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welcome to free grace baptist church a few announcements before we begin worship this morning the first one is that just a reminder that we've got the lynnwood him sing this evening after the evening service at 7pm assuming all goes well with weather actually that's the first announcement if it keep if you want to check your email around three o'clock if the snow rolls in and and it becomes dangerous to travel will will send an email out it looks ok now but that can change fast and the Fraser Valley Sookie keep an eye out for email around 3pm this afternoon if all goes well lord willing and we'll have the lynnwood him sing after the evening service tonight that's at the Lynwood retirement home which is just on corbelled about a kilometer away if that and what we'll do is after the evening service there's a be some soup buns and sandwiches we can eat till around six fifty six and then drive to drive to the Linwood and sing us some some carols there with the folks at the lynnwood so if you'd like to join us please feel free as well and other announcement is that we have the the directory information at the back there's a table set up in the entranceway there to update our church directory with email addresses and phone numbers if you're not on there and you'd like to be added to the directory you can add your email and your phone number to that or if you're already on it but your information has changed if you could update it you can scratch out the scratch out what's there put the new information if what is currently there is correct you can just initial it and that sort of thing any any questions you can ask steve lawson let's go to worship then let's turn in our Bibles now as we move to those things sacred let's open up with a reading of the Holy Word from first Corinthians chapter six beginning in verse 9 that's first Corinthians 6 beginning in verse 9 our call to worship this is the word of god 1st Corinthians chapter 6 beginning in verse 9 do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God do not be deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexuals nor sodomites nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God and such were some of you but you were washed but you were sanctified but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God amen let's stand and sing together our first hymn is in the larger Trinity hymnal let's stand as a church and sing 145 that's 145 [Music] please be seated let us pray our righteous in our holy God we rejoice that we can gather again on your Lord's Day and we thank you that we can come into this place in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ to worship Father Son and Holy Spirit we pray Lord God that again you would help us to hallow your name here in this place we pray God that you would stir up our hearts that we might worship you truly that we might worship you in spirit and in truth and we pray that you would fill us with the joy of the Spirit that our hearts would arise to that a proper and joyful worship we thank you again that we have the freedom to gather we thank you that we can come in here with full Bibles to sing the praises of father son and spirit and we thank you Lord and we do pray that you would help us always to count this as a as a blessing and as an honor to gather as your children in this place to worship you we pray that it would not only be here that your name is hallowed today but Lord around the world that you would gather your saints that they would sing your praises that they would truly rejoice in the king of all the earth and we do just pray Lord that our fellow Christians our fellow brothers and sisters around the world today and will have met and will will meet together to sing your praises and we do pray that you would encourage your people around the world that you would lift them up from out of those places of sorrow despair a persecution and all of those things that you would lift them up and and place them as it were on those places where they can have returned unto them the joy of their salvation where they can worship father son and spirit rejoice in Christ sing the praises of Amazing Grace and we just pray Lord God that you would impress upon us and your people around the world the joy of being found in Christ Jesus the Lord having the forgiveness of sins having eternal life as it is solely and alone in Christ Jesus our Lord we know that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God yet O Lord God it pleased you and your appointed and accepted time to bring forth from a deadness and sin to life in Christ you're your people your chosen ones and we thank you Lord that we have this blessing of salvation knowing that it does not come by our own deeds and in our own works of righteousness but rather from first to last midst and throughout salvation is up a triune God who saves without a helper and we rejoice that it comes to us through the the living that the doing the dying and the rising again of the Lord Jesus Christ and truly we rejoice in that perfect life of obedience unto your law we rejoice in that perfect death upon Calvary's tree where our Savior secured the salvation of a multitude that no man can number and that perfectly and we thank you for that glorious resurrection from the dead we thank you for that ascension and we rejoice in his current session where he rules and reigns over his enemies so doing the hearts of his people and causing them to rejoice in amazing grace we do pray that you would help us to be filled with praise on this year Lord's Day we pray God as we prayed this morning we would pray for all those that we mentioned in this morning hour of prayer for for healing for helping them in sickness and in disease we pray for each and every one again Lord God we would ask that you'd strengthen them and help them all of your suffering Saints those who are struggling physically with so many things we pray that you would heal them that you attend to their bodies that you would continue to to cause them in the midst of affliction to rejoice in you and to to find in you not only that great physician but also the one who strengthens in the midst of affliction and we do just pray that you give much grace and much healing to those who are struggling and we do pray Lord God that you'd be with those the pregnant ladies in our midst as well we thank you for the blessing of the gift of life that you do give to the sons of men and we do just pray Lord that you would bless a mother and child we pray that you would strengthen them that you would grant them daily daily strength and body and we do pray Lord God that in due time you would bring these young ones forth and that we would all rejoice in the blessing of life that you give we pray God that you would be with those who are traveling we thank you for returning many safely from vacay we pray Lord God that you would watch over those who are leaving we pray that you would watch over them strengthen them help them as they travel help them to enjoy times of refreshing and restoration we do pray Lord God that you would bring all safely back to us we would ask God that again that you would strengthen our brothers and sisters around the world who are persecuted for the Gospels sake for their faith in the Lord Jesus we would pray that you would just be near to each one that you'd watch over them and help them we pray Lord God that you would just give them that dailygrace of endurance in the face of opposition to lay hold of the hope of their calling without wavering we pray that they would be strong in christ and Lord that you would cause them in the in the midst of so much hatred and opposition to nevertheless be rejoicing in Christ Jesus the Lord be rejoicing in the salvation that you have gifted them with and we do pray that you would help them to be faithful unto the very end we pray Lord God that you would deal with those who persecute them that you would save many by your grace and and for your glory turning those enemies of yours into those who are worshipers of of the triune God and we would ask Lord God for those who do remain in opposition in that venomous persecution of your people Lord we do just pray that you would judge them you would cause them to be by you taken out of the way that web by whatever means in this lower world Lord God that you would take them out of the way that they may no longer bring violence against our precious brothers and sisters in Christ we do pray again for those who rule over us Lord as we're called in the scriptures to pray for kings and those who are in authority we do pray for them Lord that you would cause them to rule over us in righteousness we pray that they would uphold a proper virtue in the land and that they would cast away from the land all those things that are an abomination in your site and we do pray for those who would Lord God seek to propagate wickedness at in their rule and as they rule over the nation's that you would take them from power that you would take power away from them