25. Wala ka sa Lolo ko. He, a sinner, is among those the Lord has come to call, for the Lord desires mercy, not sacrifice. Amen.

17 September 2020

Matthew 9

The Calling of Matthew

11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 

13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.

“For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” ( Matthew 9:13)

The righteous and the sinner.

Luke 18

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 

10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 

11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 

12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The Pharisee and the Publican, baroque fresco in Ottobeuren Basilica.

Johannes Böckh & Thomas Mirtsch • CC-BY-SA-3.0

You are free: to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work

“Righteous” is indeed a misnomer.

No One Is Righteous.

Romans 3

10 As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;

12 All have turned away,

    they have together become worthless;

there is no one who does good,

    not even one.”

No one is good, except God alone.

Luke 18

19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.

18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.

Isaiah 64

6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,

    and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

we all shrivel up like a leaf,

    and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

7 No one calls on your name

    or strives to lay hold of you;

for you have hidden your face from us

    and have given us over to our sins.

The good news. Righteousness Through Faith.

Romans 3

23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 

24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 

25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 

26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 

22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile.

My Dear Friend, this blog comes as a personal letter from me.

I am a fisherman, a fisher of men, a fisher of souls. I am into digital fishing, of course not dynamite fishing because that’s illegal.

I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior 16 years ago, at age 44.

I have no house, yet the joy is mine looking forward to a mansion in Heavenly Hills. (John 14:2)

I have been rock bottom, now I consider everything a bonus, everything grace of the Lord, Most Generous God. Nothing beats God's grace. Amen.

“Wala ka sa Lolo ko, a sinner, the Lord Jesus has not come to call the righteous, but sinners like him.” Day will come, such will be the words of my children's children. Amen.

The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is very clear.

I am a sinner, the Lord Jesus has not come to call the righteous, for there is none, but the sinners, and that's each and everyone of us, for that matter.

The Lord Jesus said, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ (Matthew 9:13)

The words of the man after God's own heart.

Psalm 51

A psalm of David.

17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;

    a broken and contrite heart

    you, God, will not despise.

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;

    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,

    and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 

1 Have mercy on me, O God,

    according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

    blot out my transgressions. 

15 Open my lips, Lord,

    and my mouth will declare your praise.

The words of Apostle Paul, who acknowledged himself as the worst of sinners.

1 Thessalonians 1

5 Because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 

6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.

Romans 5

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Dear Friend, my letter comes to you not in a man's words, but with the very words of God. 

‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ (Acts 17:28)

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16)

The words of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 3

20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.

The Lord Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart.

God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,

    do not harden your hearts.” (Hebrews 4:7)

I consider this matter of urgent importance.

The Lord Jesus is inviting you to accept Him as your personal Lord and Savior.

Pardon me if I am intruding, it is out of my best regard for you that I am taking the risk of being dismissed.

I leave it to the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart

God bless you My Dear Friend.

If you feel like wanting to know the Lord Jesus in a very personal way, you may send me a message. Maraming salamat.