This sermon emphasizes the unique message of Jesus, who came not for the righteous but for sinners to call them to repentance. It explores the depth of Jesus' compassion and forgiveness towards sinners, highlighting the importance of repentance and the need to treat others with the same mercy and forgiveness we have received from God.

In every religion, the teaching is that God is looking for holy people. It is only Jesus who said, I did not come to call the righteous, I came to call sinners to repentance. It is only Jesus who said, I did not come to call the righteous, I came to call sinners to repentance. See Luke chapter 5 and verse 32. Luke 5, 32. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Verse 32. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Here it says to call sinners to repentance. That is what it says. Here in the true language it says to call sinners to repentance. Not just to call sinners to leave them as sinners, but to call them to repentance. Because the Pharisees were asking in verse 30, why is he always eating with the sinners? Because the Pharisees were asking in verse 30, why is he always eating with the sinners? Jesus had a title. That is a title which you and I may not like. The title was friend of sinners. Would you like a title like that? Friend of sinners? Or would you like a title friend of holy people? I think most Christians would like the title friend of holy people. But Jesus was a friend of sinners. And not to lead them in their sin, but to lead them to repentance. So when they asked him, why are you always mingling with sinners? He said, it is only the sick people who need a doctor, not those who are healthy. So a doctor does not go to healthy people, he goes to the sick people. Does it mean that those Pharisees were all healthy? No. They imagined that they were healthy. So Jesus said, because you think you are healthy, I am not going to come to you. But here are some other people who do not think they are healthy, they think they are sick. And so I go to them to lead them to repentance. And so I go to them to lead them to repentance. So when Jesus, you know the Bible says, Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. So even today, he has not come for those who imagine that everything is alright for them. He has come for those who realize, I am not as holy as God wants me to be. And who are longing to be holy. Among Christians, there are two types of people. Among born again Christians. See a born again Christian is one who has received Jesus Christ as his Lord. He has received Christ as his Savior and asked Christ to forgive his sins. He has received Christ as his Savior and asked Christ to forgive his sins. And so, among them there are two categories. There are one category who say, oh my sins are all forgiven now. I am going to heaven when I die. And before that, if I slip up and fall a little bit, it's not serious. Because I am going to heaven, I am a child of God. And so, their attitude to sin is, they don't take it very seriously. And there is very little repentance in their life. They repented many years ago when they received Christ first. But they don't repent now. See, we may be born again once. But we need to repent every day. So, we come to Jesus as sinners. But he has come to call sinners to repentance. To turn completely from all sin to God. And to keep on seeking God until all sin is eliminated from our life. And to keep on seeking God until all sin is eliminated from our life. So, let's look at Jesus' attitude to some sinners. First of all, John chapter 8. Now here, adultery is one of the worst sins next to murder. In the world, murder is the worst sin. We would say, next is adultery. And next is theft. Those are some of the serious sins in the world. So, here is a woman who was caught in adultery in John chapter 8. Now, the Old Testament law said, if a woman or a man are caught in adultery, they must both be stoned to death. The Old Testament law said, if a woman or a man are caught in adultery, they must both be stoned to death. Because then only people will take seriously how seriously adultery is. So, here was a woman who was caught in adultery, verse 3. Caught in adultery means, the man was also there. Because this is not something that happened many days ago, it happened right there when they caught her. May have been in some field or somewhere they caught her. And the man was also there. But they brought only the woman to Jesus. I don't know why they didn't bring the man. Maybe he was a friend of one of the Pharisees. And so they let him go. But they brought this woman and they wanted to test Jesus. Because they wanted to accuse him if he gave the wrong decision. They already knew that Jesus is a person with tremendous compassion for people. So, they wanted to see what will he do when the law says such a woman must be stoned to death. So, they brought this woman and Jesus knew very clearly that the law said such a woman must be stoned