In the passage I just read in
verse 17, Matthew tells us that he was quoting from Isaiah the
prophet. And he quoted him as saying himself
took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses. Now let's look
at Isaiah 53 for a moment. Verse four, this is what he's
quoting from. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Matthew says himself bear our
infirmities and our sicknesses. And then Peter quotes this passage
of scripture in 1 Peter 2, if you would turn there. Verse 24, who his own self bear
our sins in his own body on the tree. Now, when Isaiah speaks of what
our Lord bore in his own body, he speaks of grief and sorrow,
emotional toil and pain. When Matthew speaks of what our
Lord bear in his own body on the tree, he speaks of sickness
and disease. And when Peter quotes Isaiah,
he speaks of sin. He bore our sin in his own body
on the tree. I've entitled this message, Sin,
Sorrow, Sickness, and Substitution. If I ever come to understand
by way of experience any of these three grievous things that I've
spoken of, sorrow and grief, emotional turmoil, physical sickness,
what a horrible thing that is to be truly sick. And this thing
of sin. I experienced the fact that I
am a sinner. If I ever come to see the reality
of these three things, I'm going to understand that the only hope
that I have is in the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ
on Calvary's tree. Now let's go back to Matthew
chapter eight, where I began in verse 14. And when Jesus was come, into
Peter's house. Now, here is the great need of
this hour for Jesus to come. This is my great need for him
to come to me. You know, when I was in grade
school, we used to sing a song all the time entitled, Come by
Yah, my Lord, come by Yah. I never knew what it meant. I'd
sing it, but you know what it means? Come by here, O Lord. Come by here. And that's my prayer
right now. That's the great need of the
hour. That he would come to me. That he would come to you. I think of these scriptures. The Son of Man has come to seek
and to save. that which was lost. Lord, come
by and save me. He said, I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. Lord, come by and call me to
repentance. And when Jesus was come into
Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother, his mother-in-law laid
and sick of a fever. And I just love to think about
the Lord walking in and looking at her. He sees her in this condition. And he looks at her and I want
the Lord to look at me. I want him to look my way with
eyes of grace, with intention to save just the way he did when
he looked at this poor woman who was laid incapacitated with
a burning fever. What a glimpse of sin we have
here. It renders a man unable, incapacitated, laid with a burning
fever. How miserable she must have been.
And we read in verse 15, and he touched her hand and the fever left her. And she
arose and ministered unto them. Now, this is the third miracle
of healing we find in this chapter. In verse two of this same chapter,
and behold, there came a leper and worshiped him saying, Lord,
if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth
his hand and touched him saying, I will. I love the power of that. I will a miraculous healing by
the will of the Lord Jesus Christ. I will be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed. And then beginning in verse five,
we read of immaculate or a miraculous healing by a word. Look in verse
five. And when Jesus was entered into
Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion. beseeching him and
saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home, sick of the palsy, grievously
tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will
come and heal him. The centurion answered and said,
Lord, I'm not worthy that thou should come under my roof, but
speak the word only. and my servant shall be healed. For I'm a man under authority,
I understand authority, having soldiers under me. I say to this
man, go, he goes, to another come, he comes, and to my servant,
do this, and he does it. I understand authority, people
do what I say to do, and if you will it, if you speak it, it
will take place. Verse 10, when Jesus heard it,
he marveled and said to them that followed, verily I say unto
you, I've not found so great a faith, no, not in Israel. But
the Lord Jesus says regarding this man's faith, this is the
greatest faith I've seen. What? We wouldn't call it great faith.
There are two outstanding things I see about this man's faith.
