A Sinner Comes to Christ

Q: What does the Bible say about forgiveness of sins?

The Bible teaches that forgiveness of sins is available through faith in Christ, who came to save sinners (Luke 7:50). Forgiveness of sins is a central theme in the Bible, signifying God's mercy towards those who repent and believe in Jesus Christ. In Luke 7:36-50, Jesus forgives a sinful woman, affirming her faith and illustrating that no sin is too great for His grace. This passage shows that forgiveness is not earned, but is a gift extended to those who come to Christ with brokenness and repentance. The message of the Gospel emphasizes that through Christ's sacrifice, all who call upon Him in faith receive forgiveness and are made whole.

Q: How do we know that Christ saves sinners?

Christ saves sinners by demonstrating His grace and mercy in forgiving those who truly repent, as seen in the story of the sinful woman (Luke 7:36-50). The assurance that Christ saves sinners is deeply rooted in Scripture, particularly illustrated in the account of the sinful woman in Luke 7:36-50. Jesus declares her sins forgiven, highlighting His mission to seek and save the lost. The Gospel message affirms that salvation is not only for the righteous but extends to all who recognize their sinfulness and their desperate need for mercy. The story emphasizes that it is faith in Christ that leads to salvation and that He welcomes all who come to Him, regardless of their past. In His love and compassion, Christ fulfills the Father's plan to offer redemption to those who humble themselves before Him.

Q: Why is humility important for Christians?

Humility is vital for Christians as it positions them to receive grace and mercy from God, recognizing their need for Christ (James 4:6). The importance of humility in a Christian's life cannot be overstated. In the narrative of Luke 7:36-50, the woman demonstrates profound humility as she washes Jesus' feet with her tears, recognizing her own sinfulness and need for forgiveness. Jesus emphasizes that those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and the humble will be exalted (Luke 14:11). Humility allows believers to acknowledge their shortcomings and rely wholly on God's grace, which is freely given to the humble. It reminds Christians that before receiving salvation, one must acknowledge their lostness. This posture of humility opens the heart to experience the fullness of God's mercy and love.

