Okay, if you wouldn't open your
Bibles with me to Genesis chapter 37. Genesis chapter 37. We'll read
the first 11 verses. And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein
his father was a stranger in the land of Canaan. These are
the generations of Jacob, Joseph being 17 years old was feeding
the flock with his brethren and the lad was with the sons of
Billah and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph
brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel loved
Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his
old age and he made him a coat of many colors. And when his
brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren,
they hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him. And
Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren, and they
hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, here I
pray you this dream which I have dreamed. For behold, we were
binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheave arose and also
stood upright. And behold, your sheaves stood
round about and made obeisance. They bowed prostrate, that's
what the word means, to my sheave. And his brother said to him,
shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shall thou indeed have
dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more
for his dreams and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream
and told it his brethren and said, behold, I have dreamed
a dream more. And behold, the sun and the moon and the 11 stars
made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father
and to his brethren. And his father rebuked him and
said unto him, what is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall
I and thy mother and thy brethren Indeed, come to bow down ourselves
to thee, to the earth. And his brothers envied him,
but his father observed the same. We'll end our reading there.
Let's bow together in prayer. Our father, we thank you that
one more time you have, in your goodness and mercy and grace
to your people, given us the opportunity to meet together
and to worship your matchless name. to hear your word read,
to offer our prayers of thanksgiving and petition, and to hear your
gospel preached, to hear your son exalted. Father, we thank
you for this blessed opportunity, and Father, I beg of you that
you would not let it go to waste, but that you would send your
spirit upon us, and Father, enable us to worship. Enable us to hear
a word from thee. Enable us to hear the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ and to leave here rejoicing in him,
finding our hope and rest and peace and comfort in Christ and
Christ alone. Father, we've gathered here this
evening from different walks of life, different responsibilities,
different events going on in our lives, but we've gathered
here with one thing needful, to know thee. to know your son,
to be given faith in him. Father, I pray you'd use the
preaching of your word to do that for each one of us here
this evening. And Father, we thank you for
this place that you've given to us, a place you've preserved
and protected where your gospels preached, where your people can
meet together in peace and unity. And Father, I pray that you would
protect it, set a watch over us and keep us and preserve this
place as a place where our community, our family members, our loved
ones, we ourselves can keep coming hearing of Christ our Savior
to have our hearts strengthened and encouraged for this journey
here below. And Father, we pray a special
blessing for those that you brought into the time of trouble and
trial. There are many all around and many who need you, especially,
Father, we pray for them. We pray a special blessing for
our brother Cecil at this time, him and his family, Father, that
you'd be with them in a mighty and special way. Comfort their
hearts and be with them, Father, as only you can. In all these
things we ask and we give thanks, that name which is above every
name, the name of Christ our Savior. I have a subject tonight that
I absolutely love. I love to think about it, I love
to preach about it, I love to read about it. The title of the
message is The Absolute Kingship of Christ. I love this subject
because the sovereignty of Christ the Savior is the security of
salvation for every guilty sinner. Joseph, the favorite son, is
a picture of that in our text this evening. dreams that we
just read, he tells to his family. And you don't have to have a
special gift to be an interpreter of dreams to know what these
dreams mean, do you? These dreams foretell that Joseph
is gonna be the ruler over his family. He's gonna be the ruler
over all of the known world, and his brothers hated him for
it. It says there in verse five, Joseph dreamed a dream and told
it to his brethren, and they hated him yet the more. Well,
of course they hated Joseph because of his dreams. You know, in their
culture, it was a horrible thing, an embarrassing thing. It was
just something ought not be done that the elder would serve the
younger. And that's what Joseph's dreams were telling them. You
know, these brothers, they already had to put up with Joseph being
the favorite of his father. And now he's telling them they
got to bow down to him too. I mean, that just made him hate
him even more. Now, a person might think, you
know, Joseph would have been better served just keeping his
mouth shut and not telling these dreams. I mean, you know, don't
poke the bear. You know, you might not get the bear after
you. And maybe he would have. Maybe he would have. But you
know, I really don't think that he was telling these dreams in
a bragging kind of way. I think he was just being matter
of fact. I had this dream. This is what
I dreamed. Now, humanly speaking, that's very naive, isn't it?