He had a very low opinion of himself. I'm not even worthy
that you'd come under my roof. And he had a high and exalted
view of the Lord Jesus Christ. Speak the word only. I understand
authority. If you speak it, if you just
say the word, it will take place. Verse 13, and Jesus saith unto
the centurion, go thy way as thou hast believed. So be it
done unto thee. And his servant was healed in
the self same hour, a miracle by a word, and then a miracle
by a touch, a point of contact. Now his first touch, I think
of the touch of the Lord Jesus Christ. He first touched us in
the incarnation when the word was made flesh. And that's such
a amazing thing to think about. God became flesh for this purpose,
to save his people from their sins. And then the next point
of contact was when he was made sin. And because of all that, verse
15, when he touched her hand, the fever left her. Where'd it
go? Went somewhere, didn't it? It
left her. Well, look in verse 17, that
it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah, the prophet
saying himself took or received is the word, our infirmities
and bear our sicknesses. And she arose. This was a miraculous
healing. She didn't have to have time
to recover her strength. No, she arose right then and
she ministered unto the Lord Jesus and those with him. Now,
that's what happens in salvation. You arise when he touches you
and you minister. Now, in her house that very night
or Peter's house that very night, something very special took place. When the even was come, They
brought unto him many that were possessed with devils. And he cast out the spirits with
his word and healed all that were sick. We read of two types
of people that were brought to him, demon possessed people. and people who were sick. And the scripture uses the word
literally, evilly sick. Not just sick, but evilly sick. Sickness brought on by evil that
would have evil consequences. Now, let's consider these two
things for just a moment. He healed those who were possessed
with devils. Now, is this something that only
took place in New Testament times and we no longer deal with? No. There are such a thing as
demons. Fallen angels. I don't know much about this,
but I know the scripture teaches that these beings exist. We read
in first Timothy five and I love this of the elect angels. You
know the angels that didn't fall? You know why they didn't fall?
They were elect angels. They were chosen not to fall.
They were preserved by God to not fall. And then there are
the fallen angels. And I know this, they would only
possess, they could only possess in a place they feel comfortable. There has to be an affinity there. Can you see where a demon could
be comfortable in you? They'd only go where they were
comfortable. Now, in the New Testament, when
one spoke who was demon possessed, you really couldn't tell who
was speaking, the man or the demon. You know, of all the characters
in scriptures, I think that there's a lot of characters in scripture
that I personally relate to and identify with very much, but
none more than that demon possessed man in Mark chapter five. Would
you turn with me there for a moment? Mark chapter five. And they came over unto the other
side of the sea into the country of the Gadarenes, verse 2, and
when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out
of the tombs, the place of death. a man with an unclean spirit,
who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no man can bind him,
no, not with chains, because that he'd been often bound with
fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him,
and the fetters broken in pieces, neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he
was in the mountains and the tombs crying, and cutting himself
with stones. Oh, how he was hurting himself.
And when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him and
cried with a loud voice and said, what have I to do with thee? Jesus, thou son of the most high
God, what is there in common with us? I adjure thee by God
that thou torment me not. Who's speaking? The man or the
demons? You can't really tell, can you? Can this happen to a believer? Well, Peter was a believer when
the Lord said to him, get thee behind me, Satan. For thou savorest not the things
that be of God, but the things that be of men. And the Lord
also said regarding Peter, Peter, Satan hath desired to have thee,
that he may sift thee as wheat. But I pray for you. Now, Satan
did sift him as wheat, didn't he? But the Lord said, I have
prayed for you. Now, know this. Only the Lord
can cast out a demon. Somebody says, is there demon
possession in our day? I believe there is in various
ways. Some the exorcist type, some
just the satanic influence in a person. No doubt. But I know
this, only the Lord can cast a demon out. It scares me and
all I know to do is pray to the Lord. who can cast out demons. Lord, keep me from the evil one. I'm no match for him. If he gets
me, he'll turn me inside out. Keep me from the evil one. And
then we read of those in Peter's house who were evilly sick. These sicknesses they experienced
were brought on by sin. And the most obvious example
I can think of would be a sexually transmitted disease, disease
brought on by sexual sin. Well, if you have a disease like
that, whose fault is it? It's your fault, isn't it? Now,
while someone who has some kind of disease brought on by sin
because of some addiction or whatever, we feel much compassion. We don't look down our nose at
that person. We know that that's us, apart
from the grace of God. And we really believe that. We
really believe that. But such is it called a evil
sickness, sickness brought on by sin. And you know, there's
a lot of similarity between sorrow, disease, and seeing it there. I thought of some diseases, some
sins are genetic. You're born with them. You come into this world with
certain diseases already in you. You're born with them. Well,
isn't that the way we're born into this world? We were born
sinners. In sin did my mother conceive
me, David said. I was shaped in iniquity. And
if you know anything about your sin, you know that you were born
that way. Yet, even though you were born
that way, you're no victim. Your sin is all your fault. Romans 5, 12 says, by one man,
sin entered the world and death by sin, so that death passed
upon all men and that all have sinned. It doesn't merely say
that Adam's sin was imputed to our race. It says all have sinned. When Adam sinned, I sinned. I'm just as guilty as he. If
I was Adam, I would have done the precise same thing. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Our sin is all our fault. Now, while I was born a sinner,
it's equally true that I bear full responsibility for my sin. What's that mean? means I need
mercy. That's exactly what it means.