we know that a kings or yours that you cause Prince's to rule and you cause them also Istanbul like drunken men and we do pray that you would cause those who rule and govern to do so in righteousness equity and truth we do pray now Lord that you would help us in our worship we pray for pastor Butler as he preaches your word we thank you that he is with us that yeah he's back that he has been strengthened by you and his healing after the surgery we pray that you would give him strength in this pulpit both physically and in the inner man to proclaim with great clarity and with great courage the things of your Holy Scriptures and we do just pray that the spirit would be among us for preacher and for here Lord God that we in the pews would be strengthened by your word and for your glory sake and we would ask Lord God of the Ministry of the Holy Spirit using your word this morning would be unto the salvation of sinners that many young and old who came into these two doors outside of Christ would leave singing your praises and rejoicing in our Christ and it's in his precious name that we pray amen let's stand and sing again it's 147 this time let's all stand and sing 147 [Music] Oh [Music] we [Music] our New Testament scripture reading is in Matthew 24 this morning Matthew 24 beginning in verse 1 matthew 24 1 once again the Word of God then Jesus went out and departed from the temple and his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple and Jesus said to them do you not see all these things assuredly I say to you not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down now as he sat on the Mount of Olives the disciples came to him privately saying tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age and jesus answered and said to them take heed that no one deceives you for many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and will deceive many and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars see that you are not troubled for all these things must come to pass but the end is not yet for nation will rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom and there will be famines pestilences and earthquakes in various places all these are the beginning of Sorrows then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake and then many will be offended will betray one another and will hate one another then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many and because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold but he who endures to the end shall be saved and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations and then the end will come therefore when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place whoever reads let him understand then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house and let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes but woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days and pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath for then there will be Great Tribulation such as has not been since the foundation of the world until this time no nor ever shall be and unless those days were shortened no flesh would be saved but for the elec sake those days will be shortened then if anyone says to you look here is the Christ or there do not believe it for false Christ's and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive if possible even the elect see I have told you beforehand therefore if they say to you look he is in the desert do not go out or look he is in the inner rooms do not believe it for as the Lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west so also will the coming of the Son of man be for wherever the carcass is there the Eagles will be gathered together immediately after the tribulation of those days the Sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other now learn this parable from the fig tree when its branch has already come excuse me when it's branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves you know that summer is near so you also when you see all these things know that it is near at the doors assuredly I say to you this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place heaven and earth will pass away but my words will by no means pass away amen just very briefly jim has been pastor Butler's been preaching on this passage so no real additional comment needs to be made to that that excellent exposition but a couple things we ought to observe as Christians that are clear from this passage and set the reality of the the certainty of God's promise coming to bear coming to fulfillment at Christ speaking remember as Lord with that language of i say to you says assuredly i say to you this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place we have something that is with God in fact everything that God says most certainly will come to pass judgment upon his enemies that he has promised will come to pass will come to pass we can be assured assured of that but just as his the certainty of his judgment is something to behold with a Christian aww so too is the promise of salvation by Jesus Christ as certain as the certainty of judgment is so too is the certainty of salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ in fact this blessed language of verse 14 the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world we have the promise of Christ that assuredly all of these things of judgment will come to pass but we have that same blessed promised that whoever believes on the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved let's rest upon the certainty of our God the one who is infinite eternal and unchangeable and all of his blessed perfections including the promise of judgment and the promise of everlasting life in Christ Jesus our Lord let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your word we thank you for the certainty that the surety that we have in your revelation to men and we pray that we would rest Lord God upon that glorious certainty of salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord we pray that because it is possible with you Lord that you would cause each and every tongue in this place to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord savingly unto your glory we do pray that you would do a mighty act of salvation in this place this morning that you would most certainly strengthen Saints but that you would Lord God also bring dead sinners to life in Christ we pray in the name of his in his precious name the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen or final him then before the preaching if you'll stand with me again as 393 let's sing 393 together [Music] you [Music] please turn with min your Bibles to Luke chapter 7 Luke chapter 7 we will return to our exposition of Matthew's Gospel God willing in a few weeks but this morning we're going to look at Luke seven verses 36 250 the woman who was a sinner but I want to begin by reading in Chapter seven at verse 31 here now the word of the Living in the true God and the Lord said to what then shall or to what then shall i liken the men of this generation and what are they like they're like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another saying we played the flute for you and you did not dance we mourn to you and you did not weep for John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine and you say he has a demon the Son of man has come eating and drinking and you say look a glutton and a wine-bibber a friend of tax collectors and sinners but wisdom is justified by all her children then one of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him and he went to the Pharisees house and sat down to eat and behold a woman in the city who was a sinner when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisees house brought an alabaster flask a fragrant oil and stood at his feet behind him weeping and she began to wash his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of the of her head and she kissed his feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he spoke to himself saying this man if he were a prophet would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him for she is a sinner and jesus answered and said to him Simon I have something to say to you so he said teachers say it there was a certain creditor who had to debtors one owed five hundred denarii I and the other 50 and when they had nothing with which to repay he freely forgave them both tell me therefore which of them will love him more Simon answered and said I suppose the one whom he forgave more and he said to excuse me and he said to him you have rightly judged then he turned to the woman and said to Simon do you see this woman I entered your house you gave me no water for my feet but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head you gave me no kiss but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since the time I came in you did not anoint my head with oil but this woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil therefore I say to you