Where there Is a Need, There Is a Savior

Q: What does the Bible say about healing in Matthew?

In Matthew, healing is presented as a direct result of faith in Christ's power and mercy. Matthew's accounts of healing portray the necessity of faith in Jesus Christ's ability to heal. The leper, the woman with the issue of blood, and the blind men all approached Christ believing He had the power to heal them, emphasizing that their healing was solely contingent upon His will and mercy. These narratives illustrate that true healing does not come from human effort but from reliance on Christ alone, as reflected in Scriptures like Matthew 8:1-3 and Matthew 9:20-22.

Q: How do we know Christ's power to heal is true?

Christ's power to heal is affirmed through the testimonies of those who experienced His healing touch. The healing accounts in the Gospel of Matthew validate Christ's power as He responds to the faith of those in need. The leper's declaration, 'Lord, if you will, you can make me clean,' and the woman’s belief that touching His garment would suffice for healing, are strong testimonies of their belief in His power. Additionally, others, like the blind men acknowledging Him as the 'Son of David,' reflect an understanding of His identity and authority. Their faith, coupled with Christ's compassionate response, underscores the truth of His ability to heal, as seen in Matthew 8:1-3 and Matthew 9:20-22.

Q: Why is coming to Christ important for healing?

Coming to Christ is essential for healing because it demonstrates our recognition of our need for Him. The act of coming to Christ reflects the acknowledgment of our deep need for His mercy and healing. In each healing narrative, individuals brought their burdens and diseases to Christ, acknowledging that only He could provide the healing they sought. This is vital within the framework of sovereign grace, as it reveals the necessity of recognizing our own inability and the sufficiency of Christ's grace. Themes of need and desperation are prevalent, reinforcing the concept that God responds to those who sincerely seek Him, as exemplified in Matthew 9:11-12 where Jesus spoke of His purpose to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.

