Bootstrap
Todd Nibert

The Most Unconscionable Sin

1 Corinthians 16:22
Todd Nibert • March, 9 2008 • Audio
0 Comments
What does the Bible say about loving Jesus Christ?

The Bible states that if any man does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, he should be anathema (cursed) according to 1 Corinthians 16:22.

In 1 Corinthians 16:22, the Apostle Paul firmly declares that if any person does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. This language indicates the serious spiritual condition of being outside of Christ, where a lack of love for Him equates to being cursed by God. Love for Jesus is not merely an option for the believer; it is fundamentally tied to one's salvation and relationship with God. In fact, not loving Christ is described as the most unreasonable and malicious sin because it is a rejection of the very essence of who Jesus is: our Lord, Savior, and the one who embodies divine love and righteousness.

1 Corinthians 16:22

How do we know that not loving Christ is a serious sin?

The severity of not loving Christ is highlighted by Paul's declaration that such a person deserves to be cursed by God.

Not loving the Lord Jesus Christ is deemed the most unconscionable sin because it represents a willful rejection of the highest expression of goodness and love. Paul’s assertion in 1 Corinthians 16:22—that the one who doesn't love Christ should be anathema—underscores the seriousness with which this sin is regarded. It highlights the reality that outside of love for Christ, there is no salvation or hope, as true love for Him is integral to faith. Furthermore, it acknowledges the wickedness of failing to respond positively to the one who sacrificed everything for our salvation, as well as the eternal consequences of such rejection. The emphasis on loving Jesus is not mere sentimentalism; it is a profound theological truth about our relationship with the Savior.

1 Corinthians 16:22

Why is Jesus Christ important for Christians?

Jesus Christ is essential for Christians as He embodies our salvation, serves as our Lord, and represents God's perfect love and righteousness.

Jesus Christ is foundational to Christianity because He encompasses our salvation and serves as both Lord and Savior. He is not just a historical figure; He is the God-man who fulfills the roles of prophet, priest, and king. His lordship implies sovereign control over all creation, and His sacrifice on the cross provides the only means of salvation from sin. Moreover, Christians are called to love Him deeply because He first loved us, demonstrating selfless sacrifice and grace. Without recognizing the importance of Jesus and cultivating a genuine love for Him, one risks remaining in a state of condemnation, as illustrated in Scripture. Thus, Jesus Christ's importance is multifaceted, binding together divinity and humanity, sovereignty and compassion, and love and righteousness.

