Take your Bibles and turn with
me to Luke chapter 7. I hope to finish up the chapter
this morning, Luke chapter 7. And the lesson will be taken
from verses 36 through 50 in Luke chapter 7. And my subject
this morning is a sinner and her savior. Let's read these
verses together. Luke chapter seven, verse 36. And one of the Pharisees desired
him 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 meat 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 ointment. And when the Pharisee, which
had bidden him, saw it, he spake within himself. He didn't say
anything out loud. He just looked and saw it, and
this is what he thought. He said within himself, this
man, If he were a prophet, and that's what he thought he was,
a prophet. If he were a prophet, he 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. Now, Simon didn't say a word. He didn't say a word. He just
thought to himself. But our Lord can read the thoughts
and intents of your heart. He knows them. And Jesus answering
said unto him, Simon, I have some what to say unto thee. And
he said, Master, say on. He said, 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, neither one of them had a nickel. They couldn't pay anything. When they had nothing to pay,
he frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which one
of them will love him most? And Simon answered and said,
I suppose, that's how proud Pharisees talk,
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 he said unto Simon, he said, seest thou this
woman? I entered into thine house, thou
gavest me no water for my feet. That was a custom in that day.
If you had a traveler who entered into your house, it was a custom,
just like shaking hands or greeting somebody at the door, it was
a custom to bring water in a bowl for them to wash their feet. But he said, thou gavest me no
water for my feet. but she hath washed my feet with
her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest
me no kiss, but this woman since the time
I come in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head withal
thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with
ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, he's
looking right at Simon. He's talking to him. I say unto
thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. How do I know that? For she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven,
The same loveth little. And he said unto her, thy sins
are forgiven. A sinner and a savior. Now we're
told in John 21 verse 25 that there was also many other things
that Jesus did. The which if they should be written
every one I suppose that even the world itself could not contain
the books that should be written. Of all the things that our Lord
Jesus Christ did, this world couldn't hold the books. We can't, as hard as we study
and as much as we read and as much as the Holy Ghost has preserved
in this book, we haven't even scratched the surface concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ and his majesty and divinity and eternity. I can't imagine. And here this
apostle, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, said the world
couldn't hold the books. But this event was. Now you think
of all the things that our Lord has done that the world couldn't
even hold the books But this event, he did. He recorded it. He recorded it
in his word. And Paul tells us this, that
it was written that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures
might have hope. That's why it's written. And no doubt there was a lot
of folks in Simon's house that day He calls them them that sat
in meat at Simon's house. That's all he has to say about
the crowd. And there no doubt was a lot of them there at Simon's
house that day, but only three are mentioned and recorded in
the word of God. And I want us to look at these
three people that he talks about here in these verses. The most
significant person there that day was a man whose name was
Jesus. Jesus. Controversial man. Nobody really knew who he was
except those closest to him. Thou art the Christ, Peter said,
the son of the living God. And our Lord said the Holy Spirit
revealed that to you. You didn't come up with that
on your own. The Holy Spirit taught you that, revealed that
to you. No doubt he was the most significant
person there that day. In Colossians 117, it says, and
he is before all things. And by him, all things consist. And this is not just telling
us that he existed before creation, that he was alive and had being
before creation, but that he's the reason for it. He is before
creation. Back up a few verses there in
Colossians and here's what it says. He is the firstborn of
every created thing. The firstborn. There's Christ
and all his appointments and then there's creation. There's Christ. He has the preeminence
in creation. That's what he, goes on to tell
us in Colossians chapter one. He's the reason for creation.