Matthew 8 and Matthew 9 and Matthew
20, I'm going to read three passages of Scripture. And I want you to listen while
I read, following your Bible, and then I'm going to give you
a little quiz. We'll read about three different
people. Matthew chapter 8, beginning
with verse 1. Then I'm going to ask you some
questions. In Matthew 8 verse 1, when he
was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, there came a leper
and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand
and touched him. saying, I will, be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed. Now Matthew 9, let's look beginning
with verse 20. Here's another incident. In Matthew 9 verse 20, And behold a woman which was diseased with an issue
of blood, hemorrhaging, losing blood for twelve years, twelve
long years, came behind him and touched the hem of his garment.
For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment,
I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and
when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort. Your faith
hath made you whole. And the woman was made whole
from that hour. Now Matthew 20. Matthew chapter 20, and we'll
read beginning with verse 30. Matthew 20, verse 30. Let's read verse 29, Matthew
20, 29. And as they departed from Jericho,
a great multitude followed him. And behold, two blind men sitting
by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out,
saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thy son of David. And the multitude
rebuked them, because they should hold their peace. But they cried
the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thy son of David. And Jesus stood still, and he
called them, and he said, What will ye that I shall do unto
you? And they said unto him, Lord,
that our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion on them
and touched their eyes and immediately their eyes received sight and
they followed him. Now the quiz. What did all these
people have in common? Why did I read about the leper
and about the woman who had the issue of blood for so long and
wasted everything she had on false positions and wasn't any
better. And then these blind men, one
of whom was Bartimaeus, I'm sure, what did they all have in common?
Well, the first answer, I'm sure, that's on your mind is this.
They had all heard of Jesus Christ. They had an idea of who he was. They had heard of him. You know,
how can they call on him in whom they've not believed, and how
shall they believe in him of whom they've not heard? This
leper came and worshipped him, fell at his feet, worshipping,
and said, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. And this
woman said, if I can but touch the hem of his garment, his power
is so great, All I have to do is just touch his clothes, and
I know I'll be made whole. And these blind men called him
the son of David. They knew that the Messiah was
the son of David, and they called this Jesus of Nazareth the son
of David. So the first thing they had in
common was this, they'd all heard of Jesus Christ. And they came
to him because they'd heard of him, and they knew. Well, the
second thing. It's certain that they knew he
could help them. And only he could help them.
The leper said to him, Lord, if you will. It's not if I will
and if you will, it's if you will you can make me clean. I
know you have the power. The woman said, if I can just
touch his clothes. Just touch him. And these blind
men prayed that the Lord might open their eyes, they knew that
he could. So they had that in common. They'd all heard of him.
And they all believed that he could make them whole, and he
was the only one who could. And then the third thing they
had in common, they came to him. They didn't come to his disciples.
You know, the fellow that had the epileptic son, he came to
the disciples. He said, I came to your disciples
and they couldn't do anything, and we can't. We can't do anything,
not for a sinner. These people didn't come to the
disciples, they didn't come to his mother. I tell you, we can pray, Hail Mary,
Mother of God, pray for us poor sinners. till God's judgment
passes upon this earth and it won't help us. They didn't come
to the temple, they came to him. The leper came to Christ. The
woman said, if I can touch his garment. And these men sitting
by the wayside just kept crying while everybody discouraged them,
just be still. No, they wouldn't be still. They had to have his help. So
they came to him. He said, come to me and I'll
give you rest. The fourth thing, I believe,
in answer to that question, what did they have in common? It was
certain, and they knew this, that their healing was according
to his power alone. The leper summed it up. He said,
Lord, if you will, if you will, you can make me whole. if you
will. They contributed nothing at all
to their healing, not by their works, not by their strength,
not by their faithfulness, not by their merit. It was a plea
for mercy, if you will. If you will, you can make me
whole. But there's one thing I haven't mentioned, that they
had, all of them had in common. They knew who he was, they'd
heard of him. We do too. They knew his power
to heal. They were convinced of it. All
three of them. Not a question. They knew who
he was. They knew he had the power to
heal them. And they came to him. And they
all knew that it was in his power to do so and according to his
will. And they depended not on their
strength or merit, but on him alone. But here's my second question. that they had in common, true
of all three of them. Why did they come to Him in the
first place? That's where all this starts. That's where all... Why did they
come to Him in the first place? Well, I'll tell you why. They
came to Him because they needed Him. They needed Him. That's why they came. The leper
was a leper. Do you have any? I don't. I don't
have any idea of the dread, the hopelessness, the helplessness,
the despair of a leper. I just can't conceive of back
in those days. How they were just doomed. It was a fatal disease and they
