I'll be speaking this morning
from the book of Matthew. If you wish to take notes, or
if you wish to follow as I read the scriptures, turn in your
Bibles to the 9th chapter of Matthew. The 9th chapter of Matthew. Now today's message is on this
subject. Grace for the guilty. Grace for
the guilty. It says in Matthew 9 verse 10, And 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,
that is, the religious leaders, saw it, they said to his disciples,
Why does your master eat with publicans and sinners? But when
Jesus heard that, or knew what they said, He said unto these
religious Pharisees, they that behold, they that are well, need
not a physician. People that are well do not need
a doctor. But they that are sick, sick
people need a doctor. Now go ye and learn what that
means. I will have mercy and not sacrifice,
for I am not come to call the righteous. the moral, the good,
to repentance. But I've come to call sinners
to repentance. Now here's a question for you.
When does a person take his first steps toward salvation? When
does a man take his first step toward eternal life and toward
heaven? Is it when he begins to have
an interest in religion? Or when he begins to believe
the Bible? or when he attends church, or when he accepts Jesus
Christ, as they say today. Well, I say none of these. A
man takes his first step toward salvation. A man moves toward
a saving interest in Jesus Christ when that man or woman understands
that he's a sinner and needs a Savior. Now, that's what our
Lord is saying here. A person takes the first step
toward salvation, toward a saving interest in Christ, toward eternal
life. The first step, the first motion
toward eternal life. When that person sincerely and
genuinely and of a truth comes to realize and to understand
to some extent that he is a sinner, that he has sinned against God,
And he desperately needs a savior. That's what Christ is saying.
He says sick people need doctors. Well people need not a physician. But a person that is sick needs
a physician, therefore he goes to the physician. When does a
person move toward a physician? When he finds out he's sick.
That's when he starts looking in the yellow pages or looking
up a doctor when he's actually sick. And sinners need a savior. Lost people need a Redeemer.
Guilty people need grace. And therefore, when a person
finds out that he's lost, that he's guilty, that he's a sinner,
then he comes to Christ to find salvation. The well have no need
of a physician. And the righteous and the moral
and the good have no need of a Savior. Now let me illustrate.
Our Lord Jesus Christ came down from the mountains. multitudes
of people were about. And when he came down from the
mountain, the scripture says, a leper, a person with that dread
disease called leprosy, ran to meet him. And this man who had
leprosy fell down at the feet of Christ and worshipped him
and said unto him, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. And the Lord Jesus Christ put
his hand on that leper And he said, I will be thou clean. And from that moment, he was
cleansed completely of his leprosy. Now another illustration. The
master walked down the street amid a multitude of people. They
were joshing and pushing, shoving. And a woman who had been sick
for 12 years, had an issue of blood for 12 years, came behind
him. and reached out and touched the
hem of his garment. For she said, if I can but touch
the hem of his garment, I know that I'll be whole. Twelve years
she'd been sick, twelve years she'd tried all kind of healing
and doctors and all kind of advice and suggestions from other people.
She was no better, only grew worse. But when she reached out
and touched Christ, The scripture says she was made whole immediately,
and our Lord said, somebody touched me. And the disciple said, well,
Lord, all these people have been pushing and shoving and touching
you, why do you say someone's touched me? He said, I perceive
that power has gone out of me, someone touched me. And he called
for the woman and she told him all. And he said, go thy way,
thy faith hath made thee whole. Now one other illustration, then
I'm going to ask you a question. Just like the leper, when our
Lord came down from the mountain, the leper ran, fell down at his
feet, worshipped him, said, Lord, if you will, you can make me
clean. Like the woman with the issue
of blood, sick for 12 years, terribly sick. She said, if I
can just get to him and touch the hem of his garment, I'll
be made whole. Well, our Lord was walking through
the city of Jericho, passing through Jericho, again, all this
multitude about him. There was a man who was blind,
a son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, was sitting by the wayside, begging,
sitting there in his filth and darkness, unhappiness, and he
heard the commotion, and he said to someone about him, he said,
what's the noise, what's the commotion? They said, Jesus of
Nazareth is passing by. And he began to cry, sitting
there in his darkness, sitting there in his helplessness, He
cried, Jesus, thy son of David, have mercy on me. And the scripture
says the Lord stood still. Jesus stood still and commanded
him to come. And he arose and threw away his
blanket and ran toward the voice of the master who called him.
