This morning to the seventh chapter
of the book of Luke, Luke chapter 7. We have some vacancies here. Some
of the folks that went to Florida, Fred and his wife, And Carl and
I believe they went to Florida. I think there's some still to
go. I think Daris is going. Aren't you, Daris? You're not.
So, those of us who remain, let's be faithful. See, Joyce, glad
to have her. She's recuperated. Feeling much better, I'm sure.
Able to be out with us. We thank God that He helped her.
I want to talk to you here this morning about the Savior and
a sinner. The Savior and a sinner. Over here in the seventh chapter
of the book of John. And I'll start there at verse
36. And one of the Pharisees desired
him, desired of the Lord Jesus, that the Lord Jesus would eat
with him. Well, he has just finished speaking to some of these Pharisees,
if not to them, about them. They had their doubts as to John
the Baptist. And our Lord told them, it says,
For I say unto you among those that are born of woman, there
is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist, but he that
is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. And all the
people that heard him and the publicans justified God, agreed
with God, saw their being baptized with the baptism of John, but
the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God against
themselves, being not baptized of him. Now, one of the Pharisees, he
was one of those, I'm sure, that rejected the counsel of God against
themselves. One of those Pharisees desired
him, the Lord Jesus, He would eat with him. And he went into
the Pharisee's house and sat down to eat. And it says there that, Behold
a woman in the city which was a sinner. Now we have the Savior
and we have a sinner. Now I want you to think for a
little bit about this woman. that says that this is testimony
concerning her, the holy woman in the city which was a sinner.
Now this woman had heard that the Lord Jesus was going to be
at a certain place and she made her way to that house. She had
heard him out there in the streets. Now this woman in all probability
from what's said about her, she had spent the biggest part of
her life in sin and unfulfilled lust, having gone from one lover
to another lover, unable to quench her inward thirst, unable to
satisfy the longings of her soul, she makes her way into the streets
hearing that the Lord Jesus would be there teaching the people. And she hears the Savior. She
hears what He's got to say. And I think, and I'll show you
later, I think that what she heard. You know, faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. And here's the Savior
in the streets preaching to the people. And she heard what He
had to say, and it become music to her soul. And so she, as He
departed, and she heard that he was going to be in this Pharisee's
house at meat. She made her way there. It says,
And behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner. When she knew that Jesus sat
at meat in the Pharisee's house, when she heard where he was going
to be, she had been inquiring about him. Something had taken
place out in the street. of the Lord Jesus Christ affected
her heart, done something for him, mysterious as it is, done
something for her. He probably didn't lay no hands
on her, maybe never, humanly speaking, seen her in the audience,
although being God, he did see her. And anyhow, she knew that
Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisees' house and brought alabaster box
of ointment. And she stood at his feet behind
him weeping, and she began to wash his feet with tears, and
did dry them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet,
and anointed them with ointment. Now when the Pharisees, which
had bidden him which invited him to his house at Meath, one
of the Pharisees that had rejected the counsel of God. Wisdom is
justified in our children, and the Pharisees never justified
God. They didn't believe God. They
didn't believe the message of John the Baptist, neither did
they believe the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now when the
Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself,
this man, he saw this woman. And when he saw it, about what
the woman done, when he saw it, he spake within himself, said
within himself, he said, this man, the Lord Jesus, if he is
a prophet, he would have known who and what manner of woman
this is that touches him, for she is a sinner. Now, Jesus answering, said unto
him, Simon, I have some what to say unto you. And he saith, Master, say on. Verse 41, 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, these two debtors, he frankly forgave them both. Now, he said, Tell me therefore
which of them will love him most. Simon answered and said, I suppose
that he whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast
rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and
said unto Simon, See thou this woman, this woman that hath heard him
out in the streets and had sought him, asked questions. Where is this man at? And she
found out that he was to eat at this Pharisee's house. She
made her way there, and we've seen what she did. God had done
something to her heart and her soul while she was out in the
street. He'd done something there. There
was something mysterious that drew her to the Savior because
it's evidenced by what she'd done. She was weeping. She washed
his feet with tears. She wiped his feet with the hairs
of her head. She kissed his feet and she anointed
them with the ointment. And this Pharisee questioned
our Lord about her. She's a sinner. Everybody knows
she's a sinner. She has went from one lover to
another. Her lusts have never been satisfied. If this man, if he knew what
kind of a person she was, he wouldn't entertain her, he wouldn't
have her in his audience. He said, now, he turned to the
woman and said unto Simon, he said, you see this woman, I entered
into your house, thou gavest me no water from the feet, but she hath washed my feet with
tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest
me no kiss, Simon, 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." Now he's
still talking to Simon. He says, "...wherefore I say
unto thee, her sins which are many are forgiven." Now they
were forgiven when he spoke to her in the Spirit while she was
out in the street. Now, before he tells her that
her sins are forgiven, he tells Simon that her sins are forgiven. So he said, Wherefore I said
unto thee, unto Simon, Her sins which are many are forgiven.
