Our Lord Jesus Christ came down
from the mountain, his disciples with him. And it said, multitudes of people
followed him and congregated. But there was one man, a leper.
I don't know how long this man had leprosy, it just said he
was a leper, covered over with that dread, incurable disease. And when the Lord Jesus came
down from the mountain, the scripture said he ran to him. The leper
ran to Christ. And he fell down at his feet
and worshipped him. And he lifted up his eyes and
he looked into the eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said,
Lord, if you will, You can make me
clean. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean, well, whole again. Desperation, desire, worship, need. And our Lord Jesus Christ, the
scripture says, reached out and touched him. You didn't touch
a leper back then, you didn't even let a leper's shadow fall
on you. The lepers went down the street
covering their faces, crying, unclean, unclean, in case they
crossed somebody's path. But our Lord Jesus Christ reached
out and touched him. And he said, I will, I will,
be thou clean. And the scripture says, immediately
he was made whole. Immediately. On another occasion, our Lord
Jesus Christ was walking down the street. A multitude thronged
him, crowded him, jostled him, pushed him. But through that crowd, I've
always pictured her as crawling Here was a woman who'd been sick
12 years. She'd been hemorrhaging for 12
years. You know how frail and weak she
was. Beside that, she'd been to all
these different quacks and doctors. She'd spent everything she had.
They tried every superstitious witchcraft they could on her
body. You know she was weak and frail
from that. Well, the scripture says she
heard of Christ, and she came in that crowd. And I've always
pictured her almost crawling, but somehow making her way determined
to get to him, making her way. And finally she got close enough,
for she said in her heart, if I can but touch even his I'll
be made whole." And she reached out somehow through that crowd
as he passed by, as he walked by, and she just got a hold of
his garment, just touched it. He was made whole. And our Lord
stopped. And he said, Who touched me?
Who touched me? And the disciples, they might
have laughed, I don't know, but they said, Lord, who touched
you? Well, between here and two blocks
down the street, I guess a thousand people have touched you. They've
pushed you, jostled you, passed you, brushed against you. He
said, somebody touched me. Somebody touched me. Somebody
with a need. Somebody with a desire. Somebody out of faith, virtue,
power has gone out of me. Somebody touched me. And she
saw that she wasn't here. And she said, I touched you.
And she told him everything. And he said, daughter, daughter,
be of good comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Again, our Lord passed through
the city of Jericho. He came into Jericho. He didn't tarry long. He passed
through Jericho. He was going out. A great crowd there then. There
was always a large crowd about the Master. He passed through.
But going down this certain street, there was a fellow over there
sitting in the shadows along the wayside. the highway, a beggar by the name of Bartimaeus,
son of Timaeus, son of Timaeus. He'd been blind all his life,
never seen the light, sat in darkness and sat in poverty and
want and weakness. covered with his old ragged garment,
holding out his dirty hands, hoping somebody would help him. And he heard the crowd. There'd been people up and down that
street, but I'd never heard that many people before. And the noise
got louder, and he could hear the shuffling of feet. His eyes
were gone, he couldn't see, but his other senses were cute and
keen. He turned to someone and he said,
uh, what is it? What's going on? Maybe he was
a little bit afraid, in darkness, afraid of being trampled. He said, what is it? And all
the best news his ears have ever heard. He had heard of Jesus
Christ. I know that he had, because he
identified him. He identified And he had, I'm sure he'd sat
there in his darkness when there weren't many people around and
thought, wouldn't it be wonderful if he'd let, he'd enable me to
see like he has these other people. Oh, I'd love to see. Wouldn't
it be wonderful? I can't go to him, wouldn't it
be wonderful if he came to me? I've heard of him, but he'll
never come this way. He'll never come this way. This
world's too big. There's Bethsaida, Capernaum,
and the city of Jerusalem. This is wicked, foul, sinful
Jericho. He wouldn't come here. He wouldn't
come here. The great physician, the great
healer, the master, the son of David. I've been told that he's
the Christ. I've been told he's that prophet.
