In Luke chapter 7, and I want
to begin reading in verse 34, I want to begin this morning
with this in a way of what this woman experienced. I just want
to look at her experience this morning. And then this afternoon,
I want to convert her experience into theology. Now, a lot of
times where a young believer has problems, is when he goes
to convert what he's experienced, and he begins to read the epistles,
and he finds his experience in those epistles, in the Word of
God. And that's difficult to do. But if the principle of grace
has been sown in our hearts at the new birth, and it is, then
We can convert that experience over and find our experience
in what the Scripture teaches, the doctrine of the Scripture.
Now, if you don't know what I'm talking about, come back this
afternoon. Okay? But this morning we're going
to simply look at what this woman experienced. Now, let's begin
in verse 34, Luke 7. The Son of Man is come eating
and drinking, and you say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a wine-giver,
a friend of publicans and sinners." Now, that's the best good news
you'll ever hear in your life. They brought this against the
Lord Jesus as an accusation, but He owned it to be true. He
is indeed a friend of sinners. I've found that to be so in my
experience, haven't you? But wisdom is justified of her
children. One of the Pharisees desired
him that he would eat with him, and he went in unto 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 set
at meet in the Pharisee's house, she 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 she kissed his feet,
and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had
bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, If he were a
prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this
is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering
said unto him, Simon, this is the Pharisee that hath invited
him to death, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he said,
Teacher, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors. The one owed five hundred pence,
and the other owed fifty. And when they had nothing to
pay, he frankly, freely forgave them both. Tell me, therefore,
which of them would love him the 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 turned
to the woman and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered
into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she
has washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs
of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this
woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my
feet. My head with oil thou didst not
anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore
I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she
loved much. But to whom little is forgiven,
the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins
are forgiven. And they that said it meet with
him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins
also? And he said unto the woman, Thy
faith has saved thee. Go in peace." Now I want to begin
looking at this woman herself, and I want to speculate. if you
would allow me. And I think after you become
a parent and a grandparent, you can probably speculate about
what goes on in the lives of children and in the lives of
young adults and grandchildren. So I want to speculate just for
a minute concerning this woman, a woman who was a sinner in the
town. And I'd love to go back just
for a minute and think maybe when there was a time when a
small infant, a baby girl, with dark eyes and a head full of
black hair, hang up on her mother's breast. Sometimes she cried because
she was wet. Sometimes she cried because she
was hungry. Sometimes she cried because she
was spoiled. And as she got a little older,
she learned to crawl. She learned to eat from the table.
She learned to walk. Her mother could look into her
little face and her eyes would light up with a smile. And soon
she would play outside with the other children. You could hear
her in the street. She had a distinctive life about
her, a distinctive cry about her. Her mother knew where she
was by the sounds that she made. She had her bruises. She had
her cuts. She had her viruses, just like
all other little children did. And she grew up into teenage
years. And sometimes, maybe between
her teenage years or her early twenties, she became careless
morally. She let down her guard. She began
to do things that she knew was wrong against God. It was wrong
against the law of God, wrong against what she had been taught
by the priest and those who read the Scriptures to her. And soon
she fell into open sin. Soon she did not care. Soon she
lost all her self-respect. And she lost all respect of others. She had a certain stigma attached
to her. She was called the sinner in
the town. And she lived this way And we
don't know her age. We don't know her name. We don't
know where she lived, what her occupation was. But I almost
see this woman in her mid to upper twenties. And she doesn't
look like a beautiful woman. Her hair is not black. Her hair
is not fixed beautiful anymore. Hints begin to turn gray. She's
aged prematurely. The wages of sin is tough, aren't
they? The way of a transgressor is
hard. You and I must never look upon
