Is anybody looking for a doctor?
Are you looking for a physician?
Are you looking for a healer?
I love my doctor.
When I go for checkups, my doctor,
he always makes sure he does a thorough physical examination.
And so he weighs me, checks my blood pressure,
takes blood, does the whole screening bit.
But he just doesn't care for my outer man.
And my doctor, you can bank on it.
He saves five minutes at the end to ask me about my spiritual health.
My doctor really wants me to be experiencing a vibrant walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
So he always asks me about it.
I love my doctor.
He's my friend.
He's looking out for me both body and soul.
Are you looking for a doctor?
My doctor is a great doctor, but there's an even greater doctor.
Are you looking for a doctor?
Did you come into this building this morning with a sickness of soul?
You are so aware of the wrongs you've done.
It just is cancer in the inside.
You need a healer.
You need a physician.
This morning we're going to see Jesus Christ is our friendly, merciful physician of body and soul,
but especially the soul.
Sin is a spiritual sickness.
It's a spiritual sickness.
It's a spiritual sickness that only Jesus, the great physician, can heal.
In fact, that's why he came.
We'll see this this morning when we look at Matthew 9, 9 through 34.
I don't know the situations you're in right now, but I do know this.
You came into this room this morning in need of mercy.
You came in in needing of some kind of healing of soul.
And the good news is we have a living, great physician who is full of mercy.
And he's full of mercy to those who recognize their need for it.
And so this morning we're going to look at two scenes from Matthew 9, 9 through 34.
Verses 9 through 17, we're going to be in somebody's house.
We're going to see Jesus interact with three groups of people.
He says some amazing things, some unusual things.
And then we're going to look at verses 18 through 34,
in which Jesus interacts with a group of other people.
We're going to spend most of our time in this house,
in the first part of this section,
and we'll wrap up by making some observations from verses 18 through 34.
Are you looking for a doctor?
Are you aware of healing in your soul?
Do you need it?
Do you need mercy?
Do you need help?
Jesus is your help.
Let's look at verses 9 through 17.
Let me read them for you.
As Jesus passed on from there,
he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth.
And he said to him, follow me.
And Matthew rose and followed him.
And as Jesus reclined at table in the house,
behold, many tax collectors and sinners came
and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.
And when the Pharisees saw this,
they said to his disciples,
why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?
But when he heard it, he said,
those who are well have no need for a physician,
but those who are sick.
Go and learn what this means.
I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
for I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners.
In the house still,
Jesus, then the disciples of John came to him saying,
why do we and the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not fast?
And Jesus said to them,
can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom
is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.
No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth
on an old garment,
for the patch tears away from the garment,
and a worse tear is made.
Neither is new wine put into new wineskins.
If it is, the skins burst,
and the wine is spilled,
and the skins are destroyed,
but the new wine is put into fresh wineskins,
and so both are preserved.
Some interesting interactions.
Jesus says some very interesting things here.
But if you look back at verses 9 and 10,
we see Jesus interacting with the first group of people.
Jesus has just healed the paralytic.
Remember, he said the Pharisees were like,
oh, who can forgive but God alone?
And Jesus was like,
that you may know,
the Son of Man has the authority on earth
to forgive sins.
He turns to the paralytic and says,
get up, pick up your mat, and go home.
And the paralytic gets up,
picks up his mat, and goes home.
It shows, this visible healing
shows Jesus' authority over sin.
And so Jesus is coming from that episode.
He leaves the house,
he's walking along,
and he sees Matthew in a tax booth.
Now you've got to understand something.
Jewish tax collectors,
they had a bad reputation.
Think about it this way.
They were considered by other Jews as traitors
because they were collecting taxes
for the occupying Roman force.
They're collecting money
for the people who have imposed themselves on us.
collecting money for the enemy, so to speak.
And if that's worse enough,
not only are they seen as traitors,
but exploiters,
because tax collectors were expected
to put a quote-unquote surcharge
on the Roman tax,
and they would line their pockets.
It was a very lucrative job.
And so Jesus walks by Matthew.
