Well, I've never heard some of
those verses. That was good. Lord willing, we'll be able to
meet with one another again two weeks from tonight, May 20th,
and I'm really looking forward to that. I am going to try to
speak to you this evening on this subject The doctrine of
need. The doctrine of need. I'm going to read two different
passages of the same account, and it's right before the feeding
of the 5,000. This feeding of the 5,000 is
the only miracle recorded by all four gospel writers, Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John. Interestingly, the only three
things that are recorded by all of them are the death of Christ,
the resurrection of Christ, and the feeding of the 5,000. And
this is what takes place right before this miracle of the feeding
of the 5,000. I want to read Luke's account
first. Luke chapter nine, verse 10. Luke chapter nine, verse 10. And the apostles, when they were
returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them and
went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called
Bethsaida. And the people, when they knew,
followed him. And he received them and spake
unto them of the kingdom of God and healed them that had need
of healing. Who did he heal? Them that had
need of healing. Now I'd like to read Mark's account
in Mark chapter 16, beginning in verse 30. Mark chapter 6,
verse 30. And the apostles gathered themselves
together unto Jesus and told him all things, both what they
had done and what they had taught. Now at the first of this chapter,
he'd sent them out two by two. to preach the gospel in different
villages. And now they're returning and
telling him what took place. Verse 31, and he said unto them,
come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest a while. For there were many coming and
going and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they departed
into a desert place by ship privately. And the people saw them departing,
and many knew him, and ran a footfither out of all the cities, and out
went them, and came together unto them. Now they're wanting
to get away from the crowds, and when they get to the other
side, there the crowd is waiting. And Jesus, when he came out,
saw much people. and was moved with compassion
toward them because they were as a sheep,
as sheep not having a shepherd. And he began to teach them many
things. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name and Lord, Thankful we are for thy son. How thankful
we are for his compassion. How thankful that he heals all
those who need healing. And Lord, we have sin sick souls
that need healing. And we pray that we might be
healed by him. We pray that your gospel would
be preached and the power of your spirit. We ask that you'd
quicken our hearts and quicken our souls and give us grace to
hunger and thirst after thy son. We pray for your gospel to go
forth in power. We pray for hearing ears. Lord,
we pray for the forgiveness of sins. We pray that you'd enable
us to love you more and love one another more and truly seek
to be servants one to another. Lord, we would remember the Clarks
at this time. We pray for you giving the doctor's
wisdom and your healing hand upon her as you see fit. And we pray for the Fortners
during this time of bereavement. We ask that you would be with
them for Christ's sake. Now, Lord, bless us, grant us
your presence. In Christ's name we pray, amen. My title came from Luke chapter
nine, verse 11, where it says, He healed them that had need
of healing. Now we're gonna get back to that
in a few moments, but let's look at Mark's account in verse 30. And the apostles gathered themselves
together unto Jesus and told him all things, both what they'd
done and what they had taught. Now, he already knew what they
had done and what they had taught. He never hears anything that
he doesn't know already. He's God. But here is what me
and you ought to do. Bring all things before him,
casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Verse 31. after they told him of what they
had done and what they had taught. I don't know how long they'd
been gone. And he said unto them, come ye yourselves apart into
a desert place and rest a while. For there were many coming and
going and they had no leisure so much as to eat. Now what tender
mercy. They didn't have any downtime
and he takes them apart to rest for a while. It's what we would
call recreation. And I think it's interesting
if you take this word recreation, it means re-creation. We need that and he knows that. He took them apart to rest for
a while. They had no leisure and they
needed this downtime. Verse 32, and they departed into
a desert place by a ship privately. They were going there to rest.
They were going there to get away from the noise. And the
Lord knows what we need. He's a merciful and faithful
high priest, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual. He knows
our needs. He remembers our frames, that
we are dust. Verse 33, and the people saw
them departing. And many, knew him. They had seen his miracles. They'd experienced his healing.
They knew him. Now this was a large lake evidently.
