I am my beloved's and he is mine. Let's turn back to Matthew chapter
11. This evening I'm going to preach on this subject, faith
is not a choice. Faith is not a choice. I've entitled the message for
this morning, Jesus, the sinner's friend. Jesus, the sinner's friend. In verse 18, of Matthew chapter 11, for John
came neither eating nor drinking. This is speaking of his ascetic
lifestyle. He lived in the wilderness. He
didn't have a house. I guess he slept in a cave under
the stars. His clothing was a leather girdle. He ate locusts and wild honey. And what did they conclude regarding
this man? He has a devil and he's mad. He's plum crazy. Verse 19, the son of man came
eating and drinking. Now this is not simply Speaking
of the fact that he ate food everybody else ate and drank
what everybody else drank and he didn't live like John the
Baptist. This is talking about his being
with people. Eating and drinking. And what was said of him for
being this way? Why he's a glutton. He's a wine
bibber, he's a drunk, a gluttonous man and a drunk. And then this
criticism. He's the friend of publicans
and sinners. By his association with sinners,
he's putting his stamp of approval on their sinful lifestyle. The friend of publicans and sinners. You know, one of the great blessings
in life is to have a true friend. You know, in a marriage, that
marriage is best when the Husband and the wife are best friends. But what a blessing it is to
have a true friend. I love what the scripture says
of the true friend. A friend loveth at all times. The true friend is the one who
has your back. The true friend is honest with
you. The true friend knows you, loves
you, is loyal to you, is trustworthy, and he's for you. A true friend
is not judgmental and critical of you. A true friend doesn't hold you
at arm's length. and keep a distance, a true friend
confides in you and you confide in that true friend. You can
make your heart bare to a true friend and not worry about them
misrepresenting you and thinking evil of you. They're for you. A true friend. Jesus. the sinner's friend. Now I read this somewhere once
and immediately it resonated with me. And I love this statement. I want you to listen to it carefully.
The gospel is essentially and fundamentally a sinner's religion. You like that? The gospel, the gospel, is essentially
and fundamentally a sinner's religion. There is no other religion like
that. All false religion, whether it
goes under the name of Christianity or any of the world's other religions,
has your relationship with God ultimately dependent upon what
you do. That summarizes all false religion,
whether under the scope of Christianity or the other religions, Muslim,
Hindu, Buddhist, whatever, it has God's relationship with you
dependent upon what you do. The gospel of Jesus Christ, the
friend of sinners, makes the salvation of the sinner dependent
upon what he has done. Totally, 100% dependent upon
what he has done. Do or done. That's the summary of the message.
It really is that simple. It's either do what you need
to do or it's already done. Exemplified by the Lord's statement,
cry from the cross. It is finished. It's done. How's that sound to you? How
does that resonate to you? It is done. Now, before we go on, it's critical
to understand the biblical meaning of the word sinner. Jesus, the friend of sinners. Jesus, the son of God. Jesus, the brightness of God's
glory and the express image of his person. Jesus, the one who
never began to be. Jesus, the creator of the universe. Jesus, the second person of the
blessed Trinity. Jesus, the one mediator between
God and men. The man, Christ Jesus. Jesus, the friend. of sinners. Now, what does the
Bible mean by the word sinner? You know, there's a lot of definitions
in the Bible of what sin is, but I think the one that is the
easiest one for us to grasp is this. Sin is the transgression
of the law. A sinner is someone who transgresses
God's holy and perfect law. Thou shalt have no other gods
before me. A sinner is someone who puts
anything before God, small g gods before the living God. Then there's
the commandment against idolatry. I even love the scripture, covetousness
is idolatry. A sinner is someone who makes
a God that they feel more comfortable with, that they like better,
that's more easy for them to grasp. That is an idolater. A sinner is someone who takes
God's name in vain. They don't have the proper reverence
for God. What a glorious God he is that
even to take his name in vain is a sin worthy of damnation.
That's how glorious he is. How high and holy and lifted
up he is that even to take his name in vain is a crime worthy
of eternal death. That's how glorious he is. Then
there's the commandment of the Sabbath. A sinner is someone
who doesn't know how to rest. He can't rest. He doesn't know
what it means to rest. He's always trying to do something,
trying to make his state before God better. He doesn't know how
to rest. And then there's the commandment,
honor your father and mother. That's the commandment with regard
to honoring your mom and dad and having respect for authority.
That's the main meaning. Have respect for authority. A
sinner is someone who has such an inflated view of themselves
that they don't respect. They're disrespectful. Then there's the commandment,
the sixth commandment, thou shalt not kill. A sinner's a murderer.
