Now this week we are seeking to establish certain reasons why Christ came to this earth. We have already dealt with reason number one, which was he came to do the will of God based on John chapter six, verse thirty-eight. The second reason was this. He came to destroy the works of the devil. That was based on the verse from First John, chapter three, verse eight. Today we want to give the third reason why Christ came to this earth. I want to read to you now some verses from the Gospel according to Luke, chapter five. The Gospel according to Luke, Chapter five, reading at verse twenty seven. And after these things he went forth and saw a publican named Levi sitting at the receipt of customs. And he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his own house. And there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now I am sure the Lord will bless to us the reading of these verses. Let us bow for prayer. Our Father, we bow our hearts in thy holy presence now, asking once more that by thy Holy Spirit thou shalt speak to all our hearts. We can say in the language of another, We need thee. Oh, we need thee. Every hour we need thee. Bless us now, our Savior. We come to thee. May thy blessings then be upon each listener today for the Lord Jesus' sake. Amen. Our text, then, for today's study, is verse chapter two. Luke chapter five, verse chapter two. I came not. to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Now, in order to lay the foundation of what we have to say, I read to you the context in which this verse is found. A certain man has been called to follow Christ, and he has left his work. He was called a publican. That is, he was a tax gatherer. His name was Levi. That's the other name for Matthew. Matthew had been called. Now then, this publican, Levi or Matthew, made a great feast in his own house, and he thought they would invite a number of his friends to come in, those that he knew also who were publicans. And they sat down with him. But then there were scribes and Pharisees watching all this. Now remember the scribes and the Pharisees were the religious leaders of that day. They then perhaps would look down their noses at those men who had the good jobs with the government, the tax gatherers, and they looked upon them as being kind of traitors to their nation. And so they questioned the Lord Jesus. Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? Now, it's when he is answering that particular question. These religious leaders are trying to corner the Lord Jesus Christ in order to trap him. Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? Why do you go into a feast? and sit down with people who are sinners, publicans, despised people. Now, when he's answering them, he uses a little parable, if you like, and he says this, they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. To put it in plain modern words, you said, if a man is enjoying good health, he doesn't need the doctor. The doctor is there to look after those who are sick. Now, no matter how much you try to argue against this, that is the doctor's job. The doctor's job is to care for those who are sick. Those who are running hospitals and the doctors themselves, I'm sure, they don't want to spend their time. with people when there's nothing wrong with these people. They have so many hours in which they can attend to the sick people. A doctor's job is to prescribe remedies for the sick and attend to the sick. Hospitals are supposed to be for sick people. They that are whole need not a physician. If a man needs a bed for the night, he doesn't go to hospital, he goes along to the motel or the hotel or he goes home, as the case may be. But a sick person has got to be cared for. Now the Lord draws on that illustration. He says, if a man is sick, he needs a doctor. If a man is not sick, he doesn't need the doctor. He says, now I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. In plain words, he says, I'm the physician, I'm the great physician, and I can heal the sicknesses of sinners. but I've come to call sinners to repentance. Now, the main issue then, why he came to this earth, was to call men to repentance. Of course, the great problem today, first of all, is to get men and women to reach the point where they will admit that they are sinners. Now, if people will not admit they are sinners, then they never learn their need for repentance. Now this great subject of repentance, I have pointed out in previous studies that repentance was preached by the prophets, repentance was preached by the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance was preached by the apostles, even Peter, when he gave his great address on the day of Pentecost on the streets of Jerusalem, there that day when people were tricked in their consciences and they were crying out to Peter, what shall we do? Peter says, repent. Peter's message to a sinful nation and Peter's message to sinful men and women was a message of repentance. Then you'll find that the great Apostle Paul preached repentance. And even when you come to the last book of the Bible, the message of the Lord is, repent. Now, let me read to you a verse now from the Acts of the Apostles that bears this out. In Acts chapter seventeen and verse twenty nine we read this, For as much then as we are the offspring of God, We ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at. But