This is the same Matthew
that wrote this gospel.
He's got a shady background.
He walks by Matthew,
and he says,
follow me,
and Matthew gets up
and follows him.
And then in verse 10,
the next thing we see
is that they're at a house,
at a table
with a bunch of other tax collectors
and sinners.
But what Matthew doesn't tell us,
because he's being kind of humble,
Luke does.
And in Luke 5,
what we learn is that
when Jesus called Matthew,
Matthew left everything
and followed Jesus.
He left his lucrative job
in the tax booth
to follow Jesus.
And for a tax collector,
what that meant is
there's no going back.
And what Luke also tells us
is the house that we read about
in Matthew,
it's Matthew's house.
He brings Jesus home.
And it's a great feast,
according to Luke,
with a great many tax collectors
and sinners.
And so basically,
what's going on in Matthew's house
in verse 10 is,
we have a first century
Palestinian house party
going on.
And I'm guessing
they had the equivalent
of the red solo cups
going to.
But what you need to say is,
Jesus has placed himself
with sinners.
He's a friend of sinners.
The all-authoritative
Son of Man.
The Messiah.
The Son of David.
The coming King.
God with us.
He's kicking it
with sinners.
He doesn't move away
from sinners.
He moves to sinners.
He came for sinners.
He didn't come to judge them.
He came to heal them.
He came to heal the sin sick.
He came to heal you
of your sin sickness.
He came to heal me
of my sin sickness.
And He's full of mercy
and ready to heal
those who know
they are sin sick
and come to Him.
Jesus is a friend of sinners.
He's my friend.
The second group of people
that Jesus encounters
happens in verses 11 through 13.
the Pharisees come to the party.
But they're staying
outside the party.
Jesus is reclining at table
with a house full of sinners.
That kind of reclining.
They didn't have chairs.
They would have been
a low sitting table.
You kind of sit on your side
and dine together.
And it was known to be
extremely personal,
very intimate.
And it was scandalous
in the sights of the Pharisees.
And so in verse 11,
the Pharisees
approach Jesus' disciples.
Notice,
they don't approach Jesus.
And they ask this question,
why does your teacher
eat with tax collectors
and sinners?
It's in the form of a question,
but it's actually
an accusation.
It's kind of like,
what is your teacher thinking?
These people your teacher
is eating with,
they're the out-of-bounds folks.
The people of disrepute.
They make you unclean.
And if you're hanging out with them,
it kind of looks like
you're condoning their sin.
Does your teacher condone
the tax collector guys?
Does your teacher condone
the prostitutes going on?
This is scandalous.
Remember,
the Pharisees were the religious
authorities of that time,
and they interpreted
the law of Moses
a certain way
that resulted in
clear lines of separation
between the sinful riffraff
and the quote-unquote
righteous.
Their understanding
of the law of Moses
compelled them to
withdraw
from those who broke the law.
And anyone who defied
their pious posture
towards the unclean rabble,
they were put on notice.
Jesus is being put on notice.
Jesus was defying
their self-righteous
understanding of the law
by reclining at table
with sinners.
Despite their knowledge
of the Scriptures,
the Pharisees
are completely missing
God's heart
for the sin-sick.
They can't see it.
And they can't see it
because they've been blinded
by their self-righteousness.
They thought that
their obedience,
their adherence
to their interpretation
of the law of Moses,
their obedience
put them in safe standing
with God.
It made them in right
standing with God.
That's what they were thinking.
They were secure
in their own obedience
is what they were thinking.
They did not think
that they had anything
in common
with those sinners
Jesus was enjoying
a meal with.
They didn't think
that they had any need
for God's mercy.
They didn't think
that they were
spiritually sick.
They thought they were
spiritually healthy.
You see,
self-righteousness
is a sin sickness
all of its own.
And what self-righteousness
does is it blinds
a sinner to the depth
of their own
sin sickness.
They can't see
how sinful they are.
Self-righteousness
keeps a sinner
from admitting
their need for mercy.
And at the heart
of self-righteousness
is this thing
called pride.
In religion,
it's religious
self-reliance.
