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FBCWest 644 | Call to Sinners



Call to Sinners | Poster




Recorded On: 02/02/2025


Bulletin

Hymn # 33 “To God Be the Glory”

SCRIPTURE READING – Psalm 8
Giving of Selves and Our Offerings
OFFERTORY PRAYER
OFFERTORY MUSIC – Pru Hungate

Praise and Worship
“Endless Light”
“Your Love Awakens Me”
“Who You Say I Am”

Proclamation of the Word
Message by Pastor Joe
“Call to Sinners”

PRAYER TIME / Time of Reflection

“This Is Amazing Grace”

Sermon Notes
Mark 2:13 The multitudes come to hear Jesus and He teaches
Mark 2:14 Jesus calls to Matthew to follow while he is in his tax office
Mark 2:15 Jesus dines with sinners and tax collectors
Mark 2:16 Scribes challenge Jesus’ disciples why He is sitting with sinners and tax collectors
Mark 2:17 Jesus tells them it is the sick who need a doctor and He came to call sinners and not the righteous
Romans 3:23 All have sinned
Ephesians 2:1–10 Saved by God’s mercy of grace


Scritpures


Transcript of Service

Religious leaders were criticizing Jesus for who he was hanging out with, who he's associating with. He explains why he was associating with those people. Unknown to those religious leaders, he was also called for them and for us. Come and see so Because he said so I am

In Jesus's earthly ministry It seems like his biggest critics Were the religious leaders in the religious establishment?

Unfortunately, that is not so much different than today Many times the first people to abandon the Word of God are pastors and churches

Oh, science says this and so we must backtrack because science says something that science has no clue And then later learns that what they said wasn't true and so so often

Whether it comes to science or culture Oh, well when the Bible wrote that the culture was different and therefore we don't need to do that anymore and it's all like I said, it seems to be pastors and religious leaders Who seem to back away from the scriptures? And so the reason I'm saying that is if that was what happened in Jesus's time and that's what's happening now

what we should do is not know what I think of what the scriptures say and Examine the scriptures to make sure that I am accurately Conveying to you the scriptures and that's why I always say

Because we're in the gospel of Mark if you have your Bible and you should turn to Mark chapter 2 started with verse 13 and so we're going to continue on with Jesus's ministry and This is what Mark

Tells us and he being Jesus went out again by the seashore and all the people were coming to him and he was teaching them And so we see Jesus and Jesus is doing what Jesus does he teaches? Unfortunately, most people come to Jesus that he might heal them or present some type of ministry or or miracle But what Jesus was called to do and what Jesus is doing is teaching And we should come to him not because we're expecting a miracle or healing although those things he does do But that he might teach us

And as he passed by he saw Levi the son of Alpheus Sitting in the tax booth and he said to him follow me and he got up and followed him now Mark tells us now this is the fifth Disciples that Jesus specifically calls that we are aware of he earlier called

Peter and Andrew who were fishermen and they were fishing and He called them and they immediately left what they were doing and followed him then later he called James and John and they were mining their nets working and he called them and they immediately left their father's business if you will and Went and followed Jesus and now we see this fifth person who's working Isn't it interesting these five disciples that we're told that calls first They are working and they're working in their profession or in their home. They're doing something

Kind of tens of millions that God usually calls business people

People are doing something

So when Jesus calls you the answer isn't oh, but I've got to finish the work All right. No, he calls busy people who are working

now with the four previous ones who were fishermen and to specifically were working for their father's business if It didn't work out

They could return to their fishermen business

As a matter of fact after Jesus rose from the dead And when they were didn't know what to do They went fishing again because that's what they were used to and that's what they knew how to do and so they fished Matthew or as he's known here as Levi

Can't do that

Because once he leaves this official post he can't go back now how Levi Matthew became a tax collector is he had to

basically Rome said we expect X number of dollars or The narrow I or whatever the currency is to say we expect this much in taxes So you pay us that amount of money and then whatever you collect over above that you get to keep

and so Generally speaking like most people they were greedy And they taxed the people greater than what the minimum was because that was their living and they became rich So once Matthew Levi leaves this post he can't go back to it The other thing is because he's a tax collector. He's hated

