Calling All Wretched Sinners
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
“Follow me”...
This is a common phrase that Rabbis used...
If we are familiar with the New Testament then we will recognize that this phrase is used by Jesus Christ too.
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To understand that calling and Jesus’ invitation, we need to understand the context.
In Jesus’ day, childhood education started at age five as young boys went to the synagogue school to learn Hebrew and memorize the Torah.
By the time of his bar mitzvah at age 13, a typical Jewish young man had memorized all of the Old Testament.
Those who showed great promise were encouraged to continue their education and begin studying the authoritative interpretation of the Torah known as “The Yoke of Torah.”
After that next multi-year phase, the young men who continued to show great promise were further encouraged to extend their training by spending time (typically ages 17-20) with a rabbi in a multi-year experience.
There they would hone their ability to interpret God’s Word as it relates to all the practical issues of daily life.
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The student would choose a rabbi and ask to become his student.
Because of the great interpretive diversity amongst the rabbis, the decision to ask to be a rabbi’s disciple and receive religious training from him was not made lightly.
Some rabbis interpreted the Scriptures literally.
Others focused on the spirit of the Torah, while still other rabbis emphasized different areas of emphasis, e.g. ritual purity laws.
These diverse approaches often led to very different interpretations and application of Scripture pertaining to issues of daily life.
Since a rabbi’s interpretation of God’s Word was forever binding on his disciples, great care had to be taken by the disciple in choosing a rabbi and his teaching to make sure it was something he could identify with and live out for the rest of his life.
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A 1st Century rabbi would only choose a very select few, highly promising young men from all the wannabes who asked to be his disciples.
He selected only those who he thought could fully measure up to his standard and eventually become just like him.
What the rabbi was looking for was not just a detailed knowledge of the Scriptures, but the ability of this candidate to interpret the Scriptures and apply them to real life.
Remember, the issue for an observant Jew in the First Century was never what God’s Word says.
They all knew what it said.
They had memorized it.
The issue was: can they interpret the Scripture just like him.
So when a Rabbi gave his invitation of “follow me,” he was saying:
“Come and be with me as my disciple and submit your life to my authoritative teaching.”
Hearing those words meant you had made the last “cut.”
These words were deeply significant to hear.
This was everything a young man had trained and studied for since age 5.
Now their dreams and all of their hard work could be realized.
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 5 and focus on verses 27 through 32.
Our message this morning is titled, “Calling All Wretched Sinners”
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This message today...
Will focus on What happens when Jesus says the words, “Follow me” to the must unlikely individual...
An individual that the people of the 1st century...
Especially the Jewish people...
Thought of as the scum of society...
Today, we will explore what happens when Jesus calls a tax collector to follow Him!
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So, this morning we will cover four main points:
The Invitation...
The Response...
The Criticism...
And...
The Great Physician.
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
You are infinitely mighty...
You are infinitely awesome...
You are infinitely wise...
You are infinitely good!
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Thank You for who You are...
Thank you for giving us breath...
Thank you for allowing us to gather this day to worship You!
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Teach us Your commands...
And help us to follow them.
Teach us your statutes...
And give us the courage and boldness to follow them while living in this hostile world.
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Forgive us falling short...
And for not taking our thoughts captive.
Forgive us for not speaking up enough...
And for stating silent when our voices should be declaring You Good News to all!
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And it is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.”
28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.
30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Invitation
1) The Invitation
Verse 27: After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.”
“Levi” is identified as Matthew in the parallel account recorded in Matthew 9:9.
In the first-century...
Jews often had two names...
One was in Hebrew or Aramaic and the other was in Greek or Latin...
So, the tax collector Levi would have most likely been called Levi Matthew.
We see a similar dual name with Paul.
His Hebrew name was Saul and when he was commissioned by the Lord to be the Apostle to the gentiles his name was not actually changed...
We just see that he is referred to by his Greek name, Paul, which fits better with the audience he will be mainly targeting in his ministry.
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Another point that we can extract from our text...
When looking at the original language...
Is that Matthew is called a “telōnēs” in Koine Greek, which is not a chief tax collector...
That term is “architelōnēs” and was used for Zacchaeus who we will meet later in the Gospel accounts...
So, Matthew was a lower-level tax collector who would have reported to someone like Zacchaeus...
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Matthew would have been one of the men at the tax booth who collected the levy as people traveled from city to city.
Even as a lower-level tax collector he would have most likely been wealthy...
Another indicator that he was wealthy is due to the fact that since Capernaum was the largest city on the Sea of Galilee and a crossroads for east-west and north-south trade, he likely had a lucrative business.