this woman and look at her in a romantic way. I don't see her
as a beautiful young lady. I see her as a lady with a sad
countenance. I see her as a young lady who
had rankled before her time. She has had it hard. She has
been disappointed. The life of sin, though it had
promised much, had given her little. Now that's speculation. And you can speculate. And you
can speculate. If one of us is wrong, probably
the other will miss it. Because we've lived long enough
to see the different scenarios, haven't we? We saw the little
children grow up, and we saw them go out into sin, and we
saw how it affects them, soul and body. This lady who was a
sinner in the town. Here are some things we know
about her from the text. We are told in verse 47 that
her sins were many. Her sins were several. She was always sinning. Sinning
in her heart. Sinning in her thoughts. Sinning
in her words. Sinning against God. Sinning
against the law of God. Sinning against her mother and
her dad, possibly. Her sins were many that heaped
upon her head like mountains ready to fall upon her soul. In verse 39 we are told something
else about her, that she was a woman who had a bad reputation. She had a bad reputation. She had a certain stigma attached
to her. He said there in verse 39, if
this man were a prophet, he would know who this woman was. Everybody knew who this woman
was. You know, there was a time, this
may be right or it may be wrong, but there was a time in my lifetime
when I was a young man, if you lived in open and profane sin,
It had a stigma attached to it. Maybe it should. Maybe it shouldn't. But it did with this woman. They
looked down upon her action. Even those who loved her abhorred
her sin, the life that she lived. And thirdly, it seems here that
she had reached the point in her life where she didn't really
care what people thought about her. It didn't matter the rumors
that were spread. It was true, and she knew it,
and she didn't care. Did you notice what he says there
in verse 37? Or in verse 39? Not only that he had known who
this woman was, but he says, if you lived in this town, you'd
know what manner of woman this was, because she doesn't hide
it. What was her sin? I don't know. But it was open, and it was unhidden. She lived in sin. But fourthly, the text also teaches
us something else about this woman, and there is no doubt
about this, that she experienced the forgiveness of all her sins. And I love how the Lord continually
repeats this. He says in verse 47 to Simon,
her sins, which are many, are forgiven her. And then in verse
48, he turns to her and says, Thy sins are forgiven. And then verse 50, Thy faith
has saved thee, go in peace. Whatever her sins was, and you
can only imagine. And how many there was, you can
only imagine. But they were all forgiven. All forgiven. Now, what would
it mean for you this morning? What would it mean for you this
morning to leave this building knowing that every sin you had
ever committed in your lifetime was forgiven? What would it mean
for the Son of God to speak on your behalf and say all that
person has ever done against God is forgiven? He will not
be charged with it in this life or in the life to come. Whatever
takes place at the judgment, He will not give account of those
sins. They are forgiven. What would
that mean to you this morning? I think that would mean just
what it meant to this woman. You could go home in peace. Peace
with God. Peace. Thy sins, which are many,
are forgiven thee. They had witnessed some miracles
that he did. He had given sight to the blind. He had healed the crippled. He
had even raised the dead and cleansed the leopards. But they
said over and above this, is he saying that he can forgive
sins? Look over here. Hold this text
and look over to your left in Mark chapter 2. Look in Mark
chapter 2. And look in verse 5. Mark chapter 2 and verse 5. These four men had brought a
cripple, he was a paralyzed man, to the Lord Jesus, but there
were so many people in the house that they couldn't get him in.
So they took this man upon the roof, they tore up the roof and
laid him down in the mist where the Lord Jesus was preaching.
And in Mark chapter 2 verse 5, when Jesus saw their faith, He
said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the
scribes sitting there, reasoning in their hearts, Why does this
man thus speak blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God
only? And immediately when Jesus perceived
in his spirit that they had so reasoned within themselves, he
said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
Where is it easier to say to the sick of the policy, Thy sins
be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and
walk? Now look at this. But that you
may know that the Son of Man hath power, He hath authority,
He hath the right on earth to forgive sins. He saith to the
sick of the policy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy
bed. and go thy way unto thine house." Jesus Christ, the Son
of Man, who came down from God out of heaven, has the right,
is commissioned of God, to forgive sins. Now, that's amazing, isn't
it? The Man, Christ Jesus. And you
know something this morning, dear soul? He still retains this
right. He still retains this right.