And it blinds
a sinner
to their sin
because they think
that they're okay.
They think that
their obedience
has positioned them
in a safe place
with a holy God.
self-righteousness
is this thing
This kind of self-reliance
denies
the need
for God's
ongoing mercy
and it completely
misses the fact
that there's none of us,
there's no sinner
that is able
to save themselves
by obeying
their way
into acceptance
with God.
It's impossible
because of the depth
of our sin.
Back to the story,
Jesus overhears
the question
or accusation
of the Pharisees
to his disciples.
And in verse 12
he responds,
those who are well
have no need
of a physician
but those who are sick.
Jesus isn't saying
that the Pharisees
are A-OK.
He's not saying,
oh, you guys
are just fine.
He's acknowledging
that they don't think
that they're sick
is what he's doing.
Of course,
the sickness Jesus
is talking about
his sin.
At the end of verse 13
he explains
what he means
by well and sick.
I have not come
for the righteous,
those who think
that they're well,
but sinners,
those who know
they are unworthy
of God
and need God's mercy
to stand
before His holy presence.
Jesus,
recognizing the Pharisees
spiritual blindness,
he goes,
I've got a homework
assignment for you.
Go find out
what this means.
And he quotes
Hosea 6.6.
I desire mercy,
not sacrifice.
Now,
if you're trying
to rack your brains
and remember
who Hosea was,
Hosea was a prophet
to the northern kingdom
before the northern kingdom's
fall to Assyria
in 722 B.C.
And in the book
of Hosea,
we see something amazing.
God likens Himself
to a husband
who is married
to a wife
who prostitutes herself.
And the unfaithful wife
we learn in the book
of Hosea
is the people
of the northern kingdom
of Israel.
They had been delivered
from God,
by God,
from Egypt,
only to go then
and worship
other gods
like Baal.
They've prostituted
themselves.
In fact,
God has the prophet
Hosea
marry a woman
named Gomer
who herself
becomes a prostitute.
God speaks
a word of judgment
and call to repentance
to His people
through the actual
marriage
of this prophet
to His wife.
How would you like
to be that prophet?
In Hosea,
God calls His people
to return to Him.
Come know Me.
Three times
in Hosea 6,
come, come,
know Me.
Know Me.
Know who I am.
Know Me.
He wants their hearts.
He wants His people
to know Him
and to love Him.
The Hebrew word
for mercy,
translated mercy
in Hosea 6,
6,
I desire mercy,
it's the Hebrew word
chesed.
And it actually means
steadfast love,
a covenantal love.
It is this
unreserved,
wholehearted,
affectionate devotion.
And typically,
it's used of God
towards His people.
But here,
what we're reading
is God desires
the chesed
of His people.
He wants our hearts.
He wants our full devotion,
not sacrifice,
not jumping through the hoops,
not trying to make you
feel good about yourselves.
The next part of Hosea 6
is He says,
I desire mercy,
not sacrifice,
knowledge of God,
not burnt offerings.
Jesus is telling these Pharisees,
go with this means.
Your God
wants these sinners' hearts.
He doesn't want them
jumping through hoops.
Jesus is there
because He's embodying
Hosea 6.6.
I have come
for sinners.
I have come
to heal
their sin-sick hearts
so that they may know
and love
their God.
That's why I'm here.
Jesus is on mission.
And He's at table
with these sinners
because He's there
to save them
and the Pharisees
just don't see it.
They're blinded
by their own
self-righteousness.
Jesus is
a merciful physician,
full of mercy
to those
who know
their sin-sickness.
But to those
who don't recognize it,
they don't think
they need it.
there's another interaction
in verses 14-17.
And this time,
it's not with sinners,
it's not with Pharisees,
it's with the disciples
of John the Baptist.
In verse 14,
you see the disciples
of John the Baptist,
they arrive
and they ask a really
interesting question.
They see Jesus' disciples
feasting with sinners
and they ask Jesus
Himself,
why do we
in the Pharisees fast
but your disciples
do not fast?
Just a little background.
it was typical
that a Jew
would be fasting
two times a week
at this point
in Jewish history
in Palestine.