For she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same
loveth little. In what he's doing for her, he's
preaching to Simon here, regardless of how great a debt that a man
owes, be it great or be it small, that does not do away with the
fact that both of them are sinners. A great sinner or a little sinner
makes no difference. It does not do away with the
fact that both of them are sinners. For she loved much, but to whom
little is forgiven, the same loveth little. Now, he says unto
her, you remember he said unto Simon first, her sins are forgiven. Now he says unto her, thy sins
are forgiven. They were already forgiven, but
he just He just cements that now. Thy sins are forgiven, and
they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves,
Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said unto the woman,
Thy faith hath saved thee. Go in peace. Well, from what
I've read here thus far, I draw this conclusion, and I think
you will too. that sinners have nothing to
offer the Lord Jesus Christ. They have nothing to bring. They
have no goodness, no merit of their own that will bring them
the favor of God. They have nothing that will open
any door to the presence of Almighty God. Their good resolutions will
not help their case, that is, promising to do good. That will
not help their case. Their promises to do better are
to no avail. The reformation of their lives,
reforming themselves, quit doing this and quit doing that. Whether
their reformations are great or small, their reformations
are altogether worthless. I'll tell you why. Because the
natural man is guilty, he's lost, he's full of sin, and his soul
is sick in sin. And the Bible says that while
we were yet without strength, Christ died for the ungodly. So sinners are without strength. They are without strength to
obey God's law. They are without strength to
love God. The Bible says that the carnal
mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,
so they are without strength to please God in anything. Now, they are without strength
to love God, for the carnal mind is against God. They are without strength to
do any good thing in the eyes of God. A sinner is that way. So, the Lord Jesus Christ brings
this truth that I'm trying to to relay to you here this morning,
he brings this very truth before us in this verse that I read
to you in verse 42 of this seventh chapter, which says, And when
they had nothing to pay. And when they had nothing to
pay. That is, when they had nothing
to pay, he frankly, forgave them both when they had nothing to
pay. Now, he's illustrating, I think,
here to Simon, this Pharisee, that whether we feel we owe a
great debt or not so great a debt to God, that has nothing to do
with the matter. that the fact remains that every
sinner is in debt to God. That is, he is head over heels
in debt to God, and he hasn't got anything to pay, nothing
to pay, whoever he might be, big or small, rich or poor, moral
or immoral, religious or irreligious, nothing to pay. It says when
they had nothing, absolutely nothing to pay, God forgave them
both. Now, the word that we need to
concentrate on is the word nothing. Nothing. Nothing. What is nothing? Nothing is a
thing that doesn't exist. That's what nothing is. At least
that's what Webster's Dictionary says nothing is. A thing that
doesn't exist. When they have nothing to pay,
you haven't got anything that exists in yourself that could
pay the debt that you owe unto God, and when a man comes to
the place in realization and understanding that he absolutely
has nothing to pay, then he can do business with God. Well, let
me talk about that just a little bit. The sinner doesn't have
anything to give, nothing to bring. nothing at all. As a matter of fact, this business
of God saving sinners is, in these words, is everything for
nothing. It's everything for nothing. It is life It's eternal life
in your soul that shall live forever and forever with God
and His Son and the Holy Spirit in the place that God hath prepared
for man. It's so great and glorious, only
the half has been told. It hath not entered into the
heart of man. the things that God hath prepared
for the sinner, the sinner who's got nothing and gets everything. He gets everything. He gets God. He gets the Son. He gets the
Spirit. He gets Heaven. He gets to live
forever. He's made perfectly righteous
before God. All his debts are paid by the
Lord Jesus Christ. He clothes him in a perfect righteousness,
and God views him as though he'd never sinned. He gets all that
for nothing. For nothing. Nothing to pay. It's everything for nothing.