But remember, he's a 17-year-old boy. He's very naive, not to
kind of give people the credit for what they can do, the evil
things that they can do, but he's naive. He told him this.
And you have to remember, all of this is happening as a picture
of Christ our Savior. Look over at Matthew 26 for a
minute. This is a picture of Christ the
Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ is king
of kings. He is sovereign over everything. And you know, he made no bones
about the fact. This is true, he's king of kings.
Matthew 26, verse 62, this is after they had taken him there
in the garden, they're having this mock trial against him.
In verse 62, the high priest arose and said unto him, answerest
thou nothing? What is it these, which these
witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And
the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee
by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ,
the son of God. Jesus saith unto him, thou hast
said. Nevertheless, I say unto you
hereafter, shall ye see the son of man sitting on the right hand
of power and coming in the clouds of heaven? Then the high priest
rent their clothes, saying he had spoken blasphemy. What further
need have we of witnesses? Behold, now you've heard of his
blasphemy. What think ye? And they answered
and said, he's guilty of death. They answered and said he's guilty
of death because they told them of his sovereignty. You're gonna
see him sitting on the throne of heaven. Now again, if a person
wanted to avoid having these men crucify him, he would have
given a different answer to the question, wouldn't he? But he
didn't give a different answer. He just matter of factly told
them he is king. and they hated him for it. The
same way Joseph's brothers did. Remember back in our text in
verse four, it says they hated Joseph so much, they could not
speak peaceably into him. They just couldn't find it in
their heart and they could not speak peaceably to him. It just
wasn't in them because they hated him so much. Now it says they
hated him even more after they heard his dreams. Now that's
a picture of the natural man. how the natural man hates God. The natural man hates God. Now
you think, well, I don't hate God. Well, now wait a minute.
The natural man likes a God who can heal him when they're sick.
The natural man likes a God who can provide for them and give
them stuff. They like that. The natural man
doesn't mind a God who can help them do things, help them do
what they can't do. He can finish the job they started. They don't mind that. But the
natural man hates the God who is sovereign over them and who
can do with them as he pleases. Now they hate that. Man by nature
hates the God who could save them or damn them. And it's all
up to him. It's all up to him. And he's
right, whichever he does. The natural man hates God who's
sovereign in salvation. He's sovereign. I'll tell you
what that means. A man can't do something to save himself.
He can't even do something to get God to save him. This is
all up to the will of God. And man hates that. What man
hates most of all is that salvation is God's will, not man's will.
Salvation is all up to God's choice, not man's choice. I'll
show you that in Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11. In verse 27. All things are delivered unto
me of my father, And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. Neither
knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son will reveal him. Now, the only way you're gonna
know the Father is if the Son is pleased to reveal him to you.
We are dependent on the Son to reveal the Father to us. We can't
know him any other way. It's all up to Christ. Look over
John chapter five. I don't think, in this audience,
I really need to spend a whole lot of time convincing you that
Christ is King, but I want you to see this from the scripture.
So this point is driven home. Christ is King. John 5, verse
21. For as the Father raises up the
dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He
will. The Son quickens. He gives spiritual
life To whom he will. To whoever he will. He chooses.
Eternal life is up to God to give us. That's what him being
sovereign over us means. And the natural man hates that. And I'll tell you why the natural
man hates that. It's because our minds are spiritually
dead. The natural man mistakenly thinks he deserves to be saved. He deserves it. The natural man
thinks he deserves this chance that he thinks that he can do
something to earn salvation. He thinks he can do something
to save himself. And that's not so. The natural
man is spiritually dead. So the natural man cannot do
anything to deserve salvation because we're dead. Eternal life,
salvation, it's up to God alone, his will and his choice. So make
no mistake about it. The Lord Jesus Christ is king
over everything. And that's what Joseph's dreams
picture. He may have this dream about
his sheaf, you know, standing up and his brother's sheaf bowing
down to him. And his brethren said in verse
eight, shall indeed thou reign over us? Or shall thou indeed
have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more
for his dreams and for his words. As a matter of fact, yes, you
will. Yes, you will bow to him. Yes, he will rule over you. Verse
nine, and he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren.
