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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our God on this Lord's Day evening for our call to worship I'll conclude the psalm that we started this morning Psalm 144 Psalm 144 we'll read the latter half verses 11- 15 and I'll begin reading in verse 11 rescue me and Deliver Me from the hand of foreigners whose mouth speaks lying words and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth that our daughters may be as pillars sculptured in Palace style that our barns may be full supplying all kinds of produce that our sheep sheep may bring forth thousands and 10 thousands in our fields that our oxen may be well Laden that there be no breaking in or going out that there be no outcry in our streets happy are the people who are in such a state happy are the people whose God is the Lord amen we'll turn to Psalm 134 as we begin singing Psalm 134 will'll stand as we sing together [Music] you of the Lord in his house to stand by God praise him there all your your toess the Lord will his and worship him with bless [Music] you in his [Music] all bless be his and well let us pray Our God and Father we thank you for the time that we have together tonight to worship you in spirit and in truth we thank you for the Lord's day for the privilege to gather in your house to fellowship with the Saints of Christ and to call upon the Lord God In Prayer to Rally around the proclamation and the reading of your word as well to participate in the sacrament of the supper we truly are benefited and profited by the things that you've ordained for our good and we give all glory and praise and honor to you our great God we acknowledge that you are the most high that you made this world and all things in it that you govern all your creatures and all their actions and that you are the only Redeemer of of your elect and we thank you for the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ who lived for us who died for us who was raised again for us and tonight as we look to scripture as we consider him and his death on our behalf may it draw out our hearts in love and in worship and adoration to him we ask that you would forgive us now for all of our sins and our transgressions As We Gather before you we acknowledge your Holiness we always see in light of that our own waywardness our own proness to wander and proness to leave the god that we love how we thank you and we praise you that we do have that forgiveness of sins as a result of the finished work of our savior so we confess that transgression now praying that you will cleanse us in the Precious Blood of the Lamb of God we pray for any and all who are here tonight that are still dead in their trespasses and sins that you would awaken them to a to a recognition of their state before a thce holy God and may you give them those Graces of faith and repentance that they may close with our Lord Jesus Christ we pray for your blessing upon this church for all of us God in terms of our spiritual State give us that Grace to resist temptation and sin further conform us unto the image of your beloved Son and for those who suffer with ongoing physical and health challenges and trials we just commend them to you to the word of your grace we pray for our dear sister Shirley and for Bev we also pray for the new felds that you'd be with our brother as he receives this treatment and for all of those Lord God that are suffering the daily Trials of life may you just watch over them and may they indeed continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus we thank you as well for all of the all of the babies that you have blessed us with we pray for those who are in the womb that you would give them health and strength be with our sisters who are close to giving birth we pray that all would go well that you would help us as parents and as grandparents and as a church to be of good use in the lives of these little ones to point them unto the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation in their youth we pray as well God for other churches in our community we thank you for the Saints of the Lord we thank you for the free Reformed Church and for Valley Heights we praise you for these men and for their faithfulness and other men in this community that are preaching your truth we pray that you would bless them and that you would Prosper them and use them God For Your Glory sake be with the brethren in sui and in Armstrong and all of our association churches we thank you for what you are doing here in Canada we pray that you would continue to bless and save Sinners through the proclamation of your glorious gospel and please please have mercy upon our civil government may you restrain them from further acts of wickedness and lawlessness may you turn their hearts the way that the that you control the rivers of water and may you indeed continue to provide a climate for the church to to continue on in peace and without without interference by the Civil State and God we just pray now that you would continue with us as we worship you and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well you can turn with me again in your Bibles to two uh to your hym books rather to 271 excuse me hymn number 271 we'll stand as we sing [Music] together word we are all to you let our hearts and souls be to see and you your teaching s andly all you all all his and your our the to all good with us glor proing open now our ears and heart us your spirit the cry your people graes here and our praise and Praises all holy ghost praise to you and Ador be your word and the cons we till we sing your [Music] Praises you can turn with me in your Bibles to Luke's gospel Luke chap 7 for our meditation before we participate in the Lord's supper Luke 7 specifically verses 36 to 50 the woman who was a sinner and a couple of weeks ago we