now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Now I want you to notice this. In our basic text that we read from Luke chapter five, verse thirty-two, The Lord said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. So here is one of the reasons why Christ came to this earth, to call sinners to repentance. Now, if I link that with the verse in Acts chapter seventeen, verse thirty, but now God commanded all men everywhere to repent. You see, if he came to call sinners to repentance, we've got to face up to this truth that all men are sinners. Whether they are of the sophisticated kind or the religious kind, or whether they be the down and out kind and skid road elsewhere, or those who have been brought up in the midst of some heathen religion, no matter how deep died that sinner may be, or how dressed up he may be and pretend to be some kind of angel of light. The fact or the matter is that the Word of God takes us all and puts us in this same common category that all have sinned. And so therefore, if all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, Now the Lord Jesus Christ came to call sinners to repentance, then he came to call all men and women to repent. And that's exactly what Paul says in preaching in the great city of Athens. At that time he was preaching to a well-educated, sophisticated audience of people up there on Mars Hill. And he said to them, God... may have overlooked the time of your ignorance, but now God commanded all men everywhere to repent. The Lord Jesus Christ came to call sinners to repentance. God, in his word, commands repentance. Now, if God is the supreme authority and God commands repentance, Then sinners ought to bow to the command of God. Sinners ought to be repentant. If the Lord Jesus Christ came to deal with sinners and to draw sinners and to call sinners to repentance, then God's word comes down with the absolute authority and God commands repentance. Now, there are certain people who occupy places of authority, and when you receive those letters from people who are in authority, you know that you better obey the words you receive. If you get a letter from some governmental authority and it says answer within ten days or else, you know you better respond and give the answer. but there's no authority to compare with the authority of the Almighty God. And God now commands all men everywhere to repent. Christ came to call sinners. God commands sinners to repent. But then there's something more than that. I discover this. When I come over to Paul's letter to the Romans, which is a great treatise on the way of salvation. Here is what he says right in chapter two of the Epistle to the Romans. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same that thou shalt escape the judgment of God, or despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. So the Lord Jesus Christ came then to call sinners to repentance. According to Paul's message at Mars Hill in Athens, God commands people to repent. But according to what is said in Romans chapter two, verse four, God in his goodness leads men to repentance. And in that particular verse, he's speaking of the riches of his goodness. See, God is not a tyrant God. God deals in goodness and in grace. And he has an abundance of this. For he speaks here of the riches of his goodness. And that corresponds with another place where he speaks of the riches of his grace. But here he speaks of his goodness and forbearance. And long suffering. And he says, you're despising that. People have despised the riches of God's goodness. They've despised God's forbearance. They've despised God's long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. See, God is calling men and commanding men to repent, but in His goodness He moves in the circumstances of men's lives. It may be that something was spoken to you in Sunday school when you were a child. It may be that godly parents have spoken to you, or it may be a Christian who has worked beside you. But little by little it has been built up, and God, as it were, has been knocking at the door of your heart. Here a little, there a little. God has been leading you along in his goodness, and he brings you to the very point of repentance. But, you know, there's an old saying that you may lead the horse to the well, but you cannot make it drink. And it may be that God has brought you right to the very point of repentance. And up till now, you have not repented. So therefore, we learn this, that Christ came into this world to call sinners to repentance. God commands repentance now, and He commands all men everywhere to repent. God in His goodness leads men right up to repentance. But now Peter, you know, the very man who preached on the day of Pentecost, and the man who told men and women there in Jerusalem, they were to repent, turn again to God. Later on, when he was writing one of his letters, he said this, But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering to usward. not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Now you see, he's dealing in this particular passage with truth concerning the end time, truth concerning the days when God shall break in, telling us the day will come when these elements shall melt with fervent heat, telling us that God will break in to the affairs of men. But now you say, well, why doesn't he do it? Because God is long