I'm going to speak to you today
on this subject, A Sinner Comes to Christ. A sinner comes to
Christ. Now, I'd like for you to remember
that title and listen to the message and then order the tape
and listen to it again and pass it on to someone else. I think
it's a very important message, and I believe it's a message
that will be instructive. I'm taking my text from Luke
chapter 7. If you have a Bible handy, I
think it'd be a blessing to you to follow as I read the Scriptures.
In Luke chapter 7, verse 36 through 50, those are the verses, Luke
7, 36 through 50. Now, most of you are familiar
with this story. It's the story of the sinful
woman who came to Christ as He sat at meet in the Pharisees'
home. You remember? She came in and
she stood at His feet, and then she stooped down. and washed
his feet with tears, and dried them with the hair of her head,
kissed his feet, and then anointed them with precious ointment."
The story of the woman who came to Christ. And I want to look
again at this story and what's taught here. Now, I love to read
the experience of people whom I know came to Christ. Don't
you? People whom I know. on the authority of God's Word
came to Christ and were forgiven of their sins. Our Lord said
to this woman, Thy sins be forgiven thee. That's what he said to
her. She came to Christ and she received forgiveness. In fact,
he said before she left, Thy faith hath made thee whole. Now, I love to read the experience
of people whom I know, whom I know came to Christ. and found forgiveness. We don't seek an experience.
That's not what we're seeking. We seek Christ our Lord. And
we don't seek to have someone else's experience. I'm not asking
you to duplicate this experience. It's impossible, because the
Lord's not here on the earth in human flesh. And you can't
duplicate this experience. You wouldn't want to if you could,
because men and women are brought to Christ by the Spirit of God
under different circumstances. But we see here the purpose of
the Lord in relating an experience like this woman's experience
to magnify His grace. That's what it does. When we
read what happened to this woman by God's grace, it magnifies
His mercy and magnifies His grace and exalts His goodness to sinners. And then it reveals the kind
of people to whom our Lord is gracious. He came to save sinners. He came to seek and to save the
lost. He delights to show mercy to
the miserable and to the needy. And then not only that, but He's
gracious to call such to Himself. So that's what you see in an
experience like this. You see the grace of God magnified. And you see the people to whom
His grace is given. And then you see the command
for all who need Him to come to Him. So, you know, we need
to be reminded of this over and over again. We need to be reminded,
even you who know Christ, we need to be constantly reminded
of what we are by nature. Sinners, that's what we are by
birth and by nature, by practice. We're sinners. We need to be
reminded of that. We need to be reminded of who
He is. He's a just God and a Savior. He is the only Savior. And we
need to be reminded how He saves sinners through His blood and
through His righteousness. Christ said, I am the way, no
man cometh to the Father but by me. There's none of the name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Other
foundations can no man lay than that which is laid, Christ the
Lord. So listen to me now as I talk about a sinner who came
to Christ, a sinner like me and like you, who came to Christ
and found forgiveness and mercy and was made whole. And the first
thing we see here, look at verse 36. And one of the Pharisees
desired him, that is Christ the Lord, that he would come to his
home and eat with him. And the Lord Jesus went into
the Pharisee's house and sat down to eat. Now, the first thing
we have in this story is an invitation. This Pharisee invited the Lord
Jesus Christ to come to his home and have a meal. We have an invitation. Now, why did this religious Pharisee
invite the Lord Jesus to eat with him? This man was prominent
in religious circles. He was a powerful ruler. in the
synagogue in Jewish religion. He was a Pharisee. Why did he
invite the Lord Jesus to come to his home and eat with him?
Well, he didn't believe on him. We know that. And he didn't respect
him, not at all. He didn't wish to honor him because
he didn't even extend to him the common courtesies of that
day. Remember, our Lord rebuked him later. He said, you didn't
give me, when I came into your home, you didn't give me any
water to wash my feet. You didn't give me a kiss of
greeting. You didn't give me any oil to anoint my head. None
of these common courtesies were extended to the Lord Jesus Christ
when he came to this Pharisee's home. Why did he invite him?
He didn't believe on him. He didn't respect him. He didn't
wish to honor him. I tell you, he had heard. There's
two things here. He had heard what the crowd was
saying about Jesus Christ. Back there in Luke 7, if you
have your Bible, look back at verse 16. The people were saying
they had heard Christ, heard Him preach, saw Him raise the
widow's son from the dead. And this is what the people were
saying. A great prophet has risen up among us. A great prophet
has risen up among us. And the Lord has visited His