looked at Matthew's conversion in Matthew chapter 9 and this is somewhat of a similar sort of a passage though I will argue she doesn't come to this house in order to be saved but rather she comes to this house because she had been saved and In The Same Spirit that Matthew then gave a great feast to celebrate the glory of the Lord and to communicate truth to his fellows I think that this woman is expressing consequently what had happened in terms of her salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone so we'll look at verses 36 to 50 and I'll begin reading there then one of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him and he went to the Pharisees house and sat to e uh 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 in the Pharisees house brought an alabaster flask of 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 the hair of her head and she kissed his feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil and when the Pharisee uh 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 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 teacher say it there was a certain creditor who had two debtors One ow 500 dener ey 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 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 love 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 well let us pray Father in Heaven thank you for your word thank you for this response to our Lord's Grace in The Gospel of Salvation we pray that you would draw out our love and our worship and our adoration to the Lord Jesus Christ may we see him the way that the bride sees the bridegroom in the Song of Solomon and may we confess him to others may we find joy and Delight in communion with him and even now may your Holy Spirit Shine the spotlight Upon Our glorious Lord and may it be for your for your honor and for your praise and we ask this through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well some see in this a direct connection to the situation of the anointing in Bethany I think there are enough differences to highlight there's some similar ities but it's not the same instance when there is that anointing in Bethany toward the end of Christ's Earthly Ministry in terms of the passion we remember that woman comes and and anoints him for his burial I think this is a separate occasion and I just simply want to look at the three persons involved in this account first the woman who was a sinner in verses 36- 38 secondly the Pharisee who was judgmental in verse 39 and then finally the Savior who is is altogether lovely in verses 40 to 50 so those three persons will occupy our attention note first in terms of the context it's always good so we jump into a passage of scripture to understand what's going on before and after and often times in it in its larger theological context well here we see it's very simple verse 36 then one of the Pharisees named Simon asked him to eat with him so Jesus is invited over to the house of this pH Y in order to have lunch but in terms of the broader context if you look back to just a moment or back for just a moment to verse 33 it's a similar situation or rather the parallel to Matthew 11 says in verse 33 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 so much like we saw when we looked at Matthew's conversion in Matthew chapter 9 the preceding passage demonstrated that the son of man has power on Earth to forgive sins and if we ask the question well what kind of sins and what kind of Sinners well then comes Matthew in his conversion a man who is a tax collector a man who was loed and despised a man who was looked down upon a man who most likely was a very dishonest individual is a recipient of God's grace well the same connection here we see that this charge is laid against our Lord Lord that he is a friend of tax collectors and Sinners and when we come to this scene of this woman which was a sinner it demonstrates the validity of their complaint they're complaining obviously in a wicked ungodly sort of a way but they are essentially proclaiming the truth of the Gospel of our Lord he does receive Sinners he does receive tax collectors and he does eat with them and this passage demonstrates that and confirms it now in terms of the woman herself it tells us who was a sinner now when the Bible does that and the New Testament does that it probably is underscoring that she was a notorious sinner there was something especially bad about this particular Sinner and I should tell you that most commentators interpret it as if she were indeed a harlot the fact that she uses her hair and the fact that she does what she does seemed to indicate that that is what's going on she was in a sinner she was a notorious one and likely a prostitute when notorious groups are mentioned such as Tax Collectors as we saw in the conversion of Matthew they are linked with Sinners Heathen Gentiles harlots extortioners unjust and adulterous men all are sinners to be sure and the Bible not knows that but when it highlights specifically the sinfulness of a particular personage it wants us to see that yes he does he receives Sinners he eats with Sinners and even the really bad ones even the notorious ones even the horrible ones and so what Luke is doing is confirming that complaint in this particular instance now notice her boldness again I think she's already converted I don't think she's coming here in order to be saved she probably already had heard the gospel and had already believe the gospel in fact turn to Matthew 11 for just a moment I just mentioned that that's the parallel to what we have in Luke uh Luke 7 if you look at uh Matthew 11 verse 16 but to what shall I like in this generation it is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their Companions and saying we played the flute for you and you did not dance we mourn to you and you did