The lesson this morning found
in Luke chapter 5, verses 27 through 32. Luke chapter 5, verses
27 through 32. Let's read through these verses. And after these
things, he went forth and saw a publican
named Levi sitting at the receipt of custom. And he said unto him,
follow me. And he left all, rose up, and
followed him. 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 him, murmured against
his disciples saying, why do you eat and drink with publicans
and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto
them, they that behold need not a physician, but they that are
sick. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. The title of the lesson this
morning, although I'm tempted to change it, is the great physician. That's what this text is about. That's who he's proclaiming to
be, the physician. Didn't say a physician, said
the physician. There's five things here in the
conversion of Levi. Levi is Matthew, if you're not,
if you were never told that, but Levi and Matthew are the
same person. And there's five things here
in the conversion of Levi that I want us to see. And the first
of these is the beginning. Everything has a beginning. In
the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. There's
a beginning for everything. There's a beginning for creation.
There's a beginning of salvation. There's a beginning of calling.
There's a beginning to everything. And he tells us here the beginning. What is the beginning? Well,
verse 27, he tells us he went forth. You need to think about them
words a little bit. He went forth. Turn with me to the book of Micah.
Micah's one of the minor prophets In fact, it's right in the middle
of the Minor Prophets. If you go to Daniel, you can
count seven forward and you'll find Micah, or you can go to
Malachi and count seven backwards, whichever way you wanna do it.
It's the seventh, right in the middle of the Minor Prophets. In Micah chapter five, he speaks
of a great siege which surely was to come upon Israel. They who were once great in the
eyes of the world are gonna be brought low. Micah chapter five,
verse two. But thou, Bethlehem, Ephrathah,
though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of
thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel. Now watch this. Whose goings
forth have been of old and from everlasting. He's always been
going forth, hasn't he? He went forth. There's a significance
to what he's telling us. The Holy Spirit doesn't fill
in space just to fill it in. There's things here that we often
read over that in time, if a person studies the scriptures, in time
you become enlightened to. And the things that you already
know to some degree begin to get some depth to them. And when
he says he went forth, yes, he's talking about after the things
that took place there in the immediate time, and then he went
forth and saw Levi. But he went forth from all eternity. This is he whose goings forth
have been from of old. There's just not another man
doing another thing in a period of time. This is him whose goings
forth have been of old. His goings forth is that great
light that shined out of darkness to illuminate the creation of
the world to all men. He said, let there be light.
He wasn't talking about the sun and the moon and the stars. He
does that on down on another day, fourth or fifth day. But
he's talking about the light. He's gonna shed some light on
all creation. He's gonna tell you what creation
is. He's gonna tell you what it's for. He's the light. God said, let there be light.
If God does something, he illuminates this thing for us that we might
understand because that's what all this is about. He's gonna
declare His glory. And to do that, He gives us light. And His going forth of old was
that great light that shined out of darkness to illuminate
the creation of all things. The scripture said He was before
all things. And therefore, He is the firstborn
of every creature. There was Him, and then there
was creation. He not only created all things,
but they were created by Him and for Him. There's a purpose
behind creation. His goings forth of old resulted
in the reconciliation of our first parents. He went forth into the garden
in the cool of the day. They didn't come to Him. They
weren't sitting over in the garden saying, I don't know how we're
going to do it, but we're going to have to begin to seek God. No, they were out there weaving
fig leaf aprons trying to cover up the nakedness that they never
knew they had. He sought them, Russell. He went
to them in the cool of the day. And what resulted from his going
is a reconciliation. In the garden, he went forth
to Adam and Eve in the cool of the day, and he set before them
the way of salvation by substitution. He slayed a lamb. He offered
that lamb upon an altar, and he took the skin of that lamb
and covered them. And that type held preeminence
throughout the entire Old Testament until John the Baptist saw Jesus
coming down that path and he said, behold, the Lamb of God.
That Lamb was fulfilled in him. His goings forth resulted in
the writing of the Old Testament scriptures, which he plainly
tells us give witness of him. To him give all the prophets
witness. His goings forth of old resulted in a divine birth. A child was born, a son was given. Great, he said, is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. His name shall be called Immanuel,
God with us. His goings forth resulted in
the accomplished redemption of his people. He came into this
world as he was promised when the fullness of the time was
come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive
the adoption of children. His goings forth demanded the resurrection, the resurrection of Christ. He
went forth even unto death. Even, the scripture said, the
death of the cross. And they laid him in that tomb.