And they ran a foot thither out of all the cities along the shorelines
to get to the spot where they knew he was going, this desert
spot, and out went them and came together unto him. Now they were going to get away
from the crowds When they get there, there is a huge crowd
waiting upon him. Now look at his response in verse
34. And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people and was moved
with compassion toward them. I wonder if the disciples felt
that way. Maybe they were irritated. We wanted to get away from this
and here it's worse than ever. Look at this big crowd. We wanted
to get away and find rest. But the scripture says the Lord
Jesus Christ was moved with compassion. He's no stoic sovereign. He's moved with compassion toward
them because they were as sheep. not having a shepherd. Now, sheep without a shepherd
are in trouble. They're defenseless. They're
stupid. They are going to get lost and
go astray so easily. And sheep without a shepherd
are in trouble. And he looked at these people
as sheep without a shepherd. That's said in Matthew chapter
nine on another occasion. where he was moved with compassion
when he saw the multitudes because there was a sheep without a shepherd. Now, this gives us some insight
into the true character of the Lord Jesus Christ. A leper came
to him, full of leprosy, and the scripture says he was moved
by compassion. He reached out and touched him.
There were two blind men, and the scripture says regarding
those two men, when the Lord saw them, he was moved with compassion. There was a widow woman, burying
her son, weeping and wailing, not knowing what to do, didn't
know what was gonna become of her. And the Lord looked at her,
and the scripture says moved with compassion toward her. You know, the Lord gave several
parables that teach his compassion. When the father saw the prodigal
returning in his filth and wasted everything with riotous living,
the scripture says he had compassion upon him. What about the good
Samaritan? The Levite and the priest had
passed by the man, half wounded, lying in a ditch, but the good
Samaritan had compassion on him. And then I think of that parable
where the Lord speaks of the kingdom of heaven being like
a certain king, and he had a servant who owed him 10,000 talents,
that's $15 million. And the servant had nothing to
pay. And so the king said, throw him
into prison, his wife and children to the debts paid. And the man
begged him, said, have patience with me and I'll pay you all.
He didn't have any way of coming up with that money, yet he says,
have patience with me, I'll give it all back. And the scripture
says, he was moved with compassion and loosed him, set him free. and forgave him all the debt. The reason was the compassion
of this great king. Not because the man could do
anything for him, but the compassion of this great king. Oh, the compassion
of him that's the same. Yesterday, today, and forever,
I couldn't help but thinking the disciples were somewhat irritated
when they saw the multitudes. This is what they were trying
to escape, but not their master. He was moved with compassion. Turn with me to the end of the
story I was just telling from Matthew chapter 18. You know,
I ask for grace that me and you might be like our Lord, compassionate
people. Look at Matthew chapter 18, beginning
in verse 27. Then the Lord of that servant
was moved with compassion and loosed him. He set him free and
forgave him the debt. What compassion? Think about
forgiving someone a $15 million debt, just simply because you're
compassionate. But the saved servant went out
and found one of his fellow servants which owed him 100 pence, $15. And he laid hands on him. He
took him by the throat saying, pay me that thou owe us. And
his fellow servant fell down at his feet and besought him
saying, have patience with me and I'll pay thee all. That's
something he could do. And he would not, but went and cast
him into prison till he should pay the debt. Now, don't miss
this. He's just been forgiven a $15
million debt, and he refuses to forgive someone a $15 debt,
and has them thrown into prison. So when his fellow servants,
verse 31, saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came
and told unto their Lord all that was done. Then his Lord,
after they had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant,
I forgave thee all that dead, because thou desirest me. Shouldest
not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant? Shouldest
not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as
I had pity on thee? And his Lord was wroth and delivered
him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto
him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if you
from your hearts Forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. Now let me remind you, if I don't
forgive, I won't be forgiven. That's what the Lord says. Oh,
to be compassionate like the Lord. Now let's look in Luke's
account of this same story in Luke chapter nine, verse 10. And the apostles, when they were
returned, told him, all that they had done. And he took them
and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the
city called Bethsaida. And the people, when they knew, followed him. The people, when
they knew, There was a time when they did
not know, but now they do. And when you know who he is,
and every believer is somebody that knows who he is, whom do
men say that I am? Well, they say good things. Whom
say ye that I am? Thou art the Christ, the son
of the living God. When the people knew, they followed
him. That's what happens when people
know, and the people, when they knew, they followed him. If any
man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross
daily, and follow me. Now, let's don't get this thing
of following Christ complicated. You follow Christ by keeping
your eyes on him, Spiritual eyes looking only to
him. Not looking down at your walk.