her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much but to whom little is forgiven the same loves little then he said to her your sins are forgiven and those who sat at the table with him began to say to themselves who is this who even forgives sins then he said to the woman your faith has saved you go in peace amen let us pray a blessed God and our Holy Father we thank you for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for this account we pray that the Holy Spirit would guide us and lead us and direct us now as we investigate it further help us God to see the glory of Christ is so clearly manifested in this passage he is a savior who saves to the uttermost all who draw near to God through him we thank you Lord for so great a salvation that you have given we thank you Lord God that you call sinners to repentance and faith through the proclamation of your work we pray that today the spirit would do that work that is indeed impossible with men but isn't but but is possible with you god save to the uttermost and be glorified and exalted for those who are believers in Christ increase our love for the one who is altogether lovely increase our affection or devotion or worship and may we look at least in some sense like this woman who was a sinner we pray for the forgiveness of all of our sins we pray that you would wash us in the blood of the Lamb we ask through Christ Jesus our Lord amen well this particular account I hope is familiar to all of you as i mentioned in prayer and as i hope you'll see through a bear reading of the scripture it does set forth the glory and the majesty and the excellency of our Lord Jesus Christ now this story is unique to Luke's Gospel some see a parallel with Jesus anointing in Bethany recorded in Matthew Mark and John but the differences are significant so it is a different story altogether and simply what I want to do this morning is look at the three parties involved the three persons that fair in this particular section will note in the first place the woman who was a sinner in verses 36 to 38 secondly the Pharisee who was judgmental in verse 39 and then thirdly the savior who is altogether lovely in verses 40 to 50 but note in the first place this woman who was a sinner we ought to appreciate the context there's both an immediate and a broader context notice in verse 36 then one of the Pharisees asked him that's Jesus to eat with him and he went to the Pharisees house and sat down to eat so that's the immediate context this woman comes to Simon's house so that she may get at Christ so that she may indeed see Christ and express her love and affection and devotion but note the broader context backing up to chapter 7 at verse 31 that section that we read Christ is condemning his generation Christ is condemning those of his contemporaries because they rejected John the Baptist and they rejected the Lord Jesus as well notice they say or they charged that the son of man verse 34 has come eating and drinking and you say look a glutton and a wine-bibber a friend of tax collectors and sinners now certainly he wasn't a glutton and a wine-bibber but he was a friend to tax collectors he was a friend to sinners and in this particular instance we see it demonstrated in his dealings with this particular woman now as we look at the message notice in verse 37 says and behold a woman in the city who was a sinner we don't get a lot of information about her although we are told that she was a sinner now this probably indicates that she was a notorious sinner certainly all of us are sinners that would be an accurate description of any of us anybody that ever came to the Lord Jesus or went into anybody's house we could say that man that woman that boy that girl who was a sinner that is certainly true generally speaking but oftentimes you see these lists put together in the gospel narratives that refer to notorious sinners for instance when a notorious group like tax collectors are mentioned they are conjoined with sinners Matthew 910 heathen Gentiles Matthew 18 17 harlots Matthew 21 31 and extortioners unjust and adulterous men Luke 18 11 so as the narrative unfolds before us she is a sinner but she's a notorious center most commentators generally agree that she was probably a prostitute that she probably had relations with man in order to gain payment and note the specific text in verse 37 it says Abby and behold a woman in the city who was a sinner no we shouldn't load up that word was with a whole lot of grammatical freight but the theology of this section demonstrates that was is the accurate verb to use she was a notorious sinner she was a prostitute she was a man who had a woman who had relations with men for money but she had been changed she had been washed she had been justified she had been sanctified she had been saved by marvelous grace and we find her as one who was this now worshipping at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ she was a notorious sinner she had been converted by the grace of God notice her boldness this is beautiful and behold a woman in the city who was a sinner when she knew that Jesus was a SATA the table in the Pharisees house brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil now typically brethren you wouldn't see that in ancient history or in this particular period of history you wouldn't see this today either you don't find prostitutes inviting themselves over to the homes of religious leaders and it just simply doesn't happen does it does it you see what grace does in the heart of a saved sinner it promotes boldness that same sinner needs to see Jesus that same sinner needs to love Jesus that saved sinner needs to weep on his feet and wash his feet that saves center needs to express the love and the gratitude that is the response to God's grace in his or her life she has a boldness that she must see Christ now brethren she's already saved the passage does not teach as we'll see as we move along that she was saved because she loved she loved because she was saved that's the emphasis that's the theology of the illustration that the Lord Jesus tells Simon the Pharisee this creditor had to debtors one who had five hundred denarii i and another who owed 50 neither of them could pay neither of them could respond neither could could could give anything to the creditor so what does the creditor do he forgives them freely and it's because of that that the one who willed the five hundred denarii I loved much she saved by grace through faith already this is not the record of her having been saved this is the record of her having responded to the saving grace of God in her love for the Lord Jesus it is intriguing when you compare Matthew's Gospel to Luke in this particular instance we have Jesus condemning the generation some they had they'd condemn John the Baptist they had condemned the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 11 then Jesus after making the same statement that we see here in Luke's Gospel and Luke's at it Jesus then upbraids the cities that were repent unrepentant to his miracles in his days and on the heels of that you know what Jesus says he says I thank the Father Lord of Heaven and Earth for thou hast given me her head open the eyes of the of the humble of the lowly but you have hidden the gospel truths from the proud from the air again and on the heels of that Christ has come to me all you who we're in are heavy laden and I will give you rest royal notes that this woman could have been one of those who heard that very statement again the contact put together we see the similarities this is most likely the case because as we see the text unfold before us she saved already she comes to the house of this Pharisee because she knows that Christ is there grace promotes boldness in the heart grace must provide an avenue whereby love can flow to the object this is what she's doing and it's truly marvelous brethren if she was willing to go to the house of Simon the Pharisee in order to get at Christ certainly grace autumn motivate us to go to the house of God where we're not in threat from religious leaders where we're not threat from Pharisees certainly grace ought to promote the boldness at us that we seek after Christ where Christ may be found right see this is what the the reality is we are saved by grace and we respond to God in that gratitude in that love in that affection and that is precisely what she is doing notice her actions notice what she does when she gets there she brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil she stood at his feet behind him weeping most likely Jesus is reclining they wouldn't have chairs and tables the way that we would have them so Christ is reclining such that when she comes up behind him his feet are there for her to weep on but she is still behind him in this particular instance and evidence of humility and evidence of repentance and evidence of of loneliness and evidence of of worship and of devotion of adoration or I'll fleshed out right here she stood at his feet behind him weeping she began to wash his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair overhead now these tears brethren if as we have argued or proposed she's already converted yes they're tears of repentance and sorrow and all of that to be sure but they're the tears of joy here's the Savior who found me here's the Savior who are deemed me here is the one who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven you see this is a legitimate response to the grace of God joy Thanksgiving praising the Lord this is why Paul starts in Ephesians one with blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has done what he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ what can Paul do but respond with praise when you read the Psalms and you see David just just just engage in praise and worship why is that because god is good that is what this woman is displaying in this particular instance she takes this alabaster she takes this fragrant oil she stands at his feet behind him weeping she begins to wash his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head she kisses his feet and anoints them with the fragment oil you know what this means I think some of the older commentators recognize this she's taking what were formerly her tools of the trade and sacrificing them to the Savior right she is a man or a woman rather who has relations with men in order for payment fragrant oil and long beautiful hair would be something that she would use to captivate the eyes of men and thus engage in the process Gill notes this he says that which was her ornament and pride and which she took great care of to nourish in to put in proper form to render her desirable she uses instead of a towel to wipe her Lord's feet and her tears off of that you appreciate what's happening in the passage she's heard the Savior most likely say come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest she and all of her sin and all of her vileness and all of our wretchedness so I love about this passage the one in which was a sinner becomes a great lover of Jesus you will notice how people sometimes define themselves according to their sin hi I'm Joe and I'm a homosexual or hi I'm Joe and I'm a crack addict or hi I'm Joe and I'm whatever it is that we want to fill in the blank with you know what this woman was when all was said and done hi I'm the woman who wants a sinner but now I'm a lover of Jesus tin Christ that we have our sufficiency it's in Christ that we have our identity it's in Christ that we have are all in all that is what this passage shows us and this woman responding to the grace of God through Jesus Christ comes and can't but worship Him she can't but shed her tears upon his feet and take her hair and wipe his feet again there's devotion in this passage that ought to humble many of us who profess saving faith in Christ Jesus the Lord now notice the Pharisee who is judgmental in verse 39 aren't these guys just the Downers I mean we're so happy looking at this woman worshiping our beloved Savior and of course the Pharisee has to complain Luke does this a lot in his gospel record in Luke 15 it says all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to him to hear him and the tactical the Pharisees and the scribes they complain saying this man receives sinners and eats with them thankfully Luke records those situations for us because on the heels of those things Christ shows us his willingness to do this Luke 15 this man receives sinners and each with that Christ says absolutely right I do never considered Luke 15 and the threefold answer Jesus gives to that particular complaint if you are not a believer here this morning you ought to listen to Luke you ought to listen to what the Holy Spirit said through his author Luke you ought to see what the Spirit says concerning our Lord Jesus imagine that Luke 15 all the tax collectors in the sinners draw near to Him to hear him Jesus was a public figure now Jesus had notoriety Jesus had a degree of fame and persons wanted to get a hearing of what he was saying and so it says all the tax collectors and sinners drew near to him hyrum the Pharisees they complain saying this man receives sinners and eats with them I submit that every sinner standing there their ears went to Christ to hear how he would respond what's he going to say it's going to be like the Pharisees and say oh no I don't I don't receive senators I don't eat with them I want nothing to do with that no Christ says I do receive sinners I do eat with them I do forgive them I do show them mercy and he tells three stories three parables the first is about a shepherd who loses one sheep and he leaves the 99 and he goes out he finds the one cheap and what does he do he puts that sheep on his shoulders and he returns and he's rejoicing so Christ is not only saying i receive sinners and i eat with them but i do it happily i do it joyfully fact when i do it heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents jesus says he's like a woman that loses a coin he's not like a woman in the sense that he's a woman but he's like the woman who loses the coin what does she do she say well you know I've got nine others now she moves the furniture she gets out the broom and she look excuse me she looked for the coin and when she finds it what happens there's joy there's rejoicing and then that third part of this his teaching there is that man who had two sons we call him the prodigal son prodigal simply means he went out and did sinful wicked things in other words it describes all of us we're all proud of us some may not be as notorious as that particular prodigal but we're all prodigal we've all sinned we have all fouled up we have all rebelled we've all rejected that prodigal takes his share of his father's loot essentially saying you're better off to me dead than alive just give me what you will give me when you go the way of all flesh the father gives it to him he goes out he wastes it he comes to himself not in conversion not in regeneration not in repentance and not in faith but with a hungry belly says I know what I'll do I'll go back and I'll cast myself upon the mercy of my father I know it'll take me on right I trust that he'll take me on is one of the hired servants and I can be like a day laborer and at least eat enough to to fill my stomach each and every day he wasn't converted at that point brethren I do not believe for a moment you see regeneration salvation comes from the buff it's when the father is Allah sees the Sun a long way off the father runs to him the father falls on him the father kisses him the father place is a ring on his finger you see this is Christ answer to the charge that this man receives sinners and eats with that the same thing is true in our passage they said this man received higher receives sinners and tax collectors and what do we find in Luke chapter 7 but an expression of this we see a demonstration of this we see Jesus exorcises saving power in this woman's life again not by converting oh she had already been saved but in his demonstration of the reality that she had come to Christ Pharisees don't like that note his surface level courtesy there's a surface level courtesy in this particular man Ian lights Jesus into his house right he went to the Pharisees house and he SAT or then one of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him there was a surface level courtesy I think some people at least in America and Canada think a surface level courtesy is going to get them into heaven you know they're not great great blasphemers they don't worship Satan they don't worship Allah they don't you know pray to their ancestors they have a common courtesy toward Christ never mistake a common courtesy toward christ as the mark of saving grace first he didn't have it first he's judgmental Tracy not only judges the woman but he judges Jesus in our passage there's a surface level level courtesy and as well he doesn't throw the woman out I mean I gotta say if some you know ex-prostitute came barging into my home and started weeping on the feet of one of my guests I'd have some sort of inner turmoil to do I asked her to leave you know but he doesn't do that there's a surface level courtesy that this man manifest but he's got a deep-seated judgmental heart attitude note he judges the woman for she is a sinner look at verse 39 now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he spoke to himself saying man if he were a prophet would know who in what manner of woman this is who is touching him for she is a sinner I think this is symptomatic of judgmental people symptomatic of self-righteous people the judgmental man has a low view of sin she's a sinner but you know what I do isn't so bad I think this happens in the church a lot we condemn the crack addicts we condemn the prostitutes we condemn the murderers and brethren we should preach the law to every human being on the face of the earth but somehow our self-righteousness doesn't offend us as much I was sharing with the brothers yesterday that John gerstner said something to the effect odds problem with you is not so much your sin your damnable