You may be seated. Go with me, if you would, back
to Luke 15. Luke 15, let's read the first
two verses again. Then drew near unto him all the
publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and
scribes murmured saying, This man receiveth sinners and eateth
with them. That's one of my favorite portions
of scripture. The common people heard him gladly. The sinners came running to him. All the publicans and sinners.
And the Pharisees just were so upset about it. They murmured
saying, this man, receiveth sinners." This man receiveth sinners. We've told the story many times,
we know it well, of when a man named William Jay walked into
the office of John Newton. And he said, Brother Newton,
did you hear that the Lord saved this man that they knew, this
man from town, a man from the gutter, just the last man you
would expect. He said, Brother Newton, did
you hear the Lord saved that man? John Newton said, no, I
had not heard that. That is wonderful. That is wonderful
news to hear. William Jay said, Brother Newton,
I'll never despair of anybody since God saved him. And John Newton said, Brother
Jay, I'll never despair of anybody since God saved me. I'll never despair of anybody
since God saved me. I'd like for us to consider that
this morning and just enjoy the truth of that for just a moment. The title of this message is,
I'll Never Despair of Anybody. I'll Never Despair of Anybody.
And the reason is because the end of verse two says, this man
receiveth sinners. And he even eats with them. This man receives centers. This man receives centers. The apostle Paul said in first
Timothy one, verse 15, this is a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save centers of whom I am chief. What he was saying was, what
the Apostle Paul was saying right there was, I'll never despair
of anybody since God saved me. I'm the chief of sinners. If
he really believed he was the chief of sinners, how could he
despair of anybody? I'm the chief of sinners. And if he'll show mercy to me,
he'll show mercy to anybody. Now he will show mercy to whomever
he is pleased to show mercy to. That's who he will show mercy
to. Whoever he's pleased to show mercy to. He is going to save
whoever he has chosen to save. A particular people that God,
the father chose and gave to Christ. But every person that he chose
to save and chose to have mercy on will be evidenced in this
way. They will need mercy from Christ. He's going to show mercy to whoever
he's pleased to show mercy to. He's going to save whoever he
has chosen to save. And whoever that is, this is
how you'll know it. This is the evidence. They're
going to need mercy from him. They're going to need salvation. They will start begging for salvation. That's how you'll know that's
the evidence. This is the honest truth where
there is no need for mercy. There is no showing of mercy. You know, the scripture says,
examine yourselves. I need to examine myself. Do
I need mercy or not? Where there is no begging for
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. There has been no covering of
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. All who are under the blood cry
out for the blood. Those who have mercy need it. They desperately need it. That's
the evidence of God's sovereign work on who he's pleased to do
this for. The glorious thing to think on
is who he evidences his work in. Verse two says, this man
receives centers. That is such good news to me.
That's honestly such good news to me. He truly does receive
centers. Not those who used to be centers
or not those who, you know, are kind of centers or this man receives
centers. He proved it in the pages of
this word. He proved it to us. I want to
just think about some of the stories of His people. Let's
peruse a few stories here. Turn with me over to Luke 7.
Luke 7, verse 36, it says, And one of the Pharisees desired
the Lord Jesus Christ that he would eat with him. And the Lord
went into the Pharisee's house and sat down to meet. And behold, a woman in the city,
which was a sinner. When she knew that Jesus sat
at meet in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment
and stood at his feet behind him weeping and began to wash
his feet with tears and did wipe them with the hairs of her head
and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Why did
she do that? Here's the reason why, verse
39. Now, when the Pharisee which
had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself saying, this man,
if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of
woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. That's why she was weeping. That's
why she was washing his feet with tears and wiping them with
the hairs of her head. Can't you see that woman? She was kissing his feet and
anointing them with this precious ointment. She knew what she was. She knew what she was. She was a sinner. It was her
manner. The Pharisee said, if this was
a prophet, he would have known what manner of woman this was.