That's introspection. That's not faith. That's introspection.
And let me tell you, with regard to your introspection, it's a
lot worse than you think it is. Don't look down at your walk.
Don't look to the side at somebody else. You'll lose him. You can't
follow him if you're looking at somebody else. You look to
him and to him only. That's what it means to follow
him. Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our
faith. Looking to him, not looking anywhere
else, but looking to him. Now, when you look to him, that
means you look to him alone. Don't miss that. It's not looking
to him and something else. You look to him alone always
as everything in your salvation. That's what you look to him.
Now, when they knew, They followed him, and the scripture says,
he received them. You see, he said, him that cometh
to me, I'll in no wise cast out. He received them. This man receiveth
sinners and eateth with them. There's never been, there never
will be a sinner who comes to him that he does not receive. Now, somebody says, what do you
mean by coming to Christ? That's a good question. Listen
to this scripture. John chapter six, verse 35. He
that cometh to me, there's the word come, shall never hunger,
and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. Coming to Christ
and believing Christ is the precise same thing. And let me remind
you, believing Christ has nothing to do with what you believe about
yourself or what you believe about somebody else. Believing
Christ has wholly to do with what you believe concerning His
person and His work. It's looking to Him only. You
believe on His name. You believe His name is the only
reason, and that name is the attributes of Christ. It's justice,
it's sovereignty, it's holiness, it's power. His wisdom, whatever
attribute it is, it's His name that saves me. That's why we,
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
That doesn't just mean audibly articulating His name. It's knowing
the person behind the name and calling upon every attribute
of His to save you. It's believing on His name. Now, to come to Him is to believe
on Him. To continue to come to him is
to continue to look to him only as everything in your salvation. Do you believe that he is the
Christ, the son of the living God? Then you are coming. Coming is believing. Now, remember Mark's account
said he spake to them of many things, but look what Luke says.
And the people, when they knew it, followed him and he received
them and spake unto them of the kingdom of God. Now this was
his subject. This is what they needed to hear.
He spake to them of the kingdom of God. Now to speak of the kingdom
of God, you first have to speak of the king of the kingdom. The
Lord Jesus Christ, the king of kings and the Lord of lords,
his people love him being the king. I love thinking of King
Jesus. He's no one with a title only. He really is Lord of Lords and
King of Kings. And the King's heart, the earthly
King's heart and everybody else's heart is in the hand of the Lord
as the rivers of water, he turneth it whither so ever he will. When
you speak of the kingdom of God, you speak of the king of the
kingdom, you speak of the jurisdiction of the kingdom, and the jurisdiction
is everything. He controls everything and everybody,
and you speak of the subjects of the kingdom. In Revelation
chapter 17, verse 14, when it says he's king of kings and lord
of lords, it also says they that are with him are called, chosen,
and faithful. What a description of every believer
called by the invincible grace of God, chosen in divine election
and the evidence they're faithful. They believe and they can be
believed. Now, what did he do after he
spoke of them of the kingdom of God? And here's why I got
the title of this message, The Doctrine of Need. He healed them. that had need
of healing. The whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick. If you're sick, you're awfully
interested in the doctor. You may think it's a good thing
I might need that one of these days, but when you get sick,
you become very interested in what the doctor can do for you.
The whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. The Lord
said to the church at Laodicea, he accused them of being lukewarm,
neither hot nor cold. And he said he was gonna spit
them out of his mouth. He said, because you say, I'm
rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. And you don't know that you're
poor and wretched and miserable and naked. and blind. You see, it's a blessed thing
to be needy. David said, I'm poor and I'm
needy. He healed them that had need
of healing. Now I've got a question for you.
