Luke chapter 7. I pray to God that In this hour,
in this place, there will be more than just an agreement to
what I say, that God may give you faith, that it may come become
real, the living Word in your hearts. Our Lord had been confronted by the Pharisees
and religious leaders. The Bible says concerning them
that they received not the counsel of God, the Word of God, against
themselves. They wouldn't receive what God
said. It didn't sound good to them. They didn't like it. They
wouldn't receive it. But wisdom is justified over children. Verse
36, one of these Pharisees, he desired Christ that he would
eat with him. And Christ went into the Pharisee's
house and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman, a nameless
woman, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, a notorious sinner. Everybody knew she was a sinner.
This sinner woman, when she knew that Jesus set at meat in this
Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and
stood at his feet behind him, weeping, she began to washed
his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her
head, and kissed his feet, and anointed his feet with ointment. Now when the Pharisees, which
had bidden him, saw it, he spake within himself." In
other words, this is what he's thinking. This man, if he were
a prophet, any kind of a prophet, this man was a prophet, would
have known who and what manner of woman this is that touches
him, for she's a sinner. If he'd have been a prophet,
he wouldn't have permitted her to touch him, because she's an
old sinner woman, an old notorious sinner woman. And Jesus answering said unto
him, Simon, that's the old Pharisee, self-righteous man, holy Joe,
I have something to say to you. I've got something to tell you.
And he said, Master, say all. And these are the words of Christ
our Lord. There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors. The one owed 500 pence and the
other 50. When they had nothing to pay,
one 500 and one only 50. When they had nothing to pay,
he frankly, freely, fully forgave them both. when they had nothing to pay.
Tell me therefore, Mr. Pharisee, tell me which of them
would love him the most? Do you know who in this number
today loves Christ the most? Those who feel that they have
been forgiven the most. That's what this story is all
about. The Pharisees couldn't love him. They didn't have anything
to forgive. It was just a ritual and a ceremony with them. Oh,
God, I thank you. I'm not like other men, not like
this publican, not like this old sinner woman. They didn't
love him. They didn't know him. When they
had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Simon answered
and said, I suppose that he to whom he's forgiven most, he forgave
most. And He said unto them, you've
judged right, you've answered correctly. That's exactly right. And that's the way it is in the
kingdom of God. Those of us who love Him most
are those of us who feel that we're the most forgiven, the
chief of sinners, like the Apostle Paul. He turned to the woman and said
to Simon, you see this woman? I entered into your house. You
gave me no water for my feet, which was customary, especially
to an honored guest. but she hath washed my feet with
her tears, wiped my feet with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest
me no kiss, which was customary in those times for an honored
guest especially. But this woman, since the time
I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head withal thou didst not
anoint, which was customary. If you had an honored guest,
you would anoint his head withal when you received him into your
house. But this woman, this old sinner woman, hath anointed my
feet with this precious ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, her
sins, which are many, this old sinner woman, notorious sinner
woman, they're forgiven. They're gone. They're forgiven. For she loved much, but to whom
little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto
her, woman, He looked at this woman in the house and in the
number of Pharisees that were there. He looked at this woman
and he said, woman, he said, thy sins, they're forgiven. You are forgiven. You're forgiven. And they that said it meet with
him began to say within themselves, Well, who is this that forgiveth
sins too? Works seed miracles, forgives
sin, who's he think he is? And he said unto the woman, thy
faith hath saved thee, because you believe the gospel. You believe
me. You're forgiven. You're justified. You're saved by the grace of
God. That's what it is. The title of my message is Saved
by Grace. Saved by Grace. I like to talk
about salvation. I like to talk about grace. Because
if God has anything for us at all, spiritual things, it has
to be grace. Because we deserve nothing, nothing,
nothing short of hell and judgment, divine everlasting judgment.
