Back in Luke chapter 7, verse
36 again tells us that a Pharisee, Simon was his name, invited our
Lord to his house. And as I'm sure you noticed in
the reading, his motives were less than honorable. He didn't
even consider the Lord to be prophet. If this man was really
a prophet, he would know concerning the woman that touched him what
sort of person she is. But that's still astounding,
considering I'm reading now from John's Gospel chapter 2. Now,
when he, that is Christ, was in Jerusalem at the Passover
in the feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the
miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself
unto them, because he knew all men. And need it not that anyone
should testify of man, for he knew what was in man." All men. All men. Now we can't be certain
of Simon's motive in inviting the Lord to his house, but the
Lord most certainly did. And it's astounding that he went
anyway. In one sense, he went anyway. But it wasn't for Simon's sake
that the Lord accepted this invitation. It wasn't for him. It was for
this woman. He knew that this woman, who
was a sinner, would be there. Here's another blessed example
of what our Lord said His purpose was in coming here. The Son of
Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. He said
that after he found another sheep up a tree and brought him down
and saved him. The same thing here. The great
shepherd knew one of his sheep, one of those that God the Father
had put into his hands. I like that, don't you? I like
that figure. God entrusted every one of his
chosen into the hands of Christ, and Christ accepted that responsibility. Christ agreed when the fullness
of the time was come that he would come to this world and
do everything, not leave anything undone, in order to secure, not
to make possible, but to secure the salvation of his people.
That's why he went to this house. That's why he accepted Simon's
invitation. Regardless of what Simon's motives
were, our Lord went there, because one of those he had come to seek
and to save would be there, and our Lord does both, doesn't he?
Aren't you glad that he does? Aren't you glad that he does?
Because if he didn't seek us, we would have never sought him.
Just like his love. It begins with him. It doesn't
begin with us. We love him. That's true. All
God's people love him. They love him. Not as they should,
not as they want to, not as they one day will. But they do love
him. But the reason is because he
first loved them. Yes, the Great Shepherd seeks
and saves his sheep. He's 100% successful. He never fails. You, like me,
that have children lost, that have no interest in the gospel,
in their soul's eternal salvation, have no clue as to the state
they're in, aren't you thankful to know that it's not up to them? When you see them rebels, yes,
tips off the old block. Rebels just like you were a rebel
But you know that Christ who is mighty the same can bring
them down if what he wills it When he says all that the father
giveth me they're going to come to me There's no question about
it They'll come to me. Every one of them will come to
me. And when they come to me, they won't be cast out. I'll
save them. I'll save every one of them.
And I'll bring them all back to my Father's house and present
them all that the Father gave me before we ever created the
world. All that I became responsible for I'll present him back to
my father before the throne in his glory without a spot or a
wrinkle or any such thing. I'm the great shepherd of the
sheep. Thank God that that's so. This
woman that Simon looked down his nose at would have been the very last
one that anybody expected would be a recipient of God's grace. Everybody but Christ. Simon certainly
didn't think so. This woman was known to be a
notorious sinner. Everybody in town knew the kind
of lady, woman she was. The guests that sat there at
Simon's house as well, they didn't think so. But Jesus Christ looked
at this woman and saw an object of his everlasting love. Isn't
that something? He didn't look at her with disgust,
disdain, or contempt. He didn't refuse her devotion
or adoration. The kissing of his feet, it embarrassed
Simon. He said, what's she doing here? How does she even get in the
house? Who invited her? This is my home. She's got no
business here. Oh, but our Lord looked at her
and he loved her with an everlasting love. Always had. Always had. Man, that's something, isn't
it? I can't get much of a grip on that. Everlasting. Everlasting. There's never been a time that
Christ didn't love his sheep. Imagine that. This woman, like
every true believer, is in the category that Paul described
in 1 Corinthians 1. You remember this. You see your
calling, brethren. Those that Christ calls to himself. You see who they are. They're
not many wise men after the flesh. Not many mighty, not many noble. They're not the ones God calls.
Those are not the ones that the great shepherd seeks and saves.
No, it's the riff-raff. It's the nobodies. And aren't
you glad that's so? But God, how often we find those
two words in scripture. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are
despised. Hath God chosen yea, and things which are not, to
bring to naught things that are, for this reason, that no flesh
should glory in his presence." Now look for just a moment, and
then we'll continue. Verse 47, the way it is translated
here, it makes it appear that the forgiveness of this lady
was because of her love, but actually the opposite is true.