And so,
it may be more helpful
to think about
this very likely
being a day of fast
for the Jewish people.
And if it is,
here is Jesus
feasting with His disciples
with sinners.
sinners.
And so,
we don't have to go
down that road
of,
are the,
you know,
the disciples
of John whining
like,
hey,
why do we have to fast
but you guys don't?
We don't have to go
down that way.
I think they're asking
an honest question.
Hey,
we're fasting
like we're supposed
to be fasting.
Why aren't you guys
fasting but you guys
are feasting?
What's going on?
And in verse 15,
Jesus answers
that question
in a most surprising way.
He starts talking
about being a bridegroom.
Wedding stuff.
Can the wedding guests
mourn as long
as the bridegroom
is with them?
The wedding guests
in our parlance
would be the wedding party.
Hey,
if the bridegroom's there,
is the wedding party
going to fast?
No.
They're going to party.
They're going to celebrate.
Weddings are festive occasions.
Feasting is normal
at weddings.
That's what you do.
I was at a wedding
a couple months ago
and the reception afterwards
was a party!
Feasting.
Reveling.
Celebrating.
Nobody fasts at a wedding
because weddings
are occasions to celebrate.
Not mourn.
Jesus likens
His presence on earth
to a bridegroom
being at a wedding.
That's interesting.
And He goes on to say
that when He is taken away
then His disciples
will fast.
They will mourn
His absence.
And He's most likely
referring to
when He is arrested
and killed.
But here's the question
I've been asking.
If Jesus is the bridegroom,
who's the bride?
If we got a wedding day,
who's the lucky lady?
Who's He going to marry?
And in light of the reference
to Hosea,
just verses above,
in which God is depicted
as a husband
to an unfaithful wife,
I got a hunch
Jesus has in mind
a new bride.
A new people.
A new people
He purchased
with His blood.
A new covenant.
A people that He would
gather to Himself
from every tribe,
tongue, and nation.
This is the dawning
of a new day.
This is the coming
of the bridegroom
who has come
for His bride.
It's a day of celebration.
Jesus' coming
is a day of celebration.
Jesus is essentially saying,
My disciples are not fasting
because I'm here
for My bride.
The sinners I have come
to save.
A new day has dawned.
And then things
get really interesting.
He says some really
interesting things next.
Look at what He says.
No one puts a piece
of unshrunk cloth
on an old garment
for the patch tears
away from the garment.
And a worse tear is made.
Neither is new wine
put into old wineskins.
If it is,
the skins burst
and the wine is spilled
and the skins are destroyed.
But new wine
is put into fresh wineskins
and so both are preserved.
Well, what's going on?
Why are we talking
about garments
and making wine?
Jesus, what are He doing?
Well, what's interesting is,
what's interesting is,
when He talks about garments
in verse 16,
He talks about the unshrunk patch.
That's a new patch
going on an old garment.
And then in verse 17,
I believe,
when He starts talking
about the new wine
and the old wineskins,
do you see what He's doing?
He's talking about something new
and He's talking about something old.
And He's talking about something new
not fitting on something that's old.
So what is Jesus getting at?
The unshrunk patch
is this new patch
that if it were to shrink
and it's adhered to the garment,
it's going to tear the garment
all the more.
It's going to make a worse tear.
And so what Jesus is essentially
saying here is,
hey, I have not come
to patch up Judaism.
I'm not a Judaism patch.
I'm not here to make Judaism 2.0.
That's not why I'm here.
Don't think about me
as a little fix.
He's come to bring
a whole new kingdom.
To save a whole new people.
To create a whole new way
of relating with God.
And then He starts talking
about new wine
and old wineskins.
You don't put new wine
in old wineskins.
New wine in that day
was wine that was still fermenting.
So it was still going
through its chemical processes.
And if you put new wine
into old wineskins,
which lost its elasticity,
if you did that
in the old wine expanse,
pop, pop,
the whole thing bursts.
You lose everything.
And so Jesus says,
no, you put new wine
that's still fermenting
into new wineskins
because they're still flexible.
