Jesus Heart toward the Rejects Luke 5 Vs 27-32

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March 19, 2023 - Sunday Morning Service Faith Bible Church - Sacramento, CA Message "Jesus' Heart toward the Rejects" Luke 5:27-32

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Well, this morning, it's another blessed day that the Lord has made, and we can gather together as believers and enjoy the blessings that he's given
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Faith Bible Church. God has been faithful to this church for decades now, and it's so good to see the legacy of many that have gone before that are still with us, too, that have put their heart and soul into this church, and he agrees with me, and so it's really wonderful.
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For announcements, just a few things here. Monday is a very special day.
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Spring is here, and I think that's it.
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I wanted to read a verse also that encouraged me this week as I was preparing for Sunday school.
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Romans 8, 38 is, For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
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Lord. That is just packed full of hope and the peace that we can have in Christ Jesus and knowing
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God's everlasting love. Amen. And one thing I forgot to mention is our biblical counseling continues next
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Saturday, and Pastor already put out a pitch. If you didn't make it to that one, you can make it to the next one next
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Saturday, and you can literally drop in any time you want. So there's no, there's no anything surrounding, you know, well, you weren't there, or you're going to be there, or any of that.
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It's just come as God leads you and as you are able to. And so I thank Pastor for that service.
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Once you stand with me, if you would, please, as we praise our Lord, we have the song
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I've decided to follow Jesus, and may that be the desire of our heart today to follow our
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Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Chapter 2, verses 21 through 25.
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First Peter, chapter 2, verses 21 through 25.
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For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow the steps.
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Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.
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Who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judged righteously.
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Who bore for himself four sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes we were healed.
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For you were like sheep, going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.
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If you want to ask questions, please turn to Luke, chapter 5, verses 27 through 32.
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Luke, chapter 5, verses 27 through 32. After these things, he went out and saw a tax collector named
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Levi sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, follow me.
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So, he left all, rose up, and followed him. Then Levi gave him a great feast in his own house, and there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.
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And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against his disciples, saying, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?
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Jesus answered and said to them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
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I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. This is the word of the
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Lord. Let us pray. Father, we are thankful that we worship
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Jesus, who calls us despite our sinfulness, who calls us despite our blemishes, who calls us despite our imperfections, because he is fully sufficient to make us whole.
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And Father, this morning I pray that your spirit would work in all of our hearts to see this glory and this love and compassion
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Jesus has for us sinners, and that we would delight in it and treasure it.
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In Jesus' name, amen. So, this, this is a rather short text, and this is because it's very unique compared to the text that followed it, and then the text that follows it.
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Therefore, this text is, this morning sermon is short, but it's very important, because it shows what kind of outreach
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Jesus participates in. When we think of outreach, we rightly think of people we reach out to in sharing the gospel, in sharing
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God's truth. And oftentimes, in the name of quote -unquote outreach,
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I believe we go against what the proper outreach ought to be.
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And that is when we reach out to people who are not in our immediate friend circle, right?
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It's natural to share the gospel with friends and family. We know them.
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We have a lot in common. But oftentimes, we have this misconception of what outreach ought to be for those who are very far away from our social circle.
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So, one mistake I think people make is not reaching out to those who do not belong into our, belong in our immediate friend circle, right?
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And this might come from this idea of condescension, like, I don't want to be part of that.
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I don't want to go talk to this type of person, right? And you can fill in the blank, right?
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I don't want to talk to this drug user. I don't want to talk to this homeless person.
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I don't want to talk to this pagan. I don't want to talk to this Muslim, right?
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We can fill in the blank there. And this text shows us Jesus, who had every right to, as a sinless holy
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God, who had every right to not associate with sinners, he graciously did.
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But the danger is you can swing the other way. I don't know about you.
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I've met a lot of people who would participate in sinful activities in the name of outreach.
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Right? I've heard people justify smoking marijuana because that would be used in reaching out to the stoners, right?
