Sermon #111 Luke
Sermons
Title: “This Man Receiveth Sinners”
Text: Luke
15:2
Subject: Christ’s
Willingness to Save
Date: Sunday
Morning—
Tape # X-92a
Introduction:
My text is Luke
15:2. We will begin in verse 1.
(Luke 15:1) “Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear
him."
The publicans,
the very lowest, the most contemptible of men, the public oppressors, scorned
and hated by the Jews, these, together with sinners, the worst of
characters, the scum of the streets and the very
riff-raff of the society, gathered close at the feet of the Lord Jesus to hear
his words.
There was a great crowd of
very respectable, good, religious people present, but they stood at a
distance. They were not vile, base men. They did not need a Savior. They were
not in need of mercy. They required no forgiveness. They were highly esteemed
in the synagogues as rulers, and governors, and teachers.
They looked upon this Prophet,
Jesus of Nazareth, with scorn. They watched him with malicious eyes,
trying to find some fault with everything he said and did. They could find no
flaw in him. They could not answer or repudiate his doctrine. So they did the
best (the worst) they could. They found an opportunity to slander his name by
the company he kept. Look at verse 2.
(Luke
15:2) "And the Pharisees and
scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners,
and eateth with them."
This shocked their proud,
self-righteous notion of propriety. When those proud Pharisees and Scribes saw
that the Lord Jesus was comfortable in the company of such bad people, that he
was kind, gracious and warm toward them, when they heard him speak words of
tender mercy and grace to them, they sneered, pointed their fingers and said, what they considered a very disgraceful thing. ―
"This man receiveth sinners."
They thought this was his
disgrace. But our Savior wears the accusation as a badge of honor. They could
not have uttered anything more evidently true or more thoroughly descriptive of
our great God and Savior. I am here to proclaim this blessed fact, this God
honoring revelation of grace. ― “This man receiveth sinner, and eateth
with them!”
Divisions: My message has just two
points: a statement of fact and a blessed conclusion.
1. Here is a statement of fact,
revealed and verified throughout the life and ministry of our Savior. ― “This
man receiveth sinners.”
2. Here is a most reasonable
conclusion that I draw fro the fact that “This man receiveth sinners.”
― Surely, then, he will receive me.
I.
Here is a statement of fact,
revealed and verified throughout the life and ministry of our Savior. ― “This
man receiveth sinners.”
I do not suggest that Christ
receives everybody, but that he "receiveth sinners." In our
day it has become fashionable for everyone to lie against what he believes, and
to say he is a sinner, even when he believes himself a very good, respectable
person.
We often hear people say, “Of
course I am a sinner.” Then, he takes refuge, mitigating what he has just said,
by adding, “We are all sinners. No one is perfect.” When they acknowledge
themselves to be sinners, they simply say what they know they are expected to
say. It means no more to them, than reading aloud the words of a sentence in a
foreign language that they do not understand. They have no understanding of
what it is to be a sinner. They are really, at heart, just like the Scribes and
Pharisees here in Luke 15.
A. These Scribes and Pharisees
made a distinction between themselves and sinners; and the Master endorsed it.
When they saw the Master
eating with Publicans and harlots, they stood to one side, pointed at them, as
a people totally unlike them, and said, “This man receiveth sinners. We
are not like them. They are sinners.”
Hear me now, you who vainly
imagine that you are good. You know who you are. Our Savior endorses the
distinction you make between yourself and others. In your own
opinion, you are not sinners. Therefore, you stand exempt from the good news of
the gospel. I have nothing for you. This Book has nothing for you. God
has nothing for you. Christ has nothing for you (1 Tim.
(Mat
(Mark
(Luke
5:32) "I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance."
(Luke
19:10) "For the Son of man is come
to seek and to save that which was lost."
(Rom
5:8) "God commendeth his love
toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
(1
Tim 1:15) "This is a
faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."
The Son of God always heals
them that have need of healing (Luke
Is there a sinner in this
house?
Have I found a sinner? I have good news from God for you.
· God saves sinners!
· Christ came down here to save
sinners!
· He lived for sinners!
· He died for sinners!
· He makes intercession for
sinners!
There is in Christ Jesus redemption for the ruined,
grace for the guilty, mercy for the mean, pardon for the profligate,
righteousness for the wretched, deliverance for the damned, and salvation for
sinners!
B. None but sinners ever come to
Christ.
God chose sinners. God
commends his love to sinners. God calls sinners to repentance. ― No one else, just sinners. And none but sinners ever
come to him. There has never been such a miracle as a self-righteous man
coming to Christ for mercy; none but those who need a Savior come to the Savior.
