Well we've been talking about
the words and the works of the Lord Jesus Christ and I had a
delightful time earlier this week when I had a probably a
one hour discussion with someone and we went through a story in
the Bible. I was a captive audience and
the questions just kept coming. So I'd like you to turn with
me in your Bibles to Luke Chapter 36 and I'd like us to have in
mind the words and the works of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
I want us to see that in these pictures, these physical pictures,
is a spiritual picture of what it is for a child of God to come. And the children of God come
in many and varied ways. The children of God in Luke chapter
7 verse 36 is where we're going to be. This, like all of the children
of God, as the fallen child of Adam, she came into this world
a sinner. Just a sinner. A sinner is someone
who not just sins, but a sinner is someone for whom sin is what
they are. And our great God and our great
Shepherd came to find these lost sheep and to put them on His
shoulder. One of the glorious things about the Lord Jesus Christ
dealing with the wayward and lost sheep and the lepers and
the needy in this world is He touched them. It's an amazing
thing to contemplate, isn't it, that there will come a time when
we will physically be in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ
and He is said to wipe every tear from our eyes. How close? How close will we be with Him
for all eternity? This lady we read about in Luke
chapter 7. Verse 36 and following is a picture
of one of those. And the extraordinary thing about
this particular lady, she doesn't actually say a word, but her
life and her testimony speaks volumes. We do love reading that
verse in Jeremiah 31 verse 3, isn't it? The LORD has appeared
of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. And the reason she doesn't say
a word is that Jeremiah in verse 9 goes on to say that they shall
come with weeping and with supplications. That means please. She comes
pleading with the Lord without saying a word. She comes weeping
to the Lord. With weeping and supplications
will I lead them, and I will cause them to walk by the rivers
of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble,
for I am a father to Israel. So this is the Lord Jesus Christ
drawing one of his daughters to himself. And she's a picture
of the church being drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll just
read it and then we'll briefly look at it and I just want us
to have it in light of what we've been looking at, the words and
the works of the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the Pharisees, verse 36
of Luke 7, 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, this is where we
have to have our eyes fixed, behold, a woman in the city which
was a sinner. When she knew that Jesus sat
at meet in 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 when the Pharisee which had
bidden 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 toucheth him, for she is a sinner. 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. One owed 500 pence and the other
50. And when they had nothing to
pay, he frankly forgave them both. He freely 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 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. that this woman, since the time
I came in, has 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 because she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven,
the same loveth little. And he said unto her, 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 to the woman, Thy
faith has saved thee. Go in peace. Isn't that a lovely story? What a remarkable picture of
how the Lord draws his people to himself, allows himself to
be touched by them, to draw them into worship. That's the purpose of the Lord
drawing sinners to him, isn't it? He says, come unto me all
you that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
The gospel call is come, isn't it? All that the Father has given
me shall come to me. All that is taught of the Father
will come to me. I'll come. But this is how the children
of God come. And she gets to hear the most
remarkable words that anyone in this life could ever hear. He speaks a word and says, thy
sins are forgiven. And there's no if. There's no if, is there? All
sins are forgiven and there are no conditions. He forgives solemnly. He forgives freely. He forgives completely. When he says her sins are forgiven,
he's effectively saying to her that her sins are gone altogether.
So where did her sins go? Her sins were evident, her sins
were open sins, weren't they? They were very evident to all.
