My text tonight is Matthew chapter
9, if you'd go ahead and turn with me there. Matthew chapter
9, verse 10. Very familiar passage of scripture. And I want, in a way of introduction,
to give you an important word to consider. N-E-E-D. Need. The definition for the word need
is to require something essential. What do we need that's absolutely
essential? You just heard it. We need the
Lord Jesus Christ. Today the biggest deterrent there
is for people hearing and believing the Gospel is not a lack of interest,
But it's a lack of need. Folks have no interest in the
gospel because they have no need of it. Folks have no interest
in Christ because they don't need Him. But to those whom God
has given a need, He's everything. Tell me one more time how Christ
died for a wretch like me. I need Him. God doesn't just supply people
with an interest in Christ. He provides them with a need
of Him. And if God's shown you your need
of Him, then you're a blessed man or woman. Paul wrote, but my God shall
supply all your need. That's singular. Have you ever
noticed that? That's not talking about all these things that we
need in life to get by. all your need. What's our need? Well, He goes on to tell us according
to His riches in glory. How? By Christ Jesus. In Luke
10, verse 42, our Lord told Martha so plainly and so simply, but
one thing is needful. Just one thing needful. Seek
ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these
other things will be added unto you. And that's not talking about
new boat, new car, all that. All the things that we need found
in Christ and Him alone. What was that good part? What
was that one thing needful? What was that singular need that
God will supply His elect with? It's Christ. It's Christ. Clay and I were talking before
the second message, and I said, has anybody ever preached your
text at a conference before you got to preach it? And he said,
no, but Donnie pretty well preached my message. And I said, well,
it's all the same message. I'm going to preach Donnie's
message, and Clay and Roland are going to preach mine and
Donnie's message tomorrow. It's because it's the same message. Matthew 9, verse 10, And it came
to pass, as Jesus said at meet in the house, He's having dinner
here. 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? Why does he socialize with such
folks as them? But when Jesus heard that, he
said unto them, they that be whole need not a position, but
they that are sick. And then he said, go ye and learn
what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice,
for I'm not come to call the righteous, but sinners, needy
sinners, helpless sinners to repentance. When the Lord said,
go ye and learn what that meaneth, He's referring to what is written
in Hosea 6, verse 6, where the Lord said, for I desired mercy
and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
Now, our Lord's not declaring here that He was opposed to sacrifices
for offerings of sin. After all, He appointed them.
What our Lord is saying is, I desire, I am more pleased with mercy
and grace and compassion and kindness among you rather than
you by the work of your own hands trying to offer me something.
You know, friends, that's exactly what the sacrificial offerings
were intended to do. They were intended to point sinners,
men, to the infinite mercy and grace and love and compassion
of God. To fallen sinners, by the shedding
of the blood of Christ. All the Old Testament sacrifices
were for that very reason, to point us to Him who shed His
blood for us. And you know, I continue to be,
never cease to be amazed, I should say, at how man-made religion
always gets the things of God backwards. Don't they? By nature, men and women are
all about their personal sacrifices that they make to God. Every
time you talk to somebody in religion, they're always telling
you what their church or they're doing for God. You know what
a needy sinner needs to hear? They need to hear what God's
done for sinners. And if the Pharisees had known
what the Lord meant here, they'd have been silenced in their objections
of Him socializing with publicans and sinners. Because that's who
He came to save. Lord, be merciful to me, the
publican that I am, the sinner. That's what He really said, wasn't
it? Not a sinner, the sinner. I'm the chief of sinners. It's
not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away
sin. Wherefore, when He cometh into the world, He said, Sacrifice
an offering thou wouldest not, but a body thou hast prepared
for me. And it's that body that bled
and died as Donnie so ably told us on Calvary's cross to put
our sin away. That's what this needy sinner
needs to hear. Tell me again. Tell me again. I started once to tell it to
you. Go and take ten of my minutes. Just keep on preaching. That's
what we want to hear. I love to hear it. Tell me again.
