Though the cover is worn and pages be torn, and places bear traces of tears, yet more precious than gold is this book, worn and old, that will shatter and scatter my tears. This old book is my guide, it's a friend by my side, and it will lighten and brighten my way, and each promise I find soothes and gladdens my mind. as I read it and heed it each day. To this Bible I will cling, of its worth I will sing, though great losses and crosses be mine, for I cannot despair, though surrounded by care, while possessing this blessing divine. As I prayerfully look in this precious old book, many pleasures and treasures I see, many tokens of love from the Father above, who's nearest and dearest to me. Aren't you glad for the book? I'm glad for the book. You know, I could come here and say, now folks, this is the way it is. My mama told me it's like this. And Brother Tom, he could get up and say, well, my mama told me it's like this. And Brother Mike Long, he'd get up and say, well, my mama told... And you wouldn't know whose mama was right. But God says, I'll settle it. I'll tell you what I say about it. And I'm glad he did. I'm glad for the book. If you have a copy of it, turn with us on the book of St. Luke, St. Luke and chapter 7. St. Luke chapter 7 and I'll read a couple of verses of scripture. We'll try not to be very long tonight. I heard about that preacher that got up to preach and he started in the book of Genesis and he preached on Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel. He went through the Bible and he was talking about Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and he'd been preaching about three and a half hours and he'd come over to the book of Samuel and he said, we've come to Samuel, what are we going to do with him? The fellow jumped up in the back and said, he can have my seat, I'm going home. I'm not going to preach on Samuel, so don't go home just yet, okay? But St. Luke chapter 7, I want to begin reading. beginning at verse 31, it says, And the Lord said, Whereunto shall I liken the men of this generation? And to what are they like? They are likened to children sitting in the marketplace and calling one to another, saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced. We have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. For John the Baptist came, neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and ye say he hath a devil. And the Son of Man has come, eating and drinking, and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a wine-bibber, and a friend of publicans and sinners." Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word tonight, and we thank You, Lord, for the hope and help and comfort and consolation that your word gives us. And Lord, we just thank you for the privilege of being able to share your word. And we pray, Lord, be with us tonight. God, we ask you for that unction. How can mortal man preach about an infinite God unless you help us? And I pray that you will make yourself real. Bless your word. I know you will. You said it would not return void, but would accomplish that for which it's sent. Now, get the glory that's due your name tonight. Bless this church. Bless Pastor Tom. Use him in a special way. These things we ask in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Now if you go by way of background real quickly, if you go earlier in this chapter, you'll find that where some of John the Baptist's disciples had come to Jesus. Now John had been thrown in prison by Herod because John had told him, said it's not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. And so John was in prison, and I'm sure John was probably a little discouraged, and he made thinking he didn't have much longer to live. And so John called some of his disciples, and he says, go to this fellow. I've been hearing a lot about doing all these miracles and preaching and things like that. Go ask him, is you he that should come, or do we look for another? Now, keep in mind, John had baptized Jesus, but it had been three years or so before that, and I don't think we have any gospel record that shows that they ever crossed paths again. And so John sends to Jesus and said, Are ye he that should come? And so Christ doesn't answer the question. He preaches to the lost there. He does some miracles, and then he turns to them, and he says, go back and tell John what you've seen. The poor have the gospel preached to them. The eyes of the blind have been opened. The ears of the deaf have been unstopped, and the lame has been able to walk. And so he knew John would know. And so after they leave, Jesus begins to talk about John, and he says to the Pharisees, he said, what should I like in this generation? What should I like them to? He said, they're like children in the marketplace, and they're calling to one another, and they say, we've played music like they have at weddings, but you haven't danced. Then we played music like they have at funerals, but you haven't mourned. He said, you're like those children, and what they were saying is, we can't please you. And Jesus