I've been told that he's the Redeemer. He sat there in his
darkness. He said, what's going on? Somebody
said, can you imagine it? Jesus of Nazareth passed it by. Whoo! Don't you know? His heart
leaped right up here, Charlie. Don't you know that cold chills
went up and down his back? Light! Sight! to be made whole. He has opportunity,
the man who could make him whole. And brother, when that man said
those magic words, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by, that man began
to cry, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, thy son of David, have
mercy on me, on me. And somebody told him to hush,
And when they told him to hush, he cried out the more. You see,
this man in trouble, man has a need. The sight-given soul winners
didn't have to run him down. See, he was in trouble, and he
cried out the more. And they said, don't trouble
the master. Trouble him. He's my only hope. If he goes by and leaves me in
darkness, I'll forever be in darkness. Jesus, thy son of David,
have mercy on me and bless your heart. The Bible says Jesus stood
still. What the Roman armies and government,
what Satan and all the demons of hell couldn't do one cry from
a needy sinner dead, it stopped the Lord Jesus Christ in his
tracks. And I tell you, he said, let
him come to me. And somebody said from the other
side, Bartimaeus, he's calling for you. And that old boy jumped
up and threw that. Somebody said one time it was
what he had around him was an official government-issued garment
that was sort of a license to beg. Well, if it was, he wouldn't
need it anymore. He threw it aside. In his blindness,
maybe somebody helped him, but he got to Christ. And the Lord
Jesus said, what do you want? He said, Lord, that I may see.
That I may see. Now, I could go on giving you
illustrations like that the rest of the morning, but what do these
people have in common? That's what I'm asking. What
do they all have in common? This leper. This sick, frail,
dying woman, this blind beggar, well, had several things in common. One, they all heard of Christ. They'd heard of Christ. How shall
they call on him in whom they've not believed, and how shall they
believe in him of whom they've not heard? That's a vital part
of the kingdom of God and the ministry of the gospel, to preach
it. Preach it to every creature. Don't stop preaching it. Tell
men about Christ. A man can only be saved by hearing
the gospel. God has chosen by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. To save them that believe. and beautiful are the feet of
them who preach the glad tidings, the good news. Tell it abroad. Witness. Witness where you live
and where you work, in your community, in the stores, in the schools,
wherever. Say a word. Tell them about Christ. Tell them about Christ. Of his
own will begat he us with the word of truth. These people had
heard of Christ. Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel. Secondly, these people all, what
did they have in common? They had heard of Christ and
they came to Christ. They came to Christ. He said,
he that cometh to me shall never thirst. Out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. They didn't just come
to the preacher, to the church, they came to Christ. They came
to Christ. Thirdly, they all recognized,
now watch this, this they had in common, they all recognized
his power, his sovereignty. And my friends, it's not just
a living Christ that saves us and a dying Christ that saves
us, it's a sovereign Christ that saves us. It takes a great savior
for a great sinner. This leper said, Lord, if you
will, now let's take salvation out of the hands of the sinner
and put it in the hands of Christ where it belongs. Our Lord said to Pilate, you
can have no power over me at all except it were given you
from above. And this leper said, Lord, if
you will, you can make me whole. Yes, salvation is by the will,
it's by the will of God. He said, do you believe in salvation
by free will? Yeah, the free will of God. I
will be merciful to whom I will be merciful. I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
We are born not of fleshly blood, not of the will of the flesh,
not of the will of men, we're born of God. Lord, if you will,
this woman said this. She said, if I can just touch
the hem of his garment, I'll be made whole. The power is in
him. The power is in him. This blind Bartimaeus said, Jesus,
thy son of David, you have mercy on me. And then another thing they all
had in common was this. They all believed it. To every
one of them he said, thy faith hath made thee whole." Now, I
can't explain this, but I know we are justified by God. I know
we are justified by God. Jude tells us that we are justified
by God. It is God that justifies, Paul
said in Romans 8. And I know we are justified by
the blood of Jesus Christ. being justified by his blood. It's his blood that maketh atonement
for our souls. It's because he died that we
live. And yet, I know this is true,
we're justified by faith. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath life, and he that believeth not the Son of God
shall not see life. The wrath of God abideth on him
if he does not believe. There's no man saved because
he's elect. A man is saved because Christ
died for him. And a man is not saved who does
not believe in Christ. We will believe. And all these
people, they heard of Christ, they came to Christ, and they
came to Christ as he is. As he is. They didn't come to
another Jesus or an imposter. They came to the genuine Christ. The Son of God, the Son of David,
the Son of Glory, the Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Eternal,
Almighty God, the Everlasting Father. That's the person to
whom they came. They said, you've got the power,
and we know it. And it came to him in faith.