Tell me again. The Lord said, I didn't come
for you to offer something to me. What are we going to offer
to Him? It's got to be perfect to be accepted. I've never done
anything good, much less perfect. I didn't come to be ministered
to, the Lord said, by you. I came to minister to you. I
came to have mercy on the diseased. I came to save sick sinners. I didn't come to call the righteous,
those who don't believe they are sick, those that have no
need. I came to call needy sinners
to repentance. I came into the world to save
those who need help. You know, I saw a fellow on the
street corner the other day. There's certain places in our
little town where they stand with their sign. And this guy's
sign said, I need some help. And he's sitting there talking
on his cell phone. I thought, well, you don't need
a lot of help. You've got an iPhone 15. I've only got a 10. What's yours, darling? Need help. I tell you who needs
help. I need help. Amen. I came to call those who need
a physician's help. People who are well, they don't
need a physician. You know, I like my doctor, I
really do, but I don't make an appointment with him and go see
him just to ask him how he's doing and catch up with him.
I go to him when I'm sick, when I need some help. Christ is my
great physician. Solomon wrote, the king's heart's
in the hand of the Lord, and as the rivers of water, He, God,
not man, turneth it whithersoever He will. And what proof that
is, that it's the Lord only that can help us. It's the Lord only
who can save us. Every heart's in His hand to
turn or not to turn. And Solomon went on to say, every
way of a man is right in his own eyes. That's what we've got
today. We've just got people that are right. You know, they
see a little group like us, and they say, well, that few people
can't be right. You know, it's power in numbers. You know all of that. But that's
not what the Bible teaches. The Bible says, do. to find the
narrow gate and way to life. And many find the broad way to
destruction. Every way of a man is right in
his own eyes, but the Lord pondereth the hearts to do justice, and
judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. God
doesn't sweep the believer's sin under a rug like We did. You young men, if you were like
me, you know, I had a bachelor's apartment for a little while
before I got married and somebody coming over and you're sweeping
all that stuff under the rug and throwing it in the closet
real quick before they get there. The Lord can't do that. No, He's
a holy and just God. He will by no means clear the
guilty. He's got to justly put away our sin if it's going to
be put away. He died the just for the unjust.
Why? To bring us to God. If we're
going to be brought to God, it's got to be done justly. Everything
the natural men and women do, they think it's right. It's right
in their own eyes. It seems right to them, but the
end is what? The way of death. They see it as right, but the
Lord pondereth. You know that word ponder. means
to measure in the balances of holiness. The Lord measures in the balance
of His holiness and justice the hearts of men and women. Now
what is this needy sinner going to do with that? He's going to
look to Christ. I'm going to look to Him and
His finished work, as Donnie said. I'm going to look up there
on that throne and say, God accepted His work and He accepted me and
Him. and everything with me and God's alright. God's out to do
you good if you love His Son. What a blessing it is to know
that. The Lord measures in the balance
of holiness and justice the hearts of men and women. What does He
find there? In men and women by nature, He finds hearts that
are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. God saw
that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every imagination, every single one, was only evil continually,
so evil that God repented. God was sorry that He made man
on the earth, and He grieved God at His own heart. We're going
to talk about what we're doing for God? What we're sacrificing
for God? And as I said, all God accepts
is perfection. A man-made religion has got it
backwards. Free will religion, they've got
it reversed. And this is the lesson men and
women need to learn. Learn that Christ doesn't need
you to do something for Him. Learn that He must do something
for you. Do you need Him to do so? He
never turned down one yet. I can't find where He ever turned
down one. Have you ever noticed in the
Scriptures that in most cases when men and women heard the
gospel preach of God's free and sovereign grace, the first thing
they said is, what must I do to be saved? That's what we need to go and
learn. There's nothing that we can do to be saved. Nothing that
we can do. That's why Christ came, because
there's nothing that you and I can do. It's not our sin that
keeps us from Christ. It's our righteousness that does.
Christ came in the world to save sinners. And every one of you
here that knows you're a needy sinner, the only thing that we'll
disagree about is who's the chief. I'm the chief. No, I am. And I've learned to say, OK,
you are. The only qualification required
for salvation is need. Need of what you can't provide
for yourself. Need of Christ's perfect righteousness. That you're a sinner that needs
Christ. Christ's perfect covering. Fig
leaf covering won't do it. Blood's got to be shed. That's
who Christ came to seek and to save. He was wounded for our
transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement, the punishment
for our peace was laid upon Him. And all we contribute is the
transgressions and the iniquities and the need of punishment. You tell me we ain't in great
need. Peter wrote, Christ died the just for the unjust. God
is just, we are unjust. Christ the just one died for
unjust sinners. Why? That He might bring them
to God. That's the only way you and I
are ever going to get to God. That's the only way we're ever
going to have any fellowship and communion with God, is that
if He bring us. And He's going to justly bring
us. Paul wrote, Christ died for the
ungodly. Are you ungodly? I had a fellow tell me one time
he used to be. God commended his love toward
us and while we were yet sinners, sinners, Christ died for us.
