Matthew
9:12-13 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have
no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this
means: ‘I desire mercy and not
sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners,
to repentance.” NKJV
We have only to turn on the news to here of some
very terrifying cases of illnesses that people have contracted or are being
diagnosed with at the very time of a breaking news story. Recently we heard of
actress Valerie Harper (Co-Star of the “Mary Tyler Moore Show”) being diagnosed
with a form of brain cancer that is very rare and also extremely life threatening.
The story of ABC news personality Robin Roberts and her battle with cancer that
required her to find a bone marrow donor in order that she might recover. Also
we were witness to the long battle with some form of cancer that President Hugo
Chavez of Venezuela endured until he just recently lost his battle with the
disease.
These are just a few cases of people that are
recognized by many because of what they do and for who they are, but these and
other diagnoses of diseases that come upon people all over this world every day
are likewise just as life threatening and fearful for the recipients of the
news. The first step in being able to receive a cure for a physical disease is
to accept the diagnoses of the Doctor or Doctors that one has the disease being
described to them and to subscribe or submit to the course of treatment or
medication that will be required. It is a sure prospect of defeat resulting in
physical death for one to continually reject or resist the Doctors diagnosis
and to refuse the treatment and medicine to cure the disease.
The examples of the above physical diseases are mere
irritants in comparison to the greatest disease that infects all of humanity
and that would be sin. The newspapers, TV news, and the internet all over the
world are full of the results produced by the sin disease. The One who created
man knows his deteriorating condition (He told Adam that in Genesis 2:17) and
later gave Moses His Ten Commandments to show man his infection and secondly He
has sent the only remedy or cure for the disease of sin and He is Jesus Christ
the Righteous. The problem with humanity today and in every generation is the recognition
of the sin sick condition. Business or Industry success in this life, power in
this life such as Hugo Chavez had as President of a Country, or popularity as
an entertainer, actress, sports star, etc. and even the so called regular or
normal life does much to cloud the reality of man’s sin sickness.
Just like the human Doctor cannot cure the physical disease
of any person unwilling to acknowledge the severity of their illness, our Lord
Jesus Christ (the Great Physician) cannot provide His cleansing Blood to the
soul sick with the disease of sin if the sinner never recognizes that he or she
is a sinner. In this Chapter 9 of Matthew every person that comes to our Lord
for physical or spiritual healing have come to the place of complete hopeless desperation
willing to drop all other methods, procedures, or actions acknowledging Jesus Christ as Lord in order to
be healed by Him. Today as then is no different because our Lord Jesus Christ
is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The man or woman unwilling to humble
themselves and acknowledge their sinful heart condition and the Lordship of
Jesus Christ and His Blood as the only cure will remain sick with sin and will
continue to act out that sinful heart in the outward things done in the body,
i.e. pornography, masturbation, fornication, homosexuality, murder, rape,
stealing, gossip, pride, greed, blasphemy, etc. and the list seems endless, see
what the Apostle Paul says in Galatians 5:19-21.
The woman with issue of blood in this Chapter 9 of
Matthew is the clear picture of the heart condition of every man or woman that
comes to saving faith in Jesus Christ. This woman was desperate, in despair,
and desiring above all else to come and touch the Lord Jesus so that she would
be healed. She believed without waver of not only His ability, but also His
willingness to heal her of this plague she dealt with for 12 years. Our Lord
lives and breathes from Heaven now as He did on earth during His first coming
to grant to those desperate for healing mercy they do not deserve. This was a
woman who was sick physically and she tried every other avenue possible to be
cured and none worked. Many will come to our Lord in this manner after trying
Islam, the occult, Yoga, New Age, Mormonism, Jehovah Witness, Buddhism, and
many other empty paths that claim enlightenment or satisfaction for the soul. You
can only be healed when like this woman with the issue of blood you can say
from your heart as the Psalmist and the Prophet Jeremiah speaks in the following
passages and then you will hear our Lord as He spoke to the woman marred with
her blood disease, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your
faith has made you well.”
Psalms
6:2 Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak; O LORD, heal me, for my
bones are troubled. NKJV
Psalms
41:4 I said, “LORD, be merciful to me; Heal my soul, for I have sinned against
You.” NKJV
Jeremiah
17:14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved,
For You are my praise. NKJV
“Sin is more than an act or a series of acts; it is
a man’s make-up.” A. W. Pink
“The recognition of sin is the beginning of
salvation.” Martin Luther
“Original sin may be defined as the hereditary
corruption and depravity of our nature. This reaches every part of the soul,
makes us abhorrent to God’s wrath and produces in us what Scripture calls works
of the flesh.” John Calvin
“You and your sins must separate or you and your God
will never come together. No one sin may you keep; they must all be given up,
they must be brought out like Canaanite kings from the cave and be hanged up in
the sun.” “Let your tears fall because of sin; but, at the same time, let the
eye of faith steadily behold the Son of Man lifted up, as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, that those who are bitten by the old serpent may
look unto Jesus and live. Our sinnership is that emptiness into which the Lord
pours His mercy.” Charles Spurgeon
“A man does not get grace till he comes down to the
ground, till he sees he needs grace. When a man stoops to the dust and
acknowledges that he needs mercy, then it is that the Lord will give him grace.”
D. L. Moody
If
you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this
from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear
Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I
believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from
the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn
from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control
of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you
Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus
Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and
Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple
I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reader,
Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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