Now, if you go uptown here to the new big church they just
built a year or so ago, and you go in a little booth up there
if they have them, and some priest comes in and he says, I absolve
you from all your sin, you better ask him who he is and where he
got such authority. We know where Jesus Christ got
His authority. We know who gave Him His right. But nobody else has that right.
I don't have the authority to forgive you your sins. If you
sin against me, I'll forgive you. If I sin against you, I
hope you're willing to forgive me. But our sins are against
God. And only Jesus Christ has the
authority to forgive those sins which are against God. And nobody
else has that authority. But thank God He does. He does. Who was it that forgave this
woman her sins? The Lord Jesus Christ. Now look
back over at my text. Luke chapter 7. This is very
important. This is very important. And tonight,
like I said, we're going to convert this over into theology. Look at it from a theological
standpoint. But here's what this woman experienced. Sixthly, and this is my sixth
point, the text tells us the cause of our Lord Jesus Christ
forgiving her. This woman had many sins. What was the cause? What was
it that caused Jesus Christ, the Lord, to forgive this woman
of her sins? And we learn this in this illustration
that he gives us in verse 41 and verse 42. Look at these two
verses again. There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors. The one owed him 500 pence, the
other 50. They were both in debt. They
were both in debt. One of them was in debt five
times what the other was. Or is it ten times? Ten times,
ain't it? Ten times. There's a big difference
in owing $500 as opposed to owing $5,000. They were in debt. And look at
this. And when they had nothing to
pay, they had no means of payment. One of them just owed 50, but
it didn't matter. He was ready to be sent to debtor's
prison just like the one who owed 500 pence. And he had no
more means to pay than the one who owed 500 pence. They were
both broke. and could not pay their debt. So what was the debtor going
to do? Well, he had two choices, it seemed to me like. He could say, I'm going to call
for the sheriff, which they did back in these days, and I'm going
to bring charges against you before the court, and if they
find you guilty of owing me money, you will not pay. then you're
going to be put in prison until you pay every last dime you owe. He could do that, and most did. Or, he could freely, without
any cost to them, without any obligation on their part, he
could freely forgive all the debt. And that's what he did. He frankly, he freely forgave
them both. Now, what is debts? Well, debts
is what we owe to God. In the Scriptures, debts are
sins. It means we owe to God. Forgive
us our debts as we forgive those who sin against us. Can anybody
lift their hand this morning and say, I'm not indebted to
God? That I've never had a thought against God? I've never committed
one deed that's wrong? None of us can say that, can
we? All of us this morning are in debt to God. And it seems
to me that He has two choices. We talk about man's choosing.
We talk about man's choices. Let's talk about God's choice
just for a minute. Let's talk about God's prerogative for just
a minute. God has some choices. God has
a heart. God purposes. God determines. And God has two choices. One,
He can call us to account for our debts and say, I'm going
to set you before the bar of justice. And if you're found
guilty and you will not and cannot pay, I'm going to cast you into
prison until you pay off." He can do that. And a man can raise
his hands and say, wait, now that's not fair. But it makes
no difference, does it? It makes no difference how we
judge God, what we think of God. God is right and God is just. And if He calls all of us to
account and charges us with our debts, He's going to cast us
into the prison of hell. Now, that's a fact, isn't it?
The wages of sin, and we can't pay it. So, God has this choice. He can charge us with it. or
do what the Lord Jesus Christ did here freely, frankly, without
any cost to us, without any obligation on our part, forgive us all. But if He does, the cause of
forgiveness is not found in us, but is found in Him. They had
nothing to pay. Her sins, which are many, are
forgiven her." Why were they forgiven? It wasn't because of
any merit in her. What merit did she have? All
she did was sin. It wasn't because of any worth
in her or any deserve in her, but the cause was found in the
forgiver. He had a good heart. He had a
gracious heart. He had a kind heart. Therefore,
He forgave. We're not told, and this is very
important here, we're not told when her sins were forgiven.