But one important factor that they all had in common, that's
so important, And that is, they needed him, that's why they came.
They needed him. What brings a man to the table
to eat? Hunger. Now he comes to the table,
and he eats. And he's satisfied, and the food
fills him, and the food nourishes him, and the food satisfies his
hunger. But why did he come to start
with? Because he's hungry. You see what I'm saying? I know
these people came to Christ, and I know they believed on Christ,
but what brought them to Christ? A need. What brings a man to
the well? Thirst! He comes to the well,
and there's the water, and he puts the dipper in the cool water
and lifts it out and drinks it, and oh, how it pleases and satisfies
and quenches his thirst, and he just appreciates the water
and loves the water! But why did he come to the well?
He was thirsty. What brings a man to a physician?
He comes to a physician, and the physician gives him a shot,
or gives him medicine, or puts him in traction, and, oh, I'm
glad to get rid of that pain. I'm so glad. But what brought
him to the physician? The pain. See what I'm saying? That's why he came. If he hadn't
had the need, he wouldn't have come. If he hadn't had the pain,
he wouldn't have come. What brings a man to Christ?
Me. Now I'll show you. Turn to my
text now in Luke 9, 11. This is what I read while I go,
and this is when we sing in that song. This was the verse to which
I called your attention. It says in that song, yes, I
take him at his word indeed. Yes, Christ died for sinners,
this I read and this I believe, for in my heart I find the need."
And this is what Luke 9, 11 said, and the people, when they knew
it, they followed him, he received them, he spake unto them of the
kingdom of God, and he healed some folks. Terry, who did he
heal? Those that had need. And that's
who he's going to heal here in Luke 2. And those are the only
folks he's going to heal. Those that have need. Those that have need. One of our dear ladies said to
me this week, she said, I've been trying to get this friend
of mine to come to church. You know why they don't come?
They don't need to come. That's it. That's it. Where are
the people today seeking the Lord? You know anybody seeking
the Lord? Where are the people that are
seeking the Lord? Where are the people who yearn
to hear the gospel? Somebody said one time to Brother
Milton Howard, said, are the people in Mexico hungry for the
gospel? He said, are the people in the
United States hungry for the gospel? The preacher said, no. He said,
they're not in Mexico either. The sun doesn't make any difference.