not lament for John came neither eating nor drinking and they say he has a demon the son of man came eating and drinking and they say look a glutton and a wine bibber a friend of tax collectors and sinners but wisdom is justified by her children so it's the same situation the same context historically but notice in verses 25-30 I thank you Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou Hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them unto babes even so father for so it seemed good in your sight all things have been delivered to me by my father and no one knows the son except the father nor does anyone know the father except the Son and the one to whom the son Wills to reveal him come to me all you who labor in are heavy laden and I will give you rest I suspect that this woman which was a sinner had heard this and by God's grace had been saved so when she goes to Simon the Pharisees house it's not not in order to fetch salvation but to express her love for the one who saved her if you read it the other way that this is her conversion you might have to conclude she was saved because of the work she did because she kissed his feet because she cried on his feet because she anointed him therefore he rewarded her with salvation that's not the emphasis in the passage the emphasis is evidencing that the Lord Jesus does save Sinners and when he saves them they express this kind of gratitude and this kind of love so the woman has a boldness based on her saving faith in the in the Lord Jesus to go to Simon the Pharisees house that's pretty profound do you think prior to her conversion she was ever ever ever in the presence of a Pharisee at his house or at his table her boldness and her desire to express her love to the Savior moves her to this kind of an act and so she finds her way there and then she demonstrates all of this love to the Savior notice in verse 37 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 of fragrant oil stood At His Feet behind him weeping I don't think this is the Weeping of a of a horrifically underc conviction sinner not that she's not under conviction I think it's tears of joy I think it's the expression of love this is gratitude for Grace having been given she's not getting salvation because she first loved much she is loving because she was first Saved by the grace of God that's the emphasis in the passage notice she uh began to wash his feet with her tears and wipe them with the with the hair of her head and kissed her feet uh kissed his feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil John Gil says that which was her ornament and pride this hair in this oil and which she took great care of to nourish and 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 them this is what it looks like when somebody is saved by grace through faith this is what it looks like when Jesus conquers a sinner and brings them into salvation now notice that brings us to the Pharisee who is judgmental kind of like those guys the Pharisees that were upset when Jesus had table fellowship with all those tax collectors and sinners that Matthew had invited over you you see a recurring theme with the Pharisees in the in the New Testament don't you they're miserable cussins they B at the grace of God they're full of Pride they're full of arrogance they're full of judgmentalism and full of self-righteousness and Simon here doesn't disappoint he's not not as loud he simply thinks it to himself but of course the Lord Jesus knows what he is thinking to himself but look at what happens here there's a surface level courtesy in Simon the Pharisee he invites Jesus over but a surface level courtesy ought never to be an Evidence ultimately for saving grace in the heart this guy was judgmental I'm not saying he's necessarily in hell but it doesn't look good for him at least in this paropy or this narrative as well he doesn't remove the woman get this filthy ex Harlot out of my house right away he doesn't do that so there's a surface level courtesy on the part of this particular Pharisee but he's got a heart level judgmentalism and it does Pierce to the woman notice in verse 39 and when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he spoke to himself saying this man if he were a prophet we'll deal with that in a moment would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him for for she is a sinner again this isn't a general observation about the ethical state of man under God this is contempt this is disdain she's a sinner it's almost like he can't stand the taste of it on his on his mouth turn over to Luke 18 where you see these things go hand in hand a self-righteousness produces disdain of others and that's precisely what you see in this instance if he knew what manner of woman this was that's touching him if he were a prophet he would know that for she is a sinner notice in uh Luke 18 at verse 9 also he spoke this Parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others see what self-righteousness promotes a despising of others trusting in one's own ability or Merit does not typically end with you loving mankind with equality and joy no know there's a disdain that's why self-righteousness in the context of the church is so destructive and so counter productive for the pursuit of peace and unity if you think you're better than everybody else you're going to act like you're better than everybody else if you think that you are based on your status in good with the Lord then everybody else is just a bunch of miserable slobs who don't measure up to how good you are and that's precisely what's going on here in Luke 18 but displayed by this Pharisee in ver uh in chapter 7 this tendency to self-righteousness is always mingled with despising others looking down at others suggesting that she's a sinner and if he was a prophet he'd know what manner of woman he she was