Philippians 2:5-8, John 3:16

Sermon Transcript

Auto-generated transcript • May contain errors

100%
Let's read this verse of Scripture
again in 1 Corinthians chapter 16, verse 22. If any man. Rich, poor, old, young. Black, white. Educated, uneducated. Any man. This covers everybody. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. Maranatha. There is no stronger language
in the Word of God. Paul, under the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, says regarding that one who does not love the
Lord Jesus Christ, let him be damned. Let him be cursed by God upon
the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let him spend eternity in the
lake of fire with the devil and his angels. Let him be eternally
tormented in the flames of hell where the worm dieth not and
the fire is not quenched. May the smoke of his torment
rise up forever and ever May he spend eternity suffering the
wrath and righteous indignation of a holy and offended God. That's sobering language, isn't
it? Is Paul saying anything less? If any man loved not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be cursed by God upon the second advent
of our Lord Jesus Christ. I've entitled this message, The
Most Unconscionable Sin. The most unconscionable sin. Unconscionable means out of all
reason. Why do I entitle this message
like this? Sin. When a man sins, generally he
thinks he's going to get some kind of benefit out of it. You
know, a thief does get the benefit of obtaining that which he has
stolen. Vengeful full person gets the
satisfaction of executing revenge, vengeance on the one that he's
angry with. The liar, probably through telling
his lie, he gets out of some kind of trouble he might have
got into if he didn't tell that lie. You know, the scripture
says there is pleasure in sin. For a season, there is pleasure
in sin. For a season, but that's not denying the reality of the
fact that there is pleasure. Men sin because they think there's
something they're going to get out of it. But here is the sin. That is utterly without reason. Not loving. The Lord Jesus Christ. The only thing that could create
such a monstrosity. Is malicious. wickedness to not
love the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if you are outside of Christ
this morning, if you are not a believer, you are somebody
who does not love Jesus Christ. Now, you may have done a lot
of bad things. You may have done many things that you're very
ashamed of. No doubt you have. I have. I don't want you all
to know. Nor do you want me to know what's going on in your
heart. I realize that, but did you know nothing can compare
to this? To not love. The Lord Jesus Christ. That's the same wickedness that
the Lord spoke of. When he said they hated me. They
hated me. without a cause. They did so
freely. They did so from a malicious,
wicked heart. Now this is the most unconscionable
sin. To not love the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you remember who is speaking
when he makes this statement. This isn't one of those hot shot,
hell fire, damnation, fundamentalist preachers. You know what I'm
talking about when I say that. They try to scare people to death.
Like, you're going to go to hell. They almost love talking about
hell. I can't stand to hear a preacher talk like that. It makes me uncomfortable
to even talk about God's hell. You know, Paul the Apostle, I
think this is amazing. Do you know in all his writings,
he never uses the word hell once. He talked about condemnation.
He talked about being cursed. But I think he thought words
so terrible, so scary that he didn't even use the word hell
in all of his writings. But yet he uses the doctrine
of hell right here when he says, if any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be cursed. Now, remember who it is that's
saying this. I read that passage of scripture there in Romans
chapter nine. Paul loved men. He said, under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. He said, I'm not lying. I'm telling
you the truth. My conscience is bearing witness
of this. The Holy Spirit is bearing witness of this in my conscience
by the Holy Ghost. I have great heaviness. I have
continual sorrow in my heart for I could wish that I myself
were cursed from Christ for my brethren. Now, I tell you, I
have a heart. I want you to be saved. I do. I want you to know the
Lord, I don't want you to be damned, but I'm not real sure
if I could honestly say that I would be willing to be damned
if you would be saved. I'd like to think I think that
way, but I can't in honesty say that about anybody. I don't think
that I would be willing to be damned and cursed by Christ if
they would be saved, but Paul said that, didn't he? This man
loved the souls of men, I believe, more than any man ever has. He
wasn't some hotshot hellfire and brimstone fundamentalist
preacher. He was somebody who actually loved the souls of men. And yet he says, I would be willing
to be cursed from Christ if they'd be saved. Now that's love, isn't
it? And the same one who made that
statement in Romans chapter 9 said, if any man, I don't care who
it is, If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, and remember
to not love him is to hate him. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be damned. Let him be cursed by God and
suffer the wrath of a holy God upon the return of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now what I want to attempt to
do is to speak of the Lord Jesus Christ as He is revealed in this
book we call the Holy Bible. And then we will see that to
not love Him is the most unconscionable sin, the most unreasonable sin,
the most evil of all sins. And if God gives us the grace
to enter into what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 16, verse 22,
we'll be in complete agreement with Paul. If any man loves not
the Lord Jesus Christ, there's only one place for him. He ought
to be in hell. He ought to be damned. There
