Today's message is called This
Man. Let's turn to Luke chapter 15.
Luke chapter 15, we'll look at verses one to seven. Luke chapter
15, verses one to seven. The scripture declares, then
drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners to hear him. And
the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, this man, this man, received
his sinners and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto
them, saying, what man of you, having in hundreds sheep, If
he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in
the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he
find it. And when he hath found it, he
layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth
together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with
me, for I have found my sheep, which was lost. I say unto you
that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth
more than over ninety and nine persons which need no repentance.
And now today we'll look at the scripture here. This man receives
sinners. Now here's a little historical
background for the situation. and for the times of this proclamation
by our Lord to these Pharisees. Note that we see in the text
that our Lord is eating with publicans and sinners. And the
Pharisees and the scribes who are criticizing him are the religious
leaders of that day. And we see that they are criticizing
our great King for eating with publicans and sinners. And this
is the religious who's who of the times. The scribes and the
Pharisees are the religious who's who of the times. Now the publicans
were tax collectors. They were tax collectors for
the Jews and they were mainly Jewish men who collected taxes
of the Jews for the Roman government. And they would give that money
to the Roman officials. And they were looked at. They
were looked at and despised by the Jews because they often extorted
people. They often put tolls and added
money cost to these poor people's taxes. And the system abounded
with abuses and the publicans took full advantage of it. They
were wealthy men, usually, or they weren't hurting for money
due to the fact that they would extort from the people. So the
tax collectors were cordially hated and despised by their fellow
countrymen, not only because they were looked at as unpatriotic,
but more so because they worked for the Romans, for the Romans,
for their occupiers, and also because they were extremely dishonest
and they were greedy. So these pious, Self-righteous
Jews in their own minds looked at them and despised these Republicans
and despised sinners, common folks like you and I, because
they looked at themselves as better than everybody else. It
sounds like a lot like religion, doesn't it? Because it is. It
is. Religious people look down at
people all the time. I know I was one of them, to
my shame. To my shame, we should never
ever look down on another saying to God, never, because all we
are is saved sinners. That's all we are. So we should
never vault ourselves over another sinner in things they do, because
we're just as susceptible to sin as anyone else in this world. We ought to be praising God for
the mercy that he's had upon us, because we are above all
people, most blessed, most blessed. So we see here before us that
our Lord, he's eaten with these, not only is he with these despised
publicans. Oh, but he's, he's eaten with
sinners. So the Jews, the self-righteous Jewish leaders in religion, they
alienated themselves from these people. They again, looked at
themselves as better. I can do it better than anybody
else. Really? I'm a better person because I
do these things. Really? No, you're just a sinner
like everybody else except you're garbed in some garments. That's
all. That's all. But you're still a sinner before
God. My, so they thought that their deeds and things that they
did would give them acceptance to God or make them somehow more
holy before God. Well, we know the only way a
sinner is holy before God, we know this, is in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no other way. I don't
care what anybody says. There's no other way except in
and through Christ. Our holiness comes from Him.
We are sanctified in Christ. Praise His mighty name. because
all we are is sinners. Now the Pharisees calling folks
publicans and sinners in the time of Christ was a normal one.
One commentator said this, for the Pharisees and scribes, sinners,
quote, sinners, was used for a class of persons who were marked
by their immoral lives and questionable occupations and people, they
were people that no respectable Jew would have anything to do
with so we see then the scribes and pharisees are a lot like
the checklist christianity people we got today right if you don't
check all their boxes well then oh boy you're not saved you're
just not if you don't check all their supposed boxes well praise
be to god salvation's in god's grace alone period period let
these self-righteous pharisees of today check their boxes i
pray god will show them grace and mercy and i know you do too
if you're a believer You pray God will show them that the pit
of iniquity they're in. My. There's only one I look to
and there's only one you look to as a believer and that's the
Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. And Him alone. And in Him I'm
made holy. In Him all my sins are forgiven
by the shedding of His precious blood. Praise His mighty name.
Turn if you would to John chapter 9. John chapter 9. And keep in mind here, I'm going
to read our text again, just the first couple of verses here.
Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to
hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This
man received his sinners and eateth with them. And he spoke
this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having a hundred
sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and
nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until
he findeth it? And when he found it, he layeth
it on his shoulders rejoicing. And then he comes home, doesn't
he? Then it comes home. Look at this over here in John
chapter 9. The Pharisees and scribes would
consider anyone with certain disabilities or diseases as a
sign that they had committed some great sin. Some great sin. It's horrible. It's the epitome
of self-righteousness. And it's awful. It's disgusting.
Look what they did here. Look what they say. John chapter
9, verses 1 to 7. And as Jesus passed by, he saw
a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciple asked
him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents,
that he was born blind? So these disciples of Christ,
they had been raised in this environment that if someone was
blind or disabled, surely they committed a great sin. And they
still had great clothes on them. They didn't understand totally
the Lord's teaching. But look, the Lord's going to teach him
something. The Lord's going to teach him something here. Jesus
answered, neither hath this man sinned nor his parents, but that
the works of God should be made manifest in him. He was born
in this way, that the works of God, and as God incarnated in
the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ, may be manifested in him. This
situation was determined by God to occur in the council halls
of eternity. Look at this, verse four, I must
work the works of him that sent me. Well, it is day, the night
cometh when no man can work. As long as I am in the world,
I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he sat
on the ground and made clay of the spittle. And he anointed
the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And he said, go wash
in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation, scent.
He went this way, therefore washed and came to see him. That's a
miracle of God. But you see how ingrained it
was, even in the disciples, through the teaching of the Jews, that
surely this man must have committed some great sin to be born blind? No. So the point is that these
people, the tax gatherers, the prostitutes, the maimed and diseased,
basically the social and religious outcasts, were coming to Christ,
and he was receiving them. Oh, praise be to God. And he
was eaten with them. Aren't you thankful it says that
Christ received sinners? Because, you know, even those
self-righteous Pharisees, don't get it wrong, there was words,
they just despised him. You ever heard somebody despise
you and you know it, and the way they talk to you, it comes
out in the way they talk to you? They talk to you in a condescending
way, or they talk not only down to you, like they're above you
and like they wanna teach you something. That's a very condescending
way to speak. No one likes to be talked to
that way. But that's how these religious
Pharisees spoke about the Lord eaten and drinking with sinners
and publicans. Oh my, the Lord Jesus Christ
then we can see is eaten with those who the Pharisees and scribes
considered sinners. And they said it, they said it
despising him while they said it. They were sinners in their
eyes, and they were physically and morally unapproachable and
unacceptable. Why? Because of the warped standards
that the Pharisees had set up. If we tie this passage in with
the one over in Luke chapter five, let's turn there, Luke
chapter five. What wonderful news we have here
for sinners. A sinner is one who has been
shown by God what they are by birth, nature, and choice. When
God has drawn a lost sinner to Christ, we have revealed to us
what we are. We have revealed to us our standing
before our great God. And we have revealed to us that
not only are we sinners by birth, coming into this world dead in
trespasses and sins, but we have revealed to us that we're sinners
by choice as well. And so when the Lord saves a
sinner, a lost sinner, when he saves a lost sinner, all we do
is cry out hallelujah to his name, don't we? Praise God for
His mighty works. Praise Him for His mighty works.
Look at Luke chapter 5 verses 29 to 32. And Levi made him a great feast
in his own house, and there was a great company of publicans
and of others that sat down with them. But the scribes and Pharisees
murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do you eat with publicans
and sinners? Oh, see, not only did they look
down at those publicans and sinners, but with their words we can see
that they're looking down on our king. Oh my goodness. They're
looking down at God incarnate in the flesh. And look what our
Lord replies to them in Luke chapter five, verse 31. And Jesus
answering said to them, they that are whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick. Now look at that statement. And
then he continues in verse 32. I come not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Now here's a question for you.
Do you see yourself as a sinner before God? Do you see yourself
as a sinner before God? Or do you say, well, I'm not
that bad. Well, I'm a pretty good person. Because the born-again,
blood-washed believer, when we're being drawn to Christ, we see
ourselves as a sinner before God. We see that we sinned against
God. And then we still see that all
through our walk, don't we? And that's what keeps us humble.
