And the seventh chapter of the
gospel of Luke. Luke chapter 7. And we will begin to read in
this seventh chapter of Luke at verse 36. I wouldn't dare try to read to
you this whole chapter. I wouldn't even get around to
preaching this morning. It would just tie it all up in
reading. But the Lord Jesus has accepted
an invitation to each supper with a Pharisee at his house,
at the Pharisee's house. And a great many other of the
Pharisees were gathered there as well. In those days the feast
was, the table is almost about that high from the floor and
people are are laying on the floor eating and then there are
others gathered around the perimeter of this courtyard which is the
middle part of this house and they're watching everything.
They're not invited to the dinner but they're watching. So let's pick up at verse 36. This is a beautiful, clear, plain
picture of our subject this morning. 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 meet," or to food, "'and behold, a woman
in the city, which was a sinner.'" A notable reputation as a sinner. When she knew, and I don't know
how much she knew about Christ before this event, but I know
one thing for certain, she has heard Him somewhere before. She has never spoken to Him personally
or come into close contact with Him. But she knows about Him,
she's heard from Him or from someone else concerning Him.
And she slips into this dinner, no doubt as quietly and unnoticeable
as possible. She was a sinner, more than your average sinner.
When she knew that Jesus sat at meet in the Pharisees' house,
she brought an alabaster box of ointment, a very expensive
perfume. And you can't open that stuff
without the odor escaping and people knowing about it. And she stood at his feet behind
him, which she could not do if he were sitting. So he's reclining,
I'm sure on some kind of like we have in selling all the stores,
you know, so you can be comfortable with a little more elevation
for the front next to the table for the head and the shoulders.
She stood at his feet behind him weeping and began to wash
his feet with tears. She's rejoicing and did wipe
them with the hairs of her head. I'm telling you this woman already
knows who the Lord Jesus is, and kissed his feet and anointed
them with the perfume. You don't do that to somebody
you don't know. Now when the Pharisee, which
had invited him, saw it, He spoke within himself. He just thought
these thoughts. He didn't say a word. He said
this man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what
manner of woman this is that touches him. And earlier it says she was a
sinner, but not this Pharisee. He says she is a sinner. And Jesus answering, remember
now he only thought these thoughts, but the Lord Jesus answers his
thoughts. And our Lord answering said unto
Simon, Simon the Pharisee, I have somewhat to say unto you. I have a little matter I need
to speak with you about. And the Pharisee said, Master,
say on. Already in his mind he's condemned
him, but he's got to keep up the appearance. After all, he
invited him to his home for supper. Here it is. Our Lord speaks a
parable. It's very brief. There was a
certain creditor or lender which had two debtors. The one owed
500 pence, or if you want to say it, just say dollars. and
the other fifty. One is ten times more in debt
than the other. And when both of them had nothing
to pay, verse 42, he frankly or freely forgave them both. Tell me therefore which of them
will love him most. Simon answered and said, Now
here's a statement that is extorted from this man. He doesn't want
to say this. And so he says it in as little
a manner as possible. He said, I suppose that he to
whom he forgave most, he didn't want to say those words, but
he had to say them. And our Lord said, you have rightly
judged. And now the application of the
parable to Simon and to this woman. And he turned to the woman
and said unto her, said unto Simon, do you see this
woman? Our Lord now is looking straight
at this woman and he's talking to Simon. Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, you
gave me no water for my feet, which was a social custom that
was never lacking in a man like this at a party that he gives. But our Savior was deliberately
snubbed on purpose. You gave me no water for my feet,
but she has washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the
hairs of her head. You gave me no kiss of greeting,
and the Orientals still do this to this day, kiss each other
on the cheeks. You gave me no kiss, but this
woman Since the time I came in has not ceased to kiss my feet. This woman adores the Lord Jesus. My head with all you did not
anoint, but this woman has anointed my feet with ointment, perfume.
Wherefore I say unto you, Now to Simon our Lord turns the attention
once more, wherefore I say unto you, her sins which are many
are forgiven, for she loved much. Now listen carefully, I'm just
trying to make sure you understand how to read the Bible. I'm about
90 years old, it took me all these years to learn how to read
the Bible, and I still miss it more than I find it. read to no profit. Once in a
while God will give us a real blessing in reading His Word. Her sins, which are many, are
forgiven because she loved much. Our love for Christ has nothing
to do with our being forgiven except that it bears witness,
testimony, and evidence that we both know Him and love Him. It is in no way whatsoever the
cause of His loving us. There's a verse in your Bible,
I wish you'd write this reference down in the flyleaf of your Bible,
1 John 4.19, we love Him You know why? Because He first
loved us. And that principle applies all
the way across the board. It'll help you on many an occasion
to understand this book. Then he completes the sentence.