She was a sinner. I'm sure she was probably of
the same manner as Rahab the harlot. Every time the scripture
speaks of, of Rahab, that poor woman, Rahab, it always says
Rahab the harlot every time. That's what Rahab was and Rahab
knew that's what Rahab was. And this woman did too. Verse
37, this woman, behold a woman in the city, which was a sinner
when she knew that Jesus sat at meet in the Pharisee's house,
brought an alabaster box of ointment and stood at his feet behind
him, weeping and began to wash his feet with tears and did wipe
them with the hairs of her head and kissed his feet and anointed
them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee, which
had bidden him, saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This
man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner
of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering, said unto
him, Simon, I have some what to say unto thee, and he saith,
Master, say on. The Lord said, There was a certain
creditor, which had two debtors, The one owed 500 pence and the
other 50. And when they had nothing to
pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which
of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose
that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, thou hast
rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and
said unto Simon, seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house,
Thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed my
feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou
gavest me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, hath
not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not
anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment." What
he's saying is this woman has a need that you don't have. It's what he's saying to this
Pharisee. Verse 47, wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which
are many. He didn't try to hide it. Neither did she. She couldn't,
she knew, he knew, everybody knew. All she could do was beg for
mercy. That's what she's doing right here. Verse 47, wherefore
I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much, but to whom
little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto
her, thy sins are forgiven. You know, that's the message
of the gospel. That word are means are. Thy sins are forgiven, covered
in the blood. What can wash away my sins? Nothing
but the blood. Verse 49, and they that sat at
me with him began to say within themselves, who is this that
forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, thy
faith has saved thee, go in peace. You know what she went around
telling everybody from that day forward? I'll never despair of
anybody since God saved me. Never. Look with me at Luke 18. Luke chapter 18. Luke 18 verse 9, our Lord spake
this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they
were righteous and despised others. That means they were proud of
their works before God. And this is what he said, verse
10, he said, two men went up into the temple to pray. The
one, a Pharisee, and the other, a publican. A Pharisee was a
religious leader of the Jews. He was a Jewish religious leader.
He was a goody two-shoes, better than you, self-righteous, religious
man. That's what a Pharisee was. And a publican was a Jew who
was a tax collector from other Jews For the Romans, publicans took money from the
Jews, their own people and gave it to the Romans. They were viewed
as traitors. They were hated by all the other
Jews because they were all brutal criminals. That's what a publican
was. You might as well just say a brutal criminal. They extorted their own brethren. That's what they did. They extorted
them. There's some accounts that, um, speaking of publicans, it
says that if the Romans said a particular Jew had to pay a
hundred dollars, whatever their currency was, if a Jew had to
pay a hundred dollars, the publicans would go to the Jew and say,
you owe $150. And then they would skim 50 off
the top and bring the Romans their $100. And the accounts
say that they took everything that they wanted with brutal
force. You are going to pay or else. It was very much the mafia. Very
much when you hear about publicans, it was the mafia. You've seen
movies of how the mafia brutally conducts business. Brutally,
just violently, very violently. That was the publicans. It's
not that they just sat at their little desk and pencil pushed.
They were criminals. It was nothing but injustice.
It was violence. It was wickedness. It was just
horrible, horrible viciousness. Those were the publicans. Verse 11 says, the Pharisee stood
and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I am not
as other men are, extortioners, unjust adulterers, just like
this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing a far
off, and you think about this publican now, he's just dwelling
on everything that he was, knowing what he was, knowing what his
life consisted of. dwelling on everything he'd done
and all of his guilt, all of his shame, all of his regret,
utter, utter regret. Verse 13 says, and the publican
standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote upon his breast saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner. This was a man who needed mercy. That's all he had, a need for
mercy. This was a man who was begging
God to cover him in the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb. All that he
could do was smite himself, smite himself, crying, God, be merciful
to me. I'm the greatest sinner I know.
