Matthew chapter 14. Let me continue
studying through this book. Read verses 34-36 with me. This is the end of that chapter.
Matthew 14.34, And when they were gone over, that is, the
Lord and His disciples over the Sea of Galilee, they came into
the land of Gennesaret And when the men of that place had knowledge
of him, they set out into all that country round about and
brought unto him, that is, our Lord, they brought all that were
diseased and besought him that they might only touch the hem
of his garment. And as many as touched were made
perfectly whole. The hem of his garment. You'd be surprised how many times
that's referred to in Scripture. The hem of his garment. It says these men had knowledge
of him. They found out he was there and
they sent word throughout the land and they brought all that
were diseased and besought Him, begged the Lord, that is, that
they might but touch the hem of His garment. And as many as
touched the hem of His garment were made completely whole of
whatever disease they had. Oh, that the Spirit of God might
make us all to know Him, to take knowledge of Him, to see, to
understand our diseased condition, and to teach Him, come to Him
that we might touch the hem of His garment. Well, the land of
Geneserit, verse 34, they were so blessed of the Lord, unlike
the other side. The Lord just came from the Gergesenes,
the land of the Gergesenes, who all of them wanted Him to leave. They rejected Him. And He came
to the land of Gennesaret, and these people had knowledge of
Him. They heard of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They learned who He was. And
many believed that this is the Christ. This is the Son of God.
And apparently, many of them believed on Him, and they spread
the news, He's here. He's here. And so they came calling
on Him, and they came to be healed by Him, to be saved
by Him. How blessed you are. How blessed
we are if we know who Christ is. If we know our need of Him. Most people don't have any need
for Jesus Christ. Most people despise and reject
Him as they did when He was here. Most do not have a need for Him.
But if you do, how blessed you are. And if you have come to
Him, if you have besought Him to touch the hem of His garment,
how blessed you are. They sent out word all through
the land. They spread the news that if
there's anyone diseased, come. Your only hope is in this One
named Jesus the Christ. Your only hope. Someone once
said, witnessing or speaking to others about Christ, about
the gospel, is one beggar telling another beggar where he found
food. Or in this case, it's one diseased
sinner. One sinner telling another sinner
of his only hope. His only hope. Diseased. A disease
is not just a minor thought, is it? If you have a disease,
that means you have something in you that is completely eating
you up, like cancer. Disease. It's not a minor problem
or a minor fault. It's something that's going to
kill you if something's not done about it. And the disease that
we have, all of us, is called sin. Sin. Look at Isaiah chapter 1 with
me, the book of Isaiah chapter 1. Most of you know these verses,
but maybe some do not. In Isaiah chapter 1, the Lord
God tells us what we are by nature, how he sees us, not how we see
ourselves or think ourselves to be, but how he sees us. And he says through the prophet
Isaiah in verse 2, Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, the Lord
hath spoken. This is the word of the Lord.
Hear this. We need to hear this. Oh, that more men and women would
hear this. Verse 10, Hear the word of the
Lord, ye rulers of Sodom. Give ear unto the law of our
God, ye people of Gomorrah. Now, he was speaking to Israel.
He's speaking to a religious city or nation, Israel. But he calls them Sodom and Gomorrah,
because they're no better. And you know what the Lord did
to Sodom and Gomorrah because of this disease called sin. He says, hear this. And in verse
6, he says, verse 5, this is what man is by nature. Why should you be stricken anymore?
Romans 1 talks about the wrath of God revealed from heaven.