It should read like this, verse 47, wherefore I say unto thee,
her sins which are many are forgiven, therefore, Because her sins are
forgiven, therefore she loved much. Her love to Christ was
the effect of the experience of His grace, not the cause. The consequence of forgiveness,
not the condition of it. The result of her forgiveness
not the reason for it. The fruit of her forgiveness,
not the root of it. This woman showed much love because
she had felt much forgiven. She said, there's nothing, there's
nothing I can't do, won't do. I'll do what I can. I'll bring
this precious box of ointment and I'll put it on him. I'll
anoint him. There's nothing too good for
him. Our text is verse 48. These four
glorious words spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, spoken
by the only mediator between God and man. These words are
not the words of a so-called priest or preacher. or soul winner,
or pope. I believe those that God is pleased
to get lost, when He brings a sinner down, they won't be satisfied
with the words of a man. I've got to know God myself.
I don't want to take it as second hand from someone else. No, I
want His Spirit to bear witness with my spirit. I want Him to
say to me, thy sins are forgiven. And that's exactly what He said
to this woman. Free forgiveness. Free forgiveness. She owed a debt. And like every
sinner owes a debt to God. And they have nothing to pay.
And He forgave them freely. Verse 42. And that word is, the
word says, He frankly forgave them both. He, when they had
nothing to pay, He freely. freely forgave them both. The woman to whom Jesus spoke
these words was a sinner. Our introduction to her is first
in verse 37, and it begins with this, behold, behold. Why? Why does that deserve a
behold? Why does that merit a behold? As I said, she appears, obviously,
to be a well-known sinner. Simon knew who she was. His guest
knew who she was. As he said, when she came in
contact with the Lord, he said, this woman, this woman's a sinner.
Why is he allowing her to touch him? But more than that, more
than that, more than Simon knowing this woman was a sinner, this
woman knew herself to be a sinner. Let me tell you something, that's
rare. That's rare. That seems to be
becoming more and more rare in our religious day. Anyone that
knows themselves to be a sinner, they've been taught of God. They've
been taught of God. God's done something for them.
Otherwise, they would never know it. Brother Scott Richardson
said, as I mentioned in the article in your bulletin, I've got good
news for sinners. The gospel means glad tidings. It means good news. He said,
I've got good news for sinners if I could find one. First time
I heard Scott say that, I scratched my head. I thought, well, everybody's
a sinner. We'll ask them. Ask them. A dead dog sinner,
a bankrupt sinner, a helpless sinner, without hope, without
grace, without anything except what God Almighty is pleased
to give you. A bankrupt sinner that's got
nothing to pay. You talk to one lately? They're
rare. They're rare. They're a work
of God's grace. Anytime you find a sinner, anytime
a man will confess, will stand like that poor publican and smoke
on his breast and say, I've got nothing. I claim nothing. Have
mercy upon me. I'm the sinner. You can say,
this is the Lord's doing. This is the Lord's doing. And
it's marvelous. It's marvelous in our eyes. Oh,
it's a painful, painful work. But it's necessary. It's necessary. Until we're lost, we'll never
be saved. Until we're convinced of our
need of mercy, we'll never seek mercy. When the time comes for
me to leave this world, And it won't be very long. And I stand
before the holy Lord God, who says it must be perfect before
I'll accept it. When I stand before Him, the
only thing that will matter is this. Have I experienced this? Like this poor woman, thy sins
are forgiven. It won't make any difference
what I possessed, what I own. How much did he leave behind?
Well, he left it all behind. He left it all behind, Billy.
That's all that will matter. This alone will determine where
I spend eternity. Whether I've experienced what
this woman did. Whether Jesus Christ has said
to me, Larry, thy sins which are many are all forgiven thee. That's free forgiveness, isn't
it? That's full forgiveness. That's real forgiveness. The
religion of the true believer is experimental. Don't be afraid
of that word. It's the religion of the heart. The heart. It has no dealings
with an unknown imaginary God. He doesn't know God from hearing
with just the ear. but the heart from reading books
or from the religious conversation he hears of others. But he knows
him from a personal acquaintance, from a heartfelt experience.