The Lord said, what do you want me to do for you? He said, Lord,
that I may see, that I may see. And the Lord Jesus touched him
and he was made whole. Now here's my question. The leper,
the woman with issue of blood, and Bartimaeus. What do these
people all have in common? What is the one, one vital central
thing that they all have in common? Well, a person may say, well,
they'd all heard of Jesus Christ. They'd all heard of him and heard
of his power to heal and his power to give sight to the blind,
make the lame to walk, and that's a good point. They had heard
of Christ. How shall they call on him of
whom they've not heard? How shall they believe on him
of whom they've not heard? And then someone else may say,
well, one thing they had in common, they all came to Christ. The
leper came to Christ, the woman came to Christ, and Bartimaeus
came to Christ. That's true. And our Lord said,
come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll
give you rest. They had that in common. And someone else may
say, well, they all recognized his power to heal. The woman
said, if I can just touch his garment, I'll be made whole.
The leper said, Lord, if you will, if you will, if it's in
your will, you can make me whole. Well, that's true. They all recognized
his sovereignty and power over all diseases and over all afflictions. Then someone else said, well,
they all believed on him. To each of them he said, thy faith.
hath made thee whole." And that's true, they did believe. But back
of all this, back to the very first point, the very first thing
that is necessary, what did they have in common? The most important
factor in every case, one thing they had in common, the one great
thing that led each of these people to seek the Lord Jesus
Christ is this, they had a need. They needed Christ. They were
helpless and hopeless without strength. They needed what only
Christ Jesus the Lord could give them. Do you see what I'm saying?
That's what brought the leper to Christ, his leprosy. That's
what brought the woman to Christ, her sickness. That's what brought
Bartimaeus to cry out, Jesus, our son of David, have mercy
upon me. He was blind. They all needed Christ. What
brings a man to the table? Hunger. You say it comes for
food, sure, but everybody doesn't come for food. When you're not
hungry, don't come to the table. What brings a man to the well?
Thirst. What brings a man to a doctor?
I'm not going to the doctor tomorrow, the Lord willing, I'm not sick.
But there's some of you going to the doctor tomorrow because
you're sick. Well, what brings you to a doctor? Your illness.
What brings a man to Christ? That's what brings a man to Christ.
That's the reason people cry for mercy, because they have
need of Christ. Like it says in Luke 9, 11, he
healed all that had need of healing. He healed all that had need of
healing. In Luke 19, 10, it says the Son
of Man is come to seek and to save the lost. Christ came to
save lost people. You've never been lost, you've
never been found. He went in search of a lost sheep. 1 Timothy
1.15 says this is a faithful saying. It's a sure true saying
and it's worthy of acceptation by all men that Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners. To save whom? Sinners, of whom
I am the chief. And I ask you this, where are
the people today who are seeking the Lord? I know there are a
lot of people who are seeking better financial positions and
bigger homes and seeking benefits and blessings, but where are
the people seeking the Lord? Where are the publicans today
who are crying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner? Where are
the publicans who are standing afar off and crying, God, be
merciful to me? Oh, we have a lot of Pharisees
down there by the altar, praying thus with themselves, God, I
thank you, I'm not like other men. I tithe and fast and give
alms to the poor. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not
an extortioner. I'm not even like that publican.
But the publican went home justified. The publican went home saved.
The Pharisee perished. Where are the publicans? Where
are the thieves today crying, O Lord, remember me when you
come into your kingdom? We know our Lord said to the
thief, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Where are the
Canaanites? who come to Christ and say, Lord,
help me, help me, have mercy upon me. Where are those who
cry out, sirs, we would see Jesus? I'll tell you where. They're
not there because they have no need. They have no need. A genuine sinner is hard to find.
