about in the two messages that
we had covered so far. I told him, I said, I think there's
one more. Brother Norm Wells went, brought
out. He was raised up in the, I believe, not Susanville, but
Victorville, I think it is, up further north, up in the northeastern
corner of California. A very dry and deserty area,
but they grow quite a bit up there. And he was sharing with
us in one of his services how when he was a kid, they would
go out and plow the field to get the rocks out of the field.
You'd hit rocks, you'd get out there, you had to pull a rock
out and go move it. And he says, it didn't matter how many times
you were over, you always pulled up another rock. That's kind
of the way God's Word is. It's always the same message.
I'm going to preach the same thing today that I preached last
week, only we're going to use one other text to bring us to
our subject. Look with me. Let's read it in
full, shall we? Let's read it in full, 36 through
50. And one of the Pharisees desired him, the Lord Jesus,
that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's
house and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city,
which was a sinner, When she knew that Jesus sat at me 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 answered. Isn't that
interesting? He answered. The guy didn't even
speak out aloud. But God Almighty hears the hearts
of all. He hears your heart. And Jesus
answering him said aloud, he said unto him, Simon, I have
somewhat to say unto thee. And he, Simon, would say, Master,
say on. There was a certain creditor
who had two debtors. The one owed 500 pence and the
other 50. And when they had nothing to
pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which
of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose
that he to whom thou forgave the most. And the Lord said unto
him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the young woman,
he turned to her, he faced the woman, but he spoke again to
Simon. Seest thou this woman? I entered
into 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. Wherefore, I say unto thee, her
sins which are many are forgiven, for she loved much, for she loved
much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he
saith unto her, thy sins are forgiven, verse 49, and they
that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, who
is this? that forgiveth sins also. That's what I want to talk to
you about this morning. You see it's the same story as
last week. Those who have great sin need great forgiveness. Who is
he? Isn't that what we come here
for? Who is this? If I showed up here
today We started talking to you about Hamas and Israel. I would hope you would get up
and walk out of me. I was at a church once up in Pollock Pines,
and yeah, I'm not afraid to, I'm not bashful, I'm not ashamed
to be mentioning names. I'm not ashamed at all about
it. I've been to that church three times on the request of
my mother. Not once did I hear about what
the Lord Jesus did. Just to prove that to you, we
showed up one time to honor my mother on her 70th birthday,
all five of us kids, and the preachers stood there and talked.
It was happening to be St. Patrick's Day that week. And they spent the whole message
talking about how some guy named St. Patrick went about establishing
churches all over Europe. It's not even a Catholic church.
It was all about what that guy did and it had nothing to do
with our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Isn't that what we come here
for today? Isn't that what you need? I've been coming here for
26 years. I was 26 years. I come here for the same reason
every Sunday, every Friday. To hear about a Savior. To hear about Him. I'm told that
all I do is flap my arms around on top of the pond. I don't go
deep enough. I'm boring. I say the same thing
over and over. If I'm that boring, then what
do you folks keep coming here for? For the same reason I do,
because he's not boring. Hearing about how he has saved
me from my sins this last week. Hearing about how he's going
to save me from my sins tomorrow. How he's going to save me from
my sins the rest of today. How he saved me from my sins
from the moment I got out of bed this morning. This is what
John Reeves, a sinner, needs to hear. I need to hear the story
about this man who saves, because nothing else can save. I know
that all my works, everything I can do is tainted with sin. So I need one who's perfect in
every way. Not just once, not just the one
time that he opened my eyes. I need him every moment. I need
thee every hour, do you? Why did this woman come in to
where there was a bunch of religious people being the sinner that
she is? Imagine the humiliation that
must have been. How she came in with her face
down, unable to even raise up her eyes unto those around her
who were so much better than she was. Why did she do what
she did? How could you explain the actions
of this woman? What would inspire her to put
that shame aside and come in? Salvation. His name is Jesus,
for he shall save his people. She owed much. But she had also
been forgiven much. And because she was forgiven
much, she loved much. I love hearing the story of Jesus.