What is the difference between a saved man and a lost man? What is the difference between
a saved man and a lost man? There is a difference. And we
know that the Lord is the one who made the difference. Who
maketh thee to differ from another? 1 Corinthians 4, 7. The Lord
makes the difference. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? And what hast thou that thou hast not received? There
is a difference, and the Lord made the difference. He made
the difference in eternal election. He made the difference in the
redeeming work of Christ on the cross. He makes the difference
in regeneration when he gives a new heart. The Lord makes the
difference, but what is the difference? Well, saved man and lost man. Is the saved man just better
than the lost man? No. He's just a sinful. As a matter
of fact, the scripture says there is no difference. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. The difference is not in
that one is better than the other, but I'll tell you what the difference
is. Need. That is the difference. Need. He healed them that had need
of healing. The Bible claims divine inspiration. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. Now there are some who will argue
with that. There are some who will be somewhat
apathetic Well, I guess I believe that, but they don't pay much
attention to what the Bible says. They've had some kind of vague
belief that it's some kind of supernatural book, but it's not
that important to them. But there are some who need to
have a divine revelation. I need a divine revelation so
I can know if what I'm believing is the truth. I need a divine
revelation so I know what to preach. I need, I desperately
need the Bible to be the word of God. You know, you think of these different
characters in the scripture, the leper who came to Christ,
blind Bartimaeus, the woman who is a sinner, the Syrophoenician
woman demon possessed daughter, the woman with an issue of blood.
Why did they come to Christ? Because they all had a need,
a desperate need. He healed them that had need
of healing. Now the Bible, if you read the
pages of scripture, you've got to conclude that God really is
God. He's absolutely sovereign. What does that mean? That means
he is the first cause of everything. Can't take that too far. You
can say, what about this and what about that? What about it?
He's the cause of it. I don't care what it is. He is
God. He's absolutely sovereign, controlling
everything. The first cause of everything,
ruling and reigning. Now somebody says, I just can't
agree with that. That's making God the author of evil. I just,
I think it's making men puppets. I don't agree with it. Somebody
else is uninterested, kind of apathetic. They don't really,
it's not something that floats there about one way or the other.
And then there's somebody else who needs God to be God, who
needs God to be absolutely sovereign in control of everything. It's one thing to believe in
the sovereignty of God. It's another thing to need the
sovereignty of God. The Bible declares that God elected
a people before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1.4 says,
according as he has chosen us in him, before the foundation
of the world. Now some will argue against that.
How could that be fair? How could it be fair for him
to Choose some and pass by others. There are others who see that
it's in the Bible, but it's not, it's not that big a deal whether
they hear this preached or not. I know it's there, but it's not
that important. And there are others who need
for God to elect them because they know if he doesn't choose
them, They are so utterly wicked that they will not choose him. And their cry, they know they
can't make God save them. They're like the leper. Lord,
if you will, you can make me clean. I want to be clean and
I can't make myself clean. I can't save myself. I can't
do anything toward my salvation. I need you to choose me. I need the God of election. Now the Bible declares the successful
work of Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree. He said in his last words,
it is finished, mission accomplished, it's done. Hebrews 10, 14 says,
by one offering, by his death on Calvary's tree, he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. The Bible teaches Christ's successful
atonement, his definite redemption for the elect of God. All he
died for must be saved. Now, there are people who object
to that. Why? You don't have a gospel if you
can't assure everybody Christ died for. Why? How can you preach
the gospel to people if you don't have that? There are other people
who are kind of indifferent. Well, I can see one side, I can
see another side, but somebody else needs Christ to do everything
in salvation and to be completely successful, the only hope. that I have of being saved and
standing amongst the redeemed is if Jesus Christ paid it all
and that he left nothing undone and my salvation is a necessity
because he died for me. I love what Paul said, who is
he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Oh, I
need that. I need If you tell me that he
can die for somebody and they'll wind up in hell because they
don't do their part, you've taken away the only hope I have. I
need his glorious, successful, atoning work on Calvary's tree. If when we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his son. How I need that. The Bible. declares God's invincible
and irresistible grace. By grace you are saved. No man
can come to me except the Father which has sent me. Draw him.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Now somebody
objects. You're making robots of people.