He said, behold, I've dreamed a dream more. Behold, the sun
and the moon and the 11 stars made obeisance to me. And he
told it to his father and to his brethren, and his father
rebuked him and said unto him, what is this dream that thou
hast dreamed? Shall I, thy mother and thy brethren indeed, come
to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? Matter of fact,
yes you will. Not only will Joseph's brothers bow down to him, but
his father and mother will too. That's what the sun and the moon
represent. That's a picture of Christ our King. He's sovereign
over all of God's creation. Everything under the sun and
the moon and the stars and everything. He's sovereign over everything. Let's make no mistake. of the kingship of Christ. The
Lord Jesus Christ was born king, he lived as king, and he died
as king. The wise men, what did they say
when they came and found the Lord at his birth? Where is he
who's born king? Nobody's making him king, he's
born king. He is the king, Christ is king.
And he lived as king. How often did he show his sovereignty
over His creation. I mean, the man could speak and
make the wind and the waves stop. Now try that. He could heal every
kind of disease. Somebody, they brought a loved
one to him that was diseased. It didn't matter what it was.
He could heal. He had power over it. He had power over life and
death. He raised the dead. He raised
Lazarus who'd been dead so long, he'd been stinking. Lord raised
him from the dead. He lived as king over his creation,
didn't he? He took a little boy's lunch
and started breaking it apart and created matter. He created
food. After the 5,000 were fed, they
ended up with more food than what they started with. He created
matter. He's king, isn't he? And then
he died as king. Nobody took his life against
his will. He died as king. What was the accusation Pilate
wrote over his head? This is Jesus, king of the Jews. This is why we're putting him
to death. He's the king and we hate it. We hate him for it.
The Lord Jesus Christ is king over his creation. Look at 1
Timothy chapter six. I like how the spirit moved the
apostle Paul to write this. 1 Timothy chapter six. Verse 15. Which in his times he shall show
who is the blessed and only potentate, the king of kings and Lord of
lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no
man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see, to
whom be honor and power everlasting, amen. This is the king. only
potentate, the high king of heaven. Now another scripture, look back
at Daniel chapter four. Now I can show you from the scriptures
and make an awful good argument, try to show you that Christ is
king, but the natural man cannot make himself love that truth.
The natural man cannot make himself love Christ the king. The natural
man doesn't have the capacity to bow lovingly and willingly
to Christ. But I tell you what we can do.
We can pray that the Lord gets us on board. We can pray that
the Lord would give us a heart that will bow to Christ the King. Nebuchadnezzar warned us about
the consequences of not bowing to him, who he is. In Daniel
chapter four, verse 34, I mean, Nebuchadnezzar From what the
scriptures tell us and what historians tell us, I mean, this man was
something else. I mean, he was a mighty conqueror,
a military man, an engineer, brilliant. And you know what
happened to him, the Lord just made him live like a wild animal
for a while. In verse 34, at the end of the
days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes into heaven, and
mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High. And I praised and honored him
that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion. And
his kingdom is from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants
of the earth, you put them all together, they're reputed as
nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth. He does his will everywhere, doesn't he? And none can stay
his hand. or saying to him, what doest
thou? Nobody has the right to question
what he's doing. Nobody has the right to even
question what he's doing. Look at verse 37. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar,
praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works
are truth, and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride
he is able to abase. Lord Jesus Christ is king. Now I don't wanna make it sound
like you and I had better bow to this wicked despot, you know,
or he's gonna get us. It's not very pleasant, but you
just better do it or he's gonna kill you. That's not what I'm
saying at all. What I want us to leave here
with tonight is the blessing, to know what a blessing it is
to bow to King Jesus and to cast ourselves upon his mercy. The Lord Jesus Christ saves whom
he will. That's what he said, and he saves
whom he will. You know what that means? Since he's king, he has
the power and he has the right to save the very worst of sinners.