good works so that we're always looking to promote ourselves we're always looking to denigrate others you've probably worked with people like that I remember working back at northrop and many many years ago with a particular person that in the same breath would not only put someone down but would exalt herself it's symptomatic of the sons of men it's what we do it's what we're about this woman's a sinner don't you see your sin Simon don't you see your wretchedness as well I think it's a failure to accurately judge image bearers he should have compassion on her that a woman who was a sinner that a woman who had lain with men for money is now worshipping at the feet of Jesus that ought to cause him to to rejoice to do happy jigs in the sight of God Almighty we see a woman who was a sinner radically converted unto Jesus becoming a lover of Jesus and we're judgmental of that particular person shame on us as well it seems to indicate a low view of God's grace you know it's sort of incipient or at least below the surface in such a statement Oh God doesn't want her God can't save her God isn't about her it's sort of like when Bartimaeus is crying out to the Lord and says Jesus thou son of David have mercy upon me what does the crowd say do they help him do they say Bartimaeus will get his attention no they try to silence Bartimaeus what's the emphasis Bartimaeus he hasn't got time for you you're a blind beggar Bartimaeus you're a wrench Bartimaeus you smell Burt emmaus we don't like you thankfully God put it in the heart of Bartimaeus to cry out all the louder Jesus now son of David have mercy upon me what happens in Luke's Gospel in Luke 19 when Jesus comes to the foot of the tree where Zacchaeus is he says to Zacchaeus hurry down because I got to eat dinner at your house tonight how do the people respond to that do they praise God from whom all blessings flow they murmur they grumble they complain this seems to be in the heart of hearts of the men a men and women we get upset if someone else gets something good and in this case the grace of God unto salvation but it does seem to show or evidence that gods grace really isn't all comprehensive and all-powerful and does extend to even women who were sinners notice he judges Christ notice he says this man if he were a prophet the Gospel writers throughout their narratives show us the varying responses to Jesus comes up twice in this narrative this man says this man if he were a prophet dropping down the rest of the people occupying the house after Jesus pronounces or declares the forgiveness of sins of this woman they all say who does he think he is who does he think he is uttering the forgiveness of sins they don't recognize Christ and this man is judging Christ he says this man if he were a prophet would know who in what manner of woman this is who is touching him for she is a sinner he judges the woman but he also judges Christ those Pharisees are equal opportunity judges alright no one's off-limits they'll just judge them all this man condemn Natori does he want Jesus to do kick her away what did you want Jesus to do smacker what did you want Jesus to do rebuke her reprove her and send her back out on the streets so that she can sell her body for money is that what would please this man she somehow think that Jesus should take a stand against prostitution in the first century by separating himself from such a godless one as this you know this is common in the New Testament records this woman or the one in John 4 how does she convince the Samaritans that she had been with a great man come here a man who told me all things that I ever did you see this man believes that Christ has the ability to discern spirits this man believes that as a prophet Christ would be able to know what makes this woman up water metal is what she's about what her history is what her present is where her future is going to be if he were really a prophet he would know what manner of woman this is and instead of receiving her tears instead of letting that hair wiper wipe his feet he would send her away now note in the third place the savior who is altogether lovely not the response first of all with reference to the illustration verse 40 and jesus answered and said to him Simon I have something to say to you before we proceed do you see what Christ just did there lucila Christ is doing in this instance the Pharisee has the wherewithal to say this man if he were a prophet would know what manner of woman this is because she's a sinner so Jesus tells an illustration here that only not only highlights her reality but condemns his as well doesn't say that the Pharisee shared this information with Jesus he doesn't say to Jesus if you knew what kind of a woman she was you wouldn't have any truck with her no he said it to himself so that Christ answers his objection evidence is that he is in fact the Prophet the fact that he can declare the forgiveness of sins evidences that he is the most high on you see while others may reject it while others may resist it the faithful seeing this a savior who is altogether lovely no he confirms that he is in fact a prophet and then he illustrates or gives an illustration that highlights the glorious grace of God so he says I have something to say to you so he said teacher say it verses 41 and 42 there was a certain creditor who had to debtors one owed five hundred denarii I a Denarius was the common coin a Roman coin roughly equal in purchasing power to to an agricultural workers daily wage we're not you know we're talking about significant difference between the 550 obviously one owed 500 in area and the other 50 and when they had nothing with which to repay isn't that us we oh god don't we god made man upright but they have sought out many devices but that does not remove the obligation of the creature to worship the Creator every single one of us here is duty-bound before God to obey Him to have no other gods before him to not blaspheme to not break the sabbath to not be insubordinate to our two governing authorities into parents all of us are duty bound not to murder people whether in thought or indeed all of us are bound to God most high to maintain sexual fidelity visa V the seventh commandment all of us are to maintain respect for other person's private property and not steal it all of us are to maintain fidelity in our speech and not be liars and deceivers and treacherous men and women and all of us must guard our hearts against coveting our brother's wife are brothers goods are brother stuff instead of being happy for people we want them to be dispossessed of their things all of us are duty-bound but in Adam we all died in Adam we have fallen in Adam we are in sin and when it comes to our place with God there is nothing we have to repay hence the gospel hence the Incarnation hence the reality that this man came down for us men and for our salvation he took on humanity all of the essential properties in the common infirmities thereof yet except sin Christ identified with humanity Christ live for us Christ died for us Christ rose from the dead for us because we have nothing to repay if you have the idea here this morning that I could just fix my life up a little bit i can say Merry Christmas instead of happy holidays and everything will be okay I can just try a bit more difficult day you have nothing to pay God there is nothing because God demands perfection and this is the beauty of Christ he is perfection he always obeyed he always did what the father said for him to do and he died on the cross as a sacrifice and a substitute so that all who by God's grace looked him in faith received not only the forgiveness of sins but they received that righteousness that he accomplished it's given to us it's received by faith by the grace of God he tells this story the illustration that highlights the glorious grace of god is he saying just by way of a sideline st. Simon this is a display of God's grace this is a display of God's mercy this is a display when somebody who had nothing to repay with is now worshiping notice and when they had nothing with which to repay he freely forgave them both did you ever just read stuff like that and say praise God he freely forgives us he freely forgave us God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us he freely forgave that notice tell me he asks the question to search the Pharisee tell me therefore which of them will love him more now this is a lob right over the plate I mean even a Pharisee should get this one right even the Pharisee should get a little wood on that ball because it's an obvious this thing isn't it what's your that the one is forgiven 500 are the one who's forgiven 50 who's going to love more my Simon but notice his hesitancy it's almost as if Simon thinks he's you know moving into the to the realm of dilemma he's going to put himself on the horns of a dilemma there's a bit of a I suppose the one whom he forgave more well yeah obviously come on don't head your bed step out their own it affirmed it embrace it I suppose the one whom he forgave more now note the