people by sending His prophet. Now, this Pharisee didn't believe
that. He believed Jesus Christ was an imposter. And so the reason
for inviting Christ to his home was to expose him. He believed
Jesus of Nazareth was a fraud, just like many other people.
They said, well, he's the carpenter. Can any good thing come out of
Nazareth? He's a winebibber. He's a gluttonous man. He's a
friend of sinners. all of these things they said
about him, and this Pharisee felt the same way. And he believed
Jesus of Nazareth was a fraud, and he wanted to expose him.
He didn't believe he was a prophet. You'll see that in a few moments,
because he said this, if this man were a prophet, he wouldn't
let this woman touch him. So he didn't believe on Christ,
all right? But he invited him to dinner. Now, the second thing
we have in this Scripture, look at verse 37. First in verse 36,
one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him,
and he came to eat with him. Then we have an interruption,
verse 37, And behold, while they sat at meat, a woman of the city,
who was a great sinner, when she heard that Jesus Christ sat
at meat in the Pharisees' house, She brought an alabaster box
of ointment, and came in, and stood at his feet, and began
to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hair
of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment."
Now, in the early part of this chapter, Luke 7, our Lord was
preaching, and multitudes heard Him. He was preaching on the
streets. And this woman was in that congregation. She was in that crowd, that multitude
that heard the Lord Jesus preach. She heard his wonderful words
of life. She heard the gospel that he
proclaimed. She heard him. And she went to
her house and got this valuable alabaster box of precious ointment. This was a valuable a bottle
or box of ointment. She went home and got it. She
intended to somehow anoint him. She was so moved by his message
and moved by his presence and moved in her heart by the grace
of this man, the grace that flowed from his lips, the scripture
said. She went home, got this ointment, and she came back and
he wasn't there. And she heard that he was at
the Pharisee's house. She was looking for Christ. She
was seeking Christ. And she heard that he was at
the Pharisee's house having dinner. Now, let me describe one of these
dinners at one of these houses back in this day. It wasn't just
one person eating with another. This was an important man, a
rich man, a leader, a ruler of the synagogue. When he had a
dinner, especially when he invited guests, there were many guests.
The Pharisee and his friends sat up here before the whole
group on an uppermost seat, an exalted seat. And all the guests
who had come to eat were out here on the floor. There was
a table spread, and the people sat around the table. They leaned
around the table. They would lie prone and lie
on cushions. They didn't sit in chairs like
we do around a table. That's how this woman could come
and stand at his feet. and then kneel down and anoint
his feet. If he had had his feet under
a table or under a chair, she couldn't have done that. But
he was prone, stretched out, leaning on cushions. And that's
this table was out here and for the Pharisee was up here and
the table was out in front of him. And all these people were
around that table, the guests. And then also in that room were
other people sitting around the walls listening to the exchange
of ideas and the discussion, the debates and the questions.
This Pharisee was going to interrogate our Lord. They were going to
talk, and all these people would sit around the walls and listen
to all that went on at this dinner. Well, they had begun the dinner,
and the Lord was lying there upon the cushions and leaning
upon the cushions along with the other guests eating, and
suddenly there was an interruption. The door opened, and when the
door opened, every eye turned that way, and in walked this
woman. They knew her. She was a prominent,
sinful, well-known woman of that town, a great sinner, according
to this Pharisee, a woman which was a sinner, probably a prostitute
or something of that nature. And she came in, and a hush fell
over that whole crowd. As she, her eyes, she had eyes
for one person in that room. It wasn't that religious Pharisee
nor his friends. She was looking at the Lord Jesus
Christ. She had heard him. Her heart
had been moved toward his gospel, toward him. She had that alabaster
box of ointment, precious, valuable ointment in her arms. She knew
what she was going to do with it. Pour it out on Christ. And she started walking toward
him, and you could have heard a pin drop. What's this woman
here for? What's she going to do? Well,
she came and stood at his feet and looked down at them, You
remember now, this man, when Christ came to dinner, did not
give him water to wash his feet. His feet were dusty and dirty. There he was a guest in this
man's home, neglected. He was despised and rejected
of men. A man of sorrow was acquainted
with grief. They hid their faces from him. They had no respect for him.
They harassed him and made fun of him and called him a devil.
And she stood there and looked down at his feet. and her heart
broke. Here was God's Son. Here's her