Now I want to establish a story here just a little bit better
in your minds. Spurgeon said, and other commentaries
agree, and it seems to be true going back and forth yesterday
reading these passages. He said the chronological order
here is that one day in Matthew 11 Christ stood before a multitude
of people They received not the counsel of God against themselves. And he upbraided those cities
where so many works had been done, and they wouldn't receive
him. And he lifted up his face to
heaven and said, Father, I thank thee, Lord of heaven and earth,
that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and the prudent
and revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in Thy sight. And then our Lord, that man,
the Son of Mary, stood there before these people, and He said,
All things are delivered to Me of My Father, God. I have put
everything into My hands. And then He went through that
verse where nobody knows the Father but the Son, neither knows
any man the Son but the Father. And He to Whomsoever the Son
is pleased to reveal Him. The only way you can know God
is if I reveal Him to you. And I have the power to do it.
I have the ability and the right not to do it. And somewhere on the backside
of that crowd, when He said these words, therefore come unto Me,
All ye that labor in the heavenly land, I give you rest. Come to
me, I give you rest. There's a man standing there,
this man who spake with such authority, not like the scribes
in the Pharisees. They said, look to God, do this,
do that. He said, come to me. I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm
the life. All things are delivered into
my hand. I can reveal God to you. Come
to me, I give you rest. Somewhere on the backside of
that crowd was a sinner woman, and she heard what he said. All you that weary and are heavy
laden, come to me. I'll give you rest. And this woman heard it. She
heard it. God condescended in grace to
touch her heart. I wish to God he'd do that today,
condescend to touch our hearts, every one of us. He condescended
to touch her heart, her heart. This old sinner woman's thoughts
turned to her sins, turned to her lifestyle, turned to her
shame. Turn to her unhappiness. Any happiness you find in sin
is very temporary. Very temporary. She was a woman
who lived out her life in sin and shame and unhappiness, and
then she hears this voice. All things are delivered into
my hand. I have the power, I have the authority. If you're burdened
and heavy laden with sin, I give you rest. Come to me. Come to
me." Oh, I'm glad she was there that day. We've got this story
before us. Those words came alive in her
soul. Wasn't there something she heard
and rejected, heard and cast out, heard and didn't pay much
attention to, didn't mean anything to her? God spoke those words
to her. God made them real. All ye that labor and are heavy
laden, come to me. I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn
of me. You'll find rest. My yoke is
easy. My burden is light." Her yoke
had been heavy thus far, filled with guilt and shame and
unhappiness. And she hears the Master speak.
She hears the Master. There is no hope for her in the
message of the Pharisees. All they had for her was a whip,
a whip of the law. But here, she has hope. She's
dead to the Pharisees, but when she heard the words of the Master,
hope sprang up in her heart. Hope sprang up in her heart,
and she must have been thinking, could I? Would He? Can I find forgiveness? She believed. She believed. She believed. And that's how you find rest.
Believing in the Son of God. She believed the Son of God.
She believed the message that He put out, proclaimed. And she found rest for her soul
that day on the backside of the crowd someplace, the outside
of the crowd someplace. She wouldn't have come up amongst
the people, but somewhere on the backside, she found a place
to stand and listen. And she heard, and she came to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, you hear a lot about that,
don't you? Come to the Lord, come down the aisle, walk down,
all these things. Had nothing to do with coming
to Christ. She came to Christ and never moved an inch. She
came to Christ, never came through the crowd. She came to Christ
in her heart. through faith in Him, through
believing, through believing. She was united to Him through
the Word He spoke. She hung on to those words and
was united to the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. She came
to the Lord Jesus Christ, not physically, not in body, not
through the crowd, but in her heart right where she stood.
She found rest. She came to Him in truth. That's
how you come to Him. How do you find Him? How do you
come to God? You come to Him in truth. There's no other way. A man says, I know the truth.
