All right, if you'll open your
Bibles to Luke 7. As I said when I read the Scripture
a few moments ago, our Lord is speaking of John the
Baptist. He was a prophet sent of God.
The Scripture says there was a man sent from God, whose name
was John, he said, I'm not the Christ. I'm not the light. I'm sent to bear witness of the
light. And those who heard John responded
differently to his message. It says in verse 29, and all
the people, the common people, everyday folks, that heard him,
the publicans, sinners. You remember the publican in
the temple, our Lord said, would not so much as lift his eyes
to heaven, but smote on his breast and cried, God, be merciful to
me, a sinner. Back in those days, they had
a saying that if there were but two men on one a Pharisee and
one a publican. The Pharisee would go to heaven,
the publican would go to hell. That's the way they felt about
Pharisees and publicans. So the publicans mentioned here
are sinners, sinners. And the people who heard him
and the publicans justified God. Now what does that mean, justified
God? We know we're justified by the
blood of Christ. God justifies us by the righteousness
and the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. What does it mean to
justify God? Well, David tells us over here
in Psalm 51. This is the clearest, clearest
explanation of what it means to justify God to be found here
in Psalm 51. Verse 3 and 4, David said, I
acknowledge my transgressions. My sin is ever before me. Against
thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou, O Lord, might be justified when you speak. In other words,
what you say about me, I justify you. I vindicate you. I say,
Lord, it's so. You say, I was born in sin? You're
just. I'm unworthy of the least of
your mercies? You're just. You're right. I
ought to go to hell? You're right. Like our Lord says,
not right to give the children's bread to dogs, that woman said,
that's right, I'm a dog. And dogs eat the crumbs that
fall from their master's table. That's what he's saying. that
these people were baptized justified God. Listen, you're justified
when you speak and clear when you judge. They justified God
and being baptized with the baptism of John. John was the baptism
of repentance. The baptism of repentance says,
I'm a sinner, I'm a dead sinner. And a dead sinner ought to be
buried out of sight. But in Christ, the dead sinner
is given life like Lazarus and rises from the grave. Our Lord
died, was buried, and rose again. God raised him from the dead.
He bore our sins, and as our scapegoat, he bore them into
the tomb, he put them away, and he arose our justifier. And that's
what these people are saying when they come to the baptism
of John. That's what we're saying here when people are baptized.
I'm a sinner. A sinner deserves to die, and
a dead man ought to be buried, and a living man ought to rise.
And we're buried with Christ in baptism, and we rise to walk
with Christ in newness of life. But, look at verse 30, but the
Pharisees, the lawyers, these prominent religious people, good
people, moral people. Self-righteous people, always done the best they can. Righteous
in their own eyes. They rejected the counsel of
God against themselves. People today reject the counsel
of God against themselves. We're not, our wills aren't to
pray. We aren't corrupt from the sole
of our feet to the top of our heads, nothing but wounds and
bruises and putrefying sores. Don't call me a wretch. Don't
call me a worm. I'm a good man, good woman. And so they wouldn't be baptized
of John. They just wouldn't do it. They
would not submit to the baptism of John. And the Lord said, and this is
interesting here in verse 31, but here's what he's saying.
God says we're lost sinners, and these fellows said we're
not sinners. God says we're helpless to save ourselves, and these
fellows said we're not helpless. We're not helpless. And the Lord said, well, where
unto then shall I liken the men of this generation, and to what
are they like? He said, well, they're like children
sitting in the marketplace. The parents have come to sell
their produce to the marketplace. The ladies have made their baskets,
and the ladies have made their rugs. The men have built their
chairs and other things, and the farmers have raised their
vegetables and their fruit, and they brought it to the market
and had to bring their children with them. So while they set
up their little tents and their little tables and sell their
wires and their crafts, the children play. They play together. All the children go over there
somewhere or over here somewhere and they play. They're not happy
there in the marketplace. They'd rather be home. And so
they call to one another and they say, well, we piped to you,
we played the instruments, We've played the flute, we've played
the lute, we've played the different things, and you won't dance.