to death. Jesus himself gave that law when he was in heaven to Moses. That was the law he himself gave. And now he has come to earth. Was he going to keep the law which he himself gave? So, they wanted to test him. So, he said, whoever is without sin, throw the first stone. You can stone her to death. That means, if you have never committed some sin like this in your mind, pick up a stone and throw it at her. You know, he had already taught that if you lust after a woman in your mind, that is equal to adultery. So, if you people have not done that, you take a stone and throw it at her. And do you know what it says here? It says, they went out, verse 9, beginning with the oldest people. Why did the oldest person go away first? Because he had committed adultery most in his mind. And all went away one by one. Not one was left. Nobody could dare to say, I have not done that. All the men had to go. But there was one man left, who had never sinned. So, he could take up the stone, according to Jesus' teaching and throw the stone. That one person was Jesus. What did he say? He is without sin, pick up the first stone and throw it. Who was there? Jesus. So, according to what he said, he could pick up a stone and throw at this woman. But why didn't he do that? Why didn't he obey the same law that he gave to Moses from heaven? Because the purpose of the law was not to kill people. The purpose of the law was to make people take adultery seriously. So, here Jesus took adultery very seriously. That's a very serious sin. But he didn't want to kill this poor woman who was acknowledging her sin. So, when all the people had gone, Jesus looked at this woman and said, Nobody condemned you? She said, no one Lord. She called him Lord. And that's a wonderful thing when you call somebody Lord. And Jesus said, I do not condemn you. In verse 11. I want to say to everybody here who has committed gross sins in your life. Have you committed some terrible sins in your life? Sins that nobody knows about? And even when I talk about it, it comes to your mind immediately. You immediately remember. Terrible sins that you committed in your past life. I want to ask you only one thing. Are you sorry for it? Have you turned from it? That you don't want to do them even once again? Have you confessed it to the Lord? Have you asked forgiveness from the people whom you hurt? Then I want to tell you that Jesus says to you today, I do not condemn you. That's a very liberating word. Because in the world everybody is trying to condemn us. If the people in the world were to see a videotape of the sins you committed. They will really throw stones at you. Not physical stones, but words like stones. Words to hurt you and condemn you. But Jesus says, I do not condemn you. I want all of you who have committed terrible sins in your life. Don't let the devil condemn you about your past sins. If you have not confessed it to the Lord, Then you must confess it now. But if you have already confessed it to the Lord, You don't have to confess it a second time. Sometimes we keep on confessing the same sin three, four, ten times. As if God did not hear it the first time. Or as if we confess it ten times, God will forgive us. You see, if you have not repented, then even a hundred times God will not forgive you. But if you have repented, then confessing it once is enough. All of us have committed some terrible sins. Be honest with God. You don't have to tell your sins to a human being. See, if I went and slapped this brother, I don't have to confess to you. But I have to confess to him. Brother, I am sorry that I hurt you. I must confess to God. I don't have to confess to a third person. It is very important to know that. The person you hurt, that's the only person you confess to. And to God. Finished. And then you must believe that the blood of Jesus has cleansed you from that sin. Not only that he has cleansed you from that sin, In Hebrews 8.12 it says, I will not remember their sins anymore. All of you must know that verse. Hebrews 8.12 Hebrews 8.12 It's a good verse to underline in your Bible so that you never forget it. Many times you may need to go back to that verse where God says, I will not remember your sins anymore. God says, I will not remember your sins anymore. Then who is the one who is trying to remind you of those sins? You think it is the Holy Spirit reminding you? No. He says, I will not remember it anymore. Who is the one who remembers it? Tell me. The devil. Satan. So who is reminding you of those sins? Who is it? Satan. Do you want to listen to Satan? No. So you have already confessed your sin to God. And the Lord says, I will not remember it anymore. And the devil stands there and says, but I will remember it always. And every now and then he will come and remind you. You remember 20 years ago what you did? Or 5 years ago what you did? He will keep on reminding you. And the sad thing is this. That many believers listen to the devil. Thinking it is the Holy