There's been a manifestation of God in Christ to his soul. And he can say now with Job what
he could never say otherwise. Job said to the Lord, I've heard
of you by the hearing of the ear all but now. Now things have
changed. This is different. I heard of
you with my ear. Oh, but now my eye sees you. And what effect does it have
upon you, Job? Do you want to strut around and
pop your suspenders and tell us what a fine fellow you are?
What, what, Job? What happens when somebody really is made
aware of who God is? Job said, I abhor myself. In
the light of His immaculate perfection, I see how far short I am. Oh, to be an experimental believer,
one that's tasted that the Lord is gracious, not a religion of
the ear or the eye or the imagination or of the intellect, that won't
do. That won't do. Oh, give me, give
me that work of God's grace that makes me humble like that public,
trembling like that diseased woman, saying I've got to get
to Him. Give me the flowing tears of
this dear lady, or the last petition of that dying thief. Lord, remember
me. That's all that matters. Nothing
else matters. Nothing else is important. You
talk about putting things into perspective. That man was dying. Just in a little while he would
be standing before God. Oh, what an example of the power
of the great shepherd to save his sheep. Even in that hour,
when he was trotting the winepress alone, he hears one say, remember
me, Lord, remember me. And my soul, he did. He remembered him. He always
hears the cry of a needy sinner. I say unto you, today, you're
going to be with me in paradise. And he walked in the glory. with
that dying thief, a trophy of his grace upon his arm as he
leads him into paradise. I'd like for us to consider these
three individuals. First of all, there's Simon the
Pharisee. And then you have the woman.
We're simply told she was a sinner. And then you have the main attraction,
the sinner's Savior, the only Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ. They said when he told her her
sins were forgiven, I suppose these were other Pharisees, these
other guests at the table, they said within themselves, who is
this? Who does this man think he is that forgives sins also? He's the only one that can. He's
the only one that has the right to, the power to, the authority
to. God has committed all things
into the hands of his son. He's exalted his son, no one
else, to be the prince and a savior, to give repentance to his people
and the remission of sins. First you have Simon the Pharisee.
Now as I mentioned earlier, I don't know why Simon invited the Lord
to his house. I really don't know for sure.
I don't think it was out of any real respect for him. I don't
think it was because he felt the need of the Lord's mercy
and grace. Perhaps it was just merely out
of curiosity. Simon represents those people
who are very religious. They're in the majority. Is that
not so? They're the majority of people
you know. They're the majority of my family, the majority of
the people that I know. They're very religious, but they're
very lost. If this woman had touched Simon
like she touched Christ, you know what Simon would have done?
He'd have went and changed clothes. He would have said, I've been
defiled. I've got to change. He would
have never allowed that. Simon, after all, was a Pharisee.
That means he was a separated one. He was that one that our
Lord described, that liked to stand on the street corners and
pray real long prayers so everybody could see how religious he was. When he would give something,
he would make sure that everybody saw how much he put in the offering
so they could see how religious he was. He brought his phylactery
and enlarged the border of his garment so everybody could see
how religious he was. He wasn't like this woman at
all. She was a sinner. Simon wasn't a sinner. Ask him. Ask him. He wasn't a sinner.
Simon would probably take his place with that other Pharisee
our Lord talked about in chapter 18 of Luke's Gospel. Turn over
there if you will for a moment. You're very familiar with it.
Luke chapter 18. Now remember why our Lord spoke
this parable? His reason for doing so? We're
told in verse 9 that He spake this parable unto certain which
trusted in themselves. that they were righteous and
despised others. Two men went up into the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself. He didn't ask for a thing. He
didn't need anything. He wasn't a beggar like the publican,
He was a bragger. Listen to him. God, I thank you
that I'm not as other men, an extortioner or unjust or an adulterer
or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give
tithes of all that I possess. Yes, Simon was not like this
woman. He was different. He made himself
different. He worked hard to be different.
He was righteous. He had made himself righteous.
Again, I emphasize, he wasn't like this woman. He had cleaned up the outside.