said, that's the way you are. He said, John come. John stayed out in the wilderness. He baptized people out there. He didn't come and he didn't go in with sinners and publicans and go to these dinners and all like that. And you said he has a devil. I come. I go ahead. I'll eat with the publicans and sinners and all. And you say I'm a gluttonous man and a friend of publicans and sinners. You see, they called him a friend of sinners. You know, that biting, bitter sarcasm of the Pharisees has been welcome music to the ears of many of Adam's race. You see, a condemned, lost, helpless sinner needs a friend. And he's a friend tonight. And I want to just share a little bit about Jesus, a friend of sinners. He's a friend, and I'm glad he is. I'm glad that I found 56 years ago that he was a friend of this sinner. And I'm glad the Bible says over in Proverbs 18 and 24, there's a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. And I want to say, he's always been there. He's never forsaken me. When I failed Him, He's always been there for me. When the ways got hard and rough, He's always been there. When the ways got dark and I didn't know exactly where I was going, He's always been there. And so He's a friend that sticketh closer to the brother. Not only that, the Bible says in Proverbs 17 and 17, there's a friend that loveth at all times. And I got news for you, he loves all times. There's never a time that he won't love you. I don't care how many times I falter along the way, even when I fail him, he still loves me. And so I want to share with you about this friend of sinners. They said it in a derogatory manner, but I'm glad he's a friend, my friends. I'm glad he's a friend. But let's think about it for just a few minutes. First of all, he's a friend of sinners in his lineage. Now, I don't know about you, I didn't have no choice of what family I was born in. But Jesus chose His lineage. You see, the Bible says in Galatians 4 in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the law. You see, the incarnation was chosen of God. You see, God chose his lineage. Now, like I say, I didn't get to choose mine. I mean, before I was born, nobody asked me, hey, are you all right getting born in the McClure family? I mean, nobody said, hey, you're going to get born to Wilbert Nellie McClure. Are you all right with that? Now, don't get me wrong, I'm fine with it. They were good parents, I loved them. They're in heaven now, but nobody asked me. And not only that, when I got here, nobody asked me if I was satisfied. In fact, I don't remember getting born. I know I was, I'm here. But I don't remember, but I'm simply saying I had no choice but Jesus chose. You see, the Bible speaks of him as being the son of Abraham. Who wouldn't want to be? He was a Jew. The Bible speaks of him being the son of David. As a Jew, wouldn't you want to be? But wait a minute. That wasn't the only ones of his lineage. You see, there was a fellow named Jacob. Man, what a scoundrel he was, but he was in the lineage. Not only that, there was a fellow named Judas. Man, what a scoundrel he was, and I'm not talking about Iscariot, but I'm talking about Judas there, one of the sons of Jacob. You see, what a scoundrel he was, but he was of the lineage of Jesus. Not only that, Hagar, The harlot, she's in the lineage, you see. But wait a minute. What does all these have in common? They're all sinners. They're all sinners. You see, Jesus came in the lineage of sinners. He didn't have much to choose from, did he? I mean, we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. And so, Jesus was a friend of sinners in his lineage. Not only that, he was a friend of sinners in his birth. Now, the king of kings that left the throne of heaven, come down here to be born, where would he be born at? Why, you'd think the king's palace or a stately mansion. In fact, that's what the wise men thought, was it not? When they saw that star and they said, this is it, this is fulfillment of the scriptures we've been studying. And so they came and made a long journey. Where did they go looking for this king? They went to Jerusalem to the king's palace. But where was he born? The Bible tells us in the book of Luke that when Mary brought forth her firstborn son, she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. Swaddling clothes was what they used, my friends, when an animal, when a lamb was born and they rubbed it down after its birth, you see. And so Jesus was wrapped in those swaddling clothes and laid in the manger. What's a manger? A manger, my friends, was a box made out of wood or a place hewed out of stone where they put straw for animals to eat, you see. And so where was he born? Not in a palace. You see, Jesus didn't come with a silver spoon in his mouth. But my friends, he came amidst all of the problems and the heartaches and all the disappointments and the troubles that poor people have. You see, He came, my friends, in the midst of all of our problems, and He's a friend that understands. He knows all about us, and He understands everything we go through. And so He's a friend, not only in His lineage, He's a friend in His birth, But not only that, he was a friend in his ministry. Now, nowadays, you see, and I'm sure it was like that back then, the more important a person was, the less accessible they are. For example, how many of you here tonight think you can go up to the Capitol and knock on the door and say, I'd like to see the governor? How would that work, you see? And not only that, how many of you think you can go to what is it, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to where the president lives? Well, this is not the weekend he might be there. where the president lives and say, hey, I'd like to just talk to the president. What's the like? Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not being critical of it. I realize there are important people and they have to have certain limitations. They can't just have anybody come off the street, you see. They got a lot of things to have to accomplish and all. And so I understand that there's a limitation when you're important But Jesus was always accessible. He said over there in the book of Matthew, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden. And he said, I'll give you rest. He made himself accessible. If you'll go on over in this chapter, you'll find where after Jesus talked to them here, there was a Pharisee named Simon. He told Jesus, he said, I'm having a big dinner, I'd like for you to come. And Jesus said, okay, I'll come. And so he goes to Simon's house, and so he goes there to eat dinner, and if y'all allow me, I'd like to use my sanctified imagination, and I'd like to kind of picture what went on here. Jesus goes to Simon's house. Now keep in mind, back then they didn't sit at a table like we do. They didn't sit in a chair and scoot up under a table and the food there on the table. Their table was down like on the floor. And they had mats, as it were, all around the table. And they actually reclined. They'd lay down. You see, with their feet back away from the table, they'd rest their head on their left hand, and then they would take their right hand and eat, you see. So here they are, the table's spread, there's food there. All the guests are laying on pads, if you will, all around the table with their feet back away from it. And all of a sudden, I see this woman. I kind of imagine she catches the servants not paying any attention, and she slips in. You see, she's a sinner woman. She has a bad reputation. She's pretty sure she wouldn't be welcome. She wasn't invited. So she kind of slips in. And I kind of see her as she sort of eases along the wall. She's looking over the crowd that's there for the dinner. Who's she looking for? She's looking for a friend. She's looking for that friend of sinners that she's heard about. She's looking for one that receives sinners, you see. And so I kind of see her as she maybe eases along the wall, and she's looking over the crowd. And finally she sees him. That's him. And she eases over to where she is, and she gets on her knees at his feet and begins to weep. And with her tears, she washes his feet. And then she takes the hair of her head and dries his feet and kisses them. And then she takes ointment and pours it on his feet. Now Simon, the Pharisee that was making the dinner that invited Jesus, he's watching all this. And as he sees this woman doing this, he says to himself, why, this man's no prophet. If he was, he'd know what kind of woman this was, and he wouldn't let her even touch him. You see, if this woman had come in, If this woman had said, hey, I'm a sinner. I know there's no hope for me. But Simon, he's a Pharisee, so he knows the law. And I'm going to go ask Simon, is there any hope for an old sinner like me? Is there any way that I can be approachable to God, an old sinner like me? And if she'd have come in and come around the side where Simon was and said, Simon, I'm a lost sinner, but is there any hope for me? You know the law. Is there any hope for me whatsoever? Simon would have probably kicked her away and said, get away from me, you old sinner. He'd have said probably to his servants, throw her out. What are you doing letting her in? And lock the door, make sure she don't get in again. But Jesus, he perceived what Simon was thinking. And so he says, Simon, I'd like to tell you a story. And he says, okay, go ahead. And said, Simon, he was a man, a creditor that had two debtors. Said one of them owed him 50 pence, and one owed 500 pence. Now, Pence was a day's wage, best I can understand, and so what he was saying is, one owed 50 days, so in other words, two months salary. And one owed 500, a year and a half salary, you see. And said neither one of them had anything to pay, and so the man just called them to him and he says, I know y'all don't have anything to pay, tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm going to mark down on it, paid in full. You don't owe it anymore. Jesus said, Simon, which one of these would love him the most? And Simon said, well, I suppose the one that he forgave the most. That makes