Good morning. If you would like,
join me in Luke chapter 7. Stan just read to us the same
account recorded in Matthew chapter 11. And as we read these scriptures
and as I go through this message, my topic is, my focus is, is
Christ here? That's what I want us to dwell upon this morning, is Christ
here. Immediately before this account,
Luke records the healing of the centurion's servant and the raising
of the widow's son from the dead. Now let's begin reading in Luke
7, verse 16. And there came a fear on all,
and they glorified God, saying, that a great prophet is risen
up among us, and that God hath visited his people. And this
rumor of him, of our Lord, went forth throughout all Judea and
throughout all the region round about. And the disciples of John
showed him of all these things. And John calling unto him two
of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that
should come, or look we for another? When the men were coming to him,
they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art
thou he that should come, or look we for another? And in that
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, and blessed
is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. I'm going to start my message
and we're just going to go through this account. And we're going
to look at it line by line. And then we're going to look
at it and see if it has anything for us today. This historical
account, can it be applied to me today? On this side of history,
us looking back, we know that in just a couple of sentences,
our Lord will declare, there is not a greater prophet than
John the Baptist. It's easy for us to hold a man
in high regard. When we look back on these saints
of old, we look back and we tend to remember all the good that's
written about them. And we tend to think, surely
this man who declared, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. would have no doubts and would
have no fears. As we tend to remember these
men as a little better, a little higher than we are, the saints
in the Old Testament or in the New Testament did the same as
us. They tended to hold the men of
the Old Testament a little higher. Hold your place here and turn
over with me to James. James chapter five. James chapter five, verse 17. James 5, 17. We read, Elias, or Elijah, was
a man. What kind of man was he? Elias
was a man subject to like passions as we are. Do you have days When it's almost
as if you're walking with the Lord, you're bold in the Lord,
you're strong, your faith is confident, you've just been blessed. Elijah had those days. When he
stood on the mount before the 400 prophets of Baal, He was
mighty in the Lord. He was bold. But there are other days when
the heavens are as brass, when you can't pray, when your heart
is heavy, when the weight of your sin falls upon you. The enemy is
at the gate and there is no help. Elijah knew this feeling too.
Immediately after, standing so boldly before those prophets
of Baal, Jezebel said, I'm going to kill you. And he fled from
that woman. He knew he was a man, as we are,
with like passions. Back in Luke, As we read in Matthew's account,
John is in prison. And he calls to him two of his
disciples. And we don't have recorded here
what was on his heart, what was in his mind. We just have that
he called two disciples. Was John knowing his own heart,
being a man? Knowing his own heart, a heart
just like our heart that is deceitful above all things, was he possibly
concerned that he had been deceived? That he had behold the Lamb of
God? Was he concerned he had been
deceived? Or perhaps, As a faithful pastor, as one who is concerned
for those under his care, either knowing or suspecting
that the end of his ministry was nigh, he would point them
one more time to the Lamb. At any rate, he calls two men
to him and he charges them to go to our Lord with one question
at the end of verse 19. Art thou he that should come,
or look we for another? John's concern, the question,
the burning of his heart at this time, is Christ here These two men leave John and
they go to Christ, who is going about doing good, verse 21. And in that same hour, he, our
Lord, cured many of their infirmities and plagues and of evil spirits,
and unto many that were blind he gave sight. And they came
to him, and they asked just as they were instructed, Art thou
he that should come, or do we look for another? Think of all the ways our Lord
could have answered that question. He could have answered, I am,
just as he will do in a short time in the garden when the soldiers
came to take him. He could have declared all the
marvelous works he had done. He could have declared his miraculous
birth to them. But our Lord, in his answer,
declared unto them the gospel. Verse 22. 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, and blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me. May the Lord make this precious
to us. What did the Lord Jesus Christ
come to do? Turn over to Matthew chapter
5. Matthew chapter 5. Verse 17, Lord Jesus Christ is speaking
and he says, thank not that I am come to destroy the law or the
prophets. I am not come to destroy, but
to fulfill. Turn over a couple of pages to
Matthew 9. Matthew 9, verse 12. Let's start in verse 11. 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. You can go back to Luke. Speaking of the law, our Lord
said in Matthew 5, I am not come to destroy it, but to fulfill
it. Speaking of those that he came
to save, He said, I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance. Paul summed it all up in 1 Timothy
1, 15. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. That is why he came. When these two disciples of John
came to Christ, He wasn't found surrounded by fine, upstanding
folks, the leaders of the community and of the church. No, they found
him surrounded by those that were in great need. Those with
infirmities, plagues, evil spirits, and blind. Those about him were
not just a little wounded, they didn't need a Band-Aid and they
would go about their business and they were fine. These people
were in great need. He was found surrounded, as he
always is, by those in need of a great physician, the great
physician. He was found with those who,
like the woman with the issue of blood, who had sold all that
they had, exhausted every means that they had of themselves,
but were still unhealed, still in misery, who came to him, having
heard of him who is able and willing to heal, and they threw
all their hope that He might be gracious and merciful to them." That Christ is able and willing
to heal those of us in need is indeed good news, but it's not
the whole gospel. There were many who followed
Christ for a while because of His miracles, but when adversity
came, truth was told, when he said, I will have mercy on whom
