J.C. Ryle, a preacher of the
19th century, said, Rock of Ages is the greatest hymn in the English
language. I wouldn't deny that. I've entitled this message Who has ears to hear? The last sentence of verse 35
says, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Now this is one
of six different occasions, six separate occasions the Lord made
this statement. I don't know of anything else
he said six times like this. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. Now, the obvious implication
is not everybody has ears to hear. If you have ears to hear,
hear. But not everybody has ears to
hear. Now, if you're a believer, you know what a blessing it is
to be enabled to hear the gospel as gospel. There isn't anything
that can duplicate it. To be enabled to hear when you
know what you're hearing is the truth of God, and you know that
God himself is speaking to you through the preaching of the
gospel. There is nothing on earth like that. Not everybody has ears to hear. There are many who cannot hear. Let me show you that in the scripture. Turn to John chapter eight. And notice the language I used,
they cannot hear. They lack the ability to hear. The Lord said in John chapter
eight, verse 43, why do you not understand my speech? even because
you cannot. You lack the ability to hear
my word. Now, if you're a believer, you
know the only way you can hear is if he gives you the ability.
You know, it takes just as much grace to hear as it does to preach. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. Look in verse 47 of chapter 8,
John chapter 8. He that's of God, heareth God's
words. You therefore hear them not because
you are not of God." If a man is not of God, he completely
lacks the ability to hear God's words. Now, I don't believe I
had ever noticed this connection before. Remember, these chapter
divisions are man-made. And we read the last sentence
of chapter 35, or verse 35 of chapter 14, Luke chapter 14.
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Then drew near unto
him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. There was a particular demographic,
all of whom drew to hear, drew near to hear what he had to say. Publicans despised tax collectors employed
by the Roman government that would rip the Jews off. They
hated them. They were the most despised people
of that generation and sinners. lawbreakers, people who had failed
to honor their parents, people who were murderers, people who
were guilty of sexual sin, people who were liars, people who were
thieves, people who were covetous and greedy. This was the demographic
that came to hear the Lord Jesus Christ. publicans and sinners. He was saying something to them
that attracted them. They'd never heard anything like
this before and they wanted to hear more. They were drawn to
him. And what I think is amazing,
the way they were drawn to him, he was so approachable. In His holiness, in His righteousness,
they did not feel threatened around Him. They did not feel
judged around Him. They grew near to Him to hear
what He had to say. The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now, here's the point. You can really only hear the
gospel as a sinner. Now, let me repeat that, and
I want you to chew on it and think about it. You can only
hear the gospel, and I mean hearing with hearing ears, spiritual
ears. You can only hear the gospel
as a sinner if you don't see yourself as a real bonafide sinner,
and that means all you do is sin. You cannot not sin. You don't have the right to look
down your nose in moral superiority over anybody. You have no claims
on God. If he sent you to hell, just
and holy is his name. You are a sinner. If you don't
hear yourself, if you don't see yourself as a sinner, you are
unable to hear the gospel. The gospel will be unnecessary
and irrelevant to you. Now, when you're hearing, when
you're hearing, that's what you're doing right now, when you're
hearing, when you're hearing preaching, if you're not being
blessed, if you're not entering in, one of two things is true. First, it may be that you're
not hearing the gospel. You know, when I hear a message,
sometimes I don't hear the message. You're not hearing the gospel.
I'm not blessed by anything but the gospel. But the other reason,
if the gospel is being preached and you're not being blessed,
here's the one reason. You're not hearing as a sinner. It really is that simple. you're
not hearing as a sinner, because if you hear as a sinner, oh,
the gospel will come as good news to you every time. Now, did these publicans and
sinners have something to hear? This is the introduction to Luke
chapter 15. one of my favorite chapters in
the Bible. Now in Luke chapter 15, and we're going to look at
it for the next three or four weeks, one parable is given in
three parts. First, the parable of the shepherd
going after the lost sheep. And he didn't stop looking until
he found it. And he laid it on his shoulders
and came back rejoicing. That's the work of the son in
salvation. Then we have the parable of the
lost coin. Hidden in the dirt, couldn't
find its way out, and the woman lit a candle, the work of God
the Holy Spirit, and she found that lost coin in the dirt. That's the work of God the Holy
Spirit. And then we have what I believe
is my favorite story in the Bible, the story of the prodigal. But
you know, in that story, the prodigal is not the star. The
father is the star. It's the father's work in salvation
and him receiving the son. And you know, the only ones who
could appreciate that one story in three different portions are
sinners. Sinners. A sinner can rejoice
in the Savior coming after him and not stopping until he finds
him and brings him in and God the Holy Spirit coming after
him while he's covered in dirt and he can't even call out and
he comes with the light of the gospel and the Father waiting
on that prodigal to return. They were the ones who had ears
to hear. Oh, the importance of hearing. Faith cometh by hearing. And hearing by the word of God.