I love hearing about who He is. I love hearing about God giving
Himself in the flesh because He's loved me so much that He
would have me for eternity. Isn't that the story of Christ? Isn't that the story of who the
Lord Jesus is? God Almighty in the flesh? We
spoke about this last week, but those who are forgiven much,
they love much, and we never grow tired of hearing about this
One who forgives us of our sins. This One who is the One that
forgiveth sins. Look at verse 39. Look again
at verse 39. Now when the Pharisees which
had bidden him saw, he spake within himself, saying, This
man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner
of woman it is that touches him, and what, for she is a sinner.
This is the voice of the unregenerate man, the one who questions if
God knew who it was that sat here in the seat and cried out.
The whole point of that is that he does know. This is our voice
before God's grace was shed abroad in our hearts. And it would still
be our voice if it was not for His mercy. He who is forgiven
much, loveth much. One who has been given sight
to see their depravity, we know that we would be in the thick
of it all when the people rose up against God and said, crucify
Him, crucify Him. Oh, I wouldn't be. No, I know
who the Lord is. I wouldn't have done it. Oh yes,
you would have. If you don't think you would have, then you
think more of yourself than you are. We see clearly now the depth
of our sinfulness. We see clearly that we have nothing
to pay the debt that we owe. We clearly see our inability
to cover our nakedness. Who is this that forgives us
sins? That's what I want to know. Paul says it this way. He says,
I wish to know nothing of you save Christ and Him crucified.
That's the Lord Jesus who is God in the flesh and what He's
done. He was crucified. He laid down
His life for the sheep. For the sheep. Not for the world,
but for the sheep. That's what I want to know. I've
sinned much this very day. Tell me about this one who forgives
sin. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
10. Many in today's world want to declare to you, OK, now you're
saved. You've heard the gospel. You've accepted Christ into your
heart. Now you have to do this. Now you have to do that. You
have to prove to us that you're saved. It's called following
the law. It's called legalism. Look at
verse 1 of chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 10. For the law having
a shadow. That means it wasn't the real
thing, it was just the shadow of good things to come. And that not the very image of
the things can never with those sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Here we have a group of folks, religious folks, just like the
Israelis were, just like the Jews were, very religious, very
steeped in their religion, telling us that now that we're saved,
now that we've been saved by grace, we need to go forth and
start acting like we're saved by grace. We need to go forth
and start fulfilling the law. That's what legalism is. Yet
it says here, can never, with those sacrifices, which they
offered year by year, continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Look at verse 2. For then would they not have
ceased to be offered. Did they not offer them every
year? Did not once a year, every year, the high priests go in
to make intercession for the people? Well, if their intercessions
were worthy of being accepted of God, then they'd only have
to have done it once, right? Because that the worshippers
once purged should have had no more continuance of sin. But
in these, verse 3, in those sacrifices, there is a remembrance made again,
again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Now remember,
we're going to see a picture. And that's what the Old Testament
sacrifices and everything was. They were pictures. pictures
of the one who could actually do it, the one who actually forgave
sins. And we're going to see that here
in just a moment. Wherefore, in verse 5, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared me. Christ was made of a woman,
made in the flesh, A body hast thou prepared me, in burnt offerings
and sacrifices, verse 6, for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Then said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book, as it is
written of me, to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said sacrifice
and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin, thou wouldest
not, neither hast pleasure therein, which were offered by the law,
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God, he taketh away
the first, that's the law of Moses, that he may establish
the second, the law of grace, the law of love, by the which
will we are sanctified, sanctified, made set apart, made holy, through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. One time. What we just read here
is about how imperfect all the sacrifices those priests of the
old did, but how the sacrifice of Christ was only needed once. This is the one who saves sins.
This is the one who saves the sins of his people. This is the
one I want to hear about every Sunday. This is the one who cannot
be thwarted. This is the one who cannot be
turned. This is the one who does not change Therefore, ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed by the which will we are made holy
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for
all. Verse 11, And every priest, standard daily, ministering and
offering sometimes, oftentimes, the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sin, but this man That's the one that those
religious folks were looking at face-to-face. That's the one
who you and I may have been looking at face-to-face in God's Word
and did not know who he was. Who is this one who forgives
sin? This man, after he had offered
one sacrifice, verse 12, for the sins forever sat down on
the right hand of God. from henceforth expecting till
his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected."