He appeared righteous before men. And our Lord said, you've
got your reward. You've got your reward. That's
all you wanted. That's all you've worked for. You have it. As Paul
said in Romans 10, brethren, My heart's desire and prayer
to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them
record. They have a zeal of God, but
not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
You can't have both. You can't have Christ's righteousness
and your own righteousness as well. No. One's got to go. One's got to go. Simon was satisfied
with his own righteousness. He was content. He thought it
was enough. He'd never been lost. Paul went
on to say, Christ is the end of the law, the consummation
of the law, the purpose of the law, for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. Most people identify with Simon. Our Lord said in Matthew chapter
nine, they, and he was speaking to Pharisees, they that behold,
behold, need not a physician, but those that are sick. And
he said, go and learn what that means. He looked at those religious
leaders, the know-it-alls, the separated ones, those that people
looked up to, and he said, you're clueless. You're clueless. You
don't even know what that means. You teach it, and yet you don't
know what it means. Go and learn what this means.
I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Go and learn what that means.
Oh, that by itself must have been galling to these men, these
Pharisees, because they thought they already knew everything.
What's he mean, go and learn? Who does he think he is? These
snobbish, know-it-all, self-righteous Pharisees? They didn't need to
learn anything. Go and learn. They presumed that
they knew everything already. And the Lord Jesus told them
that they didn't even know the meaning of the scriptures that
they claimed to believe and defend. Simon, this Pharisee, he's well
described by Joseph Hart in his famous old hymn, A sinner is
a sacred thing. Remember that one? One line of
it says, what comfort can a savior bring to those who've never felt
their woe? A sinner is a sacred thing. Why? Because the Holy Ghost has made
him so. Oh Lord. Draw back the curtain
of memory now and then. Remind me where you brought me
from and where I could have been. Refresh my memory. Refresh my
memory. Help me remember when you got
me lost. Lost. I'm lost. I told folks, I'm lost. Can you
help me, grandmother? I'm lost. We'll get a haircut
and get you a Bible. I'm lost. What must I do? I'm lost. That's all I know for
sure. I'm lost. Well, come to church with me.
and come up to the altar and pray the sinner's prayer. How
is it, young man? I'll tell you how it is. I'm
lost. Well, let's give it another shot. Well, it didn't work the
first time. Why are we doing it again? I'm lost. I'm not satisfied with
this. If this is all there is to being
a Christian, it's not enough for me. It's not gonna be enough. I need more than this. Is this
it? Is this it? How is it? I'll tell you how it is. I'm
lost. I need mercy. I need God's grace. I can't even sleep. I toss all
night and drag around all day because God keeps telling me,
you're telling me I'm saved and God's saying lost, lost, lost. I need mercy. I need grace. Yes, indeed, a sinner is a sacred
thing. The reason Simon wasn't saved
is because he had never been lost. He'd never been lost. He had never known that painful
experience of being brought down, being stripped, and laid bare
before the Lord God. Therefore, he had never been
clothed. I tell you this, I know this,
God strips you before He clothes you. He brings you down before
He lifts you up. He gets you lost before He saves
you. I know that. Now let's turn away
from this picture of Simon. And let's look at this woman.
The second character in the picture. This woman, we're told, who was
a sinner. Behold. Oh, behold. A woman which was a sinner. Yes,
that merits a behold, because this is an unusual sight. This
is a rare, rare sight. This woman is that rare individual. She knows she's a sinner. Simon
said she's a sinner, and she would say, Simon, you don't know
the half of it. She wouldn't argue with him. Oh, yes, I'm
not a sinner. I'm the sinner. I'm the sinner. Behold. She knows, unlike Simon,
that she owes a debt to God. And she knew. She'd been taught
of God. She's got nothing to pay. Nothing
to pay. What a glorious state to be in.
