A Friend Loveth

Good Morning,

Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loveth at all times…” but today you will be assaulted if you are loving toward “sinners.”  You may remember that Jesus was accused of being a friend of sinners:

Luke 7:34 “… Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!“ 

When we consider our Lord and His commands to us, how can we overlook the clear statement in 1 Corinthians 13: “Love, never fails.”

The destructive attitude being embraced by our culture is vastly different from the Scripture. When someone fails to measure up to the standard of those self-appointed inspectors, character assassination ensues and is followed by endless destructive attacks.  

We read of our Lord and the woman in John 8: “Woman, where are those thine accusers, hath no man condemned thee…. Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more.”

The problem our Lord faced with the Pharisees was His fellowship with sinners.  Luke 5:30 “But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?”

Referring to the earlier text in Luke 7:36-46, we read that a broken-hearted sinner loves God more than a self-righteous man. 

I would like to remind you of Paul’s words:

Romans 14:4 “Who art though at judgest another man’s servant…”

Mercy is the cry that arises from the godly heart that considers the lost and broken world around them.

John 3:17 “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."   

Just how Christlike are we? 

Pastor