But the tomb couldn't hold him. Death couldn't hold him. His
going forth resulted in a resurrection. His going forth resulted in ascension. He ascended. He stepped onto
a cloud. And there his holy angels tended
to him, and he ascended up into glory where he was crowned. He
sat down at the right hand of the Father, victorious over sin,
hell, death, and the grave. And there he sits, expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool. And he's yet going forth in the
preaching of the gospel, and by his spirit calling sinners
to repentance. He went forth. That's the beginning
of everything, isn't it? He went forth. I go forth all
I want to, nothing's gonna happen unless he goes forth with me.
But if he goes forth, something's gonna happen. Something's gonna
happen. And here, by divine inspiration,
Luke tells us the beginning of this conversion, he went forth. He went forth. Then secondly,
he tells us about a divine seeing. Now there's a sense in which
God sees everything. He doesn't miss anything. He
said, I know what you say. You like to go around your closet
and say, he don't see us. He don't see what we're doing.
We're doing this in secret. Well, your mama might not see
you, your daddy might not see you, your neighbors might not
see you, but God sees you. He sees everything. He don't
miss anything. He don't miss anything. Listen to this. Well, I'm not
gonna read the whole thing, but I'll give you this as a reference
back in Proverbs 8, 22 through 30. God sees things before they
ever come to pass. Huh? Did he not see the fall
of Adam? If he didn't, then why did he
crucify his son before the foundation of the world? He sees what he purposes, and
because he purposes something, it will come to pass. Back in Proverbs 8, 22 through
30, he speaks of the Lord and his people before ever the first
person was created. And he says he's rejoicing in
the habitable part of the earth. The earth hadn't been created
yet. This was before the mountains, before the seas, before any of
these things. But he's talking about rejoicing
in the habitable part of the earth, and my delights, he said,
were with the sons of men. What sons of men? They weren't
even created yet. No, but he could see them. He
could see them. He could see them redeemed. He
could see him washed. He could see him saved. And that's
how he speaks. But this was a different kind
of seeing. He saw Levi seated at this receipt
of customs. He sees him a chosen sinner.
He's a sinner just like everybody else. There was all kinds of
tax collectors there. And he saw them. But he saw Levi
in particular. And he saw him as a chosen sinner.
Well, what did he see? Well, he tells us what he see.
He saw a publican. That's what he saw. He saw him
just like he is. Oh, I get so sick of religion,
and they're trying to get men all straightened out so God can
see a little effort that they're putting forth, and now you're
gonna gain a little affection with God, and he'll give you
a little, and you give him a little, and it goes back and forth and
back. That just makes me sick. He walked up on old Levi. He's sitting there, he's a tax
collector. A snob and a cheat. He saw this sinner, fallen son
of Adam, a man whose nature left him a child of wrath, even as
others. He saw a vile, despicable man,
greedy, wicked in his thoughts, wicked in his motives. The Lord
saw him as no other man saw him, not even Levi himself could see
himself the way the Lord saw him. He looked on his heart. Man looks
on the outward countenance, don't he? Sure we do. We look on the
outward countenance and we make our judgments. God looks on the
heart. They didn't even consider David
did they? Here comes the prophet, he's gonna anoint the king. And
he comes down there to the house. And Jesse gets all of his big
sons, all the ones he's, he wasn't all that proud of David. I mean,
he was his son, and he loved him as a son, but this ain't
no future king of Israel. He's just a ruddy boy, and he's
out there tending the sheep, and there ain't no need to even
call him. But he's the one. He's the one. God looks on the
heart. He looked on his heart and he
saw all his vile intent and selfish motives and greed, and he saw
his rebellion toward God, his unwillingness to submit. He saw
him like he truly was, and you've never seen yourself, myself included,
until you see yourself through his eyes. When you see yourself through
his eyes, then you see yourself as you truly are. What did he see? He saw old Matthew
whose name signified the gift of God. What? This old tax collector? Yeah, he's the gift of God. And surely he was such a one
given to Christ in an everlasting covenant of grace, given to him
by divine election, given to him by eternal predestination,
given to him. He's the gift of God. And he saw him whom he came to
call. He came to call him. And then
thirdly, I want you to see his effectual calling. The Holy Ghost,
who moved the pen of Luke to sum up his calling, this calling
of God, we like to talk about the effects of calling of God,
don't we? We like to talk about that. Boy,
when he calls, he calls, you know? And I've likened that to
the difference between my mom calling me downstairs in the
morning and my dad. You never knew what her threshold
was, so you could put it off maybe two or three times. But
when she got tired of calling, she'd go get dad. You just got
one call from him. Next thing, he gonna have you
by the foot dragging you down steps. But that's not God's effectual
call. Here's God's effectual call.