That gives me hope. And if I had to earn it by my
good works, I'd have no hope. But I have hope if Christ has
both the power and the right to save the worst of sinners.
He doesn't have to, he doesn't owe it to anybody, but he's gonna
save somebody. I can promise you he's able to
do it. And that makes the kingship of
Christ the best news a guilty sinner has ever heard. David
said in Psalm 97 verse one, the Lord reigneth. Now he didn't
say that as a threat. He wasn't beating people over
the head with the sovereignty of God. He said, the Lord reigneth.
Let the earth rejoice. Let the earth rejoice. I rejoice
that God sovereignly saves sinners. Whom he will, when he will. Because
that, a genuine sinner cannot be saved any other way. And I
want to give you five reasons that it's a blessing. Five reasons
to rejoice. in bowing to King Jesus. Now
all of us are gonna bow, aren't we? Paul said that in Philippians.
All of us are gonna bow one day. Every knee's gonna bow. Every
tongue's gonna confess that Jesus is Lord. We're all gonna bow
sooner or later, but I got five good reasons that we bow right
now. These are five good reasons.
Number one is this. The bread of life is found bowing
at the feet of Christ the King. Look back in Genesis. Genesis
over in chapter 42 We'll get to these these places later on
but let's look at these just as it relates to Christ the King
Genesis 42 verse 5 You know how the the famine came over the
whole world and Joseph is now king in Egypt Genesis 42 Get on the right page here verse
5 and the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that
came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. And Joseph was
the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the
people of the land. And Joseph's brethren came and
bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth. And Joseph saw his brethren,
he knew them, but he made himself strange unto them and spake roughly
unto them. And he said unto them, whence
come ye? And they said, from the land of Canaan, to buy food. Joseph knew his brethren, but
they knew him not. And Joseph remembered the dreams
which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, you're spies,
to see the nakedness of the land are you come? And they say unto
him, nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. Now
Joseph's brothers thought he was dead. Sure enough, here they
come, and they bowed down themselves to Joseph. They came to him begging
for bread. I know they're trying to buy
bread, but they even have to beg the man to let him buy bread.
They gotta beg him. They're just completely at his
mercy. Now here they are. You think of everything they
did to him. You know what old Joseph did? He gave them all
the corn that they wanted, and he gave them provisions for their
trip home, and he gave it to them for free. Look at verse
25, that same chapter. And Joseph commanded to fill
their sacks with corn and to restore every man's money into
his sack and to give them provision for the way and thus he did unto
them. Now the natural man wants to
do something to buy salvation from God. They at least want
to make a down payment. Let me get this thing started
and God will finish it up. But you know, God does so much
more, so much better than what the natural man thinks. He gives
Christ the bread of life to his people freely. The Savior said,
I'm the bread of life. Whoever believes on me has eternal
life and they have it for free. What Isaiah write in Isaiah 55
verse one, ho, everyone that thirsteth, now if you're thirsty,
If you're hungry, listen up now. Come ye to the waters. He that
hath no money, don't worry about that. Come ye buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Are you hungry? Come have it
for free. That's the gospel. A salvation
and eternal life for our souls is given to sinners freely. by
Christ the King. But I tell you, that bread is
only found, just like Joseph's brothers found it, bowing at
the feet of Christ the King. When you bow at His feet, begging
Him for the bread of life, He quickeneth whom He will. The
Lord quickened me. You know where you're gonna find life? Begging
at His feet. That's where it's found. Number
two, Christ the Savior is revealed to His people. when they're at
his feet. Look at Genesis 44. Verse 14, this is when the brothers
had gone back home. Now they've come back, they've
run out of the corn. They got it the first time. Now
they've come back to buy more. In verse 14, and Judah and his
brother came to Joseph's house, for he was yet there, and they
fell before him on the ground. Now there they are again. They
keep coming to Joseph, bowing his feet, don't they? They don't
know it yet. They don't know that's who he
is yet, but that's what they keep doing. They keep bowing at his feet
and they have a lengthy conversation. And then Joseph's heart finally
just bursts in love for his brethren. Look at chapter 45. Then Joseph
could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him. And
he cried, cause every man to go out for me. And there stood
no man with him while Joseph made himself known. unto his
brethren, his brethren. And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians
in the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
I'm Joseph, doth my father yet live? And his brethren could
not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence. You
reckon? They were troubled at his presence. And Joseph said
unto his brethren, come near to me, I pray you. And they came
near, and he said, I'm Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into
Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved
nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither, for God did
send me before you to preserve life. Now when Joseph's heart
was moved with love, who did he reveal himself to? Only his
brothers. Egyptians had to leave Rome.