and would have nothing to do with him or her notice as well his attitude toward the lord Jesus and when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he spoke to himself saying this man if he were a prophet the idea is simple prophets can discern the hearts of others prophets can peer in and see what's going on in the hearts of others so you see the Pharisees said if if he knew this man was really a prophet then he'd know what manner of filthy woman this was and he wouldn't get anywhere near her this is a bad way to be Brethren bad Pharisee bad bad bad this is not good this idea that somehow my sin isn't as bad as her sin my sin doesn't put me under the same Judgment of God as as her said now she's a notorious sinner this woman which was a sinner it's it's underscored for us but perhaps we're supposed to see in a passage like this that the pharisaic mindset this judgmental mindset this self-righteous mindset in some ways is is far worse it's kind of like the parable of the two sons that Jesus tells in Matthew's gospel the father has two sons he asks the son to go and do his will and the son says no I'm not going to do it and then he goes and he does it comes to the other son says do my will oh yeah sure I'll do it but he doesn't do it well which son do you think is better off well obviously the son who at least initially was against doing the will but then doesn't what's the implication there Jesus says that you resisted and rejected the teaching and preaching of John the Baptist but harlots and publicans are entering into the Kingdom of Heaven other words the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees the religious ilk in Israel at first century they were Hellbound they were excluded from the kingdom but publicans and harlots were entering in what's the bigger B worse or sin self-righteousness despising others having the mindset that contends uh that that holds people in contempt because you think they're disgusting so this man if if he were really a prophet he he'd know what kind of woman this was he'd know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him for she is a sinner the denial that Christ was a prophet based on his reception of the woman's devotion indicates once again the man knows nothing of God's grace that brings us then to the savior of is altogether lovely his response to the Pharisee veres 40 to 47 and then his response to the woman in verses 48 to 50 in verses 40 to 43 he gives an illustration and then in 44 to 47 he applies that illustration and again Jesus is very gracious and very kind he keeps it simple so that morons like this can follow along and learn and understand just like in Matthew chapter 9 does the doctor go to the sick or does he go to the healthy just like in Matthew chapter 9 when he appeals to his role as the physician for Souls yeah even a Pharisee can get that logic well he does the same thing here so notice in verse 40 this confirms what Simon is whining about this man if he were a prophet would know interestingly Jesus response to that very gripe Jesus is a prophet he not only knows the woman which was a sinner but he also knows what's in the heart of this Pharisee Simon you invited me over for lunch you gave me no courtesy whatsoever nothing that is typical in this kind of a setting and yet this woman hasn't ceased to express love and devotion so notice Simon I have something to say to you so he said teacher say it verse 41 there was a certain creditor who had two debtors one Ed 500 dener ey and the other 50 and when they had nothing with which to repay he freely forgave don't miss that phrase he freely forgave the woman isn't saved because of what she did the woman was freely forgiven by God a debt of 500 dinari and she is responding consistent with that with love devotion and worship that's the point so notice and when they had nothing with which to repay he freely forgave them both tell me therefore which of them will love him more again this is just a you know softball right over the plate even a Pharisee can hit it Simon answered and said and I love this I I suppose a little bit of hesitation I'm not sure I want to go down this path but but yeah I suppose the one whom he forgave more well of course it's obvious if you owed 500 bucks and I owed 50 bucks and our creditor forgave us both I'd be more H or you'd be more happy having owed the larger debt this is the woman this is the the The Sinner saved by grace this is the one who heard come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest so Simon answers and says I suppose the one whom he forgave more now no he comes to apply this with their specific situation do do you see 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 her 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 I came in you did not anoint my head with oil but but dishw woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil other words she's been freely forgiven she owed 500 an Ari but the Creditor said nope no more I freely forgive your debt you don't have to pay it back well what's her response her response is thus she's going to do everything she can to express that gratitude she's going to do everything she can to express and communicate that love she's going to do everything she can to show not that she's worthy of salvation but the effect of the Salvation that God had freely given to her so Jesus continues in verse 47 to bring us to the point therefore I say to you her sins which many are forgiven for she loved much it could be translated perhaps better as therefore she loved much but the four doesn't obscure the sense the idea is not she is Forgiven based on what she has done now the idea is is that she is doing what she is doing because she has been forgiven because her debt which was great has been freely forgiven by the F uh by the Creditor in the story as a result of that