May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in His Holy Word. Let us turn to the Gospel of
Luke, chapter 5, and we'll read verse 32. The Gospel according
to Luke, chapter 5, and we'll read verse 32. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. This is a very clear and a very
simple statement. And yet so few people seem to
understand the relevance of it. The relevance really is to everyone. And it will be a great, wonderful
blessing if the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts and convinces
us that we before a holy God are indeed a sinner. And to then direct us to the
great and important consideration that we need repentance. Every born-again believer receives
this great and wonderful gift of repentance. It's not just
a theological word. It's a very necessary word in
our personal experience, in our personal testimony, to be able
to come and acknowledge that because of God's mercy, because
of His love, He has granted to us that spirit of repentance. And that simply means to be truly
sorry for our sins. And in order to be sorry for
our sins, we need to realise that we have sinned. If we don't
know before our holy God that we're a sinner, we won't know
that we need repentance. But what a wonderful blessing
it is when the Holy Spirit comes directly to us as, blessedly
he does, as individuals and shows to us our situation before a
holy God. And that will demonstrate to
us, without any doubt, that we are a sinner and that we need
forgiveness and that we need God to bless us with this wonderful,
wonderful spirit of repentance. You know, when the Lord Jesus
commenced preaching, it's very significant, the first things
that he said, really, when he commenced preaching. And you
can read this in the Gospel of Mark, in the first chapter, and
the 15th verse. We'll read the 14th. And now,
after John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, the time is fulfilled. and the kingdom of God is at
hand. Repent ye and believe the gospel. These are the first recorded
words of the Lord Jesus Christ when he commenced his public
ministry. He'd been baptised and it's the
same chapter we read about that and how God was pleased because
We're told there came a voice from heaven saying, Thou art
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. What a blessing,
therefore, to realise that then the Lord Jesus was given this
great and glorious work, this work of salvation, and to realise
the relevance of it to every true believer. It is not something
that you and I can despise. It's not something you and I
can think of as irrelevant. But it's a great blessing when
God comes and it is God's gift to give us repentance. To repent of our sins. Now we won't do that, as I've
said, until we are convicted of our sins. So I wonder this
morning, if I was to ask you before God,
are you convicted of your sins? And are you convicted of your
sins to such an extent that you realize those sins are against
God? Those sins are because you have
disobeyed God. Those sins are because you've
turned your back upon God. Those sins are perhaps because
you've said, in your heart, I will not have this man to reign over
me. I'm going to please myself. I'm
going to do what I want to do. where it will be a great blessing
if the Holy Spirit comes and convicts you convicts us each
that we are before a holy God a sinner and that we need forgiveness
as I've often said there are no unforgiven sinners in heaven
and if we are to be a forgiven sinner it will be because God
gives us of that spirit to be truly sorry for our sin to truly
repent of our sins and truly desire to be kept as the Apostle
Peter said kept by the power of God and not satisfied to just
continue in sin and not make light of sin because the reality
is that all of our sins sins that you and I may perhaps categorize
as small sins and big sins whatever category they may fall into it
doesn't matter because they're all sin and every sin has to
be pardoned and every sin has to be taken away and you and
I need to be blessed with repentance over all those sins. And you
may think, well that's easy. But let me tell you it's not
easy. Because very often we're quite fond of
sin. Quite often we go after sin. Quite often we're pleased to
indulge in sin. What does it do? What it produces
is that barrier between us and our God. And what a mercy therefore
if we have the wonderful evidence of the glorious work of Almighty
God toward us. What a mercy then here we have
in this verse where the Lord says, I came not to call the
righteous and again it's very easy to be self-righteous it's
very easy to look around and say well I'm not as bad as that
person and I haven't done that sin and therefore to really try
and justify ourselves whereas in actual fact we cannot do that
we need to be justified by the blessed and glorious work of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, in this 32nd verse, we're
told what Jesus said, I came not to call the righteous. And previously, the previous
verse reads, and Jesus answered, answering said of them, they
that are whole, need not a physician but they that are sick. Left
to ourselves, we are self-righteous. We don't consider the sins that
we've done are very relevant. We may think that they're too
small to be worried about. And yet, you see, the Word of
God doesn't categorise sins as such. We know that every sin
has to be taken away. Every sin has to be paid for. And so the Lord comes and tells
us, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. So what that really means is,
has God called us, called you, called me to repent of our sins? and no one knows whether that's
true apart from yourself and myself as you and I stand before
a holy God and again we won't recognise that as such until
the Holy Spirit convinces us of the holiness of God and the
unholiness of ourselves and the need we have to truly come and
to repent and take on board the relevance of these great and
important truths. In a later chapter in this Gospel
of Luke, in the 13th chapter, we read on two occasions, the
Lord says, well let me just read the previous verse, And they
were present at that season, some that told him of the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus,
answering, said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were
sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? That's the natural mind working.