If you do not consider yourself in need of a Savior, you will never approach
his throne and seek his mercy. Therefore, our Savior said, “Ye will not come
to me that ye may have life.”
Illustration: Only the guilty confess their
guilt and through themselves upon the mercy of the court.
C. None but sinners will come to
Christ; and none but sinners can come to him.
The self-righteous man cannot
come to Christ. To come to Christ is to trust him for mercy, to look to him for
righteousness, redemption, atonement, and forgiveness, and to deny yourself. Is that not what he tells us?
I cannot come to Christ,
except I own myself a sinner and deny all personal worth, merit and
righteousness. This, the good, righteous cannot do. A self-righteous man cannot
repent, for he has nothing of which to repent. He cannot trust
Christ for forgiveness, for he has nothing to be forgiven. His knee
cannot bend to seek pardon, for he has no need of pardon.
· His hands are full. He cannot
cry, “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.”
· He is not impotent. He cannot
pray, “Helpless, look to thee for grace.”
· He is splendidly robed. He
cannot say, “Naked, look to thee for dress.”
· He is altogether clean, He
cannot cry, “Foul, I to the Fountain fly, wash me Savior, or I die.”
Only the sick need a
physician. Only the poor need a benefactor. Only the guilty need grace. Only
the sinner needs a Savior.
D. Our text declares, “This
man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.”
I know that these words were
spoken by unbelieving, self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees; but God often uses
both Balaam and his ass to proclaim great truths of which they know nothing. As
it was with Caiaphas, the high priest, in John 11, so it was with these men.
They spoke, not of themselves, but by the direction of God’s Spirit, and spoke
in complete agreement with the whole Book of God. But what does this mean?
― “This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.”
1. It means that the Lord Jesus
Christ receives sinners to all the benefits of grace he has purchased for them.
· Is there a Fountain opened
for cleansing? He receives sinners to wash them in it.
· Is there medicine for the
soul? He receives sinners to heal all their diseases.
· Is there refuge for the
guilty? He receives sinners into that retreat of mercy.
All that he has of love, all
that he has of mercy, all that he has of atonement, all that he has of
sanctification, all that he has of righteousness, all that he has of
redemption, all that he has of acceptance—to all this he receives the sinner.
2. Still there is more. Our
all-glorious Christ is not content to take us into his house. ― He
receives us his very heart.
He takes the black and filthy
sinner, having washed him in his blood, and says, "thou
art my beloved; my desire is towards thee." His left hand of mercy is
under our head. His right arm of grace embraces us. “He brought e into his
banqueting house, and his banner over me is love!” Then, at last, he brings
the saint (the sinner saved by his grace) home to heaven, wipes all tears from
his eyes, and gives him his glory!
3. Let me ring this bell again.
Hear it and rejoice. ― "This man receiveth sinners."
He receives none but sinners.
He saves none but those who know themselves to be sinners. Full, free salvation
is preached to every sinner in the universe; but I have no salvation to preach
to those who are not sinners.
Oh, how I pray that God may
throw you self-righteous, good folk, like Saul of Tarsus, to the ground and
make you sinners. All your righteousnesses are but filthy rags. All your
goodness must be broken in pieces. "This man receiveth sinners!"
Illustration: Taken From Biblical
Illustrator ― The devil’s castaways received
by Christ: —
“Mr. Whitfield,” said Lady Huntingdon, “these ladies have been preferring a
very heavy charge against you. They say that in your sermon last night you made
use of this expression: “So ready is Christ to receive sinners who come
to Him, that He is willing to receive the devil’s castaways.” Mr.
Whitfield pleaded guilty to the charge, and told them of the following
circumstance. “A wretched woman came to me this morning, and said: ‘ Sir, I was passing the door of your chapel, and hearing
the voice of some one preaching, I did what I have never been in the habit of
doing, I went in I and one of the first things I heard you say was that Jesus
would receive willingly the devil’s castaways. Sir, I have been in the
town for many years, and am so worn out in his service, that I may with truth be called one of the devil’s castaways. Do you think that
Jesus would receive me? “I,” said Mr. Whitfield, “assured her that
there was not a doubt of it, if she was willing to go to Him.” From the sequel
it appeared that this was a case of true conversion, and Lady Huntingdon was
assured that the woman left a very charming testimony behind her, that though
her sins had been of a crimson hue, the atoning blood of Christ had washed them
white as snow.
4. As great and good as that is,
still there is more here. ― The word here
translated, "receiveth," is a very expressive and instructive
term.
The word means ― “waits, watches, looks out for, lies in wait for.” It is found fourteen times in the New
Testament; and in all other places it is translated this way.