If he hadn't, somebody says, well, I haven't done that. Have
you ever murdered anybody's character? You're a murderer. And then there's
the commandment against adultery. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
A sinner is someone who is guilty of sexual sin. And then there
is the commandment with regard to being a thief. Thou shalt not steal. Sinner's
a thief. Somebody says, I'm no thief.
Have you ever taken credit where credit's not due? Have you ever
given yourself credit for what goes to God only? You're a thief. I'm a thief. The sinner's a thief.
The sinner's a liar. He bears false witness. A liar. Are you a liar? Somebody says,
no, I'm not a liar. What a lie. You are too. You
are too. Matter of fact, everything we
say has an element of lying in it. I'm always trying to make
myself look better and make you look a little worse. Sinner's
a liar. Thou shalt not covet. A sinner
is a covetous person. He is jealous and envious of
what others have. Thinks he ought to have them.
Resentful that he doesn't. A sinner's a covetous. Sin is
the transgression of the law. A sinner is one who transgresses
the law. Would that describe you? I know you can think of other
people it describes. Would that describe you? No? Well, you're not a sinner then. And really, you've put yourself
in a very precarious place. Because I can't give you any
assurance that Jesus Christ died for your sins if you're not a
sinner. Christ Jesus came into the world to save who? Sinners,
not good people, not righteous people, sinners. The sinner is a transgressor
of the law. All they've done is broken the
law. They haven't kept one commandment one time. That's a sinner. Somebody who
hasn't, has not kept one commandment one time. You know, I think of
the time they said to one man said to the Lord, what's the
greatest commandment? And he said, to love God with all your
heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. That's the greatest
commandment. Well, how do you line up there right now? Right
now? I'm not talking about anything,
but right now, do you love God with all your heart? No. Do you love your neighbors yourself?
No. That means you're in the continual,
I'm in the continual process of breaking the greatest commandment
all the time. A sinner. I love the scripture. speaks so powerfully to me all
the time. Therefore thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou art, the judgest for you the judgest. Whatever you're judging them
for, you do the same thing. That's what God's Word says.
No, I'm not doing that. Well, God says you are. Who am
I to believe you are God? God says you do. the same thing. Now, I would love to be honest
right now and not try to project some kind of religious image
or some kind of pastor air. I'd love to be honest and be
vulnerable. You know, preachers have a hard
time with that. Quite often they try to project something. I'd
like to not do that right now, but when I'm speaking of being
a law breaker, Paul said in Romans 7, 14, we
know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. That's me. Right now. Now, an unbeliever wouldn't say
that. A believer does. I delight in the law of God after
the inward man, but I see another law warring against the law of
my mind and bringing me into captivity. That's a strong word. bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin, which is in my members. Oh, wretched man that
I am. Not that I was, but that I am. Listen to this statement. My old man, My sinful nature
is no better than it ever was. I can't look at my old man and
say, well, it's improved. It's just as bad as it ever was. Now, when you hear me say this,
you're either going to criticize and judge me or you'll think
that's me. That's me exactly. And your response
will arise from your view of yourself. If you criticize and
judge me, you don't think you're that way. That's the only reason you would. But if you see yourself that
way, you say, I understand. Are you a sinner? I've got some good news. If you
are Jesus Christ, the son of God, the creator of the universe,
the absolute sovereign of the universe who controls everybody
and everything is the friend. The friend, this is who he is.
He's the friend of sinners. Did you know you can only hear
the gospel as a sinner? Let me show you this in Luke
chapter 15. Would you turn with me there? The last phrase of the 33rd verse
of the 14th chapter says, He that hath ears to hear, let him
hear. Then drew near unto him all the
publicans and sinners. Those are the people who have
ears to hear. Nobody else. Who drew near to him? All. the publicans and sinners. Now listen to this, if you're
a sinner, you're gonna draw near to him and you're gonna hear.