However, despite the financial rewards of being a tax collector...
The profession had a major negative aspect.
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You see Beloved, Mathew being a tax collector means he was one of the most hated and despised men in all of Israel...
For tax collectors were considered the dregs of Jewish society.
They were the lowest of the low on the social scale...
And on top of all that they symbolized the worst of the worst sinners.
The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Luke has this not on tax collectors:
“The Roman occupation of Israel involved more than just a military presence; the nation was also subject to Roman taxation.
The taxes in Galilee, for example, were forwarded by tax collectors to Herod Antipas, and by him to Rome.
Antipas sold tax franchises to the highest bidder, and such franchises were a lucrative business.
Tax collectors had a certain amount that they were required to collect, and whatever they collected beyond that they were permitted to keep.
In addition to the poll tax (on everyone, including slaves), income tax (about 1 percent), and land tax (one tenth of all grain, and one fifth of all wine and fruit), there were taxes on the transport of goods, letters, produce, using roads, crossing bridges, and almost anything else the rapacious, greedy minds of the tax collectors could think of.
All of that left plenty of room for larceny, extortion, exploitation, and even loan sharking, as tax collectors loaned money at exorbitant interest to those who were unable to pay their taxes.
Tax collectors also employed thugs to physically intimidate people into paying, and to beat up those who refused.
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All of that was anathema to the Jewish people, who believed God was the only one to whom they should pay taxes.
Tax collectors were viewed as traitors to their people, were classified as unclean, and were barred from the synagogues.
They were also forbidden to give testimony in a Jewish court, because they were considered to be liars.
Repentance was deemed especially difficult for tax collectors.”
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To give you an example from Scripture...
One only needs to look at Luke 18:10-14 to see how the 1st century Jewish world thought of tax collectors:
10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
As you can see tax collectors were despised...
People hated them and treated them like pimps, prostitutes, drug dealers, and gangsters...
They were considered the scum of the earth!
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Yet even with this parable by Jesus that we just read...
We see that some tax collectors understood there sinfulness and repented...
They cried out to God to have mercy on them...
They knew that they were sick with the disease of sin...
And they could not even lift there faces to God...
Yet they surrendered to Him and in God’s eyes they were justified...
While others...
Like the religious elite...
Saw nothing wrong with themselves...
And therefore were blind to God’s truth that they too were sinners in need of a Savior.
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Jesus gives another parable that drives this point home in Mt 21:28–32:
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’
29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went.
30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go.
31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.
32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
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So, one of the most shocking events in the pages of Scripture happens...
A tax collector of all people is called to follow Jesus!
Not a well learned Pharisee...
Not a knowledgeable Scribe...
Not a well respected Sadducee...
But the most unlikely of people...
A tax collector...
I am sure everyone was shocked including the disciples who were already following Jesus at the time.
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So, how does Matthew respond?
Let’s look at our next point to see.
2) The Response
2) The Response
Verse 28: And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
When Luke records that Matthew left everything that meant that he will never be able to go back to tax collecting...
As soon as Matthew left his post he would have been replaced almost immediately.
Matthew knew this and still he decided to make his action final by leaving everything behind.
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Matthew’s response here acts as a proper example to us of what discipleship means and how we are to make a priority out of our commitment to Jesus over all other things.
Recorded throughout Scripture we see many negative and positive examples of how people respond to the offer to follow Christ...
Let’s start by looking at a few negative responses...
Let’ start by looking at Luke 9:59–60 which says:
59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
When Jesus asked this particular individual to follow Him...
An excuse was made to wait until he buried his father first...
This should be understood that this man’s father was not already dead...
If that were the case then he would certainly have been at his parents’ home preparing for the funeral...
What should be understood then is that this man’s father is already old or possibly ill and that he does not wish to desert him in that state...
Only when he is dead and buried will he follow the Lord.
That may seem reasonable to some...
Yet Jesus answers with boldness to show that to follow Him is such an urgent matter that even the most intimate family ties must be laid aside when the call comes to follow Him...
This fits perfectly when Jesus says in Luke 14:26–27:
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
Our love for our family cannot interfere with our love for God...
Our love for God must be that much more...
In fact our love for God must be so much higher that any other love we had is seen as hatred in comparison.
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Again, we see this half hearted commitment to Jesus that will not due in passages like Luke 9:61–62 that says:
61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”
62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Again, one can’t say they are followers of God and look back to the things of the world...
Even if those things are not in and of themselves bad.
Family and friends are great.
