Sermons on Matthew 4:23

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. Wait, you have a seat. So back in 1973, my grandma Helen was a nurse. Actually, she was the head nurse at a place called Sinai Hospital down in the Twin Cities. And she was a really hard worker. She loved her job. She loved being a nurse. She loved caring for her people. In fact, as a head nurse, she took care of other nurses. And she loved that. She loved just helping all of these, particularly they were younger nurses, and she helped them just like get their job done, be able to take care of patients. It was honestly, I would say, that her job as a nurse was everything to her. And then also in 1973, the Supreme Court passed a Roe versus Wade legalizing abortion in this country. and almost immediately at her hospital her nurses were being forced to participate in abortions either to participate in them or even to dispose of the remains of these children And so my grandma, she said, I won't do this. …

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34. But the Pharisees said, He casts out devils through the prince of the devils. Of course they had some bitter sentence ready! Nothing was too bad for them to say of Jesus. They were hard pressed when they took to this statement which our Lord, in another place so easily answered! They hinted that such power over demons must have come to Him through an unholy compact with " the prince of the devils."" Surely this was going very near to the unpardonable sin! 35. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Matthew 20:29, 30. And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. And, behold, two blind men sitting by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, You Son of David!On Jericho a curse had rested, but the Presence of Jesus brought it a blessing! We suppose He must go through Jericho as once before He must go through Samaria. Our Lord departed from Jerichoand a vast crowd attended Him, for His fame had spread far and wide. Nothing striking is noted concerning His doings till two beggars come upon the scene. Mercy needs misery to give it an occasion to work. Behold, two blind men sitting by the wayside. They could not behold Jesus, but we are asked to behold them. They had taken up a hopeful position, by the wayside, for there they would be likely to hear any good news and there they would be seen by the compassionate. They had ears if they had not eyes and they used their hearing well! On enquiry, they learned that Jesus passed by and believing that He could restore their sight, they grew earnest in prayer to Him—they cried out. Their plea was pity—"Have mercy on us."" Their appeal was to the royal heart of Jesus—"O Lord, You Son of David."" Our Lord's sermon was interrupted by the repeated outcries of these two blind beggars of Jericho. But this never displeased Him—neither would true preachers of the Gospel be disconcerted if some of their hearers were to cry out with similar eagerness for salvation. …

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Secondly. How Christ has treated those that have come to him heretofore. Christ in times past has graciously received those that have come to him; he has made them welcome; he has embraced them in the arms of his love; he has admitted them to a blessed and eternal union with himself, and has given them a right to all the privileges of the sons of God; and he is the same still that he has been heretofore. We have an account in Scripture of many that came to him; we have an account in the history of Christ’s life of many that accepted his calls, and we have an account in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, of multitudes that believed in him; but we read of none that ever were rejected by him. And we ourselves have seen many that we have reason to think Christ has accepted on their coming to him, many that have been great sinners, many that have been old hardened sinners, many that had been backsliders, and many that had been guilty of quenching the Spirit of God. And he is the same still; he is as ready to receive such sinners now as he was then. Christ never yet rejected any that came to him: he has always been the same in this respect; he is so now; and so he surely will be still. 2. There is in this doctrine great encouragement to all persons to look to Christ under all manner of difficulties and afflictions; and that especially from what appeared in Christ when he was here. We have an account, in the history of Christ, of great numbers under a great variety of afflictions and difficulties, resorting to him for help; and we have no account of his rejecting one person who came to him in a friendly manner for help, under any difficulty whatever. But on the contrary, the history of his life is principally filled up with miracles that he wrought for the relief of such. When they came to him, he presently relieved them, and always did it freely without money or price. We never read of his doing any thing for any person as hired to it, by any reward that was offered him. And he helped persons fully, he completely delivered them from those difficulties under which they laboured. And by the doctrine of the text we learn that though he is not now upon earth, but in heaven, yet he is the same that he was then. He is as able to help, and he is as ready to help under every kind of difficulty. Here is great encouragement for persons who are sick to look to Christ for healing, and for their near friends to carry their case to Christ; for how ready was Christ, when on earth, to help those that looked to him under such difficulties! and how sufficient did he appear to be for it; commonly healing by laying on his hand, or by speaking a word! And we read of his healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. Persons under the most terrible and inveterate diseases were often healed. And Christ is the same still. And here is great encouragement for mourners to look to Christ for comfort; we read of Christ’s pitying such; as in the case of the widow of Nain, Luke vii. 12, 13, &c. “And so he wept with those that wept, and groaned in spirit, and wept with compassion for Martha and Mary, when he saw their sorrow for the loss of their brother Lazarus, John xi. 32, &c. And he is the same still; he is as ready to pity those that are in affliction now as he was then. …

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“And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: And when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: For they shall be comforted.” 1. Our Lord had now “gone about all Galilee,” (Matt. 4:23, ) beginning at the time “when John was cast into prison,” (Matt. 4:12, ) not only “teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom,” but likewise “healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” It was a natural consequence of this, that “there followed him great multitudes from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from the region beyond Jordan.” (Matt. 4:25.) “And seeing the multitudes,” whom no synagogue could contain, even had there been any at hand, “he went up into a mountain,” where there was room for all that came unto him, from every quarter. “And when he was set,” as the manner of the Jews was, “his disciples came unto him. And he opened his mouth,” (an expression denoting the beginning of a solemn discourse.) “and taught them, saying.” — 2. Let us observe, who it is that is here speaking, that we may take heed how we hear. It is the Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator of all; who, as such, has a right to dispose of all his creatures; the Lord our Governor, whose kingdom is from everlasting, and ruleth over all; the great Lawgiver, who can well enforce all his laws, being “able to save and to destroy,” yea, to punish with “everlasting destruction from his presence and from the glory of his power.” It is the eternal Wisdom of the Father, who knoweth whereof we are made, and understands our inmost frame: who knows how we stand related to God, to one another, to every creature which God hath made, and, consequently, how to adapt every law he prescribes, to all the circumstances wherein he hath placed us. It is He who is “loving unto every man, whose mercy is over all his works;” the God of love, who, having emptied himself of his eternal glory, is come forth from his Father to declare his will to the children of men, and then goeth again to the Father; who is sent of God “to open the eyes of the blind, and to give light to them that sit in darkness.” It is the great Prophet of the Lord, concerning whom God had solemnly declared long ago, “Whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him;” (Deut. 18:19; ) or, as the Apostle expresses it, “Every soul which will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:23.) …

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