We're not told that. Now you say, Bruce, the text
says that. Well, it says that, but let's
look at this. It seems obvious to me that she was forgiven before
she ever came to Simon's house. That seems very obvious when
you study the text real closely. In verse 47, look at this. Her
sins, which are many, are, they already are, forgiven her. When were they forgiven? Well,
he doesn't say. But it was obvious that she had the fruit and the
evidence of this forgiveness in her heart. Because she loved
much. She loved much. Up there in verse
38. Well, look what else she did.
She came here and got behind the Savior. She knelt there and
began to wash His feet with her tears. Dry them with her hair. anoint his feet and kiss his
feet. She didn't do this because she
was seeking forgiveness. A guilty sinner does not act
this way. She was doing this because she
had already experienced that forgiveness. And this was the
fruit of it, the love of it. That's what she was doing here. Listen to what David said. Listen
to why he said he loved the Lord. He said, Oh, I love the Lord
because...because. Our love is a cause to love Him.
Now, when He comes to you, His love is not caused. There is
nothing in Him that can cause Him to love you. You are just
unlovable. We are just unlovable. This poor
generation is saying, oh, how could the Lord not love me? No, dear soul, it ain't that way.
His love is unconditional. His love sets upon its own bottom.
He loves whom He will because He will. It's found in Him. But
David said, I love the Lord because... Our love is caused if we love
Him. And I love Him because He has
heard my voice and my supplication. Because He has inclined His ear
unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live."
Now listen to this. David says, Here is the shape
I was in. The sorrows of death can pass me about, and the pains
of hell, it got hold upon me. I found trouble and sorrow, and
then I called on the name of the Lord. I said, O Lord, deliver
my soul. And he did. And here's what David
said, Oh, gracious is the Lord, and He's righteous. Yea, our
God is merciful. Return unto thy rest, O my soul,
for the Lord hath dealt boundlessly with thee. He has delivered your
soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. And then he makes this wonderful
statement in the light of all that. Therefore, I will walk
before Him, in the land of the living. You know why He loved
the Lord? He experienced grace. He experienced
forgiveness. That's what this woman had experienced.
That's what she was doing at the Master's feet. That's why
she loved Him. When He first came into the room,
He said, She was here. And she began to wipe my feet
and anoint them. Why did this woman go to all
that expense to purchase this ointment? Why did she seek the
Savior out? Why did she risk being embarrassed
and humiliated and driven from this house of this Pharisee?
Why? Because she loved the Savior.
And why did she love the Savior? She had experienced forgiveness
of her many sins. Somebody will say, oh, I love
the Lord. I hope they do. I really hope they do. I hope
I do. But this question has to be asked.
Have I ever stood before God in debt with nothing to pay Him? And have I come to the realization
that my tremendous debt has been freely and completely forgiven." If you have, if you've experienced
that, you love Him. But if a man hasn't experienced
that, he doesn't love the Lord, does he? I love the Lord because... because... Someone will ask this,
if she was already forgiven, why did Christ say to her, Thy
sins are forgiven." Verse 48. Well, there's no doubt in my
mind that she was forgiven before she ever came here. There's no doubt in my mind about
that. But don't you long in your heart
of hearts to hear over and over again from the Savior's own lips,
Thy sins are forgiven. Do you ever get tired of hearing
that? Why does the Word of God remind believers over and over
again of their forgiveness? Because they need to hear it
over and over again. Only a forgiven sinner needs
to hear it repeated often. Listen to this, I have blotted
out as a cloud thy transgression. Who is he talking to? People
that knew he had blotted out. in whom we have redemption through
His blood, even the forgiveness of sins." Who was he writing
to? People who had already been forgiven
and knew it. You being dead in your sins as
they quickened together with Christ, having forgiven you. Having forgiven. Don't you just
love to hear it over and over again? If you're forgiven, you
do. Listen to this old song. Most
of us here, it's very familiar to us. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
unseen things above, of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His
love. Tell me the story simply, as
to a little child, for I am weak and weary and helpless and so
defiled. Tell me the story slowly, that
I may take it in, that wonderful redemption, God's remedy for
sin. Tell me the story often. Don't
you need to hear it often? Often. Often. Why? Because I forget so soon. The
early dew of morning has passed away at noon. Tell me the story
softly. with earnest tomes and grave. Remember, I'm the sinner who
Jesus came to save. Tell me the story always, if
you would really be in the time of trouble a comforter to me."