application that Christ draws out versus 43 and following he said to him you have rightly judged then he turned to the woman and said to Simon this is beautiful Christ receives our worship Christ receives our adoration Christ receives our love Christ receives our praise he doesn't cast her off he doesn't send her away he uses her as a model of what biblical forgiveness really looks like in this particular instance he says concerning the situation do you see this woman I entered your house you gave me no water for my feet this is a common courtesy right you come over to one of our houses in the 21st century and say and bc and you know you walk in and what happens you leave your shoes you hang up your coat you come upstairs what what's the typical response would you like a coffee would you like a cup of tea would you like a soft drink would you these are just basic common courtesies that if you're not practicing them you better get to it strong black coffee by the way it's common thing isn't it I came to your house she gave me no basin of water what is this woman do she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head you see the devotion of this woman you see the worship of this woman you see this ought to reprove us when we come half-hearted to the house of God I hope there was a gladness in your heart of a Psalm 122 gladness this morning that was increased because we didn't meet last lord's day it's tough not having church isn't it isn't it a bummer not to see the people of God to sing the praises of God to rally around the word of god this woman expresses her devotion at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and at times we can't sustain an hour and a half worth of worship this woman expresses the forgiveness that she had received notice you gave me no kiss again a courteous thing if you come to someone's house today what do we do we shake hands or we we give a bit of a hog in this culture there was a kiss you gave me no kiss but but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since the time I came in see Jesus receives this worship think about what this attributes to the Lord Jesus sitting there and having someone kiss his feet he tried to kiss my feet I'd repel you you don't want to go anywhere near those feet but you want to be near the feet of Christ and Christ receives it how does he respond to the worship afforded to him when he's in our humanity on earth he receives it metana says my Lord and my god Jesus doesn't say oh no can't say that of me when persons bow to worship Christ he receives it why because he is altogether lovely he is chief among 10,000 he is very God a very God light from light true God from True God begotten not made worthy of our worship and our adoration notice he goes on verse 46 you did not anoint my head with oil but that this woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil fragrant oil wasn't cheap brethren she's converted she leaves her trade she could go sell that fragrant oil and make some coin off of it but no my Savior is there I'm going to take that fragrant oil and I'm going to anoint his head with it because he is worthy see this is sacrifice not because we think our sacrifices will get us saved this is sacrificed born out of God's having saved her by His grace and for his glory and thus it really does take away from the nature of sacrifice at this point who cares I I want to give it to my Savior you know if we're holding on to things and clutching onto things and and it's a great chore for us to give them up for the Savior then when I like this woman this woman gave it up willingly she gave it up happily she's not you know dragged into this place okay take your fragrant oil and anoint is it now this is all her now notice the specific point of his instruction verse 47 therefore I say to you her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much but to whom little is forgiven the same loves little now the Lord is not saying that she was forgiven because she loved I know it reads that way and the particle can certainly be translated that way but it can also be translated as therefore we ought to understand it in this way therefore I say to you her sins which are many are forgiven therefore she loved much how that is in a preacher just saying well I want it to say something different to see all the gia verses 41 to 43 that has to governor govern our understanding of whatever he says here in verse 47 what's the theology of the illustration they had nothing with which to pay God forgave them or the creditor forgave the debtors freely once they had been getting forgiven freely the five hundred denarii I or is now the one who loves much this is the theology of the section it jives with the rest of the New Testament the Papists are wrong to come to this passage in somehow teach that faith plus charity commends us to go charity flows by God's grace as a result of as a consequence of as an effect of God's having saved us freely by His grace royal makes it obvious he says her love was the effect of her forgiveness that's the theology reflected in the passage that's the movement she saved when she enters the threat she saved and then enters into the house of this Pharisee she has to get at Christ not so that he can save her but so that she can love him for having safe Her Royal says her love was the effect of her forgiveness not the cause the consequence of her forgiveness not the condition the result of her forgiveness not the reason the fruit of her forgiveness not the root it's beautiful isn't it again meditate on this and ask yourself as one who has been forgiven much see there's none of us who can say well you know I've been forgiven a little bit and some will inevitably look at this particular parable and a light upon the reality but to whom little is forgiven that same loves little what was Simon just forgiven a little bit was he safe that's not the point the passage the point of the passage is Christ dealings with this woman and the point we ought to search in our own hearts is do I love much because I've been forgiven much that Ten Commandments I rolled through earlier we've all broken that in numerous ways even those who were raised in a Christian home even those who had some hedges set up around them even those who had the parameters those who had the guardrails how many times have you violated God's holy law how many times I mean how many times today since you rose this morning if you love God with all your heart soul mind and strength have you loved your neighbor as yourself the answer's no brethren right told the puzzle I don't know no you haven't none of us have we have been forgiven much do we love much is Church of drudgery Bible reading a chore family devotions a nightmare are these things just horrendous expressions of you know impingement upon my liberty now if we're believers in Jesus Christ what will we do well not much will love him will love his people will love him will love his people those who are forgiven much love much now notice his response to the woman in verses 48 to 50 then he said to her your sins are forgiven now some will say this is the deciding point this is when she's converted she's demonstrated her love she's shown this good work and now Jesus is forgiving her ever since no I don't believe that for a moment again the theology of the illustration in 41 to 43 the fact that he was that she was freely forgiving of this particular debt she saved i think Christ says this makes this declaration for her benefit as well for the Pharisee and also for the rest who were in his home this is a declarative statement concerning what has indeed transpired he says to her your sins are forgiven again the declaration is for the benefit of the Pharisee what do you think he thought of this this man if he were a prophet would know what manner of woman this way is because she's a sinner and Jesus ends the ordeal by saying your sins are forgiven you be nice to have an exit interview with Simon at this point say what do you think about that well I don't like it you know I mean she was a prostitute she was a notorious woman she was a bad woman and she shouldn't have got that be nice to now obviously the Holy Spirit didn't think so so we don't can't speculate her for her benefit as well she knew she'd already believed she knew that she had come into the presence of God she knew that she was worshipping Christ loving on price serving Christ as a response to the grace she'd already see received but it certainly probably was a boon to her to hear him say this especially with the Pharisee and the judges sitting there presiding over her the fact that Christ tells this particular story the fact that that Pharisees have such an attitude toward prostitutes to begin with it probably didn't make her or take her very long to piece together what was going on she's not happy that I'm at their sworn she they're not happy that I'm wiping the feet of the Savior and so when Christ declares the forgiveness of sins it's a boon and a benefit and a joy to her Jill understands it this way and partly