Jesus is saying,
the new wine I'm bringing
with this new covenant
cannot be contained
in the old wineskins
of the old covenant.
You can't contain me.
You can't contain what I'm bringing.
The old system under Judaism
is not going to contain
what I'm bringing.
My new covenant people
need new covenant structures.
And so the sacrificial system
of the Old Testament,
that's old wineskin.
Why?
Because Jesus is the one
great sacrifice of all.
He made it obsolete.
Can't handle him.
It pointed to him,
but it can't contain him.
The dietary laws
of the old covenant.
Jesus said in Mark 7,
he declared all foods clean
because it's not what you eat
that makes you unclean.
It's what comes out of your heart
that makes you unclean.
And Jesus came to clean
our unclean hearts.
We don't need to eat food anymore
to set us apart.
Our trusting in Jesus
sets us apart.
And so he makes it obsolete.
It's an old wineskin.
And this all came out
of a question about fasting.
And so these disciples of John,
we just asked a question
about fasting.
And Jesus says,
no, you think about fasting
that way.
But did you see
what he did about fasting?
He made fasting about him.
When I'm gone,
then you mourn.
He takes center stage.
Jesus is making a claim.
It's about him.
He started with this question
about fasting.
And Jesus brings this whole new vision
for a whole new way of being
and relating with God.
Oh yeah,
he is our friendly,
merciful physician.
And by the way,
he's the king of a new kingdom
that cannot be contained
by the old structures
of Judaism.
He's the bridegroom
that came for his bride.
A new people,
a new covenant,
a new way of relating with God.
A new era.
He's the friend of sinners.
He is the merciful physician.
And he is the king
of a new people group.
Christians.
So when we look at verses 9-17,
you're like,
whoa, there's a lot going on there.
There's nobody like Jesus.
He's a friend of sinners.
He's a physician full of mercy
to the sin sick.
He is the king of a new,
new kingdom
that cannot be contained
by the old.
And then Jesus moves on.
And what we see Jesus doing
in verses 18-34
is he's just showing
that he gets it.
He gets Hosea 6-6.
I desire mercy,
not sacrifice.
He embodies it.
He incarnates it.
Look at what he does.
So I'm just going to
breeze through this, okay?
Look at what he does.
Four situations.
There's this desperate dad
named Jairus.
We learn his name
from the Gospel of Mark.
But in verses 18-19,
and then in 23-26,
there's this situation
that this synagogue ruler
named Jairus,
he's desperate.
Jesus comes out of Matthew's house,
and Jairus interrupts him.
He drops at Jesus' feet,
bowing to him,
and he's like,
my daughter's dying.
She's dead.
But if you come
and lay your hand on her,
she will live.
Jairus,
this desperate dad
is demonstrating faith.
You see what Jesus does?
Jairus,
let's have a little conversation
about your obedience
to the law before I come.
I might come
and raise your daughter,
provided that you are
obeying at least 75%
of the law of Moses.
Can we have a conversation
about that?
None of that.
He comes in desperation.
He comes asking for mercy.
And Jesus goes.
He gets up and goes.
Another situation.
The next one down
in verses 20-22,
Jesus is on his way
to Jairus' house.
And lo and behold,
this woman comes up
behind Jesus,
and she's had this hemorrhage
for 12 years.
It would have made her unclean.
She would have been ostracized
by the community.
She comes up behind Jesus,
and she's just thinking,
only if I teach the edge
of his garment,
I will be made well.
There's faith.
We learn from Mark
that she has spent
all of her money,
and she's gone to
as many doctors as possible
to figure this thing out.
There are people in this room
who've spent all their money
and gone to all the doctors
and realizing
there's nothing you can do.
You know her situation.
She comes up behind Jesus
and says,
only if I touch the fringe
of his garment,
I will be made well.
And what does Jesus do?
She touches him,
and he turns around
and says,
woman,
what are you thinking?
How many people
did you make unclean
coming to touch me right now?
He doesn't do that.
He doesn't go Pharisee.
He goes mercy.