this is the expectation that in consequence with that salvation having been wrought when she knows that the Lord Jesus is at the house of Simon the Pharisee she doesn't care that she's not invited she doesn't care that she's not on the guest list she doesn't care that that Simon's a Pharisee that is most likely going to judge her none of that matters to her what matters is the savior who is altogether lovely is in that house and she wants to come and express her love devotion and gratitude for him or to him rather for what he has done in Freely forgiving her of her sins if it was indeed the act of prostitution we need to appreciate that when scripture says he receives tax collectors and sinners it is true and there is hope and encouragement there not so you go out and do likewise in terms of prostitution but if you've made a mess of your life you come to the Savior who's a friend for tax collectors and Sinners and if you have been saved by God's grace if you have been freely forgiven of a great debt then what's the proper attitude in response devotion worship praise Ador adoration so Jesus brings the point to bear on Simon 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 riyle 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 this is not a scenario where the woman comes to the Pharisees house to get at Jesus so that she could be saved no it's to get at Jesus because she had been saved and wants to express that devotion and that love and that gratitude now notice what we have in terms of his response to the woman in verses 48 to 50 then he said to her your sins are forgiven Brethren I don't think this is the initial Act of forgiveness I think it's a declaration for for her benefit and a declaration for the Pharisee as well the Declaration is for the benefit of the Pharisee Simon says this man if he were a prophet he'd know who and what manner of woman this is and he'd want nothing to do with her so when Jesus says your sins are forgiven you what do you think that did to Simon the Pharisee I hope it humbled him I hope it convicted him I hope he said to Jesus well save me too but if he didn't it would have caused him probably a great deal of consternation he probably would have been upset kind of like those Pharisees when they didn't get the answers or the responses that they wanted from Jesus they' just double down they'd get even angrier they'd get even madder well here it's for the benefit of this Pharisee this woman whom you think is beyond the hope of God's grace he says in the hearing of the Pharisee woman your sins are forgiven you it's for his benefit but it's also for her benefit a declaration of the blessedness of gospel forgiveness and gospel Grace in the presence of Simon the Pharisee they didn't used to mix they didn't used to hang out they didn't used to have you know lunch together that was just not the way it was so for her to have the Declaration from Jesus in the presence of Simon the Pharisee would have been a double Boon for her already having been Justified freely by his grace already having received the Forgiveness of sins here is this public declaration in the presence of an enemy at least up until this point that her sins are forgiven John Gil says that he makes this declaration partly on the woman's account that she might have a fresh discovery of the forgiveness of her sins it's a fresh Discovery because she'd already known the Forgiveness of sins he's already told us that in verse 47 therefore I say to you her sins which are many are forgiven therefore she loved much but to whom little is Forgiven the same loves little so back to Gil that she might have a fresh discovery of the Forgiveness of sins for her Comfort under the severe censure of the Pharisee and that her faith in it might be strengthened it was for her B was to silence the opposition of Simon the Pharisee but as well it would manifest the glory of Christ they're complaining this man receives Sinners and eats with that yes he does this is a wonderful example of that again Gil he says this on his own account your your sins are forgiven to show that he was not only a prophet that had extraordinary knowledge of persons and their characters but that he was the most most high God to whom belong the prerogative of pardoning sin he makes that declaration your sins are forgiven not just declaratively like I might say to a believing sinner yeah your sins are forgiven but authoritatively as the one who actually forgives them uh John or Matthew chapter 9 I think it's around verse 10 so that you may know that the son of man has Authority on Earth to forgive sins actually it's vers 6 so that you may know that the son of man has Authority or power on Earth to forgive sins so this is not the tale of her conversion but rather it is the expression of what a converted sinner does in response to God's grace and then notice verse 49 those who sat at the table with him began to say to themselves who is this who even forgives sins could be their Curious it could be who who is this That Forgives sins but I doubt it it's probably that paralytic situation remember when the paralytic is lowered down there in Matthew chapter 9 and Jesus says son your sins are forgiven you how do the Pharisees respond there huh he's got the power to for no not at all they get upset who does he think he is pardoning sin who does he think he is uh saying or suggesting that he has the prerogatives of Yahweh to forgive sin I I would imagine it's probably like that you know I don't think Simon had Jesus this woman who was a sinner and then a bunch of other Rabel probably had a few other Pharisees in the house and they're the ones who are saying who is this who even forgives sins then he said to the woman your faith has saved you go in peace wasn't her expression of her love it wasn't her acts of devotion it was her faith in Jes Jesus Christ see this is the point the free forgiveness of God is received instrumentally through faith it is then expressed by love but it's not the love of the woman and the devotion of the woman that fetched the Forgiveness of sins it was the Forgiveness of sins that fetched the love and the devotion of the woman it's consistent with what the Apostle Paul says in Galatians 5:6 for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor circumcision avails anything but Faith working through love ma wisely comments that 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 that's what's happening in Luke's gospel here at chapter uh 7 in verses 36- 15 so I would suggest in conclusion that there's a great lesson here in this woman for all of us who have been justified by faith in Jesus acts of devotion expressions of Love following the master reading his word coming to his table coming to his house celebrating what he's given us and rejoicing in the goodness and in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ we have been forgiven much freely forgiven much and as a result our Christian lives should be impacted Ed by that reality I don't want to moralize the woman and I don't want to make you think that I'm telling you to go out and do more but in light of what we've been saved from often times brethren we don't do what Paul tells us in the the Epistles let your conduct be worthy of the Gospel let your conduct be consistent with your High Calling by God in his grace through Sal uh by uh in Salvation by Jesus Christ this woman is a great exemplary of what or Exemplar of what a a saved sinner looks like now it might not be your hair and it might not be your tears and it might not be your ointments but there's ways for us to express that love for our blessed savior True Believers are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone True Believers are granted the faith uh which is the alone instrument of faith that is our confession help y reminds us that that faith is accompanied by all other saving Graces and therein we see the expressions of love and devotion and worship the believer the True Believer should manifest love to Jesus Christ for uh for we have all been forgiven much again riyle he says there will never be more done for Christ till there is more hearty love to Christ himself 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're all Weak and Powerless until a man loves Christ once let that Mighty principle get hold of a man and you will see his whole life changed it's not a work principle I'm not suggesting you know go out and work yourself up into this frenzied love for Christ no Ponder what you have freely received by God in terms of forgiveness and that ought to animate that love in the heart so that we express devotion so that we express these things to our blessed savior and I would suggest as well that this theology is consistent with what you find all throughout scripture we're Justified freely by God's grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ that faith is not alone it's always accompanied by every other Saving Grace and we respond in sanctification with expressions of Love adoration worship and devotion the woman understood the woman heard by the grace of God and then the woman boldly goes to where Jesus is to show that love and appreciation consistent with what he teaches in terms of the creditor who had forgiven freely the debts of the man who owed 500 and the man who had owed 50 Denari and I would say finally if you're not a Believer man everything in this passage everything in this passage should call upon you to come to the Lord Jesus Christ if we ask the question what kinds of sinners notorious ones what kinds of Sinners really bad ones what kinds of Sinners murderers if you consider Saul of Tarsus at least conspirators to murder or participants in that act the Lord Jesus Christ saves Sinners it's not the case that you have to clean yourself up polish yourself off a bit and commend yourself to God no you look to him in faith just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the son of man be lifted up that whoever looks to him will have everlasting life may God help us as Believers to be a bit more like this woman in our expression of Devotion to the Savior and if you're not a Believer come to this savior who saved even a woman that was Notorious for her sin in her community well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for the grace that we have in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and may we take our cue from a woman like this and may we respond with that devotion that expression of Love certainly we have been forgiven much and that should indeed yield in love to you we ask that you would encourage and strengthen us we pray for the blessing of God upon the proclamation of your truth all over the world and may you save from every tribe tongue people and nation and we ask in Jesus uh Jesus holy name amen all right well I'm going to come down to the table sort of like it's an event I'm going to come down I'm going to move locations here and then I'll read a few reminders concerning the supper and then I'll call the brothers up in fact the brothers can come up uh just by way of reminder with reference to the supper it's uh for believers only remember we're not doing this in order to get people saved it's not a converting ordinance some in the history of the church have treated it that way but it's for believers so if you're not a Believer we'd simply ask that you not participate in this but rather believe the gospel so that next time you can participate in this as well as we learned from 1 Corinthians 11 the sacrament is for people that are dealing with their sin that doesn't mean you are sinless and perfect but rather you are seeking by God's grace to maintain short accounts with God and with men and then the