That's what keeps us humble, keeping our eyes, looking to
the one who saved us by his almighty grace. Look at his answer here,
though, in Luke 5, 31 and 32. And Jesus answering said unto
them, they that are whole need not a position, but they that
are sick. You see these self-righteous Pharisees, these religious Pharisees
thought they were fine before God. They thought by their works
and their deeds that they were accepted by God. But our Lord
tells them here, he's not come here, he's not come, he says
in verse 32, I'm not come to call the righteous. Those who
think they're whole. Those are self-righteous, proud,
arrogant Pharisees. Now, they don't just have to
be Pharisees. We humans are proud, arrogant, self-righteous people
in our natural state. These ones just thought that
there was some more deeds that they could do, religious deeds,
that would bring them closer to God. Well, man has a thousand
different things that they think can bring them closer to God,
but it don't bring them no closer to God at all. Baptism or communion. all these different things, these
religious acts. And then you got just people
who think, well, I'm good. Well, the Bible says there's none good.
There's none that seek after God. There's none that understand
the things of God. And that means none. I don't care if you read
the Bible when you were little, it doesn't matter. Until you
were born again, you did not know Christ. You did not know
him at all. You must be born again. You must
be. To know the true and living God,
you must be born again. That's why we always preach that
repentance and faith are a gift of God. You must be born again.
You're regenerated before you're granted faith and repentance
before God. Most religions, when you ask them what comes first,
faith or regeneration, they say faith. Well, no, you can't have
faith without regeneration. because faith is a gift of God.
It's given to you to trust and rest upon Christ and Christ alone.
But look at this, they that are whole need not a physician. Do
you think you're good? Do you think that God will accept you?
Do you think that God will accept you based upon something you
do or say? Well, the scripture declares here, you're lost. You
don't need the physician. You don't need the great physician
in your mind, but you do desperately need him. Look what it says here.
They that are sick, are you sick with sin? Do you see yourself
as a sinner before God and before man? Because that's what a saved
sinner even believes, that we're sinners before our great God
first. And we're sinners with our fellow man too. But praise
be to God, we're forgiven. And we still come to the Lord
and ask for His forgiveness. We still do, even though we know
we're saved by His almighty grace. So he says, I came not to call
the righteous but sinners to repentance. That's who he's come
to call. Are you a sinner? I hope and pray that God would
show you that you're a sinner. I hope and pray he would. I hope
and pray he would. That he would show you that you're
a sinner in desperate need of him. Oh my, and I hope that I
hope that the beloved of God, we who are the people of God,
can leave this meeting rejoicing in the wonderful fact from scripture
that this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, receives sinners. He
receives sinners. This man receives sinners. Now,
sin is any lack of conformity unto the law of God, either in
act or in word or deed, in word or deed, or even in your mind.
And we're sinners, the scripture says, from the top of our heads
to the bottom of our feet, we're sinners. And sin is anything
missing the mark according to God's law. It's not being or
doing what God requires us to be accepted by him. Now, in our
natural state, we are all sinners, all of us, every single person
in this world. is born a sinner. However, Christ
does not receive all sinners. He does not receive all sinners.
For example, he did not receive the Pharisees and scribes who
here vilified him. No, Christ receives only sinners
who draw near to him and we know, we know from studying the scriptures
that all who draw near to him are drawn by the power of the
Holy Spirit of God. We saw that in our Wednesday
night message. The last two Wednesday night
messages on the book of First Thessalonians. Oh my. You hear
the word of God with power and that power is the power of the
Holy Spirit of God. They don't just hear it with
the with hearing ears know the saying of God hears it in power
and power of the Holy Spirit. And we receive it with much assurance,
don't we? And we have a hope in Christ.
Christ receives sinners who draw near to him by the power of the
Holy Spirit of God. Now let's look at the sinners
he receives. We saw that he receives nationally
offensive sinners with the Republicans because they were hated. They
were hated by the Jews. They were seen as unpatriotic,
weren't they? And they were alienated by their
own countrymen because they were sympathetic to a national enemy,
which was Rome at that time. And the tax collectors and the
publicans are lumped in that group. They were Jews employed
by Romans to collect taxes. And therefore they were considered
by their countrymen as willing tools of the oppressor. And they
were again notorious for making themselves rich through extortion.