Take heart, daughter.
Take heart.
Your faith has made you well.
Literally,
your faith has saved you.
Then we see the two
desperate blind men.
Have mercy on us,
son of David.
Have mercy on us.
Verses 27 through 31.
Have mercy on us.
Help us.
They don't even say
what they want help for,
but it's obvious.
They follow him into a house,
and Jesus says,
do you think I'm able
to do this for you?
And they say,
yes, Lord.
And what does Jesus do?
Let me just kind of roll out
the Ten Commandments here, guys.
I'll speak them to you,
and you tell me,
on a scale of one to ten,
how faithful were you this week
to this commandment?
He doesn't do that.
He shows the mercy
on the spot.
That's our Savior.
In verses 32 through 34,
this demonized man who is dumb,
which means he can't speak,
his friends bring him to Jesus.
They're the ones
who's demonstrating faith.
They bring him to Jesus,
and Jesus doesn't say,
hey, you know what?
Let's talk.
I want to know how well you're doing
at obeying all these commands
before I cast out this.
He doesn't do that.
He casts out the demon.
The man speaks for the first time.
Wouldn't you like to know
what he said for the first time?
I think he would have said
something like,
Jesus, you're awesome.
Jesus, thank you.
Four desperate situations.
Desperate people coming to Jesus
asking for mercy in faith.
And what does Jesus do?
He shows them mercy.
He heals them.
Death, disease, blindness,
demonization.
They're all been ushered in by sin,
and Jesus heals them all.
He's a friend of sinners.
He's the merciful physician.
He's able to do it.
But I'll tell you what.
It would have been awesome to see,
it would have been awesome
to see him raise Jairus' daughter
from the dead.
I mean, if you were there,
you'd be like,
this is awesome.
It would have been awesome
to see him heal this woman
with a hemorrhage.
Don't you think?
It would have been awesome
to see these blind men
given sight.
This dumb man given speech.
That would have been awesome.
But these pale in comparison
to what Jesus does
months down the line.
He's going to find Himself.
We're going to see Him in Jerusalem.
And He's going to be arrested.
And He's going to be tried.
He's going to be mocked.
He's going to be beaten.
He's going to be scourged.
And then He's going to be crucified.
The physician of our souls
is on the cross,
beaten and brutalized,
and eventually gives up
His spirit and dies.
And you know what it was?
It was the greatest act of healing
He ever did.
Isaiah 53.5
By His wounds,
you are healed.
He is a merciful physician.
And He gave Himself for us
to heal our sin-sick hearts
that we would know and live
for the one true God.
That's who He is.
That's why He came.
Anybody?
Anybody looking for a doctor?
Anybody in need of mercy?
Jesus is full of mercy.
You just got to cry out to Him.
It's that simple.
All right.
Let's wrap this thing up.
I want you guys to walk away
with these four things.
Remember who Jesus is.
Remember who He is.
He is a friend of sinners.
And He gives mercy
to those who know
that they're sin-sick.
He is most concerned
about the sin-sickness
of your heart.
And if you've come
into this building
and you know you're not a Christian,
cry out to Him
to heal your sin-sick heart.
And He will.
That's why He died on the cross.
That is His prescription
for your sin.
He embodies Hosea 6.
6.
He came to change your heart
so that your heart
would love God.
The second thing we need to do
is be warned
we are prone to self-righteousness.
It's the way of all human beings.
We fall into this
kind of em modus operandi
of thinking
I must earn my acceptance.
Even born-again Christians
slip into the false belief
that our obeying God
results in God accepting us.
It's a works righteousness.
It's the thinking
my obedience
earns God's approval
and acceptance
which simply is not true.
The Christian gospel
is not
hey, you obey
so that God will accept you.
That's not the gospel.
Here's the gospel.
Jesus
is God's grace to you
and in Christ
God accepts you
fully and completely
through the blood of Jesus.
You are accepted
and then we obey.
God accepts us
and then we obey Him.
It's not the other way around.
We're not saved
by our own works
nor are we kept
saved
by our own works.