should be no mercy for him. That's the attitude of every
believer. And you know something that's
very humbling, very humbling. It's the fact that if you're
a believer, you know that you were in fact guilty of this great
crime. Having no love for Jesus Christ,
actually in your heart hating Him, until God in His mercy gave
you the grace to love Him. Let's think just for a moment
about His name. The Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Lord. That speaks of
His power and His sovereignty. He's the Lord. That means He's
the dictator. That means He's the one who controls
everything. reigns. Now, I'm not saying that
he has the right to reign, although he does. I'm not saying that
he ought to reign, though he ought to reign. I'm saying, or
not I'm saying, but the Bible says he does reign. He must reign. He said, all power
is given to me in heaven and in earth. He doeth according
to his will. He doeth. Not he has the right
to do, but he doeth. according to His will, in the
armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. And
none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest thou? He has complete control of everything
and everybody. Everybody in this room and everybody
outside of this room is in His hand, and He can do with you
and I whatsoever He is pleased to do. He reigns Thou hast given
him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him. He's got power over all flesh.
All flesh. You know what that means? That
means your eternal destiny, my eternal destiny, whether I'll
be in heaven or whether I'll be in hell, my eternal destiny
is in his hands. I have absolutely no control. That's what is meant by the Lordship
of Jesus Christ. I have no control. What happens
to me is up to Him. He is the Lord. Not He just has
the right to be Lord. He is Lord. The Lord Jesus. What a sweet
name. Now this one who reigns And his
reign, if you love him, you're glad it's that way. If you don't
love him, it scares you. But if you love him, you're glad
he reigns. You want to be in his hands. You wouldn't want
to be anywhere else. But let's go on thinking about his name.
Not only is he the Lord, he's Jesus. You know what Jesus means?
Savior. He's the Savior. This one who
is Lord is also the Savior. Now, that means something to
you if you need to be saved. I need to be saved. I can't save
myself. He who is Lord is also Savior. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. Do you need
to be saved? Oh, what a precious name this
is. He is the Lord Jesus, the reigning Savior. He... I want to say this right. He's
in the saving business. He delights to save sinners.
He's the Lord. He's Jesus. He is Christ. Christ represents His offices. The word Christ means anointed. Now, in the Old Testament, who
was anointed? Well, the prophet was anointed,
the priest was anointed, the king was anointed. He truly is
God's anointed. I've heard preachers say, well,
I've got the anointing. No, you don't. No, you don't.
I hate it when people say that. There's one who is anointed by
God. That is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God's anointed. He is God's anointed prophet. Now what's a prophet? A prophet
is somebody who brings a word from God to men. He himself is
the word of God. He's all that God has to say.
All that God is, is seen in Jesus Christ. He is the word of God. He's God's anointed prophet.
He's God's anointed priest. What's a priest? A priest is
one who represents the interests of men to God. Jesus Christ is
God's anointed priest. God sent him to be priest. What
do priests do? He represents my interest before
God. I can't come into God's presence and be accepted. I can't
just come waltzing into his presence. What about my sin? What about
what I am? I have to have someone to come
into God's presence for me. And what a priest he is. When
he says, Father, forgive me, you know what happens? The Father
forgives him. He said, regarding Peter, Peter,
I prayed for you that your faith fail not. And you know what happened
when he prayed for Peter? That his faith fail not? You
know what happened? Peter's faith didn't fail. Now, Peter fell,
but Peter's faith didn't fail. You know, you're going to fall
all the time. I'm not excusing it. By the grace of God, your
faith won't fall. You'll continue to look to the
Lord Jesus Christ as your only hope. That's what a priest he
is. Everybody he prays for. They
must be saved. He said, I pray for them. I pray
not for the world, but for them which you've given me, for they
are thine. God's anointed priest. God's anointed king. That means
he reigns. He's the king. He's the king
of kings. He's the Lord of lords. What
a King He is! He gives commandment to save
me. With the Word of the King, there is power. When He commands
my salvation, I'm saved. I need someone to save me like
that, don't you? He's God's anointed prophet, priest, and King, the
Lord Jesus Christ. I love that passage of Scripture
in Acts 2, verse 36, where Peter's preaching on the day of Pentecost,
and he says, God hath made this same Jesus, whom you crucified,
both Lord and Christ. Jesus the Lord. Jesus the Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. And to not love Him? This is the most malicious the
most unconscionable, unreasonable and excuseless of all sins, the
flames of hell cannot be heated sufficiently for that one who
does not love the Lord Jesus Christ. And what about the person
behind the name? We talked about his name. What
about the person behind the name? Who he is? Well, he's God. He's man. He's utterly unique. There's no one that you can even
compare him with. There's nobody like him. He's
the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's described in Isaiah 9, 6
like this. Unto us a child is born. There's
his manhood, his incarnation. Unto us a child is born. The
Word was made flesh. But unto us a son is given. and the government shall be upon