The world's religion concentrates all its efforts on outward morality. You know it's so. Their directions
to eternal life are turn right and go straight. You can't. You can't. You can't turn right and go straight.
Like the Pharisees of old, they say and do not. It's nothing
but an outward show of hypocrisy. Turn over a few pages to Matthew
23 with me. I'll try to keep you here in
Matthew if I can. Chapter 23, verse 1. Look at what the Lord says here.
Excuse me. Matthew 23 verse 1, Then spake
Jesus to the multitude and to His disciples, saying, The scribes
and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. All therefore whatsoever
they bid you observe, they observe and do not. But do not ye after
their works, for they say and do not. For they bind heavy burdens
and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders,
but they themselves will not move them with one of their own
fingers. but all their works they do for
to be seen of men, that make broad their phylacteries, and
enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uttermost
rooms at feast, and the chief seats in the synagogue, and greetings
in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi." Then look
down at verse 12, the Lord added, "'And whosoever shall exalt himself
shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be
exalted. But woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven
against men, for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer
you them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, you're hypocrites, for you devour widows' houses,
and for a pretense make long prayer, and therefore you shall
receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites. You think they were hypocrites?
For ye encompass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when
he's made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. It's the same today. Works religionists
say one thing, they do another. Like the Pharisees, they put
burdens on folks that they themselves will not bear. Like the Pharisees,
they do their works to be seen to men. They call Christ Lord
with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him. Men in our
Lord's day like to be called titles, like Master and Father
and Rabbi, and it's no different today. Men like to be called
Pastor. It's a great honor to be a pastor,
but my name's David because they call me David. That's what Paul
said, isn't it? Paul. I'm Paul. I'm not Pastor Paul. I'm not
Dr. Paul. I'm not Reverend Paul.
Don't call me Reverend. Definitely don't call me Reverend.
I get that piece in the mail every now and then, Reverend
David Edmondson. I'm like, well, that ain't for
me. There's another David Edmondson somewhere. You know, to me, it's like kind
of sticking a pretty hair bow or diamond earrings on a pig.
It just don't go. It's like putting a tuxedo on
a maggot. You can dress up a maggot, but
it's still a maggot. No matter what men and women
do, there are still pigs wallowing in the mire, and there are still
maggots living on dead things. Oh, and it's offensive to people.
But you know who it's not offensive to? Needy sinners! It's not offensive
to me. The Lord showed me that's what
I am. And I need Christ. I've got to have Him. The publicans and sinners, they
were drawn to Christ. And they sat down with Him. That's
what we're doing tonight, isn't it? We're sitting down with Him. Scribes and Pharisees stood at
a distance and they said, why does your master eat, socialize
with publicans and sinners? This is why. Those that are whole
don't need a position, but those that are sick do. That Greek
word for whole there means to be able. It does. You can look it up in your concordance.
It means those who can. Christ came to save those who
can't. Whole means those who can be
good. The Gospels for the ungodly. Our Lord Jesus was not the Savior
of good men. He was the Savior of sinners.
Those that need a position. Who needs a doctor? Sick folk. Men and women's personal sacrifice
is not going to save them. They'll only make them believe
that they're righteous. Isn't that right? They start
trusting in their work and what they've done, and they don't
have any need of the great position. That was the problem with the
scribes and Pharisees. Look back at Matthew 5, verse
20. The Lord Jesus here speaking
in verse 20, He said, that except your righteousness shall exceed
the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall
in no case, no way, no wise, enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Heard that it was said by them of old, Thou shalt not kill,
and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.
