Luke chapter 15. If you have
a few Bible, it's on page 1131. Luke chapter 15, just a couple
of verses. Wonderful passage of scripture.
In verse one, then drew near unto him all the publicans and
sinners were to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes
murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. The publicans and sinners drew
near to hear him." I sometimes wonder if I could preach Christ
better if poor sinners wouldn't draw near to hear Him more often. We preach Christ today and seldom
someone comes near to Him to hear Him. When He preached Himself,
they all came to hear Him. The chief of sinners, the publicans
and sinners, came to hear Him. It's amazing how this happened. The Son of God came down from
heaven. And we know what kind of character he was. We know
what kind of disposition he had. The Bible says he was holy, he
was harmless, he was undefiled and separate from sinners. And yet when he preached, publicans
and sinners were attracted to him. Isn't that amazing? Sinful
men and sinful women were attracted to him and his message. then drew near to him publicans
and sinners." Now, it would be naive of us this morning to think
that these publicans were honest people. I've heard a person say
one time they were really pretty good people. No, they weren't
good people. These were cheats. The reason they were despised
by their Jewish brethren is because most of them would intimidate
you to pay them more taxes. They were tax collectors. The
more taxes they got off of you, the more money they made. And
many of them were rich off of the backs of their poor Jewish
brothers. Zacharias was a chief of the
publican and he was rich. And when the Lord saved him,
he said, if I've wronged any man, if I've falsely accused
any man, I'm going to pay him fourfold. And I bet you he had
to go to some people and pay them for it. Oh, dude. Publicans. Publicans. And these sinners,
publicans and sinners, he doesn't describe them here, but these
weren't good little sinners. We know from other places in
the Scriptures that these were... You wouldn't want one of these
people to be your neighbors. How would you like to have a
neighbor who was possessed of seven devils? Would you like
that? You probably couldn't even sleep
around this woman. What did these seven devils possess
her to do and tempt her to do? She was an ungodly woman. Another one was taken in adultery
in the very act. He had men and women who approached
Him that were called sinners in the town. They'd had five
husbands and could have been living with yours, Gellie, if
you'd lived in that day. They weren't good people. They
weren't nice people. These were sinners, ungodly sinners. And yet, the Bible says here,
these publicans and sinners, these thieves, these murderers,
these drunkards, the extortionists, surely, Bruce, they weren't this
bad. We've got it recorded in the Word. We want to make this so romantic,
don't we? We watch the movies they make
about Jesus, and He's such a handsome-looking fellow, and He's got these beautiful
eyes, They make it into something romantic. No, these were ungodly
sinners. And they drew near to hear this
Savior. Amazing. Amazing when you consider
they drew near. And this is amazing, when they
drew near, their way of life was threatened. Their sins were
threatened. You couldn't come to Him and
be around Him if you were living in sin and not feel threatened
that your sinful life was going to either have to come to an
end or you were going to have to quit coming near your Savior. You couldn't come near Him and
be unchanged. This is the amazing things publicans
and sinners came and drew near to Him even though He threatened
their sinful lifestyle. They'd lived in their sins, they'd
loved their sins, they'd served their sins, and they did it all
their life. And now, in spite of that, they
drew near to the very one that would put a stop to their sin.
Ain't that amazing? And here's the very thing that
makes the Savior so attractive. This is the very thing that makes
the Savior so attractive. He saves you from your sins. Can you imagine a conversation
among some of these publicans? When they got together and one
of them begins to talk to another and he says, you know, I don't
know what's mattered with me lately, but I just ain't satisfied
anymore. I used to sleep so well and I
could live what kind of life that I wanted to live, a sinful
life. But now I'm just sick of it. And I'm concerned about it. And
my conscience is heavy. And I'm not right with God. And
I've never felt like this before. I don't understand it. But I
know I'm not ready to die. I'm not able to die. And I feel
like I could die at any time. And I want to be right with God.