sense, right? And Jesus said, you're right, Simon. He said, Simon, you see this woman here? He said, when I come into your house, you didn't give me any water to wash my feet. Now, keep in mind, they walked everywhere they went, and they wore sandals, and so their feet would get dirty, and it was just common courtesy to provide water and to where they could wash their feet or have your servants to do it for them. And so Jesus said, Simon, you didn't give me any water to wash my feet. But said, this woman has washed my feet with her tears. Said, Simon, when I came in, you didn't give me any oil to anoint my head. But said, this woman has anointed my feet. Said, Simon, when I came in, you didn't give me a kiss of welcome. But this woman has ceased not to wash my feet. And said, her sins that are many are forgiven. And he looked at her and said, Woman, thy sins are forgiven. Jesus said, For he that is forgiven most will love most, but he that is forgiven little will love little. And Jesus looked at her and said, Woman, Thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace. Some of them there sat and said to themselves, who does this man think he is, forgiving sins? Hey, you know what? One time they said of Jesus, they said, why, only God can forgive sins. They hit the nail right on the head, didn't they? Only God can forgive sin. But see, what they didn't recognize, this was God before them, you see. What are you saying, preacher? I'm saying He's a friend of sinners. You see, He was a friend of sinners in His lineage. He was a friend of sinners in His birth. He was a friend of sinners in His ministry. But not only that, He was a friend of sinners in His death. You see, He died with sinners. You see, the Bible says over in Isaiah 53 and 9, he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death because he had done no violence, neither was deceit in his mouth. The Bible teaches us that when Jesus was crucified, there was two malefactors crucified with him, one on the right hand and another on the left. The scripture also tells us that these malefactors were guilty of murder and sedition. They were heinous criminals. They were not just pickpockets. They were heinous. They were not just sinners, but criminals, you see. And they had been caught. They'd been tried. They'd been pronounced guilty. They'd been sentenced to die a horrible death. And so here they are. And as they're hanging here, the crowd around the cross, this religious crowd of Pharisees and priests and Sadducees, they said, He saved others. Himself He cannot save. And these two malefactors begin to look at Jesus and say, If you're the Son of God, come down from the cross and take us with you. And He could have. I mean, it'd been easy for him. Why, he could have just stepped away from them nails. He could have remained suspended there above the earth, and he could have said to them, hey, looky here. I have come loose from the cross. I can come down if I need to. Do you believe me now? Some of them would have. But friends, guess what? We would not have had a Savior. we'd have still been lost, no hope whatsoever, you see. And so he died with sinners, but not only that, he died for sinners. The Bible says in Isaiah 53 and 5, that he was wounded for our transgression, he was bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes, We are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. The Bible says, my friends, over there in 2 Corinthians 5 and 21, for he hath made him to be sin for us. who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Now, does that mean, preacher, that he was accused of my sin? Yeah, he was. You see, he was accused of all my sins, but more than that. He was punished for my sin. You see, He took my sin debt upon Him. The Bible said the way, first of all, the Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Guess what, folks, if we got what we deserve, we'd all go to hell and burn forever. That's what we deserve, you see. And so all have sinned and come short of the glory. Now when it says come short, it's not like, Say you were shooting an arrow at a target, and the target's over there, and you shoot at it, and the arrow falls short and hits the ground in front of it. That's not what it's talking about. You see, when we've fallen short, it means that the target's there, we're shooting its way. You see, we don't have any hope of ever hitting it. We could never, never be good enough to deserve to go to heaven, just not able to. I heard a story, I know the theology's not right, but it brings across the point about this guy died and went to heaven. And he got up there, and there was an angel at the gate, and he asked the angel, said, what do I gotta do to get in? He said, well, you gotta have a thousand points. And he says, how do I get a point? He says, well, tell me what you did down on earth. And so he said, well, I got saved, and I went to church every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night. I went every time they had a revival and a special service. I served on the parking lot committee. I served