Now, I can tell you most emphatically,
and I think most of you were made aware of it while I was
reading those verses a moment ago, that the issue of the hour
in this city, the issue of the hour was, Who is this man, Jesus
of Nazareth? That was the issue. And that
was decidedly the issue at this particular time in this city.
Who is this man, Jesus Christ? In verse 15 and 16, when our
Lord raised the widow's son, it says, And he that was dead
sat up and began to speak. This all took place in this city
at this particular time. And he delivered him to his mother.
And there came a fear on all of the people around him. And
they glorified God and they said, a great prophet is risen up among
us, God has visited Israel. Now back in Deuteronomy, if you'll
turn over there a moment, Deuteronomy 18, this is important for you
to understand, Deuteronomy 18. You see, the Old Testament, I
said this in my message either last Sunday or Sunday before, Genesis 3.15, the Malachi says,
someone is coming, someone is coming. That's what the Old Testament
is all about. Someone is coming. He'll be the
seed of woman, he'll be the seed of Abraham, he'll be the tribe
of Judah, he'll be the family of Jesse, he'll be the household
of David. He'll be a prophet like Moses,
a priest like Melchizedek, a king like David. He'll fulfill every
prophecy, every promise, every picture, every type. He'll be
a tabernacle in which God will tabernacle among us. He'll be
a great high priest, he'll be a sacrifice, a sin offering,
he'll be all things, he'll be God in human flesh. That's what
Moses is saying here in Deuteronomy 18, verse 15. The Lord thy God
shall raise up unto thee a prophet. a prophet from the midst of thee,
of thy brethren, like unto me, unto him shall ye hearken. Verse
18, I'll raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like
unto thee, I'll put my words in his mouth, and he'll speak
unto them all I shall command, and he'll come to pass, and whosoever
will not hearken to my words which he shall speak, I'll require
of him." Now, that's what they are saying here in Luke 7. Verse
15, God has visited his people. Here is that prophet. In verse 19, John the Baptist
was down there in prison. Some of his disciples had told
him about the miracles of Christ and the message of Christ. John
the Baptist had pointed to Christ earlier when he came to him to
be baptized of him, and he said, Behold, the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. He said, I, John, saw in bare
record this is the Son of God. This is the Son of God. Well,
someone asked me just last week, they said, well, why did John
send these two men up there and ask Christ, are you that prophet?
Are you the Messiah? Are you the Christ? I don't know.
I don't know. He may have been despondent and
depressed at this time. Here he was in prison. He certainly
didn't expect it to end this way. It may be he was asking
for the benefit of these men whom he sent. I don't know, God
doesn't say. That's one of those scriptural
pills you swallow right away, Bob. Don't chew on it too long,
you'll come up with trouble. But what John is asking in verse
19 is asking Christ, Are you he? Are you he? Art thou he that
should come? Are you that prophet? That's
the issue of this hour. And then down here, well, turn
to John chapter 4 a moment. The woman at the well. This certainly
wasn't a religious woman. She probably wasn't even a church
member. Here was a woman who was different from the rest of
them. Even she knew about the Messiah
coming. She knew what the Old Testament
was saying. Someone's coming. Someone's coming. And she said,
after she had encountered Christ and he talked to her about living
water, talk to her about worshiping God, talk to her about her sins.
Well, she said, verse 25, the woman said, I know, this is what
I know, that Messiah coming, which is called the Christ, when
he come, he'll tell us all things. Jesus said unto her, I speak
unto thee But this was an issue here, and this is what the Old
Testament is all about. Someone is coming. The Old Testament
is not just a book of law and love and poetry and history.
It's a book of redemption. Someone is coming. And that was
the issue here when all of this was taking place. This dead man
was raised, and John the Baptist sent these fellows to inquire,
and then when he went to the home of this Pharisee, he turned
to verse 39, and this was what the Pharisee This was the issue
he was dealing with. When this sinful woman kissed
the feet of Christ, the Pharisee came to this conclusion, he's
not that prophet. He's not even a prophet. That's
what he's saying. Now, when the Pharisee, which
had bidden him, saw it, he spoke with himself and said, this man,
if he were a prophet, if he were, so there was some doubt in his
mind, some question in his mind. He was considering this thing.