He sums this, this is the Holy Spirit doing this. I know he
used the personalities of men and they're right there in the
writing, but they're God-breathed. And I want you to listen to the
effectual call of God. Follow me. Huh? You mean there wasn't any process,
there wasn't no big amount of time, there wasn't no preparatory
work? No, there wasn't. Follow me. Follow me. Wow, who can do that? God. God, that's who can do that.
And I can sit here all day and beg and plead and reason and
preach and do everything in my power to try to get somebody's
attention, trying to win their heart over, trying to show them,
follow me, follow me. I've read my lifetime volumes
of books talking about the preparatory work in men, getting them ready
for his divine calling. I can't find any of that in the
Word of God. That's the problem with it. It's
in the minds and hearts of men, but it ain't in the Word of God.
And this man was a fallen sinner just like all the rest of us.
There's none that understandeth, now hear this, there's none that
seeketh after God. He wasn't there contemplating
on seeking God. He was sitting there, a tax collector,
breathing out his wicked thoughts and minds to everybody that passed
by. No different than the rest of
the human race. And he come up to him and he
didn't start reasoning with him. He just looked at him and he
said, follow me. Follow me. Levi was a sinner. You know what
a sinner is? Sin is his master. That's a sinner. Sin is his master. Sin dictated all that he did. Paul said, no you not, that to
whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants are to
whom you obey. Did you not know that? Well, there's exceptions. Oh,
no, there are not. Mm-mm. There are no exceptions. His servants ye are to whom ye
obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. Luke tells us a little later
in his gospel that the sinner has within him a strong man. He writes the words of our Lord.
Every sinner has within him a strong man. He walks according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now worketh in
the children of disobedience. There's a strong man to arm and
he keeps his palace just like it is. Just like it was when
he was born. He keeps it just that way. He
maintains all his goods. What are Satan's goods? This
strong man that abides in the sinner. His goods is his heart,
his mind, his will, his reasoning. That's his goods, and he keeps
them intact. How does he keep them intact?
He's armed. Isn't that what Scripture said? He's a strong man armed. What's he armed with? Lies, deceit,
worldly religion, worldly principles. He's armed. And in order for
a change, one stronger than he must come upon him and overcome him. and take from him all his armor,
all his deceit, all his lies, all his worldly reasoning. He's
gonna take it from him. And then you know what he's gonna
do? All them goods, he's gonna spoil them. He's gonna take them
and use them himself. Stronger than he. That's what
salvation is. I don't know what in the world
they're talking about salvation out here, going down an aisle,
making a profession of faith or whatever it is, that's alien
to the scriptures. You ain't gonna find that in
this book. This book talks about a king, a lord. And when he comes in, he's stronger
than the one that's in you and he overcomes him and takes everything
he has away from him. Sends him away with his tail
tucked between his legs. One stronger than he. The calling
of God tears down the refuge of lies. It brings into subjection
every thought to Christ. That's what the scripture says. And his voice is the voice of
God. The winds and the waves obey
his voice. I could have sat there and told
Levi all day, follow me, follow me, follow me. You reckon he'd have got up?
No. He just went like that. That's what people do, isn't
it? Boy, they don't when his voice rings in. The winds and the waves obey
his voice. The devils are subject unto him.
We know thee who thou art. You're the holy one of Israel. Don't cast us out, let us go
into them, that herd of swine. Ask His permission to do things.
Even the dead hear the voice of the Son of God. Lazarus, come
forth. You reckon he heard it? I don't
know, he come forth. He come forth. And he may tolerate
the resistance of rebels, but even their resistance is but
the Lord's commanding them to be given over to strong delusion. You say, why does the Lord tolerate
that? He's not tolerating that. His judgment's on that man. The
wrath of God abideth on him. You think he walks away in some
kind of vacuum? You think that man walks away
unjudged? He don't walk away unjudged.