He's hated because he's a tax collector

Now if you're at a party and you don't want people to talk to you Here's a secret

Tell them you work for the IRS

If they've told you their name they won't after that and they will somehow find a way to just leave Because they don't want to be audited

Because you're with the IRS So similarly because he's a tax collector people usually don't like tax collectors The second reason that they hated tax collectors was that they were considered traders Because they were working for Rome rather than for Israel and So they were hated because they were tax collectors and they were hated because they were collecting taxes for Rome So nobody wanted to associate with tax collectors and that's who Levi was but notice Jesus didn't stop from calling him because he was a tax collector and Maybe you don't think You're qualified or in the position that Jesus would call you because of your past or current situation Jesus calls fishermen you would think

They wouldn't Have good seminars on how to be a good little boy or girl There'd be fishermen or a tax collector who's hated so nobody wants to listen them and yet Jesus calls those very people And so there is no excuse for us to say well in my position or in my circumstance Jesus would never call me Jesus calls people out of various circumstances

And it happened that he was Reclining at the table in his house in the house and many tax collectors and sinners were dying with Jesus and his disciples For there were many of them and they were following him

Now one of the things that people

Follow Jesus for not only because of a ceiling but because of who he is in his love for people and his acceptance of people And so when you're a hated person like a tax collector and you find out that Matthew Levi Has been accepted by Jesus. You're going to find out who this guy is and you want to follow him because he's accepting of you

and so These tax collectors come in and they're they're having if you will like a party there. They're dining together and I'm sure Levi invited many of them to say just like many people who when they become Christians are excited and want to tell other people about them and Usually if you're not a Christian when you become a Christian your friends tended to not be Christians And so if you were to throw a party, it would be full of non Christians the problem is

After a while you've been a Christian either your non Christian friends become Christians or they're no longer friends

because they don't want anything to do with this Jesus thing and so Jesus is associating and he's dining with these people now in the custom of that you were Participating in and you're agreeing with people that you ate with

Jesus is dining with them, which means that Jesus is if you will almost identifying himself with them because he's Not only talking to them and and relating to them, but he's eating with them

And when the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors They said to his disciples. Why is he heating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?

Now There could be two reasons that they asked the disciples They're consistent because it always seems instead of asking Jesus why he's doing this. They always asked the disciples

It's like when he was in the synagogue and Jesus makes a point and everybody asked Well, what does he mean by that and the argue amongst themselves rather than said? Hey Jesus, what do you mean by that? And so it seems to be that people always discuss things with people who don't have authority to tell you actually what's going on the other possibility and maybe a Real one is because these were sinners and tax collectors That they didn't want to associate and so they were outside the house and looking in through the window and they were closer to the Disciples than they were to Jesus and so they could ask the disciples So giving them some credit and yet not so much Maybe the only access they had to them was the disciples but they want to know why is he eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners and Hearing this Jesus said to them. So notice that Jesus so Jesus is close enough Hear the conversation. Although he doesn't need because he knows the intent of their heart. He knows what they're thinking already it's in it is

Not those who are healthy who need a physician but those

Who are sick I Did not come to call the righteous but sinners

So Jesus tells them

the people who need help

Are people who are sick?

now I frequently joke although it's Almost more true than a joke now and I'll especially tell it when I after years of years I'll go to the doctor because I'm supposed to or whatever now usually tell the doctor Reason I don't come is I'm not sick until you tell me I am

And so if I don't come I'm not sick, but that's not true If I am sick, I am sick whether the doctor tells me or not

If I have some sort of disease or something I May be diagnosed with it, but I had the disease before I was diagnosed

And so Jesus saying there are people who are sick spiritually, and that's the reason I came I