You and I might respond like that, but what did Jesus say?
I tell you, nay, but except ye repent, ye should all likewise
perish. You see, it's a very personal
thing this is. It's not something which is that
which you and I can pass off. And he goes on to reinforce the
truth He says, or those 18 upon whom the tower in Siloam fell
and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men
that dwelt in Jerusalem. That's a natural man talking
and sometimes we might think that ourselves. We might see
someone who's who's died or someone who's killed, and we might think,
well, perhaps they deserve that. Well, the Lord answers that situation
and tells them very clearly, I tell you, nay, but except ye
repent, ye shall all likewise perish. So therefore, this is
not something which is optional. This is not something which is
irrelevant. And repentance stems from the
conviction that you and I are a sinner before a holy God. Unless the Holy Spirit has convicted
us of our sins, We should not think that we need any repentance.
It won't be relevant. It won't be in our vocabulary.
We won't be concerned about it. But what a great and wonderful
blessing and what a great and wonderful favour if the Holy
Spirit has come to us and called us to repentance. came not to call the righteous
but sinners to repentance the Lord calls his people to repentance
what a mercy therefore for us today to have a look into our
heart and to perhaps come and say well I think I did sin there,
I did do that wrong and I did have that wrong thought the reality
is That is true, but has the Holy Spirit given you and me
the spirit to repent, to be truly sorry for our sin, to confess
it before God? Have we, have you and I confessed
our sins before God? Have we come before Him, was
that just and righteous God who has shown to us something of
what we are by nature and taught us to seek for repentance and
taught us to seek for forgiveness. You know the Apostle Paul was
a righteous man, he was blessed, but he realized himself, he realized
his condition, he realized that he was indeed sinner and he gives
us some wonderful words when he wrote to his son in the faith
Timothy Timothy was a young preacher and Paul wrote two letters to
him to instruct him in many things and in the first chapter of the
first epistle the Apostle speaks about himself and he says And
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, verse 12, who hath enabled me,
for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry who was before
a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious, that I obtain
mercy because I did it ignorantly, in unbelief. And how true that
is. How, until we are called, by
the grace of God, to show us our true condition before a holy
God, we really do these things ignorantly, in unbelief. Bhagavad-Gita is a wonderful
blessing, if God gives us that faith to believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ as the only one who can take away our sins. And what does he go on to say?