suffering. And in his long suffering, he waits for men to repent. In the days of Noah, when God was about to destroy the earth with the flood of judgment, he gave them over a hundred years, a hundred and twenty years before the floods descended. Men had ample time to repent. There came a day when God sent one of his prophets to the city of Nineveh, a wicked city. And when Jonah arrived in Nineveh, he preached on the streets of Nineveh, forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. Forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. And he kept preaching his message. Within three days, There was a spirit of repentance in that city. From the ruler right down to the meanest man in the street, the men of Nineveh repented. And the overthrow of Nineveh was postponed. Why? Because they repented. See, God is long-suffering. He waits for men to repent. I don't know how long, perhaps, my friend. He's waited for you. You know. and God has been dealing with you, calling you to repentance. Why doesn't God break into this world's affairs? Now, I don't know if my listeners know anything at all about what we call dispensational teaching of the Word of God, but that means that God has dealt with the human race in a variety of ways. But do you know that this dispensation of grace, right from the time that the Lord Jesus Christ died was buried and rose again, and the glorious gospel began to be preached. Do you know that from then till now, this is the longest dispensation on record? See, this is the age of grace. Grace reigns through righteousness, and this has extended for a longer period. than any of the preceding eras of time. See, God is long-suffering, and during this age of grace God is calling upon men and women, commanding men and women to repent. God in His goodness leads men to repentance. God in His long-suffering waits for men to repent. Might I say this right now, even this nation of ours, and it's true concerning any nation, If any nation will repent, get down on their face before God, will cry to God and repent of their sins and turn again to the living God. God will be merciful unto them. It's the finest protection a nation can have. It's when they turn back to God. God in his long-suffering waits for men to repent. But then there's another beautiful little scripture found in the Gospel according to Luke. Most of you are familiar with the reading of Luke. It's in that same chapter where you read the story of a shepherd going out after his lost sheep. And when he comes back, he's rejoicing. Likewise, you'll discover this. that in that same passage there's a woman who loses a piece of silver. She lost hers in the house, of course, and she swept diligently until she found it. She rejoiced with her neighbors. It's the same passage, the same chapter, where you read of a son that was lost, and he came back to his father. But listen to this particular verse right now from that chapter. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. You see, the shepherd rejoiced with his friends and neighbors when he brought back the sheep that was lost. The woman rejoiced with her friends and neighbors when she found the lost piece of silver. The father rejoiced and had a great feast in his home. when his long lost son returned and was restored to the fellowship of his father's table. Ah, says the Lord Jesus Christ, likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repented. Have you ever thought of the angels having a great circle of joy? Joy in heaven. joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. You know, it's very interesting to find this, that when the Savior was born, the angels burst forth from heaven in one great song of praise. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and they sang the praises of a Savior who was born. Here in Luke chapter fifteen it would appear that angels are rejoicing and having a great time of thanksgiving and praise over a sinner repenting. But when you come to the book of the Revelation chapter five you'll find a whole multitude of angels in heaven above rejoicing and sending forth their praise because of a sovereign who occupies a throne. Whether it is a Savior born in a stable, or a sinner repenting and coming back to his God, or the great sovereign of the universe, sitting upon the throne of his glory, it causes the angels to rejoice. But now, let me remind you of this. The Lord Jesus Christ came to call sinners to repentance. God commands repentance. God in his goodness leads to repentance. God in his long-suffering waits for repentance. The angels in high heaven rejoice when a sinner repents. Ah, but here's just a word of warning. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you nay. But except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. See, my friend, where there's no repentance, there's judgment. How important then it is for men and women to listen to the message concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, that he came to this earth to call sinners to repentance. And before ever a man or a woman can begin to live the Christian life, he must repent. and turned back to God. Just as the prodigal came back from the swine troughs and from the far country, from his rags and from his filth, he got back to his God, back to his father, back to his home. So the Lord Jesus Christ came to call sinners to repentance.