Jesus Loves Losers

 

 

 

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Luke 19:10

Introduction:

  1. Two weeks ago we considered growing up in Christ, or Christian maturity. Growing in faith is learning to believe the promises of God rather than the foolish notions of our depraved, rebellious, and faithless hearts.
  2. Satan wants you to doubt your salvation and growth in grace by measuring yourself against false standards.
    1. If you do not believe you are forgiven your sins and failures, then you will be defeated and hopeless.
    2. If you do not believe you are forgiven and fully saved, then you will lose your Christian joy and peace.
    3. If you wallow in your imperfection and sins, then you will not be effective living victoriously by grace.
    4. If you must wait until your ready to come to Him, you will likely never come at all, as the song declares.
    5. If you measure by foolish success standards, you forget He only wants trophies of grace for Himself.
    6. If you think He may loves sinners in general, you will be reluctant to come as a loser by yourself.
  3. You can believe me and rejoice in the Spirit; you can be frustrated and hopeless and go to hell for unbelief.
  4. There is no virtue in poverty, considered simply by itself; there is no virtue in failure, considered any way.
  5. You can come to Jesus Christ, just as you are, right now, without improving anything, without any gift.

The Doctrine

  1. God’s ways of forgiveness and pardon are infinitely better than our ways (Isaiah 55:6-9).
  2. We see in election that God has discriminated in choosing men to salvation (I Cor 1:26-31).
    1. God did not elect, or choose, the wise, mighty, or noble of this world for His children.
    2. God did elect the foolish, weak, base, despised, and losers [persons which are not].
    3. He did this for the fullest display of His glorious grace and to shut our arrogant mouths.
  3. God has chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of His kingdom (James 2:1-5).
    1. Jesus Christ is not a respecter of persons, as human measurements mean nothing at all.
    2. He has by divine sovereignty chosen to give the gift of faith to the poor.
  4. God hides His gospel from the wise and prudent to reveal it to babes instead (Matt 11:25-30).
    1. The wise ones, the pretty people, and the ones who don’t make mistakes are rejected.
    2. The ones He invites to come to Him are those laboring under heavy burdens – losers!
    3. A loser can find peace for his soul, for the Saviour is lowly and meek in character as well!
    4. His demands are not difficult or heavy, when we come to Him fully with believing hearts.
  5. Jesus fulfilled a prophecy of Himself by comforting and preaching to losers (Luke 4:16-22).
    1. He graciously read Isaiah 61:1-2 and testified that they were witnessing its fulfillment.
    2. Are the poor, brokenhearted, captive, blind, and bruised winners or losers? Glory!
  6. Jesus aroused the contempt of the righteous people for His interest in sinners (Luke 5:27-32).
    1. He attended a great feast of publicans and sinners, but the winners scorned the losers.
    2. Jesus rebuked them sharply by teaching that a Physician cares for the sick, not the whole.
    3. Jesus rebuked them sharply by teaching that He had come for sinners, not the righteous.
  7. Jesus values one repenting sinner higher than ninety-nine righteous men (Luke 15:7,10).
    1. Can we from these parables of a lost sheep and a lost coin continue our word to losers?
    2. Ah, sinner, wretched sinner, heaven’s angels are waiting to celebrate your repentance!
    3. And those “righteous” here are only the pompous, self-righteous pretty people of religion.
  8. Jesus taught that despised publicans are justified over respected Pharisees (Luke 18:9-14).
  9. God gave the Law to display man’s sinfulness, but grace much more abounds (Rom 5:20-21).
  10. Saul of Tarsus is set forth as an example of our gloriously gracious Saviour (I Tim 1:12-17).
    1. He was a blasphemer; he was a persecutor; he was injurious. You are not even close.
    2. Saul did it ignorantly in unbelief, so he is not an excuse or example for rebellious fools.
    3. God’s grace was exceeding abundant in pursuing and saving a man like Saul of Tarsus.
    4. Our Lord quickly said to Saul, “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” (Act 9:5).
    5. What if the Lord Jesus Christ had waited for Saul of Tarsus to come to Him? Glory!
    6. It is an absolutely true and acceptable doctrine that Christ Jesus came for sinners!
    7. Saul was saved and forgiven for a very specific purpose – to show you an example of how incredibly longsuffering and gracious Jesus is toward sinners, even the greatest of them!
    8. What else can and should we do but give Him honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen!