And we've mourned, we've told sad stories, and you won't cry. Nothing pleases you. You just
sit in your own little circle and won't respond. You won't
respond to anything. You just sit there. No matter
what we do, we pipe to you and you won't dance, mourned and
been sad and he won't weep. And he said that's the way people
are. He's talking about in response to spiritual, to preaching, spiritual
things, to the Word. For John the Baptist came, listen,
mourning, neither eating bread nor drinking wine. He ate wild
honey and he ate off a tree called a locust tree, dressed in camel
hair. out in the desert, mournful,
solemn, a message of condemnation and sin and reproach, rebuke,
reproof. And you wouldn't mourn. You wouldn't
grieve. You wouldn't receive his message.
You'd say, he's got a devil. We don't like his type of preaching.
But the Son of Man came. The Lord Jesus came. One of the
first things he did was go to a wedding. One of the first things
he did in his ministry when he came to a public ministry was
go to a wedding for two young people who were going to get
married. And he ate with them and made wine for them because
they ran out of wine. He was a friend to them. He sat
at meat with them. He never lifted his voice and
never raised his voice. He never rebuked the common people.
He rebuked the Pharisees and religious folks. He called them
devils. called them snakes and vipers. But he was gentle, oh, so gentle. Went about doing good, healed
their sick, held their babies on his knee. And you say, behold,
he's a gluttonous man, he's a winebibber, he's a friend of publicans and
senators. We don't like him either. Our God has several types of
ministers. There's the sons of thunder,
and there's the gentle, gentle breeze that blows, still small
voice. But they respond to neither one.
But it says in verse 35, listen, wisdom is justified over children. Wisdom, they're talking about
we're justified by the blood of Christ. God is justified by
our confessing that we are sinners. His word and his counsel is bowed
to and received. We say, so be it. I accept it. I know a man will never be saved
until he is lost. I know a man will get no divine
help until he is helpless. I know a man will never be quickened
until he is dead. I know a man will never be clothed
until he is naked. I know a man will never be lifted
until he is fallen. And we're justified by the blood
of Christ. And God's justified when we say,
that's right, every charge you bring against me, I accept. Now wisdom, what is wisdom? Wisdom
is Christ. Wisdom is truth. Wisdom is spiritual
understanding. Wisdom is a relationship with
God. is an understanding of truth.
And wisdom is vindicated by those who have wisdom. That's right. Wisdom is justified of wisdom's
children. True wisdom, true perception
finally surfaces. Takes time. Takes time. It takes time. But wisdom finally
comes to the top. justified of men who have wisdom. It takes a long, like one young
man said when I was 16 years old, when I was 15, 16 years
old, I didn't think my dad knew anything. I did not think, I
didn't think he was, he was wicked. I didn't think he knew where
I was coming from. I didn't think he knew what he
was talking about. I didn't think he really was
was with everything, the way things ought to be. He said,
when I got to be 21, I was amazed at how much he'd learned in five
years. The child, that boy had wisdom,
and finally it was justified. Finally. And that's what I'm
saying. I'm saying wisdom is maybe not
right now. In fact, our Lord said there
were two men. Two men had the same father.
They were brothers. And the father said to one of them, you go do
what I said. And he said, I'm not going to do it. And later, he went and did it.
The other boy, the father said, go do this. He said, I'll be
glad to, Dad. Bless your heart. Anything to
please you, I'll do it. But he didn't do it. Which one
of them was the devoted son? One that said he wouldn't do
it and did. And the other one was all mouth. And that's what you find so often,
this preaching business. Here comes a preacher, he's hard
as nails, and they say he's a devil. Here comes one as soft as a gentle
breeze and say he's a gluttonous man. But I tell you, sooner or
later, The man who has an ear to hear will be justified. Wisdom justified over children.
Then here in the story, verse 36, our Lord illustrates what
he's teaching. He illustrates what he's teaching.
That's the title of this message. Brother Dale, it's the doctrine
illustrated. Now, here in verse 36, I'm going
to divide this in five parts. First of all, there's an invitation
to dinner, verse 36. And one of the Pharisees desired
Jesus Christ, our Lord, that he would eat with him. And he
went to the Pharisee's house and sat down to Why did this
Pharisee invite the Lord Jesus Christ to eat in his home? Why
did he invite him to his house? He didn't believe him. He didn't
respect him. He showed that by not giving
him water to wash his feet. He didn't meet him at the door
and kiss him like was common. He didn't anoint his head with
oil. Why did he invite him to his home? I'll tell you why.
