Our scripture reading this morning
is the 10th Psalm, Psalms number 10. In Psalms 10, we begin at verse
1. Why standest thou afar off, O
Lord? Why hidest thou thyself in times
of trouble? The wicked in his pride doth
persecute the poor. Let them be taken in the devices
that they have imagined. For the wicked boasteth of his
heart's desire and blesseth the covetous whom the Lord abhors. The wicked, through the pride
of his continent, will not seek after God. God is not in all
his thoughts. His ways are always grievous. Thy judgments are far above out
of his sight. As for all his enemies, he puffeth
at them. He hath said in his heart, I
shall not be moved, for I shall never be in adversity. His mouth
is full of cursing and deceit and fraud. Under his tongue is
mischief and vanity. He sitteth in the lurking places
of the villages. In the secret places doth he
murder the innocent. His eyes are privily set against
the poor. He lieth in wait secretly as
a lion in his den. He lieth in wait to catch the
poor. He doth catch the poor when he
draws him into his net. He croucheth and humbleth himself. that the poor may fall by his
strongholds. He hath said in his heart, God
hath forgotten. He had hidden his face. He will
never see it. Arise, O Lord. O God, lift up
thine hand. Forget not the humble. Wherefore
doth the wicked condemn God? He hath said in his heart, Thou
wilt not require it. Thou hast seen it. Thou hast
beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand. The poor committeth himself unto
thee. Thou art the helper of the fatherless. Break thou the arm of the wicked,
and the evil man seek out his wickedness till thou find none. The Lord is king forever and
ever. The heathen are perished out
of his hand. The Lord thou hast heard the
desire of the humble, thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt
cause thine ear to hear, to judge the fatherless and the oppressed,
that the man of the earth may no more oppress. Amen. Listen to this. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 5-6
Even when we were dead in sin, Speaking of our God who is rich
in mercy, even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together
with Christ and hath raised us up together. Did you hear that? Raised? Raised. That means it's done. Folks,
God's people are as good as in heaven right now. That's what
gives us the peace as we go through this world of chaos that we're
in. And there's a lot of chaos going on in our world right now,
isn't there? Brother Freshour mentioned Friday
night and requests for prayers. Pray for this country. Our study
for Friday night was prayers. God's people, we pray. for all kinds of different things,
but there's one thing that everything boils down to, isn't it? And
that's that our sovereign God's will shall be done. And I assured
Him, I hope I assured Him, I tried the best I could with my voice,
I hope the Lord gave Him assurance, that everything that you and
I are in right now, whatever our situation may be in our own
personal lives, but the whole world around us, is still in
the hands of the Creator. It hasn't gotten out of control.
Everything's going along just as He has purposed it to be.
If it isn't His purpose, then He's not God and you and I are
wasting our time. But He is God. He's my God. I pray He's yours
as well. I'd like you to turn also in
your hymn books. We're going to read a hymn. Turn
over to hymn number 529 with me. 529. Every once in a while, I just like to sing
this song in the shower. Oh, how I love Jesus. Every time
I think about what our Lord has done for us. I think about these
words. Oh, how I love Jesus. There is a name I love to hear. I love to sing its worth. It sounds like music in my ear. The sweetest name on earth. Verse 2, it tells me of a Savior's
love who died to set me free. It tells me of his precious blood. The sinner's perfect plea. Verse 3, it tells me what my
father hath in store for every day, and though I tread a darksome
path, he yields sunshine all the way. It tells of one whose
loving heart can feel my deepest woe, who in each sorrow bears
a part that none can bear below. I hope you thought about that. As you read those words, Could
that have been you singing that? Could you sing those words with
the voice of the heart? With the most inner part of your
being? The refrain, Oh how I love Jesus. Oh how I love Jesus. Oh how I
love Jesus because He first loved me. Every child of God who has ever
had the Lord do a work in their heart understands a drop of what that love is about. We see through the glass darkly. And everything we read in His
Word, every time we consider how deep He loves us, His grace
is magnified more and more and more. His grace. It's called
growing in grace. How do we grow in grace but in
the knowledge of who the Lord is? in the knowledge of what
he's done for his people, and in the knowledge of the success, the accomplishment of what he's
done, putting him right where he is now on his throne, ruling
everything. I can say this with my heart
to you in all sincerity. I pray you can too. I pray that you can too. The greatest sinner that ever
walked this earth comes here every week. I can't even get out of bed in
the morning without sinning against my God. I come before you every week
to tell you about the greatest forgiveness in all the world. The greatest forgiveness that
has ever been known. It's the message of the Apostle
Paul. wrote about in Romans 7 24 25 it says, Oh wretched man that
I am Who who shall deliver me From the body of this death Then he says these words I thank
God through Jesus Christ our Lord That's who That's the only deliverance a
true, bona fide sinner can trust in. Our deliverer, the Lord Jesus. He came here for one reason,
and that is to save sinners. But folks, you have to see yourself
as a sinner. Too many of the world want to
go back, oh, I did lie. I lied to my dad once, or I did
this once, or I used to smoke, or I used to cuss, I used to
do this. I used to get angry at everybody. I don't do that
anymore. Too many people think that that's...