The Examples

  1. Jesus saved Rahab and family from the city of Jericho, which was doomed (Joshua 6:25).
    1. Rahab was a Canaanite, those people whom the Lord had purposed to utterly destroy.
    2. Rahab was a harlot; she was a prostitute; she was a strange woman; she was an adulteress.
    3. How was she sought and saved? The spies chose a harlot for cover, and they chose her.
    4. She is the great-great-grandmother of David and a mother of the Lord Jesus (Matt 1:5).
    5. She is listed between Joshua and Gideon and compared to Abraham (Heb 11:31; Jas 2:25)
  2. Jesus loved David, though he sinned heinously and had a horrible family (II Samuel 23:1-7).
    1. Consider that this man had to admit on his deathbed that his family was a big failure.
    2. Amnon conspired to rape his own sister and rejected her; then he was killed by Absalom.
    3. Absalom conspired, committed treason, raised a revolt, and took David’s concubines.
    4. Adonijah committed treason and sedition, raised a rebellion, and tried to steal Abishag.
    5. Solomon obsessively pursued polygamy to confusion and the evil worship of Molech.
    6. Rehoboam, his grandson, was such a fool that he lost ten of the twelve tribes forever.
    7. What if the LORD had not sent Nathan the prophet to David to graciously recover him?
  3. Jesus loved loser women, so He chose a few for His own physical genealogy (Matt 1:1-17).
    1. Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, played the prostitute to have Judah’s son (Genesis 38).
    2. Rahab, the prostitute from the city of Jericho, was the mother of Boaz (Matthew 1:5).
    3. Ruth, a Moabitess, married Rahab’s Boaz and was mother to Obed (Ruth 4:17-22).
    4. Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, was the mother of Solomon (II Samuel 11).
  4. Jesus saved a fearful woman with an issue of blood that only got worse (Mark 5:24-34).
    1. She had this problem 12 years, spent all her money on physicians, and yet got worse!
    2. She was fearful to approach Jesus openly, but He saved her fully and openly.
  5. Jesus responded quickly to the thief on the cross with a glorious blessing (Luke 23:39-43).
    1. This man was a thief and a criminal, who was worthy of capital punishment – a loser!
    2. He had been railing on the Lord Jesus earlier on the cross, but his mind was changed.
    3. His prayer of repentance was quite simple, but Jesus didn’t ask for elaboration at all.
    4. He had nothing to offer, no life of holiness to live, no service in the church to give.
    5. But the Lord Jesus comforted this man with the most precious blessing we could receive.
  6. Jesus sent His angels to gather a beggar, who was the world’s sorriest loser (Luke 16:19-31).
    1. Here we see the life of the rich and famous contrasted to the most despicable loser ever.
    2. Surely Lazarus had opportunities in life; why didn’t he do a little something with his life?
    3. This cripple was full of sores, laid in the street, licked by the dogs, and died of starvation.
    4. But the sweet chariot of God swung low and picked up Lazarus for the comfort of heaven.
    5. And the rich man, who fared sumptuously every day, woke up from his “heaven” in hell!
  7. Jesus loved a woman named Mary Magdalene, from whom He cast seven devils (Mark 16:9).
    1. This woman sounds like a loser, wouldn’t you say? She was possessed by seven devils.
    2. When Jesus rose from the dead, He came tenderly seeking her first of all (John 20:1-18).
  8. Jesus ignored thousands to pick Zacchaeus out of a crowd and go to his house (Luk 19:1-10).
    1. The Jews despised this runt; he had turned traitor and was a rich tax collector – a loser!
    2. He was so important that he had to climb a sycamore tree even to see Jesus pass that way.
    3. In front of the whole crowd, Jesus identifies him by name and chooses to go to his house!
    4. Jesus accepts his repentance on the spot and confesses him as one of His own. Glory!
  9. Jesus chose sinful fishermen to be His apostles and the church’s foundation (Matt 4:18-22).
    1. Educationally they were losers, for the best of them could not speak well (Acts 4:13).
    2. Spiritually they understood little, slept while He prayed, and forsook Him at death.
  10. Jesus chose a publican and clerk to be an apostle, Matthew, the son of Alphaeus (Matt 9:9).
    1. The Jews despised publicans for betraying them, collecting for Rome, and often stealing.
    2. Notice who was seeking whom in this search for another apostle. Jesus sought Matthew.
  11. Jesus discouraged a Canaanite woman before finally delivering her daughter (Matt 15:21-28).
    1. The woman was a loser – a cursed Canaanite and her daughter was possessed by a devil.
    2. Read the account and see that Jesus or His disciples clearly discouraged her four times!
  12. Jesus sought and saved a devil-possessed and totally insane man of Gedara (Mark 5:1-20).
    1. This loser lived nude in the cemetery. He could not be bound; he could not be tamed.
    2. He was always in the cemetery or mountains, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
    3. Jesus and all the apostles crossed the sea for what purpose? For one horrible loser! Glory!
  13. Jesus spoke life into the heart of a hardened and hopeless jailor in Philippi (Acts 16:19-40).
    1. He was so hardened he locked Paul and Silas, naked and bleeding, into the inner prison.
    2. He was so hopeless, when the earthquake opened doors, that he tried to commit suicide.
  14. Jesus twice sought out and saved a man blind from birth who was rejected by others (John 9).
    1. The Pharisees rejected this man as an ignorant sinner and cast him out of the synagogue.
    2. But Jesus had found him to give him his sight, and He found him again to grant him faith.
  15. Jesus found a single leper and cured him of his leprosy in a kind, personal way (Matt 8:1-4).
    1. In the midst of great multitudes, Jesus had compassion on a single, contagious leper.
    2. He did not merely heal him, but touched him before many witnesses, while healing him.
  16. Jesus saved many losers at Corinth, who brought much baggage with them (I Cor 6:9-11).
    1. Consider. This church had wild fornicators, dumb idolaters, cross dressers, and faggots.
    2. But they were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus! Glory!
  17. Jesus forgave a sinful woman and defended her against Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50).
    1. Simon despised Jesus for not rejecting this sinful loser woman, who was touching Him.
    2. Jesus contrasted the woman’s great love to Simon’s little love by the need for forgiveness.
    3. He comforted the woman and sent her on her way with full forgiveness and peace.
  18. Jesus sought out the Samaritan woman with 5+ husbands, living in fornication (John 4:4-42).
    1. She was a Samaritan, despised by the Jews, which surprised her and the disciples (9,27).
    2. She was a fornicator, having had five different men and now living with the sixth (18).
    3. Though hungry and presented with food, Jesus was consumed with the Samaritans (35).
    4. When invited by them, Jesus stayed with the Samaritans of that place for two days (40).
  19. Jesus sent Philip to obscure parts of the desert for a black, eunuch Gentile (Acts 8:26-40).
    1. Read that Philip was directed from Samaria to the desert and back to Azotus for one man.
    2. This man was an Ethiopian, but Jesus loves “coloreds” (Num 12:1; Jer 13:23; Acts 13:1)!
    3. This man was a eunuch, but Jesus loves “dry trees” (Lev 21:17-21; Deut 23:1; Is 56:3-5).
    4. This man was a Gentile, but Jesus accelerated His progression for him (Acts 1:8; 11:19).
    5. The man didn’t understand Isaiah 53, a basic prophecy of the Messiah’s sacrifice (31).
  20. Jesus loved Peter and appeared to him before the other apostles (Luke 24:34; I Cor 15:5).
    1. Peter had denied him three times with cursing and oaths, yet the Lord freely forgave him.
    2. Even the angels told the women, Peter was to receive special announcement (Mark 16:7).
  21. Jesus called a young child and made him an example for all in His kingdom (Matt 18:1-14).