Back here in chapter 7, verse 11, he invited him to his home
that he might expose him as an imposter and a fraud. He had
heard the rumors. He had heard the rumors. What
rumors? Let me read it to you. Luke 7, beginning with verse
11. It came to pass the day after
that the Lord Jesus went into a city called Nain. And many
of his disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he
came now to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man
being carried out, the only son of his mother. She was a widow. And much people of the city was
with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her,
and said to her, Weep not. And he came and touched the beard
that caught him, and they that bear him stood still. And he
said, Young man, I say unto you, arise. And he that was dead sat
up and began to speak, and he delivered him to his mother.
Now watch this. And there came a fear on all,
and they glorified God, saying, A great prophet is risen among
us, and God has visited his people. And this rumor of him went forth
throughout all Judea, throughout all the regions round about.
That was the Pharisees' See, this is the same chapter I'm
reading this in. Same day, same time that this
man invited him. This was the rumor. This man
is a great puppet. A great puppet. So the Lord went
to his house. Back to our text now, verse 36. The Lord went to his house and
sat down to meet. Now you're going to have to...
I'm going to have to explain something to you. Sat down to
meet. You're not going to be able to...
get hold of some of these things that are happening if you don't
know something about these feasts. You see, these great religious
leaders had great homes. The chief priest had a house
with a courtyard and everything. These chief Pharisees had large
homes and large dining halls. And when they had a dinner like
this, they had a table or a place to sit for the chief people,
to have the priests and the Pharisees and the lawyers and these folks
sat in this special place. And then out here in front of
them were the guests, invited guests, and they reclined to
eat. They reclined on pillars. They
still do that over in the oriental places, in Japan and other places. They reclined to eat, laid on
pillars and ate. Generally, we're told there were
visitors or people who sat around the walls and observed the dinner.
They didn't participate. Here was the leaders and out
here the guests, and around the wall were these visitors who
listened to these men talk. And this Pharisee invited the
Lord Jesus that he might expose him. They were going to have
a debate. They were going to have a discussion.
That was in his mind. And that's what he thought over
here, that man's not a prophet. Like, I thought I was right.
All right, that's for you. And now, that's the invitation
to dinner. Now, here's the second part.
And there was an interruption of the dinner. He didn't count
on this. But God did. God did. You know, there are no accidents
with God. All things are purposed according to his will. Verse
37, and behold, an interruption, a woman in the city, which was
a sinner. This woman was one of those folks
that most people knew. She was a common person, a sinner,
like the publicans. This Pharisee knew her. The people
at the table knew her. People around the walls knew
her. Our Lord knew her. God knew her. It was no accident. She came, a woman which was a
sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meet in the Pharisees'
house. How did she know he was in the
Pharisees' house? Well, first of all, she had heard
him preach out there about John the Baptist, about sinners, about
the baptism of repentance. She heard that message. She was
out there listening. She heard him. She was smitten
in her heart. God opened her heart. I know
that by what happened. God opened her heart, just like
Lydia. Lydia was down there by the river, and Paul came to preach.
He didn't come just to preach to Lydia. He came to preach to
all those people, but Lydia heard him. And when the Word is preached,
my sheep hear me. This woman heard him. And he
says here, what's this? She knew he sat at meat at the
Pharisee's house. She heard the Pharisee invite
him. He invited him to dinner. And she brought an alabaster
box of ointment. Where did she get that? Was she
carrying it around in her arms? No, sir. Where did she get it? When did she get it? This alabaster
box of precious, fragrant ointment and perfume. I'll tell you where
she got it. Our Lord was out there preaching.
Where unto shall I liken this generation? None greater than
John the Baptist. These men justified God. They
were baptized of John. These Pharisees didn't. So forth
and so on. He preached. She heard him. She
loved him. She was taken with him. She was
smitten in her heart. She went to her house and got
this box. A priceless, precious ornament.
She'd saved it. See, they save this for special
occasions, just special occasions. She knew what she was going to
do. She knew exactly what she was going to do. She went and
got this prized possession. She's going to put it on his
feet. That's what she was going to
do. And she came into that house. And all eyes were on her. Don't
you know when she opened the door and stepped inside with
that box of ointment that it got quiet in there? I can just
imagine it. This Pharisee's steely eyes spotted
her at the door and a grimace appeared on his face. What's
she doing in my house? Can't you imagine? What's she
doing in my house? And everybody around the walls
turned and looked. Everybody turned. I'm sure there
was one that didn't turn. My Lord knew who was at the door.