I'm done. I'm not a sinner anymore. I'm
not as bad a sinner as I used to be, so therefore I'm better. God's people are taught. We are chastened. We are brought to the knowledge
that we never get any better in this flesh. Oh, wretched man! That I am, says Paul. That I
am, says John. Who? I can't deliver myself. I'm so far beyond the help of
myself that if God leaves me to myself, I shall receive damnation. of which I deserve, of which
I have earned. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ,
my Lord. I sincerely pray that this day
that the Lord had brought some sinners here, some who have great
need of salvation. Because their sins are great
to them. For only a great sinner needs
great forgiveness. Do you need great forgiveness? Turn once again, if you would,
to the book of Luke, chapter 7. In our last worship service,
we considered the feet of the Master. the feet of Him who is
our salvation. As we read over in Luke chapter
2, Simeon had been waiting in the temple for the Lord to show
him His salvation. And it says in verse 25, you
stay in Luke 7. I'll just read this quick before
you. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.
The same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of
Israel. And the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should
not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. He goes on to tell us about the
Lord Jesus being brought to the temple. And Simeon had laid eyes
upon this child, Jesus. And he took him up in his arms
and he blessed God and he said, Lord, now let us thy servant
depart in peace according to thy words. For mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. The salvation of God. The salvation
sent from God his Son, the Lord Jesus. We looked at that deeply
last week. The dirt, this lady, this woman
who is at the feet of Jesus, who is our salvation, she looked
upon Him and washed the dirt off His feet. The dirt that He
bore on His feet for you and I. The holes that He endured
on our behalf. We saw the place, our place,
before the Almighty Holy God. But there's more. There's more
to see. Are you with me in Luke chapter
7? Begin with me if you would in verse 36. 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 meet. And 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. Now if you weren't here last
week, I had to point this out. An alabaster is a perfumed oil. Just the normal everyday blue
collar worker in that day would have taken a year of labor to
afford a box of oil, of this oil. She took an alabaster box
of ointment Verse 38, And she stood at the 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. 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
I left off with that verse last week with these words, He did
know who she was. Just like He knows who each of
us. Folks, God knows everything.