That's 1 John 4.19. But here in Luke chapter 7, we're
at the end of verse 47. But to whom little is forgiven,
the same loves little. And in the case of Simon the
Pharisee, he loved not at all. But he's, tonight he's, the night
of this supper, he's engaged in appearances. It's all important
for him to look right in the eyes of his fellow Pharisees
and others. And our Lord said to this woman,
your sins are forgiven. She already knows this, but she
doesn't know it like she knows it now. You understand? She believed But she still has
unbelief, like the man wanted our Lord to go heal his child,
and the Savior turned to him and said, do you believe? He
said, yea, Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief. Unbelief mixed
with saving faith. Verse 49. They that sat at meat with him
began to say within themselves, who is this that forgives sins
also? Only God can forgive sins. They don't know it and they don't
want to know it, but God is the God-man Christ Jesus, the Lord. And our Lord said to the woman, Most people don't understand
this last verse, verse 50. Used to be a couple that attended
here for several years and when he first came he couldn't get
enough. He about broke my neck the first few Sunday mornings
he came hugging my neck, thanking me for the message. And then
a year, year, year and a half later I began to notice a change.
When he came on Sunday night he'd tell me of the mistakes
I made on Sunday morning. I got to the place that I almost
said to him, well, if I didn't make a mistake, you wouldn't
get anything, would you? But this man believed that his
own personal righteousness is what gave him the right and the
ground to believe on Christ. And this very verse, Luke 7.50,
is the straw that broke the camel's back. They left and have never been
back. You know why? Because they are
reformed Baptist which means Pharisees with Baptist clothes
on and Lord have mercy there's plenty of Pharisee left in every
one of us. But some people cannot tolerate
what this Bible really means. I better save this next statement.
Let me just read this one more time. And He said to the woman,
your faith has saved you, go in peace. In case you lose your
mind before I get back to this or something else happens, a
plane falls out of the sky or whatever, Faith means Christ
has saved you. Go in peace. Christ is both the
object of faith and He is the author and finisher of faith,
Hebrews 12. Alright, we'll come back to that. Turn back again. I meant to ask
you to mark the place in your Bible. Luke chapter 7. Let me just make One little statement
here about this last sentence in verse 50 of Luke chapter 7. There are several myths that we have
when it comes to religion. and one of them is that God is
not always the same when this book tells us the exact opposite Hebrews 13 8 says about our Lord
Jesus he's the same yesterday today and forever so God doesn't
change do you know that if you change now we do change Sometimes
we change for the worse and sometimes we change for the better, but
we do change. But God can't get worse or better. He is who He is. And He's absolutely
altogether perfect in every aspect of His being, of His will, of
His purpose, of His work, of His providence, everything. And since there are so many in
our generation, and I used to be a charter member and some
of you did too, the Pharisees among Baptists, and there's still a little bit
of Pharisee in every last one of us, enough to condemn us except
for the blood of Christ and the grace of God. But this organization called
Pharisees is alive and well in our day. And I believe, this is what I
personally believe, that the Bible is written in such a way
that if we like Simon the Pharisee are determined to damn our own
souls, There are plenty of statements in this book that will give you
plenty of rope to do so. God help you and me that it's
not so concerning us. So this statement in verse 50,
your faith has saved you, go in peace. This woman is in utter
adoration of our Lord Jesus Christ. and not for a moment would she
steal his honor and his glory and put it on her personal faith
in Jesus Christ. The only way a sinner like you
and me can have faith, now listen carefully, I can prove this with
this book, the only way a sinner can have faith is by being born
again. And we can't do that for ourselves
nor for anyone else. Here's the verse, 1 John 5, verse
1. Whosoever believes that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Faith in Christ, my friend, is
one of the greatest miracles of grace ever conceived. So this book is deliberately
written with what are called snares and traps to trap proud
Pharisees who use this book and ignore what it truly, really
says. Now I need to go elsewhere this
morning to pursue this end. I've preached to you from Luke
7 on that same verse of Scripture. I don't know how many times and
don't know when I last did and don't want to know. But if you'll
turn to the second chapter of the book, the last book in your
Bible, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, want to use, let's just call
Revelation chapter 2 and 3 our home base for the rest of the
way. Our text this morning is actually
the last part of verse 10 in Romans Revelation chapter 2.