And here's why, he's given you ears to hear. If you don't hear
that way, you've not been given ears to hear. The gospel can
only be heard as a sinner. Next thing I'd like to say, really
the gospel can only be preached as a sinner preaching to other
sinners. It can't be preached without
that. I'm just preaching on platitudes and maxims if I'm not preaching
as a sinner preaching to people who are just like me, other sinners. Now turn back a few pages to
Luke chapter five. Verse 8, when Simon Peter saw, what did
he see? He saw who Jesus Christ really
was, I think for the first time. He saw. What was his response? He fell down at Jesus' knees
saying, depart from me for I am a sinful man, oh Lord. I'm so full of sin that that
is all that is there. And that came from seeing who
he is. For he was astonished, and all
the world with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had
taken. And so also was James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear
not from henceforth. After this revelation of who
I am and who you are, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. Now you're
ready to preach the gospel. that you've seen, you are a sinful
man. There's no way a man can preach
the gospel if he does not see that about himself. It's impossible. Who hears? Who draws near to
hear? Who has given ears to hear? The
sinner. Who preaches the gospel? A sinful
man. Can't be preached. You can't
preach. You can't tell somebody the gospel
without that understanding. Jesus Christ, the friend of publicans
and sinners. Now I love to think about this.
Listen to this statement real carefully. Jesus Christ has always
been the friend of sinners. Always. Even before there was
a sinner. Revelation 13, eight tells us
that he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Why was he slain from the foundation of the world? There's one reason
for death, sin. Before there was a sinner, there
was the friend of sinners. Before there was a sinner, there
was a savior. He's always been the friend of
sinners. He is eternally. the friend of
sinners, this glorious being, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, the creator of the universe, the one who controls everything,
is the eternal friend of sinners. I love to think about this. God knew exactly what I would
be. I fell in Adam. It was all a
part of his glorious purpose. And Jesus Christ, as my surety,
said, everything you require of him before the foundation
of the world, everything you require of him, look to me for. What a savior. He came into the world as the
Savior of sinners. Christ Jesus came into the world,
think of that, joy to the world, the Lord has come, let earth
receive her King. He came into this world for this
singular purpose, to save sinners. God didn't send his son into
the world to condemn the world. The world was already condemned.
But that the world through him might be saved. At the announcement of his conception
in Matthew 121, thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he shall
save his people from what? from their sins. Do you want
to be saved from your sins? He's the savior of sinners. Paul tells us this with regard
to his incarnation, for what the law could not do, and that
it was weak through the flesh, God sending his son in the likeness
of sinful flesh, not as a sinner, but in the likeness of sinful
flesh and for sin. condemned sin in the flesh, that
the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, which
walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Because of
Christ coming in the flesh, instead of a law breaker, I made a law
keeper. That is what the law says of
every sinner that Christ came to save. He is a law keeper. Do we make void the law through
faith? God forbid. Yea, we establish the law. You know, his life, that perfect
life, that righteous life, that life that knew no sin, that life
that never had a sinful thought, never had a sinful motive. When he came to John the Baptist
to be baptized, John said, aware of his own sinfulness, you're
coming to me to be baptized. I have need to be baptized of
thee. Why? He said, I'm a sinner. Me baptize you? Suffer to be
so now. I know it seems inappropriate.
I get it. Oh, I want to say that. I don't
want to say he gets it. That makes me think that's stupid.
He gets us. Oh, I hate that every time I
say it. Y'all seen it on TV, haven't you? You know, he gets
us the religious things are always in them. I hate that stuff. But he said, suffer that be so now
for thus it become us to fulfill. All righteousness. You see, he
was in his life fulfilling the righteousness that the sinner
could never produce. He said, I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. He was the friend of sinners
by association with them. You know, their criticism was
true. He was and is the friend of publicans and sinners. I love that scripture in John
chapter six. He must need to go through Samaria. Why? There's
a sinner there. A woman that had been married five times and
that was cohabiting with somebody that wasn't her husband. She
was there. And he says, I that speak unto
thee, am he. His association with sinners.
What about the woman taking an adultery in the very act? He
said, woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned
thee? No man, Lord, neither do I condemn
thee. Go and sin no more. Zacchaeus. All of us would have hated Zacchaeus.
He would have robbed you of money. He was a tax collector. He would
take taxes for the Roman government, pad the bill, take your money. And he was the chief of public.
He was very rich. Wicked man, Zacchaeus. Make haste. Come down. For today I must abide. Not just stay for a little while.
He's there for good. Today I must abide. Thief on
the cross. I mean, this wicked, evil man,
thief, murderer, insurrection, just everything. The death of
the cross was reserved for the worst of criminals. He says to
that thief, today you'll be with me in paradise. Oh, he was the friend of sinners
by association. This man receives sinners and
eats with them. Turn back to Luke chapter 15. This is where he said, then that
have ears to hear, let him hear. 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 eats
with them. He has association with them. And then he preaches a message
for sinners. That's what this message is for,
sinners. He said, there's Joy in heaven over one sinner that
repents. More than the 99 just persons
who need no repentance. Who are they? Folks who think
they need no repentance. That's who they are. I think
of that sermon he gives of the shepherd going after the one
lost sheep. And he goes until he finds it,
he brings it back on his shoulder saying, come rejoice with me.
