Luke 9, verse 11, the last phrase
of verse 11 says that He healed them that had need of healing. I've entitled this message, The
Need of Healing. There's a verse of scripture
in Luke chapter five, verse 17, where it says the power of the
Lord was present to heal them. And it's my prayer that that's
what's going to take place this morning, that the power of the
Lord will be present to heal. Now, everybody has a need of
healing for something. I mean, if you're sick physically,
if something's wrong with you physically, you want to heal,
don't you? You don't want to stay that way. emotional healing,
damaged relationships. Everybody has things they need
healing in. And there are some to whom sin
is a disease that they need healed from. Turn with me to Psalm 38
for a moment. This is a Psalm of David. And look at his language. 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
is 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 my head as a 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 to this man, sin was a horrible
disease. Now our text tells us that he
healed those who had need of healing. Would that be me? Would that
be you? Back to our text in Luke chapter
nine. In verse 10, and the apostles,
when they were returned, told him all that they'd done. And
he took them and went aside privately in secret to a desert place. Belonging to the city called
Bethsaida, in Mark's account, the Lord said, come ye yourselves
apart in a desert place and rest a while. Take a vacation. Take some time off. You know,
the Lord even said that. We need that, don't we? He said,
come ye apart and rest for a while. For they were many coming and
going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. But the crowds
heard. They were wanting to get away
from the crowds. And the crowds heard and followed him to the
place where they were trying to take a break, as it were,
or take a vacation, some time off. And Mark's account tells
us that when these people came to him at this time, he was moved
with compassion. There's something special about
that, isn't there? The Lord Jesus Christ was moved with compassion
for they were sheep, not having a shepherd and sheep without
a shepherd are in trouble. And the Lord was moved with compassion. So verse 11 says, and the people,
when they knew Matthew's account says, when they heard, when they
heard where he was, you know, you cannot know what you've never
heard. Did you know that? You cannot believe what you've
never heard. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. Mark's account says, when they
saw, when they perceive clearly, when they knew it. And notice
in our text in Luke 11, the word it is in italics, and the people
when they knew. Now this knowing, had something
to do with the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. When they
knew something regarding him. Now, who is Jesus Christ? Do you know that is the issue?
That is the really only issue. Who is Jesus Christ? What we believe is determined
by who we believe. And everything we believe is
predicated upon what we believe concerning him. Who is Jesus
Christ? He said, before Abraham was,
I am. You know, when the soldiers
came to arrest him, He said, Whom seek ye? They said,
Jesus of Nazareth. He said, I am. And divine power knocked him
backwards. He is the great I am that I am. He's letting those soldiers know
at this time, I'm no victim. I'm in control of this. He said, I am the way. If you're lost, you need a way.
He's the way to God. He said, I am the truth. He didn't
say, I'll tell you the truth. He said, I am the truth. The truth is not a proposition
of certain things. The truth is a person. He is
the truth. He said, I am the life. I love
that. I am the life. He doesn't say,
I'll give you life. He says, I'm it. If you have
life before God, it's because he himself, his life is your
life before God. I am the way, I am the truth,
I am the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. When that woman at the well said,
I know when Messiah comes, he'll tell us all things. He said,
I that speak unto thee am he. He said, I and my father are
one. Whatever God is, that's who I
am and what I am. They asked him, are you the son
of the blessed? He said, I am. Whom say men that
I the son of man am? Well, they say some pretty good
things. Some say you're John the Baptist, Jeremiah, one of
the prophets. Whom say ye that I am? Peter said, thou art the
Christ. God's prophet, God's priest,
God's king. Thou art the Christ, the son
of the living God. Jesus Christ, is the Son of God
when they knew had something to do with them knowing Him.
Jesus Christ is the second person of the Blessed Trinity. He is
the great mystery of godliness. He is God manifest in the flesh. The one in whom dwells all the
fullness of the Godhead in a body. He's the Creator. He's the Lord
and Master. He's the Savior. He's the great
physician. And we'll know who and what we
are if we ever see Him. You see, it's a sight of Him,
it's a knowledge of Him, it's an understanding of Him that
lets us know who we are, a sinner in great need of Him. a sinner in great need of him. Would that be you? A sinner in
great need of him? Now, someone who doesn't see
themselves in that light, quite frankly, has never seen him. Isaiah said, in the year that
King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. And what did that sight of the
Lord cause him to say about himself? Woe is me. I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean
lips. And I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips. When did he see that about himself?