How can I be right with God? How can I have this guilt removed
from my conscience? And they begin to talk with themselves,
among themselves. And then out of that, here they
come to the Savior. They found His message. They found Him to be attractive. I tell you, when you begin to
become sick in your soul, You'll find the Savior attractive. When
you get to the point where you become burdened over your sin,
you don't want to live in it anymore, you don't want to be
a servant of Satan anymore, and you sure don't want to die in
that condition, you know what you'll do? You'll find the Savior
is becoming attractive. You'll find His message is drawing
you to Himself. I doubt all these publicans and
sinners were sin sick at first. I want you to look over here
in Luke chapter 5. Hold that scripture there for me in Luke
chapter 15. And look here in Luke chapter 5. I doubt, very
seriously, and I think the scripture would teach us that when they
first began to come to Christ, it wasn't because they needed
Him and they felt their need of Him. much knowledge of their
sinfulness. We're told here why they came
the first time. They had a friend whose name
was Levi, who we know as Matthew, and the Lord had called him.
He was a publican himself. And when the Lord called him,
why, he got in contact with his friends and said, I want you
fellows to come for a dinner. I don't know if he told them
the Lord was going to be there or not. I have no idea. But that's the
way he got them there. And they come. Look at it here
in verse 27 of Luke chapter 5. And after these things, he went
forth and saw a publican, a tax collector. He was collecting
taxes, setting up the receipt of customs at his tax office.
And the Lord Jesus said unto him, follow me. And he left all,
rose up, and followed him. And Levi, who is Matthew, made
a great feast in his own house, and there was a great company
of publicans and of others that sat down with them. And the scribes and Pharisees
murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink
with publicans? Now here's why they came to start
with. There's no doubt why they came. Clarence, you can relate
to this. This happened to you, didn't it? This way, they got
Clarence to come and hear the gospel one time. Promised him
a steak dinner. And when he got there, was having
a worship service. That's the same thing that happened
to these fellas. I doubt, seriously, if they come
feeling a need of the Savior. Probably most of them just came,
they were lighthearted, They were hungry. They wanted to have
a feast. So they came to eat. But something
wonderful happened. And it started right here when
these Pharisees started complaining, What are these publicans doing
here? And why are you fellows receiving them? And these other
sinners, look at them. Aren't you holy men? How can
you stand to be around these men? We're holier than thou.
We can't stay here. We're leaving or they're leaving.
And the Lord Jesus said this right in the presence of these
publicans and these sinners. He was talking about them, but
I think they began to feel like He was talking to them. And here's
what He said in verse 31. Look at this. And Jesus answering
said unto them, They that are whole, they that are healthy,
need not a position, but they that are sick." What's he calling
these publicans? Sick folks. Diseased folks. And he said they need a doctor.
You Pharisees and you scribes, you don't need a Savior because
you're not sinners, you say. You don't need a physician because
you're not sick, you say. These fellows are sick. They're
sin sick. They need a physician to heal
them. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. What did these Pharisees, these
publicans and sinners think about such a message? I don't know
what they thought about it either. When they first heard it, I really
don't know what they thought about it. But it began to gnaw
at them. It began to eat away at them.
And it became attractive to them. We know that because the next
time we read of them, Luke says they drew near to hear Him. They
began to think about this, you see. I am sick. I am sin sick. I need a Savior. And I remember
what He said about Himself. I have not come for the whole.
I have come for the sick. And I think I'll go back over
there and listen to him. I know where he's at, and I'm going
back and listen to him. And they drew near. They drew near to
hear the blessed Lord Jesus, the blessed Savior. There are sinners who live in
their sins, and they're not bothered by it, are they? Not bothered
much at all. But let them be brought under
the influence of the Spirit of Jesus Christ and the Gospel,
you'll notice a change. And this will be the change.
It will almost be unseen at first. And they may not understand it,
but here's what will happen. They will begin to be drawn to
where they can hear that message. They may not even know why they're
coming there. But they know there's a need.
