|
|
A Friend of SinnersBy
Wayne Dailey, | |
Printer
FriendlyThe Son of
man is come eating and drinking; and ye say,
Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of
publicans and sinners! Luke 7:34 |
| Think about what they were branding Jesus as: a glutton and a drunkard!
REJECTING GOD’S
COUNSEL These religious leaders rejected the counsel of God. Bear this thought in mind: don’t reject the counsel
of God that brought Jesus into the world to suffer and bleed and die for you.
The down-and-outers realized that John had come to prepare the way
for the Son of God. They opened their hearts
to accept the counsel of God and received mercy at His hand. God desires that all receive Jesus Christ, all receive His mercy
and grace, all receive His forgiveness and the gift of everlasting life. It is His counsel to bring salvation, and make
a way of escape that every sinner would have the opportunity to receive everlasting
life. II Peter 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. The Pharisees and lawyers spurned God’s mercy and grace. They hardened their hearts, and treasured up
against themselves wrath unto the Day of Judgment. How blind they really were. The marvelous light of God was shining two-fold
right before their eyes! But they wouldn’t
receive it. They totally turned their backs
on God and on His counsel, continuing to go on trying to establish their own righteousness.
WHY DID JESUS
COME? Look at the counsel of God and see why Christ came. He came to give His life as a ransom, that He
might redeem sinners from their sin and grant them everlasting life. Realize that He came to be the friend of sinners.
This world was lost – dead in trespasses
and sins, away from God, fallen deep into depravity – and Jesus came to save to
the uttermost. A TRUE FRIEND If you need a true friend, know that Jesus is a friend who sticks
closer than a brother – see Prov 18:14. He
is a friend who will forgive you, a friend who will show you love and mercy, a
friend who will never fail you nor forsake you. He won’t look at who you are and condemn you. He won’t look at how far down you’ve gone and
hold it against you. No, He didn’t come
to bring condemnation. He came to bring
salvation – to all who will believe. John 3:16,17 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. For God sent not
His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might
be saved. Yes, Jesus came to save those who have lost their way in life, those
who have gone into the paths of darkness, those who have gone down the road of
ungodliness and unbelief. See John 1:6–12 There was a man sent from God, whose name
was John. The same came for a witness,
to bear witness of the Light, that all men through Him might believe. THE LIGHT OF
THE WORLD Jesus, the Light of the world, is shining a beacon light in your
direction. He wants you to turn and look
unto that light – and see that He stands and offers His mercy and grace and pardon
unto you. See that He wants to deliver
you and set you free. He wants you to know
that, in His love and in His mercy, He has done something wonderful for you. Accept His redeeming work today. Accept the grace and mercy which has been bestowed
so freely upon all mankind. Through His grace and mercy, you can find forgiveness
of sin – and the blessing of everlasting life. Luke 7:36–39 And one of the Pharisees desired Him that
He would eat with him. And He went into
the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was
a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought
an alabaster box of ointment and stood at His feet behind Him weeping, and began
to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and
kissed His feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden Him
saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if He were a prophet, would
have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth Him: for she is
a sinner. TWO ATTITUDES Two people with two different attitudes about Jesus: both seemingly
knowing something about Him – yet each having a different reaction. The
Woman The woman had somehow heard of Jesus and of His love and mercy. Knowing her condition, she sought forgiveness
of her sins. When she found out that Jesus
was in the Pharisee’s house, she came and fell down at His feet. Then she began to weep and cry over her sins.
In this, we see a picture of what it is to be a repentant sinner.
