It is not that I did choose thee,
Lord, for Lord, that could not be. Yuba-Sutter Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Rick
Warda. We currently meet at the Yuba
County Library, located at 303 2nd Street in downtown Marysville,
California, on the corner of 2nd and C Street. Weekly services
are held on Sunday at 11 a.m. at the library. For more information,
visit our website at ysgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Rick Warda. I've entitled this message, Compassionate
Repetition. The Gospels give the account
of all that Jesus said and did. Not everything Jesus said and
did is recorded, but what God inspired Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John to report was for a specific purpose. That purpose is stated
in John 20, 31. These things were written that
you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing you might have life through his name. God's
purpose in Matthew 15 verses 29-39 is that we might believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to believe Him, and I
want you to believe Him. That is my prayer, that you would
hear and believe Him today. The scripture for today's sermon
is Matthew 15, verses 29-39. The first three verses read,
And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of
Galilee, and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. 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." Jesus left one place to come to another. A great number
came to him. Many suffered serious physical
limitations. They were blind, lame, deaf,
mute, even mutilated. And so as not to leave any out,
verse 30 says, and many others. That little phrase, and many
others, excludes no needy sinner. Whatever your condition, come
to Christ." Jesus healed them all. He did the same throughout
the New Testament. This multitude stayed with Christ
three days to hear Him. After three days, He looked upon
them with compassion. He would not send them away hungry,
so He made food for them to eat. This is a wilderness place. It
is not comfortable. There are no provisions here
that are found in the city. These people are weak, poor,
unlearned and outcast. But that is exactly the kind
of people the Lord saves. He passes by the strong and saves
the weak. He passes by the wise and teaches
the ignorant. He leaves pretenders in their
unbelief, but saves great sinners from theirs. The healthy do not
need a physician. The sick know that they do. The
whole do not need a miracle, but the maimed and dismembered
need new eyes, new ears, and new limbs. Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, 1 Timothy 1.15. Never lose sight of that
all important and ever comforting truth. There is never a time
we do not need the comfort of this truth. There is never a
time we grow beyond it. Physical sickness makes us acutely
feel our need, but physical sickness is but a reflection of our true
need, the healing of our souls. The Lord tells us to remember
the pit from whence we were digged, Isaiah 51, 1. It was a deep and
foul pit. Titus 3 sets our deplorable condition
and Christ's glory in his salvation side by side in contrast. He says, we were sometimes foolish,
disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living
in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But after
that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and
renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly. through Jesus Christ our Savior,
that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life." Titus 3 verses 3-7. Jesus died for sinners. God justifies
the ungodly. What point would there be for
Christ to die to save righteous folks? What glory would there
be to God if He declared the righteous to be just? God is
infinitely good. Sin is, therefore, infinitely
bad. Therefore, nothing less than
the death of the Son of God can save sinners from their sin.
God is so holy and wise and gracious that He found a way to justify
who and what sin is. the ungodly. The sinless Son
of God was punished and the guilty rebel was set free. Christ came
for a specific people and for a specific purpose. Matthew 18.11
says, The Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. The slave has sinned, but the
Son has suffered. A shepherd for the sheep is offered. The Lord of the world became
the servant in the world. He alone whose right it is to
rule took obedience as his rule of life. The lawgiver was made
under the law. The judge took the place of the
condemned. The prince of life gave his life. Jesus came to save sinners. 1 Timothy 1.15 Jesus came to
this place and at this time and to these people to heal sin sick
sinners. This was God's purpose and covenant
and promise for Christ's coming. Matthew 1.21 says He came to
save His people from their sins. Sinners couldn't be happier about
it. There is no better news in all the world to one who is ungodly
than this. To one who is a sinner in the
core of his being, unable to recover himself, unable to perform
any function of spiritual life, there is no better news than
that Christ Jesus came to save sinners. To one who has no obedience
that God can accept, there is no better news than that God
accepts the obedience of Christ as all of my righteousness."
1 Corinthians 1.30 and Romans 10.4 Christ healed all these
sick folk. He healed every kind of deformity,
disease, and illness. This is because He saves every
kind of sinner, even the worst, who comes to Him as a sinner
with nothing but His Word that tells that He is willing and
able to save the sinfulest. Trouble drives us to Christ.
God brings affliction in our body to heighten the disease
of our soul. Physical sickness humbles us.
We need to be humbled. Psalm 119, verse 67 says, Before
I was afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept thy word.