on the flower committee. I helped gather coats for the needy in the wintertime and pass them out. And I worked in the soup kitchen. And for about four and a half hours, he went on and on and on about all the good things that he did. And the angel said, that's very commendable. That's worth one point. One point! He said, you mean all that I did my whole life on earth, I was only worth one point? Yeah. And I gotta have a thousand to get in? Yeah, that's right. Lord, have mercy. He said, that's worth a thousand. Come on in. You see, the Bible says in Titus 3 and 5, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us and washed us, my friend. And so you see, He died for sinners. He paid our sin debt. That means not only was he accused of my sin, not only did he pay the debt for my sin, but I don't understand this. The Bible says he was made to be sin for us. I don't understand, Brother Tom, what that is. I don't understand what it was for he, the sinless, perfect, holy, righteous one, to be made sin. I don't understand that. I can't comprehend that. It must have been a horrible thing for him to do, but he did it. He died not just with sinners, but for sinners. You remember? When Jesus was hanging there on the cross, like I said, the two malefactors began to say to him, if you be the Son of God, come down on the cross and take us with you. And so he's hanging there. I think I see him as he pulls on the nails in his hands and pushes on the nails through his feet. He pulls himself up. He licks his dry lips. He gets a breath. What's he going to do? Is he going to curse that crowd that's been cursing him? Is he going to spit on that crowd that has spit on him? But instead, he looks towards heaven and he says, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. I think that had an effect on that one guy, because as the other malefactor continued to criticize Christ, he said to him, Dost thou not fear God, seeing that we are in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive due rewards of our deeds. But this man has done nothing amiss. And he looks over at Jesus and he says, Lord, Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Hold it. Time out. Time out. What in the world you talking about? Remember you. Why? You're a wicked sinner. You're a criminal. You've been caught and you've been tried and now you're dying. And what right do you have to ask him to forgive you? Hey. You ain't got nothing you can do for him. I mean, he couldn't say, Lord, if you'll save me, I'll serve you the rest of my life. He's only got two, three hours left. That's it. He couldn't say, Lord, if you'll save me, instead of giving you 10%, I'll give you 90%. He don't have nothing. He's hanging naked on that cross. What in the world could he offer Jesus to save him? But thank God, he don't save us because what we can do for him. He saves us because what he can do for us. And Jesus, my friends, when he said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom, Jesus said, I'll just do better than that. I'll just take you with me. And he did. He did. I believe there's a rich man over in heaven right now. I mean, a lost man, one of the malefactors in heaven right now. because he trusted Christ there on the cross. And so he died for sinners. You see, Jesus was dying for sinners. And he loved them enough that even on the cross, paying our sin debt, he was able to love that man and say, you can go with me when we go here. And he did. And so not only did Jesus a friend in his lineage, in his birth, in his ministry, in his death. But I'll close with this. He's also a friend as our intercessor. The Bible says, over in Romans 8, 34, Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who maketh intercession for us. I don't like to brag, but I got a friend in high places. Yeah, see? Yeah, I've got a friend up there, see? And when I sin, and I still do, I got news for you. We might be saved, but we're not sinless yet. We still got these old bodies. I got news for you. Mine's in better shape than some of yours. I'll tell you that right now. Nah, just kidding. Well, maybe I'm not, but anyhow. But we still sin. You know, the only person that can say, I live above sin is the guy that's got an apartment over a beer joint. He can say, I live above sin and be truthful, you see. But we all fail God. And so, you see, when I sin, the devil, he's the accuser, the brother. And I got news for you. He don't have to lie on us. We give enough ammunition, don't we? And so when I think something I shouldn't think, or I get frustrated and say something I shouldn't, or I do something I shouldn't do, you see, and the devil runs up to heaven and he says, hey, God, you see what Dwight did down there? Yeah, I did. Do you approve of that? Are you gonna record that? Yeah, we'll record it. And God looks over to the angel, and he says, record that. And so the angel takes out his pen, and he begins to write there. And the devil comes over, and he looks over his shoulder, and he says, no fair, no fair, no fair! And God says, why? Is he not recording it? Yeah, he's recording. Is