| THE FIRST STEP TO HEAVEN |
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9:10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. 9:11 And when the Pharisees saw [it], they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? 9:12 But when Jesus heard [that], he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 9:13 But go ye and learn what [that] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
one day a man came to our door wanting to sell a particular appliance. when i explained to him that we had just recently purchased the same typr ofappliance that he was selling, he apologized for disturbing me and started to leave. but god seemed to touch my heart to talk with this man about his need for christ.
so, as i often do when someone comes to my door, i hand him a gospel tract and urged him to read it. i told him that this tract would tell him how he could be absolutely, one-hundred percent sure that he was going to heaven someday."Oh," he said. "that would be good to know." "yes it would,"i replied. "and you can be sure by putting your trust in jesus christ and his death on the on the cross for your sins," "but i am such a great sinner." he said, his eyes moistening a little. i told him, "youhave just taken your first step toward heaven. you have admitted that you are a sinner. now you need to go the rest of the way by trusting chirst.
there are so many people today who do not know or are unwilling to admit that they are great sinners in the eyes of a holy god, but this man readily acknowledged his condition. sadly, there are multitudes of people, even church members, who have failed to see themselves as sinners in need of a saviour. these people are trusting either in their own righteouwness (i.e. those things that they are doing for god),or in the hope that god is too-loving to send anyone to hell. we need to remember Jesus' words to his disciples in luke 13:3,"...except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish." and then again, the words in our text: "i am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
by Pastor Roy L. Delia, Faith Baptist Church, Nyssa, OR. |
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