I walk in the light. He knows the truth and knows
the light. And he walks in darkness. He's
a liar. The only way you can have fellowship with God is in
the truth. He that worships God must worship Him in spirit and
in truth. We meet God in the truth. We
are united to God in the truth in our hearts through faith in
Him. And He to us by His Spirit. Look
at Romans, just a moment. Romans, just a moment. Chapter
4. I want to read this. It is several
verses, but I want you to see what I am saying. We come to
God through the truth. We are united to God through
the truth. Trusting Him. what he said, not in some mystical,
silly dream, vision-like thing, but truth! A message heard and
understood and believed and received in their heart and rested in. The Bible says years ago, before
this, the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when
he was yet in Ur of Chaldea. And God made him a promise and
he believed it. God said, come follow me, and
he left his family, kin, folks, homeland, left everything, and
followed the Lord. But he had a Word from God. We
have a Word from God. That's what faith is. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God. Look at verse 13, for the promise,
the promise to Abraham. That's a message. Words spoken,
understood, heard, understood, believed. Promise that he should
be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed
through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. And
if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is nothing. And the promise made, none effect. We receive the promise through
faith, by faith in it. God speaks, we hear, we believe.
Listen, because the law worketh wrath, for where the law is,
or where no law is, there is no transgression. Therefore,
It is of faith that it might be by grace to the end that the
promise might be sure to all the seed, all the elect of God,
not to that only which is of the law, but to that which also
Gentiles, which of the faith of Abraham, who is the father
of us all. As it is written, it's important
it's written or it's spoken, but we have no foundation for
our faith. As it is written, I've made thee a father of many
nations, before whom Abraham believed it. He had no child,
but God said, I've made you a father of many nations. He believed
it. Even God, who quickens the dead
and calls those things which are not as though they were,
God said it, he believed it. Who against hope and no human
support, no scientific support for what God said, none so whatsoever. But against this hope, who believed
in hope because he hoped in God. These fellows of the world said,
no hope! He said, yes, there is. God said it. God said it. That's all. Listen
further on. According to that which was spoken,
according to that which was spoken, that he would become the father
of many nations. according to that which was spoken,
and he had no child. So shall thy seed be, you shall
have a child, you'll be the father of many nations. And he believed
God. And being not weak in faith,
he considered not his own body now dead, Which, when he was
about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb,
humanly speaking, medically speaking, scientifically speaking, it was
impossible for them to have a child. But God said, you're going to
be a father of many nations. And he believed God. Not only
believed God, he rested. He rested and rejoiced in that
promise. in that promise. He staggered not, verse 20, at
the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving
glory to God. Being fully persuaded, here it
is again, fully persuaded that what God had promised. See, there's
the word. The word of promise. He was able
also to perform. Therefore it was imputed to him
for righteousness, and not written for his sake alone that it was
imputed to him, but for us here today also. Us here today also. To whom it shall be imputed,
if we believe him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,
who have delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. We're united to God through the
Word. The Word. Our faith doesn't stand
in visions and dreams and emotional experiences. Our faith stands
in the Word of God. Paul said, I know your election
of God, you Thessalonians. I know your election of God.
I know your God's elect. Because a Word came to you. It
came not as a Word of men, but as a Word of God. Power. Real. Living. Word of God. How can I come to God? In the
truth. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. That's true. But it also says in Psalm 145,
they that call upon Him In truth. In truth. Those two words, in
truth. A lot of people call on the Lord.
I see it on television every day, if you want to watch it.