· Mark
· Luke
·
·
· Acts
This man, the Lord Jesus, the God -man is looking out for
sinners! Paul waited to receive all who came to him (Acts 28) ; but our Savior goes out in search for them. He lies in
wait for sinners; for Mary’s, and Matthews, and Zaccheuses.
What does that mean? ― “This man receives, waits,
lies in wait for and watches out for sinner.” I cannot begin to tell you all that it
means, but it’s all good! He does not lie in wait as the lion for his prey, but as
the Shepherd for his straying sheep. It implies that…
(1.) He loves sinners. ― Indeed otherwise it
has no meaning. The three parables which follow indicate this. It is love,
tender, compassionate, self-sacrificing, forgiving love, that
is the mainspring of this waiting for sinners.
(John
3:14-16) "And as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
{15} That whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have eternal life. {16} For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life."
(Rom
5:6-8) "For when we were yet
without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. {7} For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet
peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. {8} But God
commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us."
(1
John 3:16) "Hereby perceive we the
love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay
down our lives for the brethren."
(2.) How long-suffering Christ is toward sinners, how
patient. ― As the hunter or the
fisherman waits patiently hour after hour to seize his object, so does this
waiting, watching Savior. Unwearied patience with the ungodly, the wandering,
the hard-hearted, the profligate, marked his life on earth; and He is still the
same patient one in heaven. "He bath long patience."
(2
Pet 3:9) "The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance."
(3.) Our Savior is intent upon the salvation of sinners.
― He is thoroughly in earnest. His patience is not indifference; his love
is not mere good-natured benevolence. It is all earnestness with Him. It was so
on earth; it is so in heaven.
(4.) Certainly, this speaks of our Redeemer’s desire and
determination to bless. He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked.
He “delighteth in mercy!”
How does he do it? How does the Lord Jesus wait
for sinners, watching, lying in wait to receive them? ― His life on
earth is a specimen of how He does it. His days and nights were spent in
seeking the lost.
· By the sea of
Galilee
· In the coasts of
· On the highways
of
· In the
synagogue, in the temple, in the village, in the city, by Jacob’s well
He was seeking the lost. How does He do this now? How or where is
He lying in wait for sinners?
(1.) In the word. ― He is the Alpha and Omega
of this Book. Out of these pages He speaks to us. From Genesis to Revelation we
hear his voice. It is the voice of love. "Come unto me," is
the burden of the Old Testament as well as of the New. It is not merely that
each chapter speaks of Jesus; but in each chapter Jesus speaks to us. In each
verse He is lying in wait for us.
(2.) In the gospel. ― The
preaching of the gospel is not the practice of oratory and rhetoric for the
entertainment of men on their way to hell. It is God and Christ beseeching men
to be reconciled. It is the Son of God looking out for sinners; stretching out
his hands from the pulpit to sinners.
(3.) In providence. ― What
a meaning there is in that word providence when used not a substitute for God,
but as a word to denote his doings! In each providence, great or small, private
or public, personal, or family, or social, or national, or universal; in
mercies or in judgments; in wars, acts of terrorism; famines, pestilences,
shipwrecks, airplane crashes; in the seasons, in the sunshine, in the storm; in
all, Christ is lying in wait for sinners; out of them comes his loving voice.
Thus Christ lies in wait for sinners: not merely waits in his
house to receive them, but watches for them, looks out for them, goes out in
quest of them. The expression is beautifully applicable to the three
cases in the parables which follow. The Shepherd is looking out and
going out for his sheep; the woman with her lighted candle is going through
every room, turning over all the lumber, and looking into every nook, for her
piece of silver; and the father is watching at the door for his wandering son.”
― Horatius Bonar
“This man lieth in wait for sinners." Yes; in
his work of saving, Christ is aggressive. He goes out in order to find
them. He is ever on the outlook. He does not merely sit above on his throne,
willing to receive the applications of those who come. He comes down amongst
us. He goes to and fro in the earth; He walks up and down in it. His daily,
hourly work is the pursuit of sinners. We are compassed about with infinite,
indescribable love. For the lost, there is the compassionate love; for the
saved, there is the complacent love. We cannot escape it.
This pursuit of love, this pursuit
of sinners is always effectual. It follows us, pursues us, cries after
us, surrounds us! And it shall have its object.
Someone said, “Why the love of an almighty heart should ever be ineffectual is
a mystery beyond our power to solve”. Were it true, it would be a mystery
indeed. But it is not true. The love of our omnipotent Savior’s heart is
effectual, irresistible love. ― Every
sinner pursued by him shall be had by him (Ps. 23:6).
If this man receiveth
sinners, poor, broken, helpless, doomed, damned, sin-sick sinners, what a sweet
word this is for me!
