So this is an interesting announcement. Susan Sly has had to crawl under stalls in order to unlock the
doors where some child is locking them. And so keep an eye on your
kids. If it was up to me to do that,
I couldn't get under there. So enough said, I suppose. I've entitled this message, The
Pharisee and the Sinner. I've just described me and you. The Pharisee and the sinner. These two people are the two
representatives of mankind. the Pharisee and the sinner. Now I realize we're all by nature
Pharisees. They're not just back from New
Testament times. We're all by nature Pharisees. And what a blessing of grace if we're
made to see that we're sinners. There's not very many of those
around. The Pharisee and the sinner. Now, this is the story about
a Pharisee and a sinner. And we're going to see that these
two people had two completely different views of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Pharisee had a very low view
of Jesus Christ. The sinner had an exalted view
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the narrative of the Gospels could be called Christ's dialogue
between these two groups what he had to say to the Pharisee
and what he had to say to the sinner and they're represented
in that passage I just read about the one who didn't know very
much and the one who owed a whole lot and the one who loved little,
and the one who loved much, as we're going to see. The word
Pharisee means separated one. A Pharisee believes that something
he has done separates him from other men. Remember the Pharisee
in the temple? God, I thank Thee. I'm far too
humble to give myself the credit. I thank Thee that I am not as
other men are. There's something that I have
done by Your grace, albeit, but still something that I have done
that has made me to differ from other men. What's a sinner? One who is full of sin. Up to the brim, there is not
anything else. One especially wicked. Especially wicked. Pharisee and the sinner. Verse 36 of Luke chapter 7, and one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat
with him. He wanted to have him in his
home for dinner and this word desire is the word taken out
of the word that means to interrogate, to investigate, to examine. That's what this man wanted to
do with the Lord Jesus. This was not a desire for fellowship
with him. This was not a desire to be instructed
by him. This man was the Lord's judge,
so he thought. Now in this seventh chapter,
beginning In verse 14, we read where the Lord raised the dead
man. Verse 14, and he came and touched
the bier or the coffin, and they that bare him stood still, and
he said, young man, I say unto thee, arise. And he that was
dead sat up and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on all,
and they glorified God, saying that a great prophet is risen
among us, and that God hath visited his people. And this rumor of
him, the Lord Jesus, went forth throughout all Judea and throughout
all the region round about. So everyone was talking about
Christ. And here we have this Pharisee
I don't know if I believe what I hear concerning him. I'm going
to check him out. I'm going to see what I come
up with. I'm going to investigate this man. I'm going to examine
this man to see if he measures up. And one of the Pharisees desired
him to eat with him and he went in under the Pharisee's house.
and sat down to meet. Now, this is significant. They
didn't sit down to eat the way you and I do. I don't see how
they ate like this, but this is the way they did eat. They
would recline on a mat, perhaps with pillows propping them up,
and would eat with their feet behind them. And that was the
custom of that time. I still think, man, why did they
do that? I don't know, but they did. Um, and behold, verse 37, a woman
in the city, which was a sinner. When she knew that Jesus sat
at meat in the Pharisees house, She 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 ointment. from that alabaster box that
she brought. Now, in that day, when there
was a well-known guest, the meal would be in a courtyard. It wouldn't
be a private meal between this man and the Lord. It was done
in a courtyard. And people from outside could
listen in. And that's what was taking place
at this time. This was a courtyard and there
were other guests because we read in verse 49 of this same
chapter. And they that said it meet within
with him began to say within themselves, who is this that
forgive us sins also. So there were quite a number
of people at this, and perhaps there were people on the outside
looking in listing. seeing if they could make a judgment
regarding this man who is said to have raised the dead. Remember,
the rumor had gone all over the place with regard to him. Now, while they're sitting there
eating, there's a disturbance. I'm sure everyone was looking
at this woman because they all knew who she was. What's she
doing here? This woman was a sinner. Everybody knew that. In all likelihood,
what this means is this woman was a prostitute. This woman
was a call girl. Everybody in the community knew
her. She didn't have any business
at this place. And I'm sure that they were surprised
when they saw her walking toward the Lord, wondering, what's she
doing here? I feel like the Lord didn't look
behind him while everybody else was staring at her. You see,
he knew who was there. He knew who she was. This was all a part of his eternal
purpose. She was there because he willed
for her to be there. Now she was there because she
wanted to be there, but before her want to was his will. He
purposed for this woman who everyone was so shocked by being there,
to be there. And as they sat at meat, they
were watching this woman. She was behind the Lord. Remember
his feet were behind him and she was weeping. Why was she weeping? More than anything else, she
knew who he was. These other fellas didn't. She
did. Somebody says, how do you know
that? Well, didn't the Lord say in verse 40, 50, he said to the
woman, thy faith has saved thee, go in peace. Let me tell you
something I know about faith. Faith knows who he is. That is
the most outstanding characteristic of faith. Faith knows who he
is. And she knew who he was. She
knew, as we go on reading, that this man is the one who had the
authority to forgive sins. There's only one person who has
the authority to forgive sins. God. If I say, you're forgiven,
what's it mean? Nothing. Nothing. Only God has the authority
to forgive sins. And this woman knew who he was. And she's at his feet weeping. She brought her most costly item
that she had, an alabaster box of ointment. And we know from
other accounts in the scripture that that was very expensive.