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That, oh, if I start smoking as a Christian, then this might let the guard down for those who are non -Christians and are smoking.
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So they might think, yeah, Jesus is cool. But that's not how
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Jesus reached out here either. Right? Jesus didn't reach out so that people would continue to sin.
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Right? The purpose, according to verse 32, is that the sinners may come to him in repentance.
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Right? Jesus, when he reaches out, he doesn't leave people in their sin. So we need to really shape our view of outreach based upon what
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Scripture says, how Jesus reaches out to those whom we normally would not associate with.
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The rejects, social rejects of our society. Right? The outcasts. The danger is not doing it.
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Or another danger is joining them, joining them in their debauchery, joining them in their sin and justifying that.
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So the main point of today's text is Jesus invites the rejected so that they may be fully restored upon their repentance.
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Jesus invites the rejected so that they may be fully restored upon their repentance.
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First, when Jesus invites the outcasts to follow him, they leave their former lives fully to completely commit to Jesus.
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When Jesus invites the outcasts to follow him, they leave their former lives fully to completely commit to Jesus.
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Now, at this point, we see a second invitation for discipleship.
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The first one happened with Peter, the fisherman. This one will be
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Levi, the tax collector. After these things, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named
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Levi sitting at the tax office. Now, unlike Jesus called to Peter, the context is different.
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Levi, also known as Matthew, was a tax collector.
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In fact, he was at work when Jesus approached him. The tax office was a little booth where he would be collecting taxes from foreigners traveling, passing by.
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This was like the ancient day toll booths, unpopular at best.
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Now, we first learned about the social status of tax collectors all the way back in Luke chapter 3, when they gather around John the
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Baptist to be baptized. Now, to summarize, tax collectors were the most despised groups of people because Rome commissioned these
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Jewish men to take money from their own people. You couldn't get more unpopular than that.
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They were viewed as traitors. Oftentimes, not only that, they abused their authority to collect their tax money.
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They collected more than what they were authorized to. People didn't like them for that reason either.
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The ancient Jews, in fact, considered them to be robbers. Oftentimes, they were excommunicated.
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Now, even the secular people grouped the tax collectors with the adulterers and pimps.
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This was the group you did not want to belong to. They were the outcasts of society.
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Needless to say, Jewish tax collectors in Israel were the epitome of outcasts.
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They were the great examples. They were, in fact, what we would consider the biggest losers.
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Now, considering the context, the fact that Jesus went out to Levi the tax collector was shocking.
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Remember what Jesus has been doing before. He was doing miracles that were unseen on all of Israel.
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A leper getting healed. A paralytic starts walking. He has the authority to forgive.
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He's going out healing anyone who's coming to him. But, this is the time when
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Jesus goes out specifically to Levi. Remember, Levi did not call out to Jesus like the sick people who called out to Jesus.
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Levi did not ask Jesus to visit him. Rather, Jesus approached the tax collector himself.
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Jesus initiated this. Jesus reached out.
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In fact, Jesus did not wait until Levi was done with work. He didn't wait for Levi's 5 p .m.
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or whenever they retired back then. Whenever they stopped working. Jesus went to Levi when he was at work.
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When the association with tax collection was the most obvious, right?
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Jesus had no problem with what the public may think about his association with a tax collector.
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He never tried to hide it. And, what does
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Jesus tell the social outcast? It's not only that he goes out to him.
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But, he says, follow me. Just as concise
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Jesus' invitation was, Levi concisely responds. Verse 28.
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So, he left all, rose up, and followed him. Unlike Matthew and Mark, Luke highlights the fact that Levi left all.
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He left all. Leaving all is more than just leaving the tax booth. It's more than,
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Jesus, great timing. My work shift just ended. I'll just follow you for dinner.
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Leaving all means giving up one's occupation. Leaving all means abandoning one's former life.