separated them from the people. The lepers were supposed to cry
unclean, unclean, everywhere they went. They were to tell
people, don't even let my shackle fall on you. They were outcast,
isolated, completely. And here this scaly, dying, hopeless
creature comes to Christ. And that's why he came. That's
why he came. desperately needed him. That's
why he came. And he went away and made her
the woman. She'd tried all the remedies that people had given
her and she'd been to, the scripture said, many physicians. It was
no better. She'd spent all her living on
these physicians and she was just in a helpless, her blood
was, her life was flowing out of her, hemorrhaging away from
her. No hope! She needed help, she
needed Christ, needed Him so desperately. And she crawled,
literally made her way through this crowd and reached out and
I can visualize it in my mind how she just reached out and
grabbed for His garment as He passed by. And when she did,
our Lord turned and said, Thy faith hath made thee whole. Well, for the first time in 12
years, without distress for the first time in 12 years, made
whole and walked away. She needed Him. And these blind
men, oh, let me show you a scripture you ought to mark in your Bible.
In Luke chapter 9, I've read this here from this pulpit a
lot of times, but I don't know whether we really have laid whole
or what it means or not, in Luke 9, verse 11. It says here in
Luke 9, verse 10 and 11, 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
it, they followed And he received them, and spake unto them of
the kingdom of God, and he healed them that had need of healing." There's the key. They had a need. This leper had a need. This woman
had a need. These blind men had a desperate
need that drove them to Christ. What brings a man to the well?
Thirst. What brings a person to the table? Hunger. What brings a person
to the doctor? Look over at Matthew chapter
9. I had a little experience this week with, last Sunday I
was having a problem preaching. My throat was giving me a little
problem, Monday I felt fairly good and got out a little bit,
went to the park, walked Monday afternoon in the sunshine, went
out to supper Monday night. Monday night late, I was sick,
pain, got up at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning, drove down to
Super American, bought me something to Spray my throat to get rid
of the pain, the pain, the pain in my throat and my ear. I put
drops in it and sat up. You know where I went the next
morning? I went to my doctor. I don't
particularly care to go to the doctor, do you? But I was ready
to go. I wanted to go. I wanted to go. I was waiting
down there. You see what I'm talking about?
When you have a need. It says here in Matthew 9, listen
to it. Matthew 9 verse 10. It came to
pass as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans
and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And
when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, why eateth
your master with publicans and sinners? Why does he associate
with these people? When Jesus heard that, he said
to them, they that behold need not a physician. There's a lot
of people here in this room tonight who do not need a physician.
You don't need him, you don't need his care, you don't need
his attention, you don't need his medicine. And I'm glad. I
hope you stay well. I hope I do. People that are whole don't need
a physician. Now he says, but they that are
sick. Now listen, but go ye and learn what that means. I will have mercy, not sacrifice,
for I am come not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Those are the people who come
to Christ who need Christ. Desperately, helplessly, hopelessly
need Him. need him. Call everyone that
thirsteth, come to the water. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Those who need Christ. Christ means nothing to those
who have not felt their woe. A sinner is a sacred thing. The
Holy Ghost has made him so. You know that one, John. He loves
those old hymns. I do too. Christ means nothing to those
who have not felt their woe, but a sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost hath made him
so. Are you a sinner? Are you a sinner before God?
Can you cry with David of old against thee and thee only? Have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be just when you condemn and clear when you speak? My sins
are ever before me. Are you a sinner before God?
That question needs an answer. And I tell you, just as soon
and as surely as that conviction of sin floods your soul and sends
you weeping to the closet of conviction and repentance, that's
when, like this leper of old, You'll come to Christ and say,
now Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. That's when driven
by that conviction of sin, you'll come like that woman just to
reach out and touch him. Reach out and touch the Lord
as he passes by. And like those blind men, no
matter what people say, you're not embarrassed to cry out. Brother
Bob Coffey was preaching up in Pipeville a few weeks ago. preaching on the woman at the
well, the sinner, who needed a Savior. And when he finished
preaching, they started singing a song. Bob started to dismiss
them, I think. And some lady in the congregation
said, I need help. I'm a sinner. Would somebody
help me? Oh, my. Welcome, sinner. You
know, none are excluded, but those who do themselves exclude. Welcome to guilty, welcome to
weak, welcome to ignorant, welcome to rude. I read a story some time ago
about a preacher who closed his sermon in a country church, and
he closed his Bible, and he looked down on the first or second row
into the face of a man sitting there. And he said, Friend, do you believe that God sent
Jesus Christ into the world to save good people or bad people? The man replied, Well, sir, I
just suppose that he came to save good people. And the preacher said, Then my
friend, what's to become of you and me? What's to become of you and me?
You know, John wrote over here in 1 John chapter 1. Turn over
there with me a moment. 1 John chapter 1. Listen to what John says here.