And listen to this, tell me the old, old story when you have
cause to fear that this world's empty glory is costing me too
dear. Yes, and when that world's glory
dawns upon my soul, tell me the old, old story." Christ Jesus
makes thee whole. Why did He tell this woman, thy
sins are forgiven? She needed to hear it again.
Just like you and just like me. That's what we're doing here
this morning. That's why we preach nothing here but the Gospel.
We don't get into politics. There's a lot. I'm very political.
I don't bring my politics to the pulpit. Ain't got time. Too
busy with the gospel. We need to hear it, don't we?
I remember one time years ago, man, I was down. I was really
down. I just went in and flapped down
on the couch. Just didn't feel like doing anything.
Down in my soul. You ever get that way? And I
was sitting there moping around. in my mind, thinking how bad
I had it. And I looked upon the wall, and
Joe had put a plaque upon the wall, for by grace are you saved
through faith. And I was reminded. And my soul
was lifted up out of its trouble. And I sat together for just a
minute in those heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Why did the
Lord tell this woman your sin? She just needed to hear it. And
she needed to hear it the next day, and the next day. In closing, let me say this.
You cannot help but see, and this is what I want to get into
tonight, this afternoon. You cannot help but see the correlation
between the present knowledge she had of forgiveness of sin,
and her love for the Savior. You cannot help but see that.
Why did she do what she did? Why go to the expense? Why go
to the labor? Why go to the time? Why risk
this humiliation in this Pharisee's house? Because she loved Jesus
Christ. And why did she love Him? Because
she had this present reality that her sins, which were many,
were forgiven her. If you and I would love the Lord
Jesus Christ as this woman did, then let us live in the light
of forgiveness of sins as she did. And if you and I would love
the Savior more, then let us live in a greater knowledge of
the mountain of sins that had heaped over our heads and was
ready to crush us down into hell. And then remember that all of
that was wiped away. All of that was forgiven for
the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. I've had people come up to me
and they knew that I had professed the Lord. Men that I used to
work with. And some of them have come up
to me and said, Oh, you never was a bad fellow. You never was a bad fellow. And
then I stop him right there. I stop him right there. And I
say, if I never was a bad fellow around you, it was because I
contained and controlled myself outwardly. But I was not a good man. I was
a wretched, miserable, God-hating, hell-deserving sinner. That's
what I was. And I hope I never get over that.
I hope I never get over viewing myself as that. As I stand before
you this morning, a preacher of God's Word, I have sinned
enough this morning in my thoughts to send my soul to hell. Look
upon your sins and consider it, brothers and sisters, as what
it deserves in the eyes of God. God hates sin. He abhors sin. And if He doesn't forgive it,
He will damn it in hell. Never get over that. Look at
your sins. Don't sweep them under the rug.
Don't lessen them. Don't treat them as some trivial
thing. Look at them as they are. Next time you have a foolish
thought, realize, Hell is my dessert. Look on the right hand of God
and say, my sin is great, but it's forgiven for Christ's sake. And then when you see that and
you put those things together, the greatness of your sin and
the greatness of His grace and the power and merit of His blood
to forgive you, then you'll love as this woman. And you'll live as this woman
lived. One last passage. Look in Ephesians
chapter 4. And look in verse 32. Here's what we're going to dwell
on this afternoon. What does forgiveness and sins
and live in our daily Christian experience have to do with each
other? Everything. Everything. Look what he says
in Ephesians 4 in verse 32. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven you. Be ye therefore Followers of
God as dear children, and walk in love. That's what it has to
do. God hath forgiven you all your
sins. I know it, and I love Him for
it. Therefore, just walk in love,
just like this lady did. Let's pray.