When he saw the Lord. If you look in the previous chapter,
he said five times, woe unto them, woe unto them, woe unto
them. And when he sees the Lord, he
says, woe unto me. Daniel said, when I saw him,
my comeliness, that which I thought was beautiful about me, turned
into corruption. Job said, I've heard of thee
with the hearing of the ears, but now mine eye seeth thee,
wherefore I hate myself and I repent in dust and ashes. Now in our text, it says in the
people, when they knew And this knowledge has something
to do with the Lord Jesus Christ. When they knew, they followed
him. Now, where there is a knowing,
there will be a following. And if I don't follow the knowledge
that I have, it can do anything but condemn me all the more. Where there is this knowing,
there is a following of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, follow
me. Now, somebody may think, how
can I follow him if I've never really seen him? I've not seen
him physically. I've heard of him. How can I
follow him? To follow somebody, you've got
to be able to see him, don't you? If you can't see him, you
can't follow him. Well, you know, in Matthew chapter
9, we read about some blind men who followed him. How would blind
men follow? That's pretty simple, isn't it?
There's only one way blind men will follow. They follow by what
they hear. You follow him by what you hear
in his word concerning him. He said, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. Every single one of them. If
my knowledge of Christ doesn't make me a follower of him, it
is not saving knowledge. Now it says, and the people,
when they knew, followed him and he received them. And he received them. And this word has more to do
with a welcome. This man receiveth sinners and
eateth with them. Sinners, Jesus will receive.
Sound the word of grace to all. He received them. He truly is
the sinner's friend. Like I said, this word has it
with it the idea of welcomed. Come and welcome. They heard
him. They saw him. They followed him. And you think about this. They
had left to get away from the crowds. They were tired. They
didn't have enough time even to eat a meal in peace. He said,
come out in the desert and rest a while. And you felt that way
before where you wanted to get away from people and you wanted
to be on your, just people overload. Well, that's how all these people
felt, all these disciples. And they come and here they are.
But you know what the Lord did? He didn't turn them away. He
didn't say, leave me alone right now. He welcomed them. He was
glad they were there and he received them. John 6, 37, the Lord said,
all that the father giveth me will come to me and him that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. I'll receive them. You come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
You will be received. You will be welcomed. Don't worry about anything else.
If you come, he will, he will receive you. He said, him that
cometh to me, I will in no wise, for no reason at all, cast out. Now, what's it mean to come to
him? Once again, how do you come to somebody where you don't know
how to get there? How do you come? Well, coming
to Christ is the same thing as believing on Christ. Same thing. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, the Lord said. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. Coming to Christ is believing
on Christ. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. What's that mean? Well, he goes
on to tell us. I'm persuaded. I'm convinced
that he is able to keep that which I've committed to him.
Now, here's what Paul did. He said, I know whom I believe.
Not I know what, I know whom I believe. And I'm just totally
convinced that he's able to keep that which I've committed to
him against that day. Now, here's what Paul committed
to him. And this is what every believer commits to the Lord
Jesus Christ. I commit the safekeeping and the salvation of my soul
wholly to him. If he doesn't do it all, I know
I will not be saved. Do you know that? If he doesn't
do it all, I will not be saved. I really believe that. But I
also believe that He is able to keep that which I've committed
to Him. The salvation of my soul. He's able to save me. He's mighty
to save. Mighty. Now that's what faith
is. That's what it is to come to Him. It's to believe on Him.
I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded he's able to
keep that which I've committed to him against that day. Following
him and coming to him are the same thing. If you follow, you
come. If you come, you follow. And what a blessed thought, you
will be welcomed. Now in our text, it says, and
the people, when they knew, they followed him and he received
them and spake unto them of the kingdom of God. Now this was
what he spoke to them of, the kingdom of God. Luke, last week
you read this passage of scripture. We're going to read it again.
Turn to Daniel chapter 4. He spake unto them of the kingdom
of God. Now what is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is
the sphere of His kingship. It's His jurisdiction. What is
the jurisdiction of God? What is the sphere of His kingship?
How wide is it? Look here in Daniel chapter 4. Beginning, this is after Daniel
had interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream, verse 24. Daniel chapter
four, this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree
of the most high, which has come upon my Lord, the king, that
they shall drive thee from men. And thy dwelling shall be with
the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass
as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven. Seven
times or seven years shall pass over thee till thou know that
the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever
he will. You know who's ruling right now?
The Most High. Every ruler that is put into
place, he put into place. Let's go on reading. And whereas
they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots, the kingdom
shall be sure unto thee after that thou shalt have known that
the heavens do rule. Aren't you glad the heavens rule?