Whether it's 110 degrees or 40. Whether you're north of the border
or south of the border. Doesn't make a difference. People
are people everywhere. Where are the people yearning to hear
the gospel? Where are the folks who came
and cried, the Greeks who say, we would see Jesus. We would
see Jesus. We would see Jesus. No, we'd
rather hear the quartet. We don't want to say Jesus. We
don't want to hear about Jesus. We'd like to see a religious
movie. We'd like to hear the Quartet. We'd like to see Billy
Graham. We'll clamber by the millions
to get a glimpse of the Pope in his silly cap and all of his
silly people following him around. But we don't want to say Jesus. Where are the people who search
the Scriptures? Oh, we've heard of him." By the
hearing of the ear, Job said, we've even attended churches
and religious services. Some even talk of his great power
and miracles and wisdom. Some call themselves believers,
but one thing, one thing, one thing. I'd love to have the ear
of the whole United States this morning. One thing that keeps
men from genuine repentance before God. That repentance of heart,
that repentance of soul, that genuine repentance that made
David cry out, Oh, purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than the snow. That one thing
that keeps men from a true saving knowledge of Christ, who He is
in His eternal charityship, in His incarnation, in His perfect
life, in His sacrificial death, in His glorious resurrection,
in His ascension, and in His glory of intercession and mediatorial
office. One thing that keeps men from
understanding and entering into and seeing the glory of God in
the face of Jesus. Christ, the one thing that keeps
men from a heart love for Christ, a heart love that affects all
that they do and all that they say in every relationship and
changes their lives and brings them to Calvary, one thing, and
that is the fact they've never really needed him, never really
needed him. They've never been convinced
of sin. If you've never been lost, you've
never been found. If you've never been dead, you've
never been made alive. If you've never sat by the wayside,
the highway side of life, in spiritual darkness, in spiritual
poverty, in spiritual dirt and depravity, in spiritual helplessness,
in misery, heard somebody say, he passes by, then you've never
cried out. That's it. If you've never tried
everything, like the woman with the issue of blood, tried all
the doctors, and rabbis, and cardinals, and popes, and pastors,
and bishops, and reverends, and doctors, and tried them all and
failed, Wasted all that you had and that's a weak and miserable
and dying if I can just touch him Got one last Well, you'll never get there
till you've been here that's all I know Where are the folks that are
crying out for Christ folks that need him nobody else The Bartimaeuses
are crying, they're blind, they're miserable, miserable, miserable. The lepers are crying, and I'll tell you about those
lepers, in their helplessness. They're not arguing against God's
sovereignty, they're glad He is. They're not arguing about
his prerogative or right to do with us as he will. They're just
saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. Now, if you
don't, that's your business, but I'd sure be much obliged
if you would. On account I can't do anything about it myself,
and nobody else can. They just don't argue. That's
the reason you say these people that hate sovereign grace are
deceived. No, sir! They're not. Because if you hate
sovereign grace, you hate the gracious, sovereign Lord. That's
just putting it plain. You can't love him and hate his
gospel and his grace and his truth. These people came to him
as he is. Lord, if you will, you can make
me whole. Bartimaeus, Jesus, thy son of
David, I've decided to let you make me whole. If you will, have
mercy. Turn to Matthew 9 with me, verse
10. Matthew 9. Here's our problem. We've never been lost. We've
never been blind. We've never been helpless, like
the woman with the issue of blood. We've never been there. Verse 10 of Matthew 9, 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. Now,
that's a no-no. Now, that's just unheard of.
You just don't do that. These are publicans and harlots
and sinners and all kind of people. He's a teacher come from God. And here they're sitting around
with him. And the amazing thing is, they felt pretty comfortable
in his presence, or they wouldn't have come. Evidently. And when the Pharisees saw it,
they said, our Lord didn't conform to them, or our Lord didn't put
his approval on what they did. He wasn't of the world. But his
holiness produced a graciousness. and a compassion for people. Today's religionists, if anybody
comes around today's religionists, they're miserable. They're miserable. Our religion makes them miserable.
We put on some kind of airs that drives people away. But our Lord
Jesus Christ, in his compassion, here's the perfectly holy one,
the perfectly sinless one. And yet they congregated, too,
and wanted to hear it, wanted to listen to it. And I'll tell
you who left him was the Pharisees. They saw it and said, why does
your master eat with Republicans and Sinners? Why does he associate
with folks like that? But when Jesus heard that, he
said to them, they that behold, need not. Need not a position, but they that are
sick. Now, you go learn what that means.