It starts with the word BE. very last statement. Be you faithful
unto death and I will give you a crown of life. Now Pharisees want to earn that
crown and they want to earn more crowns than anybody else. The only crown in heaven is going
to be on our Savior's head, not ours. If I'm not mistaken, this
same book says that we cast our crowns at His feet. We wouldn't put ourselves in
competition with Him. This is unthinkable. This is
to make our deeds an actual antichrist. Be you faithful unto death, and
I'll give you a crown of life." Now I'd like to pursue this subject
this morning, which involves two covenants. Now I know there
are some other covenants of minor consequence, but these two are
the ones to remember. This book has in it a covenant
of grace and a covenant of works. and the two cannot mix. They mutually exclude each other. And yet modern-day Christianity
says to the sinner, you do your part and Christ will do the rest.
That is not true. Where is it in today's bulletin?
Spurgeon has a statement. The man who trusts so much as
a single hair's breadth of His works has missed Christ. Missed Him entirely and forever.
Missed Him. Oh, but I have to make a decision.
No, you don't. I have to get up and come to
the front. No, you don't. Our good friend in West Virginia
who's now dead, he used to say, come to Christ and don't move
a muscle. Not a muscle. Some of you might
have heard or read some of the works of a man named C.S. Lewis,
who lived in England. He wrote the screw tape letters
and this, and I can't remember what all, and I've not read all
of them, but I've read enough to get out of college, that's
all I can tell you. But he supposedly was converted in
the mid to late 50s, and he was an avowed not necessarily an
atheist, but an unbeliever and proud of it. An agnostic, I guess,
would be the right word. Well, when Billy Graham's organization
heard that he had made this great change, they sent one of their
editors over to England to interview this man. And one of the first
questions out of the interviewer's mouth was, Mr. Lewis, when did
you make your decision for Christ? Do you know what he said to that
person? He said, I didn't make a decision. I was decided upon. And there is the difference,
ladies and gentlemen. That's the difference. That's
the difference. Walking a church aisle, taking
a preacher's hand of all things, a sinful preacher's hand, that's
what mine is, has got nothing to do with it. How did this get
to be so widely practiced and whoever doesn't practice it is
called a heretic? How come? Because the flesh loves
it. And today's religion is not willing
to wait for God. God alone can save. Some little
ten cent profession of faith and getting your name on the
church roll and getting dipped in the pool, that ain't worth
a nickel. It ain't worth anything. It's
time somebody stood up and said so. The covenant of grace has what
are called evidences, effects. The covenant of works has conditions. If you do this, God will do that.
You see the difference. I want you to see the difference
plainly and clearly. You can't read this book without
understanding these two covenants. The whole of the Scriptures is
impossible to understand without the key of new covenant mercies. Now the Covenant of Grace is
called the New Covenant, but listen to me now, it's older
than the Old Covenant. It's older than the Covenant
of Law and works. You know why? Because it was
revealed after the Covenant of Law was revealed. The Covenant
of Law began in Exodus and then on up through the other books
of the Old Testament. But during that whole period
of time, there's still plenty of instruction to point a center
to Christ. There's more examples and illustrations
and pictures and types of Christ in the Old Testament than there
is in the New. But this book is filled with
what we called earlier as traps and snares to catch proud, haughty,
self-righteous Pharisees. Do you know what the biggest
condemning sin in America is in 2011? It is self-righteousness. You know what that means? Too
good to be saved. You don't need to be saved. All
you need is some good advice or maybe a shove in the right
direction. I tell you that is not so. Christ didn't die for
you if that's the case because I tell you for one thing I know
it says he died for sinners even the chief of sinners and people
who are saved are people who consider themselves the chief
of sinners. Well there's a word in Revelation
2, you thought I wasn't ever going to get around to it. There's
a word in the second and third chapter of Revelation that will
help you unravel this whole thing. Now you already know, if you
don't you should. The second and third chapter
of the Revelation comprise the seven letters to the seven churches
from Christ through the Apostle John. Do I have to say that again?
