Sermon # 57 Luke
Sermons
Title: Healing for all Who Need It
Text: Luke
9:7-11
Subject: The
Freeness of God’s Free Grace
Date: Sunday
Evening –
Tape # W-52b
Introduction:
Luke
9:7-11
Verse 7 -- "Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by
him: and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was
risen from the dead."
It is hard to live with a guilty
conscience. The wise man tells us, “The way of the transgressor is hard”
(Pro.
Herod was a powerful, wealthy, influential
man; but the news of our Lord’s ministry and the great power of God he
demonstrated caused that great man to tremble like a child. His guilty
conscience caused him to imagine things that terrified him. His numerous guards
and fortified palace could not secure him from the fears stirred in his soul by
a tormenting conscience.
Though he was surrounded by everything the
world thinks will make life easy and enjoyable, Herod was a miserable man. The
report of a preacher of righteousness reminded him of a that great Prophet’s
forerunner, and filled him with terror. The remembrance of his sin in murdering
John the Baptist was a burning fire in his soul he could not quench. He saw the
Baptist’s head on a charger day and night; and he could not get it out of his
sight. He could not put it out of his mind.
Herod’s sin found him out. The prison and the sword had silenced the
Baptist’s tongue; but they could not silence his voice. It kept ringing in
Herod’s ears, reverberating through his soul, and screaming in his heart. – At
this very hour, in hell, Herod is still tormented by the memory of that
preacher of righteousness whom he refused to hear, whom he beheaded. Here are
three mighty, instructive lessons to be learned from this single verse of Holy
Scripture.
1. God’s truth can never be
bound or silenced.
The
gospel you hear from this pulpit this hour will either bring forth fruit unto
life eternal in your soul, or it will be the fire of hell in your soul forever.
It will be to you either a savor of life unto life or of death unto death; but
you will not silence God’s Word (2 Cor.
[2
Corinthians 2:14-16] "Now thanks be
unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest
the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. [15] For we are unto
God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
[16] To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the
other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these
things?"
2. Your conscience is the
undying echo of God’s holy law in your soul.
Mock
and laugh if you dare; but you know I speak the truth. You may never
acknowledge it this side of eternity; but you do not even question the fact of
what I have said. You know it is so. Your conscience is the undying echo of
God’s holy law in your soul.
I daresay, conscience is the most powerful
part of our constitution as moral creatures. Conscience cannot save anyone.
Conscience can never bring anyone to Christ. Every man’s conscience is, by
reason of sin, blind, ignorant, and misdirected. Yet, the conscience raises a
loud testimony and protest in the soul against sin. It makes the guilty soul
uneasy. It causes the transgressor to tremble. It is the consciousness of guilt
and sin that causes all men to fear death, judgment and eternity.
Untold millions will testify in the last
day that Herod’s experience is their own. Their consciences will call their old
sins out of their graves, parade them around in their hearts, and cause them to
burn as unquenchable fire in their souls and gnaw as undying death worm upon
their hearts!
3. There is only one cure for a
guilty conscience: – The Blood of Christ!
Nothing
can satisfy my conscience except that which satisfies the law and justice of
God. Nothing can quieten my screaming conscience but the perfect righteousness
and blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. But, blessed be God, his blood
satisfies and silences the screams of my guilty conscience. Indeed, his blood
compels my conscience to declare me justified (Heb. 9:11-14).
[Hebrews
9:11-14] "But Christ being come an
high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle,
not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; [12] Neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into
the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. [13] For if
the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the
unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: [14] How much more
shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living
God?"
Verse 8 -- "And of some, that Elias had appeared; and of others,
that one of the old prophets was risen again."
Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Malachi had
all been dead for hundreds of years; but they being dead continued to speak.
Their voices could not be silenced. Though Herod was a pagan, though the Jews
did not believe them, though the Gentiles held them in utter contempt, the
prophets still troubled those who lived as rebels against God.
Note: The
resurrection of the dead and the everlasting immortality of the soul, eternal
life and eternal death are matters of fact inscribed upon the soul. You may
pretend it is all fiction; but when guilt rises in your soul and your
conscience screams at the prospect of death, try as you may, you will never
convince yourself that eternity is a myth.
Verse 9. -- "And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this,
of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him."
He whom John the Baptist had declared to be
the Lamb of God, the Messiah, the Christ, the King of Israel, now began to make
himself known as the incarnate God of whom all the prophets spoke; and Herod
was terrified. The Lord Jesus verified John’s ministry so plainly that Herod
trembled when he heard of…
·
Christ’s doctrine,
·
His miracles,
·
And his divine authority.
Verse 10 -- "And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all
that they had done.”
The Master had sent these men out to preach
the gospel. When their work was done, they returned to him and gave an account
of all that they had done in his name.
·
The Doctrine they Preached.
·
The Methods they Employed.
·
The People who Received their Word.
·
Those who Received them Not.
Soon, we shall do the same. The hour is coming when we shall return to
him who sent us out to serve in his kingdom and give an account.
Illustration: The Preacher and the
Businessman
“And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place
belonging to the city called Bethsaida."
This is recorded for our learning. So let
us learn what is set before us here. Those who labor for the glory of Christ,
the interests of his kingdom, the furtherance of his gospel and the souls of
men must be careful that they make time to be alone with God themselves.
This is essential to our spiritual health
and well being. If we neglect our own souls, we will soon be compelled to weep
with bitter sorrow, “They made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own
vineyard have I not kept” (Song 1:6).
Laziness is an abominable thing. It is
utterly reprehensible for men and women to spend their lives in idleness and
leisure. Gospel preachers, particularly, ought to devote themselves to the work
of the ministry, to study, to prayer, to preaching, to the furtherance of the
gospel. But, we must not neglect our own souls. Hear me, my brothers and
sisters, we must be careful not to neglect God’s appointed means of grace.
