Glen Bond

Sept. 16, 2007
Picayune MS


Isaiah 40:29   He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

Luke 5:32   I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Mat. 9:12   But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.

Matthew Henry  says: The publicans are sick and they need one to help and heal them which the Pharisees THINK they do not need.

Thats how I used to think.

This is the whole point of Holy Spirit conviction shown here. We see that the Lord will help those who need help. But not only those who NEED help, but those who admit to that need. When it says "he giveth power to the faint" he is talking about those fainting ones who admit to Him that they need his help. This is not said to those who, though they are fainting, are going on in their own strength and saying in their heart ?I'm not faint, I can make it?.

This is what every lost sinner first tries to do. You say ?I want to be saved?, but you keep on thinking ?I can make it?. You keep on trying to save your self and at the same time you keep saying ?I want   to be saved. You keep trying to save yourself because you never see that you are sick.

When He says "Luke 5:32   I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." 

The Lord is not saying that the Pharisees ARE righteous, but he is saying that he is calling those who see their need of salvation. He is calling those who see their sinful condition before God. If you don't see your sinful condition before God, then YOU are one of the self righteous Pharisees who the Lord is not calling to repent.

Proverbs 23:7   For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:

When a person thinks that he is good, or when a person does not see himself a sinner, the person is thinking in his heart ?I am not a sinner?, and these same thoughts are what the Lord is looking at when he says ?Luke 5:32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.?

When the Lord first began to deal with me, I thought that I was not sinful enough to be saved. I ?thought in my heart?, that I was good. I was as self righteous as a Pharisee. By my own thoughts, I excluded myself from salvation.

This is what every lost sinner does. We don't see ourselves as sinners, because we are blinded by Satan.

This blindness is not a physical - visual blindness, but it is a literal blindness.

The only way a poor blinded sinner can ever be delivered from the clutches of Satan is by the power of an almighty God.

What you need to ask yourself is ? 
	Am I faint?
	Am I righteous?
	Am I a sinner?
	Do I need to be healed by Christ?

If you have no need, then you need not come to Christ. But if you have a load of sin, if you are fainting under that load, then call on the one who is able to help you.

Come to him. In Mat 13:44

44  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. 
 
45  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 
 
46  Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. 

This shows us that when we find salvation, we should do all that we possibly can to obtain it.

You here have seen that treasure in the field, you have seen with your eyes the pearl of great price, but instead of striving to obtain it, you go on in your own way, saying ?I wish I had that treasure? and all the time refusing to make an effort to get it. And it is very much within you grasp. It is not like something that you would have to pay millions of dollars for.