
of dealing with our condition is our Lord and Savior, Christ
Jesus. A couple of weeks ago, I had
surgery to address a heart condition. I had known about this condition
for a long time. I had even talked to several
doctors about this condition. And they said, you're fine. It's nothing to worry about.
Then a day came when a doctor said, maybe we should look at
this a little closer. and then the truth of the matter
was revealed. This could become a life-threatening
disease. This is something that needs
to be addressed. The spiritual condition of all
of Adam's children is similar to my heart condition. The reason I had to be treated
was probably there from the time I was born. It was probably on
my heart the whole time or whatever it was. And as I aged, it revealed
itself a little more and a little more and a little more. Isn't
that a familiar story? We are born into this life and
we start our days and our sinful nature doesn't take very long
to show up. me, me, me, mine, mine, mine.
And as we age, those little sins that we sometimes think, oh,
that's so cute, when little babies, but they become more mature.
and more prominent and more disturbing and more sinful. And the effects of our disease,
the effects of sin, reveal themselves in our symptoms. We get sicker. We get older. We get frailer. In our pride, we strive to heal
ourselves. We say, I can keep the law. I can satisfy God's requirements. Just like Israel of old said,
all that the Lord hath spoken, we will do. Our conscience plagues us. We
go seeking help. Well, join a church. That's what
you do. You join a church. Go and join
the church and the religious leaders, they all tell us the
same thing. You're fine. All you have to
do is do what I say and you'll have a healthy, wealthy, happy
life. And still, the symptoms of our
disease worsen. As the woman with the issue of
blood, we spend all our living on physicians who cannot heal. Then, one blessed day, the Lord
is pleased to cross that sinner's path with a preacher of the gospel who declares, the symptoms that
you're trying to treat are not your problem. They're not the
disease. You're not getting to the root
of the matter. You have a disease, and it is
a fatal disease. But there is a man, one man,
only one man, who is the great physician, and he has the cure
for your disease. Now the disease being diagnosed
The prognosis is death. The wages of sin is death. And that man or woman whom the
Lord's word goes forth is pricked in their heart and they cry out,
what shall we do? And the word responds, repent. of sin being such a deadly disease,
infecting everything about the sinner, it's impossible for us
to repent. We need God, for He alone can
cure our disease, but our sin makes it impossible for us to
go to Him, to get to Him, to draw near to Him. But behold
the love, the tenderness, the mercy of our physician. We cannot come to him, so he
came to us. Turn with me to Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 3. For what the law could not do
in that it was weak through the flesh. We cannot cure ourselves. We cannot get to God who can
cure us. Weak through the flesh. sending
His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh. In order to heal us, our Lord,
our Savior, our Physician, Himself took our infirmities and bare
our sicknesses. Bearing our disease, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. He gave himself. He suffered
our disease and he died. The just for the unjust and he
has fully redeemed us. Turn with me now to Psalm 56. Our doctors here, once they have cured us to their ability, in general they say, thanks for
coming, don't forget to pay the bill on the way out, and come
back when you're sick again. Our physician has healed us. fully, totally, completely. The sinner to whom God says,
son, thy sins be forgiven thee, can rest. Thy sins are gone. God himself cannot find them. But speaking for myself, How
often do I hear the words echo in my heart, oh fool and slow
of heart. How very often I doubt and fear. Psalm 56, verse three. What time I am afraid, I will
trust in thee. Do you chastise yourself over
your doubts and fears like I do? Why should I fear? The Lord is
for me. Verse 9, the last sentence, or
the last few words, for God is for me. Why should we fear? The Lord is on our side. But that doesn't make our fears
any less real. They're real. David, the man
after God's own heart, penned this psalm. And he wrote, what
time I am afraid. The Lord, our great physician,
in tender mercy and loving kindness, has saved to the uttermost all
those for whom he died. We are securely robed in his
righteousness. But at the same time that we're
robed in his righteousness, I am still robed in this flesh. I still struggle with my sinful
nature. We are saved from eternal death,
but we are not yet saved from these earthly woes and burdens. Therefore, and I find the more
I learn of Christ, the more I see of his glory, the more I see
of how useless I am. The more I cry out, verse one,
be merciful unto me, O God. God alone can show me mercy. God alone can provide the remedy
of Christ that I need. Be merciful unto me, O God, for
man would swallow me up. Who is this man? So often I am
guilty. I'll read a phrase like this
and I'll go, that means so-and-so or that might mean so-and-so. This man is this old nature fighting
against me, my enemy, my flesh. Paul said, for the good that
I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Be merciful unto me, O God, for
man would swallow me up. He fighting daily oppresseth
me. Mine enemies, oh, how great they
are that are in this body. mine enemies would daily swallow
me up, for they be many that fight against me, O thou most
high. What time I am afraid, I will
trust in thee. After a long illness or an operation,
do we not all become afraid? Seems like we have a heightened
awareness of any little thing that occurs to the particular
body part that the surgery happened on or the illness affected most. And any change, any little soreness,
and immediately that fear comes back up. Oh no, it's coming back. The surgery didn't work. My enemies, my old nature watches
me constantly and says, aha, if you were saved, you wouldn't
have done that. And you most certainly wouldn't
have thought that. And I'm powerless against him. Fears begin to surface. Could
Christ love such a one as I? Could He forgive so great a sinner
as this dark heart? Thank God He has recorded in
His Word what time I am afraid I will trust in Thee. Because
of our Lord's perfect, complete, full salvation, he provides for
our ongoing care. He's not a physician who provided
the cure and then leaves it to us to make it effectual. But
he brings the cure, he brings himself, and he abides with those
he loves. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Listen how he cares for us in
verse four. In God, as Christ dwells in me,
in God, I will praise his word. In God, because of Christ, I
have put my trust. I will not fear what flesh can
do unto me. That old man can bring accusation
after accusation against me, but what can he do? It is Christ
that died, yea rather, that has risen again. And he is my great
physician, who has the authority, the ability, and the willingness
to make me whole. By his blood, He has cured me
of the wretched disease of sin forever, and he shall see me
safely home. I'm done, but as I close, how
accessible is our Lord? Sometimes as we research, we
find the doctor that we're just certain, this is the doctor I
need. We finally settle on that doctor,
and we call him up and say, I need to make an appointment. And the
response we receive is, I'm sorry, we're not accepting new patients. Is it possible that in my need,
the great physician will deny me access? Is he no longer accepting
patients? Listen to our master. Come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. And if any man thirst, let him
come unto me and drink. Are ye eat up with sin? Are you
without hope? Are you dead in trespasses and
sins? and come to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the great and only physician
with the remedy for sin, and he delights to show mercy. Come unto him.