Clearly, he says, you will revolt more and more. The whole head
is sick and the whole heart is faint. Man is sick. He is diseased with sin. Read
on. From the sole of the foot, that is, his walk, unto the head,
that is, his thoughts, everything about him is diseased with sin. There's no soundness in it. Wounds
and bruises and putrefier and sore that have not been closed,
nor bound up, nor mollified with ointment. Now, that's not a pleasant
sight, is it? And that's not how people perceive
themselves to be. But that's exactly what the Lord
sees. Because the Lord seeeth not as man seeeth. Man looks
on the outward countenance. And we can look pretty good to
others. We can dress ourselves up. and appear to be what we
are not when the Lord looks on the heart. The Lord looks on
the thoughts and intents of the heart. And He says we're diseased. Diseased. How blessed you are,
we are, if we find out that we're diseased. This is what the Holy
Spirit does. Through the preaching of the
Word of God, through the preaching of the Gospel, this is what the
Spirit of God does When he begins this work of salvation, transformation
on a son of Adam, the first thing he lets them know is they're
diseased. Convinces, convicts of sin. There was a woman in the Gospel
of Mark and in Matthew chapter 9. We've already looked at it.
She had an issue of blood 12 years, or that is she had something
in her bloodstream Something about her blood that was tainted.
She had it for 12 years. And it says she suffered many
things of many positions. She went here and she went there
to try to find a cure for her inward problem. And no one could
do anything about it. Only, it says she was worse. She spent all that she had on
these useless positions, which are pictures of these false prophets
today and false religion today. and all of the works and all
of the things that people prescribe, all the philosophers and psychologists
and sociologists and all that they prescribe people today to
do to improve themselves, it doesn't make them one whit better,
it only makes them worse. But there's one person, and only
one, who can cure this disease. And His name. Not her. Not Mary. His name is Jesus Christ. This is an old-fashioned message,
but it's the only message there is. And it says, this woman,
she heard of Him, she heard of Christ, and she came in the press,
came in the crowd behind Him, and touched the hem of His garment. And it said immediately, the
issue of her blood was stanched, dried up. Three things about
these men who heard of the Lord and came to Him and called upon
Him. Three things about them that
if you and I will do this, if we will be this way, the Lord
is sure to hear us. The Lord is sure to grant our
request. Three things. Number one, they
came importunately, that is, they were serious, they were
needy, they were desperate. These men weren't looking for
a wife, like so many religions today, or a husband, you know,
singles ministry, trying to, looking for society, or looking
for programs for their children, or looking for this, looking
for entertainment. These men were looking for something
for their disease. They were importunate. They heard
of Him. They sent word all around. They
called upon those that were diseased and said, You've got to come.
You've got to come. They were serious about this.
And all those who are serious, seriously seeking help for this
thing called sin, there is help. They were humble. They came in
humility. They weren't worthy to look him
in the face. They didn't come up to his face.
They weren't worthy to shake his hand. No, no, no. They weren't
on familiar, good term, buddy terms with Jesus. But they fell
down at his feet as unworthy, like John of old. John who was,
the Lord says, none better than John the Baptist. And John the
Baptist said, I'm not worthy to tie his shoes. And so these
men came in humility, not feeling worthy to speak to him face to
face, but they came crawling to his feet, hoping that they
might just touch the hem of his garment. And these men came, thirdly,
they came in faith. They came believing. They came
believing. He's able. He's the only one
that can help me. I know it. I've seen Him help
others. He's the only one. I believe He's able. I sure hope
He's willing. And I've got news for you. Good
news. He is willing. And He sure is
able. And the Lord said of that woman
who came crawling and touched the hem of His garment, He said,
Be of good comfort. Be of good cheer. Cheer up your
faith. You've come to me. You've come
to the right person. I've made you whole. I've made you whole.
Virtue came out of Him to make her whole. Well, look at verse
36. It says, They besought Him. They came looking for Him. Our Lord said this. He said,
In seeking Me, you will find Me. If you search for Me, with
all your heart. As I said, so many people seek
many things, but not Him. And people find what they're
looking for. They find their social needs met in this church
or that church. They find programs for them.