And they were considered by their countrymen as traitors and apostates. And they were classed with the
sinners. They were classed with the sinners and with the harlots
and with the heathen Gentiles. Turn if you would to Luke. chapter
18. Zacchaeus, he was a chief tax
collector. Oh my! But he was a sinner, we
see here, saved by the grace of God. Look at this in Luke
chapter 18 verses 9 to 14. I'm so thankful that God receives
sinners. Aren't you? Aren't you? Who are
the people of God? Oh my! That should just put joy
in our hearts, beloved, this man. And again, I want to just
say something quick. When they said this man, that
speaks of our Lord's humanity, beloved. He was really a man.
We know he's the God man. We know he's God incarnate in
the flesh. But when they said this man receives sinners, they're
speaking of his humanity right there. We've already seen his
deity. manifested through various sermons
we've looked at and texts we've looked at. We've seen his divinity
manifested, but here again, we see his humanity manifested as
well. I was thinking about that this
morning when I got up, I was thinking, boy, that just manifests
his humanity right there. This man, he's a man, he's real,
he's real. I look at this in Luke chapter
18, verses nine to 14. And he spoke this prayer bond
to certain which trusted in themselves. that they were righteous and
despised others. Okay, so look what we see in
this verse in verse nine here. We see that these religious Pharisees,
just like all natural man, I don't care what they say they're trusting
in, they're either trusting in them, ultimately, ultimately,
they're trusting in themselves, they're trusting in their works.
in their works. When Vicki was at West, it was,
she heard people saying certain things they had to do. And she
said, no, you don't have to do that. You just have to rest in Christ.
And they just, they wouldn't hear her. They just shut down
what she was saying. And she just kept saying, you
don't have to do those things. You just have to rest in Christ
and him alone. That's the truth. But see these
folks here, like those folks Vicki was talking to, they trusted
in themselves that they were righteous. Look at this. And
he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves. Are you trusting in yourself?
Are you trusting in something you do to give you merit and
favor before God? Because if you are, you're trusting
in a refuge of lies, just like these Pharisees were. They trusted
in themselves. Look at that, that they were
righteous. Well, I'm good. See, I do all these things. I
give, I tithe, I do all these things. I follow this letter,
this law. No, you don't. They are trusting
in themselves. Look at this. And he speaks this
parable about the publican and the sinner here. This is, well,
this is a marvelous portion of scripture. Read this. If you're
a saint of God and you're having doubts and troubles assailing
you, read this. Read this portion of scripture. It'll make your heart sing because
we're the publican. We who are the people of God
are the publican. Look at this. And he spake this
parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were
righteous and despised others. Two men went up to the temple
to pray. Here we're going to see God's distinguishing grace
on display. Two men. Two men. No different
except one's a publican and one's a Pharisee. They're both humans
in the sight of God. They're equal. They're both sinners.
Both lost sinners in the sight of God. But now this Pharisee
in his own mind Oh, he's far, far higher than this guy over
here. He's got power and influence and all of these things. And
this poor old sinner over here, he's just a tax collector and
he's despised. He's a publican. He's despised
by the religious who's who. Look at this. Oh, this'll bless
you. This'll bless you if you're a
saint of God. Two men went up to the temple to pray. The one
a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, God. I thank thee that I'm not as
other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this Republican." Well, he didn't know he was a spiritual adulterer.
No, he didn't know that though, but he was. He didn't know he
extorted people. No, he did. And he didn't know
he was unjust, but he's unjust. He thinks he's just before God. We see that in his statement.
