Turn with me, if you would, now
to Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4. For our message
this morning, I'd like to backtrack just a little bit and go back
into Matthew chapter 4. One line caught my attention
and it just blessed my heart so much. And I want us to dwell
on it for a minute together. It's the last four words of verse
24. And he healed them. Sovereignly, powerfully, completely, kindly, tenderly, lovingly, graciously, mercifully, He healed them. Now that's a declaration right
there. That is a declaration. That is an announcement. If we have an announcement to
make, that's an announcement. That is a statement. That tells us who did what. And who gets the credit for it? And who gets the glory for it? And that's the true declaration
of Christ. That is the gospel of the word. It very plainly
tells us who he is and what he did and who he did it to and
what result it brought. And who gets the credit for it?
And who gets the glory for it? That is the declaration of Christ.
That is the declaration of the gospel. And I believe one of
the things that I truly love most about the declaration of
the gospel is not only is it sovereign. Oh, I love the sovereignty
of the declaration of the gospel. But not only is it sovereign
and powerful and complete, I despise the false message of an incomplete
and weak salvation from an unsovereign God that's being preached. I
hate it. I love our sovereign, powerful,
complete message of salvation. But not only is it that, I love
the kindness of the declaration. I'm so drawn to it. I love the tenderness of the
declaration. I love the tenderness of this
man. I love the love. I just do. I love the mercy. I love the
grace. You can hear the kindness and
the tenderness. You can hear it. You know it's
there. You can hear the love and you can hear the grace and
you can hear the mercy in those four words. Just listen to them. And he healed them. You can hear
it. You can hear it. In just hearing
that, we can enter into the compassion that made Him want to. Do you know the reason why He
would heal anybody? Do you know, honestly, the reason
why our Lord would heal anybody? Why would He do that? Do you
know why? He wanted to. That's the reason. Everything that our Lord does,
He does it because He wants to. Everything. Even in the eternal
healing that He provided from our sin, in bearing that sin
in His own body on the tree, He bore that sin because He wanted
to. Just before he went to the cross,
he told his disciples, and I love this. Just before he went, he
told his disciples with desire, I have desired to eat this Passover
with you. Knowing what it represented.
God's Lamb being slain for sin. He said, with desire, I have
desired to partake of this with you. He said, for this cause
came I into the world. This is the only reason I came. And in that moment when the time
came, God the Father laid all of that iniquity from the people
of God on Christ, all of it. What that means in our layman's
terms is everything you've done, everything that your conscience
says, yeah, I did that. God the Father took that and
laid it on Christ. You know, that just, ah, God the Father took that and
laid it on Christ. And Christ stood there, oh, in
Gethsemane, He said, I'm so sorrowful right now, I could die. I could
just die. Oh, it hurts. It just hurts. God the Father took all of that
iniquity from all of His people and He laid it on Christ and
He dealt with Christ and He judged Christ accordingly in that iniquity. And do you know why God the Father
did that? He wanted to. It pleased the Lord to bruise
Him in the stead of His people. It pleased the Father to make
Christ to be sin, even though Christ knew no sin. It pleased
the Father to make Christ to be the sin of His people so that
His people could be made the righteousness of Christ, the
perfection of Christ. The whole thing was done sovereignly,
powerfully, and completely. But it was done kindly and tenderly
and lovingly, mercifully, graciously. And that's His glory in the whole
thing. The beauty of it, the perfection of it. How God could
be just against sin and still justify His sinful people. in a way, and He did it in a
way, that holiness said, I'm satisfied. And the law said, I'm satisfied. And justice said, I'm satisfied. And God said, I'm satisfied. Christ walked out of His tomb
because He had to walk out of His tomb. Everything was satisfied. Even death was satisfied. Think about that. Death said,
I'm satisfied. He had to walk out. In the same way that a sign was
put on top of His cross while He was hanging there that said, this is Jesus of Nazareth,
the King of the Jews. the king of the sinners. In that
same way, a sign could have been put at the top of the opening
of his tomb that said, and he healed them. What a line, what a statement. I want to just take a few minutes
here to enjoy our great physician. our great physician in who he
is and what he's done and who he's done it for. Matthew 4 verse
23 says, and Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their
synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing
all manner of sickness among and all manner of disease among
the people. And his fame went throughout
all Syria, and they brought unto him all sick people that were
taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were
possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those
that had the palsy, and he healed them. And there followed him
great multitudes of people from Galilee and from Decapolis and
from Jerusalem and from Judea and from beyond Jordan. Now,
I don't want this to just be an outline and I don't want this
to just be a speech. I want to tell us something. I want to sincerely tell us something. Never will you find in the scripture,
One sick person who came to the Lord Jesus Christ and didn't
receive a healing. Never. Never. Turn with me over to Matthew
12. Matthew 12 verse 15, it says,
but when Jesus knew it, He withdrew Himself from thence, and great
multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. Who did He
leave out? None of them. Look at Matthew
14. Verse 14, And Jesus went forth and saw