When I hear that, it takes all the pressure off. The Lord's
in control. The Lord reigns. The Lord is king. Let all the
earth rejoice. Wherefore, O King, let my counsel
be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness,
and thine iniquity by showing mercy to the poor. It may be
a lengthening of thy tranquility. All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar,
and at the end of the twelve months he walked in the palace
of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake, and said, Is
not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom
by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?
What haughty arrogance! While the word was in the king's
mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar,
to thee it is spoken, The kingdom is departed from thee, and they
shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the
beasts of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass
as an oxen, and seven years shall pass over thee, until you know.
that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth
it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled
upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men, and did eat
grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till
his hairs were grown like eagle feathers, and his nails like
birdcalls. Seven years without trimming his fingernails, his
hair, can you imagine what he looked like? Seven years living
outside like that. And at the end of the days, I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding
returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised
and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting
dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation.
Now, this is the kingdom of God that the Lord Jesus spake to
them of. Verse 35, And all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing, And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? Now, this is the kingdom that
our Lord spoke of. He doeth according to his will. Now, God's will is his kingdom. His will is uninfluenced, it's
immutable, it's independent, and it's efficacious. His will
is always done. You know, the leper understood
this, didn't he? He said, Lord, if you will, you can make me
clean. Now this is the kingdom that
our Lord preached. The kingdom of God's absolute
sovereign control. His will is done. That's demonstrated
in creation when He spake the world into existence. That's
demonstrated in providence where He controls every event. He is the first cause of all
things. By Him all things consist. and
His will is done in salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. If
you're saved, it's because He saved you. You're in His hands.
Salvation is of the Father in election, of the Son in redemption,
and of the Holy Spirit in regeneration. Our God, said David, is in the
heavens. He hath done whatsoever he pleased.
Our Lord said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, because you have hid these things from the wise and prudent
and revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. Let me say again, you'll only worship a sovereign. If you can manipulate him, if
you can get him to change, if you can get him to do your bidding,
if you can get him to respond to you, you'll never worship
him. You'll only worship an absolute sovereign who can do with you
whatever he's pleased to do. None can stay his hand or say
unto him, what doest thou? He giveth no account of his matters. He doesn't answer to me, he doesn't
answer to you. That's the kingdom the Lord Jesus
spake of. The kingdom of God. And you know who the king of
that kingdom is? the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the King. I love that song we sing. We
love to sing of Christ our King. And hail Him, blessed Jesus,
for there's no word here ever heard so dear, so sweet as Jesus. Don't you love the way this sounds?
King Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He spake
of the kingdom of God. And then it says, He healed them that had need of healing. He healed them that had need
of healing. You know, the Lord said the whole
need not a physician, but they that are sick. He healed
them that had need of healing. And you know, when the Lord said
the whole need, not a physician, but they that are sick, the word
sick there means literally evilly sick, evilly sick. My sickness, my
disease is evil. It's my fault and I'm in a mess
and there's nothing I can do to heal myself. You know, sin
is a disease to some. What do I mean by that? Well,
sin's not a disease to everybody, but it is to some, all those
who have need of healing. Now I need him to heal me from
my sin. It's a disease. And I need his
healing in my mind. I need his healing in my heart.
I need His healing in my will. I need His healing in my home.
I need His healing in my body. I need His healing. I need the
healing of His grace. I need. You know, we, in this
church, we believe sovereign grace, don't we? We believe God
the Father unconditionally elected a people to be saved before time
began. And beloved, I need his choice
of me to be unconditional because if he's got to look for a thing
in me, it's over for me. We believe in the successful
redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross when He said,
it is finished, the salvation of God's elect was accomplished.
And I need it to be that way. I need it. If He could die for
somebody and they end up in hell anyway, I know that's where I'll
be. I need His redemption to be successful. I need his grace
to be irresistible and invincible. I need his grace to overcome
me, to be relentless and not let me go. I need his grace. I need his healing in every aspect
of my life. He said without me, you can do
nothing. Now sin is a disease in a believer. When your children get sick,
do you get mad at them? No. That's my boy. That's my girl. I love them.
They're sick. You do whatever's needed for
their healing. Now, sin is not a disease in
an unbeliever. They don't look at it that way.