Spirit. So that is the first thing you need to know today. God says, I will not remember your sins anymore. If you have not confessed your sin, then it is not forgiven. Then God remembers it. So the best thing to do is to confess your sin to God immediately. So the best thing to do is to confess your sin to God immediately. What do you do if a thorn gets into your foot? How long do you take to take it out? Tell me, 5 minutes? Or 1 minute? How many of you will leave a thorn in your foot for even 1 minute? Even if you are doing the most important work, you will stop it and take out that thorn immediately. Because it is going to harm your body. It will get infected and there will be pus there. Because it is going to harm your body. It will get infected and there will be pus there. When something pricks your conscience, it is like a thorn. How do you take it out? Confess it to God. Lord, I am sorry I had a really bad thought now. Lord, I am sorry I had a really bad thought now. Lord, I am sorry I spoke a rude word to my husband or my wife. Lord, I am sorry. Forgive me. And go to your husband or wife and say, I am sorry for saying that. Please forgive me. See, many husbands and wives don't do that. They confess to God immediately. But when it comes to confessing to the husband or wife, they say, oh, that is very humiliating. You should bow down and say, I am sorry. So they leave that thorn there. And it gets infected. And there is pus. And your fellowship with God is broken. Then after four or five days, you will say sorry. Why wait till then? Immediately. Finish it. I am sorry I made a mistake there. I shouldn't have said that. It will deepen your relationship as husband and wife. Or if you hurt a brother. Or you said something rudely to somebody in the office. Go and apologize. Don't just ask God's forgiveness. Ask forgiveness from the person you hurt. Then finish with it. Then you don't have to think about it anymore. Let the devil think what he likes. God has said, I will not remember it anymore. Now I want all of you to do that to all the sins that you can remember in your life. So that no sin from your past harasses you in future. That is very important. What am I saying? I am saying, please remove all the thorns from your feet. Every one of them. Whatever is pricking your conscience today. Confess it to the Lord right now. And if you have hurt somebody, you say, first opportunity I will go and ask forgiveness from that person. And I want to give you a word of warning here. The purpose of confessing to a person is to build better fellowship. So you must keep that in mind when you confess to a person. Supposing somebody does not know that you have hurt him. Then don't go and tell him. Supposing he doesn't know, why go and tell him and make him have a wrong attitude towards you? Because you and he have good fellowship. Now you go and confess to him some sin that he did not even know that you committed. That will spoil your relationship with him. So then you have to be wise. Because some people are very foolish. I will give you an extreme example. Supposing one of you men are travelling in a bus. And you lust with your eyes after some girl sitting on the other side. And you go to her. And you say, I am sorry sister, I just lusted after you five minutes ago. And she slaps you on your face. You deserve it for your stupidity. Don't do foolish things like that. Okay, you did something wrong, but she doesn't know about it. Confess it to God. So, if another person does not know in some other situation that you did something wrong. You have to ask yourself. Supposing I confess it to this person, will it build our fellowship or spoil our fellowship? And if you feel, if I confess it, it will spoil our fellowship, definitely. Then say, Lord, I will tell him about it when I come to heaven. Because then our fellowship will not be spoiled. Now if I tell it, it will make it worse. I am saying this to liberate you. Because that is another way the devil will harass you. Go and confess to that person. Because he wants to spoil your fellowship with that person. So keep this in mind. The devil's aim is to harass you first of all and make you feel condemned. Because of past sin that maybe you already confessed ten times to God. And the second thing the devil tries to do is spoil your fellowship with somebody. So, not only remember that God does not remember your past sin. Also remember that God is wanting you to build your fellowship with others. He wants you to be wise. God wants you to be wise. In Luke 23, we see another example. It says here in verse 32, there were two criminals who were put to death along with Jesus. Luke 23, verse 32. Criminals means they were murderers and thieves. So I told you, adultery is one of the serious sins in the world. And murder and stealing are the other sins. Now here is somebody who are murderers and thieves. And then when they were hanging there, Jesus looked around and looked at all these people and