He is the creator of creation. And he is the maintainer and
preserver of creation. By him, all things exist. That
means that all things have a continuance. All things have an order. They're
maintained. the firstborn of every creature. And Jesus of Nazareth is God
come into the flesh. This was God sitting at his table
in that house. This was God. Was he not? He got our Savior. This is God. God in the person of a man was
sitting at Simon's table. In him, Paul said, dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
represented in that man seated at that table. And there can only be one reason
for God to appear in the body of a man, and that is to save
men from their sins. And no other reason for God to
take upon himself the form of a man. His earthly name was given of
God and the reason for it. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sin. That's why he
came. Oh, I'm telling you, the significance
of this man, Jesus, cannot be overstated. We read right over
that. I do it myself and have done
it for years. But I'm trying my best not to,
not anymore. Not anymore. Oh, the significance
of this man, Jesus. It cannot be overstated. His
name, his offices and titles given to him by God before the
world was. Think of it. Paul wrote to Timothy and he
said, God saved us. We didn't get saved. We didn't
go down to the revival and become a number on the sign. God saved
us. And then he called us with a holy calling. Not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. One mediator,
Paul wrote, between God and men. The man, Christ Jesus. Peter
said, neither is there salvation in any other for there's none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. No salvation for the angels.
Scripture said he took not on him the nature of angels. Those
fallen angels will never be saved. There's no mercy reserved for
them, no grace. No love. They're kept in chains under
darkness, reserved under the day of judgment. I'm telling
you, you cannot overstate the significance of Jesus Christ.
To him give all the prophets witness. The prophets wrote as
they were moved by the Holy Spirit. What did they write? They wrote
about Christ. Everything they penned was about
Christ. To him give all the prophets
witness that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall
receive remission of sins. Through this man, Paul said,
is preached unto you the forgiveness of sin, and by him all that believe
are justified from all things from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses. Only one thing stands between
this world and total annihilation. And this one thing, this one
man is sitting at the table in Simon's house. You think of the
significance of this man, Jesus of Nazareth. And I want us to
come into this place and be reminded in everything we do of the significance
of this man, Jesus Christ. without his presence, without
his person and work, without his seat in glory at the right
hand of God. We're just spinning our wheels
down here. I don't care who you are or what
you've done. All the things that Paul hoped
in and Oh, he clung to and was proud of. He took them out and
threw them on the dung heap. He said, oh, that I might win
him and be found in him. And then the second person the
Holy Ghost has preserved for us at this meeting is a man called
Simon. of whom it said, here's what
it says about Simon. It said this woman was from the
city and she was a sinner, but here's what it says about Simon.
He was a Pharisee. He was a Pharisee. And Pharisees
are a proud lot. Took hard work and self-sacrifice
to become a Pharisee. Pharisees, according to Paul's
testimony, who at one time held that title, were full-blooded
Jews. They had to trace their ancestry
back to Abraham. And they had papers. They knew
all their fathers. They could trace them all the
way back to Abraham. They had a righteousness by their
own obedience to the law. As touching the law, he said,
I was blameless. Does the law require tithe? I
tithe. Does the law require that I pray
so many times? I prayed so many times. Does
the law require that I read so much in the Word of God? I read
so much in the Word of God. I didn't steal anything, I didn't
kill anybody, I didn't commit adultery. Touching the law, I
was blameless. Blameless. They had a righteousness by their
own obedience to the law and they boasted of their high standing
with God. making broad phylacteries on
their gowns. They wore special gowns, holy
gowns, holy clothes, and these big broad phylacteries, and who
knows what those things said. Boasted of their high standing
with God, they prayed in the marketplaces so everybody'd know
that they were Christians. They prayed out loud. go into
a restaurant and the whole place shuts down and some guy stands
up and starts praying. I'll never forget, man. Henry
said, well I, he said, you can if you want to, but he said,
I don't like to pray in public places. He said, well how are
they gonna know if you're a Christian? He said, they'll get a good idea
when they see the tip. They prayed in the marketplaces.