He knew her from the foundation of the world. He loved her from
the foundation of the world. She was a sinner. She was one
of those he came to save. The Son of Man had come to seek
and to save the lost. Christ died for sinners. He knew
that the only sinner in that place was standing by the door.
Only one. She never turned. And she came, it said in verse
38, and stood at his feet behind him, weeping. What was she weeping
about? Weeping over her sins? Standing
there holding her box of ointments, standing at his feet. All you
could hear in that big hall was the sob of her voice and her
sniffles. I'll tell you something, she
was weeping about two. She looked down and saw those
dirty feet. That was unheard of. That was unheard of. When a guest came to anybody's
house, out of respect and care, they met them at the door and
washed their feet. Our Lord washed his disciples'
dirty feet. because they walked in those
days through the sand. They wore sandals and their feet
were dirty. And she stood there and looked
at those dirty feet and it meant neglect and disrespect and not
caring. And she wept. Wept over her sins,
wept over her generation, wept over these people here, wept
over that religious lost man sitting up there running things. She just cried. And finally she
knelt down and she washed his feet. The tears fell on his feet
as she cried and wept in her sorrow. And then she unplatted
her hair and she dried his feet with her hair and she kissed
his feet. Verse 38, she stood behind him
and began to washed his feet with tears, and did wipe them
with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and then she broke
open that ointment, broke open that box, and she poured it on his feet. That's worship. Somebody ask
me what worship is. Turn to John 12. John chapter 12. John chapter 12, verse 1, Then
Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus
had been dead, and he raised from the dead. They made him
a supper. There's fellowship and worship.
We eat, drink, fellowship together. Martha serves. turn on the lights
and get the furnace going and sweep the floors. Lazarus sat
at the table as their leaders, their elders and deacons and
representatives and teachers and singers and song leaders. But Mary took a pound of ointment,
a spikenard, very costly. And she sat at his feet and anointed
the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house
was filled with the odor of the ointment. There's the worship.
There's the worship. This woman worshiped. Just like Mary did. And the odor
filled the house as she worshiped her Lord. Alright. Part of this
message is an insinuation. Now when the Pharisee which had
bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, this
man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what
manner of woman this is that touches him. She's a sinner. He was watching all this. He
was looking at the woman in anger. He was feeling quite self-righteous.
He was looking at the Lord in disrespect and arrogance. And he said, well, I was right.
He's no prophet. If he were a prophet, if he were
a holy man, he'd never let that woman touch him. Never. You see, this man was ignorant
of God's mercy. He hadn't learned the first lesson
of grace. Turn to Matthew 9. Our Lord exhorts
us to learn the first lesson of grace. The very first lesson
of grace. What is it, the first lesson? In Matthew 9, verse 10. Matthew
9, verse 10, And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house,
behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and
his disciples. And when the Pharisees, the religious
leaders, saw it, the moral people, they said to his disciples, why
does your master eat with publicans and sinners? Why does he have
anything to do with these people? Why would this man let this woman
touch him? When Jesus heard this, he said
to them, They that behold do not need a doctor. The people
who need doctors are people who are sick. Go ye and learn what
that means. There's your first lesson. I
will have mercy. Mercy, not sacrifice, not offerings,
not service, not tithes, not duties, not details. I will have
mercy. and not sacrifice. I've not come
to call righteous people, good people, moral people, religious
people to heaven. I've come to call seeking to
save, redeem sinners. That's the first lesson of grace. This man hadn't learned it. He
didn't know anything about mercy. He didn't know anything about
grace. He didn't know anything about an atonement. He didn't
know anything about the Lord's ministry. Poor, blind religionists. And sadly, we're living in a
day when most of the religionists are so totally blind to this
first lesson. Come ye sinners, poor and needy,
weak and wounded, sick and sore. ready to save you, full of pity,
love, and power. Come ye weary, heavy laden, bruised,
and mangled by the fall, if you tarry till you're better, you'll
never come at all. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requires is
to feel your need of him. We come to him with our emptiness