And there's nothing more passive than hearing. All you're doing
is you're sitting there listening. You're not doing anything. You're hearing. Faith comes in the ear hole.
Faith cometh by hearing. and hearing by the word of God. And I pray that tonight we're
like Cornelius when he said to Peter, we're all here present
before God to hear, hear to hear all the things that are commanded
thee of God. Verse one, 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. He welcomes them, and he even
eats with them. He embraces them. Now this was
a harsh criticism on their part, but even the wrath of man shall
praise thee. You see, this criticism was his
chief glory. Now you hear that? This criticism
they made of him was his chief glory. He's the lamb slain for
sinners. He's the lamb slain from the
very foundation of the world. And this is his identity. Before
time began, before there was ever a sinner, there was a Savior. This man receiveth sinners and
eats with them. Now watch what they said. This
man in the original, it's this one, almost as if he doesn't
deserve to be called a man. This one receives sinners. He receives
them. He doesn't hold them off like
He should. He doesn't condemn them and point
out. He receives them. Now this word received is translated
by six different other words in the King James Version. He
allows them. He allows them to approach. Nobody
else would, but He does. He allows them to approach. And
you know if you're a sinner, the Lord Jesus allows you to
approach unto Him. This word is translated, looks
for. Do you know that wherever there's
a sinner, there's a Savior looking for him? If you're a sinner,
the Savior's looking for you right now, and you know what?
He's gonna find you. I'll assure you he will. He seeks until he
finds any sinner. He's looking for him, and he's
gonna find him. The word is translated, receive. This man This word means a favorable
reception, a welcome. Do you know there's joy in heaven
over one sinner that repented? Joy. You know healing saves by
the one. And there's joy in heaven over
that one sinner that's brought to repentance. A change of mind. And this word is also translated,
waits. He waits for them. He doesn't
stop waiting for them until they come to him. He receives sinners. Don't you love that hymn we sing,
Christ receiveth sinful men? Hint, Dwayne. I think that'd
be a good one to end up on. Even me in all my sin. This man
receiveth sinners, and he even eats with them. You know, He
brings them into close communion with Himself. He enjoys their
company. He loves them. He eats with them
because He's their friend. He is the sinner's friend. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
9. Verse 9, And as Jesus passed
forth from thence, He saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the
receipt of custom. He too was a publican. I think
it's interesting when Matthew gives the list of the disciples,
only he lists himself as Matthew the Publican. He talked about
Peter and John and James and Bartholomew. He gave the names.
When we talked about himself, he called himself Matthew the
Publican. He never got over that. And he saith unto him, oh, don't
you love the power of this statement, follow me? Could Matthew have said no? No
way. The Lord tells you to do something,
you know what you're gonna do? You're gonna do it. If he didn't do
it, he didn't tell you to do it. If he tells you in almighty
invincible grace, you're gonna follow him. And he arose and followed him,
and it came to pass, as Jesus said it, meet in the house. Behold,
many publicans and sinners, here's that same demographic, came and
sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it,
they said to his disciple, why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? His only testimony. But when Jesus heard that, he
said unto them, they that behold need not a physician. but they
that are sick. But go ye and learn what that
meaneth, I have mercy, not sacrifice. For I'm not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. Look at Matthew chapter 11, verse
18. Our Lord is speaking of John
the Baptist and he says, for John came neither eating nor
drinking, the life of an ascetic, and they say he hath a devil,
he's demon possessed. The son of man came eating and
drinking, both. And they said, behold, a man
gluttonous, a winebibber, a drunk, a friend of publicans and sinners.