his shoulders. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. He could say, He that hath seen
me hath seen the Father. He is God. He is man. There is
one God and one mediator between men and God, the man, Christ
Jesus. He is just as much man as you
and I are. Sin accepted. The God-man, the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Word was made flesh, John
1.14. We beheld His glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. He was and is the sole representative
of the being and the character of the One who sent Him. That's
who He is. His relationship with the Father
is the unoriginated relationship. He's always been one with the
Father. He eternally and necessarily
is the Son, the person who possesses every attribute of Godhood. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead in a body. There's a real man in glory right
now who is God, the Lord Jesus Christ. To not love Him is the
most malicious evil-spirited sin, the most unconscionable
and unreasonable of all sins, to not love him. If any man,
Paul says, love not the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, let
him be anathema, maranatha. Let's consider, as the Lord enables
us for a few moments, his attributes. This one who men are guilty of
not loving. I like to think about the omnipresence
of this one. Jesus Christ is omnipresent. Now, how can a man be omnipresent? I mean, I'm here. I'm not at
2380 Millbrook. It can't be done. If I'm here,
this is the only place I'm at. Yet our Lord Jesus Christ, the
God-man, is omnipresent. He was speaking to Nicodemus
in John chapter 3, and he said, even the Son of Man, while he
was talking to Nicodemus, he said, even the Son of Man, which
is in heaven. He's in heaven even while he's
speaking. He's the God-man. And yet, as he's in heaven, he's
still Immanuel, which being interpreted, is God with us right here on
earth. He's omnipresent. He's omniscient. That means He's all-wise. He's all-knowing. He's never
learned anything. He's never been informed. I love
His name in the book of Proverbs. He's personified as wisdom. He is the wisdom of God. I love to think of His omnipotence.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, is omnipotent. He's all-powerful.
Now what is meant by all power? You know only God has all power.
Only God is omnipotent. Now there are three things that
only God can do. I imagine I could think of more
things, but this is what comes to my mind when I think of what
only God can do. Only God can create something
from nothing. Only God can make something that
is to not be. You know, they say, I've read
this or I've learned it in a physics class or something, matter can
never be destroyed. It may change forms. It may go
from some kind of like wood, the energy, you know, when you
burn the wood, the ashes are left, the energy goes off somewhere
else. But it matters as far as what matter is. It can't be.
It's always here. It's eternal. It can't not be. And only God can make something
to be what it was not. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ does
all three of these things. Only God can do this. He brought
matter into existence that was not there before. He created
bread that was not in the universe before this took place. All of
a sudden, there it is as an act of His will. You see, He'd done
this before He created the universe. It was the Son of God who said,
Light be, and light was. It was the Son of God who created
all things. All things were made by Him.
That's who he is. And he can make something not
be that was. You know how he did that? By
sins. They're more than the hairs on
my head. They're not. He put them away
by the blood of His cross so I do not possess sin. What sin? It's gone. It's not just hidden. It's not
buried in a cave somewhere that might come back up one of these
days. It's non-existent. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. And He made something to be what
it was not. Remember the way He made water?
Wine. It was water. That's all it was.
And He made it into wine. Well, He made me to be what I'm
not. I'm holy. I wasn't. I am now. I'm made to be what I'm not.
What a wonderful Savior. And to not love Him? He's the
God-Man. Think of His holiness. He never
sinned. He never even thought sin. He
never had a dull thought in His life. Kept God's law perfectly. Think of his justice. He would
rather go to the cross than let his father's law be dishonored.
He'd rather be put to death than let one sin go unpunished. And
what about his faithfulness? He is the faithful and the true
witness. He can always be believed. You
can't really say that about anybody else, can you? He can always
be trusted completely. And you know, everything He did
upon this earth was an act of faithfulness to His Father. Everything. You know, when He came here,
He came here in obedience to His Father. His Father told Him
to come and represent His people. He said, I'll do it. His Father
said, keep the law for your people. He said, I'll do it. He said,
suffer and die for your people. He said, I'll do it. He was faithful
to do everything the Father covenanted for Him to do in behalf of His
people. And how I love to think of His faithfulness to me. Oh,
he's the faithful God. I love that scripture in 2 Timothy
2 verse 13 where it says, if we believe not, what next? He abideth faithful. For he cannot deny himself. Now here's how real union with
the Lord Jesus Christ is. Okay, here I am. weak, helpless,
as far as the way I feel. And I've felt this way before.
I mean, I know believers always believe. And I believe I believed
when I didn't feel like I believed. I don't know how to explain that.
Believers always believe. But if there was faith there,
I sure couldn't see it. I just feel so weak and so helpless
and so unbelieving and so just Just worthless. I could just
go on and on as far as the way I feel goes. Now, if I'm a believer,
I believe. I realize that. But as far as
the way I felt, I couldn't see anything. If we believe not,