Verse 14, the Lord said, I tell you, this man went down to his
house justified rather than the other, for everyone that exalteth
himself shall be abased. And he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted. I can only imagine what that
publican went around telling everybody after that. I'll never despair of anybody
since God saved me. Never. God saved me. Look with me at Luke 23. Luke
23, verse one. And the whole multitude of them
arose and led our Lord to Pilate. And they began to accuse him
saying, we found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding
to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a king. Verse 18. And they cried out
all at once saying, away with this man and release unto us
Barabbas. who for a certain sedition made
in the city and for murder was cast into prison. Pilate therefore
willing to release Jesus spake again to them, but they cried
saying, crucify him, crucify him. And he said unto them the
third time, why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause
of death in him. I will therefore chastise him
and let him go. And they were instant with loud
voices requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices
of them and of the chief priest prevailed, and Pilate gave sentence
that it should be as they required. And he released unto them him
that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they
had desired, but he delivered Jesus to their will." Delivered
him over to their will, what they wanted. Verse 33, and when
they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they
crucified him and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the
other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do. Did the Father? Did the Father forgive the very
ones that crucified His Son because the Lord interceded for them? Go over to Acts chapter 2. Acts 2, verse 22, it says, you
men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know,
him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
behold another." He said, you are the ones who crucified him.
Verse 36. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus
whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, when they
heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto
Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what
shall we do? Verse 41, then they that gladly
received his word were baptized and the same day there were added
unto them about 3000 souls. Is that not the most precious
thing you've ever heard? 3000 of the very souls that led
him to pilot. Our Lord was so in control of
everything regarding His death, His own people were the ones
that led Him to Pilate. A few days later, Peter and John
were preaching to another group of people who were in that very
mob that was crying, crucify Him, crucify Him. Chapter three,
right here, Acts chapter three, verse 13, it says, the God of
Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob The God of our fathers hath glorified
his son Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied him in the presence
of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. But you denied
the Holy One and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted
unto you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised
from the dead, whereof we are witnesses." And then Peter and
John were thrown into prison for preaching the gospel to them.
But chapter four, verse four says, how be it many of them
which heard the word believed and the number of the men was
about 5,000, 5,000 more, 8,000 souls who knew, actually knew
I was physically the one who crucified the Lord of glory. I was the one who spit in his
face. and mocked him and said, give me Barabbas, I don't want
him. But he prayed for me and in him
I received mercy. I am telling you from experience,
all 8,000 of those souls went around telling everybody, I'll
never despair of anybody since God saved me, never. The Word of God says, this man
receiveth sinners. It says, this man is able to
save to the uttermost. It says, whosoever has been made
willing to come, let him come. It says, if any man has been
given a hunger for righteousness and a thirst for mercy, then
that's the evidence that that man or woman has received righteousness
and mercy. So if you need it, if you truly
do need it, if you need him, then this is his word to you.
He says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden
over your sin, and I'll give you rest. He said, I receive
centers. What an announcement. I receive centers. He said, every center who comes
to me, I will in no wise cast out every center who comes to
me. If we come, how will that be
possible? Father's gonna have to draw us,
because no man can come except the Father draw. No man will
come except the Father makes that man or woman willing. But
if He's done that, every sinner who comes to the Lord, He said,
I'll in no wise cast that sinner out. If we're coming, He is drawing
us. If we come, He has drawn. Our
sin will never keep us away from Christ. Never. He came to receive his centers. Higher self-righteousness will
most definitely keep us away from Christ. Self-righteousness is an evidence
too. And if that's what we're going to hold on to, that's the
evidence that he has not chosen us, not given us his mercy, not
given us his forgiveness, not given us his blood. But if you don't have any self-righteousness,
if all you have is sin, then you come to Him and He will receive
you to Himself. Doesn't matter who you are, it
doesn't matter what you've done. Tell that to yourself, tell that
to everybody you can. There is absolute, total forgiveness
with Him. How do I know that? How could I absolutely confidently
say that? I know that because that's how
He was with me. You know, that's what the Lord
said. He said, I want you to go preach how great things the Lord
has done for you. And I mean this, if He was able
to do that for me, He's able to do it for anybody. Only God's elect are gonna be
saved. Only God's elect, but we don't know who they are. So
we tell this glorious news to everybody. And if God opens the
ears of one of his own, that sinner will rejoice over the
good news. This man receives sinners, true,
true sinners. And he even eats with them. He
fellowships with them. He dwells with them. He lives
with them. I want to preach that to everybody
I can. I'll never despair of anybody since God saved me. Never. May the Lord save us all. All right, let's all stand together.