May the Lord be pleased to bless
us together this evening as we consider his word. Let us turn
to the Gospel of Luke chapter 7 and read verse 42. The Gospel of Luke chapter 7
and reading verse 42. And when they had nothing to
pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which
of them will love him most? This question was put to the
Pharisee called Simon. And the Lord had gone into the
Pharisee's house to eat some food. And when he was in the house,
a woman of the city which was a sinner we would classify no
doubt today as a prostitute and she came and came to Jesus and
she brought in an alabaster box of ointment and we see how she
reacted she stood behind him weeping and then she began to
wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with hairs of her
head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment."
Now, why did she react like that? Well, it would seem quite clear
that the Holy Spirit had touched her heart and had directed her
to recognize her lost condition. and had directed her to none
other than the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we see this
woman who no doubt would have been very very different previously
and here she is in a simple way with her hair, able to use the
hair to dry the Lord's feet and no doubt if she'd been In her
profession she would have had it all perhaps plaited and wound
up in some way to appear to be more attractive. She may well
have had a painted face and painted eyes which wouldn't have been
at all suitable for this situation as she cried and the tears ran
down and also to bring this ointment The alabaster box of ointment,
no doubt valuable, no doubt would have been great asset to her.
But no, she came because she had, it would appear, some clear
understanding of what the Lord Jesus, who he was, and what he
meant, and what he could do. And so we have this picture then
of this woman. And then the Lord, who looks
into our hearts, looked into the heart of this Pharisee. And
he knew what this Pharisee was thinking about. Because the Pharisee,
which had bidden him, he spake within himself. He didn't speak
out loud. And we don't need to speak out loud. Because God knows
what we're thinking. And God knows what we're saying
in our heart. And that's a very solemn consideration,
isn't it? Because, you know, sometimes
we're very evil, aren't we? In our thoughts and sometimes
in the things that we perhaps say in our mind. And we should
be very thankful the Lord doesn't allow us to omit such wrong thoughts
or wrong sayings. And so here was this man here,
and he was questioning why this woman was doing this, and if
Jesus knew what she was really like, he wouldn't have anything
to do with her. Well, aren't we thankful today we have the
same Saviour? who is very gracious and still
looks upon us. You know, we perhaps might think,
well, this woman's far worse than we are. Well, when the Spirit
of God comes and convinces us of our sin, and then as that
Spirit of God convinces us more and more of our sin, we won't
be able to say, well, I'm not as bad as that person. No, we'll
understand what the Apostle Paul said, when he came and said he
was the chief of sinners, and he was shown that by the Spirit
of God. And it would be a good thing
for you and me if the Spirit of God shows us not how good
we are, but how bad we are, and how we need God's mercy, and
how we need God's salvation. So we won't then, as it were,
throw stones. We won't then criticize. When
the Lord comes and touches someone's heart and moves them, we may
be surprised sometimes. People may come forward to be
baptised and we might think, well, not a person as bad as
that. But you see, the Lord's worked
in their hearts. They're a new creature. Things
have changed. They're different. The work of
God has appeared in their heart. And so we must never judge by
the appearance. And so we have the Lord speaking
to this Pharisee. And he said unto him, I have
somewhat to say unto thee. And he said, Master, say on. And then the Lord gave a very
simple example, but a very strong example. And he tells us there
was a certain creditor which had two debtors. That means a
man that given credit to people and two people owed money to
this man. The one owed 500 pence and the
other 50. Well, there was a big difference,
wasn't there? But they both owed money. They both could not pay
when they had nothing to pay. You see, if we've got a debt,
it doesn't matter whether it's a small debt or a big debt, if
we can't pay it, It's a very big problem, isn't it? And sometimes, you know, people
have debts who cannot pay them. Well, they're classified as bankrupt
and sometimes they're imprisoned because of the debts they owe.
But here we have the Lord speaking in this way and said, and when
they had nothing to pay, well, what was going to happen? The
Lord speaks these beautiful words. he frankly forgave them both."