Is he the prophet? And he said, he's not the prophet,
he wouldn't let this woman touch him. And then he stirred this
thing up again when he said to the woman, Thy sins be forgiven.
He looked at verse 49. And everybody that sat at meet
with him began to say within themselves, Who is this man? Who is this man that forgiveth
sins also? You see, the religious leaders,
and it's true in our day as well as that day, The Pharisees, the
scribes and the lawyers, did not understand the Old Testament.
They did not understand the prophecies concerning Christ. They did not
understand how he could come as a lamb, as a sin offering,
as a scapegoat, and then come later as a lion, as a king, a
judge. They didn't understand that.
The scribes and the lawyers did not understand the promises concerning
Christ. They did not understand the types
of the Messiah. They knew him not. It says he
was in the world, and the world didn't know him. He did not know
it. He said he came into his own,
he came to his own temple, he came to his own nation, he came
to his own law, he came to his own ceremonies, he came into
his own synagogue, and his own received him not. They didn't
recognize him. I think really Israel was looking
for a grand and glorious and glamorous king. They were looking
for God to restore them politically, militarily. to the place of prestige
over the nation. That's what they wanted. That's
exactly what they wanted. They wanted nothing to do with
a Savior. They wanted nothing to do with a Redeemer. They knew
nothing about their sins. They were good men, moral men,
righteous men. Was not God their Father? Were
they not sons of Abraham? Did not they have Moses? Did
they not have the law and the ceremonies and the temple? Their
religion consisted in their religion. Their religion consisted in their
works and their deeds and their ceremonies, much like most people's
religion today. They knew nothing of a substitute. They knew nothing of a Redeemer.
They knew nothing of how God can be just and justify the ungodly. They knew nothing of a sin offering.
They knew nothing of repentance and faith toward God. Therefore,
they didn't recognize Christ. Turn to Luke 11 just a moment,
let me show you something. This is what Christ said about
them, what our Lord said about them, Luke 11.52. And when he
says lawyers, he's not talking about attorneys down at the city
building. He's talking about religious lawyers, ecclesiastical
leaders, Pharisees, scribes and Sadducees. Warned you lawyers,
you've taken away the key of knowledge. You've taken away
the key of knowledge. You entered not in, into what? Into God's favor, into God's
mercy, into God's kingdom. You entered not in yourselves,
and them that are entering you hinder, you forbade, you restrain. Who is the key of knowledge?
It's Christ. It's Christ in his redemptive
work. It's Christ in his work of substitution. And these fellows didn't understand
it. That's what this story is all about here now in Luke 7.36.
The Lord summed the events of this day up with this story,
and there are 15 verses given today. 15 verses in this chapter
are given to the encounter between the prophet and the Pharisee
and the sinner. And what he's doing is giving
the character of Christ. They said, God is this to the
people, we've got the prophet. John the Baptist said, are you
the Messiah, are you the prophet that should come? The Pharisees
said, he's not the prophet, his actions prove he's not the prophet.
His actions prove he is the prophet, if you understand what he came
to do. This story, and this is no accident, let's look at it
under four headings. Number one, an invitation to
dinner. Number two, an interruption of
that dinner. Number three, an insinuation. and number four, an inquiry.
Let's look at the invitation to dinner, down here in verse
36. Now, one of the Pharisees, evidently
a very rich, influential, prominent man, desired Jesus Christ that
he would eat with him. So he went to the Pharisee's
house and sat down to eat. Now, this Pharisee was no dummy.
He was no dummy. He knew what was going on. He
had heard much of this Jesus of Nazareth from his friends,
and he probably had been a witness to what was going on this day.
Man was raised from the dead down on the corner. The head
Pharisee is not going to be unaware of it. People clamoring all over
the streets, Hey, the Prophet has come! God has bested his
people! The chief ruler and the senior guy is not going to be
unaware of it. He knew what was going on. And so he invited Christ
at an appropriate time, after all this preaching had gone on,
Christ had preached, he talked about John the Baptist, at an
appropriate time he came up and said, Come eat with me. I'm inviting
you to my house for dinner. Not to honor him, you'll see
that in a moment. Not even because he respected
him, because he didn't. Not because he admired him. Because
what went on down here, you see, he didn't. He didn't even give
him the common courtesy of having a boy wash his feet when he came
in off the street. That was done in any home. He
didn't give him a kiss of greeting. So he didn't invite Christ to
honor him, or because he respected him, or because he admired him.