yet He abideth faithful. He cannot deny Himself. You see, if I'm united to Him,
for Him to deny me would be for Him to deny Himself. Isn't that
wonderful? His faithfulness. He's not going
to let me go because I'm one with Him. I'm united to Him.
He's the faithful God. What a wonderful Savior. And
to not love Him? You know, we've been talking
about His power. You ever heard that saying, power corrupts? Sure you have. How many people
have you run into where you give them a little bit of authority
and they turn into monsters? How many men have you worked
with? You know, they were good workers and all of a sudden they
get promoted somehow and all of a sudden they turn into power
mad. You've all experienced that.
You've heard that saying, power corrupts. It does, doesn't it?
You've seen it happen. Power corrupts. But he who has
absolute power, doesn't corrupt him, does it? This is what is
so amazing about this one I'm talking about. This one who has
all power is also meek and lowly in heart. And this one who has
all power says, Come to me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden. And that's talking about heavy
laden under a burden of sin. Come unto me, all ye that are
weak and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart,
and you'll find rest for your souls. You see, my burden is
easy, and my yoke is light. Now, you think of this one who
has this power. I want you to think about how approachable
he is. He's so approachable. If you knew everything that went
on in my heart, you wouldn't have anything to do with me.
And you really wouldn't. And I'd be the same way with
you. You see, we all have this thing called hypocrisy. We're
always a lot harder on what's in somebody else than what's
in us. But I know this. If I really knew what the thoughts
that went through your mind, I would not be approachable.
Keep me away from that person. Although I'm just as bad and
just as wicked and just as evil. I realize that. But I'm just
talking about our hypocrisy. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
the one who knows what's in us. And yet the scripture says this
man receiveth sinners and eats with them. Now, here's the point.
You could be around him. You can be in his presence and
you won't be condemned. You won't be threatened. You
get around to anybody else, if they knew what was in you, they'd
be looking you over. But not Him. He's meek and lowly in heart. He's approachable. And to not
love Him? You think of His obedience to
the Father. He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. The Scripture describes Him in
Isaiah 53 as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. What
He did was an act of obedience to His Father. His Father said,
Go, let Him nail you to the cross. He said, Yes, Father. He became
obedient to death. The cross is the ultimate act
of obedience. And not love Him? You think of His condescension.
Paul said, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That
though He was rich, yet for your sakes, He became
poor. You know, He was rich in righteousness.
He was emptied of all righteousness. He was made sin on the cross.
He was rich in praise. Angels praised Him. And he became
the butt of jokes. He became the most hated, despised
of all men. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Paul says to every believer,
you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he
was rich, for your sakes he became poor. That you through his poverty
might be rich. Turn with me for a moment to
Philippians chapter 2. Verse 5, Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, he
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation. That word, no reputation. Means. Empty. Nothing. He made himself. Nothing. Of no reputation. And that's a reference to what
happened to him as he became sin on the cross. And he took upon him the form
of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being
found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. And to not love him. Oh, listen
to me. If you're outside of Christ right
now, you don't love Jesus Christ. That's what God has against you.
You don't love his darling son. To not love him. Oh, what a world
of trouble you're in. To not love him. You think of
his willingness to save. He said, Him that cometh to Me,
I will in no wise, for no reason cast out. Oh, He's so willing
to save anybody who comes. And to not love Him? You think
of His compassion. I love that passage of Scripture
where the leper, oh, the poor leper comes into His presence
and falls on his face. Lord, if You will, You can make
me clean. He was filthy. He was filthy. Oh, if you will, you can make
me clean. And the Scripture says, Jesus
moved with compassion, reached forth His hand and touched him
saying, I will. Be thou clean. And to not love him, You think of His love. His love
to His Father. His love to His people. And not love Him? Is Jesus Christ altogether lovely? That's the testimony of His people,
isn't it? Yea, He's altogether lovely. And what about that one
that does not love Him? Who's all together lovely? Was
Paul speaking too strong when he said, if any man loved not
the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema? Maranatha? I know I'm saying the same thing
from a slightly different angle, but what about a salvation? You
can't separate the Savior and the salvation. You can't separate
the person of Christ and the work of Christ. They always go
together. What about a salvation? Paul said in 1 Timothy 1.15,
this is a faithful saying. Everybody in this room ought
to believe this. And it's worthy of all acceptation. In other
words, everybody ought to embrace this as the best news they've
ever heard. That Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Now did He do it?
He surely did. By one offering He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Not love this one who came to
save sinners? And I ought to believe this and