The sheep which was lost, I found. And then he tells the story of
the lost coin, hid in the dirt. Couldn't find its way back, picturing
the work of the Holy Spirit. One was lost, the lost sheep,
now the coin in the dirt. Can't find its way back. He finds
it. Come, rejoice with me, I've found
my lost coin. And then we have, first we have
the lost sheep, we have the lost coin, the dumb, senseless, dead
coin, and then we have the sinful prodigal who left. And when he
comes back, the father's looking for him. He says, father, I've
sinned against heaven and in thy sight, I'm not worthy to
be called thy son. He said, bring forth the best robe, the righteousness
of Jesus Christ and put it on him and put a ring on his hand,
the token of my eternal covenant love and shoes on his feet to
walk in the gospel, the work of the father, the son and the
spirit. For this, my son was dead and now he's alive. He was
lost and he's found a message for sinners. Truly this man receiveth
sinners. He prayed for sinners. Father,
forgive him. Oh, I want him praying that for
me, don't you? Father, forgive them. They know not what they're
doing. I guarantee everybody he prayed for is forgiven. He's the friend that sticketh
closer than a brother. The friend. Oh, I want to be
my friend, don't you? The friend of publicans and sinners. He proved himself to be the friend
of sinners when he died for them. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 8
and 9, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though
he was rich, who can describe the riches of Jesus Christ? Yet, for your sakes, he became
poor. who can describe the poverty
of Christ when he's forsaken by his father for sinners, that
you through his poverty might be rich. Why did he end up drinking that
cup that caused him to sweat great drops of blood as he looked
at it, the sins of his people? Why did he do that? For sinners. You know, while he was hanging
on the cross, the scripture says he was numbered with the transgressors. Think of the horror of that.
He, the spotless Lamb of God, was numbered with the transgressors. Why? For sinners. I want you
to turn with me to Romans chapter 5, verse 6. For when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die. Somebody that's real righteous,
they let you know about it. You're probably not going to
want to die for that person. You think they're a jerk. Yet for adventure for a good
man, a merciful man. Some would even dare to die,
but God commended his love. toward us in that while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us. Who did he die for? There's
a threefold description. See how you fit in here. People
without strength, people who are ungodly, people who are sinners. That's who Christ died for. And
let me tell you this, if he died for you, you must be saved. You can't be anything but saved
if he died for you. Well, how can I know if he died
for me? Are you a sinner? If you are, he died for you. You were on his heart when he
was hanging on that cross. He was raised for sinners. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. He was raised for sinners. He intercedes for sinners. John didn't say if any man be
good and obedient and righteous, we have an advocate with the
father. He said, if any man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Hebrews 7.25 says, wherefore
he's able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by
him. And that's the only way a sinner
will come. If you can come any other way, you don't believe
you're a sinner. But if you can come only by him,
at all times only by him, he ever liveth to make intercession
for you. Who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. It's as the friend of sinners,
he presently intercedes for them. And beloved, as the sinner's
friend, he's returning for sinners. Listen to this scripture from
Hebrews chapter nine, verse 24, but now once In the end of the
world, hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself, and as it's appointed unto men once to die, and after
that the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the
sins of many, and unto them that look for Him shall He appear without sin. That sin he bore
is no more. He will appear without sin to
them that look for him unto salvation. Jesus, what a friend of sinners. Jesus, lover of my soul. Friends may fail me, foes assail
me, He, my Savior, makes me whole. Jesus, what a strength and weakness. Let me hide myself in Him. Tempted,
tried, and always failing, He my strength. My victory wins. Jesus, what a help in sorrows,
while the billows o'er me roll. Even when my heart is breaking,
He, my comfort, helps my soul. Jesus, I do now receive Him. More than all in Him, I find.
He has granted me forgiveness. I am His and He is mine. Hallelujah. What a Savior. Hallelujah. What a friend. Saving, helping, keeping, loving. He is with me to the end. Jesus, the friend of sinners. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that your
son is the friend of sinners. Lord, we will not see that we
are indeed sinners unless you make that known to us. Lord, we ask that we might have
such a sight of you that we see like Peter did so many years ago.
I am a sinful man. Lord, deliver us from seeing
ourselves above that. And Lord, how we thank you that
thy son came to save sinners and he did what he came to do.
And we ask that everybody in this room might be enabled by
your grace to believe on Him as the Savior, the salvation
of their soul. In Christ's name we pray, amen.