He brought him there to examine him. These dinners were unusual. This wasn't a private dinner.
He didn't invite Christ to his home. and his wife prepared a
little meal, and he and the Lord sat around the table and talked.
These dinners were open affairs. I'll try to explain to you how
they were conducted. The Pharisee usually sat in the
chief seat. He was the host, he was the master
of ceremonies, he was the overseer of the whole affair. Those who
were invited as guests Lay around a sort of a small table, they
lay around on cushions. You can see that when the woman
came in and stood at his feet and then kissed his feet, he'd
been sitting in a chair, no way she could have done that. No
way in the world. But this ancient custom in these oriental times
is people reclined to eat. When I was in Japan after World
War II, we took our shoes off and sat on the floor and ate
off a little table about 6 or 8 inches high. And in this country,
they lay on pillows and they reclined. The food was in the
middle here, and the people just reclined from all angles. Their
feet were protruding out this way, and they were just lying
there eating. And these dinners were for discussion. They were for discussion. They
debated and discussed things, and Christ was brought there
for the particular purpose to examine him and to listen to
him and to do something about the events of this day. The people
were being carried away. Also, at these dinners, these
open affairs, most anybody could come in and sit around the wall. That's what we read in the books.
Here was the Pharisee, the host, and his special cohorts and colleagues. They usually sat with him up
here in a special place. Out there the guests reclined
around wherever the dinner was prepared, and around the wall
people sat on benches and listened to these great minds. And they
didn't say anything. Maybe among themselves they'd
say something, you know. But they listened to the exchange
of ideas and philosophies and all the things that these great
minds had to say. You say, well, how do you know
this took place? And turn to John chapter 21 a
moment. You see, and this is a mistake
that preachers and teachers make so often. They say, well, the
Lord didn't say that in that particular way in his Word. Now,
you listen to this right here, John 21, 25. And there are also many other
things which Jesus did and said, which if they were
written, every one, I suppose that even the world itself could
not contain the books that should be written. Our Lord had a lot
of conversations that are not in here. Thirty-three and a half
years? You couldn't put in a book what he said in thirty-three
and a half years, who he talked with, what he said? What God
has preserved for us by his Holy Spirit and the verbally inspired
word is what we need to hear, that which is necessary, that
which is needful, not that which will satisfy our curiosity, but
that which is needful and necessary for our knowledge of him. That's
what he's preserved. And here he's given 15 verses to this
encounter with this woman and Pharisee, so we'd better listen.
So they were out there, seated around, and they were carrying
on the conversation, and we look at verse 37. Verse 37, And behold,
a woman in the city which was a sinner, when she knew that
Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box
of ointment. Now, there are no accidents with
God. What is going to take place here? Here is the dinner, you
have the picture. There's the Lord out there, and they're buzzing
with talk, and they're exchanging banter and so forth, and he's
listening to them, and I'm sure he's having some things to say,
and these folks around the wall are listening. And in this great
hall here, this dining hall, I visited a castle in England.
The dining hall was as big as this auditorium here. The table
down the middle, you saw them Cecil, the table itself was as
big as that section right there with chairs around it and places
around the wall. That was going on at that dinner,
an elaborate dinner. And there was a woman. The way I picture this woman,
first of all, this woman had heard him out there preach. She
had to have heard what he was doing. She wasn't, she was no
dummy either. In other words, what was going
on in this town, the raising of that dead man and the clamor
about who this is, this prophet, and the message on John the Baptist,
this whole town was aware of what was going on, and evidently
she had heard him preach. She observed what he did, and
God opened her heart like he did Lydia's heart. When Paul
went down by the riverside to preach to those people who had
assembled there, Lydia was there, and God opened her heart. And
she listened to Paul preach and came to know Christ. And this
woman, this great sinner, this notorious woman, everybody knew
her, she heard Christ and God opened her heart and evidently
broke her heart and brought her to believe that Christ is the
Savior, he is the Messiah. The woman at the well did, just
like that. This woman I read the letter
from, I read you one letter from her last week and another letter
this week, that's just a matter of days, and that's me preaching.