He's trusting in himself. Look what goes on though. He
doesn't just stop there. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes
of all that I possess. Oh, he's got it right down to
the dollar, right down to the cent. My oh my. And here's the
publican. Oh, here's the publican. Here
we are. And the publican standing off would not lift up so much
as his eyes unto heaven. He just had his head bowed. He
couldn't even look up. Couldn't even look up. Because
he knows what he is. He's had revealed to him what
he is. He smote upon his breast saying, God, be merciful to me,
a sinner. God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
Is that your cry? God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
That's the cry of every blood-washed saint of God. And I tell you,
look at how our Lord continues. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone
that exalted themselves shall be abased, and he that humbles
himself shall be exalted. My, oh my. Now this man, the
Lord Jesus Christ, also receives socially immoral sinners, such
were the sinners who drew near to Christ. These include fornicators,
adulterers, idol worshipers, homosexuals, sodomites, thieves,
covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortionists. This is the kind
of people that the Lord Jesus Christ received. How do we know that? Turn, if
you would, to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 6. 1 Corinthians 1,
verse 6. How do we know that? scripture here. Let's look at
the scripture here. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. This
will show us what we are in our natural state. 1 Corinthians
chapter 6 verses 9 to 11. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived. Don't
be deceived. Don't be deceived. Neither fornicators
nor idolaters nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of
God." And then look what Paul writes, and remember, this is
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. He writes this, and such
were some of you. Oh my. We're sinners by birth,
nature, and choice, and such were some of you, but ye are
washed, oh hallelujah, washed in the precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ that makes us whole. Ye are sanctified,
which means you're set apart, you're made holy in Christ, not
anything with us, because we're still sinners. And we know that
fact very well, don't we? We know that. But ye are justified. just as if I never sinned before
God. That's amazing. Truly, that's
amazing. No wonder John Newton, who was
a slave trader and an abuser of men and treated them horribly. And he penned amazing grace,
how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was
lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see. Oh my. And how we justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God. Marvel
at this also that this man, he receives spiritually sick sinners. Oh yes he does. He receives spiritually
sick sinners. Luke chapter 5 verses 29 to 31
brings forth that very clear. And Levi made him a great feast
in his own house. And there was a great company
of publicans and of others that sat down with them. But their
scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples saying,
why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus
answered and said unto them, they that are whole need not
a physician, but they that are sick, there it is again. So every
man by nature, every man and woman and child in this world
by nature, We are spiritually sick with the leprosy of sin. Now I know we're in the midst
of a global pandemic. We're in the midst of a global
pandemic, but do you know that there's been a global pandemic
for 6,000 years? For 6,000 years, and do you know
that that plague has 100% kill rate? Yeah, it's a plague of
sin. It's a plague of sin. And the
scripture declares we're all sinners. And that plague has
a 100% kill rate. Oh my. Now we die, we who are
believers, we die physically here, but we don't endure the
second death. For those who die without Christ,
they endure the second death. We've went to the great physician.
We've been drawn by the power of the Holy Spirit of God to
the one who is the great physician, the one who can cure a sinner
from the plague of sin. And hallelujah, praise his mighty
name, we have been cured. Now we still walk around in this
body of death, but when we die and we leave this body of death,
we are immediately in the presence of our great God and King. And
it's all because of his grace, and it's all because of his mercy.
And never forget that the same God who was on the throne during
the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine in
Egypt, he's the same God on the throne right now. The same God
that led Israel through the Red Sea is the same God who's on
the throne right now. The same one who rose from the
grave, the Lord Jesus Christ, he's on the throne right now,
right now. So our Lord, he receives spiritually
sick sinners. And our sickness, the sickness
of sin, if left untreated, it's always fatal. But it can only
be treated by he who is the great physician, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And men and women, natural men and women are so spiritually
numb as to be insensitive to their sickness while others ignore
it in the vain hope that it'll go away. Oh, I'm gonna reform
myself. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna
make resolutions that I won't do that anymore. Well, have fun,
because we know that doesn't work. No, the believer in Christ
just trusts the Lord. Just trust the Lord and Him alone.
The self-righteous try to cure it with a home remedy called
self-righteousness. And we see the speech of a self-righteous
man in Isaiah 65, five, which say, stand by thyself, come not
near to me, for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my
nose, a fire that burneth all the day. See, these publicans
and sinners, they weren't allowed to come near the Pharisees and
scribes because the Pharisees and scribes saw themselves as
holier than those folks. They were, they were a bunch
of sinners. Well, I look at that verse and I rejoice that this
man, this man, the man, human, and God incarnated in the flesh,
this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, received sinners. Oh, this is
wonderful. The only remedy for spiritually
sick sinners is found in Christ, the great physician. No home
remedy by man will work. None. It'll lead to the damnation
of your soul. There's only one remedy for spiritually
sick sinners, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ in him alone.
