Now turning your Bible to Mark
chapter 2. Mark chapter 2. And I take my text principally
from verse 17. Mark chapter 2 verse 17. But let's read verse 16 and 17.
And this is the same as we read in Luke chapter 5. Mark 2 verse
16. and Pharisees saw him eat with
publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it? How is it? Why is it that he
eateth and drinketh with these notorious tax collectors and
these men who are so wicked and sinful? Now that's what those
Pharisees You remember those who were self-righteous, they
despised others? And when the Lord heard that,
He said to them, They that are whole have no need of a doctor,
physician. But they that are sick, I came
not to call the righteous. I came to save sinners. I came to save sinners. Well here's my title. Do you
need a doctor? Do you need a savior? Are you guilty? Are you a sinner? We learn in
these verses that our Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners by
his sovereign calling grace. Matthew that day was sitting
at his business taking revenue from his Jewish friends. And the Lord Jesus walked up
to that table that day and said with the voice of God, with the
power of God, that, Matthew, follow me. And the scriptures
declare he left all. He just forsook all and followed
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what we call the irresistible
call of God. The effectual call of God. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. Hold your place there and find
Luke 19. There was a chief publican named
Zacchaeus. Probably was the boss of old
Matthew, the publican. And then this chief publican
named Zacchaeus. You remember he climbed up the
tree to see the Lord, and the Lord passed under and he said,
Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, Luke 19 verse 6. And he made haste and came down
and received him joyfully. Look at verse 9. And the Lord
said, this day is salvation come to your house. For as much as
you are also a son of Abraham, not only physically, but spiritually
a son of Abraham, one of God's elect. Now look at verse 10.
For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is
lost. Salvation is for lost folks.
Salvation is for guilty folks. The Apostle Paul said this is
a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that the Lord
Jesus Christ came to save. sinners. And he said, I am the
chief one. I am the chief one. Matthew was
a notorious sinner who the Lord of glory set his electing grace
upon from all eternity. God chose his people in eternity
and gave them to the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew being chosen
in that covenant of grace, we call that electing grace, The
Lord Jesus came and lived in perfect obedience under the law
of God for him, honored the law of God in precept and in penalty
for his covenant people, of which Matthew was one. The Lord Jesus
not only lived for him, but he also died for him. He willingly laid down his life
and shed his blood to make full atonement full atonement for
all the sin of those spiritual sons of Abraham, of which the
messenger from heaven said, call the Savior, the Lord Jesus, call
His name Savior, for He shall save His people from their sin. The Lord Jesus laid down His
life for the sheep. And that day it says that the
Lord saw him and called him. Now this is not the first time
the Lord saw him. He's had an eye on him from all
eternity, and has loved him with an everlasting love, and with
loving kindness he draws him to himself. And this is a time
of love, when the Lord crossed his path and called him to himself. And this is what the Lord does
to His covenant people. The Great Shepherd, the Good
Shepherd, crosses our path by sovereign mercy, and calls us
to Himself. And when He does, we will answer. He makes His people willing in
the day of His power. All who the Lord wisely and justly
saves, He calls them, justifies them, delivers them exactly the
same way He dealt with Matthew. By sovereign mercy, sovereign
grace. He is a Savior. He is the great
physician of sinners. You see, salvation is for sinners. Turn to Luke chapter 5. Luke
chapter 15, rather. Look at this. Paul said in Romans,
Christ died for the ungodly. Luke chapter 5. Turn there and
look at this. Luke 15, rather. Luke 15, verse 1. Then do near
unto him all the publicans and sinners, for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes
murmured." It seemed like that's all they did. They just followed
him around and kept complaining. Saying, this man receives sinners
and he eats with them. He receives sinners. He's the
friend of sinners. Now back to the text. He said, I came not to call the
righteous, verse 17, but sinners to repentance. Now, do you need
a doctor? Do you need a Savior? Physically
speaking, when do you seek medical attention? When do you seek medical
attention? When you're in need. When do
you pick up the phone and dial 911? You don't do it when you're
feeling well. You pick up the phone and dial
9-1-1 when you're in need. Those that are whole, those who
are righteous, have no need of a doctor. And these words refer
back to what the Lord says to those self-righteous. Why does
your master eat with publicans and sinners? And our Lord said
those who are whole, those who think themselves to be righteous
and justified, they don't need a doctor. They don't need a Savior. Who are these Pharisees? What do they think? Turn over
here to Luke 16 this time, 15. Luke 16, 15. Who are these who
think they are whole, have no need of a Savior, have no need
of a position? Now here's their description.