The Lesson

  1. We must believe we are forgiven; He is faithful and just (I John 1:9), but He also loves losers.
  2. We must not measure by the world’s standards, for He wants trophies of grace (I Cor 1:29).
  3. We must believe our position as God’s sons, appreciate it, and live up to it (I John 3:1-3).
  4. We must use the grace He has shown in forgiving us to live joyfully for Him (I Peter 2:1-3).
  5. We must be as forgiving as God in Jesus Christ has forgiven us (Matt 10:8; Eph 4:31-32).
  6. We should not be respecters of persons, as the world, for Jesus loves losers (James 2:1-5).
  7. We should respect performance, for the love of Christ constrains us (Luke 7:47; II Cor 5:14).
  8. We should use grace to “Acquaint now thyself with Him” (Job 22:21) and walk with God.
  9. We should not try to increase in value to Him, but increase His value through us (John 3:30).
  10. We must hate the self-righteous and jealous spirit of the prodigal’s brother (Luke 15:1-2).
  11. We must remember that He does not love losers in general, but specific losers individually.
  12. Jesus stands at the door for fellowship with saints, fret not about furniture or fare (Rev 3:20).

Conclusion:

  1. Because Jesus loves losers does not mean at all that we continue on in a course of losing (Romans 6:1-2).
  2. Are you a sinner this morning who knows you are lost and undone? Flee by faith to Jesus of Nazareth.
  3. You can come to Jesus Christ, just as you are, right now, without improving anything, without any gift.

For further study:

  1. The outline, “Jesus Came for Sinners”.
  2. The outline, “Starting Over”.