I'm not satisfied anymore. I'm worried. I'm concerned. And
they go to hear about this great Savior who comes to call sinners
to repentance. There are these miserable churches
that are preaching to pamper and impress flesh. They preach
some kind of a social gospel. They set up their social events. And none of that stuff will do
sinners no good. He'll do real sinners no good. Real sinners are attracted to
a real Savior. And if we want real sinners to
be saved, then preach the Savior to them. Tell them the truth. Tell them the truth about themselves. Don't sugarcoat it because you're
afraid you'll hurt somebody's feelings. Tell them where they're
at. Tell them the danger that they're
exposed to. Tell them what the Savior has
come to do, that He came down from heaven on purpose to save
the worst sinners that you can find, even publican sinners and
harlot sinners. That's what will do poor sinners
good. That's the only thing that will
do me any good. Is there anything else that's going to do you folks
any good? No. And look in chapter 18. Chapter
5 is where he began with these publicans. And look in Luke chapter
18. I love how Luke tells about these publicans. He began with
them during chapter 5 of his gospel. And they begin to hear
about being sick. And the physician comes to heal
them. And then they begin to draw near in chapter 18. And
now I think in chapter 15. And now I think here in chapter
18. He tells about this one publican, and I think he represents all
of these publicans that we're drawing near to here. And look
what happens in chapter 18, and look in verse 10. Two men went
up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other
a publican. There's the publican. The Pharisee
stood afar off and prayed with himself. God, I thank Thee that
I'm not like other men are. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not
unjust. I'm not an adulterer. Or even
as this publican, I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all
that I possess. And look at this, and the publican,
standing afar off in the corner, would not lift up so much as
his eyes to heaven, but he smote upon his breast, saying, God
be merciful to me, a sinner. They started out coming to a
dinner where the Lord was. He made this wonderful statement,
they that are whole need not a position but they that are
sick. Then they started drawing near to Him and now what are
they doing? Smiling upon their chest and
seeking for mercy. Seeking for mercy. I said it's amazing these publicans
came to the Lord Jesus even though He threatened their sinful lifestyle.
But here it is. Here it is. And this is the conclusion. This is why they finally came.
They wanted to be saved from their sin. They wanted mercy. And when you want mercy more
than you want your sins, that's when you'll smile on your chest
and say, God, be merciful to me. To me, the sinner. And notice
how this man's whole disposition began to change. By nature, he
had to be a strong personality. Can you imagine being a tax collector? I mean, it was a difficult task.
Sometimes you had to be bold. You had to be assertive. You'll
pay me or else. Oh, yes, you will pay me, man.
You couldn't let people rule over you. You couldn't let them
get the advantage of you. Man, you had to stand up and
be bold. That's the way these tax collectors
were. Boy, this fellow's not too bold anymore, is he? His whole disposition has begun
to change. Now he's the one that's humble.
He's the one that's smiling in his chest. God be merciful to
me. He's humbled himself, hasn't
he? He's been humbled. And the Lord
Jesus said it there in verse 14. I tell you, this man went
down to his house justified rather than the other. For every one
that exalteth himself shall be abased, but he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted. Humble himself. He changed. I tell you, the Lord will change
you. When you come to Him, this is the way you'll come, right
down at His feet, praying, Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner. If there's someone here this
morning that feels no attraction to the Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, then listen. to our Lord's Word concerning
this tax collector, this old cheat, this false accuser. Listen
to these gracious words. If you're here this morning and
you say, I have no need of Christ, I have no need of Him, He's just
not appealing to me, no thank you. Then listen to the words
He said to this tax collector. In verse 14, He went down to
his house just to find. Now, ain't that good news? He
was an awful, awful sinner against God and against man. But in this
one moment of time, with one stroke of his pen, the Lord Jesus
wiped all his sins away. He justified him from everything
that he had ever said or thought or done. It will never be brought
against you again, He said. Not here or in the judgment.
Justified. Ain't that wonderful? Me, an
old tax collector, after all I've done against heaven and
against man, He has justified me. Ain't that good news? Ain't that wonderful? I mean,
you come in here and you're just an ungodly person. You're just
a sinner. And to think that you could leave
here like this publican justified. Oh, that's the best news that
anybody could ever hear. This is the gospel. This poor
man found out his eternal destiny. Isn't that wonderful? His eternal
destiny wasn't decided here, but He found out what it was. You say, Bruce, what do you mean?