We are to love them...
But we can’t place them above God.
If there is ever any conflict with a friend or family with the commands and decrees of God then we have to choose...
God or our friends?
God or our family?
God or our children?
God or our spouse?
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I understand all to well that cost...
I do not speak to you as someone who is not aware of the price it costs to follow Jesus.
I lost family and friends when I surrendered to the Lord!
Many of you have done the same...
And many of you know that feeling.
It is a cross we need to bear indeed...
As Matthew 10:38 says:
38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
And the reality of Luke 14:33 can’t be lost on us:
33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
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Scripture also records many positive responses to God calling individuals to follow Him and the rewards for that sacrifice.
As Mark 8:34–35 says:
34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
It is true that our old life needs to be sacrificed in order to follow Jesus...
But to lost one’s old life is to gain eternal life!
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In Matthew 19:21 Jesus makes it clear that even our sacrifice of our material things in this world is not in vain...
For what we are doing is building our treasures in heaven:
21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
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As followers of Christ...
We must count everything else as loss...
Yet there is surpassing worth in the knowing of Jesus Christ!
It is nearly impossible to capture this truth in human words…
Paul puts it like this in Philippians 3:8:
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
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You see Church, to know Christ is to be totally transformed...
For example, in the MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Luke a great insight is shared about Matthew’s spiritual transformation:
“There was a decisive decision to break with his past, then a continual pattern of following Christ.
He began to experience new longings, new aspirations, new affections, a new mind, and a new will; in short, he became a new creature.
The traitor, extortioner, robber, and outcast sinner became the apostle and evangelist of Jesus Christ.
Matthew lost a temporal career, but gained an eternal destiny; he forfeited material possessions, but gained ‘an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven’; he lost sinful companions, but gained the fellowship of the Son of God.”
Now in service to the Lord...
Matthew is truly a new creation...
And we see that in his actions.
The first thing he does is throw a great feast for the Lord...
And this takes us to our next point.
3) The Criticism
3) The Criticism
Verses 29-30: And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary on Luke says this abut the feast Matthew held:
“Jesus is the guest of honor; but Levi does not, as might be expected limit the guest list to his new Christian friends, the disciples of Jesus.
Instead of immediately cutting off his old associates, Levi invites them into his home, probably to bring them also into contact with Jesus.”
So, Matthew seeks to use his home and resources to bring the message of Jesus to his friends...
This should be a model for us too...
Once we know the truth of the Gospel message...
We need to share it with our family, our friends, our acquaintances, and anyone who will give us the time and day!
Theologian Darrell L. Bock puts it this way:
“Levi has gone to great trouble to bring Jesus to many who might not normally be expected to have contact with a religious dignitary.
The turnout is clearly not the moral upper crust of society.
Nevertheless, Jesus reclines with them in meal fellowship. In doing so, he is carrying out his ministry to the spiritually needy.
At the same time, Jesus offends the separatism of the Pharisees, who would have never shared a meal with such rabble.”
So, despite this amazing gathering that Matthew puts together to get others to hear Jesus’ teachings...
The religious authority have a problem with it.
They were more concerned with outside appearances...
And the heart of the matter was that they only saw some people as sinners while they did not acknowledge the sin in their own lives.
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I appreciate the insight from this note found in The ESV Study Bible regarding the criticism of the Pharisees and Scribes:
“Such table fellowship implies welcoming these people into extended interpersonal association, which the Pharisees thought would make a person ‘unclean.’
But just as Jesus would cleanse the leper rather than being made unclean by the leper, so Jesus will bring sinners to repentance and forgiveness rather than being defiled by association with the sinners.”
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So, let’s take a look at our fourth and final point to see what Jesus has to say about all that has transpired..
4) The Great Physician
4) The Great Physician
Verses 31-32: And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
The NLT version of verse 32 puts it like this:
“I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.”
This is an accurate translation of how Jesus’ words would have been understood.
So, we can rightly conclude that while the message of the gospel of grace and forgiveness is for everyone to hear...
Repentance is a prerequisite to its reception.
One simply cannot be a follower of the Lord without first repenting...
If one believes they have nothing to repent of...
Well then Jesu has nothing to offer those individuals...
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We simply can’t approach God in a prideful and arrogant manner...
In order to really know God one has to know they are a sinner in need of repentance!
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Additionally, Jesus saying , “I have not come to call the righteous” makes perfect sense in light of the biblical teaching that there is none righteous who are righteous as it says in Romans 3:10–23:
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Church...
How many people have fallen short of the glory of God?