So if we can understand the word nothing, it'll help us here.
This is one reason why that sinners do not come to the Lord Jesus
Christ for salvation. They don't come. Why? Because
they do not believe they are as bad off or as in bad shape. They don't believe that they
are bankrupt before God and before man. They don't believe that
they need as they don't believe that their needs are as desperate
as God says they are. That's the reason they don't
come. That's the reason. They still feel that they can
do something. It may not be much, but I can
do a little something. No, you can't do anything. It's when you come to realize
that you have nothing that you can bring, nothing that you can
give, nothing that you can say, nothing that you can feel. It's
when you have absolutely nothing that God will forgive you. But
as long as you've got something, you won't come, see. It's when
you are reduced to nothing. They still feel they can do something. It may not be much, but it's
something. Something to qualify them or
make themselves fit in some way to come. They don't realize that
God has already qualified them. They were qualified for God's
salvation when they were born. They were born in sin, conceived
in iniquity. They were born sinners. Every
one of us this morning was born qualified for God's salvation. We were born sinners. There's no getting around it.
That's what qualifies you. You've already been qualified. Quit trying to qualify yourself. That's what men do, try to qualify
themselves, trying to find something that I can do for God and pay
Him. Pay my debt. You can't pay your
debt. You haven't got anything to pay.
You haven't got nothing. Well, they suppose that they
can do something, or they suppose that they can bring something.
to measure up to that standard. They feel they must contribute
to something. After all, there's nothing free
in this world. That may be so, that there's
nothing free in this world. But there is something free,
and that's God's salvation. That's God's salvation. It's
absolutely free. You cannot buy it. Come without
money, without price. Come and drink. That's out. When they had nothing. When they
had nothing to pay. That's all, that's all they required. One owed fifty thousand, the
other owed five thousand, They were bankrupt and didn't have
nothing to pay. And when they had nothing to
pay, he frankly forgave them both. Isn't that something? That's
God's salvation. Oh, listen. They feel that they've got to
contribute something. After all, there's nothing free
in this world. Really and truly, They reject
and refuse the person, and they reject and refuse the message
that they have nothing and can bring nothing or can contribute
nothing. They don't understand or feel
the force of the word nothing. And until they do, they'll never
experience the salvation of God. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is suited to those who have nothing, to those that have
no money, to those that have no price. The gospel of God's
salvation is suitable to them. You see, there's no money in
the market. of God's salvation. No money
involved. It's nothing. It's without strength,
with nothing to pay. Does not the Bible say over and
over that there is none that doeth good? No, not one. There's not a good thing that
the natural man can do that would please God for a second. Not one thing. He hasn't got
anything. It's up to him to admit in his
heart that I have nothing to bring. And he's qualified when
he has nothing. Does not the Bible say in Genesis
6 that every imagination of a man's heart, or every imagination of
the thoughts of a man's heart, is evil continually, continually,
not just a little bit. The gospel is that you believe
in Him. That's what the gospel is, to
depend upon Him. That is, get out of yourself
and depend upon Him and Him alone. Quit looking in yourself. to find something that you can
bring that will entice God to show mercy. You haven't got anything. Admit that you're nothing. Admit
that you've come empty-handed. Nothing in the hand. That's the
gospel that's suitable for sinners when you haven't got nothing.
Well, I don't feel guilty. Quit looking in your heart trying
to find guilt. You are guilty whether you feel
it or not. You're a sinner whether you know
it or not. God says you're a sinner. You
can't evade that. The Gospel is that you believe
in Him. Depend on Him. Trust in Him. Get out of yourself and depend
upon Him and Him alone, you're guilty whether you feel it or
not. As a matter of fact, you and
me are more guilty than you could have any idea of. We are so guilty. Oh, come time. Come time because
you are guilty, not because you have been prepared to come by
looking at your guilt. You don't have to look at your
guilt. You're guilty. You come to Him
and Him alone. Get out of yourself and come
to Christ. That's what He's talking about. Don't look at your own guilt.