But wisdom is justified of her children. He's the friend. Now that was, once again, a slam
on him. the friend of publicans and sinners. Now, do you answer to the title
sinner? Would that be you, a liar, a pervert, a thief, a
covetous man? One who does not respect authority. One who breaks God's law. Would
that describe you? I'm not asking you if you take
the term by way of, well, yeah, everybody's a sinner. I'm not
interested in that. But would you be what the Bible would call a sinner? If you are, Jesus Christ the
Lord is your friend. He is the sinner's friend. This is a faithful saying, Paul
says, and it's worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save He doesn't say the elect, although
he did. He doesn't say those for whom
he died, though he did. He doesn't say believing sinners.
He doesn't say repentant sinners. He doesn't say sensible sinners. He says Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners. Of whom Paul said, I am the chief. If you're a sinner, Christ Jesus
came to save you. He really did. You know what? You're gonna find out he saved
you. You're gonna find out he put
away your sins. You're gonna find out you're
forgiven. If you're a sinner, that's who
he came to save. You see, The gospel is utterly
unique. It's different from any other
religion in this sense. The gospel is primarily and fundamentally
a sinner's religion. You know that? The gospel is
a sinner's religion. Now, the other religions are
all how-to. How to get to God, how to make yourself better,
how to reach out and touch God somehow, how to get better. That's
every other religion. Within so-called Christianity,
that's what most of it is. It's a how-to religion, how-to,
how-to. The Gospels have God save sinners. The gospel is not
man's search for God, it's God searching and finding poor, helpless
sinners and saving them by his grace. The gospel of Jesus Christ
is primarily and fundamentally a sinner's religion. The only
folks who are really interested in the gospel are sinners. You remember that publican in
the temple, God be merciful to me, the sinner. He believed himself to be the
worst man to ever live. And the Lord said regarding that
man, I tell you, this man went down to his house, justified. cleared of all guilt. He wasn't
guilty. He went down to his house without
sin, not merely forgiven, but justified. He never sinned. Now, the entire Bible is used
as an exposition for that one parable. He went down to his
house justified. And how the Lord has declared
to us that He is, in fact, the sinner's friend. You know, before
time began, I've already touched on this, as He was the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, before time began, He was the
sinner's friend. He loved sinners even then. And
He died for sinners even then. You say, how could it have happened
if it was before the time began? I don't know, but it did. Because
it says the Lamb, having been slain, from the foundation of
the world. You see, his purpose, his identity
has always been that as the friend of sinners, the savior of sinners. He declared himself to be the
sinner's friend as he stood as the sinner's surety. And the
Bible gives us such a beautiful picture of this. with regard
to Onesimus, that runaway slave. He'd left his master. Who knows
what all trouble he got into. Maybe he hated his master. Onesimus
was a good man. He was a believer. I mean, Philemon
was a good man. He was a believer. And Onesimus
had left him. And somehow, in God's providence,
Onesimus came into contact with the apostle Paul. And he heard
Paul preach the gospel, and the light came on. He heard with
hearing ears. Perhaps he'd heard Paul preach
before, but he didn't hear. Because Paul and Philemon were
buddies. Perhaps he'd heard him before. Perhaps he'd heard him
many times before. But it didn't register. But all of a sudden,
it does. He hears. And Paul writes Philemon
back in behalf of Onesimus. And he says, regarding this runaway
slave, If thou count me as a partner, receive him as myself. And Christ Jesus said to his
father, if you count me as a partner, receive Todd Norbert as myself. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth
thee anything, put that on my account. I'll pay it." That's
what he said as the sinner's surety, much like Judah. represented Benjamin, saying
to his father, Sin the lad with me, I'll be surety for him, of
mine hand shalt thou acquire of him. If I bring him not before
thee, and set him before thee, let me bear the blame forever. Now when Christ stood as the
surety of sinners before time began, did he not show himself
to be the friend of sinners? When our first parents fell and
became sinners, remember they were created upright. When they
fell and became sinners, they demonstrated that they became
sinners. They went hid from God's presence. They no longer wanted
to be in his presence. They hid, made themselves aprons
to cover their nakedness. They didn't want to be in God's
presence. They didn't come back and say, forgive me. They didn't
say, oh, I messed up. I shouldn't have done this. Would
you please forgive me? I'm guilty. No, nothing like
that. When they come into God's presence,
they blame God for what happened. The woman that you gave me, she
gave me the fruit and I didn't eat. This is all your fault.