·
Public Worship
·
The Ministry of the Word
·
Private Self-examination
·
Private Meditation and Prayer
·
Communion with God
I personally find it necessary to put down my books and my pen, push
back away from my desk, perhaps go for a drive, take a walk, or even get away
from things for a day or two, and make earnest inquiries of my heart. – “Where
are you?” -- “What are you doing?” – “Why are you doing this?”
Verse 11 -- "And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he
received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that
had need of healing."
What a tender, gracious Man our Savior was,
as he walked on this earth. He was tired. He had labored feverishly. He had now
come aside with his disciples for some much needed rest. Yet, when the people
followed him, pouring out their hearts’ needs, waiting to hear his word, “he
received them.” May God give me grace to imitate my Master!
Now notice these next two lines. “He
spake unto them of the kingdom of God.” If you read through the
four gospels again and read them with care, you cannot fail to see that this
was always the subject of our Lord’s ministry in public and in private.
·
He spoke of the spiritual nature of the kingdom of God.
·
He proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom of God.
·
He declared salvation to be nothing less than the establishment of
God’s rule in our hearts. – Faith in Christ is nothing less than the voluntary
surrender of ourselves to his dominion as our Lord and King. – It is the
willing surrender of our lives to him (Luke 9:24).
This last line of verse 11 is what I have had in my mind’s eye from the
beginning of my message. In fact, I have been mulling it over, meditating on
it, studying it, and praying over it for the past several weeks. – Here we read
that the Son of God graciously “healed them that had need of healing.”
It is true, he will neither break the
bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. But this text says more. Our Savior
“healed them that had need of healing.”
Proposition: I
want to send you home tonight convinced of and rejoicing in this great,
glorious fact. – The Son of God is
gracious to all who need grace, heals all who need healing, and saves all who
need saving.
On this occasion, there was not a single
soul in the presence of Christ who needed that healing which he alone could
give who was not healed by him. The extremity of the cases did not baffle him.
The multitude of needs did not diminish his supply of grace. The weakness and
inabilities of the multitude to assist in their healing did not prevent them
from being healed.
Will you hear me now? – There is
still healing for all who need it in Christ!
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power
‘Til all the ransomed church of God
Be saved to sin no more.
1. Is there a sinner in this
place, is there a soul hearing my voice who needs healing, the healing of grace
that only Christ can give?
·
A Sinner?
·
A Believer?
What comfort can a
Savior bring
To those who never felt
their woe?
A sinner is a sacred thing;
The Holy Ghost hath made him so.
2. The Lord Jesus Christ can
heal you.
His
name is Jehovah-rapha – “The Lord that
healeth thee!” There is no lack of saving power and grace in him. There is
no want of ability with the Almighty.
a. Many like you have been
healed by him already. I do not need to know what need is. Christ the Healer has healed
cases just like you before. You may think you are the exception; but you
aren’t. Smewhere or other in the New Testament you will find another just like
who was healed by the Son of God.
·
You tell me that you are full of great, horrible wickedness. Did not he
not cast seven devils out of Magdalene?
·
But your wickedness seems to be greater than even seven devils. Did he
not drive a whole legion of devils out of the demoniac of the Gadarene?
·
You tell me that you cannot pray, but he healed one possessed of a dumb
devil.
·
You feel hardened and insensible, but he cast out a deaf devil.
·
You tell me you cannot believe; neither could that man with the
withered arm stretch out his arm, but he did it when the Son of God said, “Stretch
forth thy hand.”
·
You tell me you are dead in sin, but did not the Lord Jesus raise the
dead?
Your case is no match for his grace. The Lord Jesus
has conquered the like before many times.
b. I know that the Lord Jesus
can heal you, because there is not a record in all the history of the world of
a solitary soul who came to him for healing who was not healed. – “Him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out.”
c. There is no question that he
can heal you, for this Man is himself God almighty. He is God come to save. He
came here specifically to bind up the broken hearted. – Pause and consider all
that he has done for the healing of sinners. He earned the authority to
exercise almighty grace by his Mediatoral accomplishments (John 17:2).
d. There is no question that
the Lord Jesus can heal you, because he has healed and is healing me.
3. The only question to be
answered is this: -- Will he heal you? Are you interested? Listen carefully, I
tell you this without the least hesitancy or reservation, If you need healing, he will heal you. If you
need grace, he will give it. If you need mercy, he will bestow it. If you need
saving, he will save you.
You
will never lay the blame on him if you perish in your sins. Oh, no! The Lord
Jesus still heals all that need healing.
If you believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, your faith in him is the gift of his grace to you and in you. He
has healed you of your soul’s disease. You are born of God. You cannot perish.
Yesterday, I read the story
of a man who had been condemned to die by a Spanish court. In the first week of
September in 1869 he stood before a firing squad. All appeals on his behalf had
been denied. The United States government declared that the Spanish courts had
no power to try him, much less execute him. But the Spanish were determined to
carry out their sentence. On the day he was to die, the Ambassador of the
United States walked out onto the field between the condemned man and his
executioners. He wrapped the condemned man in an American flag and defiantly
said to the marksmen, “Fire if you dare. If you defy the nation represented by
that flag, you will bring all the fury and power of the United States of
America upon you.” There stood the man. Before him were the executioners of
death. A single shot would have been his death. But wrapped in the stars and
stripes, he was as completely invulnerable as if he had been wrapped in a coat
of steel.
So it is with every believer.
The Lord Jesus Christ has wrapped us in the blood red flag of Calvary, and
before God’s holy law can pierce that flag, it must declare the blood of Christ
null and void; and that shall never be!
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Do you need healing?
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Come to Christ.
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Healing is yours!