There is no greater area in which we need to be brought low than
in our opinion of ourselves before God. We have high thoughts of
ourselves because we have low thoughts of God. When Isaiah
saw the Lord Jesus Christ as Jehovah God on his throne, he
said, Woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips. Isaiah 6 verse 5. When by faith
we see Christ as God and man, our only Redeemer, our thoughts
of God will be made high, and our thoughts of ourselves will
be brought to nothing. God's Word, applied to our conscience,
must bring us down. Only then will we come to Christ.
Thank God for soul trouble. Thank God for the stress that
my sin causes and God uses to drive me to Christ. When we see
our condition and when we understand that Christ is the only Savior
of such as we are, then we will borrow words from those in God's
word who prayed in their trouble and were delivered. The shortest
prayers of sinners are the best prayers for sinners to pray.
Lord, help me. Matthew 15 verse 25. Lord, save
me. Matthew 14, 30. Lord, remember
me when you come into your kingdom. Luke 23, 42. God, have mercy
on me, the sinner. Luke 18, 13. For thy name's sake,
O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. Psalm 25, 11. Take away all iniquity and receive
us graciously. Hosea 14, 2. Order my steps in
thy word, and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Psalm
119 verse 133. Let thy mercies come also unto
me, O Lord, even thy salvation according to thy word. Psalm
119 verse 41. Great multitudes came to Jesus.
The call of the Gospel is, Come to Christ. Revelation 22.17 says,
The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. The Holy Spirit of God
and the Church of Christ have one message, Come to Christ. Behold Him. Look to Him. Believe Him. In this account,
multitudes came to Jesus. They brought people with sad
conditions. Some could not hear. Some could not see. Some could
not walk. Some could not talk. Some were
mutilated. But all were burdened by their
condition. They were unable to do what other
people could do. Sinners cannot do one thing God
requires. All of this is therefore a call
for sinners to come to Christ. What does it mean to come to
Christ? It seems mysterious. How can
I get to him? He is in heaven. I am on earth. I am sinful. He is holy. I am
ignorant. As Thomas said, Lord, how can
we know the way? Jesus said, I am the bread of
life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. John
6.35. Did you catch that? The Lord
uses coming and believing interchangeably. Coming and believing are exactly
the same thing. When you believe on the Lord
Jesus, you come to Him. If you believe Him, you have
come. Peter said in 1 Peter 2.4, To whom coming? We come to a
person who is God and man. And our coming is not a one-time
act, but a continual looking to Christ and calling on Him
for all in our salvation. To whom coming? In Matthew 11.28,
Jesus said, Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Are you burdened by your sin?
Do you want nothing more than to know that all your sins have
been forgiven by God? Come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is your sin great? Do you fear that your sin is
so great God will not forgive you? Jesus said, Come unto me,
all you who labor and are heavy laden. Do you find no strength
against sin? Come to Christ. Do you lack evidence
that you are a Christian? Come to Jesus. If you found in
yourself what you think would give you peace and assurance
and joy before God, what would it look like? Let me assure you,
if you discover it in yourself, you have not yet come to Christ.
You are blinded by your spiritual pride. If you find anything in
yourself or confidence, you have found a lie. Christ has obtained
eternal redemption and worked out everlasting righteousness
outside of your personal experience. The only basis for your coming
to God is entirely outside of you. We come to Christ only because
of what we find in him in his word. You will only find peace
and joy and comfort and rest when you are fully persuaded
that Christ is your all and there is nothing about yourself for
confidence. Paul said in Philippians 3.3,
we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and
rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Come
to Jesus. Are you unable to perform the
functions of spiritual life? Come to Christ. Do you lack words
to pray? Come to Christ. Are you unable
to repent? Come to Christ. Do you long to
know that you are accepted by God? Come to Christ. Do you need
faith to believe? Come to Christ. you will only
find salvation and life in Him. Our problem is not that we do
too little. It is that we take something about ourselves as
the basis of our confidence and peace and joy and assurance.