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Anything that has to do with life before Jesus, he left behind. And, Levi left all behind for one man,
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Jesus. Levi abandoning all was to prioritize
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Jesus above all else. This verse shows the immediacy and the totality of Levi's allegiance to Jesus.
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When Jesus entered his life, Levi did not linger on to his old life.
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Now, this is very good news for those who are plagued with this thought that you're not good enough for Christ.
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You might have this lie, you might have these lies going in your head. You know,
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Jesus would not want me if he knew my past. Jesus would not accept me if he knew my private life.
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And, today's text shows us that Jesus' heart for the outcast is that he invites them to follow him despite their records.
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You know, Jesus did not have the buyer's remorse after telling Levi, like, follow me. And, he realized, oh, you're a tax collector?
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Yikes. He knew specifically what kind of man
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Levi was because Levi was working at the tax booth. Yet, despite that, despite what the public may say about this action,
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Jesus said, follow me. He didn't make a mistake. He was the one who initiated it.
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And, today's text shows us Jesus' very heart.
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He warmly welcomes them into his life despite their social status.
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Although the world may view them as deficient, morally immoral, Jesus' invitation in your life is sufficient enough to override all of that.
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Jesus does not disqualify the outcasts for their defects.
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Rather, he restores them. He saves them from their sins.
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Your imperfections are overridden by his perfection.
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That's the heart behind Jesus. And, this is so different from how the world may work.
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If someone is anyone so significant, the idea that he would ask a social outcast to follow you, follow him, would be outlandish.
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But, Jesus is just the opposite. Despite how messed up you are,
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Jesus invites you because that is his heart. That's his compassion.
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And, he does not care one bit what the world may say about that. Because, he cares about you more than the opinions of man.
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And, for those who have responded to Jesus already, some of the questions we ought to think are, does
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Jesus take priority in your life? As shown by Levi's action.
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Now, this does not mean leaving your current job to be unemployed. Right? This does not mean leaving your job to join vocational ministry.
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That's not the right application here. The right application is, does every decision in your life reflect the reality that you're following Jesus wholeheartedly?
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Is Christ's offer to take you along more desirous and delightful than any offer the world has for you this morning?
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That's what it means to follow Christ. Your allegiance to Christ far outweighs your allegiance to your former life.
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Whatever your former life was, is completely covered by your new identity in Christ.
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That's how Levi responded. To leave all behind.
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That includes sinful choices that you've enjoyed, you've delighted in, the secret sins that no one knows about.
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Leave that all behind. That includes unhelpful hobbies, harmful hobbies, harmful people, people who draw you away from Christ.
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Gotta leave that all behind. And the ultimate test is, if Christ were to tell you, would you leave that behind?
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Are you willing to do that wholeheartedly, immediately as Levi did?
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Levi was willing to leave his life source because he saw the greater life in Christ.
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Second, what is the purpose of Jesus' call to the social rejects? Jesus came for those who humbly see their need for salvation and repent.
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Jesus came for those who humbly see their need for salvation and repent.
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Now verses 29 to 32 unfold a controversy that follows
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Jesus' scandalous invitation to the tax collector. Verse 29 sets the context.
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Then Levi gave him a great feast in his own house, and there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.
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Now the phrase, great feast, only happens one other time in the
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Bible, in the Old Testament, specifically in Genesis 21 .8, when
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Abraham decides to throw a big party for his son Isaac who just weaned.
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And remember, Isaac was a special boy because he was the promised child from God whom
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Abraham waited years for. And that was that big party.
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And you can see how this phrase shows what kind of celebration
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Levi threw for Jesus. It was a huge party that reflected the great joy and celebration internally.
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And the attendees are, of course, Levi's friends, tax collector friends.
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Not only are they at the party, they're feasting with Jesus. They're eating with Jesus.
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They're fellowshipping with Jesus. They're drinking with Jesus. These tax collectors, they're not standing by the walls, awkwardly thinking, oh, do
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I approach him? No, they're associating with Jesus. They're hanging out with Jesus.