And the grace, that means the free unmerited favour of our
Lord was exceeding abundant. And it's good when you and I
recognise that. that God's grace to you and to
me was exceeding abundant and we only recognize that when the
Holy Spirit shows us how exceeding abundant are our sins and the
grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love
which is in Christ Jesus this that is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief." Well, the apostle was
convicted and convinced of his sin. He was convinced that he
was the chief sinner. be a blessing when you and I
stand before God convinced that we are the chief sinner. Now this is not something that
you and I can just inherit naturally. It's the wonderful work of the
Spirit of God. And when that Spirit directly
shows to us that we can't throw stones at other people we can't
say well there's a worse sinner than me and I wouldn't have done
that it's when the Holy Spirit convinces us that we are a sinner
before God and not only a sinner but the chief of sinners and
that is the blessed work of the Holy Spirit and that's a wonderful
favour and then the apostle goes on to say how be it for this
cause I obtained mercy what a favour to think that you and I unworthy
sinners that we are great sinner the worst of sinners that we
are can obtain mercy how be it for this cause I obtained mercy
It's a personal experience between your soul and my soul and God. It's a very wonderful favour
and a very special situation. But it is something which we
know. It's not something which is just
abstract. It's something which is very
real. To recognise that by the grace of God, we have obtained
mercy. because God has given us that
grace of repentance how be it for this cause I obtain mercy that in me first Jesus Christ
might show forth all long-suffering what a mercy when God shows us
how long-suffering he's been to us he hasn't cut us off he
hasn't taken our life and cast us into hell it's because he's
long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter
believe on him to life everlasting that truth and that realisation
and that evidence Causes Paul then to rejoice in his Saviour. And that will cause you and me
to rejoice in the Saviour. So he says in the 17th verse
of this first chapter, Now unto the King eternal. And it's good
to address the Saviour in a right way. King eternal. always was, is and ever will
be. Now unto Him, unto the King eternal,
immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory
for ever and ever. Amen. What was such a revelation of
our sinfulness before God and a revelation of His mercy and
grace toward us produce, it will surely produce the desire to
praise him. Just like the apostle Paul came
to when he was able to say, be honour and glory for ever and
ever. Well, this morning as God looks
into our hearts, I wonder whether we can understand the glorious
pattern that we have set before us in the Word of God. The Lord
has given us this great and glorious passion to observe and to follow
and realise the wonderful favour of it. You know it really comes
in to those words that the Apostle wrote. They're well known words
but I never tire of repeating them in the second chapter of
the Ephesians. When it comes down to the Eighth
verse, well let me read the seventh verse. That in the ages to come
he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. That's the wonderful avenue.
For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast,
for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them. How humbling it is to realise
that God, in his amazing mercy, and love to such unworthy sinners
has quickened us, made us spiritually alive to understand our condition
before a holy God and given us that grace to flee for refuge
to the Saviour. Hymn writer has it, a refuge
for sinners, the gospel makes known It is found in the merits
of Jesus alone. As we are a convicted sinner,
as we are given grace to repent of our sins, it will bring us
to the cross. It will bring us to Calvary. We shall indeed rejoice in the
great glorious work of salvation and the result will be that you
and I will come and we will desire truly to thank and praise Almighty
God who has given us, given us that great and wonderful gift
of faith to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, faith to seek repentance
from our Lord Jesus Christ and to truly come to him. What a
blessing. What a wonderful saviour we had
and the Apostle when he wrote to the Hebrews. It's a beautiful
book, as you and I no doubt realise. He tells us this. In the 6th
verse of the 11th chapter, this is the chapter which speaks about
faith. It commences with the first verse.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen. And in the 6th verse we read,
But without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh
to God must believe that He is and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him. But again, what a blessing when
God comes and gives you and me grace to come to him and to believe
that he is that one who is a rewarder to them that diligently seek
him. And he gives us faith to come
and truly diligently Seek the Lord for forgiveness. Seek the
Lord for the gift of repentance and come to him. Yes, realising
that the door of his mercy stands open all day to the poor and
the needy that knock by the way. What a mercy, what a blessing
it is that you and I have such a great and wonderful and glorious
Saviour. And what a wonderful planet it
is if we sit down and ponder and realise how wonderful it
is, how wonderful and a blessing it is that God has granted to
us these things. Well, you know, when the Apostle
Paul was in Athens You may remember he was there to begin with by
himself. And he went and stood on Mars
Hill, a little hill in Athens, and preached the gospel. And
that was his great privilege. That was his great desire. What a mercy. And as he preached,
he said, he said, for I passed by and told them, Behold your
devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, to the unknown
God, whom therefore ye eagerly worship. Him declare I unto you. Well, I hope that you and I come
with living faith to the true God and truly come to Him. And then the apostle goes on
and tells us that they should seek the Lord If happily they
might feel after him. Every true believer who is called
by the grace of God seeks the Lord. and that's from the heart it's
not just some theory in the head you think oh I've got to seek
God it's because you have a need because you're a sinner because
you're a destitute person you need forgiveness you need the
gift of repentance that's why you come to seek the Lord if
happily they might feel after him and find him though he be
not far from every one of us For in Him we live and move and
have our being, as certain also of your own poets have said,
for we are also His offspring. For as much then as we are the
offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is
like unto gold or silver or stone graven by art and man's device. No, we come to a real living
God and so the 30th verse of this 17th chapter in the Acts
tells us this and the times of this ignorance God winked at
we were ignorant of the things of God we turned our back upon
things of God oh my friends we come into this category don't
we the time of this ignorance God
winked at but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent
it's a very simple statement isn't it it's a very solemn statement
you and I will never be able to come before the judgment seat
of Christ and say, well, I never knew I had to repent. We have to repent and we need
the grace of God to repent. But what a blessing it is when
God gives us that grace to come to God and to repent and to truly
be sorry for our sins. And if it's a true act of repentance,
The result will be that instead of going in that direction, which
we now repent of, we'll turn around and we'll go in the opposite
direction. Instead of going away from Christ,
by the grace of God, we're becoming to Christ. it's the glorious gospel, it's
the wonderful grace of God which the Apostle Paul so desired to
raise and to exalt and to make us mindful of and what a blessing
it is today when you and I recognise also the glorious grace of God
and can come and thank God for such a word as this but now commandeth
all men everywhere to repent. There he was on Mars Hill. Now they were all unbelievers
around him. And he comes and he speaks. He
preaches the gospel faithfully to these Athenians. My friends,
you and I have this wonderful truth before us today. And what
a mercy, therefore, if we recognize these glorious words of the Savior
I came not to call the righteous, not to call those who are righteous
in their own eyes, think they're worth considering, they think
they've got some good in themselves. The Apostle Paul tells us, in
me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. How was he taught
that? By the Holy Spirit. What a blessing
it is when the Holy Spirit shows us that we're no better. That we have to stand and say,
in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. But what a mercy
if God has given you and me that spiritual life wherein does dwell
something good because it's a new life. which God gives and it's
a new life which is granted to us through the wonderful electing
love of the Saviour oh my friends rejoice in the Gospel rejoice
in those words which we already quoted in that second of Ephesians
and to be able to come and say yes He's made me spiritually
alive I received that gift to pray to Him for repentance God
has blessed me and I realised I couldn't do it myself and therefore
I desire to praise and to thank my God who has dealt with me
so wonderfully yes nothing in ourselves is that nothing in
ourselves to merit esteem or to give our Creator delight. No, it's because of His amazing
love to unworthy sinners. What was it that caused Jesus
to come into the sinful world? What was it that caused Him to
live those 33 years in this sinful environment? What was it that
caused Him to be willing to go to the cross and to pay that
enormous price to take away our sin. What was it? Love. His love. And to realise the love of Christ
is rich and free. We never merited it. We never
merited it. But what a blessing if God has
shown to us that this word is true in our spiritual life, that
he's called us to repentance. He's called us to seek unto him. He's called unto him, us, to
look to him. Oh, blessed gospel, isn't it? And the hymn writer says, the
gospel, I love it. It is perfectly free. Amazing,
isn't it? That such a great and wonderful
pardon should be given freely to unworthy sinners. What is
the result? The result is this. Not that
we loved God, but He loved us. What will it produce? Love in
our souls to the Saviour. And that's not something that
you and I can generate ourselves. It's the gift of God. But my
friends, it's something to be humbled about and thankful for
and to rejoice in the freeness of the Gospel. and to realise
the Lord is merciful, he's kind, he doesn't deal with us as our
sins deserve, but he blesses our soul and the result will
be that you and I will desire to honour and to glorify his
name. The word of God tells us, let
us exalt his name together. We will have cause to praise
him. We will have cause to thank him. So this morning as we ponder
these words, may we truly meditate on them and recognize the relevance
of them in our own spiritual life. Because real religion is
very personal. You and I stand before God. You and I must know personally
The Lord Jesus Christ loved us. You and I must know personally,
he came to die for us. He paid the price for our redemption,
and the price was his sin-atoning blood, as the Apostle Peter says,
redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. I came not to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Blessed be God. Amen.