Christ came to save sinners, and people who deny their sins
certainly don't need Christ and shall not have Christ. John wrote
in 1 John 1 verse 8, if we say we have no sin, but we deceive
ourselves, the truth's not in us. That's not true. But if we confess our sins, to
whom? To one another? No. To ourselves
and to him. Well, he's faithful, and he's
just. to forgive our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. If we say we've not sinned, we
make him a liar. His word's not in us. I can tell
you, my friends, quite frankly, that Jesus Christ in his person
and work for sinners is the one great issue. It's the one great
subject. I need Christ. But you know something,
that's which makes it even greater, and of greater importance, and
makes it the greatest subject. God needs Him. God needs Him. I need Christ,
and God needs Christ. I need Christ because of my unholiness. God needs Him because of His
holiness. I need him because he's the only question, only
answer to the question, how can God be just and justify? How
can he be clean as one of a woman? That's why I need him, to enable
God to be just and justify. But God needs him so that he
can be just and justify. Without him I can do nothing, as far as salvation's concerned.
But without him on your behavior. Now, watch it. Be careful, Preacher. And it's right, when you know
that this is something, without Him, God can do nothing for this
sinner. That's, He's the issue. We better find out who He is,
and what He did, and why He did it, and where He is, because
He is the issue. This leper knew it. Lord, if
You will, You make the hole. I'm in a mess. This woman knew
it, need, need, need drove her to Christ. These blind men knew
it, sitting in their darkness, groping in their darkness. The
light of the world came their way, and they cried out. I need him because of my unholiness. I need him because of my inability. I need him because of my helplessness. I need him because he's the only
one who can make me clean. And God needs him because Almighty
God, being holy and righteous and just, cannot justify this
sinner apart from what Christ did in his righteousness and
in his death. That's what Brother Dale read
in the study tonight before we came out here. In Christ, mercy
and truth met together. Righteousness and peace kissed
each other in Christ. That's where the mercy of God
and the truth of God met together, both honored and satisfied. That's
where the law of God, the justice of God, the love of God, and
the mercy of God met together and were satisfied in Christ
Jesus because of him. Now, let me give you something
and I'll close. I love the old hymns. I have
on my desk where I study at home a stack, about seven or eight. of these old hymn books. Gatsby's
hymn book and the hymn book that they used years ago in the evangelical
churches, the primitive Baptist hymn book, the Sweet Songster,
you know you have a lot of them too. And we have one in our bookstore,
and that's Spurgeon's, our own hymnal, and it has most of these
great old hymns in it. It has the one I'm going to refer
to now. It's called Jesus Scene of Angels. That's the title of
the hymn. It was written by Philip Doddridge. Are you familiar with
that? Philip Doddridge. He's one of the great hymn writers,
1770-something. And what he did, he talked about
the angels beholding Christ, and we need to behold him in
the way that they did. And this is the way the hymn
developed. They used to sing this in the
church. The first verse went like this. ye bright immortal
throng of angels round the throne. Join thy voices in song to make
the Savior known. Eternally, eternally you knew
his wondrous grace. Eternally, eternally you viewed
his glorious face." You know what that's talking about? Turn
to Proverbs. Turn to Proverbs. See, Christ
is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. He is
the surety of the everlasting covenant. And the angels of God
beheld Him way back yonder before the foundations of this world
were laid. They beheld His glorious, wonderful grace and His glorious,
wondrous face. Look at Proverbs chapter 8, verse
23. I was set up from everlasting.
From the beginning, or ever the earth was, when there was no
depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was I brought forth. While as yet, God had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, not the highest mountains. When he prepared the
heavens, I was there. When he set a compass upon the
face of the dead, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened
the fountains of the deep, when he gave to the sea his decree
that the waters should not pass his commandment, when he appointed
the foundations of the earth, I was by him, as one brought
up with him, and I was daily his delight rejoicing before
him." And verse 35, And whoso findeth me, findeth life, and
shall obtain favor of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me
wrongeth his own soul. All they that hate me love death."
That's his greatness, his eternality, his deity. He's not just the
Savior. Today he's always been the Savior,
the one and only Redeemer. All right, notice the second
verse that the Doddridge wrote. You saw the heaven-born child
in human flesh arrayed. You saw the Almighty God in a
straw manger laid, and praise to God and peace on earth. You
shouted loud for such a birth. The incarnate Lord, they saw
it. It's the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. There's my Savior. That's my
Redeemer. And these angels saw that. And
they came and told Mary, you'll have a son. They came and told
Joseph, call his name Jesus. He'll save his people from their
sin. They came and told the shepherds, unto you is born a Savior. You
see that? And then thirdly, third verse,
listen. Oh, I imagine they played this
in the monarchy. You in the wilderness, Behold,
the tempter spoiled." What are they talking about? They're talking
about when our Lord went to the wilderness and fasted forty days.
And in that weakened condition, even as a man in the most weakened