They're righteous in themselves. They justify themselves. Luke
16, look at verse 15. He said unto them, verse 14 says,
the Pharisees also who were covetous heard all these things and they
derided him. There's that same cry. Always,
always following the Lord, criticizing, badgering Him, railing on Him. And He said unto
them, you are they which justify yourselves before men. But God
knows your heart. For that which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination in the sight of God. This is always true. This is
always true. Turn over here to, well we read
in Luke 18, 9. He spake this parable unto them
which trusted in themselves the Pharisees that they were righteous
and despised others. This is always true of sinners
that are full of religious pride, who are ignorant of what God
requires, who are ignorant of the character of God, therefore
they go about to establish their own righteousness and have not
submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God which is
in Christ Jesus alone. Those who are full of religious
pride and self-righteousness as these Pharisees, they don't
see themselves as bad as God and the Scriptures declare that
they really are. Well, how bad are we by nature?
Turn to Romans chapter 3. Have you ever seen this? Romans
chapter 3. Look at verse 10. There is none
righteous, no, not one. Those who are full of religious
pride, they think that they are righteous, but God says to the
contrary, that there are none righteous, no, not one. And this
is our description by nature, by birth, by practice and choice.
There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They're all gone out of
the way. They are together become impossible. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. Sinners need a Savior. I tell
you who needs a great Savior. Those who are great sinners. And certainly that is me. One
writer said this, The sinner will never hunger and thirst
after righteousness in Christ Jesus until the sentence of death
gives him an appetite. And that's true. You'll never
seek salvation in Christ Jesus till God passes that sentence
of death upon you and gives you an appetite to seek salvation
where it's found in Christ Jesus. Turn to Matthew 6 and look at
this. Matthew 6. Now here's the point I'm trying
to make. Salvation is for sinners. And those whom God convicts of
sin, they seek relief only in Christ. Matthew 6 verse 33, Seek
ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness as a person
and all these things will be added unto you. The sinner will
never hunger after Christ. and his righteousness until the
sentence of death gives him an appetite to seek salvation in
Christ Jesus. Now, I have three or four points
in this message. That's the introduction. Here's
the first point. Our blessed Lord and Savior, the Lord Jesus,
is the only Savior, the only wise physician that God Almighty
has sent. There is no other. There is no
other way of salvation. Isaiah 45 tells it very clearly. There is no God else beside me. I am a just God and Savior. There is no other. There is no
other way of salvation but in the Lord Jesus Christ. No other. He is the only one, Son of God,
the only one who is authorized You see, there's no other mediator. There's just one God. And one
mediator between God and sinners, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you need a mediator? I do. Because God is absolutely,
infinitely holy, and I'm a sinner. And I can't reconcile that difference. I need a mediator. And I have
one. in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is that Mediator. There is no other. There is no
other Savior. Is there? Are my good works a
Savior? The things I do, do they account
for salvation? Absolutely not. There is no other
Savior who is able to save to the uttermost all that come to
God by Him. The Apostle Peter put it this
way, neither is there salvation in any other. There is no other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
There is no other. There is only one way, one truth,
one mediator, one savior. And my friend, there is no other
atonement. How is sin put away? The blood of bulls and goats
cannot take away sin. Sin is very difficult to put
away. I cannot make atonement for my sin. I cannot satisfy
the holy justice of God. And there's just one atonement
for sin, one covering for sin. Do you know what it is? Do you
know who it is? God bought His church with His
own blood. There is no other atonement for
sin, but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The blood of Jesus Christ
cleanses us from all sin. There is no other atonement.
See, He is the only one authorized of God. He is the only Mediator, the
only Savior, the only Atonement. There is no other foundation.
All other ground is sinking sand. There is no other foundation
upon which guilty sinners can rest. What is that foundation? Who is that foundation? God said,
Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone. a precious cornerstone. Those
who rest on that foundation, Christ Jesus, shall never be
forced out, will never be ashamed, will never be confounded. You
see, I'm not resting on the sand of my works. I'm resting on Christ
the Rock. And to move the believer, you've
got to move the rock. I'm in the rock and on the rock
and resting on that foundation. There is no other. You see what
I'm saying? The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only authorized mediator, the only authorized physician, the
doctor. He's the mediator, the savior,
the atonement. He is the foundation. There is
no other righteousness. that justifies the ungodly before
God Almighty. There is no other righteousness. Now, I know this. I'm not real
smart, but I know this. I know God is holy, and I know
God demands perfection. God demands holiness. It must
be perfect to be accepted, and I know I cannot meet that standard. I must have a perfect righteousness
before God's holy presence. And I can't produce it. You can't
either. The only righteousness that justifies
the ungodliness before God's law of justice and holiness is
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. You see, He is my righteousness
before God. He's made unto us. Wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. He is the only righteousness
that closed this center. It's a coat of His doing, His
making, that He freely gives to His people. Blessed is the
man to whom God would impute righteousness without works.