Came because the people who are sick need a doctor

Now if the doctor were to tell you that you had some terrible disease And would then tell you what you needed to do to be cured of that disease You might get a second opinion, but if you trusted that doctor you would then follow the diagnosis of what that doctor and the Necessity of whatever the cure is so that you might be cured so that you might live longer

But it's interesting when it comes to spiritual matters Jesus came to make a diagnosis But few people come to hear that diagnosis

And if they hear the diagnosis instead of trusting him they don't follow the diagnosis or the cure

He says like Those who are sick is the reason I call so I did not come to call the righteous, but the sinners Now this is why I say that we need to be aware of The religious if you will because if anybody should have known Who the sick were

It should have been the religious leaders Because they should have known the Word of God and by knowing the Word of God they should have been able to see The Son of God the Word of God The Son of God the Word of God and followed him, but they did not

Because they thought in their religious ossity and their goodness that they weren't sinners

But not only religious people are in that way a lot of Non-religious people are that way you'll hear a lot of people say well if there is a God I

Will show my good works and my good works will Seed my bad works and therefore he'll let me into his heaven

Couple of things with that

Scriptures say in Romans chapter 3 Paul quoting a number of Psalms That there is none righteous

Not even one and So Jesus I didn't come to call righteous why because there aren't any

And as a matter of fact the scripture says there is none good, but God

So if there's none good, but God No matter how many good things you did you ain't got good So to give you an example, let's say we have a 10 ounce glass In that 10 ounce glass you decide that you're going to fill with pure Mountain spring water 9 and 3 quarters ounces of water

And then you take a quarter ounce of arsenic

Is that water good anymore? No

You're not going to want to drink it. Well most of the water is good but the arsenic

permeated and adulterated and Contaminated that entire glass of water it is no longer good

You're a little bit of non-good Adulterates, but you cannot say well, there's more good of me than bad of me therefore God will end and So the scriptures further say in Romans 3 23 for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God For all there are no exceptions No one who was ever born and I even back up Adam and Eve who weren't born still sin

For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God So when Jesus said I've come to call sinners

That's you that's me that's a religious leaders. That's the tax collectors That's the other people who are dining with Jesus. That's all of us Jesus came to call all of us because we're all sinners and we've all unfallen short of the glory of God Now I kind of modified this and if you heard me before I say not only have we fallen short of the glory of God We I have fallen short of the glory of Joe. I

Am NOT Presently who I should have been and I have done things I ought not have done and not done things I ought to have done

Even if I don't use God as a standard but use myself as a standard I have fallen short of me

So, how do I let God tell God you ought to let me in even though I don't meet your requirements I don't even meet my requirements

So Jesus has diagnosed that I'm sick and I have a sickness that is worse than cancer or heart condition or Whatever the disease may be Because while cancer may kill you it will not kill your spirit

Sin kills your spirit you're dead So the diagnosis is

We're sinners all of us religious people Non-religious people people who think they're good people who know they're not We are all sinners and that is what Jesus he came and calls it. I've come to call you So whether you're Matthew or your Simon or Andrew or James or John or you're a clerk somewhere or you're in school Whatever the situation may be Jesus came to call you because you fit the illness You are a sinner

Now a lot of people say well, I don't like to go to church because they're all filled with hypocrites

You're right

None of us actually do everything that we say we believe

We're hypocrites

But the reason we're here is because we don't want to continue to be hypocrites We want to be able to be strengthened in our faith that we when we say we believe something we actually do it

But let me give you a secret we're not the only hypocrites the world is filled with them

Because even the world doesn't do what they say they believe

Oh, there are people who say well, there's no God, but I'm spiritual. How does that happen?