And she came behind him with this alabaster box of ointment,
weeping. You know, his feet were dusty
and dirty. And I'm sure they became muddy
with her weeping. And then she took her hair and
she wiped his feet dry. Got her hair muddy in doing it.
And then she took that perfume and anointed his feet. She worshiped without saying a word. We don't read of one thing this
woman said, but we see what she did. She worshiped the Lord for
who he was. That's what worship is. You worship
Him for who He is. He is worthy of divine worship. He is the Lord. Verse 38, she 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 ointment. You know, we don't read of the
Lord correcting her for this, do we? He accepted her worship. Verse 39, now, When the Pharisee, remember the
title of this message is the Pharisee and the Sinner. Here
we have the Pharisee. Now when the Pharisee which had
bidden him saw it, he spake within himself. He didn't know the Lord heard
everything he thought. This man, if he were a prophet, if he were a prophet, I found
him out. Case closed. If he were a prophet,
would have known who and what manner of woman this is that
toucheth him. For she is a sinner. The Pharisee demonstrates two
things. Number one, he had a high view
of himself. He looked at this woman, this
moral misfit, this miscreant, this defiled, immoral woman,
and he knew, I'm better than her. He knew that. and he had a low view of the
Lord Jesus Christ. You see, Christ is that prophet
of whom Moses wrote, and he says, this man, if he were a prophet,
he wouldn't have come into contact with this filthy, wretched woman
who's a sinner. He wouldn't have done it. Verse 40, and Jesus answering.
You see, the Lord read his mind. Lord reads my mind right now
too. He reads your mind. He knows what's really there.
I don't. You don't know what's in mine
either. But the Lord does. He read this man's mind, as only
God can do. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
And then he gives this parable. There was a certain creditor
who had two debtors. The one owed 500 pence and the
other 50. The wretched woman, the sinful
woman, She owed 500. Simon only owed 50. He wouldn't
say I'm perfect. He knew he had some mistakes,
but his was not to the extent of this wretched, sinful woman,
this immoral woman. But here our Lord gives this
parable. There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors. The one owed 500 pence, the other 50. And when they had nothing to
pay, he frankly, freely, graciously
forgave them both. Now, when were they forgiven?
When they had nothing to pay. This is so important. If you
have something to pay, if you have something that could obligate
God to do something for you, I've got some repentance, I've
got some faith, I've got some tears, I've got some efforts,
I've got some penance, I've got done something that surely this
will move God to look in mercy on me because at least I'm sorry.