II.
Here is a most reasonable
conclusion that I draw from the fact that “This man receiveth
sinners.” ― Surely,
then, he will receive me.
Let me now do what I can
(Spirit of God, speak through this worthless, rusty, empty pipe, for Christ’s
sake to the hearts of needy sinners!) encourage you to come to my Savior, to
receive his great atonement, and to be clothed with all his righteousness.
I am talking to you who are
real, sure enough, bona fide, actual sinners; not to you complimentary
sinners, not you who merely say you are sinners to pacify your own consciences.
I am talking to you who know your lost, ruined, hopeless condition, to you who
are hiding in the highways and hedges of despair. To you I am sent, as the
servant of my Master, to compel you to come in that his house may be full. You
are now frankly and freely bidden to come to Jesus Christ, and to be saved by
him. Come, poor sinner, come.
A. Come, because he has said he
will receive you.
I know your fears. I once had
the same. I thought, like you, “I cannot come. I am too vile, to black, too
corrupt. He will not receive me. He will not hear my prayer. He will never take
me into his house. He will never spread over me the banner of his love.”
Then, I heard his sweet
voice, "Him that cometh I will in nowise cast out." Do you
imagine that the eternal God is a liar? Would he tell you he will receive you,
and yet not do so? Would he say, "My fatlings are killed, come ye to
the supper," and yet shut the door in your face? No, never. Be
assured, trembling soul, he cannot, he will not cast you out. Come, then, he
has declared, “Him that cometh unto me I will in nowise cast out.”
B. Come to Christ because you
know you need him, because you know you must have him.
Poor sinner! If you know your
need of a Savior, the Savior made you know it. If desire Christ, Christ gave
you that desire. If you long for him, it is he who put the longing in your
soul. If he has opened your wounded heart, it is that he may bind it up. If he
has slain you, it is that he may give you life. Come, then, come now to the
throne of grace, and take with you words of repentance.
(Hosea
6:1-3) "Come, and let us return
unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he
will bind us up. {2} After two days will he
revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his
sight. {3} Then shall we know, if we
follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he
shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the
earth."
(Hosea
14:1-2) "O Israel, return unto the
LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. {2} Take with you
words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us
graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips."
Now, hear what he says. ―
(Hosea
14:4) "I will heal their
backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from
him."
C. Let me give you another
reason to come to Christ. My Master commands me, “Compel them to come.”
That’s my aim. I am sure "this man receiveth sinners,"
because he has received many, many, before you.
What multitudes there are who
have entered in at Mercy’s Door! How many weary, heavy-laden sinners have
called there for rest! How many famished souls have sought bread there! Not one
was ever turned away.
"No sinner was ever
empty sent back,
Who came seeking mercy for
Jesus' sake."
IF you are turned away, you
will be the first; and that shall not be! Do you think God will forfeit his
good name, by turning you away? Mercy's gate has been open night and day, ever
since man sinned. It will not be shut in your face. The Master of the house
declares, "Him that cometh I will in nowise cast out." He did
not turn away…
· Wicked Manasseh.
· The wild Gadarene.
· Mary Magdalene.
· The Syrophonecian woman.
· The Samaritan Harlot
· The Woman Taken in Adultery
· The barbarian Maltese chief.
· John Bunyan.
· John Newton.
· Don Fortner.
D. I know that he will receive
every sinner who comes to him, because he calls sinners to himself.
I speak to you now as his
ambassador. It is Christ himself who calls sinners. I am only his messenger (2
Cor.
(2
Cor
(2
Cor 6:1-2) "We then, as workers
together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace
of God in vain. {2} (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted,
and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the
accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)"
If the Son of God calls me
and bids me come, I am sure he will not turn me away when I come. Once there
was a blind man (Mark
· Do you suppose he sat there
still, crying?
· Do you imagine that he said
to himself, “No, he is not calling me”?
· Do you think he imagined he
could not come because he was so poor, so blind, so helpless, so unworthy?
If you do, you are mistaken.
Read the rest of the story for yourself (Mark
(Mark
10:49-52) "And Jesus stood still,
and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. {50} And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
{51} And Jesus answered and said unto him, What
wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I
might receive my sight. {52} And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy
faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed
Jesus in the way."
If the King of heaven says,
"Come unto me," then it must be assumed that it is all right
to come.
E. Let me give you one more
reason why you should not hesitate to come to my Savior. ― I know
that this man, who is himself God our Savior, receiveth sinners because he came
all the way down here to seek and find that which was lost.
(2 Cor 8:9) "For ye kno w the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich."
Illustration: The
Handkerchief