No matter how much they owed, the Lord frankly forgave them
both. And we might put that into our
situations. We might think, well, that person
isn't very bad and that person's very bad. And we might draw a
conclusion that one's got a lot to pay and the other one hasn't
got very much. But the reality is, If they're
not able to pay whatever their condition, they're really in
the same situation, aren't they? And that's just the same in a
spiritual sense. So the Gospel is very glorious
and wonderful. It goes to the very worst of
sinners. And so let us never think that
we're only a small sinner. But let us be concerned to know
that we're a great sinner. The Lord Jesus came to save sinners. That was the whole purpose of
the blessed Lord coming into this world, to save sinners. He didn't come into this world
to pat people on the back and say, well, you're a pretty good
person and therefore you merit this and that. No. He came to
convince his people of their sins. And he came to instruct
them. And he came to direct them to
himself. And what a blessing to think
of these words. He frankly forgave them both. You know, they didn't, from this
very simple parable, they hadn't even come and said, Lord, Can
I be forgiven? You see, the Lord, when he calls
us out of nature's darkness into the marvellous light, we're a
new creature. And the truth is, our sins are
washed away. We may not always realise it,
we may not always feel like it at the time, but it's nonetheless
true. And we read those words that
the Apostle Paul wrote when he wrote to the church at Corinth. And he told them, he listed their
sins and he told them, and such for some of you, but he says,
but ye are washed. but ye are sanctified, but ye
are justified. So everyone who is born again
in the Spirit of God is blessed with this condition. They are
washed, they are sanctified and they are justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. We have therefore
the pure, wonderful statement that it's because of the Lord
Jesus Christ in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, the
Lord says, when they had nothing to pay. And we come to that position
when we cannot claim any righteousness ourself. We come to that place,
we cannot think we are not too bad. Because if you think you're
not too bad, you're already thinking you're able to pay your way out
of the problem that you're in. The difficulty you're in, but
you see when the Lord brings you to show that you and I have
nothing to pay. We don't have the right currency.
We can't redeem ourselves. We can't pay the debt we owe.
We're lost and we're ruined and we're on the way to hell. Nothing
to pay. And then when the Lord comes
and forgives us, He frankly forgave them both. Whatever their condition
was, the one who owed 50 pence, the other who owed 500, no difference. They both had a debt that needed
paying. My friends, whatever our condition
is, we both, we all have a debt that needs paying. And a debt
that we are unable to pay. We cannot redeem our soul. because we are dead in trespasses
and in sins. There is no spiritual life within
us, so we were utterly unable to redeem ourselves. And we need
to hear such great and glorious words as this, the Lord comes
and forgives us of all our sins, of all our trespasses. Well,
have we come Realising how we stand before a holy God. It's how God views us. It's not
really how men view us. They may view us very inaccurately. They may just see the outside.
They may not see the inside. My friend, God sees the inside.
That sometimes may apport us that sometimes make us so ashamed,
as we remember the things that we've thought about, the things
that we've pondered over in our mind. Have they been God-honouring? Well, they haven't. And we're
guilty before our Holy God, and we cannot pay for those sins. We cannot justify ourself. We
have to come to the Lord Jesus Christ with nothing to pay. See that's the gospel, comes
to those who have nothing. They are bankrupt and they come
exactly as they are. Nothing to pay. He frankly forgave
them both. Yes, it's a full forgiveness. The Lord Jesus came in this world
to save sinners. He didn't come to save the righteous.
He came to save sinners. Surely that should be an encouraging
word to us because if the Spirit of God is working in our heart,
what it will do is very clearly this, it will convince us of
sin. Convince us of our uncleanness. Convince us of our filthiness. Convince us of the evil of our
hearts so we have to hang our head in shame. before a holy
God and plead for mercy and understand. Something in that parable, the
Lord spoke about the Pharisee and the publican. So the Pharisee,
he thought he was a good chap. He was pleased with his prayers.
He was pleased with the way he lived. And he wanted to be seen
and many stood in the street corners and everybody would see
him, perhaps praying in that place. So different was the publican. He couldn't lift up his head.
He hung it down. He beat upon his breast. But
he cried out from his heart, God, be merciful to me a sinner. And the Lord said some wonderful
words. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other. And so we have this statement
here. He frankly forgave them both. the Lord frankly forgave
that publican, yes, who cried out from his heart, God be merciful
to me, a sinner. Now, the Lord, you see, he used
this statement, this picture, this little account to speak
to this Pharisee, Simon, who really was surprised at the way
the Lord had had come and had been willing to sit down and
to receive this woman, to not push her away. No, he received
her. And there she was, anointing
his feet and washing them with her tears and wiping them with
the hairs of her head. It was a very humbling operation
that she was engaged in. But it showed really the depth
of her love, didn't it? Showed the depth of her love. She didn't expect some wonderful
kiss from the Lord himself. No, she was very willing to just
come down and to wash his feet. Yes, my friends, what a blessing
it is if you and I are brought to be made willing and endowed
with this power to come to the Lord Jesus and not expecting
some great acknowledgement, but just content, as it were, to
be in the lowest place, the lowest place. The Spirit of God, the
work of the Spirit of God brings us down, brings us down to see
something of ourselves, and the vileness of our heart. It doesn't
bring us up in our own estimation. What it does do, It brings us
down and it brings Christ up and our estimation because it's
then that we come and say, what a saviour. A saviour that should
condescend to come and save a vile sinner like me. A saviour who
condescended to come and to shed his most precious blood that
I might receive the forgiveness of all my sins. to be frankly
forgiven. Yes, there wasn't a long interrogation. No, the Lord comes and freely
forgives. And it is a most amazing favour
to be blessed in this way. You know, when the apostle wrote
to the Ephesians, he spoke of this. He says, according as he
hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.