You see, there's no other righteousness, is there? Are you trusting something
you've done for salvation? You are. You're lost. Sinners
who are justified by His grace trust the Lord Jesus Christ alone
for all salvation, not a part. And I know this, there is no
other redemption that delivers, that delivers us from all sin. We are redeemed, not with silver
and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. Now, listen
to this, make sure Make sure and take heed that you seek no
other position, no other Savior. Now listen to me, Dr. Law will only serve to curse
you, Dr. Law. By the deeds of the law
shall no flesh be justified. Dr. Ceremony will only condemn
you, not by works of righteousness which we have done, But according
to his mercy, he saved us. Dr. Goodworks, you gonna go see
Dr. Goodworks? Dr. Ceremony? Dr. Law? Dr. Goodworks will only harm
you and make the situation much worse. How about Dr. Feelgood? A lot of people like to go see
Dr. Feelgood. Dr. Feelgood will only mock you. You see, faith comes by hearing
the Word of God. Faith doesn't come by feelings.
Remember what old Luther said? Martin Luther, the old reformer,
who gave his life for the gospel, what he said about feelings,
feelings come and feelings go. Feelings are deceiving. My warrant
is the Word of God. Nothing else is worth believing. A lot of people want to run to
Dr. Feelgood, Dr. Works, Dr. Ceremony, Dr. Law, and ignore
the Lord Jesus Christ, the wise and great physician. Some folks run the Dr. Church
membership. I'm looking for the right church.
You'll never find it. You'll never find salvation in
the right church. Salvation's not in a church. I don't care what you name it,
what you call it. Salvation is in a person. The
Lord Jesus Christ. That's right. This is eternal
life that they might know thee, the only true God. Jesus Christ. Make sure you get and trust the
one that he has sent. The one who cannot fail. There
are a lot of counterfeits around. Certainly Dr. Freewill will never
put away my sin. Dr. Church membership, Dr. Ceremony
will never help. My friend, look to Christ. Salvation
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you never hear me again, hear
this. I'm saying salvation is in Christ.
The exalted, victorious, glorious Lord Jesus Christ. He said that,
look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth. I
am God and there is no other. Here's the second point. First
point is this, you got it? There's just one Savior. He's
the only one qualified. The second point is this. The
Lord Jesus Christ is well qualified. He has all the qualifications
to be our Almighty Physician. He has the divine diploma. I don't know if you're like I
am, but when I go into a doctor's office, you know what I look
for? I start looking for the wall and those diplomas. I want to make sure the guy who's
taking care of me has got a diploma. He's got the credentials. My
friend, the Lord Jesus Christ has a divine diploma. You want
to read it? It's written right here. Turn
to Luke chapter 4. Here's his diploma. Not from the college of men,
but from the God of all grace. You see, he has the qualification
to be the Savior for this sinner. Luke chapter 4, Luke verse 18,
the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal
the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them
that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. There's his diploma. The Spirit
of God is upon me. He has qualified me. He has the
divine diploma. Secondly, he has the excellent
experience He has the excellent experience. It says in Luke 9
verse 11, He healed all those who came to Him. He healed all
of them. He has healed millions who are
infected with that leprous disease. He's never lost a patient. Thirdly, He's the greatest specialist
in His field. If you had cancer, you'd seek
out a specialist, wouldn't you? You'd seek out the best one you
could find. The Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest specialist in
His field. He came to save sinners. His
cures are speedy. In Mark chapter 2, do you remember
last week? His cures are speedy. The man
who was paralyzed, look at verse 12. When the Lord said to him,
Arise, take up your bed and go into your house, and immediately
He arose and took up His bed. His cures are speedy. Look again
in Mark 1, Mark 1 verse 42. When He healed the leprosy from
that man, the Lord said, I will be thou clean, verse 41, verse
42. And as soon as he had spoken
immediately, immediately the leprosy departed from him and
he was cleansed. I want that kind of physician,
don't you? One who is qualified, one who is sent, one who has
excellent experience, one who is a specialist in his field,
his cures are speedy, and you know what? His healings are not
temporary. His healings are eternal. He said, I give unto them eternal
life and they'll never perish. I obtain for them eternal redemption. And He says, I save my people
with everlasting salvation. Our blessed Savior, our great
and good and wise physician. He doesn't practice medicine.