But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without
a cause shall be in danger of the judgment and hell fire. And
then our Lord went on to say in verse 27, You've heard that
it was said of them of old, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But
I say unto you that whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust
after her hath committed adultery with her already where? In his
heart. That's our problem. We've got
heart problems. Salvation is not what we sacrifice
to God. Salvation is Christ who was sacrificed
for His people. Needy sinners. Salvation is not
an outward work of morality. Salvation is an inward healing
of the heart that's desperately wicked and deceitful above everything. Has God taught you what these
things mean? Do you know why Christ came into
the world? To save sinners. That's good news to me. Because
I'm a needy sinner. Who did He come to seek and to
save? That which was lost. Are you lost? We didn't find Jesus, had someone
tell me that. Hey, I found Jesus. I didn't
know He was lost. I'm the lost one. I need to be
found by Him. He needs to find me or I'll never
be found. I'll always be lost. came to seek and to save sinners. You know, who in this world is
saved? Whosoever believes on Christ,
they shall not perish. They shall have everlasting life.
Those who believe not are already condemned. You know, people use
all my life. I was raised in a Southern Baptist
church, free will church. And I'll tell you, I'll just
be totally honest with you, when I got old enough and big enough
where my parents couldn't make me go, And I was about 12. But, you know, I didn't much
worry about it because I thought, well, if the God that I've heard
you preach to me all these years is trying and He's wanting to
and He's standing on the portals of heaven and wringing His hands
and just wanting somebody to love Him back, I ain't worried
about Him. But in 1986, God sent that man
and several other preachers to tell me who God was. And that's
when I saw that I was needy. I needed Him. John 3.16 is the proof that Christ
died for all who are unable to believe, not the whole world.
Read the whole verse. For God so loved the world, His
people and the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believes in Him shall not perish. Not the whole world,
but those who believe in Him. Christ died for those who believe
and trust in Him. Those who believe not are already
condemned. That's why publican sinners were
drawn to Christ. Needy sinners still are. If I
be lifted up from the earth, I'll draw all men. You know that
word men there is italicized? You can take it out of the original
translation. I will draw all unto Me. That
word men, not there. None will perish for whom Christ
died. He's going to draw all those that believe on Him. All
who believe and be saved. All here means all His elect
people. All that the Father gave to Him.
Everyone which sees the Son and believes on Him. He'll raise
them up who believe on Him. The very verse that they take
and try to prove that Christ died for everybody, those that
don't need Him, is the very verse that gives the believer true
confidence that He died for them. How do I know He died for me?
Because I believe on Him. I'm trusting in Him. He's everything
to me. Our Lord's sitting and socializing
with people that need Him. It's sinners that need grace.
That's why Christ came. That's why Christ died. Cursed
is everyone that continues not in all things written in the
law to do them. But Christ has delivered us from the curse of
the law. How? By being made a curse for us.
I can't keep the law. I can't keep one. I had a fellow
tell me one time, he said, I'm good on about six of the ten. I never kept one law. And definitely not perfectly. How? By being made a curse for
us. He's the sinner's substitute
and Savior. Why did Christ come into the
world? He came to save sinners like me. A needy sinner. Desperate. Well, in finishing up, let me
endeavor to show you that from the Scripture. Turn back with
me to this time. Not back, but from Matthew 8,
verse 2. This is one of my favorite stories,
I'm sure one of yours, because we can identify with it. Matthew
8, verse 2, Behold, there came a leper. He was a needy leper. And he worshipped Him, saying,
Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put
forth His hand and touched him, saying, I will. There you go. Never turned one down yet that
needed Him. I will be Thou clean. And immediately, his leprosy
was clean. Wasn't any question about what
he could do. I know you can. The question
is, will you? Look at Matthew 9, verse 20. And behold, a woman which was
diseased diseased with an issue of blood, twelve years, came
behind him and touched the hem of his garment. For she said
within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be
whole." Look at Matthew chapter 20, verse 30. And behold, two blind men sitting
by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out,
saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David." Figured they
needed mercy. So here we have an incurable
leper. He's on death's doorstep. Eat up with leprosy. Boy, that's
a picture of sins eating us up from the inside out. We've got
a woman bleeding to death and she's dying. Spent all she had
on doctors and grew to all the worse. That's what we've done.
We've spent our whole life trying to heal ourselves. And we've
failed miserably. Got two blind men, reduced to
begging. What did they all have in common?