None are healed except those sick sinners who draw near to
Christ in him by saving faith, and he receives all who come.
All who the Father draws to Him, He receives them all. He receives
them all. Oh my. You know our Lord too,
this man, He receives totally unrighteous sinners as well.
He receives totally unrighteous sinners. My oh my. How do we
know that? Because no man is righteous in
God's eyes. Scripture declares there's none
righteous, no not one. Many are self-righteous. They
vainly boast of their filthy rags, of their personal righteousness.
They're lawmongers. And religious folks are famous
for this stuff. But Christ didn't come to call
them to repentance. No, no. Here receive none of
them as long as they hold and trust in themselves. As long
as they hold the one little piece of their tattered unrighteousness,
the thread of their self-righteousness, the Lord will not receive them.
Here pass them by. in order to call those sinners
who acknowledge their complete lack of any personal righteousness.
They will only trust in the imputed righteousness of Christ. Paul
wrote of this, he said, but now the righteousness of God without
the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the
prophets. and be found in him. He said, I desire to be found
in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. That's the righteousness that
Paul wanted to be found in, is the righteousness of Christ,
that righteousness that is imputed to sinners by the grace and mercy
of God. Oh my, these unrighteous but
trusting sinners, our great God will receive. He will receive. This man receives grace needing
sinners. Do you need Christ? Do you need
the mercy and grace of God shown to you? Our Lord receives grace
grace needing sinners. Many followed Jesus out of curiosity
or because they desired miraculous healing. Scripture declares a
great multitude followed him because they saw the miracles
which he did on them that were diseased. But they did not like
and what they heard from him regarding the inability of men.
Turn, if you would, to John chapter six. They did not like, many
turned away from him after he spoke these words. They did not
like what they heard regarding the inability of their own free
will and salvation. and the necessity of God's sovereign
grace. But this is what the scripture
proclaims. Whether people like it or not,
this is what the scripture proclaims. And again, it always goes back
to show me in scripture. If you can show me what you're
saying in scripture, then I'll bow to it. But if not, I'm not
gonna bow to that. John chapter six, look at this,
verse 29. Jesus answered and said unto
them, This is the work of God that you believe on him whom
he hath sent. That's the work of God. Look
at that. God gives you faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's a work of God. That's
because regeneration is a work of God. And faith and repentance
are just gifts of God that he gives to us. But regeneration
is a work of God, beloved. Oh, you must be born again. You
might think that we grace preachers are like a broken record with
that, but our Lord said that those are his words. And that's
the truth. And I don't care about religion
who supposedly hijacked that word. No, this is scripture.
You must be born again and that you're only born again by the
power of God, which we see clearly. in John 6, 29. This is the work
of God that you believe on him whom he has sent. Let's continue
in verse 36. But I say unto you that ye have
seen me and believe not. All that the Father giveth to
me shall come to me. Oh, what assurance there. And
to him that cometh to me I will no wise cast out. Oh my, we could
live in that verse right there, couldn't we? We who are the people
of God. All that the Father gave to Christ
in eternity shall come to Him, and all that come to Him, Him
not cast them out ever, ever, never. For I am come down from
heaven. He came down from heaven, to what? To do the Father's will,
didn't He? Not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that
sent me. No man can come to me except the Father which has sent
me draw him, and I will raise him up to the last day. It is
written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God.
Every man, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of the
Father cometh unto me. It is the spirit that quickeneth.
The flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life. And he said, therefore
said I unto you, that no man can come unto me except it were
given him of the father. Look at that. Unless the sovereign
grace and mercy of God draws you to Christ, you'll never come
to him. And if you did come to him, and if you're coming to
him by the sovereign mercy and grace of God, my oh my, From
that time, many of his disciples, look what happened. When he started
speaking of the sovereign grace of God, look at this. From that
time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with
him. Oh, they couldn't take that. They couldn't take sovereign
grace preaching, could they? No, they couldn't. But that's
the truth. Then said Jesus unto the 12,
will ye also go away? And I love Simon Peter's response
here. Isn't this wonderful? This is the response. of every
born-again blood-washed believer, isn't it? Then Simon Peter answered
him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. Oh my. Peter represents there
with that statement, grace-needing sinners. Oh, grace-needing sinners. Those who draw near to Christ
because they're drawn by God's sovereign grace. Again, our text
proclaims this man receives sinners. Now the Greek word for receive
is defined as to give access to oneself. Beloved, we have
access to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. We have access
to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one mediator
between God and man. He's the only mediator between
God and man. You don't need to go to no supposed priest or any
other man and confess your sins to them. You don't need to do
that. No, you go right to Christ and you confess your sins to
him. All these man-made mediators, Mary, she's just an idol. Muhammad
and Buddha and all, they're just all idols. They're just all idols. There's no mediator between God
and man except the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one mediator
between God and man. No other one. No other man, no
other one. So it means to give access to,
to welcome, just like Martha welcomed Jesus. Now it came to
pass in Luke 10, 38, now it came to pass as they went that he
entered into a certain village and a woman named Martha received
him into her house. Received him, brought him into
her house, gave him access, gave him access to her home. So our
Lord shows no sense of social superiority to these outcasts
as the Pharisees and scribes did. There's a caste system in
India and there's some that are called the untouchables. Well,
that's very similar. The publicans and sinners were
like the untouchables to the Jews and to the religious who's
who of the Jewish nation. The same Greek is used to describe
our attitude with which saints of old look for redemption. They
were waiting for the kingdom of God. They were looking, waiting
to receive him. Anticipation. And the same attitude
with which present day saints are looking for the blessed hope.
That's the same verbiage. and the glorious appearing of
our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the same way
that we're looking for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ unto
eternal life. Oh my. So the meaning in our
present text is that the Lord Jesus Christ not only receives
sinners, but looks forward to them coming to him and welcomes
them when they come because he knows they're all coming. by
the almighty power of God, the Holy Spirit. They're those he
redeemed with his precious, precious blood on Calvary's cross when
he died in the room and placed the sinners. Oh my. And we know,
we know that the father receiving the prodigal son is a picture
of how Christ receives we who are sinners saved by grace with
open arms. Bring forth the best robe, which
again pictures the righteousness of Christ, and put it on him.
Oh my, the Father puts that on us. Let's look at Luke 15 again.
We'll read verses 20 to 24. And he arose and came to his
father, speaking of the prodigal son. But when he was yet a great
way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell
on his neck and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father,
I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight. Is that not
what we say to God? Remember the publican, God be
merciful to me, a sinner, the sinner, a sinner. And I'm no
more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his
servants, bring forth the best robe. Underline that best robe
there. That pictures the righteousness of Christ right there. The best
robe. And put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes
on his feet and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it and
let us eat and be merry. For this, my son was dead and
is alive again. He was lost and is found. and
they began to be merry. And, O sinner, doubt not the
gracious reception you will receive if you draw near to Christ in
repentance, because he himself declares, in Luke 15, verse 7,
I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one
sinner that repenteth, more than 99 just persons which need no
repentance. And then also in Luke chapter 15, verse 10, likewise
I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels
of God. over one sinner that repenteth. This man, this man
receives sinners. He receives sinners. He receives
those who are despised by the religious who's who. He receives
them. He receives them. The other Jesus
of pharisaical Christianity or churchianity, not Christianity,
churchianity. Oh, that Jesus does not receive
sinners, but the self-righteous. And in order to be received by
that man, the false Christ, one must qualify himself by some
work of pharisaical self-righteousness that these religious Pharisees
of our day, just like the day of old, have their little checklist.
And if you don't follow that, oh, no, you missed one. You're lost. Oh. and they have
all different qualifications for their work of righteousness. It differs from church to church.