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All!
All have fallen short!
So, the the call to repentance is a universal call for all people.
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Pastor John MacArthur says it like this:
“Human beings are inherently religious.
The image of God in man, though corrupted by the fall, still compels people to worship.
As a result, there are thousands of religions, philosophies, and worldviews, ranging from primitive animistic religions all the way to sophisticated religious systems.
But those religions, though differing widely from one in another in the details, nevertheless fall into two categories.
On the one hand, there is the religion of human achievement; on the other hand the religion of divine accomplishment.
In every religion other than biblical Christianity, man achieves salvation by his own efforts.
Buddhists seek nirvana by following the Eightfold Path;
Muslims hope to enter Paradise by following the Five Pillars of Islam;
Mormons seek godhood through baptism, membership in the Mormon church, accepting Joseph Smith and his successors as prophets of God, and going through the temple ceremonies;
Jehovah’s Witnesses seek to earn everlasting life on earth by their morality and door-to-door proselytizing;
Roman Catholics seek salvation by means of the Mass, sacraments, prayers, and good works that cooperate with grace to enable them to earn heaven (even if they have to be aided by the works of others to escape purgatory).
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But all such self-righteous efforts to achieve salvation are utterly futile and serve only to damn the eternal souls of those who vainly trust in them.
There is only one way to receive right standing before God, the religion of divine accomplishment—belief in the saving gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That gospel, the ‘glorious gospel of the blessed God,’ the ‘gospel of the grace of God,’ ‘is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.’
The heart of the gospel is that ‘Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,’ ‘so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.’
Salvation is entirely ‘by grace … through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.’
Grace completely excludes works as a means of salvation. God justifies the ‘ungodly,’ not the godly.
The redeemed are those ‘to whom God credits righteousness apart from works’ and ‘has saved … and called … with a holy calling, not according to [their] works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted [them] in Christ Jesus from all eternity.’
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By the time of Christ, the religion of Israel had degenerated into a system of works-righteousness, of external ritual instead of internal reality.
As the apostle Paul lamented concerning his fellow Jews, ‘Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works.’
Secure in their self-righteousness many, like those in the synagogue at Nazareth, refused to acknowledge that they were spiritually impoverished, imprisoned, blind, and oppressed.
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It was against that backdrop of self-righteousness based on outward conformity to the law of God that Jesus made one of His most clarifying and definitive statements.
In verse 32, He declared, ‘I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.’
That statement expressed the essential uniqueness of Christianity and concisely summarizes His mission.
It sums up the whole glorious scheme of salvation:
The Lord Jesus Christ came to save repentant sinners.”
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I love the transparency of the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 1:15–16 when he says:
15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
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Let us not conclude this message without mentioning anther tax collector who had his life changed with an encounter with Christ...
Luke 19:2–10 says:
2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.
3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature.
4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.
5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”
6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.
7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
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Many tax collectors and other sinners were drawn to Christ...
For He offered them hope while the Pharisees and Scribes just looked down on them.
But look with me at Jesus’ response when He is criticized for His ministering to those in need...
Look with me at Luke 15:1–7:
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.
2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable:
4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?
5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’
7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
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I love this summary of our passage found in the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament on Luke:
“In Luke 5:27–32, Jesus shows the universal scope of his ministry: he reaches out to all types of people.
When one looks back at Luke 4:31–5:32, one sees a variety of people who have received the benefits of Jesus’ labor:
The demon-possessed are exorcised; the sick are restored; the fishermen find a great catch, only to be invited to cast a new kind of net; the leper is cleansed; the paralyzed rise; the tax collector is called; the sinners are invited; and, last of all, paradoxically, the Pharisees stand in shock.
In all of this activity, Jesus Christ’s authority stands out, as it sits in judgment over the spirit world, disease, and most importantly sin and humanity.
But how will this message go out?
Can those in need really come to Jesus?
Or will they need to be cleansed first, as the Jewish leadership suggests?
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In this event, Jesus showed that his mission is not accomplished by separatism.
Jesus will not wait for sinners.
He will seek them out.
He will accept them as persons; but he will challenge sinners to meet the God who can bind up wounds and bring them back to health.
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Some may be startled at the ministry’s openness.
They may react that such associations taint the teacher’s credentials and raise questions about his spiritual integrity.
But what Jesus’ actions show is the extent of his compassion and the depth of God’s grace.
The Physician seeks out the sick and calls them into the hospital room of God’s care.
In the context of personal acceptance, they may begin to listen, open up to God, and find the way to spiritual health.