The sins of this lady, like all of the sins of all of the bride
of Christ, were laid on the Lord Jesus Christ by God the Father,
and God the Father It pleased the Father, Isaiah
53, it pleased the Father to bruise Him. For the joy set before
Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, went to that cross. What is the joy? The joy of glorifying His Father's
name, the joy of having people like this woman and like us in
His very presence forever. So let's go back through this
story and I'll just look at it briefly before we take the Lord's
Supper and I want us to put ourselves in the position of this lady
and find ourselves, Lord willing, hearing the Lord say, These words
to us, Thy faith has saved thee, go in peace. So the Lord Jesus
Christ went to a Pharisee's house and obviously the Pharisee didn't
want him there other than to have him as some exhibition. There was no sense of love, there
was no sense of devotion. In fact, on his entrance to the
Pharisee's house he is completely and utterly dishonoured by the
Pharisee. completely and utterly dishonoured. It's a shocking
thing that he's done. But why did the Lord Jesus Christ
go there? Because this was the place where
he was going to meet this lady. This was the place where he was
going to say these extraordinary words and we would have them
written down for us. And behold, I love that word
behold, it means much more than just to look upon, it means to
gaze upon, it doesn't mean to glance at, you actually behold,
you're requested of God to behold, to take careful note of what's
going on here. Behold the woman in the city
which was a sinner, and no doubt she was a notorious sinner. The
Pharisee will go on to describe her in his thoughts. She's a
notorious sinner. She's an open sinner. She's a
public sinner. She may well have been a prostitute
or something along those lines, but she was, in the eyes of all
of those people, the lowest of the low that could possibly be
there. She had no man to take her into the presence of the
Lord. She was just there. because her presence was shameful to
other people. And yet she still came. She still
came. She came drawn by him. And she brought an alabaster
box of ointment. She came prepared. She came prepared
to honour him and to anoint his feet. how precious it is, the ardor
of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ which goes
up to heaven. That high priest took that finely
ground herbs and spices and they ground them finely, which speaks
of the crushing of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then
he took the coals off the altar and he went in and he put the
coals on the incense, that special particular incense, and he took
that into the Holy of Holies and it filled the temple. And
that's what Isaiah, when he saw the Lord Jesus Christ, the presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ filled the temple. The odour of his
sacrifice, goes up to heaven and God's people go with him
there. But I love her attitude. She
came despite all the embarrassment. She came despite what she knew
that the Pharisee would say about her. She came knowing what other
people would say about her as she walked there. And she stood
at his feet, verse 38, she stood at his feet behind him, weeping. And we know what her tears are.
They're tears of love. That's what the Lord goes on
to say, don't it? She'd heard about him. She'd heard about
how he's the friend of sinners. The friend of publicans and sinners. And she stood behind his feet
weeping. And then she began to wash his
feet with her tears. I love the fact that as she got
closer to him, she became more and more humble, didn't she?
She stood weeping, and then she began to wash his feet with her
tears, and then she wiped them with the hairs of her head. She
can't wipe them with the hairs of her head unless she's bowed
down. And then she kissed his feet. Isn't it a glorious picture
of how sinners come into the presence of God Almighty? and anointed them with his feet. And the Pharisee saw it, and
that's just, isn't it wonderful to know right now that the Lord
Jesus Christ knows what's going on in our minds. He knows the
thoughts of our hearts. And you, like me, have so many
thoughts which are so dishonouring to him. But I'm so thankful that
nothing in my life is hidden from him. And certainly nothing
of what his enemies are doing is hidden from him. He spake
within himself. He uttered these words in his
mind, this man, if he were a prophet. Listen to how demeaning he is
to the Lord Jesus Christ, this man, this man. Sometimes these
Pharisees couldn't even bring themselves to declare him to
be a man. If he were a prophet, if he were a prophet, he would
have known what manner of woman this is, because he allowed her
to touch him. And in that society, touching
and having meals together is a sign of acceptance of that person
into His presence. He allowed her, not only did
He allow her, He drew her there. He's sovereign over all this.
He drew her to that place where she was touching Him, for she
is a sinner. And the Lord gives a great answer,
doesn't He? He answers this man's thoughts.
Don't you love it when you open the Bible and you find your thoughts
are laid bare before you and they're answered by the Lord?
Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have something to say
unto you. There was a certain creditor, verse 41, which had
two debtors, one owed 500 pence, the other 50, and they both had
nothing to pay. That's exactly where every child
of Adam is. You have nothing to pay. You
don't come bargaining with God, saying to God, if I do this,
this, this and this thing, you will do something for me. It's
exactly what the Pharisee's religion was all about. That's what work's
religion is all about, isn't it? It's coming into the presence
of God, bargaining with Him. somehow if we can sort of corral
him to get him to do what we want him to do. You've got nothing
to pay. You've got nothing to pay. Nothing. Not just a little bit. Nothing. Not free will. Not free works. Not religious works. Nothing.
Nothing to pay. He frankly forgave them both.
He freely forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them
will love him most? And Simon answered and said,
I suppose. Even then he can't tell the truth,
can he? I suppose, I suppose, dear oh
dear. To whom he forgave most. And Jesus said, unto him thou
hast judged rightly. And I love what verse 44 says,
he turned to the woman. Up until this stage, he's ignored
the woman. And there she is at his feet
weeping, and he hasn't said a word to her. And he said unto Simon,
so he holds up, just like the Lord Jesus Christ still does,
he holds up his trophies of grace before this religion. Look at my bride, look at what
she is, look at her love. And he said to Simon, see'st
thou this woman, we spoke about this earlier, he treats the Lord
Jesus Christ with utter contempt. Why? Because he believed himself to
be righteous. He believed himself to be righteous.