If Christ has perfected you, what is there for you to do left?
That's the most sobering question I've ever heard from this pulpit. Gene Harmon, if the Lord Jesus
Christ has perfected you, What else is there for you to do?
If you're perfect before God right now in the Lord Jesus,
what more is there for you to do? Rest in Him. I've had this conversation before
about how, well, we need to observe the Sabbath. Why? Because it
says so in so many places. It says all over in the Old Testament
to observe the Sabbath. I do observe the Sabbath. Jesus
Christ is my Sabbath. He's the one I rest in every
moment that I'm awake. Wherefore, by one offering. Who is this? Who is this that
the scriptures tell us about that saveth people from their
sins? It's the one who has offered
it once. The one who is perfect in everything
that he does. Including the salvation of his
people. especially in the salvation of
His people. God help us to rest in Him, to
put away our desires to be righteous in our own selves and accept
His righteousness for us. It doesn't say that He was made
sin so that we would be righteous. It says that we would be righteous
The righteousness of God in Him. Isn't that what it says? Am I
wrong in that? Look over at chapter 9. Look
across the page of chapter 9. Look at verse 24. For Christ
is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which
are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself. Now to appear in the presence
of God for who? For us. Verse 25, Nor yet that
he should offer himself often as the high priest entereth into
the holy place every year with the blood of others. For then
must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world.
But now, once in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that
look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto
salvation." Do you ever see the sins before you? Your own sin
before you? And it just magnifies so ugly
and you think to yourself, How can I still be this way? How
come I'm not like that woman at the feet of Jesus washing
his feet right now? How come I'm not acting like
Mother Teresa going around and helping every person in all their
deeds? How can God love a person who
still sins the way I sin? Christ was once offered to bear
the sins of many. That's how. That one offering
as we read in verse 14, He hath perfected you. That's how. The very blood that is sprinkled
on the mercy seat in heaven is His own blood and God looks at
that blood and He says, I remember your sins no more. They're paid
for. All of them. Even the ones you've
committed today. Even the ones you're going to
commit the moment you leave this building. Even the ones that
you're committing sitting where you are right now. Look at verses
15-18 of Hebrews 10. Wherefore the Holy Ghost also
is a witness to it. For after that he had said before,
this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts. Have
you ever struggled with the law before? Oh, don't get me wrong. I know we've all sat there and
thought to ourselves, I shouldn't lie. It's a bad thing. But who's
going to know if I twist my taxes a little bit this way? Who's
going to know if I don't tell the whole truth about my sister
being ugly? Who's going to know if I don't
speak the truth about this? Who's going to know if I get
angry I struggle. I struggle with the
law where I did not before. The law means something to me
now. It's God's law. It's good for me. I strive to
get down on my hands and knees and wash my Lord's feet with
my tears. I don't do it very well. I don't
do it acceptable in any way, but God Almighty doesn't need
me to do something to accept me. He accepts me in His Son,
the Lord Jesus. This is the one that they were
looking at, who they said, who is this guy? Who is this guy
who can forgive sins? It's Christ, our Savior. That's who it is. This is the
covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts
and in their minds while I write them, and their sins and iniquities
Well, I remember no more. Now where remission of these
is, there is no more offering for sin. This is the man who
forgives. He's the man who has forgiven
me of my sins. He's the son of the living God.
2 Corinthians 5.21, we read these words, For He, God Almighty,
God the Father, hath made Him, His Son, to be sin for us. And I know it's speaking of His
Son because it says, Who knew no sin? Jesus Christ never sinned. He went to the cross for our
sins. Because He had none of His own.
He had no sin. He knew no sin. He was made sin
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Why would He do
that? Why would He leave His glory
and become the very thing which He will judge men to eternal
death for? Look over at John chapter 17.