Well, let me quote part of a verse and some of you finish it. Then
He justified. Can anybody finish that? He also glorified. Here was a man He just justified. What does that mean? He glorified. He's ready for heaven. If the
Lord Jesus Christ justifies you this morning, then you're ready
for heaven. That not only cleanses your conscience
and puts you in a right standing with God, but it reveals your
eternal destiny. You're fit for heaven. And nothing
between now and then will change your destiny. Then he justified,
he also glorified. Now, does that make the Savior
a little bit more attractive? It makes him more attractive,
doesn't it? I mean, this is something. This is something. The Lord Jesus told these Pharisees
and scribes in Matthew 21, He said, Verily I say unto you,
that the publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God. Right before your faces, they're
entering the kingdom of God. You know heaven is populated
with publicans and harlots? They're not publicans and harlots
anymore. but they were when he brought them into the kingdom.
Now, ain't that amazing? Some congregations exist to appeal
to moral people. They don't want publicans. They
don't want harlots. It's not good for their reputation.
They want business people. They want upstanding people.
They want examples in the community. But heaven's full of publicans
and harlots. That's who the Lord came to save. When a poor sinner begins to
hear the truth of the gospel, he hears Christ in the gospel.
He'll draw near. He can't have it. He can't have
it. It's such good news, he just
can't have it. As cold waters to a thirsty soul,
so is good news from a far country. Look back over my text. Look
in Luke chapter 15 and verse 2 again. Luke chapter
15 and verse 2. And the Pharisees and the scribes,
they murmured, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
These Pharisees, these were the most strict religious people
known in their day. If anyone makes it all the way,
a Pharisee will. A Pharisee will. If it was between
a Pharisee and the Pope, and only one could make it in, it'd
be a Pharisee. Now, I don't know about Mayor
Bloomberg. They'd be hard pressed because he said there's no doubt
he was on his way. He didn't even need to be interviewed
by God. I mean, he had given so much
and he had done so much. It settled for him, he said.
He's done bought his way in. He's done earned his way in.
You know something? That's exactly the way these
Pharisees felt. That's exactly the way they felt.
And these scribes, they recorded the Word. They were the theologians
of the day. They were these high-minded people
and they came here and they murmured and said, this man receiveth
sinners. Why did they murmur? Because
these publicans and these sinners had access to the Son of God. And that made them mad. Jesus
Christ said, I come down from heaven to do the will of my Father,
and this is the will of my Father, that I receive these people and
save these people from their sins. And the Pharisee said,
this is not right. This is just not right. We can't relate to this, and
we won't be a part of this. No, you won't. You're going on
to hell in your sins. You don't want to be a part of
that. And you ain't going to be a part of that. How can you
escape the damnation of hell? But I tell you, these Pharisees
and these scribes, boy, they can preach the gospel as clear
as anybody can. And they preached it here in
this verse, didn't they? This man receiveth sinners. Amen. Amen. Way to preach it, you Pharisees.
He does receive sin and eats with them. And you know something?
It's been 2,000 years almost since they said that. And He's
still receiving sin and eating with them. What a message. What a message. If every prophet, if every preacher,
if every pastor, if every teacher got up in the pulpit and just
made that statement and just sat down, that would be fine.