he not putting it down accurately? Yeah, he's putting it down accurately, but he's not putting it on his account. He's putting it on Jesus' account. You see, I've got an intercessor. The Bible says, my friend, that there's a mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. John, the beloved over there in 1 John chapter 2 verse 1, he says, My little children, I write unto you that you sin not. If John had stopped there, we'd all be in trouble. But he didn't stop there. He goes on to say, but if any man sin, we have an advocate with a father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the propitiation for our sins, but not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Aren't you glad you have an intercessor? Aren't you glad you have a mediator? Aren't you glad you have one, you see? I heard a story, and I'm closing. I close a lot, but I don't stop that often, do I? I'm going to. I heard a story about this old country boy. He was going to join this church. And so the deacons was talking to him, and they said, well, tell us about your conversion. He said, OK, I did my part, and God did his part. And they thought, well, he don't understand salvation. And so they said, OK, explain to us. What was your part, and what was God's part? He said, my part, I did the sinning, and God's part, He said, I took off just as hard as these old rebellious legs and wicked heart would take me. He said, but the love of God done run me down. Hey, friends, we got one that's our intercessor. He intercedes for us. And so he's a friend of sinners. Now, they meant it for bad. but it means good to us. You see, old, wretched, lost, condemned, helpless sinner needs a friend, and I have a friend. Now, what does all this mean? Well, it means, first of all, if you don't know Christ as Savior, you've got a friend that loves you, and he died for you. He paid your sin debt. It's already taken care of. There's nothing for you to do, just receive the gift. That's what Paul said, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. It's a gift. God offers it to you freely. It's already been bought and paid for. You don't owe a thing on it. Just trust him, believe on him. The Bible said, Jesus said there in John 3, 16, for God so loved the world, gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him. might be saved. And if you're a Christian, I want to say, no matter how many times you fail God, no matter how hard the battle may get, no matter how dark the night might be, no matter how heavy the load may be, and you might say, I can't go any further, guess what? You got a friend. You got a friend. He'll never leave you. He'll always love you. You see, Jesus, is a friend of sinners. They said about him, he saved others, but himself he cannot save. That's exactly why he didn't save himself, because he was going to save us. Heavenly Father, Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for loving us and giving him for us. Thank you for paying our sin debt that we vile, wretched sinners might be saved. And Lord, I pray, bless your people that's here tonight. Lord, if there's one that don't know your Savior, may they realize how simple it is, how easy it is to come and trust you. Do a work, Lord, I pray. These things asked in Christ's name, amen. My wife and I went on a cruise called Singing on the Sea Cruise back in January. And while we was on that ship, you see, we could go just about anywhere within some limitations. I mean, if we wanted to go to any one of the buffets, we could. They had different restaurants. We could go to them. They had singers in different parts of the ship. We could go hear them. They had preachers in different parts. We could go hear them. If we wanted to go up on the top deck to where they had the walking path, we could do that. If we wanted to go to one of the pools and get in the pool, we could do that. If we wanted to go to the gym, ain't nobody wants to go to the gym. But we still could do that, you see. But now here's the thing. We could go anywhere on that ship that we wanted to go, but all that time, that ship was going to the Bahamas. You see, God says you can do whatever you want, but there is consequences. The Bible says, it's pointed, and the man wants to die, and after this, the judgment. People can live the way they want to live, but we're still headed to judgment. You see, it's coming. And friends, when you see that that's going on over there in the Middle East right now, and I was telling Brother Tom the other day, My wife and I just got back from over there about two and a half weeks ago. Less than two weeks before all that started. I thank the Lord we got out when we did, you see. But, I mean, we didn't have any apprehension and nothing was going on. It just seemed safe as it could be, you see. You don't know, there's a lot of hatred towards God's chosen people and there's a lot of hatred towards you as a Christian, too. I got news for you. But my friends, when I see that mess over there, that just tells me He's coming, He's close. It could be tonight. Are you ready? Are you ready?