and he fills us. We come in our nakedness and
He closes. We come in our guilt and He forgives
us. We come in our need and He supplies
it. We come in our worry and conflict
and He gives peace. We come in our deadness and He
gives life. We come to Him. And our Lord is showing two things. Who He is? He is a friend of
sinners. What He came to do? Save the lost. Well, part four, an inquiry. And Jesus answered him. He didn't
say anything out loud, but he thought it. And our Lord knew
his thoughts. In verse 40, he answered him,
Simon, I have something to ask you, to say to you. He said, well, Master, say on. hypocrisy of religion. David wrote about this. He said
they speak sweet things with their mouths and their hearts
are full of bitterness. And here this man was sitting
here hating that woman, hating Christ, saying he's not a prophet,
he's a common fellow. And the master addresses him
and he says, Master, that's ungodly. That's religion. That's religion. All right, the master said, Simon,
there was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed
him 500 pence and the other 50. They had nothing to pay. Nobody has anything to pay. All have sinned and come short
of God's glory and nobody has anything to pay. You don't have
anything God wants, I don't either. He said if I was hungry, I wouldn't
ask you. You don't have anything God needs, you don't have anything
God wants. You and I are lepers, unclean,
aliens, foreigners, strangers, sinners. We have a need. I need life. I need light, I need truth, I
need grace, I need mercy, I need cleansing, I need forgiveness,
I need healing. They owed him 550 and when they
had nothing to pay, they never do. He frankly, freely forgave
both of them. Tell me, which of them loved
him the most? It was Simon. You know, people know things
up here, don't know it down here. But there are a whole lot of
folks that are missing the gospel by that much, from here to here. They've got a head full of doctrine,
and a head full of facts, and a head full of truths, and they've
never had a broken heart, a contrite heart. God's never
dealt with their hearts, brought them down, never has. Missing
it. He was nobody's fool. He knew
the answer to that. And he said, Simon answered,
I suppose, but that's the way they always answer, I suppose.
Nothing dogmatic, nothing factual. I suppose, leave me a way out,
that he to whom he forgave the most, and he said, you rightly
judged. Who can argue with the doctrine? who can debate the truth. Sinners,
Jesus will receive. Sound the word of grace to all
who the heavenly pathway lead, all who linger, all who fall.
Make the message plain. He came to save sinful men. Well, here I'll close with this
answer, an indictment, an indictment. I often say this to my class,
the Lord Jesus never asked a question for information. He never asked a question for
information. Adam, where art thou? You don't
suppose God didn't know where Adam was. He wants to hear it
from Adam. Let's hear it from you. Cain,
where's your brother? The Lord knew where his brother
was. dead at Cain's hanging. Our Lord says, Simon, which one
of them is going to love him the most? I suppose he whom he forgave
the most. Now then, Simon, I'm going to
let you judge yourself. He turned to the woman. He said,
Simon, see this woman. See this woman. One person said,
you see her humility? You see her tears? You see her
contrite spirit? You see her broken heart? You
see her guilt? You know about it. You see this
woman? You see her love and devotion? You see her commitment to me
even in the face of all of these witnesses? You see this woman? Do you see her? I came into your house and you
gave me no water for my feet. Since I came in, she's washed
my feet with tears. I came into your house and you
gave me no kiss of greeting. With all respect, she kissed
my feet. I came into your house and you
didn't anoint my hair. She's anointed my feet. And I
say to you, Simon, her sins are forgiven. He didn't say anything about
Simon's sins. He's going to let Simon figure that out. He's just going to let him figure
it out. He's going to let him answer it himself. You see this woman? Do you see this woman? I pray
I see this woman. I pray God's given me the eyes
to see this woman. And given me the eyes to see
Simon and his wretchedness. And all the rest of religion.
Like I said one time, if a stick's crooked, you don't need to point
out the crooks in the stick. Lay a straight one down. You
see this woman? Her sins are forgiven. Do I want
mine forgiven? Then I better be there where
she is. You see this woman? See her spirit, attitude? Her sins are forgiven. Then if
I want mine forgiven, I need the same spirit and attitude.
Is that right? You see this woman? That's where
it is. Our Lord delights to show mercy. He's our help. Alright, let's
sing that number 10 in your hymn books. Number 10. Oh God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come. Number
10. Let's stand while we sing.