think what the Lord can do. And this woman at the well came
to knowledge of Christ right there on the spot. And this woman
right here evidently came to love Christ and to believe on
Christ, and she went home. And she got the most precious
thing she had, a precious box of ointment, an alabaster box
of ointment. In fact, on another occasion
when Christ's feet was anointed with that precious alabaster
ointment, one of the disciples said, that's a terrible waste,
didn't Why, he sought to be sold and given to the poor. This woman
evidently went home and got the best she had. She was evidently
poor, but she did have an alabaster box of precious ointment. That
was the only possession probably she had. That which was dearest
to her and that which was of great value to her, that which
she had had for a long time, that which was probably of very
sentimental value, She got it and brought it in her honor.
Where's she going? She's going to take it to the Lord. Take it to the Lord. Oh, when will we learn that those
who know him belong to him? In heart, mind, soul, body, and
possessions. She heard him speak. She heard
him pray. She fell in love with him. And
love gives. Love gives. Love has to be restrained
sometimes. It wants to give everything it's
got. A good sign that you don't love Christ is when you don't
give. That's the acid test. This woman went home and got
the best she had. She's going to do something with it. I'll
tell you what she's going to do with it in a minute. So she had heard
he was eating with that Pharisee. She knew where he was. And she
went down there. And don't you know how embarrassing
this is to her? Don't you know what she's going
to face when she opens that door? But she was aware of that. The
ridicule, the shame, all these things, imagine she's going to
step right in front of all these people. Well, she opened that
door, and I know what happened. A hush fell over that room. A
hush fell over that room. And as the hush began to cover
the room, folks began to look in the direction everybody else
was looking. And they looked back there and saw her. Every
eye was on her, I believe, but one pair of eyes, and that's
Christ. I don't believe he even turned around. He knew who she
was. He knew where she was. He knew what was going on. I
just imagine he was looking at that Pharisee to see his reaction. When that door opened, he never
turned his head. He watched him. And they all watched, and a hush
fell over that room. And she looked around like a
little frightened deer. And she looked around until she
saw him. herself Christ. And she hurried over to where
he was, not a word was spoken, and she fell at his feet, verse
38. It says, stood at his feet, but
I've just got to say she fell at his feet, behind him. She
was reclining there, and she began to weep. I don't think
she wept over her sins. I believe she grieved and mourned
and wept over her sins, her life, her her sins, and I think she
wept over something else. She held in her hands those dirty
feet, those dirty, hot feet. And she wept over the neglect,
the neglect, how they've neglected, my Lord, how they've misused,
my Lord. Here he is, God in the flesh. Here he is, a revelation
of God himself. Here he is, that prophet, and
men don't know and don't care. If that won't break your heart,
nothing will. They don't care. They don't care. They don't care
what to do to him, to his people. And he said, inasmuch as you've
done it to one of the least of these, you've done it to me,
and I'll require it at your hands. I'll require it at your hands.
Touch not mine anointed, I'll deal with you. And she wept over
the way he'd been treated. She wept over her sins, and tears
just flowed, just flowed, and she kissed his feet. And they
were wet with her tears and wet with her kisses. And then she
had her hair, the harlots in those days plaited their hair.
And she began, not a word was spoken. Everybody was looking,
the Pharisee in total shock, total shock. And the people were
punching one another. Christ just lay there. And they
all watched him and watched her, him and watched her. And she
unplaited her hair. And this took a while. And she
kissed those feet again, and then she dried his feet with
the hair of her head. Dried every tear off his feet. And then she took that precious
ointment, that precious bottle, and broke the top off of it.
And I know a gasp went over that girl. And she poured it out. She literally poured it out on
his feet. And I believe it buzzed then.
One fellow said, that's worth a thousand. What a waste! What a waste! Waste? Waste? Our Lord said something about
that it will be told on her as long as this world stands. Wonder
what he said, Charlie? As long as this world stands.
Don't tell me I've wasted my time and what little money God's
put in my hands to give it away. Don't you tell me that. You don't
know the blessing. She took the best she had and
poured it out, poured it out on his face, just poured it out. And then she kissed him again.