Now medicine is a practice. A doctor practices He had a medicine
practice. But our Lord Jesus Christ, the
good and great and wise physician, he doesn't practice medicine.
He performed perfect and everlasting miracles of grace upon his patients. Thirdly is this. That which moves
our Savior, our Redeemer to come to our aid is twofold. Look what
it says in our text. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners," verse 17, Mark 2, to repentance. That which
moves our Savior and Redeemer to come to our aid is twofold.
Now listen to me. Who needs a great Savior? Now listen to me carefully. Who
needs a great Savior? We say, well, I do. Do you know
who else needs a great Savior? God Almighty. Is that right? That's right. He needs a great
Savior. How can God be holy and just
and justify the ungodly and not compromise His holy character?
Only in Christ Jesus is God a just God and a Savior. Who needs a
great Savior? God Almighty. And the Lord Jesus
Christ is God our Savior. Who needs a great Savior? This
sinner. This sinner. That which moves
our Redeemer to come to our aid is His great love for His own
people. Here is love, not that we love
God, but that He loved us and He sent His Son to be my sacrifice
for sin. Having loved His own, He loved
them to the end. God commended His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. His great love for us and our
great need. I am poor and needy, David said,
yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Now listen to this statement. If you missed everything else,
hear this. Your sin will never keep you
from Christ. I tell you what will. Your righteous
self. That will keep you from seeking
mercy where mercy is found. But your sin will never keep
you from it. If you know you are a sinner, you will come to
Him like the deer pants after the water broke. David said,
My soul thirsteth after Thee, the living and true God. Your sin will never keep you
from Christ. But oh, your righteous ugly self will. Lastly is this, our great Savior
and Physician heals every sin sick soul that applies to him
for healing. That sinner that day in Luke
18 cried out, God have mercy on me, thee sinner. What did
the Lord Jesus Christ say of him? He went down to his house. He went home that day justified. Justified. You see, the first step toward
cure is to know you're sick. Is that right? If you were infected with cancer
this day and were unaware of it, you wouldn't seek out help. But if you knew your disease
was terminal, you'd seek help. where help is
found. The first step toward a cure
is to know you're sick. And Isaiah, it's recorded in
Isaiah, he said, God said of us, from the top of our head
to the sole of our feet were nothing but wounds and bruises
and ulcified, ugly, putrefying sores. Know this, there's no
case too hard for the Lord. There's no case too hard for
the Lord. He's able to save sinners to the uttermost. Turn to Mark
chapter 10. Look at this here. Mark chapter
10. Mark chapter 10. You remember the rich young ruler
that came to the Lord? And he had great possessions
and he was trusting himself for salvation? In Mark 10 verse 23,
And the Lord looked round about and said unto his disciples,
How hard, hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom
of God. Now watch this. And the disciples
were astonished at his words. But Jesus answered again and
said unto them children, How hard is it for them that trust
in riches to enter into the kingdom of God. It's easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of God. Now watch this, verse 26, And
they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Well,
who then can be saved? Look at verse 27, And Jesus looking
upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God. With God all things are possible. Our great Savior and Physician
heals every sin sick soul that applies to him for mercy. I've never read in scripture
where a mercy beggar has been turned away from the Lord of
Glory. Not one time. No case too hard
for him. No sinner ever came to the Lord
and was turned away. Are you a sinner? I'm going to take my place before
the throne of God. He said, come boldly unto the
throne of mercy that you might obtain mercy and grace to help
in time of need. I'm going to take my place before
His throne and cry out unto God for mercy. God save me for Christ's
sake. God save me for Christ's sake.
Isn't that exactly what David prayed? Don't turn. read it to
you in Psalm 51 when he talked about God have mercy upon me
have mercy upon me oh God according to thy loving kindness according
to the multitude of thy tender mercy blot out my transgression
I'm going to stay right there at the throne of a sovereign
God and cry out for mercy knowing full well That the scriptures
teach that he delights to show mercy. He delights in it. He
said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. He will show
mercy to sinners. Wash me throughly from my iniquity.
Cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgression
and my sin as ever before thee. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be justified when you speak, and clear when you judge." What did the Lord say that day?
I want you to think about that verse all week. I didn't come
to call the righteous. I came to save sinners. Are you a sinner? Do you need
a Savior? I do. I'm a sinner and I need
a Savior.