When they gave, They waited until a crowd was around, and then
they gave. They wanted to be seen of men
when they did their alms. They were self-righteous men
who'd have no communion with sinners. Sinners were like lepers. They were just like lepers. They
looked at them and just shivered, shivered. That old, you remember
that old sinner came into the synagogue and the Pharisee came
in behind him and the old sinner, he couldn't, he just looked down
at the ground and started praying and asking for forgiveness. And
this old Pharisee, he looked right up into heaven. He didn't
close his eyes, he didn't bow his head, he looked right up
into heaven and he said, Lord, I thank you that I'm not like
him. That's exactly what was on Simon's
mind when he looked over and saw that woman standing behind
the Lord. There's nothing more hypocritical
than religious form. That's another thing Paul wrote
Timothy and told him about the Pharisees. They have a form of
godliness. A form. What's he talking about? Remember when we poured this
front porch out here? We put up a form. around you. They have a form of godliness
and they fill in the middle. They fill it in with their own
works, their own thoughts, their own attitude and conduct. And
there's nothing more hypocritical than religious form, long roads
and special insignias and crosses and flags and statues and pictures. They had a form of godliness,
but they denied the power thereof. Remember, I preached on the power
of God not too long ago. You're not going to do anything
apart from the power of God. And Simon was a Pharisee. He
was a self-righteous legalist and ceremonialist. And he looked
down his nose at that sinner. And thirdly, there was this woman.
We're not told her name. We're told Simon's name. We're
told our Lord's name. But her name's never mentioned.
Not given her name. And two things were told about
this woman concerning who she was. She was a woman in the city. I don't think by that that they're
talking about She had a little house in the city. She no doubt made her living
on the streets. And then secondly, it says she
was a sinner. She was a sinner. How embarrassing
this must have been in the Pharisee's eyes. She wasn't invited. Simon
didn't invite her to come. She heard that the Lord was gonna
be there and she wanted to be where he was. And she didn't
want to come in and sit in the corner. She wanted him to know
that she was there and that she loved him. That's all she was
interested in. I love this little clip of a
message that I got this week. This preacher was talking about the thief on the cross that the
Lord saved. And he got up to heaven and angels
looked at him and the saints looked at him and they said,
what right do you have to be here? Who told you you could come here? And he said, the man on the middle
cross told me I could come here. on my soul. This day shall thou
be with me in paradise. That's who told me. Man on the
middle cross. That man on the middle cross
saved this woman's soul, and she knew it. She knew it. She loved him, and she's looking
at him, and she knew what was gonna happen in that Pharisee's
house. There wasn't anybody gonna pay any attention to him. They
were just using him because the people loved him. And he was
hoping to gain some kind of favor. If he just had him over to his
house, maybe give him a little recognition, we'll say he's a
prophet of God, we'll go that far with it. You remember when
they said, whom do men say that I am? And the apostle said, well,
some say you're Elijah, some say surely a prophet. They were
willing to give him that title. How embarrassing it must have
been for that Pharisee. He looked on that woman. I'd
like to know how he knew who she was. But he knew. He knew. This known sinner comes into
his house uninvited. He takes his guest of honor and
starts just bawling, standing behind him. Just bawling. And she stoops down and lets
those tears fall on them dusty feet. And took that long hair
and started to wipe his feet. How repulsive it was for Simon
to watch this woman kiss the feet of this man that he thought
was a prophet. So much so that he began to doubt
the honor that he gave to the Lord. He doesn't question the
woman. He doesn't say anything about
the woman. He was already convinced of what she was. He began to
doubt the Lord because he saw he was looking at his disciple.
Huh? If he was a prophet. He'd know. He did know. He knew who she was. He knew
what she did. He knew what she was in her deepest
secrets. He knew. He knew. If he were a prophet, he would
have known who and what manner of woman this is that touches
him. Simon never saw himself in the
same light in which he saw the sinner. Not even a little thought of
it. Not even a little thought of
it. He thought there was no reason for him not to be loved of God,
accepted of God, considered righteous and good. He never saw the grace and mercy
of God who graced him with the very presence of his son. He
didn't see that. That significance that I talked
to you about back in the beginning, there was no significance other
than this man was a popular man. He was a man loved by the people
and favored by the people and he wanted to get in on some of
that favor. He never saw his need of a savior,
never did. And he never saw the majesty
and glory of this man who sat at meat at his table, he never
did. So little did he pay attention
to Jesus that day that he gave him no water, my soul. What if the Lord of
Glory, Jesse, showed up to your house, huh? Would you give him
a drink of water? Huh? He didn't give him a kiss. He didn't greet him with a kiss,
the Son of God. He meant nothing to him. Gave
him no water, no towel, no oil. And he looked on that sinner and stood behind her Savior.