conditions, we say, well, I was just weak at that time when temptation
came upon me. My God, for forty days as a man,
fasted and became so weak. That's when the Father decreed
for Satan to meet him at his most weakened point. And Satan
came with that great temptation. That's when they, when he stood
for us. And Satan's always defeated us.
He defeated us under every circumstance. He defeated Adam in a perfect
garden. He came along and swore Noah
after a mighty revelation. And he came along and whipped
Abraham, the man of faith, out of fear. And he came along and
devastated David. And he came along with a disciple
under the company of Christ, Peter, and whipped him. And Job, he whipped him. It never
stood anybody against him. and engaged him in conflict that
didn't lose, except this man. And they met. And listen, you
in the wilderness beheld a tempter spoil. You stripped him of every
subtle dress, and his every effort you foiled. What joy to crown
the victor's head! when before his presence the
enemy fled. Old Satan turned tail and left,
whipped. The prince of this earth, the
evil one has met me, Christ said, and found nothing. And you know
what the angels did? Let's read about it. Turn just
quickly to Mark chapter 1. Mark chapter 1. Oh, this is Beautiful. Mark chapter 1. Mark 1 verse
12. And immediately the Spirit driveth
him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness
forty days, tempted of Satan, and was with the wild beast.
And actors all over, the angels, ministered to him. Oh, I love
that. He stood for us there and met
Satan. Satan didn't send an ambassador
for this job. He came personally. He came. And he met my Lord. And he left
whipped. He whipped him, Jim, for us. He whipped him. Drove him away.
And then in his exhausted conditions, angels of God, they were all
observing this. Heaven looked on. This is the
clash you young people talk about in the War of the Worlds and
all style forces. This is force. The force of goodness, holiness,
purity against all that the evil could muster. And he won, for
our sake. And then the fourth thing, listen
to Doddridge, he says, And around that bloody tree, when Christ hung on that cross,
around that bloody tree, angels pressed with strong desire. That
wondrous sight to see, the Lord of glory expired. They couldn't
believe their eyes. What did Peter write? Angels
desired to look into it. Don't you know as He hung on
that cross with our sins on Him, the Son of God, the Lord of Glory,
the Eternal King of Kings. And they spit upon Him and His
blood ran down His face and down His back and He's naked on that
cross while people walked around laughing at Him, harassing Him.
Angels of God. The heavenly host, my, that wondrous, around that
bloody tree, angels pressed with strong desire, that wondrous
sight to see, the Lord of life expired. And could your eyes
have known a tear, in great surprise you'd have
dropped it there. The angels watched him die for
sinners. But don't you know the gladness
and joy when around his sacred tomb a careful watch they kept
till that blessed moment came to awaken him that slept. Lord,
time to get up and come out of that. Then they rolled away the stone,
and all of them adored with joy unknown. I risen, Lord. And when those women came that
early morning, right after he'd risen to the grave, those angels
were standing, still standing right there. One of my best sitting
on the stone. And they, who just three days
before, stood around that cross and watched him die. They said,
why are you looking for the dead among, the living among the dead?
Why do you look for the living among the dead? He's not here.
He's risen. Go tell his disciples. And be
sure you tell Peter to, be sure you tell Peter. Give
him a special message. The Lord loves him. In spite
of the way he's acted, And then another verse he wrote, when
all arrayed in light, the victorious conqueror rode, angels proclaimed
his rapturous flight up to the throne of God. Yes, they did. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in human flesh, justified, vindicated by the
Spirit, seen of angels. And the angels who announced
his resurrection announced his ascension and his second coming. When all lay in light, the victorious
conqueror rode, you proclaimed his righteous flight up to the
throne of God and clapped your triumphant wings and cried, The
glorious work is done. And this same Jesus, which is
taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, and like manners
you've seen him go. Isn't that what they said? This
same Jesus. The one we saw in eternity. The one we saw in the manger.
The one we saw engaged in conflict with Satan. The one we saw on
that bloody tree. The one we saw in that tomb and
saw him arise and saw him ascend, we're going to see him come.
Every eye is going to see him when he comes again. Think of
the glory. Here's the last verse. Think
of the glory and the joy that our voices shall raise when sinners
sing with angels their own Redeemer's praise. So thou, my heart, with
equal flame, take up your part, and praise his name. Think of the glory and joy our
voices shall raise when sinners sing with angels the Redeemer's
praise. So thou, my heart, with equal
flame, take up your part, and praise his name. All of this,
to me, means little, unless by God's grace, driven by my need,
I look to Christ. Isn't that true? I ain't talking
about what's going to be in glory, but unless I'm a part of it,
then there's not much joy to it. So if we have a need, he
meets that need.

Where there Is a Need, There Is a Savior

What does the Bible say about healing in Matthew?

How do we know Christ's power to heal is true?

Why is coming to Christ important for healing?

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Where there Is a Need, There Is a Savior

What does the Bible say about healing in Matthew?

How do we know Christ's power to heal is true?

Why is coming to Christ important for healing?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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