That's a long statement. I don't want to, but I can. So here are, and some people
say that these seven churches represent certain periods of
time between the first century and when Christ returns. I don't
know about that. That may be so, but I don't know
a soul, not a soul, who can tell you with any definition when
one period ends and another one begins. And for that matter,
there's as much difference in one Baptist church in one manner
of speaking than one down the road as day and night. So I just,
I used to think that was so, but, and the guy that wrote the
references in my Bible surely thinks so, but I don't agree
with him. But it's okay. Doesn't matter to me. But what
does matter is how, Curtis, you were talking
about that this morning. That was rich. How to read this book. to the profit of my soul." Beloved,
we must learn how to do this. We should have done this years
ago. But we're young, and we've got all kinds of energy, and
we're interested in all kinds of things. But I tell you, I
hope it starts earlier than this, but when you get to your late
60s, things start to just fall behind, you know, and it's all
right if they stay there. It's not important anymore. Can you guess what that word
is, by the way? Have you ever heard the term, this
is not it now, have you ever heard of the term, there was
a group started by some famous coach, oh, maybe 10 or 12 years
ago, I'm not sure when, that spread all the way across the
country, and they called themselves the Promise Keepers. I mean you had to be hiding out
in seclusion somewhere if you hadn't heard this. They named
themselves, and it was mostly men by the way, and to begin
with, with all men, but they called themselves the Promise
Keepers. And they took a vow to some promises,
you know, that they vowed to do this the rest of their days
and all this kind of stuff. That is just pure R.T. Bull. It's human works religion from
start to finish. There ain't never been but one
promise keeper and his name is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
sooner we learn that the better. God help us to learn that. and
every day we live we forget it. Well, if you're not going to
tell me this word, I'm going to tell you then. It's the word OVERCOMER
with an S. Overcomers. Now, overcomers is
like promise keepers. There's not but one overcomer
and that's our Lord Jesus Christ and If we're in Him, we're made
overcomers in Him. I can show you that seven times
right here in these two chapters of Scripture, and we'll be very
brief. On this part, I still got a little ways to go. All
right, in verse 7 of chapter 2, this is to the church in Ephesus. He that has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says unto the churches. To him that overcometh,
will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the middle
of the paradise of God." Now the tree of life is Christ
and John chapter 6 says that if we have not eaten his flesh
and drunk his blood, now listen, not physically, not actually,
but spiritually, Without that, we have no life in us. We overcome because of a saving
interest in the Lord Jesus. The second one's in verse 11
in this chapter, and this time the church is at Smyrna. He that
has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches. He that overcomes shall not be
hurt of the second death. Now that's the death you want
to miss, my friend, because the first one ain't going to hurt
you. The first one is the death of the body, but this is the
death of the soul. He that overcomes shall not be
hurt of the second death. If you have Christ, you need
not worry about the second death. The third one is in verse 17.
Now see I've got a special color marker to mark these things so
I don't have to read much to cover this in a short period
of time. Verse 17, "...he that has an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit says unto the churches. To him that overcomes will I
give to eat of the hidden manna." Now when the children of Israel
and Moses and Aaron and all the rest were in the wilderness That
manna fell right down on the ground and they went out and
picked it up every morning. It happened six days a week and
never on the Sabbath. But here it says, He will give
us to eat of the hidden manna. It wasn't hidden then, but it's
hidden now. What was it that was hidden then?
The manna being a picture of Christ. We read that now That
just pops right in our mind. At least it should. To him that
overcomes will I give to eat. I lost my place. To him that overcomes will I
give to eat of the hidden manna. and will give him a white stone,
and in that stone a new name written, and no man knows, saving
he that receives it." All the way down to verse 26. This is
the next church, the fourth one. This is Thyatira. Verse 26, "...and he that overcomes
and keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give power over
all nations." Chapter 3, verse 5, He that overcomes
the same shall be clothed in white raiment. That's the perfect
righteousness of the Lord Jesus. And I will not, make sure you
don't miss that word, not. It's the only time you'll find
it in connection to the Book of Life. And I will not blot
out his name out of the book of life. I'll say it even stronger
than that. There ain't never been an erasure
in that book and there's not going to be one. Of course now
just between me and you it ain't really a book. I mean we're told
this so we can conceive of what it is but there's no literal
book. God doesn't need help remembering like me. Now if you believe there's a
real book, that's alright with me, I just can't conceive of
it being so. He that overcomes, the same shall
be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his or
her name out of the book of life, but I'll confess his name before
my Father and before his angels. Verse 12, Let's see, what church
is this? Philadelphia, all right. Verse 12, Him that overcomes
will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no
more out, and I'll write upon him the name of my God, and the
name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which comes
down out of heaven from my God, and I'll write upon him my new
name." One more time, the Laodicean church, the worst of the lot,
verse 21. Oh, and by the way, since we're
passing so close to it, look first at verse 20. Now I know you've had preachers
beat you over the head with this statement. Christ is standing
at the door of your heart and knocking and seeking to come
in. That is not so. He doesn't need us to open it.
