Luke 15 has been called “The Gospel of the Outcasts.” For centuries this chapter has been seen as God’s Word to those who have fallen. It is a message for all who have wandered from Christ, who once were found but now are lost, who may be bound by a besetting sin.
What exactly is an outcast? In Luke 15, the outcasts are those who have been rejected as failures by society and by the church. They include those who feel rejected by God because of a moral failure.
God takes no delight in the testings of his children. The Bible says Christ is sympathetic toward us in all our trials, being touched by the feelings of our infirmities. In Revelation 2:9 he tells the church, “I know thy … tribulation, and poverty…” He’s saying, in essence, “I know what you’re going through. You may not understand it, but I know all about it.”
How often have you heard Christians say, “God is doing a new thing in his church”? The “new thing” they refer to may be called a revival, an outpouring, a visitation, or a move of God.
Yet very often, this “new thing” of God dies out quickly. And once it has faded, it can’t be found again. In this way, it proves not to be a move of God at all. In fact, Christian sociologists have tracked many of these so-called visitations. They’ve discovered that the average span of such an event is about five years.
As Jesus made his way toward Galilee, he came to Jacob's Well in Samaria. Weary from the journey, he stopped to rest there, while his disciples went to buy food. In the meantime, a Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus made a simple request of her: "Give me to drink" (John 4:7).
Here on the streets of New York City, you can buy a Rolex watch for fifteen dollars. A salesman yells, "Get your Rolex here," and he flashes a shiny timepiece with the word "Rolex" on its face. As you examine the watch, everything about it looks like a Rolex. But, as every New Yorker knows, these watches aren't truly Rolexes. They're simply "knockoffs" - cheap copies of the original.
Incapacitated - what a frightening word! It means "deprived of capacity or power to perform; rendered unfit, useless; disqualified."
According to God's word, sin is the great incapacitator. It affects ministers and laymen alike - robbing them of all power and usefulness, leaving them dry and empty, and removing all ability to fulfill the eternal purposes of Christ.
There is only one kind of righteousness that God accepts — and that is perfect righteousness! Nothing else will stand in His presence on Judgment Day. Unless our righteousness is absolutely perfect, He cannot save us, justify us, recognize or accept us.
Yet, is there anyone brazen enough to think he can stand before the throne of Jesus Christ and present something of his own doing — good works, good behavior, all the dos and don'ts he observed — and call it perfect righteousness? No — never! Such a man will find himself on that day wearing filthy rags!
"They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
"They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end" (Psalm 107:23-27).
The devil does everything in his power to make his voice heard in this world. At one point he even had the audacity to interrupt Jesus while the Lord was speaking in the synagogue:
In just a few short years, the Spirit of God has raised up a strong testimony to the power of Christ — right in the heart of America's largest city — New York.
In the Mark Hellinger Theater, one of New York's largest, most beautiful theaters, God has established a church where hundreds of repentant believers from many nationalities are reaching out to the poorest and neediest in this crumbling city.
The press has been surprised by the continual growth and outreaches of Times Square Church. New York City papers ran stories about "Standing Room Only For Jesus On Broadway."
