Our Friendly Merciful Physician

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,

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.

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.

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.

Amen.