You can't hide anything from Him. You can't hide anything from
Him. He knew. That Pharisee didn't even speak
aloud, he spoke within himself. And the Lord knew it. Listen,
look at verse 40. 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. 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 he forgave most. And the Lord said unto him, Thou
hast rightly judged. And he, the Lord, turned to the
woman and said, in other words, he spoke unto Simon, saying,
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,
because of all that, after describing what the Lord just described,
I say unto thee, he says, 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. And they that sat at me with
him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins
also? And he said to the woman, Thy
faith hath saved thee. Go in peace. Our Lord And His great wisdom
tells us nothing of this woman, of her state, what she did for
a living, what she did to feed herself, what she did to be called
a sinner. We don't know, do we? I'm so
thankful. I'm so thankful that the Lord
doesn't tell us all the sins of His people. It gives all of us an opportunity
to relate to her, doesn't it? Whatever your imagination, whatever
God has shown in you, the sin that is
in you, you can see it in her, can't you? She was a sinner. Behold, a woman
in a city, in the city which was a sinner. This woman who
is a sinner is here held before us in the book of God as an example. What a great example our Lord
has given us of this one who is a sinner who has come to the
one who forgives sin. The Holy Spirit tells us absolutely
nothing about her except these things. That she was a sinner,
and she was a sinner who trusted in Christ. When she had heard,
didn't you know what it says? When she had heard that Christ
was there, she sought after Him, she came to Him. How are you going to call upon
someone you've never heard of? How are you going to believe
in Him, if you've never heard of Him? When she had heard. of where Jesus was. There was
a lot of people who heard about Him. Remember the story about
the woman. The Lord was surrounded with
people just pushing against Him and a woman who had an issue
of blood. She had heard the Lord was coming this way. She got
down and crawled on her knees to Him. We come to Christ But
not to the front of this aisle. He's not here. Not to this that
people want to call a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a,
a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a,
a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a,
a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a,
a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a,
a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, This isn't an altar. This is
a piece of wood. It's a block of wood that I use
to hold my Bible up, and my piece of paper, and my water. The altar
is the Lord Jesus. Come to Him right where you're
at. Another thing. We don't just
come to Him once. We come to Him over and over
and over again. Why? Because we're sinners all
the time. Come to the Lord Jesus. She was forgiven. And she knew
she was forgiven by the Lord. Because of His great forgiveness
of her, she cried. Do you cry at the greatness of
God's forgiveness for you? Or is it just something we just
pass on by? It's no big deal. The Lord saved me. I can go on
and sin on as I want to. There's a religion that does
that all the time. They're called Catholics. If I just count the
pence on this bead, I'll be saved and I can go about sinning again
tomorrow. And that was described to me by one who was a Catholic
named Steve Doyle, so don't tell me I'm wrong. What grace it is to have our
condition revealed to us. Our condition as true dead dog
sinners. It's not one that we can see
of ourselves in our natural state. Not at all. We come into this
world thinking we're okay. We're not so bad. There's a little
good in me. If I just Stop being so attracted
to all the drinking and cussing and partying and doing all that.
I can start being a good person and go to church on Sunday like
I'm supposed to. I'll be better. Fan that flame
a little bit. Isn't that what we thought at
one time? If I can just think, well I haven't killed anybody
so I'm not such a bad person. I've thought about it. You know
that all you gotta do is think about it and you've done it.
Think about that next time you look at somebody walking down
the street dressed as they shouldn't be. All I gotta do is exercise
a little faith. Fan it like a flame and it'll
grow. If I make an effort, if I make a decision, I too could
be righteous. I too could be a good person.
Only one who has had the truth Only one who has had the truth
of their condition revealed can know the depth of their depravity. See, today's title is Great Sinners
Need a Great Savior, Need Great Forgiveness. Our Lord said these
words, you think that I'm just speaking when I say only one
who has had the truth of their condition reviewed. You think,
oh, he's just saying that. Listen to the Lord's Word. Matthew
11, verses 25-27, At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank
thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast
hid these things from the wise and prudent. and has revealed
them unto babe. What things? What things is the
Lord talking about here? What things is the Lord Jesus,
God Almighty, the Son of God, speaking to God the Father about? He's talking about the depravity
of man. In the previous verses to that,
He reveals how dead in trespasses men and women are. He's talking
about the total depravity, that we have nothing that we can offer
God. Nothing of this flesh that we
can offer God to pay for our sins. Why? Why are my good works not
good enough? Because they're tainted with
sin no matter what you do. No matter what thoughts are going
through your mind, you're still in this body of death. This body
that we need saving from. This body, this flesh that will
continue to sin until the day we're taken out of this world.