Well, this is where conviction puts a sinner at the feet of
Christ. This is where mercy finds him at the feet of Christ. This
is where grace is bestowed upon him at the feet of Christ. This
is where the grace and mercy and love of God falls at the
feet of Christ. Well, there was an insinuation
there, and look at verse 39, sad, sad, sad. Always the practical
Pharisee, always the practical Pharisee. What was he doing while
this was going on? Now, when the Pharisee which had bidden
him saw it, he saw it, he saw it, you're hearing it. What was
he doing all this time? He was watching. He was watching. mentally or emotionally, he's
dead spiritually. But he's watching, and he was feeling quite self-righteous. When he saw that woman come in,
he thought, what's she doing here? She's got no right to be
here. This is a gathering of good people. She's got no right to be in this
crowd, no right whatsoever. I do, she doesn't. And then he
began to question the Lord's character. He felt so smug and
self-righteous and pious. And then he began to question
our Lord's character and question his mission. And he said, this
man, if, if he were a prophet, if he were, I don't believe he
is, but if he were, he would know, he would have known who
and what manner of woman this is that touches him. That was
the major problem right there. Our Lord God, in his marvelous
wisdom, is bringing the whole thing to a head. Christ did know
what manner of woman she was. She knew what manner of woman
she was, and she knew him to whom she was coming. The problem
was, the Pharisee didn't. He was the one that didn't know
anything. He was the poor, passed-by problem. He was the poor, passed-by rebel. He was the poor, passed-by man
who would never participate in God's mercy, because he could
never be brought down. God will never save a man until
he can break him. God will never clothe a man until
he can strip him. God will never give grace in the heart until
he breaks it. I guarantee you. He'll let you suppose that you're
saved. He'll let you play your religious games. He'll let you
belong to your churches and your society. He'll let you cooperate
in religious programs. He'll let you do all those things
and be two-fold more the child of hell than the fellow that
made you that type of person. He'll send you strong delusions
that you'll swear on a stack of Bibles you have the fullest
assurance of an interest in Christ. He'll have you raise your hand
in meetings and say, I'm as sure for heaven as if I was already
there, and you're as sure for hell as if you was already there.
The Pharisee didn't understand. If this man were a prophet, yes,
he is the prophet. And he knew what she was, because
those were the kind of people he came to save. He said that
over and over again. Turn to Matthew 9. He said it.
He said it to this very bunch of Pharisees. But they didn't
learn. They didn't learn. Men don't
learn very well. It has to be revealed. He said
it to them. Isn't it a shame we can hear
the same thing a dozen times and it never becomes a part of
us? It came to pass in Matthew 9, verse 10, as Jesus said it
to me in the house, that many publicans and sinners came and
sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it,
they said, Why? They said to his disciples, Why? Why does
he eat with sinners? Why does your master eat with
publicans and sinners? Why does he do that? And Jesus
heard that, and he said to them, They that are whole, or think
they are, do not need a physician, but they that are sick. Go learn
what that means. I will have mercy, that's what
I came to show. Mercy, not your sacrifice, not
your gifts, not your religious ceremonies, that's not what pleases
me. I delight not in sacrifice and
burnt offerings. I'm not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repent it. Come ye sinners, poor and needy,
weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus, ready, stands to save
you, full of pity, love and power. Come, ye sinners, 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. Come, ye needy." In Jesus' verse
40, he said, Simon, I've got something to ask you. And he
said, Well, say on, Master. And then he told him that story.
Here's a man heavily in debt, head over heels in debt, has
nothing to pay. He just owes an enormous debt,
an enormous goes back to the Garden of Eden when he was indebted
by trying to throw God off his throne. That's big debt, big
debt. Goes back yonder to all of his
past, present, even his future, big debt. The interest on it
keeps accumulating. He owes such a horrendous, momentous,
monumental debt That not only can he not pay that, but he can't
pay the accumulated interest in the future days. It just keeps
piling up, piling up. And when he had nothing to pay,
the Master forgave him. It's all blotted out. Blessed
is the man to whom God will not charge sin. Happy is the man
to whom God will not impute a But he said there's another fellow
that just owed him a quarter, fifty cents, and he was just
temporarily indisposed. He was temporarily out of funds.