Did you know that? A genuine sinner is hard to find. Everybody's justifying themselves. Our Lord said in Luke 16, 15,
"...Yea, they which justify yourselves before men." A sinner, one of
the old writers said, a sinner, a real sinner, is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost hath made him
so. You wonder why your children and young people have no interest
in God? No interest in the Bible? No
interest in the gospel? People have said to me, my young
people, my teenagers, the young married couples, they just don't
have any interest in God. They don't have any interest
in the Bible. They don't have interest in the gospel. They
have no need. They're not sinners. The well
have no need of a physician. It's hard to interest young people
in insurance policies and things of that nature. They have no
need. Why are my co-workers, I work
with people and they'll talk about religion and church and
talk about this preacher and that preacher and the other preacher
and what this has said and that, but they have no interest in
Jesus Christ. They have no interest in the
blood of Calvary. They have no interest in how
men are saved. They have no need. They're not
sinners, ask them. Find a sinner. Find a genuine,
unadulterated, self-confessed, undeserving, hell-deserving sinner. Do you know one? Well, if you
find one, you'll have good news for him. You can tell him Christ
died for him, because Christ died for sinners. You wonder why people who are
old, some people who are old, they're on the verge of death.
on the verge of judgment. I'm talking about people older
than I am, in their seventies and eighties, who have no interest
in the gospel. They don't seek the Lord. They
don't talk about salvation, talk about the mercy of God. They
live to eat another meal or visit another person. They have no
need. Just have no need. You wonder
why preachers and churches, you wonder why churches and preachers
go about their religious activities? and all their sales and socials
and services and potlucks and choir practices and ball teams
and all these things, and with very little mention of the gospel,
very little preaching of the gospel, the preacher brings a
little social message or a little sermon, you know, on civic matters
and political matters, but they don't preach the gospel, they
don't preach the cross, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ
and the The work of the Holy Spirit and conviction and repentance
toward God and faith in Christ and justification, redemption,
regeneration. Why don't they preach these things?
They have no need. They have no need. They're all
good people. Church is full of good people. If they find a sinner,
they'll exclude him. If they find a sinner, they'll
discipline him. If they find a sinner, they won't speak to
him. Well, they're all moral people. They're good people.
They're all Christians. They're not sinners. Ask them. Ask them. But Christ came to save sinners.
He said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Where's the fear of the Lord?
Where are the tears of repentance in this day? Where's the hunger
and thirst for righteousness? Where's the cry, what must I
do to be saved? Anybody ever asked you that lately?
Where's the gospel preached? I'm talking about the gospel.
I'm not talking about people talking about it or raising money
to preach it. I'm talking about where the preachers
are preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. Show me where
they are. And our Lord answers. He answers
our questions. The well have no need of a physician. but they that are sick." Now
you go learn what that means, he says. I'm not come to call
the righteous, the moral, the good, the religious. I'm come
to call sinners to repentance. Can you find me a sinner? The
gospel is good news to the guilty. Grace is for the guilty. Mercy is for the miserable. Christ
died for the ungodly. Oh, we've heard of Jesus Christ
by the hearing of the ear. That's what Job said, I've heard
of you by the hearing of the ear. And we attend our church
services and our religious services, some of us pretty faithfully,
pretty regularly. Some people even talk about his
power to heal the body, his power to help them with their troubles,
his power to cure that pain behind their ears or sinuses in their
nose. Or maybe to meet their financial
difficulties. We hear a lot of talk about that.
Most people even call themselves Christians and talk about there's
going to be a meeting in the air. But one thing, listen to
me, and listen carefully. One thing keeps the average religionist
from genuine repentance toward God. Genuine repentance toward
God. And our Lord said, except you
repent, you'll perish. One thing keeps the average religionist
from a true saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he that
hath not the Son of God hath not life. He that believeth not
on the Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth
on him. One thing keeps the average religionist,
one thing keeps him from a heart love for Jesus Christ. Oh, he's
devoted to his denomination. He's devoted to his creed. But
one thing keeps him from a heart love for Jesus Christ, which
will affect all that he does and all that he says and all
that he thinks. A heart love for Jesus Christ. One thing keeps
that man from a living, vital union with Christ. He may be
joined to a church, joined to a denomination, joined to a program,
and joined moral principle, but one thing keeps him from being
joined to Christ is that he's never seen himself a sinner.
He's never been broken before a holy God and brought to depend
upon Christ for mercy and grace. If you've never been lost, you've
never been found. You have no reason to be found.
If you've never been dead in sin, you've never passed from
death unto life. John said we've passed from death
unto life. If you've never been a sinner,
you've never been saved. If you've never been blind, you've
never had sight restored. If you've never been separated
from God, you've never been reconciled to God. A preacher friend of
mine asked someone one time, are you a Christian? Oh yes,
yes. How long have you been a Christian? Oh, I've always been a Christian.