But to a believer, sin is a disease that they need healed from, from
their great physician. And the scripture says, we have
not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of
our infirmities, our weakness, our sickness, Oh, the evil disease
that we have. We have a high priest that cannot
be touched, moved to sympathy with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was at all points tempted like as we are. There isn't anything
you've experienced that he hasn't experienced much more acutely. But he never sinned! I know he
didn't, but he experienced everything about sin with the commission
of it. He knows all about the shame and the degradation and
the guilt of sin when he was made sin. And there's nothing
you've experienced that he hasn't experienced much more acutely. And he's touched. Our great physician,
our high priest is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Let us therefore come boldly
under the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. Now, one of the names of the
Lord is, I am the Lord that healeth thee. You need healed? He healeth the broken in heart,
the scripture says, and bindeth up their wounds. Bless the Lord,
O my soul, who healeth all thy diseases. I cried unto the Lord,
and thou hast healed me. Heal me, O Lord, and I shall
be healed. Save me, and I shall be saved. He sent his word, and he healed
them. Now, how does the Lord heal?
That's what I want to end with and think. How does the Lord
heal? He calls himself, I am the Lord
that healeth thee. I need healed. It says he healed
them that had need of healing. I'm one of those people. I need
healed. How does the Lord heal? Well, remember when the Roman
centurion said, speak the word only and my servant shall be
healed. First of all, he heals simply
as an act of his will. Now, what kind of doctor would
that be? If you could go to a doctor and you came to him and you could
be healed and cured simply by him saying, you're cured, I'm
willing it, you're healed. You'd want to go to that doctor,
wouldn't you? That's a doctor I'd want to go to. I mean, one
who's always successful, never just wills my healing. Well,
that's the great physician. He heals as an act of his will.
Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. He said, I will. Be thou clean. And immediately the scripture
says he was cleansed. Don't you love to think about
that? He had those ulcers all over him. All of a sudden he
had healthy flesh. Soon as the Lord said it. So
the Lord heals as an act of His will. In Luke chapter 6 verse 19, we
read, there went virtue out of him, and he healed them all. Now think about this. Something went out of him. When
he healed them, something went out of him. Saving power, saving
virtue went out of him. And you know what? Something
else went out of them, too. Their diseases. Their diseases
went out of them, to Him and His saving power went out of
Him to them and He healed them all. Now this is mysterious.
I don't know how all this works. But the sins of God's people
are counted as a disease. They're seen as a disease. It's
a disease that they need healed of. And you know, the scripture
actually says, he bore our sicknesses. He bore our diseases. He bore
our infirmities. Yes, he bore our sin, but he
bore our sickness. Did he really have those sicknesses
in his body? I reckon he did, but here's the
point. So truly did he identify himself as the sinner's substitute.
You know, you can't, people look at, well, sin was imputed to
him. Well, more than that, you know, you can't impute sickness
to somebody, can you? No, you experienced that sickness.
And he experienced that, it came into him. It left him and came
into him. Who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree. And saving virtue and power came
out of him to them. Here's how I'm healed. Substitution.
Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah chapter 53. The prophet says, who have believed
our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? Well, I know who will believe
the report. Those to whom the arm of the Lord is revealed. For he shall grow up before him
as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He hath no
form nor comeliness. While I was reading the paper
this morning, it was telling you to watch the Bible. It's
a five-part series on TV. And he's just this really good-looking
guy with long hair and beard. I mean, he was handsome. I mean,
everybody would be attracted to this guy. They would tell
you, you need to watch this. Well, it's not what the Scripture
says. When we shall see him, there's
no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised. and rejected of men, a man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces
from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. No greater crime than that. Surely
he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. Yet we did
esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted, but he
was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes we're healed. First Peter chapter two. Now before it took place, Isaiah
said with his stripes, we're healed. He didn't say we will
be healed when it happens, he said we're healed. And look what
1 Peter chapter 2 says, verse 24. Who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree. that we being dead to sin should
live unto righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. Do you need healed? You were
healed. You just didn't know it yet. You were healed. If you need
healed, You were healed by the stripes, by the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ. When he said, listen to me real
carefully, when he said it is finished, you were healed. Isn't it great to be healed? The disease was taken away. One
last scripture, Revelation 22. And he showed me a pure river
of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne
of God and of the Lamb. And in the midst of it, on either
side of the river, was there the tree Now what's very interesting
about the word tree there is this is not the word tree that
has roots and in the ground. This is the pole, the cross,
the tree of life. This is not the tree that has
roots. No, this is the, I'll tell you what, is the cross the
tree of life? You remember Aaron's rod that
budded? Life came from it. In the midst of the street of
it, on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bare
twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month.
And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. He healed them that had need
of healing. Do you have a need of healing?
then he's healed you. But unto you that fear my name,
shall the son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings. And the only healing I know of,
and the only healing I need to know of, is the healing of the
precious blood of Jesus Christ. Let's pray.