They didn't ask for mercy, but how tender was our Lord when
he came walking to them in the cool of the evening and said,
Adam, where art thou? What have you done? And he gave
the first gospel promise. The seed of woman, the Lord Jesus
Christ, is going to crush that serpent's head. And then he made
a coat of skin for them and covered their nakedness. That was the
first blood shedding. They saw that innocent blood
shed from that animal and they knew the only reason they were
covered was because of the death of that innocent victim. They
saw substitution at that time. Our Lord showed himself the friend
of sinners at the very outset. Throughout the Old Testament,
he declared himself to be the sinner's friend in tides and
shadows. I think of the ark as a place of safety. The wickedness
of man was great in the earth and every imagination of the
heart was only evil continually. That was his description of my
heart and your heart. Yet an ark was provided for sinners.
He said to Noah, enter into the ark, go in. You know, he was
120 years in building that. Who was it for? It was for sinners. What about the Passover? God provided sinners a way to
be delivered from his avenging death. Take the blood, put it
over the door, get in the house, stay in the house. And God said,
when I see the blood, not when I see your repentance or your
faith or your intentions or how you're gonna change, when I see
the blood, I will pass over you. But you know, these glorious
types culminate in Isaiah 53, verses five and six, when we
read that he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised
for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and by his stripes we're healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way and the Lord had laid upon him the iniquity of us all. And how he declared himself to
be the sinner's friend. Some 2000 years ago, when the
word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And the angels cried
out, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill
toward men, goodwill toward sinners. That's God's goodwill toward
men. Well, in his life, he declared
himself to be the sinner's friend. I could preach all night about
the different examples of him being the sinner's friend, but
what about when he said, when the scripture says he must need
to go through Samaria? You know why? He's the sinner's friend. There was a sinner in Samaria,
a woman that had been married five times and was living with
a man at that time. And he came after her. You see,
he's the sinner's friend. He saved her. He revealed himself
to her. What about that Gadarene demonic?
Wore no clothes, living in the tombs, cutting himself. Men had
tried to reform him. They tied him up. They tried
to tame him. But he'd always break the bands
asunder. I mean, when sin would call, he'd come running. You
couldn't tame the man. Then Christ came to him. Why? He's the sinner's friend. What
about Zacchaeus, the publican? Up a tree. They complained when the Lord
saved him. He received sinners. He's the friend of sinners. But
Christ came to that place and he looked up. He said, Zacchaeus,
make haste. Come down. For today I must abide
at thy house. And he made haste and he came
down and he received him joyfully. I think of that woman taken in
adultery. In the very act, there wasn't any question about that
woman's guilt. And she stands before the Lord,
and He says, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no
man condemned thee? She looked around. They were
all gone. Every one of them were gone. And she said, No man, Lord. And He said, Neither do I condemn
thee. But she was guilty. The next verse was, I'm the light
of the world. I'm the light as to how that can be. How I can
look at that woman who is caught in the act and say to her, I
do not condemn thee. He's the light of the world.
You see, in his life, he kept God's law perfectly. He never sinned. He could look at his very enemies
and say, which of you can convince me of sin? Now, if you were around me for
an hour, just an hour, maybe only five minutes, well, only
a second if you knew the truth, but I mean, let's just say an
hour. And what if after being around you an hour, I said to
you, which of you can convince me of sin? Well, you could, duh,
duh, duh, I mean, you could come up with all kinds of things.
But our Lord could say, which of you could convince me of sin? Nobody could do it. He said,
I do always those things that please the Father. He never sinned. Yet, he was nailed to a cross and
suffered the wrath of God and died. And my dear friends, there's
only one reason for death. Sin. It's the only reason. Sin. My sin became his sin. And he died. And he deserved
it. That's why I opened on his mouth.
He deserved it. But something different took
place when he died. You see, when he died as the
sin bearing substitute, the moment he died, all the sins of all
for whom he died were put away. And three days later, he was
raised from the dead, having justified everybody he died for. That's how he could say to that
woman who was caught in the very act, you know, he bore her sin.