Only his brothers. Those ones who were at his feet,
that's who he revealed himself to. That's how he revealed him,
who he is. Not only you already figured
out I'm the king. You already figured out your
lives are in my hands. I can give you food or I can
withhold it from you. It's all, he revealed himself to them in
love. You notice he didn't say, now
you boys didn't do anything wrong. He didn't say that. He said,
you did wrong, but that's okay. I forgive you. I forgive you. He revealed himself to his brethren
in love. Now, this is the type of Christ.
He only reveals himself to his people, the people that the father
gave him. And when he reveals himself to
his people, he reveals his person. It's what he's like. Not only
is it his work of redemption, but how does he save sins? In
mercy and grace. By loving his people so much,
He sacrificed himself for them so that they'd have eternal life.
And you know who he reveals himself to that way? To those bowing
at his feet. Look at Luke chapter five. Here's
a real good example of that in the New Testament. Luke chapter
five. Verse 18. And behold, men brought in a
bed, a man which was taken with a palsy. And they sought means
to bring him in and to lay him before him. They were trying
to lay him at the feet of Christ. And when they could not find
by what way that they might bring him in because of the multitude,
they went upon the housetop and let him down through the tile.
And they tore the roof off the house and let him down through
the roof with his couch into the midst before Jesus, right
at his feet. And when he saw their faith,
he saith unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. And the scribes
and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh
blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God
alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering,
said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whither is it
easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Rise up and
walk? But that ye may know that the
Son of Man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, he saith unto
the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up
thy couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose
up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed
to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed,
and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We've
seen strange things today. It's just my suspicion that the
people, the Pharisees, who saw this miracle, had a different
conversation that evening than the man who was sick with palsy
had when he got home. They said, we've seen strange
things today. You know what that means, Ed? I met the Lord today. I met the
king today. I tell you, this man got a whole
lot more than he bargained for when he got his friends to try
to bring him to the feet of Christ, didn't he? He learned, first
of all, Christ is King. Naturally speaking, over the
natural world, Christ is King. He's sovereign over every germ,
over every disease, over every event. He's sovereign. He can say to a paralyzed person,
take up your bed and walk. And they will. They will. And this man also found out Christ
the King forgives sin. And you know where he found that?
Lying at his feet. Lying at the feet of the master. He got a whole lot more than
he bargained for, didn't he? And I tell you, if you're a helpless
sinner, Tell you where you can find forgiveness
for your sin is lying at the feet of Christ, begging him for
mercy. That's where you'll find forgiveness.