You come in here and hear the gospel and walk out the door
and go, I'll deal with that some other time. You reckon you're
in a vacuum? Uh-uh. He doesn't tolerate that. He
doesn't tolerate. And if you want to use that word
tolerate, he allows them to continue on, but he's giving them over
to strong delusion to believe a lie and be damned. And justly
so. Our Lord said to Levi, follow
me. Luke 5, 28, watch this. He left all. I'm gonna tell you something. That's a lot, isn't it? He left
all. He left all. His following him,
this was the most controversial person of any history, any way,
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jews despised him. The Romans didn't care for him. Follow me? Yep, and he left all. How do I know if God has affectionately
called me? You'll leave all. You may not leave it all at once,
but you're going to leave it. You're going to leave it. He
left all. Now watch this. And he rose up.
He got up out of the tax collector's chair. Boy, that was a chair
that people wanted because it was certain you were going to
be rich if you could sit in that chair. That's like being connected,
Russell. He rose up. And he followed him. I can't explain it except to
say that whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom
he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he
also glorified. It came to pass. And then fourthly,
I want you to see this before I run out of time. Levi made
him a great feast, a great feast. It doesn't say he made a feast
for him. Read it for yourself. It doesn't say he made a feast
for him, though he likely did, but it said Levi made him a great
feast. Christ was the meat and taters,
wasn't he, at that feast. He was the focal point of their
rejoicing. He was the focal point of that
celebration. He was the guest of honor. And the scribes and all the Pharisees
that came to the dinner had no appetite for the main course.
They didn't like him. But the house was full of folks
that did. And there was in that house a
great company of publicans and of others, all which the Pharisees
called sinners with disgust. Looked down at them disciples
and said, why are you eating at these publicans and sinners? Huh? How many times you been
looked at? Why you go over there at that
cult? Why you go over at that church? They don't believe nothing.
Huh? With disgust. Disgust. But they said it, and everybody
else was rejoicing in Christ and feasting on him. They no
doubt had meat and wine at this celebration, but that wasn't
what the celebration was over. On occasion, I go to Walter's
for dinner, and we always had something good. Always had something
wonderful to eat. But that ain't what the celebration
is. We sit around there and talk about Christ. We talk about those
things that we rejoice in. Fellowship is fellers in the
same ship. They have things in common. They're
both heirs. Boy, I tell you, if you was the
heir of a billion dollars and you knew it, you reckon you'd
show up for the reading of the will? Oh, I think you would. I think you would. He might call
my name. He might call my name. All the while this was going
on, they were sitting there talking about the Lord and talk about
His effectual calling and talk about who He is and what He's
done and His majesty and His grace and His glory. And the
old Pharisees would stand over there with their finger in their
mouth about to heave. They couldn't even stand to hear
it. You try to talk to one sometimes.
You can't get four words out. And then lastly, I want you to
see a sobering reality. These self-righteous religionists
spit out their venom at the Lord's disciples And they said, why
do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners? These men of ill
repute, folks not of our brand. Folks who don't dress the way
we dress, and talk the way we talk, and look the way we look.
And the Lord said unto them, they that are whole need not
a physician. Now listen to this, verse 32,
and I'll close. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. And when Christ gathers men and
women to feast, he's the feast. He's the feast. And there's always
a great gathering of sinners. Sinners. Not sinners whose hearts long
to continue in sin, but choice sinners to whom the great position
is sin. And here's the reality of it.
I come not to call the righteous. He's not even talking to them. Why do you say these things in
parables? Because to you it's given to
understand. It's not given to them. I'm not
putting this thing in parables for them. I'm putting it in parables
for you. For you. And everything in false
religion revolves around personal righteousness. He is, they say,
the way it is, is what they say. This personal righteousness,
the way to acceptance with God, the way of your daily walk, the
goal of the Christian life. No, sir, it's not true. It's all of grace. It's all of
grace. It's all of Christ. And he's
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. And
this was my final thought on this passage as I study it, how
glad those sinners must have been when he spoke them words
for them. I come to call not the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. All my soul. Sinners to repentance. Can we
take our place there? Oh, gladly. Gladly, I will. Gladly. All right, thank you.