It is that we think being a good Christian is doing great things
for God. It is not. Being a good Christian is being
the object of saving grace and knowing that my salvation is
in Christ alone. It is not our sin that keeps
us from Christ. It is our righteousness. In Numbers
21, the children of Israel murmured and complained against God and
Moses. God sent fiery serpents among
them to bite them. There was no cure. Many died. The rest were dying. They cried
to Moses. God told Moses to make a serpent
of brass and put it on a pole. He told the people to look at
that serpent on the pole. All who looked lived. The serpent
on the pole is Christ crucified under the curse of God. Galatians
3.13 God tells all under the curse of His law to look to Christ.
Don't try to cover the bite of your spiritual death which came
by your sin. Don't put a tourniquet on it
to stop the spread of poison and sin. Don't seek an experience
or do good deeds as a pill to relieve your pain. Don't try
to get up. Don't try to walk. Don't raise
your hand. Your tears and sorrows will not
move God to help you. The deadly poison courses through
your veins toward your heart and brain. As one paralyzed by
sin, look to Christ. See what He has done. Believe
His word. Believe Him only. The only obedience
God accepts is Christ's obedience. The only repayment to God's justice
is Christ's blood. The only freedom from sin and
death is the eternal redemption He obtained. Hebrews 9.12 Don't
try to clean up. His blood alone cleanses us from
all sin. 1 John 1.7 There is no difference
between the best and the worst of men when they are serpent
bitten. All are bitten. All must look to Christ crucified.
Only those who look are healed. We only live in believing Christ. Come to Christ. Don't resolve. You'll never do it again. Don't
minimize your sin. Don't minimize the spiritual
death bite in your soul that your sin has brought. Recognize
that your case is fatal. Recognize that God has but one
remedy for sin-sick souls. Look upon Him who is that remedy. Jesus said, He that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. Maybe you wonder if God has elected
you. Maybe you wonder if Christ died
for you. Maybe you wonder if God will grant you repentance
and faith and give you life. Like the woman in Matthew 15,
21-28, take your concern to Christ. The spirit and the bride say,
come. Christ himself says, come unto me. By nature, we will not
come. But if you come to Christ, believing
He is your only answer to God in judgment for your sins, if
you come to Christ believing that the only obedience God can
accept from you is what He received from His Son, then you will not
be cast out. God only justifies for what He
finds in His Son. Therefore, believe Christ only. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Romans 10.4 Do
not put any conditions on His salvation. Christ has met all
conditions. You must look away from yourself
to Christ. But you say, I fear I cannot
believe. I cannot come. I fear I cannot
look. Jesus commanded the man with
the withered hand to stretch out his hand, but it was withered.
He could not stretch it out. Yet with the command came the
grace to obey. And when Lazarus was dead, Jesus
cried, Lazarus, come forth! He who was dead was raised to
life and obeyed the command of Christ. When you hear that your
only standing before God is what God has done in Christ and that
you are to believe Him for everything and your salvation, if you believe,
it is because God has given you faith by His grace. Don't bring
your faith. Come for faith. Don't bring your
sorrow. Look to Christ who took your
sorrows. Come to Christ for everything. Come to Him for salvation from
sin. Come to Him for justifying righteousness. Come to Him for repentance and
faith, for a new heart, for eyes to see, for ears to hear the
gospel, for a mouth to speak the truth of His salvation, for
feet to walk in faith and hands to handle Him by faith. We have
been mutilated by sin. We need everything from Him.
God raises and answers the question in His Word, what must I do to
be saved? Come to Christ. Believe Him. How can I live? Habakkuk 2.4
The just shall live by faith. How can I walk? 2 Corinthians
5.7 We walk by faith, not by sight. How shall I live? Galatians 2.20 I live by the
faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. How
can I love God? We love him because he first
loved us. Jesus said in John 5.39, You
will not come to me that you might have life. We must come
to Christ for life. And all who come, live. If you
come to Christ, you already have eternal life. Jesus said in John
5.24, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent
me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death to life. Coming to me, Jesus said, all
ye who labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
If you come to Christ, you rest. What is this rest? It is ceasing
from your own works and resting in Christ's finished work. Hebrews
4.10 We don't come to Christ once only. If you believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, you come continually, and you keep coming.