If he wishes, he can take hinges and all. because this heart with
which I'm born my soul is dead in trespasses
and sins and it refuses him an entrance but this door is not
this door because this is the door to the church huh it sure
is the letters to the church It's to people supposedly in
whose souls the Lord Jesus already lives. But my soul, this has been worn
out in its use among preachers and churches. All right, verse
21, here's the last overcoming. To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in
my throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father
in His throne." Now listen, being an overcomer is to be redeemed
by Christ. It is for our sins to be under
His blood and to have the life of God in our soul. We might
be poor as church mouths outside in the body. We might have every
sickness known to man. But I'm telling you, if we know
Him, we are in Him over comers, for sure. Now that's, Curtis,
as you would say, that's the introduction. Lord have mercy. Well, I can't quit yet. I left
my marker in Luke 7, so I'm going back to Luke. If you want to
join me, I'm going to be in chapter 17, though, instead of 7. Would you look at verse 10 in
Luke chapter 17. We're taught in this little parable
how to think of ourselves in regard to serving God. I ain't sure you're ready for
this, but here it is. He talked about the servant that
was plowing, came to the house and the master served him his
supper. That ain't how it went. When
he came to the house he had to change his garb and wash his
hands and cook the meal and serve it and then it was his turn to
eat. But in verse 10, leaving all
that aside, so likewise when you shall have done all those
things which are commanded, Just between you and me, we can't do any of them. But by the grace of God, when
Christ in you, the hope of glory, enables you to do anything for
God whatsoever, worship, pray, give, just anything, What's what
we are supposed to say? Now this is putting words on
our tongues. When you shall have done all
those things which are commanded you, say, we are unprofitable
servants. Lord, why do you put up with
me? I'm such a sorry, sorry servant. When did it change? This ain't
how it is in today's religious world. When did it change? How
long ago? I wasn't here, I don't know,
I ain't been here for thirty years. When that board over here
on this side and one on that side had how many in attendance
this Sunday and how many last Sunday and a year ago and how
much money was given today and a year ago and all this kind
of stuff. When did all this start? We started giving out awards.
I graduated high school with a boy that by the time we graduated,
he had Sunday school pins that ran from here all the way down
to his foot. I mean, he had, goodness knows
he must have had 16 or 18 years that he was in Sunday school
every Sunday. You know, if he was sick, it
was tough, he went anyway. How did that catch, and that
was when I was in high school. How does this stuff get into
a congregation? I know why it comes, because
the gospel has left. And you ain't got nothing left
but ashes if the gospel's not here. I hope you know that, because
you might see it, I might see it, that it takes leave of us. You know what a struggle it was
to bring it back. We are unprofitable servants.
We have done that which was our duty to do. Now will you let
me just introduce you to one verse and then compare it to
another one. I'm turning to Isaiah chapter
number Twenty-six. If you don't want to turn, it's
fine. I'll just give you the reference. You jot it down and
I'll read it for you. Isaiah 26, verse 12. This is called renouncing the
filthy rags of my own self-righteousness." Here it is. This is the Old Testament
statement and I want to take you to the New. Here's the first
one. Isaiah chapter 26 verse 12, Lord you will ordain peace
for us because for you also have wrought
That word means WORKED! All our works in us! And all the good, I mean truly
good, that's done all over this world in a given day, God does
it all! If our hand touches it, we contaminate
it with sin. and the worst sin of all is religious
sins." Self-righteousness. All right, John chapter 3 and
verse 21. We used this in the funeral Friday
night, so let me just hurry. I'm fixing to be through here. Just one verse, John chapter
3 verse 21. But he that doeth truth comes
to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they
are wrought, worked in God." That's one line out of a half
a page. Y'all listen too slow is all
I know. All right, 359.