a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them,
and He healed their sick. Why did He do that? He was moved
with compassion toward them. He wanted to. He did it. He saw
them. And that's what He wanted to
do. And that's what He did. Look at Matthew 15, verse 30. And great multitudes came unto
Him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed,
and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed
them insomuch that the multitude wondered when they saw the dumb
to speak, the maimed to behold, the lame to walk, and the blind
to see, and they glorified the God of Israel." Look at Matthew 19. Matthew 19 verse one. And it
came to pass that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he
departed from Galilee and came into the coasts of Judea beyond
Jordan and great multitudes followed him and he healed them there. Look at Matthew 21 verse 14. And the blind and the lame came
to Him in the temple and He healed them. One more. Go over to Luke chapter 4. Luke 4 verse 40 says, Now when the sun was setting
and they that had any, all they that had any sick with divers
diseases brought them unto him and he laid his hands on every
one of them and healed them. Every one of them. Every one
of them. Now there's something that I
want us to understand about this. There is one common denominator
in every person that he healed. Every one of them was sick. Every one of them. Our Lord did
not heal every soul in every place. He healed every soul that was
sick. When he came into town, can you
imagine, can you envision what life would have been like when
the Lord walked the earth? Great multitudes followed him. We just read it over and over
and over. Our text said his fame went out. People knew about him. They knew
his name. And when he came into town, everywhere
he went, this is the question that went out. The buzz went
through town. Is anybody sick? One man would call his neighbor,
don't you have a son that's sick? Is anybody sick? Because the
great physician is coming. He's coming, he's coming here. You know, that is still the cry
to this very day. Is anybody sick? Is anybody sick? Are you sick? Are you sick? Walk up to people. Are you sick? No. Okay. Are you sick? There is only one
criteria for being healed by the great physician. All you
have to be is sick. That's it. That is it. Are you sick? Are we sick? Are we sick? Every soul who is
not sick is going to get passed by. Every one of them. But every soul who is sick, the
great physician is coming. And he's never lost a patient.
And there's never been a disease he could not heal. And there's
never been a patient turned away. Never. It didn't matter how small the
sickness was. It didn't matter how great the
sickness was. He healed them all. He healed them all. And we can
go to him for the smallest need that we have. But the good news is we can go
to Him for the greatest need that we have. And there is no
greater need that we have than to be healed from the sickness
of our sin, the utter sickness of our sin. And here's what I
want to tell you. If you have it, if you have it,
You know, you could walk up to people and say, do you have cancer?
No. Do you have cancer? Yes. Well,
concerning sin, if you have it, meaning if it has been revealed
to you that you have it, we all have it. But if God has revealed to us
that we have it. If we know that we have it, and
if we desperately need to be healed of it, then Christ is
coming for you. Christ is coming for you. If
you have it, this sickness of sin, if you have it and you know you
have it and you desperately need to be healed of it, Christ is
coming for you. That's the message that I've
been sent with. That's what I have literally been told to say. You
are the candidate he's looking for. A physician is looking for one
type of person, a sick person, somebody who's sick. And the
question is, is that you? And is that, is that anybody
here? Anybody here? Look right here in Luke chapter
5, verse 18 says, Luke 5, 18, it says, and behold,
men brought in a bed, a man which was taken with a palsy. And they
sought means to bring him in and to lay him before him. And
when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because
of the multitude, they went upon the housetop and let him down
through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith,
he said unto him, man, thy sins are forgiven thee. And the scribes
and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh
blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God
alone? That's right. But when Jesus perceived their
thoughts, He answering, said unto them, What reason ye in
your hearts? Whether is easier to say, Thy
sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Rise up and walk? but that
you may know that the son of man hath power upon earth to
forgive sins, he said unto the sick of the palsy, I say unto
thee, arise and take up thy couch and go into thine house. And
immediately he rose up before them and took up that whereon
he lay and departed to his own house, glorifying God." I would
love to have witnessed that man glorifying God while he walked
out with his bed under his arm. Verse 26, they were all amazed
and they glorified God and were filled with fear saying, we have
seen strange things today. And after these things, he went
forth and saw a publican named Levi sitting at the receipt of
custom. And he said unto him, follow
me. And he left all, rose up and followed him. And Levi made
him a great feast in his own house. And there was a great
company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. But
their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying,
Why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners? Why is
he so drawn to sinners? And Jesus answering said unto
them, They that are whole need not a physician, but they that
are sick. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. That's who I came for. That's
who I came for. Is anybody sick with sin? Does anybody cry, I'm a wretched
sinner before God? I am completely infected with
sin and I need a great physician. If so, do this. All right? If so, do this. There's something to do. Turn