At least I've apologized. At least I promise I'm not going
to do that anymore. I've done something. As long
as you have something to pay, you've not asked for forgiveness
in the first place. You may call it that, but that's not what
it was. You're trying to bargain with God. You're trying to strike
a deal. I did this, you do that. God doesn't bargain. You know, even on human levels,
even on human levels, when you ask for forgiveness, you come
to that person as a sovereign. You don't say, well now listen,
I've apologized, therefore it's your duty to forgive me. You
never apologize, that's not even real. That's playing games. When you look for forgiveness,
you come to him as a sovereign. That's the way this woman came. When they had nothing to pay,
he frankly, freely forgave them both. Now, here is forgiveness. When you have nothing to pay,
when you have no good thing to recommend you to him, that's
when he forgives and let me tell you this about God's forgiveness
it's so unlike our forgiveness I want to read you a scripture
from Leviticus chapter four verse twenty the priest shall make
an atonement for them and it shall be forgiven them God doesn't
just up and forgive the reason he forgives is atonement has
been made you see God doesn't just sweep
my sin under the carpet. The Lord Jesus Christ came in
the flesh as a man and kept God's law perfectly. And yet this one
who kept God's law perfectly was nailed to a cross and suffered
and died under the wrath of God. Yes, men nailed Him to the cross,
but they were simply God's pawns doing God's will. God had Him
nailed to the cross. Why? Because He took my sins
and my sorrows and He made them His very own. He bore the burden to Calvary. Listen, when He died on Calvary's
tree, it wasn't the innocent being slain. It was the guilty
My sin became His sin. He made complete atonement. And now I'm forgiven. Now I'm
forgiven. Aren't you thankful that the
gospel is not you being forgiven because of something you did
or some way you acted, but it's for Christ's sake? All together
for Christ's sake. And it comes to you because he
did it. Not because you did anything.
Not because you said, I'm sorry. Not because you said, I'll never
do it again. He did it for Christ's sake because of what Christ accomplished
on Calvary's tree. That's why he forgives. Is that
good enough for you? Well, it's good enough for me. I don't want anything else. Then the Lord asked a question.
And when, verse 42, when they had nothing to pay, He frankly,
freely forgave them both. And then He asked this question,
tell me therefore, which of them will love Him most? Do the math. Which one will love Him most? Well, that question is very easy
to answer. The one, and I like the way, the Pharisee exposes
himself as a Pharisee. Well, I suppose, I suppose the
one who owed him the most. I love the way the Lord answered.
That was rightly judged. You're right there. Verse 44, now the Lord shows
how Differently, the Pharisee and
the sinner view the Lord Jesus Christ. After he says, thou is
rightly judged, he turned to the woman and said unto Simon,
seest thou this woman? Well, Simon saw her, he was disgusted
with her. Remember the way he said that he wouldn't have even
let her touch him if he were a prophet, if he knew what manner
of woman this woman is. He saw her. He saw her come into
his home uninvited. You know, I think it's kind of
glorious to think that this woman knew what these fellows would
be thinking about her. Didn't stop her, did it? You
see, if you come to Christ, you've got to get to Him without reference
to what anybody thinks or says. I guarantee you everybody thought
this woman has no business here. She knew she didn't, but she
had to get to His feet. Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house. Thou
gavest me no water for my feet. Now that was common courtesy.
Somebody comes in, you'd have the servants wash their feet.
He said, you didn't even give me common courtesy. This demonstrates
what you think of me. Very little. But she has 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. What a difference between these
two people, the sinner and the Pharisee. One believed Jesus Christ to
be God. Did she really believe that?
Well, she believed he had the authority to forgive her sins. Only God has the authority to
forgive sins. What if you committed a crime
and I said, well, you're forgiven. See how that works in court.
If you murder somebody or steal something or break the law, and
I said, well, you're forgiven. No, you're not. I don't have
the authority to do that. Only God has the authority to
forgive sins. Look what he says in verse 47.
Wherefore I say unto thee, I love it when the Lord says that, don't
you? He spake as one having authority. Everything he said recommended
itself as the word of God. 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 said unto her, thy sins are forgiven. are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with
him began to say with themselves, who is this that forgiveth sins
also? Who does he think he is? He knew who he was, didn't he?
And so did this woman. And he said to the woman, thy
faith hath saved thee. Go in peace. Now, Simon believed himself to
be different from this woman. He was. Indeed, he was. He sat in judgment on this woman,
believing himself to be morally superior to this woman. And he had such low views of
Christ to think that he could judge him in the first place.
I'm going to examine him as if Simon's affirmation would have
meant anything to the Lord. This woman believed herself to
be nothing but sin. She knew it. You see, whenever you have a
Pharisee, a religious person, that is proud and looks down
on others, you find someone who does not know Jesus Christ. That's
the bottom line. The secret to humility is knowing
who he is. If you know who he is, you can't
see yourself in any other light than what Peter did when he found
out who Christ is. He said, depart from me, Lord.