They're calling on the name of the Lord. They got signs that
say, Jesus is Lord. And they have no idea who He
is. We have to call on Him. In truth. Call on Him as He is. Who He is. What He is. He's the God-man. He's the creator
of all things. He's the ruler of all things. He's the sustainer of all things. He's our benefactor. He gives
us everything we have. Life, breath, and all things. Except our sin, we have that
from birth. We got that from Adam. That traveled
a long ways to get to us. We got that from Adam. But this
woman met him, though she didn't come through the crowd, she met
him. In that message, she embraced him in the words that he spoke. She embraced him in the words
that he spoke. That's when she found rest. My
friends, that's what it is to be saved. That's what it is to
find rest. It's to stand before God, burdened
and heavy laden with sin, guilt, shame, and hear the gospel message
and take it to heart. Believe it. Rest in it. Rest in it. It's to hear the Word, to understand
what you heard, to believe what you heard, and embrace Christ
in His message, in His Word, in His Gospel. He is the Gospel. He is the eternal Son of God
who became a man. never ceased to be God, became
a man that he might identify with his people, live and die
for his people, to bring them to God. That's the story in a
very brief sentence. He lived for us every day of
his life, every day of his life, every day of his life. When he'd
get up in the morning, I was on his mind. and on his heart. And so were all of his people,
all of you who believe. Spurgeon said, the only selfless
man who ever lived never drew one breath for himself. He gave
all for others. Gave himself for others. For
us and to us he gave himself. And then at the end of his days,
representing me before God, God found no fault in him. Pilate
found no fault in him. God could say, this is my well-beloved
son whom I'm well pleased. This is my son whom I'm well
pleased. He had no sin. He did no sin. By Spirit, He
knew no sin. He didn't know what sin, what
it was to sin. He never sinned in deed, nor in thought. And
being found a perfect sacrifice, the appointed one of God, the
anointed one of God, God took all of the sins of all of His
people and laid them on Him. Made Him to be sin for us. and punished him as we deserve
to be punished. He suffered hell, hell he suffered
on that cross. While he was there hanging under
the justice of God, God turned the countryside black. Darkness
for three hours. Something going on between the
father and the son. God turned off the lights. He satisfied the justice of God
for his people, satisfied the law of God. Look at Romans 5,
turn over one page. 17, Romans 5, 17. For if by one
man's offense, Death reigned by one, death reigned
by Adam, and it has caught all of us, for by one man sin entered
into the world and death. Much more, they which receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign
in life by one, Jesus Christ. The only way we can reign, the
only way we can be justified, the only way we can be glorified
is by Jesus Christ. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so
by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men
unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one, the Lord
Jesus Christ, many shall be made righteous. Many be made righteous. The only way a man can ever be
righteous before God, ever be accepted of God, ever stand before
God, is through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. His life is
death. That means, as simply as I can
possibly say it, that when you have thoughts of standing before
God, when you have thoughts of death and judgment, I hope it'll
be like this. Your only hope, your only plea,
is the death of Christ, the life and death of Christ, Christ Himself,
who He is, what He accomplished. I preached recently that when
He hung there on the cross, He cried with a loud voice, It's
finished! And our salvation was done. He was delivered for our offenses. But thank God He was raised again
for our justification. He suffered for our fits until
God said, that's enough. And raised Him up for our justification. That's all the hope I have, but
it's a good hope. You know why it's a good hope?
Because God said it in His Word and said it to my heart. It's
a good hope. A good hope. Christ also hath
once suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God. Peter said he bore our sin in
his own body on that tree. Bring us to God. We were all
sheep on this tree. Paul said he was made sin for
us. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. God said through Paul in another
place, being justified freely. You know what that means? I've said it over and over. It
means no cause. God found no cause in you to
justify you. Justify without a cause. Therefore,
being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus whom God sent forth to be a propitiation
through faith in His blood. He's my satisfaction to God through
faith in His blood. I believe Him. I believe Him. I believe who He was. I believe
what He did. True religion is a gospel message. It's a gospel message heard and
understood, received and believed. Look at one more place in Romans.
Look at chapter 10 just a moment. How do we come to God? In the
truth. In the truth. Now if you have grievous, erroneous
thoughts about sin, they're just not right at all. You don't know
what sin is. You don't know who Christ is.
Then you can't come to Him in the truth. Can't. Verse 4, Romans 10, Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. That means if you really trust
Him, you're trusting that He fulfilled the law for you, satisfied
God for you, and the law had nothing more to do with you.
The same law that used to condemn you now justifies you. He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. Moses described the righteousness
which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things
shall live by them. But the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise. Don't say in your heart who shall
ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down from above,
or who shall descend into the deep, that is to bring up Christ
again from the dead. But what saith the word of faith,
the message of faith, the word of faith? The word is near you,
and it's near you today, right here, right now. The word is
near, the word of life. The word is nigh thee, that is
the word of faith which we preach. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, shalt believe in thine heart that God raised
him from the dead. You've got it. You've been born
of God. You've got life. You've justified,
you've passed from death unto life. You're accepted of God,
accepted in the beloved, the Lord Jesus. For with the heart
man believeth unto righteousness, with the mouth confession is
made to salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed, never be disappointed.