He'd get it later, you know, it wasn't that big, it wasn't
that important, but while the master was wiping off all the
debts, he wiped his off too. But it wasn't any big thing. He was just low on funds at this
time, and just caught in between. caught in a moment of weakness
and didn't have anything to pay, and he put that away. He said,
Simon, which of them will love him the most? Well, he hated
to say it, because he preceded his remark with this, I suppose
you know good and well that's all. That's all he could say. Christ hemmed him up in a corner. I suppose that he to whom he
forgave the most," he said, you rightly said. I'll tell you what
you think of me, Simon. I came in your home, and you
didn't give me any water to wash my feet. It was just a little,
Dad. You didn't know much. This woman,
since I came in, she's washed my feet with tears and wiped
them with her hair. You didn't even at the door give
me a kiss of respect. I have welcomed this woman since
I came in, and have not ceased to kiss my feet. And my head,
when I came through that door, you didn't anoint it with any
oil. You didn't have the common courtesy. I've been out in that
hot sun. You didn't have the common courtesy
to give me some cooling, soothing oil for my head. That woman felt
no worthiness to anoint my head. She took everything she had and
poured it over my feet. And I've got something to say
to you now. which are many are all forgiven,
all forgiven. And God Almighty couldn't enter
heaven this morning and give you a greater gift. God Almighty
couldn't roll back the clouds and give you a greater gift than
that gift right there, all forgiven, all forgiven. He couldn't make
you king of ten thousand worlds and give you the gold and silver
and every mine and the cattle on a thousand hills. It would
be as if you understood If you understood, that which has separated
you and God is your sins, and if those are removed, you have
everything. And he said, Her sins are all
forgiven, and to whom little is forgiven, same love is little. Who is this man that forgiveth
sins? Well, I am persuaded, and I tell
you this with all my heart, I am persuaded beyond a shadow that
he is that prophet of whom Moses wrote. I am persuaded that he
is that priest, after the order of Melchizedek, who blesses his
people with the bread and wine. I am persuaded that he is that
King of kings and Lord of lords to whom the Heavenly Father hath
given all things, and highly exalted him, and given him a
name above every name. And God said, I have sworn by
myself, I can swear by no greater, the word is gone out of my mouth,
it shall not return, every knee is going to bow. Every knee is
going to bow. Every knee is going to bow in
the dust at his feet. And every pair of lips is going
to kiss his feet. Every pair of lips is going to
kiss his feet. And every eye is going to weep with tears of
repentance. And every tongue is going to
proclaim that he is the Lord. He is the Lord. And there is
not a doubter or a rebel in the whole bunch that is going to
be included. My judgment and wrath will fall upon them, their
sins which are many. of all forgiveness. Can you find
yourself there this morning at the feet of the Prophet, at the
feet of Christ, bringing all that you are in sin and guilt,
just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for
me, and that thy abyss may come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come.
And bringing all that is precious to you and all that is valuable
to you, and just pour it on his feet. It is, Lord. Here is all
that I am and all that I have. You're my king. Take up your
cross and follow me." That's what he said. If any man denies
not himself and takes not up his cross and follow me, he's
not fit for the kingdom of God. That's what he said. He that
loveth father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, his own
life more than me is not fit for the kingdom of God. Broken,
we're erect rebels, standing straight and tall. And God's
people are broken at his feet, and that's where they remain. And that's the truth. That's
the truth. Our Father, we pray for an anointing
of the Spirit of God, not only upon the pulpit but the pew.
How tragic, how terribly tragic, to someday find that we were
sitting in the seat of the judge, the Pharisee. or the curiosity
group, and we weren't found at his feet. Never having been broken,
never having been stripped, never having been humiliated, never
having kissed the sun, and only to hear thee say, Depart from
me, I never knew you, you never loved me, you never knew me,
and I never knew you. Grant, O Lord, a stripping, a
breaking, a humbling of our proud self-sufficient, self-righteous
hearts, put us in the place of the poor fallen sinner at the
feet of Christ with all that we have, all that we are, just
like we are, looking to him. He'll get the glory and the honor.
We'll be ashamed, but not in his presence, ashamed of ourselves
and of our sins and of our inability and of our failure to glorify
him. and you'll speak, thy sins are
forgiven, go and sin no more. Make this blessing to be ours
to possess, not in theory, not in word, but O Lord in heart. For Christ's sake we pray, Amen.