It means I need grace. Oh Lord, have mercy on me. Now, what did Christ do for these
people? I love the way he cast out the
demons with his word. And he healed those who were
sick, For you and I to be saved, something is going to have to
be, have to leave us and something is gonna have to be done for
us so that we will be healed by whose stripes you are healed. Now, in verse 17 of our text,
in Matthew chapter 8, notice once again, Matthew quotes the
prophet Isaiah. Verse 16, when the evening was
come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils,
and he cast out the spirits with his word, and he healed all that
were sick. Don't you love that word, all?
He healed all that were sick. If you're evilly sick, if your
sickness is all your fault, you're sinful. Everybody like that,
he healed. every single one without exception. He healed all those who were
sick that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the
prophet saying, himself took our infirmities and bear our
sicknesses. And as I've already pointed out,
Peter called these griefs and sorrows. I mean, Isaiah called
these griefs and sorrows and Peter called them sins. Now let's
go over to Isaiah chapter 53 once again. To me, this is interesting. It's not the right word, but
I got to thinking about it. The fact that what our Lord bore
on the cross, it's sometimes described as sorrow and grief
and emotional toil and pain. It's described as sickness and
disease. Have you ever been diseased?
Have you ever been really sick? Oh, how you want healed from
that. And it's also described by Peter
as sin. He bear our sin in his own body
on the tree and throughout Isaiah 53, it is described as sin. He
was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities,
the scripture says. He was bruised because of our
sin. Now, why? Why does God describe
what the Lord bore on Calvary's tree as emotional toil and pain
and turmoil? as sickness and disease and as
sin. Why does the Lord describe the
death of his son and what he bore on Calvary's tree like that? Well, let me give you six reasons. And to me, this is painful to
think about, But first, it gives us a glimpse of what was going
on on the cross. We speak of sin being imputed
to Christ, but you know, the Bible never says that. I believe
sin was imputed to Christ, but the Bible never uses that language. When we think of sin being imputed
to Christ, we think of him bearing the guilt. But you know what?
Emotional turmoil and pain and anguish can't be imputed, can
it? It can only be experienced. Sickness and disease is not imputed. Well, I'm going to impute sickness
to you. Well, what's that mean? It can only be experienced. And when I think of the Lord
Jesus Christ bearing all the defilement and the evil and the
wickedness of my sin. Now he never sinned himself,
you know that. He did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth. He's the spotless Lamb of God. with no spot, spotless. But yet that One who had angels
falling at His feet, He was the One of whom the seraphims were
saying, holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of His glory.
That One who is the object of worship. Let all the angels of
God worship Him. From the cross he was made to
cry out, I am a worm. And not even fit to be called
a man. Can any of us understand this?
No. No. This is beyond comprehension. But I do understand this. The
only way that this sinner or any other sinner can be made
the righteousness of God is for him to be made sin. And I think the fact that it
describes him as taking on these diseases and these griefs and
these sorrows give us some glimpse into what was taking place when
he was on the cross being utterly forsaken by his father. No light, no mercy, no smile
from his father, no smile from his people saying, we know you're
doing this for us and we love you for it. No, he was made sin. Look what Matthew 8, 17 says,
he took or received them. He received these sicknesses,
these disease. He received them in his own body. He bare them. First Peter 2,
24 says, who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the
tree. Now, like I said, when I talk
about this, it, it makes me feel bad to think
of the Lord bearing that, but you know, it's the only thing
that gives me peace. It's the only thing that gives me any
peace that all my sin, became his and he put it away and he
gives me his perfect righteousness. Now, here's the next thing I
see about this description of emotional turmoil, disease and
sin. Secondly, our sins are compared
to disease and emotional turmoil to show how a believer feels
about a sin. Now everybody is distressed over
the consequence of sin. Everybody is. If your sin gets
you in trouble, if it causes you to be embarrassed, if you're
exposed in some way to ridicule because of what you've done or
shame or humiliation, you're ashamed and you regret whatever
it was you did. You all wish I hadn't have done
that. Wish I hadn't experienced that.