We see someone who knew she was lost, knew she
was on her way to a devil’s hell, knew her life was shipwrecked. Yes, this woman knew she needed help – and she
found Jesus as the Saviour, the only One who could give her that which she needed
in her soul. The Pharisees had accused Jesus of being a friend of publicans and
sinners – and here we find a sinner has come to Him, falling at His feet weeping
and crying. Jesus did nothing to chase
this woman away. He didn’t rebuke her:
but rather, let her do what she felt in her heart to do. And this is the way true salvation can come to you. It can get you so broken up within that it will
cause you to weep and cry before Jesus. When Holy Ghost conviction comes upon you, that’s
the time to repent and turn to the Lord. When God is dealing with you, to where you feel
like weeping and crying over your past sinful life, that’s the time to cry out
for salvation. When you truly repent, you will feel sorry about your old sinful
life. You’ll want to do something about
it. You won’t want to continue in your
sins any longer. This woman felt the dealings of God in her life. She recognized she was a sinner, headed for hell
and destruction. And, right away, she responded
to the warm love of God that was made manifest unto her. We can see that Jesus, indeed, turned out to be a friend unto this
sinner. He reflected this in what He did,
allowing her to come and seek God at His feet. If you’re in need of salvation today, Jesus wants to show you His
love and friendship, His grace and mercy. He wants you to come and seek out salvation,
confess and forsake your sin, turn your life over to Him. If you’re in a sinful state today, I want you to know that Jesus
won’t cast you aside. If you come to Him,
He won’t turn you way. I don’t care how
low you’ve sunk in sin. When you come to
seek His mercy, He will draw you unto Himself. He will forgive you of your sins, and wash you
clean with His Blood. The Pharisee The Pharisee had a different attitude about this. When he saw this sinner repenting and turning
to the Lord, he had a wrong thought in his heart about her. We want to note that Jesus showed Himself merciful and loving to
this Pharisee. He came and sat down to
meat in his house, and showed Himself to be a friend. Yes, Jesus showed Himself to be a friend unto
this religious Pharisee, as well as to the publicans and sinners. He loves everybody. That’s what the Gospel is all about! We don’t want to be like this Pharisee. We don’t want to condemn Jesus because He is
the friend of publicans and sinners. We
don’t want to stand back and point our finger in condemnation of sinners. We’ve got to understand in our hearts that the
Lord truly loves us – and also understand that He loves everyone else, too! Yes, Jesus loves the sinner who is down in the gutter – and He also
loves the sinner who is polished and sophisticated. He loves everyone without exception. A PARABLE Luke 7:40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon,
I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he
saith, Master, say on. Jesus was about to tell Simon the message He was bringing to his
house. He needed to open up Simon’s understanding
so he could perceive what was going on in his home that day. Luke 7:41–43 There was a certain creditor which had two
debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly
forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which
of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he,
to whom he forgave most. And He said
unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. The Lord always had a way of getting His message across. I shouldn’t say, “had a way”; He has a
way to enter hearts today, able to open our understanding to the truth. We begin to look at this parable as simply a parable of two men owing
someone money: one owed a lot, the other owed just a little. Neither had any means to pay – but the creditor
forgave them both of their debt. Those who have been forgiven much love much. Jesus was illustrating a point to get this message
across to this Pharisee’s heart. Up until this time, the Pharisee had no understanding
of what Jesus was driving at. He didn’t understand that the woman who had wept
at Jesus’ feet is illustrated in this parable as the one who owed five hundred
pence – nor did he realize that he, being quite religious and thinking that he
was perfect, is illustrated as the one owing only fifty pence. Both the woman and the Pharisee were in the condition where they
had nothing to pay to atone for their sins. They both had to depend upon the mercy and grace
of God to forgive them. The Pharisee was blind to the fact that a sinner, such as this woman,
could receive mercy from the hand of God – and he was blind to the fact that he,
too, was a sinner in need of salvation. He thought he could straighten himself out and
be acceptable unto God by living a good, moral life. And life is like that. When
those who sink low in sin and ungodliness get saved, as they fall in love with
the Lord, their love is usually great. They knew they were headed into the pit, into
hell and destruction – and now they reflect a great love and appreciation for