I will have mercy. They didn't believe that. They
rejected that gospel and they left him. They forsook him. Indeed,
John had heard of the great miracles that Christ had performed, but
that didn't settle his heart. He still sent those two disciples. Art thou he that should come,
or do we look for another? How then did our Lord preach
the gospel to these men? What in his answer was it that
gave them strength and encouragement when they returned to John? Verse
22. Then Jesus answering said unto
them, go your way and tell John what things ye have seen and
heard. How that. Lord didn't just say
the blind see the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed. He said,
tell John how that. Tell John in what manner these
people are healed, are made whole. When these men returned to John,
was their report, yep, John, it's as we heard. The blind are
made to see, the lame walk, dead or raised. It's just like we
heard. Or did they go back with something
more along these lines? John, we saw blind men, those who could
not see, who were led to Him and He healed them. And He was so kind to them, so
loving a word, and their eyes were opened. We saw those that could not walk,
who were laid upon their bed, who were carried to him. And
he went over to them, and he spoke a word, and they were made
whole. We saw lepers, those whom the
law condemns and forces away, who cry out, unclean, unclean. And John, Jesus of Nazareth,
went over to them, and he touched them. And he had compassion upon
them, and he cleansed them. that deaf man who had never heard
a single sound, who could not hear that there was a man who
could open his ears. When he came to him, he opened
his ears, and the first words that that man heard were full
of grace and truth. John, there was one, brought
to him dead, And he said, I say unto thee, arise, and that man
lives. John never before has a man spoke
like this man. With the kindness, the gentleness,
the love that he showed, John, he healed all those that
came to him in great need, who had no other means, and he did
it so lovingly, so kind, so graciously. These men returned to John and
told him all that they had seen and heard. How that Jesus of
Nazareth was a man able and willing to make the blind, the lame,
the lepers, the deaf, and the dead whole again. Hold your place
here and turn with me to John chapter 9. John chapter nine and we're going
to skip around this a little bit. But this is the account
of the blind man who received his sight and he was healed on
the Sabbath day and the Pharisees brought him and questioned him.
And we're basically just going to look at his answers. John
nine verse one. And as Jesus passed by, he saw
a man which was blind from his birth. Skip down to verse 10. Then said they unto him, unto
the blind man that was blind, how were thine eyes opened? He
answered and said, a man that is called Jesus made clay and
anointed mine eyes and said unto me, go to the pool of Siloam
and wash. And I went and washed, and I
received my sight. Then said they unto him, where
is he? He said, I know not. Verse 17. They, the Pharisees, say unto
the blind man again, what sayest thou of him that he hath opened
thine eyes? He said, he is a prophet. Verse 25. He answered and said, whether
he be a sinner or no, I know not. One thing I know, that whereas
I was blind, now I see. Verse 30. The man answered and
said unto them, Why, herein is a marvelous thing, that ye know
not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now
we know that God heareth not sinners, but if any man be a
worshiper of God and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the
world began, was it not heard that any man opened the eyes
of one that was born blind? If this man were not of God,
He could do nothing. This man, in answering the Pharisees,
never went one jot beyond what he had seen and heard. That's what the two disciples
of John returned to tell him. And that's all I want to do this
morning. I want to tell I want to simply declare what I've seen
and heard. That brings us to the end of
this account. Now, we've looked at it. This was an account. This is
a historical happening. These events happened. Is it relevant to me today? A few weeks ago, there was a
discussion at my house concerning the number of drivers, new drivers,
we have in this congregation. Young men and ladies who are
just now learning to drive, got their learning permits. And in
a very short time, as I thought on that, I started thinking on
what's the next steps. There's things that happen. You get a learner's permit, you
get to drive, you're starting to leave the house. In a short
period of time, these children are going to go out on their
own. They have to go out into the world and make their way. And we parents, are going to
lose the ability to say, you live in my house. You follow
my rules. You'll attend service with me
every time we go. There is one thing I am confident
of. Every parent in here desires
that their child, each child individually, might be saved. It is foremost on every parent's
mind. As they go out, they will be
invited to attend at other places. They will be tempted and lured
by the riches of this world. May they, may God give them the
ability, the desire, that as they go out, they have this one
question in mind. Is Christ here? When we go out, when we travel,
I'll frequently look and try to find, is there a church we've
not heard of where I'm going on vacation? Is there perhaps
a congregation that's meeting? Not so long ago, this place wouldn't
have been on anybody's map. But there were 12 here. They
were meeting. When we go out, is Christ here? And as we ask that question,
as we go out, how is that question going to be answered? in much
the same way as it was in our text. Today we have the complete word
of God. Before this word was complete, physical miracles were the evidence
that God was with a speaker, was with a man. Those physical miracles are no
longer needed to be performed. We have the complete word. But that doesn't mean that there
aren't miracles performed every day, still today. But there are spiritual miracles,
not physical. When we go to a church, how can
we know is Christ here? When we gather in this building,
how can we know is Christ here? In so many respects, we have
a great advantage being on this side of Calvary from those who
were in the Old Testament and the New Testament even. We have
fully revealed how that the Lord makes whole those that are in
great need. I stand before you this morning
as one who is in great need. Just as that man in John 9 was
born blind, I was born blind. Not physically blind, but spiritually
blind. I was unable to see the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I was born spiritually lame.