on the woman's account that she might have a fresh discovery of the forgiveness of her sins for her comfort under the severe censure of the Pharisee and that her faith in it might be strengthened blessed word for her to hear this declaration ohm also manifests the glory of Christ again Gil he says as also on his own account he says these words your sins are forgiven on his own account to show that he was not only a prophet that had extra extraordinary knowledge of persons and their characters but then he was the most high god to whom belong the prerogative of pardoning sin right here he says this is the best news you can hear all day Christ saying of you and to you your sins are forgiven isn't that one of the chief benefits as believers that we have isn't it make us want to sing my sin oh the bliss of this glorious thought my sin not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more praise the Lord praise the Lord who of us as God's people cannot list the forgiveness of sins as one of the chief boons of redemption our sins which had rendered us like scarlet have become white through the blood of the Lord Jesus your sins are forgiven have you heard that declaration from the Savior not audibly it's not going to have an open up and you know the the voice of Christ is going to come to you and say your sins are forgiven but you can be assured when you look under the Lord Jesus when you believe on here when you hear what's being preached here this morning or you read it for yourself and you understand the reality that God is holy that we are not that we have sinned we have offended we have violated we have broken his law but God and His grace has sent his son to live to die to rise such that everyone who looks to him in faith will be forgiven it's beautiful isn't it it's nothing that makes a pillow softer than the forgiveness of sins there's nothing that makes life as good as the forgiveness of sins right we desert hell we deserve judgment we deserve condemnation we deserve every bit of God's wrath and curse but your sins are forgiven think about this lady think of how she made her money think about the degrading things she did think about her life think about the disdain that society had for her think about how people look down upon her people gave up on her people didn't want anything to do with her the Son of God incarnate says to her your sins are forgiven notice those who sat at the table with him began to say to themselves who who is this who even forgives sin and Mark when the man is lowered through the roof and Jesus says to the paralytic your sins are forgiven you they respond the same way who is this it says he forgives sin who can forgive sin but but God alone says why gill says he manifest or he shows he demonstrates that he was the most high to whom belong the prerogative of pardoning said and then note the confirmation of all of it and verse 50 then he said to the woman your faith has saved you go in peace confirms the interpretation she was not saved by her love she was not saved because she loved she was saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone and the result was love for Jesus the emphasis the onus the freight of the passage is laid on faith this is why we preach belief look turn ye look unto me says Yahweh all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is no other its faith this jives with what Paul says in Galatians chapter 5 in verse 64 in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love again the Papists handling that passage teaches that faith plus charity somehow manifests or gains us salvation it is the same thing with Luke 7 I suspect there's Protestants out there that do the very same thing but that's not what the emphasis is matron understands the emphasis in Galatians 5 6 and obviously I agree with them he says love according to the New Testament is not the means of salvation but it is the finest fruit of it a man is saved by faith not by love but he is saved by faith in order that he may love he is saved by faith in order that he may love doesn't that reflect a narrative before us in Luke chapter 7 she's heard the gospel she by grace is believed the gospel she comes to the Blessed object of the gospel to worship and to praise and to show her gratitude for his great grace in response to her great misery and this is what Christ says your faith has saved you so you see that's a blessed encouragement for any and all here this morning that aren't saved so I told you you got to go home and learn how to love Jesus you got to go home and take whatever it is that you really like and bring it to the to wherever and sacrifice it up to the Lord Jesus know about that you know how you learn to love Jesus by believing the gospel looking to him in faith love is the result love is the consequence love is the effect love is the fruit of that looking and that living so if we turn it the other way around then we got a works righteousness scenario where you are rewarded for what you have done and that destroys the gracious character of God's saving gospel well that's the exposition I want to close with just a couple of thoughts and then we'll move on I don't mean move on in worship I mean move on outside first of all we ought to appreciate the theology that is wonderfully consistent the theology that is wonderfully consistent sometimes commentators sometimes theologians sometimes scholars try to pit Paul in Jesus against each other I I know it sounds bizarre but they do Jesus taught sort of this faith yes but there's these works and oftentimes the social justice warriors really like to alight on Jesus it was about good works he went about doing good let's go about doing good brethren Jesus condemned self-righteousness and Jesus condemned good works as a means by which we gain salvation every bit as much as the Apostle Paul this passage can be lined up with anything that you find in Romans are galatian it teaches the self same thing she was saved by grace through faith the result of that having been justified by faith is that she now loves it is intriguing to that our Lord makes this statement infer verse 50 your faith has saved you go in peace is in this Romans 5 1 therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God there's no two ways of salvage well well you know I I hold to the red letters and in the red letters Jesus I you know I got to do this that in the other you gotta look you got to believe you gotta turn to him as well we ought to appreciate that the woman is the debtor in the illustration of verses 41 to 43 who was freely forgiven and then responded in great love to the creditor next time you read this passage hopefully it's sooner rather than later see yourself in verses 41 and 42 see yourself that debtor who had nothing with which to repay see God is that great creditor who freely forgave the debt see if that doesn't boost your worship and your love and your adoration to the Lord I think secondly we ought to observe in this passage for believers the pattern that is necessary to follow the pattern that is necessary to follow she was saved by grace through faith verse 50 your faith has saved you now that doesn't mean in the you know the health wealth prosperity prosperity Benny Hinn definition of faith faith in Christ faith is the instrument by which we were brought in the saving union in contact with our Lord Jesus but believers are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone aren't we isn't that what set off the Protestant Reformation was the word alone we call them the the five solas of the Reformation Protestant Protestants are supposed to like that word Elohim we're justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone you see that ought never to breed antinomianism that ought never to breed licentiousness that ought never to promote a lot less heart less affection last Christianity because as our confession so well admonishes us we need to remember that we are saved by faith but that that faith is not alone in the person justified but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces and is no dead faith but worketh by love no words brethren if there's a pattern to follow in this particular passage it's let us love and sing and wonder let us praise the Savior for who he is and for what he's done let us take our hair let us take our tears let us express that love to him obviously we're not going to take our hair we're not going to take our tears we're going to pick up our Bibles we're going to pray I'm going to encourage one another we respond to the Lord in a manner that is consistent with what we have in the gospel listen to rile again he says there will never be more done for Christ till there is more hearty love to Christ himself he says the fear of punishment the desire of reward the sense of duty are all useful arguments in their way to persuade men to holiness let me just repeat this because I think he's making a valid point the fear of punishment the desire of reward the sense of duty are all useful arguments in their way to persuade men to holiness but they are all