Or that that we came out of a bunch of ooze and muck and became from chimpanzees and whatever and yet there's a reason and purpose for my life and Nothing happens without a purpose. Well, if this is a world of chaos, then what is the purpose? So even even the people who don't believe Live their life like they believed in something

So we're all hypocrites We just happen to understand we are we're coming to a hospital because we're sick

And so the diagnosis we're sinners You go back

Going the wrong way

So Here's here's the diagnosis in feet Ephesians chapter 1 it's I'm sorry chapter 2 verse 1 says and you were dead and your trespasses and sin

Here's the diagnosis you're a sinner you're dead

In which you formerly walked according to the courses of this world according to the Prince of the power of the air of the spirit That is now working in the sons of disobedience faces it those of us who have been sinners are in a spiritual category that is

Working with Satan

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh Indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind and whereby nature children are wrath even as the rest Again, he's saying this is who we were We were dead in our trespasses and sin and we were in that group that was hostile to God and we lived For ourselves and for our flesh and for our mind

So we are no different than those who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness called sin But something happened

but God

But God again, but God Being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us So again, it starts with God and his love which is great to us

Even we were dead in our trespasses Made us alive together with Christ. I grace You have been saved. So Jesus here's the diagnosis. You're dead in your sins and trespasses But God because of his great love with which he loved us Made us different. He made us alive how did he do that by grace and Raises up with him and seated us with him and the heavenly places in Christ Jesus We are now in a different context before we were hanging out with Satan and his ilk And now we are sitting in heavenly places with Christ Jesus we have changed location as well as Who we are

So that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus

What is this saying? This is basically saying 343 million years from now

When I'm walking the streets of

The new heaven and the newer

And I'm in the presence of the Holy One He can say see Joe He's here cuz of me He's not here cuz of him. He's here cuz of me And then 572 million years from now. They'll say there's Joe again

He's here because of me And he will say the very same thing for those who have put their trust in Christ

For by grace you have been saved

Now grace again is unmerited favor, which means you don't deserve it No one who has ever received grace ever deserved it So I don't care how bad or a little bad you were you did and deserve it

But the unmerited favor saved you for a grace you have been saved Through faith. How is it that I know that I have been given grace Because I've been given faith. I Trust the diagnosis that I'm a sinner and I trust the cure

Believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior

That not of yourselves It is a gift of God. I Don't become a believer. I don't become a child of God because I deserve it because I'm he's impressed with me But because of who he is he gave it to me And he gives it to you again These religious leaders were so impressed with their ability to follow what they thought was the law and they didn't follow the law they followed their version of the law and They didn't understand their scriptures because if they had as I said They would have known who Jesus is and why he came and why he was there and that they should have said hey Can we join the banquet?

Because we too are sinners even though we claim to be priests and Scribes which were lawyers

Not as a result of works

You cannot impress God with your goodness as you ain't I Don't care how little arsenic you give you adulterate any potential goodness that you might have But as the scripture says there is done good, but God

So that no one may boast

Millions and billions of years from now I'm walking the streets I Can't say I'm here that's what I did. Oh But I was pastor of a church and I this and and whatever

I None of that boasting

Every single one whose redeemed are there because of grace Not because of what they did and I see again so many people want to be their own doctor

You can be your own doctor take out your own appendix I don't think it's gonna go well for you, but you're gonna be able to do that far more better And eliminate your sin

That's an impossibility

You need a save

For we are his workmanship

Created in Christ Jesus for good works

Again, we are to do good works not to get saved but to demonstrate our salvation

Where to do it and Jesus God did this so that we might do good works in Christ Which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them

Now there are many people who will do good things because they feel that it's necessary to do good things and that's great But those good things that we do don't change who we are

Haven't been changed who we are we then do good things

Because we want to demonstrate who he is

When was it that you fed me or clothed me or visited me in prison

Didn't know I did as you did it to the least of these you've done it to me

Every time we do a good work Should be an opportunity to show us to show us and him and the world how much we love him

And while I may love you

When I bring you water, I Love him more

When I bring you water

So

The diagnosis is obvious for all sinners

Cure the self-evident

Faith in the Messiah

And the result is

Not simply being cured of a disease but resurrected from that disease

No longer dead but alive and not only alive for some period of time

But for eternity no

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