I was unable to come to Christ. As that man in John 5 that laid
at the pool of water waiting for the angel to trouble that
water, he couldn't get there. Even if he saw the water troubled,
he had no means to get there. I could not come to Christ. I
was born with a dreadful, fatal disease. It consumes me. It defines me. I and all mankind
outside of Christ must declare unclean. I'm unclean. Sin is who and what I am and
no man can do anything for me because we're all in the same
boat. We all have the same disease. I was born spiritually deaf.
I was unable to hear the word of salvation, unable to hear
the gracious words of Christ. And I was born dead, dead in
trespasses and sins, just as Lazarus lay dead and stinking
in the tomb. That's my natural condition before
God. May God enable us to hear the
good news of the gospel for men and women, young and old, who,
like myself, are born under the curse of the law, who, while
we live in the flesh, are dead before God, who are unable, being
dead, to enter into life. Listen to what I've seen and
heard The Lord Jesus Christ had mercy
on this sinner. Is your condition desperate?
Do you think you don't know? You don't know how sinful I am,
how wretched I am, what I've done against the Lord. You can't be worse than me. But
if you won't hear that from me, listen to Paul, the Apostle Paul. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Of whom I am chief. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
turn away the chief of sinners. If he didn't turn away the chief,
he won't turn away any other sinner that comes to him. Come
to him today. Cast your all upon him. Beg him
for mercy, for he delights in mercy. The Lord of glory knows
our condition. He saw us when we were separated
from God. He saw us when we were unable
to keep the law. He saw us when we were unable
and unwilling to come to him. that we might have life. He saw
us and he saw that there was none that could help. So he took
it upon himself. He came to us. He took upon him
the form of a servant. He left the eternal glory of
heaven to dwell with men As a man on the earth, he became dust. He walked in the flesh. He honored
God in all that he did. The law of God examined him. It looked upon him and it was
thoroughly satisfied. How could it not be? He is God
Almighty. What glorious news that the Lord
of glory came to the earth to dwell as a man and fulfill his
law. That's not all the gospel. I'm still in my sin. The condemnation
of my nature still abides on me if all he did was come and
fulfill the law for himself. Oh, the wisdom of God, the justice
of God, the holiness of God. The things which are impossible
with men are possible with God. Behold, the Lamb of God, the
spotless, sinless man, Jesus of Nazareth, God the Son, went
to Calvary's cross where he bore our sins in his body. He who
knew no sin was made sin. He was made what we are, in our
place, on our behalf, as our substitute. He bore all our infirmities. He endured the punishment that
was due to us. The wrath of God fell on our
sin in him. and he paid the price too. His
precious blood was shed and he died. Rejoice, O soul, thy sins,
which are many, are forgiven. Into the tomb our precious Redeemer
was laid till the third day when he of his own power took up his
life again, proving once and for all that the ransom has been
fully paid. And as he became what I am, he
bestowed upon all those whom he loved, whom he suffered, who
he shed his blood for, who he died for, he bestowed upon all
those that he came to save what he accomplished for us, his righteousness,
the very righteousness of God. The thought of our children leaving
our protection and the fear of the world's riches luring them
from sitting under the sound of the gospel led me to consider
this message. For all of us, whenever we're
called to go, we want to know, is Christ here? And it's especially important
when we gather together to worship. But more important than is Christ
here, is he among this congregation? Is he with the pastor, the teacher,
preaching the message? More important than all of that,
I can be found in the congregation. I can be found listening to the
messages and miss Christ. Is Christ here? Is he in my heart? Does he dwell with me? If I have not Christ in me, there
is no hope of glory. Is Christ here? Is he in my heart? If he is, I will see and hear
how that I was dead, and he came and died. He became death for me, that
I might live through him." All glory, all honor, all praise
to the Lord Jesus Christ. our Redeemer. Amen.