Our salvation
from beginning to end
rests solely
on the finished work
of Jesus Christ
on the cross
in our place.
He covered it all.
And so our obedience
springs
from what He's already done.
We don't do it
to earn His favor.
Jesus earned His favor
for us.
Beware
of self-righteousness,
of slipping
into self-righteousness.
Which leads
to the third point.
We are in constant
need of God's mercy.
Constant.
Even if you have
put your faith in Jesus
and you've been forgiven
all your sin
and you're accepted
fully in God's eyes
based on the righteousness
of Christ imputed to you,
if that's who you are,
you're still in need
of mercy.
Do you know why?
Because indwelling sin
still exists in you.
And as long as
indwelling sin exists in you,
you're going to be tempted
to sin
and you're going to need mercy.
Need mercy
when you're tempted
and need mercy
when you actually
commit sin.
And God's got it.
He's quick to forgive.
He's quick to show mercy.
So it's normal
and right
for a Christian
to cry out
daily
for mercy.
So like this,
Oh, Son of David,
have mercy on me.
Help me to use my mouth
not to curse
but to bless.
Have mercy on me, Lord.
Daily.
Have mercy on me, Jesus,
so that I would not
look at pornography today
but I would walk
in purity today.
Have mercy on me, Lord.
Help me.
It's normal.
That's what Christians do.
We depend on Jesus.
We cry out for His help
and His mercy.
Have mercy on me, Lord Jesus,
that I wouldn't cheat
on quizzes and tests
or that I wouldn't lie
on my tax return
but rather I would be honest
in all things
for the glory of Your name.
Have mercy on me.
Have mercy on me
that I would not give up
on my marriage
no matter how hard it gets
because, Jesus,
You are the perfect husband.
Have mercy on me.
Have mercy on me
that I wouldn't yell
at my kids today
but rather that I would be
Your ambassadors
to them today.
Have mercy on me, Lord,
that I would not use
my time, my treasure,
my talent
for things that are just
passing away and frivolous
but that I would use
my time, talent, and treasure
for the things that matter most
Your name exalted in this city.
Have mercy on me.
Have mercy on our church.
Help us, Lord.
We never outgrow
God's need for mercy.
Never.
We need it for the balance
of this day.
The final thing
I want to draw
your attention to is this.
When you're daily
receiving mercy,
you want other people
to experience God's mercy too.
You want it for others.
And so,
in light of how
Jesus welcomes sinners,
we're not going to ask
or insist that people
clean up their lives
before they become
a Christian.
It doesn't work that way.
They need Jesus
to clean up their lives.
We're not going to ask
someone to,
before joining us
in the worship of God
on a Sunday morning,
that they clean up
their life a little bit.
We're not going to do that.
Jesus welcomes sinners
as they are.
And so will we.
That's how He accepted me.
That's how He accepted you.
Jesus met sinners
where they were at
and graciously called them
to follow Him
like Matthew.
So we treat people
like our Savior
treated people.
We want them
to experience
mercy
and grace.
So we go to where they are.
Think about your neighborhood.
Go Matthew
with your house.
Invite sinners over.
Welcome them.
See what God does.
And you invite them
to come to your house
with the hope
that you can talk to Him
about the mercy
shown you in Christ Jesus
and that He offers them
as well
in Jesus Christ.
And here
on Sunday mornings,
we welcome sinners
so that we can tell them
about a Savior
who is the friend of sinners,
who is full of mercy,
who has the authority
to forgive all their sins.
who is the king
of a new kingdom
that can't be contained.
Jesus is our friendly,
merciful physician
who is able to heal
your greatest ailment,
your sin.
You looking for a doctor?
Do you need healing?
You don't need to do
a Google search.
You don't need to go
any further than Jesus.
He's eager to heal.
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus,
thank You that You are
full of mercy
and we come to You
recognizing our daily need
for it.
God,
stay us clear
from falling into
the pharisaical trap
of thinking that
we don't need Your mercy
anymore.
Thank You, Father,
for sending Jesus
and healing our hearts
through the cross
of Christ.
We are debtors
to Your mercy.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.