That's too long. That's too long. Amazing grace,
how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. I was blind, but now I see. Are those just words of a song
or do they mean something? Everybody sings it. It's supposed
to be the most popular religious song today. You've never been
found if you've never been lost. You've never read sight restored
if you've never been blind. Romans 5, 6 through 10 says,
when we were without strength, Christ died for the ungodly. God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Not very complimentary terms, are they? Not even terms that
we use today. But that's the terms God uses.
Christ died for whom? For the ungodly. He died for
sinners. If when we were enemies, enemies,
whose enemy? God's enemy, we were reconciled
to God by the death of his Son. And I'm saying to you, and I'm
saying it desperately and earnestly and in a pleading passion, if
a man never comes to the place where he's a sinner, And I'm
talking about, as Paul said in Ephesians, without hope, without
help, without strength, and without God in this world. If he's never
been brought to that place and stripped of his own righteousness,
he's never been clothed in the beautiful righteousness of Christ.
If he's never had his mouth stopped and shut up and become guilty
before God, he's never been an object of God's grace. If he's
never been miserable in his sin, he has never received mercy from
the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ didn't die as an example.
He died as a sin offering. Christ didn't die as a martyr.
He died as a substitute, a sacrifice. If our sins were not deserving
of hell, Christ wouldn't have suffered hell on that cross.
Now this is where a saving relationship with Christ begins. This is where
it starts. And we've bypassed it. We've
made people Christians who've never been lost. We've pushed
Jesus off on people who don't even need him. That's the reason
they're not interested in the scriptures, they're not interested
in prayer, they're not interested in the gospel, because they're
good folks. When a man realizes that he's
a sinner, a sinner in God's sight, and needs God's mercy, that's
when he'll look to Christ. And let me give you several things
here. Now, first of all, we may as well realize that it's true.
We're sinners by identification. By one man, sin entered this
world, and death by sin. So death passed upon all men.
We're sinners by identification. In Adam all die. The whole human
race is a sinful race. We're sinners by birth. David
said, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, in sin my mother conceived
me. We're brought forth from the
womb, speaking lies. We're born with the principle
and nature of sin within us. It's in our veins like a disease.
It's the disease that kills us and has killed us spiritually.
And then we're sinners not only by birth, but by nature. Men
love darkness rather than light. This is the condemnation John
wrote. Light is coming to this world,
but men love darkness. They love it. It's their nature.
You know that. It's a lot easier to lie than
to tell the truth. That's right. Especially if it
costs you something. And then men are sinners not
only by nature, but they're sinners by choice. Christ said, you will
not come to me that you might have life. You've made your choice.
Someone says, I believe everybody has a choice. Sure, everybody's
made the choice. You will not come to me that
you might have life. Christ said, let another come
in his own name and whom you will receive. I come in my Father's
name. You will not come to me. That's
our choice. We're sinners by practice, all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. If any man
says he has no sin, he's a liar and the truth's not in him. If
he says he has not sinned, he makes God a liar. There's none
good, no not one, not in the poor pit or the pure. And we're
sinners in heart, in heart, that's where our rottenness is. Christ
said it's not what you put in your mouth that defiles you.
I know all these preachers trying to get folks to quit smoking
and drinking and playing cards and all that. Let me tell you
something, those are just fruits of sin. Sin is a nature. It's
not what you put in your mouth that defiles you. The sin's not
in the bottle, it's in the man. The sin's not in the box, it's
in the man. That's where the sin is. The heart is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? That's
our trouble. We got heart trouble. It's not
hand trouble, mouth trouble, liver trouble. It's heart trouble.
The soul of man is desperately wicked. But here's good news. It's good news for sinners. The
gospel is good news for sinners. It's not good news to anybody
else. It's just routine. It's just ritual. It's just formalism
or ceremonialism or religion. But here's good news for the
guilty. Christ said, I've come to preach the gospel to the poor,
poor in spirit, poor in soul, spiritually poor. I've come to
heal the brokenhearted and the contrite spirit. I've come to
deliver the captive. I've come to give sight to the
blind. I've come to reconcile and make
accepted in the beloved. Those who want Him. Are you a
sinner? There's a Savior for sinners.