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That's pretty clear. And this leads to the response from the
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Pharisees and scribes also in attendance. And their scribes and the
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Pharisees complained against his disciples, saying, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?
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The Pharisees and scribes were the religious elites who tried to guard the law through their extra -biblical traditions.
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They cared more about keeping the law than the people.
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They had to keep the law through means that are not even prescribed in the
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Bible. And their displeasure is palpable from the verbal action here.
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They complained. They grumbled against Jesus' disciples.
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Now, grumbling is the external fruit of internal unbelief.
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Right? If Jesus were truly from God, man, he would not be associating with these sinners.
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They cannot possibly believe Jesus is from God because he does not fit their standard of godliness.
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They cannot accept, they cannot receive who Jesus is. They cannot trust
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Jesus because Jesus doesn't fit their mold.
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Talk about unbelief there. All of a sudden, Jesus has to fit their standard.
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Jesus has to meet their standard. Not them meeting
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Jesus' standards. And Jesus responds to their complaint.
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Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick. Jesus uses a medical metaphor to illustrate the spiritual reality of this context.
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And this is really important because sin is often used, sin is often described using metaphors.
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And the point of metaphor is that it's figurative to emphasize a certain part of the reality.
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Right? Metaphor cannot be interpreted literally.
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That's how you get into heresies. What this is telling us here is not that sin is a disease as in you need to do something physically in order to get rid of sin.
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Right? A lot of cults make you do that. You need to avoid certain types of food in order to avoid sin.
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You need to do these exercises, partake in these rituals in order to lessen the impact of sin.
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That's because they're taking literally something what the Bible says metaphorically which is that sin is like a disease.
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So in this context, it's not that the tax collectors are literally sick.
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There is some genetic defect that's making them tax collectors. Right? And it's not something they caught from other tax collectors that's making them tax collectors.
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Rather, sickness is to show metaphorically how these outcasts are aware and are desperate for spiritual restoration.
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They know that there's something wrong with them. And they need someone else, a physician who can make them whole.
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Right? This is not a physical disorder. Right? This is a spiritual condition that's metaphorically described.
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Just as a sick patient would eagerly seek out a physician to find healing, tax collectors and sinners here have desperately sought out
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Jesus to find forgiveness. That's the point of the metaphor.
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The tax collectors and sinners did not need any convincing that they needed help, that they needed
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God's gracious intervention to restore them fully to Himself. They did not need the convincing.
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They knew. They woke up every morning with this guilt and shame in their mind.
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Why am I like this? Why do I live like this? They didn't need someone to tell them,
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Hey, you're actually sick. They knew they were sick to the core.
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Now in verse 32, Jesus explains literally what He said metaphorically in verse 31.
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I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Jesus' ministry is not mainly about healing, but a redemptive ministry.
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Verse 32 tells us the purpose of His redemptive ministry. It is not for those who think they've got it all together.
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They are in perfect order. Couldn't be better. It is not for those who don't think there's anything wrong with them.
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Jesus' restorative ministry is precisely for sinners so that they may repent.
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The goal of Jesus' ministry is so that those who know their need for salvation would come to Jesus in repentance.
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And repentance is a theme that's been, that you can find from the
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Old Testament. The literal meaning is to turn, to turn, right?
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Repentance is turning away from sin, turning away from one's former life, and turning toward God.
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Repentance is more than just a mental agreement, right? If someone says, yeah, yeah,
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I'm not perfect, that may not be repentance at all. Yeah, I know there's something wrong with me.
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That's not repentance. Repentance is a total change in a person's attitude and orientation of life.
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It's not a mental exercise. It's more than mental. The mental part is there, but it's the whole person that turns toward God away from sin.
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Repentance is not in words only. Repentance is more than just a sorry, but there is evidence for repentance.
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Repentance always bears fruit. Upon repentance in Christ, your life's direction and trajectory change for all eternity.