And that's a wonderful thought, isn't it? The Lord chose his
people before the world was created, before man was on the earth. The Lord chose in him, in Christ,
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before him in love. That means our new nature.
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of the glory of his grace. Remember, unmerited
favour, nothing in us to merit any esteem of our gracious God,
to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made
us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace. The riches of his grace. And we have a little view of
what that really means. This unmerited favour is so rich
to all of us. And we undone sinners of the
earth who didn't deserve any notice. This woman, this sinner,
she didn't deserve really any notice. But quite clearly the
Lord had loved her with an everlasting love. And the appointed time
had come in her life. not to propose but to call by
grace, that irresistible grace of our God. What a wonderful
thing it is to realise how powerful it is. And so the Apostle speaking
to the Ephesians, he says, wherein he hath abounded toward us in
all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery
of his will, according to his good pleasure which he had purposed
in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might
gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in
heaven, and which are on earth, even in Him." Well, we could
go on in that first chapter of Ephesians. You can go home and
read it. It's a very wonderful chapter. It speaks so very gloriously
about the merits of the Saviour and directs us to look to Him. And when they're nothing to pay,
He frankly forgave them both. Both of them forgiven. And then
He asks Simon a question. He says, tell me therefore, which
of them will love him most? Well, I suppose it's not a hard
question to answer, is it? But it's a necessary question
to answer. And Simon answered it rightly. He said, I suppose that he to
whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, thou hast
rightly judged. Well, I hope we might come to
the same conclusion and be able to confirm that those who are
forgiven most, love most. And you know that's true, really,
in the Church of God today. Those who perhaps have come from
a very dark background, perhaps in a very open way of sin and
have appeared to be in a location, a situation where there is absolutely
no hope. They've sinned and sinned outwardly
and wickedly and more and more sin. But if the Lord comes, if
the Lord comes and touches their hearts, they can't resist the
power of God. And salvation is so gloriously
then observed in such a character. And that character, when they
are convinced of their sin and are shown the mercy of God to
such an utterly unworthy sinner, surely their love is so great
to the Saviour. My friends, tonight, what is
our love like? We've sinned, haven't we? The
Lord has directed us to look deep into our hearts and to observe
their sins which no one knows about but you and no one knows
about but me and my heart. I think then that this gracious
God has frankly forgiven us all our sins. Yes, what a blessing
it is to be shown the Lord has forgiven our sins. Now this woman,
this woman had been given faith to believe and the Lord came
then, here he was still apparently in this room of the Pharisee's
house and he turns to the woman and said, Simon see this woman
and then he describes the situation. I entered into her thine house.
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. I say unto thee, her sins, which
are many, nor didn't prevaricate and say, well, this woman wasn't
very bad. He clearly showed, he knew what
her condition was, and therefore he came and said, 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. There's no greater blessing that
is there than to know that our sins are forgiven. You see, the
truth is that our sins are forgiven when the Lord calls us out of
nature's darkness into the glorious light of the gospel. But when
the Lord sometimes graciously applies the word to our hearts
in a very particular way like he did here to this woman. And
he said, under 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? They weren't able to comprehend
this. This wasn't something which was visible, but this something
which was invisible. But nonetheless, my friends,
it was the great and most important work of God. The Lord did many
miracles for the body. Many people received their sight
and were healed. But that was evident, that was
visible. But the forgiveness of sin is
something between your soul and God. And it's very real, and
it's very precious. And he said to this woman, thy
faith hath saved thee." Well, what faith was that? Was it faith
that she produced? Not at all. It was a faith that
God had given her. And because of that, everything
was for the honour and glory of God. Thy faith hath saved
thee. Go in peace. And in that same
epistle to the Ephesians that we just referred to, again the
Apostle speaks of that gift of faith. What a favour it is to
know that the Lord comes and gives it. And he addresses the
Church of God, he addresses them and says, and you hath he quickened. He's made alive those who were
dead in trespasses and in sins. And he goes on to come and say
even when we were dead in sins, have quickened us, made us alive
together with Christ. There's a unity, the whole Church
of God is made spiritually alive in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. For by grace are ye saved, and
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. not at works,
lest any man should boast. Remember then this faith which
is given to us to believe the great and glorious truths that
our sins are forgiven. It's not something which is tangible
to human nature, it is that which is tangible to the new spirit,
to the spirit which God gives to those who are spiritually
alive to enter into the truth of God's words, And so we have
this statement, tell me therefore which of them will love him most? Which of them will love him most?