It became his sin. He became the adulterer. He suffered
the wrath of God as the sinner's substitute. He was guilty and
his perfect obedience is given to her. And she stands righteous
before God. How he declared himself to be
the sinner's friend when he was hanging on that cross. I think of him opening Nauda's
mouth. It's pointed out in Isaiah 53,
when they were making the accusations against him, he opened Nauda's
mouth. I'll tell you what, if I didn't do something, if I'm
accused of it, I'm gonna defend myself. Why didn't he open his
mouth? I think of him hanging on the
cross, and I think of the things he said, how he demonstrated
himself to be the sinner's friend when he said, Father, forgive
them. They know not what they do. And
you can be sure of this, everybody he prayed for was forgiven. That
wasn't some kind of generic prayer. Everybody the son prayed for
was forgiven. Woman, behold thy son, behold
thy mother. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? That's the cry of the sinner's
friend who took their place. He said to that one sinner by
him on the cross, who said, Lord, remember me when you come into
your kingdom today. Thou shalt be with me in paradise. He's the sinner's friend. When
he said, I thirst, There's the sinner's substitute. I deserve
to thirst eternally. He thirsted in my place and there
was no thirst like his thirst being cut off from his father.
He said, it is finished. And he said, that is the sinner's
friend. My salvation was accomplished. He bowed his head and gave up
the ghost and said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.
And you know, the moment he died, the veil in the temple was ripped
in half from the top to the bottom. The sinner now has a way into
the very presence of God. He's the sinner's friend. You
know, in his resurrection, he showed himself to be the sinner's
friend. You remember what Peter did? Peter did not even knew
him. with cursing and oath and swearing. He failed to confess Christ.
He was scared to death. He was scared for his life. He
denied he even knew him. And I guarantee you, he thought,
I'm not saved. I couldn't be. There's no way
I could be saved and carry on like that. There's just no way.
But when the Lord was raised from the dead, you know what
he said? He said, you go tell my disciples and Peter, especially
Peter, that I've risen from the dead. When he ascended back into
glory, do you know he took a whole bunch with him? Every sinner
he died for. He's called the Lord of hosts.
And as the Lord of hosts, he went back into glory with every
sinner he represented. And even now in his intercession,
He's the friend of sinners. I love that scripture. These
things write unto you that you sin not. Beloved, sin is never
okay. Never. The gospel condemns sin
just as much as the law does. Sin is never, ever acceptable. And John said, these things write
I unto you, that you sin not. When you do. Where it says, if any man sin,
that could just as easily be translated, when any man sin. When you do. I don't care how bad that sin
is. I don't care if it's murder. I don't care if it's adultery.
I don't care if it's worse than any of those things. I don't
care how bad it is. When any man sin, we have an
advocate with the father. What a lawyer he is. He's a lawyer
like no other lawyer. He makes all of his clients plead
guilty. He's no crooked lawyer. He's
not looking for a loophole. He makes all of his clients plead
guilty. This lawyer, I know you've heard
this before, but I like saying it again. This lawyer has great
pool with the judge. The judge is his father. And
do you know this lawyer has never lost a case? Not one. And he makes all of his clients
plead guilty as charged. I don't care what it is. You
come into God's presence as a sinner. And every one of them are declared
by God to be not guilty. Justified. What a lawyer we have. As the great intercessor for
sinners in heaven, is he not the friend of sinners? And when
he comes again, He's going to come without sin. All that sin
that drags me down is gone. It's put away. To them that look
for Him shall He appear a second time without sin unto salvation. Yes, our Lord Jesus Christ is
the sinner's friend. And that is His most precious
title. the sinner's friend. Beloved, if you're a sinner,
he is your friend. Let's pray. Lord, we ask that you would give
us ears to hear the gospel. as a sinner. Oh, Lord, deliver
us from hearing to see if we agree or hearing as a critic
or hearing as a judge. But, Lord, give us the grace
to hear the gospel as a sinner needing your grace. And, Lord,
how we thank you that your son is the friend of sinners. who stood as a surety for sinners,
who came to save sinners, who did in fact save sinners. And even right now, he's at your
right hand, interceding for sinners. Lord, how we give you thanks. How we thank you that he is our
mediator. the one mediator between God
and men, the man, Christ Jesus, how we thank you for him. Now,
Lord, bless this message. Create faith in the heart of
each one of us for Christ's sake. We ask these things in the name
of him who is the friend of sinners. In his name we pray, amen. Dwight,
what page is it? 199. 199, now stand and sing.