said, verse 34, Father forgive them for they don't know what they are doing. And then one of the criminals said, verse 39, fear the Christ, why don't you save us? Or the other criminal said, verse 40, don't you fear God? It's interesting to see one murderer telling another murderer to fear God. It's interesting to see one murderer telling another murderer to fear God. What it shows me is that in that man's life, adultery started. When do you think that adultery started? I think that in the 34th year, Jesus said, Father forgive them for they don't know what they are doing. In Jerusalem, many people were crucified. Since his childhood, he must have seen many people being crucified. Everybody cursing and swearing and spitting at the soldiers and everything else. And now he hears somebody say, Father forgive them, they don't know what they are doing. It's something like seeing in the midst of all people with dirty clothes, one man standing in pure white. He was surprised. He said, who is this person? He cannot be a criminal. And he saw the board written on top, verse 38, this is the king of the Jews. He began to think. Because he was a Jew. This is the messiah who was promised to come. Because that's what the other thief said, are you the messiah? Then save us. In the last minute, just before he died, he got faith. This is the savior of the world. And he said, verse 41, we are righteously getting the punishment for our sin. What did he do? He confessed his sin. Just like that woman in adultery. Yes, I am the sinner. He did not blame the soldiers or the judge or his parents or anybody. He said, it's my fault, I am a sinner. But Lord Jesus, you are a king. Please remember me when you come into your kingdom. He was expressing his faith. And Jesus immediately said, you don't have to wait until I come into my kingdom after 2000 years. Today, verse 43, you will be with me in paradise. What did he learn from that? All those people standing at the foot of the cross, that not committed any murder or anything like that. They went to hell. But this man who had murdered so many people, he was taken to heaven that day. And there is another thing, we can learn here. The Lord did not say to him, He didn't say, first of all, you must ask forgiveness from all the widows whose husbands you killed. How could he do it? He is about to die now. How can he go and ask forgiveness from all the widows whose husbands he killed? He didn't say, return all the money you have stolen. He didn't say, return all the money you have stolen. How can he do it when he is about to die? What did we learn from that? What we learned from that is, some things that we have done in our life, we might be able to correct. Some things we can set right. But many things we cannot set right. And the Lord does not torture us and torture us and torture us saying, go and set it right, go and set it right, when He knows you cannot set it right. Supposing you went and committed adultery with some woman, how can you set it right? There are many things like that. There is nothing you can do. Except repent sincerely. And love the Lord with all your heart. The devil will condemn you. Ah, you haven't gone and asked forgiveness from that person. And that person, the other person, you don't even know what their address is. How can you ask their forgiveness? And so many wrong things, some money, financial dealings, we don't know how to set it right. God does not torture you, but the devil will torture your mind. So, God knows what you can do and what you cannot do. And learn a lesson from here. And when God sees there is no way you can do it, He is not going to harass you to do it. And so you see here, Jesus came to call sinners. The worst. Adulterers, murderers, thieves. Cleanse them, take them to paradise. But notice what Jesus told the woman caught in adultery. John 8.11 There are two things he said. And we must remember both of them. Number one. I don't condemn you. That is the first word everybody who has confessed his sin here must know. I don't condemn you. I don't remember your sins anymore. But one more thing. Second sentence. Don't do it again. Don't sin again. That is the full gospel. Now most people preach only half the gospel. I don't condemn you. That is like a currency note printed on one side. Suppose you have a 10 rupee note printed on one side. Other side is blank. How much is that worth? Half of 10 rupees? Will you take it? No. It is worth zero. Because the other side is blank. So a gospel which only says God says I won't condemn you. Just like you don't call this half a 10 rupee note. That is not even half the gospel. No, that's not the gospel at all. Because you must see the other side. What is printed on the other side? Don't sin anymore. That is the meaning of preaching the true gospel. That's what we preach in the church. Jesus does not condemn you. And Jesus says don't sin again. That second part is missing in a lot of Christianity today. That's why I call