as your assignment for this week, go learn what that means. And
I'll tell you what it means. It means I'll have mercy, mercy,
not sacrifice, not your rituals and ceremony and works and your
attention to tradition and customs and duties. That doesn't please
me. I delight not in burnt offerings
and sacrifices. I'm going to have mercy, for
I am come. I am not come. I am not come
to call good people and righteous people and self-righteous people,
but I've come to call sinners to repentance." This is where a saving relationship
with the living God in Christ begins. When I'm stripped, then I'm a
candidate for his robe of righteousness. When I'm slain and put in the
grave and the dust, I'm a candidate for his life-giving power. When I'm a sinner and lost, miserable,
when I'm convinced of my natural depravity, David said, oh, I
was shapen in iniquity. And I'll tell you, before David
cried for the purging with hyssop, he identified his need. He said,
Lord, he said in Psalm 51, be merciful to me according to thy
lovingkindness and blot out my iniquities. My transgressions,
my sins are ever before me against thee, and thee only have I sinned,
and done this evil in thy sight, that you might be justified,
and you might be clear when you damn me. But the Lord purged
me with hyssop." He started where he was supposed to start. When
we become convinced of our natural depravity, it will drive us to
Christ. When we become convinced of our natural tendency to sin,
Paul said, when I would do good, evil is present with me. That's
my tendency. I find the law worrying in my
members, bringing me into conformity, not to the law, but to death. I know my carnality now. The
longer I live, the more I need Christ. I don't say I have come
to Christ, I say I'm coming to Christ. I have need of his mercy
every hour. He came to preach the gospel
of the poor, and brother, I'm poor. He came to heal the brokenhearted,
and he's broken me. Has he broken you? He came to
deliver the captive. That one that's been brought
into a bondage that he cannot break. A bondage. Do you feel
sometimes at the fetters and chains and straps of sin? Or have you in bondage and you
just can't break them loose? He can. He came to give sight
to the blind. Now, I don't suppose there's
anything. I think about this often. I guess
it's because my eyes are so bad. I think about not being able
to see. Just totally blind. Frustrating. You know, if you have a broken
arm, you feel like you can knit it and heal it, even if you've
got arthritis or rheumatism or even heart trouble, you think,
well, this old thing's going to get better. But blindness
ain't going to get no better. Blind. He came to give sight. He came to save the lost. I'll
tell you, I think about that, dear. Our Lord was in the house of
Simon the Pharisee, having a meal. And someone described that, painted
that picture for me, I thought was so effective. Of course,
Simon and his Pharisaical friends were up here in the special seats. It reminds me of one of our Our
political rallies or school or something, they have the speaker's
table. I get to sit up there because I invoke and give the
benedict, you know, and all that sort of thing. So I get to sit
with the big shots up at the speaker's table. You look at
all the peons out there eating, you know. That's where Simon
was. He was up there at the speaker's
table, he and all his pharisaical friends. And the other folks
were out here eating, and they stretched out, you know, they
sat around on pillows and kind of ate on low tables like they
do in Japan, except they didn't sit squat-legged, they stretched
out, and the food was here. And then always at these special
dinners and all, there were some people who sat along the, who
weren't invited to the meal, but they sat to listen to these
great men batter and exchange ideas and talk. They talked out
loud to one another, and folks would come and sit along the
walls and listen to them. And our Lord had been invited
by Simon the Pharisee for some reason. He'd been out there preaching,
Simon Hurtings, I want to match wits with him, I guess, or something,
but he was out there eating the Master in total control. He always
was in total, even on the cross he was Lord. He opened the gates
of heaven and let a thief in, even on the cross. But anyway,
the door opened back yonder. And when the door opened, like
here, I suppose that door opened, everybody turned. You shouldn't,
but you would. And the door opened, and they
looked, and sure enough, they were shocked. There was a woman
standing in that door, and most of them knew her, because she
was a streetwalker. A sinful woman. So I'm a newer. She opened the door, and everything
got quiet, and she came walking in. But she had a destination. She wasn't looking around the
room or looking up here. She found him. He was right there
lying on the floor around that table. He knew who came in. He didn't even turn his head.