Who treats the Lord Jesus Christ with contempt in this world today,
religious and otherwise? Those who believe themselves
to be righteous. Those who believe themselves
to be in a place where they can stand in judgment of God Almighty
and stand in judgment of His word and say again and again,
we will not have this man to reign over us. I won't have I
won't have a Lord as he describes himself and proclaims himself
to be in this world. This Pharisee had known. He'd
known from the very beginning that the Lord Jesus Christ says,
I am God. This temple is mine. I am the Lamb of God that takes
away the sin of the world. I am the Christ of God. He knew exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ claims were. I entered into thine house, and
they gave me no water for my feet, and she has washed my feet
with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of the head. Thou gavest
me no kiss, but this woman since I came, since the time I came
in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst
not anoint, but this woman has anointed my feet with whitenat. he will be honoured by his people.
The religious world can do as it likes, but the Lord Jesus
Christ will draw people like this woman to himself, bowing,
weeping, loving him. The religious world will treat
the Lord Jesus Christ with contempt right until the very end, but
the Lord's people see something she She saw an object of adoration.
And all of that before he had said a word to her, and all of
that before she knew that her sins were going to be forgiven. No wonder he says to her, thy
faith has saved thee. Where did that faith come from?
We know that faith is the gift of God. Wherefore I say unto thee, her
sins which are many, and that's a great description of every
child of God. Our sins are many. The letter came to the Lord Jesus
Christ and Luke says that he was full of leprosy. Full of leprosy. Her sins which
are many are forgiven. Why? Because she loved much. Oh, may
the Lord cause us to love him because he's first loved us.
When he's first loved us, what is it like? Is it much or little? Behold how he loved him. Behold
how he loved him. She loved much. She loved much. But to whom little is forgiven. The same loveth little. If only a little is forgiven,
then there's an awful lot that's not forgiven. How many sins do
you need to have to spend eternity under the judgment of God in
hell? One. One tiny sin against, because
the problem is not our understanding of sin, that sin is against an
infinitely holy and infinitely just God. And he said unto her, these are
his first words to her. First words, the first acknowledgement
of her. He turns to her in verse 44,
and now he speaks to her. He says, thy sins are forgiven. Thy sins are forgiven. They're completely forgiven.
They are completely blotted out. Thy sins be as scarlet, they
shall be as white as snow is the promise. Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat began
to say within themselves, Who is this? What a great question.
That's the great question, isn't it? Who is this? Who is this? Who is this man
who looks like an ordinary man? This man who looks as if he is
someone that can be treated with contempt by the people of this
world and the religious people of this world. Who is he? Who
is he? Who is this that forgives us
sins also? And he said to the woman, thy
faith has saved thee. Thy faith has saved thee. Thy faith has saved thee. What was it, her faith? Because
God gave it to her. That's why when the Lord's prayed
for Peter, he says, I pray that your faith fail not. Did Peter's
faith fail? Not at all. The life I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God. She'd heard the very words of
God. She just believed. May the Lord paint this picture
on our hearts and remind us of how he draws his people. So how do we hear the words of
love and mercy? When we've been humbled, when
does peace come? When faith and love receive. Don't let your hearts be troubled.
Believe in me. Let's pray. Now, Heavenly Father,
we thank you for the glorious coming of the Lord Jesus Christ
into this world. And we thank you, Heavenly Father,
that he's coming 2,000 years ago, pictures his coming into
the hearts of his people, his bride, throughout this time,
until time will be no more. And we praise you, Heavenly Father,
for the completeness of his finished work, that the sins of all of
his bride are forgiven. I, a Heavenly Father, Please
cause us to love much, because we know we have been forgiven
much. And please, Heavenly Father,
allow us to take the posture of this sweet bride of your dear
and precious sons, that we might come weeping, that we might bow,
we might kiss the sun. kiss the sun. Now Father, we
pray that as we eat and drink in remembrance of what he's done,
we would find ourselves hearing from him. Go in peace. Your faith has saved you. We pray in Jesus' name.