Lord. Here's the one who came to earth
in mercy to save sinners so hated, neglected. And she looked down
at those tired, dirty, dusty feet and just fell down there
and started weeping and crying, covering his feet with tears.
And then she un-plaited her braided hair and dried his feet with
the hair of her head. And then she started kissing
his feet in adoration. Someone said one time, sinners,
true sinners are always found at the feet of the Lord. That's
where Mary always sat, at His feet, at His feet. That's where
sinners are found. She wept, and she wept over her
sins, and wept over the neglect of the Lord Jesus, and wept over
the hardness of the hearts of the people, and wept over the
condition of her town, and wept over all their sins. And she
kissed His feet, and then she took that expensive, valuable
ointment and just broke it open and poured it on his feet. One
scripture said that whole place was filled with the fragrance
of that ointment, that precious ointment that she poured all
over his feet. Well, that's quite an interruption,
isn't it? Next follows an insinuation. Look at verse 39. And when the
Pharisee Here sat this religious imposter, hypocrite. Here he
sat, and he watched all of this as everybody else did. Not a
sound was made. They all watched as this woman,
which was a sinner, kissed the feet of the Lord and dried his
feet with her tears, with her hair, and then anointed it with
ointment. And he spake within himself. This is his thoughts. He might have shared them with
those around him, too. I knew this man wasn't a prophet.
I knew he wasn't a prophet. If this man were a prophet, he
would have known who this woman is and what manner of woman she
is. Did you hear what he said? He
would have known who she is and what kind of person she is. for this woman that touches him
is a sinner. He is a sinner. Well, what was
he? Well, he didn't believe he was
a sinner. He didn't. He was watching this
sinner kiss the feet of the Lord Jesus, and this is what was going
through his mind. I wouldn't let her touch me.
I'm too good. I'm too righteous. I'm too holy.
I'm too pure for such a person even to stand in my presence,
let alone kiss my feet. And if he were a prophet, if
he were a man of God, he wouldn't let her near him. That's where
he was all wrong. That's where his religion is
not the gospel. This man didn't know who Christ
was. Christ knew who this woman was.
Christ knew what manner of woman she was. Because it's folks like
her he came to save. He said, I've come to seek and
to save the lost. He was sitting at meat with a
bunch of folks just like her, with sinners. And these Pharisees
were watching as he sat at meat with these sinners. And they
said to his disciples, they said, Look at your master. Look at
your master sitting and eating with those sinners. Look at your
master. And our Lord said to them, He
said, The well do not need a physician, but they that are sick. I'm come
not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. You go
learn what that means. I will have mercy and not sacrifice.
Our Lord came to seek and to save the lost. The Scripture
says this, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation
that Jesus Christ is coming to the world to save sinners. That's
his mission. That's why he came. I'm so glad,
aren't you, that Christ saved sinners. commended His love toward
us, in that why were we yet sinners? Christ died for us. And this
Pharisee was insinuating that he wasn't a prophet because he
loved sinners, or he allowed sinners to come to him, and he
allowed sinners to touch him. That proves he's God's prophet,
priest, and king. He came to save sinners. The
songwriter put it this way, come you sinners, poor and needy. weak and wounded, sick and sore.
Jesus ready stands to save you, full of pity, love, and power. Come ye weary, you 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 have an invitation. This Pharisee
invited the Lord to come to his house, and he came. And as they sat at meat, there
was an interruption. Oh, what a blessed interruption.
A true sinner, a genuine sinner, a bona fide sinner, one sinner
out of all of these religious people, there was one sinner,
came and knelt at his feet. confessing sin, weeping, repenting,
drying his feet with hair, anointing his feet. And then we had an
insinuation. There was a religious man who
couldn't understand it. He couldn't enter into it. He
couldn't sympathize with it. He didn't feel his sin. He didn't
feel his need of Christ. He didn't see why Christ came.
He didn't understand why Christ had any dealings with this woman
at all. Then we have an inquiry. Look at verse 40. And our Lord
knew what this man was thinking. You see, my friends, men look
on the outward countenance. God looks on the heart. And the
Lord Jesus, as this woman washed his feet with tears and kissed
his feet, and she gave her attention to his feet there, I'm sure the
Lord's eyes were looking right at Simon, knowing what he was
thinking, knowing exactly what he was thinking. And old Simon
thought within himself, this man's no prophet. This man's
no prophet. If this man were a prophet, he
wouldn't let this woman, he'd know what she is and who she
is, and he wouldn't let her touch him. And he said, Simon, I bet