It's not bargaining with God. It's not saying I'll start doing
better. I'll start sinning less. It's simply lying at his feet
in all your sinful condition. That's where you'll find forgiveness
of your sin. All right, now look back at Genesis chapter 50. Here's
the third thing. I was talking about forgiveness,
but that's where you meet the Savior, at his feet, where you
find his compassion, his mercy, his forgiveness. Here's the third
thing. Sin is forgiven at the feet of
Christ. It's his nature to forgive. Verse
15. And when Joseph's brethren saw
that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will perventure
hate us and will certainly requite us all the evil that we did unto
him. What goes around comes around,
now he's gonna get us. And they sent a messenger unto
Joseph, saying, thy father did command before he died, saying,
so shall ye say unto Joseph, forgive, I pray thee now, the
trespass of thy brethren and their sin, for they did unto
thee evil, and now we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants
of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake
unto him, and his brethren also went, and fell down before his
face. There they are again, they fell
down before his face and said, behold, we be thy servants. And
Joseph said unto them, fear not, for am I in the place of God.
But as for you, you thought evil against me. But God meant it
unto good to bring to pass as it is this day to save much people
alive. Now therefore fear you not. I
will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them and
he spake kindly unto them." Now, I don't know if Jacob really
told his sons to go do this and make this big old speech to Joseph.
It could just be a story that they made up. They thought, well,
if we use our father Jacob's name, Joseph will be more likely,
you know, not to get us. But either way, here these brothers
are yet again where you find them, bowing at the feet of Joseph. And there they are before his
feet knowing He could kill them or he could let them live. Their
life is in his hand. Whether they go home tonight
or not is up to him. Their life is in his hand and
they're trembling before the sovereign. They're trembling
at his feet thinking he's gonna give us what we deserve. Now there they lay at the feet
of their brother thinking he's gonna give me what I deserve.
And what did they find? forgiveness. They deserved for
Joseph to get him. That's what they deserved. And
they are so sure he was going to do it. You want to know why?
I tell janitors all the time, people think everybody else is
just like them. They thought if I was in Joseph's
place, I'd get these brothers. Thankfully, Joseph's not like
me. God's not like you and me. Let's not get this mistaken impression
that God is like you and me. He's not like us. Joseph didn't
tell his brothers, no, you didn't do wrong. It's no big deal. No,
it's a big deal. You did evil. What you did in
your heart, you did evil and you meant it for evil. But I
forgive you. But I forgive you. He forgave
the people who were bowing at his feet. Now look at Luke chapter
seven. Here's a New Testament example
of this very same thing. The same thing is true of everyone
who comes to Christ begging for mercy. He forgives every one
of them. You read through the whole Bible,
you'll never find one person begging Christ for mercy, begging
him for forgiveness that didn't get it. Luke seven, verse 36. And one of the Pharisees desired
him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's
house and sat down to meet, and behold, a woman in the city,
which was a sinner, she was a notorious, famous sinner. When she knew
that Jesus sat at meet at the Pharisee's house, brought an
alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him,
weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe
them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed
them with the ointment. Now the Pharisee, which had bitten
him, saw it. He spake within himself, saying, This man, if
he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of
woman this is that touches them. For she's a sinner. If he is
a holy man, he wouldn't let this sinner be touching him. And Jesus
answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee.
And he saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors. The one owed 500 pence and the
other 50. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them
both. Tell me, therefore, which of
them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose
that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast
rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and
said unto him, Simon, seest thou this woman? I entered into thine
house and thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed
my feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
Thou gavest me no kiss, But this woman, since the time I came
in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil, thou
didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins which are many are forgiven,
for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven,
the same loveth little. And he saith unto her, thy sins
are forgiven. This notorious sinner found forgiveness
for her sin. I mean, she's famous for her
sin. She hadn't been trying to hide
it. It's been out there in the open. She's famous for it. And you
know where she found forgiveness of all that sin? At the feet
of Christ. And on the authority of the word
of God, I tell you, you'll find forgiveness for all your sin
at the feet of Christ and nowhere else. Now come to him. You can't make him. You can't
say, well, now he owes it to me. If I come to his feet, no,
he's not owing it to you. You come to him begging him for
forgiveness and you'll have it. That's just a fact. All right,
now look at Matthew chapter two. Here's the fourth thing. Sinners
can only worship at the feet of Christ. Matthew 2 verse 1. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem
of Judah in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came
wise men from the east of Jerusalem saying, where is he that's born
king of the Jews? For we've seen his star in the
east and are come to worship him. Now you know what Herod
did, he tried to get them to tell him where he is because
Herod wanted to kill the child. In verse 11, when they were coming
to the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother,
and they fell down and worshiped him. And when they had opened
their treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense
and myrrh. Now Herod wanted to know where
the Lord was, and these wise men wanted to know where the
Lord was. Herod couldn't find the Lord, so he could kill him.