with me to Mark chapter 10. Mark 10 verse 46, it says, And
they came to Jericho, and as he went out of Jericho with his
disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus,
the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. And if
you are sick with sin, put yourself in this man's shoes. Verse 47, and when he heard that
it was Jesus of Nazareth, the other accounts say that he was
sitting there and heard a great commotion, and he asked the people
around him, what's going on? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth
is walking by. Verse 47, and when he heard that
it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus,
thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that
he should hold his peace, but he cried the more a great deal,
Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still
and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man saying
unto him, be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. And he
casting away his garment, rose and came to the Lord Jesus. And
Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should
do unto thee? The blind man said unto him,
Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him,
go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he
received his sight and he followed the Lord Jesus in the way. If
you are a sinner who is sick with sin, cry out to him from
the depths of your soul, in your heart, in your heart. He's the one you need to cry
out to. You don't need to cry out to me. You don't need to
cry out to us. We don't need to cry out loud. Cry out to him
in your own heart and say, Lord Jesus, thou great physician,
I need to be healed. I need to be healed. I need mercy
in the blood of your salvation. Cry out for mercy. And don't
stop crying out for mercy until he calls you. And when he calls
you, If you're crying, it means He's
making you cry. If you're crying, it means He's
making you cry. He has revealed the sickness
of your sin to you. Sinners don't know this until
God reveals this to them. It means He's revealed to you
what you are, and in seeing what you are, He is causing you to
cry out to Him. So if you cry, He will call. I don't think I've ever said
this so dogmatically, but I'm saying it now. If you cry for
mercy from the depths of your soul, not one person has ever
gone to the great physician and not received a healing. If you
cry, it means He's doing it, And if you cry out for mercy,
He will call you. He will call you. I mean, if
it's not lip service, but you need salvation in the mercy and
blood of the Lamb of God. If you cry, He will call you. He is calling you, that is Him
calling you, and He will call you. And when He calls, throw
away your filthy garment of self-righteousness. First thing blind Bartimaeus
did is he cast off his own garment. You absolutely get rid of all
your own self-righteous works, and you go to him just as you
are. Just as I am, without one plea,
but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come
to thee, O Lamb of God, I come. You go to Him just as you are,
and when He heals you, not if, but when He heals you, you follow
Him in the way. As you follow Him, make sure
you do this. Make sure. Turn to Luke 17. Luke 17 verse 11, it says, and
it came to pass as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through
the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain
village, there met him 10 men that were lepers, which stood
afar off. And they lifted up their voices
and said, Jesus master, have mercy on us. And when he saw
them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests.
And it came to pass, that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw
that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice, glorified
God and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. When
he heals you, make sure to glorify him and to give him thanks. Thank you, Lord, for saving my
soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me
whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to me thy great salvation so
rich and so free. This is the truth. This is the
truth. Hospitals are for sick people.
That's who hospitals are for. And the gospel's for sinners.
That's who the gospel's for. Our great physician came for
those who need to be healed from what they are. And if God has
revealed to you what you are, go to him, go to the Lord Jesus
Christ in your heart. He is right now receiving the
sick. He's in this town and he is right
now receiving the sick. sick with sin in any condition. I mean, even in the worst condition. I remember hearing the story
a long time ago, and I'm done, I promise I'm done, but I remember
hearing this a long time ago, that there was a family doctor
who was in his office one day seeing patients, and every patient
that came would just came for something, just a bump or a bruise
or just a little nothing, and he just got tired of putting
Band-Aids on people and being fed up with it, he walked out
into his waiting room and he said, is anybody in here actually
sick? If anybody is actually sick,
I'll see you right now. Well, our Lord one time at the
great day of the feast, He stood up and He cried to everybody
who could hear, is anybody thirsty? If you are actually thirsty,
you come to me and I'll give you something to drink right
now. I mean, right now, today. today. You come to me, I'll supply everything
you need. If you truly need salvation from
your sin in your heart, go to the Lord Jesus Christ. He will
save you. Man, I'm saying that to each
one of us. put your name where you goes, He will save you. He will save you. Every soul
that He purposes to save sees their need, sees their condition,
and sees their only remedy to be in Him. And they go to Him,
all of them, they go to Him alone. And He saves them. Every one
of them, every time he calls them, they come and he saves
them every time. Not only is that good news for
centers. That's good news for me, the
chief sinner. Like Paul said, that's the one
thing God's people really do have contention over. No, I'm
the chief sinner. No, it's me. Go to him, he'll
save you from your sin. Let's all stand together.