As long as a man can scrape just a little meal from the barrel
of self-righteousness, or find a little in it, or as long as
he can hold up the oil cruise and just squeeze out another
drop, he'll never come to Christ for heavenly provision. As long
as he has one rusty farthing hidden away in the corner of
his house, the sinner will never accept the riches of redeeming
love. Oh, but God. But when it's all
taken away, when it's all taken away, oh,
I've got a picture in my mind right now, when it's all taken
away, and you're bankrupt, and you
know it. You owe a debt, and you can't pay it, and you know
it. You've been stripped. You've been brought down. You've
got nothing to pay. When there's nothing in the bank,
when there's nothing in the house, when you pull out your pockets
and there's nothing but lint, oh, my soul, you're a candidate
for God's grace. When we're emptied, it's so that
we can be filled. When we cannot give, God forgives. If any of us have any goodness
of our own, we're going to perish forever. If I have anything I
can trust of as my own, I'll be lost. But this woman knew
what Simon had never learned, had he? That she was the sinner
in need of mercy. She knew. She had no merit, no
claims on God. She had earned nothing but death
and judgment, and she knew it. She would have wholeheartedly
joined in that hymn that we sang earlier. She'd have no problem
with it. Tears unavailing, no merit at
eye. Mercy had saved me or else I
must die. Sin had alarmed me, fearing God's
face. Oh, but now, now she would sing. Oh, but now, louder than any
of us. But now, I'm a sinner saved by
grace. That's why she came to Simon's
house. to render her heartfelt adoration
to that one from whom she had received saving grace. Jesus said unto her, thy sins
are forgiven. Oh, my soul. Can you find any
more precious words in the word of God than that? Thy sins are
forgiven. Oh, what marvelous music in such
a short sentence. If I had to choose from all the
language the choice of sentence that my ear could hear, when
under a sense of sin it was this, thy sins are forgiven. Another verse of Mr. Hart's hymn.
To understand these things are right. This grand distinction
should be known. Though all are sinners in God's
sight, there are but few so in their own. All around us today. Just about every church on every
corner. There's too many churches. Don't need any more churches.
Need the gospel preached and the ones that are there. But
there's telling sinners, stand up. Stand up. Raise your hand. Be recognized. Stand up. Come
up. Make a decision. Stand up. But
God's saying, come back. You're already high and lifted
up. That's your problem. You need to come down. Come down
sinner. That's what had happened to this
woman. She came there because that's where her Savior was.
And this woman could never be content with a mere show of religion. Simon was. He was content sitting
there in his self-righteousness. She couldn't. That would never
satisfy her. She needed forgiveness. She wanted
forgiveness, and she wouldn't be satisfied with anything less
than forgiveness. I think I've told you the story
about Ralph Barnard preaching somewhere one time. At the close
of the service, two young men came up to us as he was still
in the pulpit. They just both stood there, and
he said, what do you want? And one said rather flippantly,
oh, I want to be saved. I want to go to heaven. He said,
I want you to go sit down. And the young man went and sat
down, no problem. The other one stood there just weeping, just
weeping, just weeping. What do you want? Oh, Mr. Barnard, I need mercy. I've got
to have mercy. I've got to be saved. I've got to know God. I want to lay down tonight and
know that my sins are all forgiven. I've got to have His grace. Nothing less will do. I'm lost. And Barnard said, young man,
I think God might have something for you. God might have something for
you, like that woman, that other woman, certain woman, with that
issue of blood. Oh, I picture her trying to get
through that mob. Oh, she said, I've got to get
to him. If it's only close enough to reach out and just touch the
hem of his garment, I've just got to get to him. I believe
if I can get to Him, I'm going to be made whole. I've got nothing
to pay. I've done paid it all to these
charlatans, and I'm just worse. I'm worse than I ever was. That's
all that religion can do. Oh, but if I can get to Him,
if I can make contact with Him, I'll be made whole. And she got
through all what Mr. Spurgeon called willing away
the rubbish. All the religious nonsense, John.
Whoa, she's got to get through it. Got it. Peter, John, get
out of my way. Move, move, please. Move out
of my way. I got to get the end. Can you see her? Can you picture
her as she reaches through? Was she on her hands and knees?
She reaches through and touches the hem of his garment. And just
like that, she's made whole. She's made perfectly whole. All she found, as our Lord told
Martha, only one thing is needful, Martha. And Mary has chosen that
good part, and it shall never be taken away from her. One hymn
writer put it this way, he says, "'Tis poverty, or rather it's
perfect poverty alone, that sets the soul at large. While we can
call one might our own, we get no fool of this charge. But let
our debts be what they may, however great or small, As soon as we
have not to pay, our Lord forgives them all. Oh, for a thirsty sinner,
thirsty for the living God, thirsty for real grace, real salvation,
real forgiveness. Oh, there's good news for thirsty
sinners, isn't there? Listen. In the last day, that
great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any
man thirsts, anybody, anybody thirsty? He had been watching
them go through their religious activities for eight days. Eight
days at the Feast of Tabernacles. And as though he could bear it
no longer, the last day he's standing to say is, anybody tired
of this? Is anybody tired of just religion,
just going through the motions? Is anybody out there really thirsty?