Don't trust anything of your own. Anything you've got, don't
trust in it. Trust in Him and Him alone. I've
never seen Him, but I know He's there. I know it's right. The Bible says that God is God. God sent His Son that whosoever
believes in Him should have everlasting life. I believe that. All my
soul, every fiber of my being, I believe that. I believe that.
And I believe He alone is the Savior. I trust Him. Not because I feel
guilty. There are some times I don't
feel guilty. There are other times I do feel guilty. Sometimes
I feel a need, sometimes I don't. I have nothing to do with it. I'm a sinner. I'm a hopeless,
helpless sinner. I'm ragged. I'm penniless. I don't have anything. Nothing
to give. Nothing whatsoever. He doesn't
want anything from you. Our Lord doesn't want... What
would God want from us? He doesn't want anything from
you. Oh, I'll do better. I'll do better.
I'll start new. I'll try to do better. I'm going
to quit this. I'll quit that. God doesn't want anything from
you. He doesn't want anything. Nothing. Nothing. Abandoned. All those things. He doesn't. He gives. He gives work and He
gives feeling, regardless of how ragged and penniless and
what a pauper you are. He gives. He gives feeling, just
as you are. That's the way He wants you,
with no good feelings, no good hopes, just as you are. Does
not the Bible say, All the Father giveth to me shall come to me,
and him that comes to me alone as He is? Not as he thinks he
is, but as I say he is a sinner. He comes to me, I'll never cast
him out. Come because of what you are. What are you? You're a sinner. The Savior meets the sinner.
Salvation for the sinner. The Bible says, The Apostle Paul, he said that
the gospel is worthy of all acceptation. Let me read that in 1 Timothy,
I believe it is. It says the gospel is worthy of
all acceptation. Where's that at, Pat? 115. It
says, This is a faithful saying. This is a truthful saying. This is a faithful saying and
is worthy of all acceptance, worthy of our acceptance that
Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. of whom I am
chief." He came to save sinners. The door of mercy is open. There's no restrictions. He says,
Come as you are, a sinner. All of sin comes short of the
glory of God. Come as you are as a sinner.
You're a sinner. You say, Well, I don't know I'm
a sinner. Well, whether you know it or not, you are a sinner.
Whether you know it or not, you're a sinner. And the only place that you can
find hope is coming to Him. And He says, All ye that are
heavy laden, burdened down, all ye that are that way, come unto
Me, and I'll give you rest. Meet the sinner. God help us
to see that. All right? He said to her, He
said, Thy sins are forgiven thee. Thy sins are forgiven thee. They're
all gone. Think of that. A sinner, here's
a woman, lived all of her life trying to satisfy her own vile
lusts. Couldn't find any satisfaction.
Came along one day in the province of God, and there was the Lord
Jesus Christ. And she heard what he had to
say. He preached the gospel to saints
and sinners alike, to publicans, to pharisees, to sinners. To whoever was there in the crowd,
he preached the gospel. And she heard him, and faith
cometh by hearing. And she believed him, and she
made her way to him. And she couldn't get enough of
him. And the tears, she was weeping. She wept so much that the tears
gushed forth from her eyes and fell upon his feet. And she fell
down on her knees and washed his feet with her tears. She
loved him. She loved him. Dried his feet with the hair
of her head. Gave her the alabaster box. Boy, anointed him all over. Wonderful picture, isn't it?
Simon said, well, if you knew who she was, if you were a prophet,
you'd have known who and what manner of woman this is. You'd
have known she's a sinner. Well, that's who God came to
save, sinners. Simon, you didn't do anything
like this woman done for me. You didn't offer me no water
to wash my feet when I come in here. She's a sinner. She's a sinner. And when they
had nothing to pay, and she didn't have nothing to pay, and you
didn't have nothing to pay, I don't have nothing to pay. I don't
know of anyone that does. We don't have anything. We're
just sinners, and we're qualified. And whoever comes to that place
that is bankrupt, And the demands are great, but he hasn't got
anything to pay. All he's got to do is admit to God, I haven't
got anything to pay. I'd love to pay if I had anything,
but I don't have anything. I'm bankrupt. And he frankly
forgave them both. And he'll do the same. This stand
will be dismissed. Meet again this evening.