People love to say, oh, you can be such a better person if you'll
just receive Jesus and you'll be such a nice person, you won't
be a sinner anymore. That is not true. Paul had already
been preaching for years. The Apostle Paul, the very one
who wrote So many books of God's Word, who God inspired to write
for him. O wretched man that I am, he
said. Not that I was before, but that
I am right now. And if you're a saved child of
God, you know your wretchedness right now. You know the depravity,
and the only way you know it is by the revelation of Christ.
Father, I thank Thee. That thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent. I guarantee you that guy over
there in Rome, where Kathy and I are going to go visit, we're
not going to the Pope's place. I'm going to walk right on by
him. I've got no desire to see the
Vatican. But I guarantee you that guy
sitting over there thinking he's OK. I've done well. I've been a good person. I've
counted my beads. I've gone into the box. I've
told my sins. I've taken care of the poor. The poor have taken care of Him.
What things has the Lord revealed unto you? Has He revealed the
depravity? Has He revealed the fact that
He chose you from before the world was? Are you still walking
through life thinking you've done something to earn God's
grace? Or has God shown you that you
would have kept right on walking into damnation if He hadn't chosen
you first? You can't see it unless the Lord
reveals it. I thank Thee, O Father, that
Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent. What things? that the blood of Christ that
was shed 2,000 years ago was sufficient. Has the Lord God
Almighty shown you the depth of your depravity, the unconditioned
of you being chosen in Him, and that His blood is enough? Are you still trying to earn
your salvation? Or are you resting in the blood of Christ? I thank
Thee, O Father of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid
these things from the wise and proved what things, what things? My grace. The Lord's grace to you. You know why this woman was in
tears? Because God didn't leave her to herself. He showed her
His grace, and it was irresistible grace. It was a grace that you
can't turn away from. Because the depth of your depravity
has been revealed to you, you see the grace of God. How can
you turn away from such love? Oh, how I love Jesus! Why? Because He first loved me. Jeremiah, the Lord says, I have
loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have lovingly
drawn you. After he praises his father for
revealing these things unto babes, he says, even so, father, for
it seemed good in thy sight. Then the Lord Jesus says these
words, He says, All things are delivered unto me of my Father,
and no man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any
man the Father save the Son, and He, you, to whomsoever the
Son will reveal it, will reveal Him. To know the truth of our
need, is to also know the glory of God in the face of His Son
as our great Savior. This woman was singing in her
heart, Oh, how I love Jesus, because He first loved me. Her
actions are clear on that, wouldn't you say? Think about that. She's at the feet of this man
crying tears on his feet and washing with those tears and
then wiping his feet with her hair. She's taken her most prized
possession to anoint those feet. Is that not an act of love? Love
from the heart? She was a great sinner whose
need was a great salvation, and she was at the feet of the One
who is the great Savior of His people. He saves His people,
and here's good news. Not just a little bit, but to
the uttermost. Isn't that a good word? Uttermost? I like that word. To me, that word means
that there's no ending of it. I can't get to a point, and I'm
thankful I don't want to get to that point, don't get me wrong,
I'm not trying to say it's okay to get to that point, but it
gives me this idea that I can't get to any certain point where
he's going to say, okay, I've had enough. I'm not saving anymore. No, He saves me and you, His
people, to the uttermost. That's a great Savior. That's
great salvation. That's great forgiveness. Notice,
in all the Scripture, in all the Scripture, not one place
can you find where the Lord has turned away one who has come
to Him in need. Isn't that something? He hasn't turned away John Reeves. And I need more than any of you
folks. I guarantee it. Oh how I wish I could drive this
point home. I pray the Lord does drive it
home to your hearts. All of Those who attempt to rouse
men and women up to live and to serve for Christ. Let me tell
you this, the driving force, the very driving force behind
us is not, oh, I want to be a better person. I do, but that's not
what's driving me. What's driving me is He has loved
me, and I love Him. This woman loves the Lord just
as you and I love the Lord for His graciousness to us. Because
His grace is so great. Because His forgiveness is known
and felt in our very soul. We see ourselves as the greatest
sinners that ever walked this earth. And if we see ourselves
as that, then the Lord is showing us He's the greatest Savior.