Want to know the living God? He said, come to me and drink.
To any heavy laden sinner, weighed down with the burden of his guilt
because of his sin, like Bunyan's pilgrim in his famous allegory. Oh, that burden's on his back,
and he can't get rid of it, no matter what he does. He can't
get rid of it. I love that passage, because
I'm not picturing Pilgrim Bunyan's Bunyan's character, I'm picturing
Larry Criss with that burden on his back, and I can't get
rid of it. I went through all the religious hula hoops. Hoops rather, just do this, do
that, do that. I'm lost, I'm lost. And just
like old Pilgrim, when he came up to the cross, the burden fell off his back.
and it rolled away, and he never saw it anymore. Thy sins, which
are many, are all forgiven thee. Come unto me, all ye that labor,
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me, meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall
find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light. Oh, the sweet rest of hearing
Christ say, Thy sins, which are many, are all forgiving you. Religion says, doesn't it? Religion
says, work, work, work. Do, do, do. Go, go, go. Go to
the altar. Go to the water. Go to the priest.
Go to the preacher. Christ says, oh, no, no, no.
Come to me. Come to me. And I'll give you
rest. Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come
ye buy. Buy and eat. Yea, come and buy
wine and milk without money and without price. Incline your ear
and come unto me. Here in your soul shall live.
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you. Oh, the covenant
of grace, even the sure mercies of David. And then, you can sing
as David did, on his dying bed, although my house be not so with
God, yet, yet, he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure, this is all my salvation and all my
desire. Last of all, last of all, the
third party in our story here, Jesus Christ. Oh, let us learn
and be reminded and encouraged that Jesus Christ is mighty to
save. He delights. He delights to show
mercy. He's not reluctant to show mercy.
He delights to do so. He's not only mighty to save
sinners, He's most willing to save sinners. Was there ever
a real sinner that came to Him for mercy that didn't receive
it? Never. Never was, Billy, was. You can't
find one. Everyone that asked for mercy
received it. Listen to what he says. Assemble
yourselves and come. Draw near together, ye that are
escaped of the nations, that have no knowledge, that set up
the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a God that cannot
say, hmm, sad. Tell ye and bring them near.
Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? Who hath told it from that time? Had not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside
me, a just God and a Savior. There is none beside me. Look
unto me and be ye saved. Billy, I think it was last Sunday
after service you was talking about that. That was the verse
that God used to open old Spurgeon's eyes, wasn't it? Look unto me,
and be ye saved." Spurgeon said, I could have looked my eyes out.
For I am God, and there is none else. Behold, the Son of God
sang to this woman. Verse 50, He said to her, Thy
faith hath saved thee. Go, go in peace. Go in peace. As you're walking
through this world, with the peace of God in your soul and
peace with God rejoicing your heart. Just go in peace. Dear
lady, don't pay any attention to Simon. Don't let him make
you fret. Go in peace. Get away from him. Just ignore him and go in peace. This is what the wise man said
in Ecclesiastes chapter 9. Go thy way. eat thy bread with
joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart, for God now accepteth
thy works." Go in peace. Peace of conscience. Let nothing
disturb you. Not your past sins. They've all
been forgiven. Not the accusations of Satan.
But go in peace. Go home to your house. Go about your business. and cheerfully
perform your duties to God and man. And when that's done, when
that's done, when that's over, enter into peace, everlasting
peace, where you shall see His face. Let me close with a few
verses from the prophet Micah, chapter 7. Who is a God like
unto thee that partneth iniquity, who passeth by the transgression
of the remnant of his heritage, He retaineth not his anger for
ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again. He will have compassion upon
us. He will subdue our iniquities. Oh, I like that. He will subdue
our iniquities. And thou will cast all their
sins into the depths of the sea. I like these verses from an old
hymn. It says, here's pardon. for transgressions past. It matters
not how black they're cast. And oh, my soul, with wonder
of you, for sins to come, here's pardon too. Thanks be unto God
for His unspeakable gift, the gift of His grace, the Lord Jesus
Christ. God bless you.