that shocked him out of his thoughts, Simon, I have something to say
to you. And he said, well, Master, say
on. He said, Simon, There was a certain
creditor who had two debtors. One owed him 500 pence, the other
only 50. Well, he frankly, freely forgave
them both. Simon, which one will love him
the most? And Simon answered, well, I suppose. I suppose. It's hard, the hardest
thing in this world is to pin down a religionist. He knew the
answer. He said, I suppose the one to
whom he forgave the most. And our Lord Jesus said, Simon,
thou shalt rightly say it. Thou shalt rightly say it. Both
were debtors as we are. Both had nothing to pay as we
have nothing to pay. He forgave them both, as the
Lord has forgiven us. Now, the one who truly loves
Him is the one to whom He forgave the most, the one most conscious
of his need, most conscious of his debt, most conscious of his
inability, most conscious of the Lord's mercy to him. Oh,
He's forgiven me so many times of so much. That's the one that
loves Him, like this woman. And then He said, Simon, do you
see this woman? Oh, he saw her. He didn't identify
with her at all. He saw her. He looked at her
with disgust. He saw her. The Lord Jesus said,
do you see this woman? And I ask you today, do you see
that woman? Can you, in your imagination,
I believe I can, go back to that time and look at her. You see
her attitude? Guilty, broken, repentant, Do
you see her humility? Here's a woman sitting at a man's
feet, kissing his feet, weeping, and washing his dirty feet with
her tears, and then taking her hair, the glory of her womanhood,
and wiping his dirty feet clean with her hair of her head. Take
a good look at her. Take a good look at her. That's
a repentant sinner. That's a genuine sinner. That's
a broken, guilty sinner. That's a sinner who knows she
needs mercy and knows the only one who can give her mercy, and
that mercy is found at his feet, humbling ourselves, humbling
ourselves before the Lord, seeking mercy. Simon, you see this woman? Now, Simon, look at yourself.
He said, I came to your home. You gave me no water to wash
my feet. This woman has not ceased to wash my feet with tears. Simon,
I came into your home. You gave me no kiss of welcome.
This woman is kissing my feet. Simon, I came into your home,
and you did not anoint my head with oil. You gave me no respect
and no honor. This woman has anointed my feet. Now, I say this to you, Simon,
Her sins, which are so many, are all forgiven. And that's where you stop. And
I know the rest, don't you? And yours, Simon. You don't think there are very
many. You don't think you owe very much. You've never gotten
a glimpse of your sins. You've never had any revelation
of your wicked heart. and your sinfulness. You're guilty
of the same thing she's guilty of. She enacted you in thought.
She in deed and you in imagination. You're just as guilty in the
sight of God, but you don't see it. You don't see it. And her
sins are many, and they're all forgiven. And yours, they're
still on you. They're still waiting upon you.
They're weighed upon you and waiting upon you to meet them
at the judgment. And then it says he turned to
the woman and he said, woman, thy faith hath made thee whole. Oh, that's an announcement. That's
an announcement. Oh, that God in his grace would
take this message home to our hearts. You know, before a man
is saved, he's got to be lost. Before a person is forgiven,
he's got to be a sinner. Before a person is clothed in
the righteousness of Christ, he has to be stripped of his
own righteousness. Before we're exalted, we've got
to be humble. We've got to come down. We've
got to come down. Man's never saved till he's lost.
If we miss Holy Spirit conviction, we're going to miss repentance.
And if we miss repentance, we're going to miss faith. And if we
miss faith, we're going to miss Christ. Oh, that we might be
brought to the feet of the Master. and brought to kiss His feet,
love Him, believe on Him. And I'll tell you this, when
we do, we'll take the valuables and pour them on His feet. Praise
God for His mercy to us. Now, this message is entitled,
A Sinner Comes to Christ, A Sinner Comes to Christ. And I want you
to write next Sunday, I'm going to be preaching on the subject,
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. I want you to hear
that message too. But this one this morning, a
sinner comes to Christ. And you can have this message
just for $2. Just write us here. The address
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and we'll send you the message and the one I'll be preaching
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this is the title, A Sinner Comes to Christ. Write for it. We'll
mail it to you. Now, until next week at this
same time, may God bless you, everyone.

A Sinner Comes to Christ

What does the Bible say about forgiveness of sins?

How do we know that Christ saves sinners?

Why is humility important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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A Sinner Comes to Christ

What does the Bible say about forgiveness of sins?

How do we know that Christ saves sinners?

Why is humility important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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