I'm a sinful man. I'm a man full of sin. That's all there is. And the
only way you'll know that about yourself is if you've seen who
the Lord Jesus Christ is. That's the bottom line. You're
not born with that knowledge, but when God gives you that knowledge,
you know this woman knew. Her sins, which are many, are
forgiven. Now they were not forgiven because
she loved much. She loved much because they were
forgiven. Very important distinction. We love him because he first
loved us. You see, if just a little is
forgiven, the same loves little. Just a little bit. And little
love is no love. Don't don't think it's anything
but that. It's no love. When he's talking about that
one who's forgiven little, he was talking about Simon the Pharisee.
He was the one included in this. So don't think, well, somebody
just has a few sins to be forgiven. No, they don't. But the one who's
been forgiven much, who is that person? The person who's been
forgiven much is the person who all they have done is sin. That's it. You can't make any
higher claim than that. Every action, every thought,
every motive, every deed has been sin. Infinite sin. Can't be counted. More than the hairs of your head.
Somebody says, well, I don't have that many. Well, you're
one of those fellows that love little. You know what that means?
You don't love it all, really. But that person who, like this
woman, has been forgiven much, she loves much. So does everybody
else who's been forgiven much. Now, I guarantee you, if you're
a believer, you think your love isn't what it ought to be, and
it's not. You don't feel good about your
love. You don't love him as you ought to. You know that, but
you love him, don't you? You love who he is. You love his
way of saving and you esteem him. You can't esteem him high
enough if you know who he is. what love that every believer
possesses to him who is love. And he looked at that woman and he said unto her, thy sins
are forgiven. I say to every believer, your
sins are forgiven. You can't look at your sins in
any other light than that of forgiven sins. And the reason
they are forgiven is singular. Jesus Christ put them away. Atonement was made for your sins.
You know, when the Lord said, Father forgive them, they hadn't
asked for forgiveness yet, had they? But when the Lord says,
Father, forgive him, you know what? Everybody he prayed for
was forgiven. Without exception. To every believer, every woman
or man that is a sinner, your sins are forgiven. You see, Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's who he came to save. And
he achieved what he came to do. He saved sinners. And I can say this to every sinner
without exception. Your sins are forgiven. You see,
he's the friend of sinners. He receives sinners and eats
with them. He loves sinners. He loves saving sinners. He loves
receiving sinners. I tell you, he is. Your sins
are forgiven. Verse 49, they that sat at meat
with him began to say within themselves, who is this that
forgiveth sins also? Do you remember in another place
where the Pharisees, when he said to that man on that mat,
he said, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. They said,
who can forgive sins but God alone? They were right, weren't
they? Who is this but God alone? Verse 50, and he said to the
woman, thy faith hath saved thee. Go in peace. Now what was her
faith? It wasn't the act of faith that
saved her. It was the object of her faith
that saved her. She believed that Jesus Christ
was the one who had the authority to forgive sins. You know what
that means? She believed Jesus Christ was
God. And she believed that what he did was all that was needed
to save her. Thy faith hath saved thee. I love that statement. Thy faith. What was her faith? Christ is all. You see, faith,
true faith, gives Christ all the glory. That's why God honors
it the way He does. It gives God all the glory. It
gives Christ all the glory. Thy faith. If I'm not deceived, I hope I'm
not. If I'm not deceived, here's what
my faith is. When Christ said it is finished,
it was finished. And my salvation was accomplished
by what he did. Thy faith hath saved thee. Go
in peace. The peace of knowing that all
your sins are forgiven sins. The peace of knowing that all
of your sin has been put away, blotted out, it is no more by
virtue of what Jesus Christ accomplished. Go in peace. Go. Set free. Go in peace. Thy sins be forgiven
to you. One of the things I think is
so glorious about this lady, She never said a word. Religion is so loud. Religion
has so much to say. She never said a word. May the
Lord, by His Spirit, say to every one of His people, by sins be
forgiven thee Go in peace. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you. For the complete. Forgiveness
of sins accomplished by our redeemer. And Lord, we ask that you would
cause each sinner in this room to be just like this woman, worshiping
at your feet. In Christ's name we pray, amen.