That's all that does is make robots of people. That can't
be true. I mean, Grace is offered to everybody, and it's up to
you to accept it or reject it. God puts food on the table for
everybody, but it's up to you to eat. It's up to you to receive
Him. This doesn't sound right. They
reject this thing of invincible, irresistible grace, which is
a rejection of grace itself, because grace is successful,
it's saving. There are other people who are
somewhat indifferent. I mean, I can see one side or
the other, but it's not really that important to them. And there's
somebody else who needs God's grace to be invincible and irresistible. I need His grace to cause me
to believe. I need His grace to give me life. not dependent upon me doing anything.
I need his grace to actually be saving grace. If it's not,
if it's simply grace offered that I need to improve, it won't
do this sinner any good. I need, oh, how I need invincible,
irresistible grace. The Bible declares faith alone
in Christ alone. The Lord said in John chapter
6, 29, this is the work of the Father that you believe. This is the work of God that
you believe on him whom he hath sent. Now there are those who
would add something to that. What about faith without works? You need to have works along
with your faith to prove the reality of it. You need to have
works, a complete misunderstanding of what James 2 is teaching in
the first place. There are some people who, well, I can see both
sides, and there are other people who need for it to be faith alone,
looking to Christ alone, because they don't have anything else.
If you say there's something other than faith in Christ that
is evidence of salvation, they have to conclude they're not
saved. Oh, we need at all times faith to be faith alone, not
faith and something I do. Somebody says, what about James
chapter two? Listen, if you believe in faith alone, it'll be evidence
that you do. There'll be something that proves
that you look to Christ only, but that's not talking about
good works that buttress your faith and make sure that it's
real. That's not what that's talking about at all. Now, do
you need faith in Christ to be faith alone? Now the Bible teaches
perseverance to the end. The scripture says we're kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation. They went out
from us, John said, but they were not of us. For if they'd
been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they
went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all
of us. God's people, by grace, are preserved
by God to persevere all the way to the end. Now, some will object
to that. They'll say, well, you can lose
your salvation. And if you can lose it, that means you can earn
it, too. But there are people who will object to that. You
can lose your salvation. I mean, and they'll use example.
What about this person who claimed to be a Christian? They ended
up robbing a bank or whatever example they'll use. And there
are other people who will be somewhat indifferent. They'll
say, well, I can see one side, I can say the other. And there's
somebody else that needs God to preserve them. They need to
be kept from falling. Now unto Him that's able to keep
you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence
of His glory with exceeding joy, do you need preserving grace? Do you need to be kept all the
way to the end? Because you know that if you're
not kept, you will fall away. You know, some people are indifferent
about hearing the gospel. They can take it or leave it.
And they're not even picky about what they hear. But there are
some who need to hear the gospel. You know, if somebody says, I
wanna go to a church that needs me, not me, I wanna go to a church
where I need to be there. A church that needs me, there
just ain't much to it. I need to be at a church where I need
to be there to hear the gospel that's preached together with
God's people. Now, some have a need for this. I wanna be one of those people
because this scripture tells us He healed them that had need
of healing. Lord, I need healed, heal me. I need saved, save me. I need grace, give me grace. I need faith. Give me faith. I need repentance. Give me repentance. I need to be preserved. I need
to be elected. All that God does for the sinner,
that's exactly what I need. The doctrine of need. Do you need the Lord Jesus Christ? My dear friend, he's yours. Let's pray together. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that we might at all times be poor and needy. For Lord, we
know that in being poor and needy, we have the riches of your grace. Deliver us from being self-sufficient. Deliver us from having need of
nothing. And make us men and women who
need thy dear son. Bless this message for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray, amen. Now, Lord willing, we're going
to meet together in two weeks at the church, and we put up
a screen in the fellowship hall, a 70-inch screen, and if people
need to practice social distancing more, and you can be with people,
watch it live, but be with people or be here in the auditorium.
We've tried to accommodate everything and yet make things safe. And
so pray for the Lord's blessing on us meeting together once again
publicly. I'm looking forward to it. I
remind you, church is a called out assembly, and we want to
assemble with God's people to hear the gospel. Looking forward
to seeing you Sunday morning. ? Steps in the sea and rise upon
the storm ?