the Lord. There are many in churches today who are like this Pharisee. They have been in church a long time – in fact,
many of them grew up in church! Their testimony is generally, I never did
anything that was really bad. I never went
into gross sin. I never did this. I never did that. As a result of all they never did, they love little. They place their boast in the fact that they’ve
been a do–gooder, that they grew up in church. They say they’ve always known the Lord – yet,
when it comes right down to having a real love for Him, they are lacking. Something is missing in their testimony. They’ve been boasting of their goodness, but
have said little about God’s grace and mercy. Like the Pharisee, they owed only fifty pence. Their sin debt was very small compared to someone
who had gone all out in sin (at least, in their eyes it was small). They
should thank God that their life wasn’t marred by gross sin – but they should
also open their eyes to the debt of sin they do owe. Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all
our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our
iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Realize that each of us was destined for hell, each of us without
exception. We can’t impress God with our
money or with our goodness. What does God
think of our righteousness? He sees it
as filthy rags! Not sufficient to pay the
debt of sin. But when we realize there is no way for us to pay our debt of sin,
and we cry out to Him for mercy, He will forgive the entire debt. Then, when He has forgiven us, and we have gotten
saved, we can rejoice in His grace and His mercy and forgiveness. ANOTHER LOOK Now, let’s take another look at this woman who was forgiven much.
Jesus used her as an illustration of great love:
comparing her great love with the little bit of love that was in the Pharisee’s
heart. Luke 7:44–46 And He turned to the woman, and said unto
Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered
into thine house, thou gavest Me no water for My feet: but she hath washed My
feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest Me no kiss: but this woman since
the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss My feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this
woman hath anointed My feet with ointment. The Pharisee invited Jesus into his home, but he didn’t even offer
Him a basin of water to wash His feet. He hadn’t done much of anything to refresh Jesus.
We can see here that there wasn’t much love in the Pharisee’s heart.
On the other hand, this sinful woman possessed
a great love for Jesus, and she manifested that love outwardly – washing His feet
with her tears, drying them with her hair, and anointing them with oil. Luke 7:47–48 Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which
are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the
same loveth little. And He said unto her,
Thy sins are forgiven. Oh, yes, the Pharisee invited the Master for dinner: but he wasn’t
as considerate as he should have been. His love was little compared to this woman’s
love. I imagine she had heard a lot about
Jesus – in that she walked into that house, and began to do what she did with
tears in her eyes. The Lord is faithful to work to draw you unto Himself. Can you feel something within that urges you
to get right with God? To receive Jesus
Christ as your personal Saviour? The love of God constrains you to get saved – before it is too late!
He offers you His mercy and forgiveness,
if you will but turn and cry out to Him for mercy. This woman came and repented of her sins – and her sins were forgiven.
There were no questions asked. She
just came to the Lord and poured out her heart in true repentance. HAVE YOU RECEIVED
CHRIST Realize that this same salvation is available to you, today. Why don’t you turn to Jesus Christ right now?
Come to Him just as you are. You don’t have to change your life before you
can come to Him. Simply call upon Him and
ask Him to save you. Ask Him to forgive
you of your sins and to come into your heart today. If you do this, you will be born again of the
Spirit. Salvation is that easy. It’s not complicated. In fact, the reason so many miss salvation is
because they don’t let the truth get down into their hearts – it’s just in their
heads. Romans 10:9–10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. This woman received something deep down in her heart. The reason she got saved was because she fell
in love with Jesus. And, as a result, she
found His love flowing back in return. Realize that salvation is an experience of the heart. We must believe with our heart that the Lord
will save us, coming to Jesus in faith, and accepting Him into our heart as Lord
and Saviour. As we believe on Jesus with
all of our heart, God does a work of creation in our life, creating a new spiritual
life within. II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
The Bible says we are born again of an incorruptible seed by the
Word of God. When we give our life over
to Jesus, like this woman did, we are born again of the Spirit – right on the
spot. Luke 7:50 And He said to the woman, Thy faith hath
saved thee; go in peace. |