They find these things, but that's not what you need. That is not
who you need. David said, one thing have I
desired. One thing I need. And that will
I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all
the days of my life, to inquire into His temple, behold the beauty
of the Lord, and inquire into His temple. That is, to come
to Christ. Many seek many things, but not
Him, and they're only worse through these things. People get patched
up some kind of religion that they start to feel good about
themselves, and they're not one whit better. You see, Christ
is all. Scripture says. And Christ is
all you need. Jesus Christ is all the religion
you need. He is the truth. He is the way. He is life. And our Lord, if
you said, You seek Me, you will find Me. And He says this in
a way of urgency. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Well, they besought him that
they might touch only the hem of his garment. I have to marvel
at our Lord's providence, the Lord who created languages. The Lord is the one responsible
for all the various languages spoken by various people. English
being one of the most widely, if not the most widely spoken
language in the world, that is English language. But anyway, they called this border on the
garment that they had to touch him. Somebody came up with that one
day. Well, we call this little thing
on the bottom of the garment, we'll call it not her, him, that
they'll just touch. the hymn of his gospel. So there's one mediator between
God and man, the man, Christ Jesus. All who pray to Mary are
not heard by God. All who pray to St. Christopher,
who pray to St. John, who pray to St. anybody,
are not heard by God. Christ said, the Father always
hears me. You pray in my name. You pray
to the Father in my name, He'll hear you. One mediator. And they
sought him that they might touch the hem of his garment. The hem of his garment. And as
many as touched the hem of his garment, the border, the fringe
of his garment, as many as touched him were made perfectly whole. Their disease was gone. Now, most everyone in here knows
this, that there's nothing magical or nothing powerful about the
clothes that the Lord Jesus Christ wore. That will shock most religious
people to hear me say that. That there was nothing magical,
there's nothing powerful, there's no saving virtue or power in
the garment that he wore. It was just wool. Yeah, wool. That's lamb's wool. Nothing magical about that. Nothing
powerful about it. Nothing about the robe that he
wore. Nothing about the cross on which
he hung. That's a piece of wood, and if
you had it in your possession right now, it wouldn't do you
any good. If we found the robe, and we
can't find the robe which he wore because it rotted, it is
a perishing thing. The robe that he wore, the clothes
he wore, rotted like all cloth will eventually. The cross upon
which our Lord hung rotted and is gone completely. If we did
find a piece of that, and people do think they found one, that
shroud of Turin they call it, that somebody made up and they're
making lots of money over it. They found this so-called Shroud
of Turin that's supposed to have the image of Christ burned into
it, and they're worshipping that. People are worshipping that.
When the Scripture says don't worship, don't make any likeness
of anything in heaven or earth or even in the sea, not a fish.
Don't make any statue, picture, symbol. Don't worship because
people fall down and worship those things. They think there's
something powerful, something religious, something significant,
something of saving virtue in a thing, but there's not. There
is no holy land. That's just dirt. The dirt in
Israel is just like the dirt in Franklin County. The tomb
in which Christ was buried, no saving virtue at all, no power
in that at all. The cross on which he hung, there's
no power in that cross. The robe which he wore, there's
no power. in that robe that he wore. Well
then, preacher, then what does this mean? The hem of his garment, like
the cross, When Paul said, God forbid that I should glory save
in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ, he's not talking about
the piece of wood upon which Christ hung. He's talking about
the Christ who hung there and what he did while he was hanging
there. He's talking about the work that Jesus Christ performed
on Calvary's tree. And this hem of the garment like
that represents what Jesus Christ did. as our great high priest. Go with me to Exodus 28. Exodus
28. This is where we first hear about
the hymn of a garment. Exodus 28. Go over there with
me. The great high priest, you see. Our Lord came to that woman
at the well. When she came to him, he was
waiting on her. But that woman at the well, remember,
she said, Our fathers worshipped here. Our fathers worshipped
there. You say this. We say that. You this. You that. And our Lord said to her, rebuked
her and said, You don't know what you worship. You don't know
what you believe. Or why? Worship's not in the
place. Worship's not in the thing. It's
a person. And then he said this. Listen.