Well, several things. First, they had all heard of
Christ, but it's much more than that. Secondly, they all know
who Christ was. The leper called Him Lord, Mark's
account, instead of the woman with the blood issue when she
heard of Jesus. And the blind man called Christ
the Son of David. That was the same as calling
Him Lord and Christ. The Son of David. Thirdly, they all knew
what he could do for them. The leper said, Lord, if you
will, you can make me whole. The woman said, if I could but
just touch the hem of his garment, he can make me whole. The blind
man said, have mercy on us, O Lord. And they cried all the more when
they were told to be quiet. Why did they cry all the more?
They had a great need. Thirdly, they all came to Him.
They didn't come to the disciples. They didn't come to the temple.
You know, church can't give you life. The words preached in this
place can. But the church itself can. They
didn't come to the preacher. They didn't come to the altar. I came to the altar so many times
as a young man in the church that I wore the carpet out. And
you know, I mean, it's sad, but it's true. Rededicated my life. Seemed like every other week,
most of the time, it's because I was ready to eat lunch. And
then sunk through just as I am three times is go home. I'll
take one for the home team. They all had many things in common,
friends, but the one thing they all had in common was their need
of Him. Jesus Christ is the one thing
needful. God shall supply all your need
in Him. How? According to His riches
and glory in Christ Jesus. And by and through Christ Jesus.
How many times do we see that in the Scriptures? In Christ,
by Christ, through Christ, in Christ, by Christ, through Christ.
Jesus Christ is our only need. Singular. Everything else comes
with Him. These six folks had nothing to
sacrifice. These dying sinners had nothing
to give. But they needed the very thing
that He was giving and that was mercy. Mercy beggars. Brother Maurice used to call
us dead dog sinners. That's what we are. You know,
I'm a dog lover, I know many of you are, but there's only
thing more worthless than a dog, really, and that's a dead dog.
They don't bring much at market. That's what we are, we're dead
dog sinners. If you're a sinner, you need
mercy. If you're a sinner, you need Christ. That's what makes
us all needy. We're spiritual lepers. We've
got an issue of blood. We can't see. Eternal destruction
wakes us. We're spiritually blind. And it's our need that brings
us to Christ. Why don't sinners come to Christ?
Why don't people flee to Him? Why don't they seek the Lord
Jesus? Why don't they search the Scriptures? Why don't they
seek healing? One reason only. They're not sick. Not sick. They don't have any need. What brings a man to a well?
Thirst. Why did I pick that up? Oh, thirst. I need a drink of
water. What brings a man to the table? Hunger. What causes a
man to seek a doctor? Sickness. Are you thirsty? Do you need water? Come to Christ.
Are you hungry? Do you need the bread from heaven?
Come to Christ! Flee to Him. Are you sick? Do you need a physician? Seek
the Great Physician. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. He'll
heal you every time. He's a specialist in every field. Isn't it amazing that sinners
don't see their desperate need? God's got to reveal it to them.
God's got to show it to them. My, my. One day when I stand before God
and I need to know where I'll spend eternity, can I know? You know, there's a story I read
not long ago about Albert Einstein. He was once traveling on a train
when the conductor came down the aisles they used to do to
stamp the tickets. And Dr. Einstein, he's looking
in his pocket, in his pants, and can't find his ticket. And
the conductor said, ticket? And he said, no, he didn't say
anything. And he's digging, looking in
his briefcase, and he's looking over in the next seat next to
him. And finally, the conductor said, Dr. Einstein, I know who
you are. He said, I know you bought a
ticket. Don't worry about it. Einstein kind of nogged his head
and then got down on the floor and started looking around for
his ticket. The conductor had moved on to the back of the train
and he's fixing to go into the next car. And he looked and now
he's over in the other aisle and looking for his ticket. And the conductor came back again
and he said, Dr. Einstein, seriously, I know who
you are. And I know that you bought a
ticket. And don't worry about it. Everything's
fine. And Einstein looked at the conductor,
and he said, young man, I too know who I am, and I know I bought
a ticket. He said, my problem is I don't
know where I'm going. I don't want to miss my next
stop or miss my stop. Do you know where you're going?
Do you know where you're going? You know how to know if that's
where you're going, if you know that you're going to be with
Christ? Because you've got great need. My, I've got great need. Lord, help me. Lord, save me. That's the kind of prayers that
gets the Lord's attention, isn't it? Just little, simple prayers.
Lord, save me. Lord, help me. Thank you.