This man receiveth sinners. Is there any sinners? Are you
a sinner? There's a Savior in heaven who
is yet receiving sinners. You think you're too bad? Well, I don't think so. He's
already saved the chief of sinners, has He not? And He did it to
be an example to others that they would come to Him and believe
on Him. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ left heaven and
came into this world. Why? There's a lot of reasons He could
have came. A lot of things He'd have been interested in. But
you know why He comes? to save sinners, of whom I am
chief." Boy, that's the truth. That's the truth. He saveth sinners,
and He eateth with them. Christ not only received them
unto this public worship, He not only received them unto His
presence, but get this, He received them into His heart. into his
affection, into his family. He said, you publicans and you
harlots, you're my brothers and you're my sister. He received
them unto himself. And he received them unto his
kingdom. And when their life ended, he
received them into his Father's house. He receives sinners. But you know something? He doesn't
receive anybody else. This is the good news, but it's
only to sinners. It's only to sinners. Let me
show you two verses and I'll close with this. Look in Luke
19. Here he tells us about another
publican. Look in Luke 19. A couple of
things. It's wonderful when we see a
receiving sinner and a receiving Savior get together. It's wonderful. when that happens. And He has
to bring that to pass. That's sovereign grace. When
a sinner becomes willing in his heart of hearts to receive Christ,
receive the fullness of Christ into your utter emptiness, receive
His merit to put away your sin, receive His righteousness to
clothe the shame of your nakedness. When you receive Christ in all
the And He receives you. That is an act and a work of
the sovereign grace of God. That's not brought to pass by
some man. And look at it here in Luke chapter 19, in verse
1. Jesus entered and passed through
Jericho. And behold, there was a man named
Zacchaeus, which was a chief among the publicans. Man, if
the rest of them were sinners, think about him. He's a chief
sinner. And he was rich. And he sought
to see Jesus, who he was, and could not for the press, because
he was little of stature. And he ran before and climbed
up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for he was to pass by that
way. And when Jesus came to the place,
he stopped and he looked up and he saw Him. And he said, Zacchaeus,
make haste and come down, For today I must abide at thy house."
And he made haste and came down and received him joyfully with
all his heart as all of his salvation. And when they saw it, here they
go again, they all murmured saying that he was going to be guessed
with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said
unto the Lord, now you think the Lord won't change you. You
want your sins taken away, He'll take them away. You want a new
heart and a new spirit? He'll give you that. He'll completely
and thoroughly change you. And look what He did to Zacchaeus.
He stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my
goods I give to the poor. And if I have taken anything
from any man by false accusation, I'll restore him fourfold. And
Jesus said unto him, This day, is salvation come to this house. Forasmuch as he also is a son
of Abraham, for the Son of Man, and I can almost see the Master,
he turns and there's a bunch of Pharisees standing over there
with their long faces, gritting their teeth. And he comes and
he turns and he says to them, for the Son of Man came to seek
and to save that which was lost. That's why I've come. And here
was a lost sinner, and I've saved him. Zacchaeus received him,
didn't he? He received him, received his
message. Look at one more scripture and
we'll close. Look at Romans chapter 15 and verse 7. Romans chapter 15 and verse 7.
Go to the book of Acts and you'll find the book of Romans. You
have a few Bibles. It's on page 1200. When I find it, I'll tell you. 1236. Now, look at
this. A sinner receiving the Savior.
But here's a Savior receiving a sinner. Look what he says in
verse 7. Wherefore, receive ye one another,
As Christ also received you to the glory of God. There's the sinner receiving
Christ. There's no doubt about it. But the Savior must receive
the sinner. I'm as concerned about that as
I am you receiving the Savior. I received Christ. We hear a
lot of that today, don't we? I received Christ. Are you concerned
about this? Has He received me? We wouldn't know that, should
we? Christ hath received you to the
glory of God, for God's glory. God is glorified in His Son receiving
sinners. What kind of person are you this
morning, in and of yourself? Are you in that fine group? Sweet-smelling, good-looking,
holier-than-thou, got your own power, your own
merits. Where do you fit this morning?
Is that the group you're in? Are you in that group that often
stands off in the corner of yourself, smiting on your chest as it were?
Lord, show me mercy. Are you in that group that don't
need Christ's marriage? You don't need Him to save you
without some help of your own? Are you in that group? Or are
you in this group that goes within their hearts struggling, saying,
Oh, wretched man that I am? Are you sick? Are you sick of
sin? Are you sick of yourself? Are
you in that group? That's where I fit. And I may always be smiting my
chest, but I tell you what, I found in him a physician to heal my
soul's diseases. This man receiveth sinners, and
eateth with them. Bless his name for it. Let's
pray.