These wise men came from a long way off to a strange place, and
they went right to him. They found him. And when they
found him, now he's a baby, they fell at his feet and worshiped
him. See, they knew something. I don't
know everything that they knew, but they knew something about
who this baby is. This baby's God in human flesh. This baby is the eternal of days. He was now babe of days in his
mother's arms. This is the child who was born,
but the son who was given. His name is Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. This is God in the flesh. And
you know why he's come? To save his people in the flesh.
God came where his people are so he could save them from their
sin. God became what his people are so that he could make them
what he is. so that he could make them righteous
and holy. Now, the natural man can't see
that and can't understand that. The natural man will never worship
Christ like that. But I'm telling you, if God gives
us spiritual eyes to see who the Lord Jesus Christ is, he's
the God man. Come to save. We'll worship him. And the only way you can see
who Christ the King really is, is at his feet. You get the best
view of his character. at his feet. Now here's the last
thing, Luke chapter five. Sinners are cleansed from every
stain of sin, bowing at the feet of Christ. Luke five, verse 12. And it came to pass when he was
in a certain city, behold, a man full of leprosy, who seeing Jesus
fell on his face, fell at his feet, fell at his face, and besought
him, begged him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean. And he put forth his hand and
touched him, saying, I will. Be thou clean, and immediately
the leprosy departed from him. Now this man, this leper, he
came and worshiped him. It's always important to know
he worshiped him before he knew if the Lord would do anything
for him or not. He didn't worship the Lord because the Lord blessed
him. He worshiped the Lord for who the Lord is. You and I will
only worship at the feet of a sovereign who does with us as he pleases. If you can bargain with God or
you can coerce him or you can negotiate with him, you're not
worshiping. True worship begins with helplessness. It begins with begging. True
worship can only be done by the helpless. And that's what this
leper did. He acknowledged who the Lord
is. He acknowledged who he is. I'm full of leprosy. You're the
Lord, you can heal me if you will. The issue here is your
will. That's the issue. And he submitted
himself to whatever the Lord's will was, whatever the Lord was
pleased to do. That's worship. That's worship. And as I said a minute ago, everybody
in scripture who ever begged for mercy that way, received
mercy from the Lord. They received it at His feet. When He spiritually healed all
their wounds and bruises and putrefying sores, the spiritual
cleansing of sin, it's only received by those who are bowing at the
feet of Christ. That's a blessing, isn't it?
Isn't it a blessing to be able to bow at His feet? I pray the
Lord We'll find you and me bowing at his feet. Let's bow together
in prayer. Our Father, as these brethren
of old came and bowed at your feet, Lord, we bow at your feet. We bow begging you for mercy.
Oh, would you be pleased to be merciful to us? Would you be
pleased to be merciful? Reach down and lay hold. upon
your people. Father, would you forgive us
of our sin? Would you accept us for Christ's
sake? Would you comfort our hearts
with your presence, with your loving, gracious presence? Father, would you be with us
and comfort our hearts as only you can? And Father, we wait
on thee. It is our prayer, we pray, it
is our heart's prayer to say, thy will be done. Enable us to
say and mean that and believe it, thy will be done. Knowing
and believing and resting in the fact you do all things well.
It's in the name of Christ our Savior, for his sake, his glory,
we pray, amen. All right, Sean.