sacrament is a means of Grace but the elements are not transubstantiated remember the the few changes that we've made of late are to bring our our our conduct more in Conformity to scripture in terms of the actual Act of breaking the bread and our confession of Faith but remember the bread remains bread and the wine remains wine they don't become something other as in Roman Catholicism they become something other because of a bad christology that teaches that the physical presence of Jesus is everywhere present well that's a huge christological problem we do not imitate that so the bread remains bread the wine remains wine they are set apart from the profane or non-sacred to the sacred that simply means they're being used for a for a holy purpose but they don't change they're still the same uh they they represent for us in a tangible way using things that we are very connected to Bread and Wine hopefully not too connected to Wine but bread and fruit of the vine um those are tangible things wherein we connect and we we we are physical beings these are helpful means for us to remember our Lord's death and his his shed uh his death through his broken body and shed blood and ultimately the sacrament points us to Jesus it's not about us it's not a reward for good behavior it's not a time for us to to say you know I read my Bible four times this week I think I'm I'm I'm worthy of of the supper no it's about Jesus in fact the emphasis in 1 Corinthians 11 the emphasis in the Matthew 26 passage that we'll read in a moment is do this in remember of me not do this in remembrance of you and how well you've performed but do this in remembrance of me I've often quoted John Murray he says it is the Lord we are remembering so frequently Believers become so introspective that preoccupation with themselves excludes preoccupation with Christ yes look in but confess repent and look out it's all about Jesus the bread and the wine symbolize his broken body and his shed blood and not our performance so with those few things I will ask the brothers to pass out the bread and we will sing 458 while they do that 458 you can remain seated and once the bread is passed out I'll read the appropriate section in scripture pray and we'll take the bread together so 458 [Music] for PR [Music] for glorious GL glor rightous his [Music] the the rightous [Music] found be was for all your you so the rightous of and prous with of [Music] you well I to read the section in Matthew chap 26 beginning in verse 26 and as they were eating Jesus Took bread blessed and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body well let us pray our gracious God we thank you for the Lord Of Glory we thank you that the Son of God took on our Humanity to live for us to die for us to be raised again for us and we thank you that through that broken body and shed blood we have forgiveness of sins we have that justification freely by your grace and we thank you that it didn't end there that the grave could not contain him the tomb could not hold him and that he's now enthroned at the right hand of God Almighty and we look forward to his return again in glory to judge the living and the dead and until such time we bless you that we have the privilege as the church to Proclaim your death until you come again and we ask now that you would strengthen and encourage us build us up in our Most Holy Faith and we pray this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen we'll take together you can turn to 352 again remain seated as the brothers pass out the wine the juice is in the outside ring and the wine is on the inside so if you're inclined to take juice it's outside so we'll sing 352 [Music] for the son of to hallelu and my my heart with love hallelu of [Music] hallu to his in Hallelujah what aor our glorious K all his to will sing hallelu oh [Music] verse 27 we read then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink from it all of you uh for this is my blood of the New Covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins but I say to you I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's Kingdom and when they had sung A Hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives amen well let us take together and let us pray Our Father we thank you for such a glorious and a wondrous savior as we rehearse these things as we consider his broken body and shed blood we truly are amazed at what you have done in terms of so great a Salvation for us it's a blessing to be a part of the church it's a blessing to commune with one another it's a blessing to commune with our blessed God even father Son and Holy Spirit we thank you for the gospel of our Salvation we thank you for all that you have done for us and and in us and we look forward again to that that coming of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray for our children we pray for our young PE people we pray that they would all be clothed in that righteousness and forgiven of sin that all of us would know together that Joy of being found in him not having our own righteousness which is from the law but that righteousness which is from you and receed by faith alone we ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen well you can turn with me to 117b one of the hymns or one of the Psalms that they would have sung at the Passover 117b will'll stand as we sing together praise to our blessed God [Music] 117b the of all Nations all you people sing his praise for forever and his is he is hallelu praise the Lord now may the God of Peace who brought up our lord Jesus from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the Everlasting Covenant make you complete and every good work to do his will working in you what is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever amen well let us be seated and meditate upon this great and glorious savior for e e for