And then he began to see the Savior as a fraud, as a fraud. A man came here to visit years
ago. I talked to him about a month later. He came and didn't see
him anymore. And I saw him somewhere. I don't
remember if it was at the store or where it was. I saw him. And he said, you're not pastoring
believers over there. You're pastoring a bunch of sinners.
I said, boy, I hope so. I hope so. I hope that they didn't hear
anything else. I hope they heard that. Oh, my soul. But that's exactly what Simon
thought when he saw this known sinner doing what she was doing
for her Savior. And to this man, our Lord gave
this parable. He gave this parable. And what he said was, the one
forgiven the most loved much. Now I want you to listen to me.
There are no little sinners. There are no little debts. No such thing. No such thing. It's just people see their debt
as little. This woman saw her debt for what
it was. There are no little sinners.
I want you to let that sink in. We're all great sinners. Paul
said this is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation. Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I'm chief.
There wasn't a more religious man on the face of the earth
than Saul of Tarsus. and how much more gracious was
his walk in the Lord. My soul, he wrote half the New
Testament. He's the chief of sinners. Up in heaven, in John's vision,
the elders looked over and they said, who's all that gathered around
the Lord down there? Who gathered around that throne
in them white robes? And the boy said, these are they
that come up out of what? Great tribulation. Great trouble. Not little trouble. A lot of trouble. Great trouble. And washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb. I'm gonna tell you something,
man at his best state, at his best state, is altogether vanity. Does that sound like a sinner
to you? Altogether vanity. None good. None righteous. None that seeketh
after God. No fear of God before their eyes. None righteous. Drinks iniquity
like water. We can think of foul things,
wicked things, perverse things. Don't you ever laugh and mock
the perverts out there because you're a pervert in your heart.
We all are, every one of us. And we can have those thoughts
and no tears in our eyes, no regret, huh? We drink iniquity
like water, just pick it up and drink it. Had no effect on us. That's a sinner. That's a sinner. All our righteousnesses
like filthy rags. And every sinner saved by grace
was a great sinner with a huge debt. Her sins, Christ said,
which are many. He knew who she was, what she'd
done. Knew all about it. But he said, they're forgiven.
And I see this woman as a picture of the church, her sins, which
are many more than you can even imagine. You know, in the Old
Testament, there was sacrifices for sins of ignorance. We sin
and don't even know we sin. He said, out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts. Every imagination of the thoughts
of man, God looked down on man, not men, on man, mankind. Every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart is only evil continually. Don't ever forget what you are
and where he found you and what great sins he has forgiven you
of. And I'm going to tell you this,
sinners are shut up to Christ. Oh, thank God. They had nowhere else to go. She could have went anywhere
that day. There were synagogues, marketplaces. She could have went anywhere.
No, she couldn't. She had to see him. She had to
go where he was. Sinners are shut up to Christ.
They have nowhere else to go, nowhere else to turn, no other
hope. They desperately cling to him. Without him, they're
gone. Without him, they stand before
God in all their sin and all their rebellion. All their blood
guiltiness and they stand there before God with no hope. Without
God in the world. Think about it. If she were to lose him, she'd
lose it all. Jesus Christ was the most precious
thing this woman had. And she didn't care who thought
what. She didn't care. She knew they were going to laugh
at her. My soul. You think sinners don't know
what these religious hypocrites are all about? They know. But he was the most precious
thing she had, and she didn't care who thought what. She was
not going to let her Lord and her Savior sit in this house
and be treated with indifference. She wasn't going to do it. And so she did to him and for
him what Simon wouldn't do. Why? Because to whom much is
forgiven, they love much. They love much. So much do they
love that that love constrains them from that day forward. That
love will not let them go, and their love will not let him go. Here's what the scripture said, he that loveth not knoweth not
God. And as he turned and assured
the woman that her sins were forgiven, those that sat and
meet said, who is this? Who do you think he is that forgives
sins? He's the only one who can. And
she knew it, and they didn't. Oh, my soul, may God open our
hearts and our minds to see Him and love Him. Thank you.