count it as the best news we've ever heard. If any man loved
not the Lord Jesus Christ, let it be anathema maranatha. Turn
with me to John 21. There's two or three scriptures
I want us to consider in closing. Verse 15, John 21. So when they had dined, Jesus
saith to Simon Peter, now remember, Simon had denied that he even
knew the Lord. I mean, when the time had come,
he denied the Lord with cursing. I don't know the man. Don't even
know him. That's what Simon was guilty
of. And this was fresh on his mind. So when they had dined,
Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, are you sorry about
what you've done? Didn't say that, did he? I'm sure Peter was, but he said,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? I wonder if Andrew and John and
Phillip were thinking, how do you reckon he's going to answer? How do you reckon he's going
to answer? He talked big, and we saw what happened to him.
How do you think he's going to answer? I bet they were just wondering.
But Peter wasn't thinking about what they were thinking. He saith
unto him, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. These other
fellows might not, but it doesn't matter. You know. You know what,
I love your person. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. I love your holiness. I love
your righteousness. I love your grace. I love your
mercy. I love your obedience. Everything
about you I love. I wouldn't want you to be changed.
You're the perfect man. You're the God man. I love you
just as you know. I love you. Feed my lambs. He saith unto
him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter
was grieved because he said unto him the third time, lovest thou
me? And he said unto him, Lord, you know all things. You're omniscient. You know exactly what's in my
heart. And you know that I do love your
person. Now I recognize that the reason
I love him is because he first loved me. Doesn't scripture say
that? We love him because he first
loved us. God forbid that I would trace
my love to anything in me. I love him and that love I have
is the gift of his grace. But that doesn't take away from
this. If any man loved not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be
anathema. Maranatha. Now there's one The
final scripture I want to look at is found in Luke chapter 7,
and this is the key to love to Christ. You remember where Paul
said to the Ephesians, Grace be with all them that love our
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity? Well, here's what love in sincerity
is. Look at Luke chapter 7. I bet you knew where I was going.
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. This woman was a very evil woman. When she knew that Jesus said
it, meet in the Pharisees house, brought an alabaster box of ointment. Now, I have no doubt that she
heard our Lord preach. And as a matter of fact, she
heard him say, come unto me, all you that weary and are heavy
laden, and I'll give you rest. In the chronology of these events,
she heard that. And she brought that 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
the ointment. Now when the Pharisee, which
had bitten him, saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This
man, if he were a prophet, would have known who, what manner of
man this woman or what manner of woman this is that touches
him. She's a sinner. I mean, she's defiled. This is
a. And Jesus answering, he read
the man's thoughts, he knew exactly what he's thinking. And Jesus
answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee,
and he said, Master, say on. There was a certain predator
which had two debtors, the one owed 500 pence and the other
50. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly, freely forgave them
both. Tell me, therefore, which of
them will love him most? Simon answered and said, Well,
I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. That's a reasonable
supposition. And he said unto him, Thou hast
rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, this
unclean sinful woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou
gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed my feet with
tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest
me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not
ceased to kiss my feet, my head with oil. Thou didst not anoint,
but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore,
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. Some people, when they give their
testimony regarding Their religious experience. They'll talk about
how bad they used to be. You've heard it. And they're
almost glorifying their sins. I used to be, oh, I was just
so evil. You wouldn't believe the things
that I did. I did so many bad, terrible, wicked things. But
now look at, God save me. Look at me now. That's a rotten testimony. It's not real. Here's a real testimony. Every breath I've taken, the prayers, the preaching, The good things, the bad things. In and of myself, all I am is
sin. And I have been forgiven much. Much. All there is, is forgiveness.
regarding every breath I've taken, I've been forgiven much. And I do love the Lord Jesus
Christ for forgiving me. He forgave me much, and I love
much. Now that one who's been forgiven
little, he loves little. Not much to
that love, is there? But that one who's been forgiven
much, That means every breath they've taken is something that
needs to be forgiven. They'll love a lot, won't they?
That's the key to love to Christ. And if any man loved not the
Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha. Amen? Amen. Let's pray.
Todd Nibert
About Todd Nibert
Todd Nibert is pastor of Todd's Road Grace Church in Lexington, Kentucky.

Comments

0 / 2000 characters
Comments are moderated before appearing.

Be the first to comment!

Joshua

Joshua

Shall we play a game? Ask me about articles, sermons, or theology from our library. I can also help you navigate the site.

0:00 0:00