Peter said, To whom? Coming. 1 Peter 2.4 We never
outgrow our need for Christ. As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in him. we must never try to go beyond
him. 2 John 1 verse 9 says, Whosoever
transgresseth, that is, to go beyond, and abideth not in the
doctrine of Christ, hath not God. Christ is our life, Colossians
3.4. He is our all, Colossians 3.11. The fullness of the Godhead dwelleth
in him bodily. Colossians 2.9, and believers
are complete in Him. Colossians 2.10. God has made
Him all things to us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1.30. O soul of
mine, look to Christ. May God give you and me the grace
to do so even now. In verse 32-39 Jesus performs
a miracle that is nearly a repetition of what he had already performed
in chapter 14 when he fed 5,000. Why did Jesus repeat this miracle? Why does he repeat several of
his miracles? First, by this we see that because
he saved multitudes, he can save multitudes more. He saved others,
he can save me. If you were in this crowd, if
you were hungry as these were, would you have thought this miracle
unnecessary because Jesus had done this for others? And secondly,
what Jesus did in one place, He did in many places. What He
did for one, He did for many. What He does once, He does over
and over again. He repeats His miracles. It is
a good thing that He does. Aren't you glad that the Lord
Jesus Christ repeats His miracle of salvation? He saved in Galilee,
He can save here. He saved multitudes, He can save
multitudes more. He has saved thousands, yet He
can save me. He made the Gospel real in my
heart before, I need Him to make it real to me again and again,
day by day. And third, because we need to
hear the Gospel again and again. Remember that old hymn, Tell
Me the Old, Old Story? Tell me the story slowly, that
I may take it in, that wonderful redemption, God's remedy for
sin. Tell me the story often, for
I forget so soon, the early dew of morning has passed away at
noon. Paul said in Philippians 3.1, To write the same things
to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. We who
believe will spend the endless cycles of eternity worshiping
our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, for who He
is and for saving us from our sins. And fourth, our Lord repeats
His miracle because we are continually needy. These were hungry like
those who came before. We never outgrow or grow beyond
our need for mercy and grace. We only grow in grace and faith
that Christ is everything in our salvation, everything in
our obedience, our sin payment, everything in our coming to God.
We will always, even in eternity, be utterly dependent on His grace. Heaven will be a welfare state.
Throughout eternity we will be unable to earn one blessing from
God. As the hymn writer said, Oh,
to grace how great a debtor daily I am constrained to be. From
our inmost being we will forever confess, I am what I am by the
grace of God. 1 Corinthians 15.10 How many
times in a day do you need fresh mercy from Christ? When you fall
into familiar sins of imagination, of thought, motive, word and
deed, when you commit the same sin for the hundredth time and
the thousandth time, do you not with each fall find a continuous,
even a growing need for mercy and cleansing from Christ? Turn
us again is the prayer the Spirit of God has given to us. Psalm
80 verse 3 says, Turn us again, O God of our salvation, and cause
thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. This is our repeated
cry. And when we are given grace to
rely on the Lord Jesus as our all, we realize afresh that we
have nothing but what we have in Him. No tears can satisfy
God or persuade Him to forgive me. My sorrow is a sorrow that
needs to be repented of. Only the blood of Christ cleanses
us from all sin. So we go again and again and again, and we never stop
going. We don't leave because there
is nowhere else for a sinner to go. The psalmist in Psalm
86.3 cried, Be merciful unto me, O Lord, for I cry unto thee
daily. You would think that one who
cries daily would not be so needy, but it is because he is so needy
that he daily cries. And what is his cry? Be merciful
unto me, O Lord. Free me from my sin. Let me see
your face. And fifth, whenever the Lord
repeats anything, it is to remind us. Didn't he tell us in Luke
22.19, do this in remembrance of me? The Holy Spirit of God is our
great remembrancer. In John 14, 26, Jesus said, The
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things
to your remembrance. Looking back in our lives, don't
you see that you have learned many lessons over and over again? And sixth, Jesus repeats His
miracles because His mercy endures forever. Psalm 136 repeats one
phrase 26 times. It is used in every verse of
that chapter. His mercy endureth forever. In verse 23 of that psalm it
says, Who remembered us in our low estate, for His mercy endureth
forever. And hath redeemed us from our
enemies, for His mercy endureth forever. Who giveth food to all
flesh, for His mercy endureth forever. Oh, give thanks unto
the God of heaven, for his mercy endureth forever." Psalm 136,
verse 23-26. Isn't this exactly what we see
in Matthew 15, verse 29-39? Just as Jesus looked with compassion
on the sick and hungry, He redeemed His people from their
sins and the curse of God's law and the power of Satan out of
His compassion. And He gives food to His people. The people, when they were healed,
glorified God for His mercy. Psalm 136.26, O give thanks unto
the God of heaven, for His mercy endureth forever. Christ gives
grace repeatedly and unendingly because He is moved with compassion
toward sinners. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great
is Thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3 Will the Lord
Jesus receive me if I come? He says in His word that He will.
Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out. John 6.37
The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth
say, Come. And let him that is athirst,
Come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life
freely. His commandment is our warrant
to come. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
God commands you and me to do so. To do otherwise is the height
of stiff-necked pride, ignorance, and self-righteousness. You've just heard a sermon by
our pastor, Rick Warda. You may contact us by email or
by phone, or download a copy of this sermon by visiting our
website at YSGraceChurch.com.