it a false gospel. It is like a 10 rupee note printed on one side. You won't even take it. You won't even say it is worth one rupee. If you take it in the bank, they won't even give you one paisa for it. It has no value. And this is not a gospel which says I don't condemn you. That is the gospel being preached by so many churches today. It is better they don't preach it. If you give somebody a 10 rupee note, make sure it is a proper 10 rupee note, both sides printed. Don't give a person a gift with one sided currency note. And don't give a person a gospel which says I don't condemn you, but you don't say don't sin again. Don't give a person a gift with one sided currency note. And don't say I don't condemn you, but you don't say don't sin again. And there is another thing I want to say in connection with this. We must treat other people the way God treated us. See there is a beautiful verse in 1 Peter chapter 4. See there is a beautiful verse in 1 Peter chapter 4. This is a verse that all of you must know. Why did God forgive your sin? Why did Jesus die for your sin? Because the Bible says God so loved the world that He gave His Son. It is because He loved you that He forgave your sin. It is because He loved you that He forgave your sin. Not only He forgave your sin, 1 Peter 4.8 The last part says love covers a multitude of sins. God does not remember your sins. And not only He does not remember your sins, He does not reveal your sins to other people. See God knows all the sins you committed from the day you were born. Or from the day you were born again. Why doesn't He humiliate you by telling everybody all the sins you committed? I will tell you. If all the people in your church knew all the sins you committed you would change churches very quickly. Don't you agree with me? Definitely. But how good God is. All the sins you committed in your life Nobody in the church knows. He has covered it. Your wife does not know. Your husband does not know. Your children don't know. Your father and mother don't know. God has forgiven you and he has covered it all and said forget it. Now you must treat other people the same way. Why do you go around exposing the sins of other people? You go to somebody and say have you heard this? What that person did? What that person's daughter did? Supposing God started telling your sins like that to everybody. Supposing I pray a prayer like this. Lord I want to pray for all the people here now. Lord I want you to please listen to me. Everybody sitting here who goes and tells other people about the sins of somebody else. Please expose all their sins publicly also. Shall I pray like that for all of you? I believe God will answer my prayer. But suppose I also say. But Lord all the people sitting here who never tell others about the sins they know. Please cover their sins. I believe God will hear that prayer. If you have not been like that in the past. At least from today. Treat other people the way God treated you. If God covered your sins. Cover the sins that you know of other people. That is the mark of love. Supposing you had a daughter who fell into adultery. Will you go to all the town and say do you know what my daughter did? She fell into adultery. And all the people will say with whom? Tell me. Yes I will tell you. It was with this person and this person. Will you do that? You will never do that about your daughter. Why? Because you love her. Why do you reveal the sins of other people to somebody else? Because you don't love them. That is the real reason. You sit in the church and you talk as though you love them. Don't love them. You want to humiliate them. I will tell you. If you know of some brother or sister who is in sin. Go and say that to some senior elder brother who can do something about it. Perhaps not even to the elder brother in your church. Because he may not be mature enough to handle it. Go and tell it to some much older senior brother who can help that person to be free from that sin. That is not gossip. But if you talk to other people it is gossip. And the only prayer I can pray for you is Lord like this person exposed somebody else's sin. You must expose their sin also. Lord treat him or her the way they have treated somebody else. I will tell you this. The way you treat poor people, God will treat you one day. Have you got a servant working in your house? I can tell you in Jesus name. The way you treat that servant, God will treat you. I have had servants working in my house. And I said Lord please treat me the way I treated them. I can boldly say that. Lord please treat me the way I treated them. God has been very good to you. Be good to other people. God has been merciful to you. Be merciful to others. Don't be hard on your wife when God has been so merciful to you. Don't be hard on your husband when God has been so merciful to you. Let us all learn to treat others in our home the way God has treated us. Whenever you are tempted to be very hard on people, just sit