You know, the prophet Isaiah, who was of course a gracious
man of God, he testifies in his prophecy of the blessing of the
Lord and he says this, In the 44th chapter, verse 21,
we read, Remember these, O Jacob, and Israel, for thou art my servant. I have formed thee. Remember
that. God's formed us. Thou art my
servant, O Israel. Thou shalt not be forgotten of
me. God does not forget his people. That's a wonderful thought, isn't
it? God doesn't forget you and me. If we're his people, we're
not forgotten. And he says then, I have blotted
out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins. Return unto me, for I have redeemed
thee." How are we redeemed? Well, we know how we're redeemed. We're redeemed only with the
precious blood of Christ. That was the only payment that
could be received. The only currency that was acceptable
to God for the forgiveness of sins was the redemption of our
soul through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ as he died
on Calvary's cross to atone for our sins. That's how we are redeemed. And as we may be able to think
on these things, to ponder them, there is a wonderful depth there's
a great blessing to be able to ponder the work of the Saviour,
that finished work, the work the Saviour completed on that
cross at Calvary. There was no doubt he finished
the work his father gave him to do. Now the prophet, he then
breaks forth, he breaks forth having said these words, The
words of God I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions,
and as a cloud thy sins. Return unto me, for I have redeemed
thee. He then says, Sing, O ye heavens,
for the Lord hath done it. It's the Lord that's redeemed. It's reason, isn't it, to sing
and praise God. Shout, ye lower parts of the
earth. Break forth in the singing, ye
mountains, O forest. and every tree therein, for the
Lord hath redeemed Jacob and glorified himself in Israel. Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer. It's personal, thy Redeemer. He that formeth in the womb,
I am the Lord, that maketh all things, that stretcheth forth
the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth, by itself. And so you can read on again
in that 44th chapter of Isaiah, but we have there a wonderful
testimony of God's grace, of God's wonderful favour to unworthy
sinners. Tell me therefore, which of them
will love him most? Well, what draws us to Christ? What draws us to the Saviour? What makes the Lord Jesus Christ
precious to us? Surely it is a spiritual understanding
by the Spirit of God that the Lord Jesus Christ himself gave
his life that we might receive life, and that eternal life,
and that life which will never die, and that life which will
never be taken from us, Or is that not cause for love to the
Saviour? Well, we can question ourselves,
can't we? Do we love the Lord Jesus Christ? Do we love Him because of that
which He's done for us? When we were enemies, when we
were aliens, when we were walking contrary, to our God, fulfilling
the lust of the flesh, desires of our heart, the Lord came,
came to us and quickened us, made us spiritually alive and
showed us where we stood, lost and ruined in the fall, and then
showed us what he'd done in order to deliver our souls from the
wrath of God. You know, it's very wonderful
to think of the words, on such love my soul still ponder. Yes, my friends, ponder it. The
love of God. On such love my soul still ponder. Love so great, so rich, so free. Yes, it's a wonderful thought. and a wonderful thing to ponder,
the love of Christ. And as the Spirit of God leads
us into that, to think of His love toward us, we will say,
on such love my soul will still ponder. Love so great, so rich,
so free, say whilst lost in holy wonder, why, O God, such love
to me? Have you thought of that? Have
you been there? Are you still amazed of God's
love to you? Unworthy as you are, that love
was so great that it caused you to hear his voice, to look to
him, to receive that comfort in your soul, to know that you
are united to Christ, that he is your heavenly bridegroom and
he's come into this world deliver your soul, to save your soul,
to cast all your sins into the depths of the sea, and it was
all through his death. Well surely then we have an appreciation
of how valuable the blood of Christ is. Remember the apostle
says, Without shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. There is no forgiveness. There's
no hope for you or me, my friends, without Christ's blood being
shed. But oh, blessed be God, that which was portrayed right
from the days of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, when that
blood was shed right through the Old Testament until the time
of Christ came, it all pointed to Christ. They shed blood again
and again, all pointed to Christ, and Christ gloriously fulfilled
that commission which His Father gave Him to do, which was to
die in the place of His people. He bore the punishment instead. The punishment that was due to
us, the Saviour bore it instead. Surely that should call forth
and produce love in our hearts to such a great and glorious
Saviour. So willing was Jesus to die that
we, fellow sinners, might live. Yes, my friends, we live through
Christ's death. Do we bless God tonight for the
Saviour? Do we desire to honour and glorify
Him for what He's done for us, unworthy sinners of the earth.
So may we come tonight, recognising the truth of these words, and
when they're nothing to pay, bankrupt sinners, no hope, He
frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them
will love Him most? May we come and be amongst those
who love the Lord with a heart and soul and desire to honour
him in all we do and say and to one day be found with him
in glory around the throne of God in heaven with that praise
on our lips worthy is the lamb that was slain. Amen.