Our Lord said to that woman, He said, Salvation is of the
Jews. Do you understand what that means? Most of you do. I don't know
how blessed you are if you do. Salvations of the Jew. In other
words, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the only true God.
Not the God of the Muslims, not the God of the Hindus, but the
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Jehovah. And the Lord God, Jehovah,
prescribed worship. He said you need three things
to worship. God who's holy, man who's diseased
and sinful. There's only one way this holy
God can have anything to do with these diseased creatures. He's
an unholy creature. You've got to have a tabernacle.
You've got to have a sacrifice, a lamb, blood that represents
death. And you've got to have a high
priest. And I'm here to tell you these three. One person. Christ's tabernacle
among us. He's the place. This building
here, there's nothing holy about it. This is not the church. There's
nothing holy about this building. Burn it down, build another one
later. Nothing sanctimonious about it. Nothing holy about
it. But Jesus Christ is God manifest
in the flesh. He's the one, the place we come. He's the place. Got to have a
sacrifice. Got to have a lamb without the
shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin. And that lamb's
blood represents death. The soul that sinneth must surely
die. When your blood is poured out, you die. You die. And Jesus
Christ is the Lamb of God, sent by God to take away the sins
of His people by the sacrifice of Himself on Calvary's tree.
Death. He is the Lamb. And Jesus Christ is the high
priest. In the Old Testament, and told
about all through the New, is of a high priest. One man would
take that blood of that lamb into the holy place where God
prescribed, where God said, I'll meet with you there. This is
the only place. I'll meet with you in Jesus Christ.
I'll meet with you in Him. Not at Mecca, not at Israel,
but in Christ, by faith in Him. And if he'd come by faith in
him, his blood, his righteousness, come by him, and that high priest
would go into the Holy of Holies, one man chosen by God, one man
chosen by God from among the people would take that Lamb's
blood and go into the Holy of Holies and pour out that blood
on the mercy seat. And if God accepted it, he'd
come out of that place alive and said, be of good cheer. The
sacrifice has been accepted. That one man is Jesus Christ. Now, there's just not enough
time to go into this, but Exodus 28, everything about the high
priest was designed by God. Everything he wore, Every emblem,
every symbol that he wore, all of his clothes from the miter
on his head to his feet to the robes he wore and the things
on his shoulders and on his breastplate, the colors of them, the cloth
in which they're made, everything about the robes and clothing
that the high priest wore symbolized. Picture. Tell us of the Lord
Jesus Christ. who he is and what he did. All
right, look at this, Exodus 28, and this tells us about the hem
of his garment. Verse 31, Thou shalt make the
robe of the ephod all of blue, and there shall be a hole in
the top of it, in the midst thereof. It shall have a binding of woven
work round about the hole in it, as it were the hole of an
aborigine, that is, a really stout collar all the way around
it. for only his head to be, that
it be not rent. This robe that he wore must be
so strong. There's no seams. It's without
seam. Does anybody remember that when
they took the robe from Christ when He was stripped to hang
on the cross, they took the robe and it was without seam. And they said, let's not rend
it. Let's not rip it. They want to divide it into parts. Someone said, let's not rend
it. I'll tell you who told him to say that. God did. Don't rend
it. And they cast lots, and whoever
got it got the whole robe. Well, there's nothing special
about that robe, but what it represents is very special. That
represents the righteousness, the holy life that Jesus Christ
wrought with His own hands, with His own works in this world. And it's without seam, without
flaw. It cannot be rent. It's complete.