What Luke wishes his readers to see is that a gracious door of care is offered to all.
Sinners are asked to sense their need.
Thus, the mission extends to all and takes the initiative in seeking them out.
It takes an open door to create open hearts.
It is that openness that Jesus exemplifies in his willingness to risk ridicule and associate with sinners.
Should not his disciples do likewise?”
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So, if we are to be His disciples...
We need to be like Him...
And we can’t forget what He has done for us...
As Jesus says in John 10:11:
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
This is a truth that was foretold from before as Isaiah 53:5 says:
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like to share this that I came across in my study this week:
The boy stood defiantly.
“Go ahead, give it to me.”
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The principal looked at the young rebel and asked,
“How many times have you been here?”
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The child sneered rebelliously,
“Apparently not enough.”
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“And you have been punished each time?” the principal responded.
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“Yeah, I been punished, if that’s what you want to call it.
Go ahead.
I can take whatever you dish out.
I always have.”
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“And no thought of your punishment enters your head the next time you decide to break the rules does it?”
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“Nope, I do whatever I want to do.
Ain’t nothin’ you people gonna do to stop me either.”
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The principal looked at the teacher who stood nearby.
“What did he do this time?”
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“Fighting.
He shoved Tommy’s face into the sandbox.”
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The principal looked at the boy,
“What did Tommy do to you?”
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“Nothin’, I didn’t like the way he was lookin’ at me.”
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The teacher stiffened, but a quick look from the principal stopped him as he quietly said,
“Today, is the day you learn about grace.”
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“Grace?
Isn’t that what you old people do before you sit down to eat?
I don’t need none of your stinkin’ grace.”
“Oh but you do,” said the principal.
The principal studied the young man’s face and whispered,
“Oh yes, you truly do…”
The boy continued to glare as the principal continued,
“Grace, in its short definition is unmerited favor.
You cannot earn it.
It is a gift, and is always freely given.
It means that you will not be getting what you so richly deserve.”
.......
The boy looked puzzled.
“You’re not gonna whup me?
You just gonna let me walk?”
The boy studied the face of the principal,
“No punishment at all?
Even though I socked Tommy and shoved his face into the sandbox?”
.......
“Oh, there has to be punishment.
What you did was wrong, and there are always consequences to our actions.
There will be punishment.
Grace is not an excuse for doing wrong.”
.......
“I knew it,” sneered the boy as he held out his hands.
“Let’s get on with it.”
.......
The principal nodded toward the teacher.
“Bring me the belt.”
The teacher presented the belt to the principal.
He carefully folded it in two, and then handed it back to the teacher.
He looked at the child and said,
“I want you to count the blows.”
The principal walked over to stand directly in front of the young man.
He gently reached out and folded the child’s outstretched, expectant hands together and then turned to face the teacher with his own hands outstretched.
One quiet word came forth from his mouth.
“Begin.”
The belt whipped down on the outstretched hands of the principal.
Crack!
.......
The young man jumped.
Shock registered across his face,
“One,” he whispered.
Crack!
“Two.”
His voice raised an octave.
Crack!
“Three.”
He couldn’t believe this.
Crack!
“Four.”
Big tears welled up in the eyes of the rebel.
.......
“OK stop!
That’s enough.
Stop!”
Crack!
Came the belt down on the hands of the principal.
Crack!
The child flinched with each blow, tears beginning to stream down his face.
Crack!
Crack!
.......
“No, please,” the former rebel begged.
“Stop, I did it, I’m the one who deserves it.
Stop!
Please.
Stop…”
Still the blows came.
Crack!
Crack!
One after another.
.......
Finally it was over.
The principal stood with sweat glistening across his forehead and beads trickling down his face.
Slowly he knelt down.
He studied the young man for a second and then his swollen hands reached out to cradle the face of the weeping child and said,
“Grace…”
.......
Grace came to you through the sacrifice of Jesus of Nazareth who at Calvary received the punishment that you and I deserve for our sin.
His back was whipped for the idols that we have bent our backs to.
Nails were driven through His sinless hands for the things that we have done with our hands.
Nails were driven through His feet for the paths that we have chosen to walk.
He wore a crown of thorns for the things we have given our minds to.
A lance was driven into his heart for the things we have held in our hearts.
Truly we have received God’s grace.
G-R-A-C-E = God’s Righteousness At Christ’s Expense.
.......
Beloved...
Let me leave you with this...
Let me leave you with Ephesians 2:4–5:
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
.......
To God be all the glory.
Amen.
.......
Please join us for one more song from the Praise Band.
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