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the
same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." And everybody,
every preacher that ever got up and said anything has used
this one verse. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. But I remind you again, in truth. A Spurgeon priest had a message
one time, and the title was Four Hows, H-O-W-S, Four Hows. How? And it says here, Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how?
How shall they call on Him in whom they've not believed? And
how can they believe in Him in whom they've never heard? And
how can they hear without a preacher? How can they preach except God
sending Him? So shall you call upon the name
of the Lord. Boy, that's easy to say, but it's the Lord of
the book. The one you've heard about and
believed and called upon. This whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved has been turned, in our
day, has been turned into a mere rite and a ritual, a ceremony. Paul said, I know whom. I have believed and I'm persuaded
that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him
against that day. He heard something, he believed
what he heard, he understood it and believed it, received
it. He said, I'm persuaded it's gonna be. I'm persuaded! He's able to do everything he
promised and will do everything he promised. This sinner woman saw in the
gospel the authority of Christ come to me. I have the authority,
I have the power, I have the ability to give you rest. And she saw it to be a statement
full of mercy. It's to those who are labored,
heavy laden under sin, guilt, shame. Come to me, says this
man, and she came. She never moved any closer physically,
but she came in her heart. She met him in those words. She
embraced him and hugged up to him in those words. And you know what? She found
rest. She found rest. Therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace, rest and peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. This old nameless sinner woman,
she wasn't important to anybody, hated by the Pharisee and the
religious folk. Nameless sinner woman, God knew
her. God saved her. God spoke to her. She heard that
Jesus was going to Simon's house for dinner, and she went with
this single-minded purpose and determination. I'm going to it. I'm going to express my love,
my appreciation. I'm going to worship And she
walked into that old sinner woman by reputation. She walked right
into that Holy Joe's living room. Walked right into his house. Knowing that she had been forgiven. That she had received rest. Rest
in peace. This great sinner woman. had
much love, and the love of Christ constrained her. And she walked
into this house, never said a word to anybody, just walked up behind
the Lord Jesus, kneeled down at His feet, tears flowing from
her face, began to wash His feet with her tears, began to wipe
His feet, dry His feet with the hair from her own head, and anointed
his feet with precious ointment, and never ceased to kiss those
blessed feet which brought her the gospel of life." Which brought
her life. Oh, that shows humility. She
didn't come up in front of him, she came up behind him. That shows her courage. Came right into this Holy Joe's
house knowing what he thought of her. and those with him. But she's going to tell Christ
something. And she didn't have to say a word to tell him. She
just loved him. Worshipped him. She was accepted. And what blessed,
silent, secret communion passed between them on that day. at
His feet was much love, because much had been forgiven her. And
she expressed it in the ways that we've looked at. And our
Lord, as He always will, His people
He stood up for. Simon and the Pharisees, they
think, well, this man's not much of a prophet. He'd know who she
is, and He wouldn't let her touch Him. But He knew what was in
their minds. He knew what was in their hearts.
And He stood up for her. He said, Woman, thy sins are
forgiven. Thy sins are forgiven. Thy faith hath saved thee. Go in peace. Go in peace. Oh, what a wonderful story. God's love is not at all dependent
upon our merit. We don't have any. It has to
be free grace. God's love has never turned away
anyone because of their sinfulness, but turned away multitudes because
of their righteousness. God's love shows itself, as far
as we have come to understand it, first in the forgiveness
of sin. And only a sense of forgiveness,
now listen to me, only a sense of forgiveness brings or produces
true love to God. Simon had none. He didn't know
what forgiveness was. He didn't know what sin was.
But I'll say this also, a true sense of forgiveness always brings
forth true love to the one who forgave us, the Lord Jesus. May God bless these words to
every heart. Okay, David.