It's whole. The work that He did. And this
robe is our covering. This robe is what covers our
sin and our nakedness. Verse 33. And beneath upon the
hem of that robe thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of
purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof, and bells
of gold between them round about, a golden bell and a pomegranate,
a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round
about. And it shall be upon Aaron, this
man chosen by God to be the high priest, and his sound shall be
heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord, and when
he comes out, that he die not." Now, I've got to hurry. As I
said, God designed these garments and the materials down to the
very colors of the material, down to the very hem of the garment,
the fringe, what was to hang from the fringe of the hem of
his garment. Because all of this represents
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, His person and His work. Nobody should wear any semblance
of these robes anymore. They're done away with. We're
not to wear these robes anymore. People who do, the Catholics,
you know, wear all these robes and all these things. They're
supposed to be like the Levitical priest. That's been done away
with. Hats and all that. Preachers
wear these. I don't know where they got that little collar that
they wear that shows that they're preachers. If anything, it shows
they're not. But anyway, none of these things
would be worn anymore. They were worn back then in the
Old Testament as a picture, as a type of Jesus Christ. And once He came, the great High
Priest came and performed His work on Calvary, It's all taken
away. It's all put away. There should
never be any robes worn like that, any semblance of anything
anymore. Because Jesus Christ is the high
priest of our profession. And you take away from his work
when you wear these things, when you do these things, when you
pretend to be a priest. That's anti-Christ. We have one
high priest. All right, this robe was not
to be rent, but perfectly whole. That represents everything Christ
did makes us complete. Nothing you do, but what He done.
The hem of His garment had pomegranates on it. And again, I have to laugh
and smile at the irony of this, that now all of a sudden, 2,000
years, well, this was 3,500 years later, man, nutritionist, are praising the virtue of pomegranates,
of all things. Pomegranate. Everybody needs
to be eating pomegranates. Well, you won't live any longer
if you eat pomegranate. Your bowels might work better,
but you're not going to live any longer. At any rate, the
Lord used this pomegranate as this precious fruit, as this
fragrant fruit. It's red. It's as red as red
can be, Kenneth. And it's full of what? What's
in pomegranate unlike any other fruit? Seed. If you've ever tried to eat one,
you think, it's got too many seeds in it. That's why the Lord chose pomegranate.
And it's red as Christ is ruddy, Christ is blood. And the seed,
He is the seed. Life-giving seed. Red. And it's
fruit. Herein is the Father glorified
that you bear much fruit." We have come far short of bearing
fruit to God. He didn't. Jesus Christ came
and perfectly bore fruit to the glory of God. Why did He do this?
To show us how? To do it for us. This high priest
was doing this for the people. He was wearing this fruit for
the people. He's their substitute. He's their
representative. He's the one that God's going
to accept. And Christ came to bear fruit to the Father for
me. Because I come short of it. I'm
diseased. And these bells. There was a
bell between every fruit and a bell. Where is my bell? I've lost it. There it is. It's not working. Well, I hope I've run the bell
from this Bible this morning. The bell we ring, the message
we ring out is the message of Jesus Christ, who He is and what
He did. Hey, where are you going? Whose granddaughter is that,
Ed? But the pomegranate and the bell, the hymn of His garment
that we need to touch, you see, the hymn of His garment that
we need to touch, to lay hold of, is the work that Christ did
on Calvary's tree. Christ, our substitute. Christ,
our sacrifice. Christ, our fruit to God. Ring
that bell. It says when he goes in and when
he comes out, the people, when they heard those bells ringing,
they heard the high priest go in, they couldn't see him anymore.
He was out of sight. They couldn't see, but they could
hear him. And you and I don't see Jesus Christ. Why? He's in
the Holy of Holies. He's in heaven itself right now
to appear to God for us. What's He doing? The blood before
the mercy seat. Representing His people. But
I hear Him. I hear His voice. Preachers ringing
that bell. Right now, all over the land,
there's preachers ringing this bell. Not too many, but there's
some. Ringing this bell. Christ and
Him crucified. Why? That we die not. If we can hear Christ preach,
if we hear the good news for diseased sinners, that there
is a great high praise, there is blood before the Lord, there
is acceptance, that God is not angry. He's at peace with everyone
that comes to God by Jesus Christ. If we can just hear that bell,
we can live. We can live. The hymn of His
power. The hymn of His power. Okay. I didn't know you were going
to be here. I thought you were going to be
in West Virginia. Hey, buddy. Joseph came back.