That's natural. Everybody mourns and grieves
over the consequence of sin. But only a believer mourns over
the being of sin. Turn with me to Psalm 38. Look
what David says. And this is the man after God's
own heart. He says, O Lord, rebuke me not
in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. For
thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. There's no soundness in my flesh
because of thine anger, neither is there any rest in my bones
because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone
over mine head, as an heavy burden, they're too heavy for me. My
wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I
am troubled. I am bowed down greatly. I go mourning all the day long
for my loins are filled with a loathsome disease. And there's
no soundness in my flesh. I'm feeble and sore broken. I
have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart." Now
see David comparing his sin to a disease. Oh, how it grieves. him. He mourned over it, but
you know, didn't the Lord say, blessed are they that what? Mourn. Mourn. What do you mourn over? You mourn over your sin. Now, this thing of mourning,
well, you mourn when people die. Oh, how you mourn. You can't
bring them back. As long as they're alive, there's
some hope. But when they're dead, how you
mourn. You can't bring them back. You
mourn over your sin when you see, I can't make myself better. I can't do it. I'm completely
dependent on the Lord. Oh, Lord, have mercy on me. That's what it is to mourn over
your sin. It's like a disease. We mourn because we don't mourn
enough. We mourn over our hypocrisy, our flesh, our sins of commission,
our sins of omission, our secret sins, our familiar sins, our
oft repeated sins. Oh, how we mourn over our sin. It's like a disease that causes anguish, grief, and
sorrow. But thirdly, Sin is compared to sickness and
disease and anguish. When your children are sick,
if your children are diseased, if your children are in anguish,
do you get mad at them? No. You're filled with compassion
for them. You want the best for them. No, you don't get mad at him.
My boy is sick. My girl is sick. And you're moved
with compassion toward that person. And you know, that's the way
the Heavenly Father looks at his children. Oh, their sin is
a disease and it's sick. And oh, his compassion toward
them. Now, you know that doesn't mean
he countenances their sin. You know that. But if your child
is sick, You feel compassion. As a father pitieth his children,
so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. He knows our frame. He remembers that we're dust. Aren't you thankful for those
scriptures? This moves the compassion. You know, the scripture says
He's touched. The Lord Jesus Christ is touched by the feeling
of our infirmities. He's felt it much more acutely
than you have. You know, when you feel that
groaning under sin, He feels it much more acutely. He knows
much more of it. He's touched by the feelings
of our infirmities. Fourthly, sin is compared to
a disease and anguish because this shows us our constant need
of Christ. Now, when you're healthy, when
everything's going well, how much do you think about a doctor? You don't really even give a
doctor a thought. You know, it'd be good if, you know, if I need
it, but you don't think much about a doctor. But if you're
sick, and I mean, I don't mean having a runny nose. I mean,
if you're sick and in pain and dying, you want to go to a doctor
that can do something for you. You do. It's very important to
you. Now the Lord could have made
it. He could have, he could have made it when he saved us. So
we didn't sin anymore. Couldn't he? He has the power
to, he could have made it to where we never sin again. And
he didn't. And I don't claim to understand
all the reasons behind that, but I know this. I need my physician all the time. He healed them that had need
of healing. I have need of healing. Lord, heal me. Another reason, the fifth reason
that sin is compared to anguish and disease and sickness. This
is what keeps us compassionate. toward our brethren. We know what they feel. We've
experienced it ourselves. Really, can you look down your
nose at anybody? Is there anybody that you can
be critical of and judgmental of? Can you? You know, somebody
said to me last week, and I love this statement, they said this,
they said, why are people concerned so much about other people's
sins when they have so much of their own. Isn't that a good
statement? And the last thing I'd like to say about this. If you're really sick, If you're
really in anguish, you can't be satisfied with that. You can't just, well, the way
it is, you cannot be satisfied with that. If you're nauseous,
for instance, you can't be satisfied with being nauseous. You want
something to relieve that. If you're in anguish, You can't
say, well, that's just the way things are. No, you want deliverance. Every child of God desires, longs
for, prays for deliverance. You can't be satisfied in your
sin. You just can't do it. You can't be satisfied in your
sin. Now, one of these days, I'm going to be in a place where
there is no sin, where there is no sorrow, where there is
no separation, where there's nothing but perfection, perfectly
conformed to the image of Christ. And I know this, there is one
reason and only one reason why I'll be there. Because he bore
my sin. He took my sin and my sorrow. He made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. Oh, how wonderful. Oh, how marvelous. And my soul shall ever sing.
Oh, how wonderful. Oh, how marvelous. is my Savior's
love to me. Let's pray.