Oh, we may hear of various sects saying, our Jesus receives the
law observing sinner, sinner who observes the law. Well, we
know that not one of us can observe the law. We love the holy law
of God and we are God's people, but we know that we have no ability
to keep the law of God, not one of them. But praise be to God,
Christ, who is our substitute, the true Christ, has fulfilled
that law in our place. Then the religious folks of the
day say, our Jesus receives the Sabbath keeping. He receives
those who worship on Saturday. And you got to be there. They
got the checklist out. But we who are the people of
God, We know that Christ is our Sabbath and we know that we're
received because of his work. And he's our rest. That's what
Sabbath means. He's our rest. Christ is our rest. And then
the religious Pharisees of our day say, our Jesus receives the
baptized. If you're not baptized, you're
not saved. They say, well, that's the church
of Christ. Just like the law observing church would be the
seventh day of banished. Oh, our Jesus only receives the
baptized. Baptism won't take away your
sins. Only Christ does that, in Christ alone. Baptism is an
outward confession of an inward conversion. And we follow that
ordinance. It's one of the ordinances that
the Lord gave us, that and the Lord's Supper. And of course
we follow it and we take it extremely serious, but there's no saving
power in it, none at all. Pharisees of modern day say,
well, our Jesus, he receives you if you've been baptized by
the Holy Spirit of God and speak in tongues. Well, I got news
for you. That's a different Jesus and that's a different spirit
that they're talking about. Because salvation is in Christ
and Christ alone. God receives sinners on the basis
of what Christ alone did and what he accomplished, period.
When he died on Calvary's cross, he redeemed his people from their
sins. It has absolutely nothing to
do with us except we're receivers of the grace and mercy of God.
He died in our place as our substitute. And then Churchianity also says,
our Jesus receives none but those good folk who join our religion.
Well, this is the kicker one, because they say that God only
receives the good folk who join their religious sect. Well, that's
salvation in the church, not in Christ. And that salvation
will damn your eternal soul. That's what that'll do. Trust
in Christ and Christ alone. The church is a building where
we meet and thank God we have one. And I'm looking forward
to meeting with the saints again when we get through all this
stuff that's going on. I can't wait to see the people
of God again. It'll be just such a joy. But
our Lord, our God, receives sinners again based upon Christ and Christ
alone. The Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth
receives none but sinners who, without any other qualification
drawn near to him. They need Christ. Desperately. Desperately. Let's finish with
this scripture in Isaiah chapter 55. I think this makes it pretty
clear that our Lord Jesus Christ receives sinners based upon absolutely
nothing in us. Isaiah 55, verses one to three. Ho, everyone that thirsts this. Are you thirsty for the things
of Christ? God's people are thirsty for the things of Christ. We
love to hear the gospel. We love it. We love to be in
the presence of God's people, worshiping and adoring our great
God. We have a hunger and a thirst
for that. Are you thirsty? Are you thirsty for the things
of the Lord Jesus Christ? If not, my prayer is that God
would make you thirsty. Oh, that he'd make you thirsty,
because he's the only physician for the pandemic of sin. He's
the only cure for the pandemic of sin. And again, the pandemic
of sin has 100% kill rate. The soul that sins, it shall
die. But for those who trust in Christ, we will not partake
in the second death. We'll die in this flesh and go
to be with the Lord, but we won't die in the second death being
cast into hell. Oh, I pray God make you thirsty
for the things of Christ. Oh, everyone that thirsts, come
ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come
just as you are. Come with no money at all. Come
with no trust in yourself. Come ye buy and eat. Yea, come
buy wine and milk without money and without price. Doesn't cost
you nothing. My, oh my, salvation's free. It's free. Wherefore do
you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor
for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. incline your ear, come unto me,
come unto Christ, he's the only one here, and your soul shall
live, live, live, and I will make an everlasting covenant
with you, even the sure mercies of David. Oh my, praise be to
God that this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate in the
flesh, that he receives sinners. I'm so thankful that's in the
scriptures. And I know if you're a child of God, you're thankful
that it's there too. And you're thankful that God,
the Father, by his gracious, sovereign will, included you
in salvation's plans. Now, we do not know who the lost
sheep are. So therefore we say, oh, everyone
on earth has come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come
ye buy and eat. Yea, come and buy wine and milk
without money and without price. Come to Christ just as you are,
bankrupt sinner in desperate need of him. I pray that God
would make it so. Amen.