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That's repentance. Your former allegiance to your sinful life is shattered, and your new allegiance to Christ is being built up.
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That's repentance. And this is important for us this morning because it is not the amount of sin nor the intensity of sin that disqualifies you from coming to Jesus.
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Rather, it is the self -righteousness that prevents us from receiving Jesus. It is not how messed up you are and how disgusting your past is.
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That is not the question. That is not the obstacle. It's the act of self -justification that prevents people from coming to Christ.
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It's the delusional nature of our own self -righteousness that prevents us from the very presence of God.
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It is the view that, I'm pretty good. Or, we're good enough to be accepted by God.
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It's the self -justification of, I have not murdered anyone. I didn't commit adultery.
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It's that self -justification of, I'm better than the other guy I'm sitting next to.
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And this mindset, to this mindset, Jesus says, I'm not here for that.
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That's not my purpose. I'm not here for you. Jesus did not come to call on those people.
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In fact, when Jesus does call on those people, they don't even think to respond in repentance.
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Why would they? They got it all together. Jesus came to call on the sinners.
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The very people who are called and respond in repentance are those who are fully mindful of their desperate need for salvation from sin.
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They are the specific people who are tired of losing their battle against sin.
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They're hopeless against their sin. They're enslaved to their sin, and they know it.
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They're tired of those shackles that bind them. They know they're rejected by society because of their sin.
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They know they're not capable of standing before Christ on their own righteousness because they're soaked in their sin.
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And to those people, Jesus has come. Jesus is nearer.
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These people have a chance. They can actually look to Jesus and repent.
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They know that their sin is overwhelming. They know that they're backsliding sinners. They've done it again for the umpteenth times.
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And they return to their private sin as dogs return to their vomit.
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And when they can admit this truth without making justification, well, yeah,
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I sinned, but I was having a hard day. Yeah, I sinned, but man, that lady really drove me to anger.
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When people can confess their sin without justification or shifting blame, they can face
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Christ. Christ has come to them. They can start to look upon the crucified
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Christ. When you know that nothing good you have done can ever save you, when you know that nothing of value that you actually bring to the table, you can look up to Christ who died for your sin to save you.
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It's the acknowledgment of the fact that you're so wicked, but nothing but the death of my
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Savior could save me from my sin, from my own self.
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And when you disavow your allegiance to your sin and your former lives and trust in Christ alone for your new identity and a new life, that's the true repentance.
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When you turn away from your former life and turn toward the new life in Christ, as your delight in your old sin starts to diminish and your trust and desire for your
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Savior strengthens, that's the sign of repentance.
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And it is precisely those people that Jesus came to save.
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Jesus came to save despite your sinfulness.
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In one sense, Jesus came to save because of your sinfulness. He frankly has no business with those who think they don't need
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Jesus, who think that they're righteous on their own. And that's the
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Savior we look to this morning. One who is not disgusted by your sinfulness, one who is not ashamed of your past, but who came specifically so that you would not be stuck in that anymore.
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That's Jesus' heart to the socially unacceptable. Let us pray.
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Father, we are thankful that we can come to Jesus despite our past, despite our sinfulness, despite how messed up we are.
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And the only requirement is to see the truth and to repent, to come to you.
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Father, we pray that you would help us to realize the truth behind our sinfulness so that we may truly come to you in repentance, that we would not make any excuses or justification or shift blame to anyone, but that we would see our desperate need for salvation from sin and treasure what
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Christ has done for us. In Jesus' name, amen. Sometimes we know the message.
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Sometimes we hear the message over and over again that Christ desires a relationship with an individual.
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And I just say if you've heard the message and yet you haven't acted on it, make today the day that you say,
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Lord, I'm going to follow you. But let's stand together and sing,
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Have Thine Own Way, Lord. And I'm sure if you made that decision too, the pastor would love to hear from you and sit down and talk with you about those things.