I think this will be very clear. Who is this One who forgives
sin? He cries out in John chapter
17 verse 1, Father, the hour has come, glorify thy son that
thy son also may glorify thee. That's pretty hard to understand,
isn't it? God Almighty would be glorified in His Son becoming
sin, that we would be made the righteousness of God in Him.
That's pretty deep, Edward. That's pretty deep. Verse 2,
as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Verse 3, and this is life eternal
that they might know thee. Do you know who the Lord Jesus
is? Do you know what it means to
know who the Lord Jesus is? It means to believe Him. Whosoever
believeth, The world wants you to think that it's your works,
that you need to believe, that you can muster up something inside
of yourself and believe. Scriptures declare it to be a
gift of God. This is the life eternal, that
they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent. Verse 4, I have glorified thee
on earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to
do, and now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self,
with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Wait
a minute, wasn't Christ born of a virgin? Oh yes he was, he's
always been God the Son. Did you know that? In the beginning,
God created man in their image, in our image is what it says. Verse 6, I have manifested thy
name unto men, which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they
were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. Have any of you ever kept His
word? We have in our Savior. I can't do it in the flesh, but
my Savior has done it for me. My substitute has given everything
that is needed for me to be with God, and keeping His word is
part of that. Verse 7, Now they have known
that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee, for
I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they
have received them, and have known surely that I came out
of thee, out from me, and they have believed that thou didst
send me. I pray for them, I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they
are thine. and all mine are thine, and thine
are mine, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more
in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee,
Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast
given me, that they may be one as we are." Now, again, I want
to ask you something. Does God want anything? We talked
about this in the men's room, or in the dining hall just a
little bit ago. Does God want for anything? If
your God wants for something, then you're not talking about
the true and living God. Plain and simple. That sign outside
says if your God is trying, your preacher is lying. If your God
is wanting, then he's not deserving of the word God. The word God
means to be sovereign over everything. Sovereign creator of all that
is. The world loves to say, oh yeah,
he's sovereign over everything, but he's left me to make my own
decisions. Not the God of Scriptures. If
we were left to ourselves, we'd be just like that group of folks
who said, crucify him, crucify him. We're one with Christ, as Christ
is one with God the Father. How can that be wrong? How can
that need anything more? Isn't that what we read in Hebrews? Perfected forever? Verse 12,
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me I have
kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition that
the Scriptures might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee, and these
things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled
in themselves. I have given them thy word, and
the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world, but thou shouldest keep them from
the evil. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth,
thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the
world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for
their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified
through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them which shall believe on Me through their word. Aren't you thankful the Word
of God has gone out? That they all may be one, verse
21, as thou, Father, art in Me, and I in thee. That they also
may be one in Us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent
Me. And the glory which thou gavest Me I have given to them,
that they may be one, even as we are one, I am them, and thou
and me, that they may be made perfect and one, and that the
world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them
as thou hast loved me, Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me
from the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world
hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known
that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them
thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." This is the man. This is the man who forgives
us of our sins. He speaks to the new heart within
me. He says, as he said in Jeremiah
31.3, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore
with loving kindness have I drawn thee. He speaks to me when I
am weak in my walk with Him. He says, you who are kept by
the power of God, through faith, under salvation, ready to be
revealed at the last time. That's in 1 Peter 1, verse 5. These are the words that God
says to people that He has saved. You, who are kept by His power,
the power of God, through what? Through faith unto salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time. Every time we come to the
table of remembrance, our Lord speaks to our hearts telling
us that our works are unworthy of anything. The works that are
worthy of His blessings, of His salvation, is the works of His
Son. the blood that He shed upon that
cross a little over 2,000 years ago. This is what it is to come
to the table of remembrance, to remember what He has done.
Do you ever get tired of it? Does it ever get old to you?
Not to God's people it doesn't. It's the very same thing that
reminds us every day that we get up out of bed, our Savior
is with us. Our Savior has done what is necessary. We may stumble at the side of
our sin, which is ever before us. But seeing the weakness of
this flesh brings us back every time to the strength of God,
and that strength is in His Son and what He's done for us. Perfection,
holiness, righteousness, everything that we need is in Him.