down for two minutes before you do anything else. And meditate on how God has treated you. And then go and treat that other person in the same way. I believe if you follow this simple rule, it will change your home. Imagine if you started treating your husband from today just like God treated you. And you all started treating your wives from today the way God treated you. And you started treating your children the way God has treated you. I tell you in a few weeks your home will become like heaven. But the devil doesn't want that. That's why he makes you hard. And you think you are standing up for holiness. There is a beautiful verse in James chapter 2. It's a beautiful verse. Verse 13. It says, God's judgment will be merciless to those who have shown no mercy to other people. That means if you are not merciful to other people, God will show no mercy to you. And it says mercy must triumph over judgment. What is the meaning of that? When God decides, this child of mine has done something wrong, shall I judge him or be merciful to him? God says, I'll be merciful to him. I'll forgive him. Now one day you are dealing with another person who has done something wrong to you. There are two thoughts coming in your mind. Shall I be hard and judge that person or shall I be merciful to that person? And it's like a balance, a weighing balance, judgment and mercy. It says mercy must win. Mercy must get the victory, it says here. I will be merciful to that person just as God has been merciful to me. So it's a wonderful thing to know Jesus' forgiveness. That is why in the Lord's prayer, the Lord taught us to pray. Heavenly Father, forgive me just like I have forgiven others. If you haven't forgiven others, you are actually praying that God should not forgive you. Supposing I say, Lord, please forgive me exactly like I forgave my wife. But you haven't forgiven your wife. Then you are telling God, don't forgive me. Or supposing you say, you haven't forgiven your brother who cheated you, or your father or mother who treated you badly. You just can't forgive the way your parents treated you. And you are saying, God, please forgive me the way I forgave my parents. I haven't forgiven them, so don't forgive me. Do you know what you are praying actually? Forgive me in exactly the same way I have forgiven others. Do you want forgiveness from God? Forgive everybody. Have you all forgiven everybody? I want to tell you something seriously. It doesn't take long to forgive people. You can bow down before God and say, Lord, in your presence, I forgive this person. And I forgive this person. And this person. All the people who have harmed me, name them, I forgive them. Finished. You can get up from your chair. I have forgiven everybody in the world. God will forgive you immensely. You know, some of you are living here, sitting here under deception. You think God has forgiven you. I want to tell you in Jesus' name, God has not forgiven you. Because there is somebody you have not forgiven. And God will never forgive you. You will never go into God's presence if you don't forgive somebody. And so, before you get up from that chair today, bow your head and say, Lord, I forgive this person, this person, this person. Finish with it before you get up. And after that, if the devil reminds you, that person, that person, that person, say, get away, Satan, I have forgiven them. The devil will remind you, but you can tell the devil, I have forgiven them, you can't trouble me anymore. So, don't live under a deception that God has forgiven you when you have not forgiven somebody. I have heard some Christians say like this, I can never forgive that person for what he did. Then I tell that person, as a servant of God, I want to tell you, God will never forgive you for what you did. Let's pray. Dear brothers, let's bow our heads. Dear sisters, let's bow our heads. And say, Lord, Father in heaven, there are a few people I have not forgiven. But right now, in Jesus name, I forgive them for all that they have done against me. I forgive my wife, I forgive my husband, I forgive my parents, I forgive my relatives, for all the ways they have hurt me, cheated me. I forgive my boss, my landlord and everybody who has harmed me. I forgive the people in the church who have spoken evil stories about me. I forgive everyone, Lord. All the people in the world whom I had against anything till today. My neighbors, everyone, I forgive them, because you have forgiven me so much. Cleanse my dirty heart today and give me the joy of the Lord in my heart, that I can sleep peacefully tonight. Thank you Lord Jesus. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for telling me that you will never remember my sins anymore. Thank you Lord for covering all my sins. Lord, I want to cover the sins of other people. I never want to talk about it to anyone. Help me now Lord, not to sin again. Give me grace for that. Thank you. Let this be a new day in my life from today. In Jesus name, Amen.