weak and powerless until a man loves Christ isn't love the right response to the one who is altogether lovely mr. Lawson read a meditation this morning I'd have a chance to confer with my brother can but i think the statement that brother Smith said was perceptive and beautiful Christ loves us not as a passion of his humanity but as a perfection of his divinity see when we love we're responding to his love get the great love wherewith he loved us reader love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends see our love is a no-brainer why would it be hard to express love it's it hard to love your spouse is it hard to love your children said hard to love a good meal is it hard to love the sunshine after a week of snow know why Christian it's hard for us to show up at church why Christian is it hard for us to be there at the supper why Christian is it hard for us to get out of bed and seat the Savior why listen to what r islands by saying he says once let that mighty principle get hold of a man love to Christ and you will see his whole life changed laughs brother and true believers should appreciate the movement in the passage the woman was a sinner she is now the one who loved much pastor Porter read first Corinthians chapter 6 9 to 11 at the outset of worship can imagine the ruminations in some people's minds not here but if you read it in another church why you would you read that sodomites and homosexuals and all these bad people did you hear and such were some of you who do you see what a glorious declaration of gospel truth Paul pronounces to the to the Corinthians there were sodomites there were fornicators there were adulterers there were thieves there were revilers there were drunkards in the church in Corinth but Paul is able to say and such were some of you what defines us now is God's people or God's people isn't that right she's no longer the woman who was a prostitute in society at her time she's a woman who loves Jesus did you hear about her what do you mean she wept on the Savior's feed and she wiped them with her with her hair she really loves that Jesus say I think that's an encouraging statement but there's a word of warning in there as well when we see that she was a sinner but became a lover and we see that the Corinthians had been adulterers had been sodomites had been this at the other and such were some of you isn't that an encouragement such were some of us such was I such was the case in a previous life such was my role in society until God conquered me with his sovereign grace there's a word of admonition and warning there she was she didn't go back out she can't go back out on the street take that hair take that alabaster and start to try to lure men those men in Corinth didn't go back to sodomy they didn't go back to homosexuality they didn't go back to those sorts of things that were true of them prior to their having come to cry so there's an encouragement our sufficiency our identity our completeness our very being is in him there's a word of warning brethren it's a familiar text at this time of the year Matt you won twenty-one you shall call his name Jesus why for it is he who will save his people what you all know it from their sins not to continue in their sins not so they can continue to lay with men for money not so they can continue to engage in sodomy or perversity not so that they continue in wretchedness you see there's a word of encouragement and those words and was is but there's a word of warning as well for us those who love much aren't going to continue in the patterns that were indicative of them prior to the knowledge of the Savior and then unbelievers if you're not a believer here this morning I know that can sound judgey and I apologize if you feel like it's judgey I don't say it is one who somehow at a same wicked things I did all my life wicked bad evil violating the Ten Commandments I'm not up here because I'm a great guy because God's got great grace so unbeliever you got to learn a couple of lessons from this passage and I promise you will close the first place Christ is able to forgive many sins her sins which were many are forgiven so what happens she loves much do you understand that John Newton a man that wrote to him that we often times saying Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me I once was lost but now I'm found was blind but now I see isn't that a beautiful encapsulation of gospel truth newton road elsewhere Christ or he said I know this these two things I am a great sinner but Christ is a great Savior I want you to hear that this morning your sins may be overwhelming you your sins may have begun to define you your sins in your circle of influence and in your friends and in your family they know you as that woman or has that man that that does this or does that understand is a great Savior he forgives many sins he forgives all the sins of all those who come to him by grace through faith as well you ought to appreciate that Christ exercises his mercy and grace on those who are completely unworthy in this culture Christ went to the house of the Pharisee and there was a prostitute that happened to be there and somebody outside saw all three parties leaving they would have probably concluded that the Pharisee is right with this religious teacher and this prostitute is in a bad state say well how do you know that Luke 18 two men went to the temple to pray one a Pharisee who basically thank God that he was such a polished wonderful human being brethren if you pray like the Pharisee repent I thank you God that I'm not like these lowlifes around me preaching prayers have to be the worst thing ever invented in the hearts of men preaching prayers that exalt the self don't do that this guy stood and prayed thus with himself thank you Lord that I'm not an adulterer thank you that I'm not an extortioner thank you that I'm not an unjust man and thank you that I'm not like this tax collector the tax collector couldn't even look up into heaven but he beats his breast and he says God be merciful to me the sinner Jesus says I tell you this man went to his house justified that would have been earth-shattering in that dawn dates you mean the Pharisee didn't know to his house justified I suspect the same would have been the case in this situation the Pharisee in the prostitute walk out on lurkers would have concluded that Christ had had dealings with the Pharisee he saves unworthy people I remember mr. Lawson and I one time we met an old guy when we were passing out tracts and he said something to this effect on I'm too big of a sinner I'm too bad of a sinner for Jesus to ever have any dealings with me you understand that's precisely what Jesus does do that's exactly his job description if you are here this morning and you have made a mess out of your life do not conclude you are beyond hope I would submit just the opposite praise God from whom all blessings flow you're hearing the message concerning Jesus he's about saving notorious sinners he's about saving wretched people he's about saving people who have made a mess of their lives I mean can't we all testify a hearty amen to that can we all say that that's precisely what happened in my situation I wasn't walking down the street with a Bible under my arm and a song in my heart I was running as far as I could from God and He in His grace and His mercy came to an unworthy want and saved for not a believer here this morning be encouraged note as well that Christ is not only a prophet who knows everything there is to know about you see I think we don't really even understand how much of a mess we've made right we have a limited perspective of just how much a mess we've made God knows all things God knows every connection not because he learns it but because he knows all things all the time you haven't even begun to realize what a mess you've made of your lives now I realize this probably doesn't make you happy this morning but what I'm about to say ought to make you happy Christ is not only a prophet who knows this but he is most high god who pardons sin that's what you need to hear Christ is a great Savior for great sinners and I submit to you today that if by His grace you look in faith you will have everlasting life let us pray our Father we thank you for your word and we thank you for your Christ for the Lord Jesus that you sent into this world our Christ because of your grace I pray that as believers our heart desire would be to love him to worship to be devoted to adore to do all those sorts of things we see displayed by this woman in our text and for any and all who are outside of Christ this morning I pray that in your sovereign power in your grace and your excellency you would draw sinners through your Holy Spirit draw them unto the Savior cause them to behold the wine alone and whom is forgiveness of sins we ask that you would go with us now we pray that you would watch over us grant a safety as we drive in this weather and we pray these things through Christ our Lord amen we'll close with the brief time of meditation and then be dismissed you