He's the only Savior. And He's greater than all of
our sin. We have a deep gratitude and
love for our Lord and Savior, and it arises from the experience
of His free and sovereign grace. It arises from what we find only
in His Son. We are motivated by His grace. We are motivated in gratitude
and love because of His grace, not because of the threat of
the law, not because of promise of reward, not because there may be a hope of
recognition. Listen to 2 Corinthians 5, verses
14-15, For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus
judge that if one died for all, then all are dead, and that he
died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live
unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose
again. Also in 2 Corinthians 8, chapter
8, verse 9, where we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though He was rich, yet for our sakes, your sakes, He
became poor, that ye, through His poverty, might be rich. Turn
over to 1 Peter, chapter 1. That will bring us to a close. Actually, we're going to do a
couple more scriptures. In 1 Peter 1, we begin reading at verse
3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again. Did you notice who? Why? It's according to His abundant
mercy that He hath begotten us again into a lively hope, a living
hope. by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, because our Lord liveth, because He sits
on His throne, we have a wonderful hope that all of the promises
of God shall be delivered. To an inheritance, verse 4, incorruptible. You can't defile it. It's undefiled. And that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for us. It's reserved by the Lord Jesus
Himself. Look at verse 5. Who are kept
who are guarded, is what that word means, by the power of God. That sign that hangs up over
the walkway out there, if your God is trying, then your
preacher is lying. That's a truth that I just, I
could not help but put that sign up. That's not something I thought
of. Another brother did. What a statement. What an absolute true statement.
Folks, God doesn't try anything, He does. If He doesn't do what
He wants to do, then He's not God. And again, we are wasting
our time. And we're kept, the Lord says
in His word here, we're kept by that very God who works everything
out according to His purpose, according to His will. were kept by His power through
faith, through believing in Him, unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. Verse 6, wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through
manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much
more precious than gold that perisheth, Though it be tried
with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at
the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, ye love."
Isn't that something? Oh, to believe God's word. There
is a name I love to hear. I love to sing its word. Why? Because my sins are great, yet
my Savior is greater. Let's look at one more section
of verses. Go to the left if you would to
Hebrews chapter, just a couple of pages, Hebrews chapter 7.
In verse 19 we read in Hebrews 7, For the law made nothing perfect,
but the bringing in of a better hope. The law was our schoolmaster. The law is what teaches you and
I that we're great sinners. We're great sinners because we
know we can't keep the law. Nothing of the law. I can't keep
even one spot of it, yet my Savior's so great, He's kept it all. For
the law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better
hope, by the which we draw nigh unto God. And insomuch as not
without an oath he was made priest. For those priests were made without
an oath. But this, with an oath by him
that said unto him, The Lord swear and I will not repent,
thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. By
so much was Jesus made a surety. of a better testament that there
truly were many priests because they were not suffered to continue
by reason of death. But this man, this one, the Lord
Jesus, because he continued with ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. And that's our hope. There is
our hope in a risen Christ, verse 25, wherefore He is able also
to save them to the uttermost that come to God by Him, seeing
He ever liveth to make intercession for them. The word of oath, the
word of promise, the word of salvation in Christ Jesus, the
word of His love towards His people, The word of his love towards
his people maketh the Son, who is our perfection, who is our
sanctification, who is our justification, who is our righteousness. This
is the one who has saved me to the uttermost. This is the one
who is the great Savior of this great sinner. Oh, how I love
Jesus, for he first loved me. Are there any great sinners here
this day? Are there any sinners who need
a great Savior? Come to the One who is greatly
able. Greatly able. Let's look at one
more verse. We've got a moment. Turn over
to Jude, just before the book of Revelation. One chapter, Jude. Are there any great sinners here
this day who need a great Savior? Come to the One who is greatly
able, look at verse 24, now unto Him that is able to keep you
from falling and to present you faultless before the presence
of His glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God our Savior
be glory and majesty and dominion and power both now and forever. come to the one who is greatly
able, Jesus Christ, my Lord. What a wonderful, wonderful thing
that God has provided a great, great Savior for this great sinner. Amen.