The Lord was right there about his food, and he knew who came
in. He said, I know my sheep. I've
known of mine, and they'll come. They'll hear my voice, and they'll
come. I'm looking for his sheep. I don't know where they are,
Alan. There's some of them in Australia and some in Ashland, some in
Africa. But they're his, and they're
going to hear his voice, and they're going to come." And she
silently made her way, and it was silent in there. She made
her way to him, and fell down at his feet, and began to weep,
and tears just streamed. And she kissed his feet, and
his feet were moistened with her kisses and with her tears.
And then she unplaited her hair. This all took time, but she was
at the feet of her Lord, worshiping. What brought her there? Need.
She needed him. And she dried his feet with the
hair of her head. Well, Simon punched his buddy
and said, I told you he wasn't a prophet. I told you. If this man were a prophet, he
wouldn't let that woman touch him. See, he's so extreme and
opposite from the truth. The very fact that he is that
prophet is the reason that woman touched him, the reason he let
her touch him, the reason he touched her. He touched her before
she touched him. He touched me. He touched me
in all the joy that bled my soul. But Simon said he's not a prophet,
or he wouldn't let her touch him. And the Lord knew what he
thought, and he said, Simon, I want to ask you something. He said, here's a man who owes
this fellow an enormous debt, an enormous debt. He had nothing
to pay. And he forgave him, every bit
of it. Here's a fellow that had no debt to amount to anything,
nickel-dime stuff. He forgave him. Which one of
these would love the forgiver most? Simon said, well, I suppose
the one to whom he forgave the most. He said, you rightly said. And I've come into your home,
and you didn't even give me the common courtesies that are extended
to every guest that comes into a home in this day. You wonder
why your children do not have an interest in the gospel. They
don't have a need. See what I'm saying? They don't
have a need. Why Simon didn't give the Lord the common courtesy
of a kiss of greeting, or somebody to wash his feet? Or some oil
for his hot, dry hair, having walked in the Oriental sun? Why
didn't he render, extend these courtesies? He didn't need them. You wonder why children don't
come around to parents and visit with them or show them the common courtesies
and greetings and call them on the phone, write to them anymore?
My children at home, it was always, Mama this, Mama that, Mama do
this, Mama do that, Mama wears my clothes, Mama... It's always
she's glad to see Mama. Why? They needed Mama. They don't
need her now. Why call? I don't need her. Why
go by? I don't need her. See what I'm saying? You wonder
why your co-worker, where you work, They don't wish to discuss
the person and work of Christ? Oh, they'll talk about the preachers.
All right, brother, so and so. I hear people all the time, they
say, I heard you on TV Sunday. And I want to say, well, that's all, I just heard you. You wonder why they don't want,
they'll discuss preachers and denominations. You believe what
they always say? They'll discuss that. Got a question for you
this morning. All right, where'd King get his
wife? They'll discuss all that junk.
They have no need. You wonder why people that are
old, I go to rest homes and I see these old people right on the
verge of meeting God. And you go preach Christ and,
yes, honey, bless your heart. Yeah, I listen to all of them.
You and Oral Roberts, my favorite preacher. They don't have a need. That's
right. They do not have a need. They're dead. You wonder why
preachers go about their religious activity with scarcely a mention
of Christ. They're so busy with their activities
and all their club meetings and all their ball teams and all
their council meetings and committee meetings and board meetings and
all these things without any study or prayer or preaching
of the gospel of redemption. They don't need him. Where is the fear of the Lord?
Where is the tear of repentance? Where is the hunger and thirst
for righteousness? Where is the cry, Be merciful
unto me, O God, I'm a sinner? The well have no need, and that
dear woman down at the feet of Christ. He said, since I came
in your house, you didn't kiss me, you didn't anoint my head,
you didn't wash my feet. But since I came in, she's kissed
my feet and anointed my feet and rendered all the courtesy.
And I'm going to tell you something, Simon. Her sins, which are many,
are all forgiven. That just leaves you in one place. Well, the gospel's good news.
That's what the word means. To whom? To those in need. And I'll tell
you this, when he came down from the mountain, he healed everyone
that needed healing. And he's going to do that today.
Everyone that needs healing. Let's turn to number 318.