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Unashamed! (Luke 7:36-50)
11 Plays4 days ago
Sunday Message recorded 27 April 2025
by Senior Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church - Columbus, TX, USA
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
Reading from the Gospel of Luke
00:00:06
Speaker
Well, would open God's Word Luke, the Gospel of Luke, chapter 7. We're down to about verse 36. Luke chapter 7, we'll begin verse 36 and read to the end of the chapter.
Love for Gospel Music
00:00:21
Speaker
You know, i really enjoy the the songs today, Lifting Up the Lord. don't know about you, but I try to keep growing in my song collection that I enjoy praising the Lord with. If you ever see me driving around town, you may see me singing sometime. Just be glad the windows are up and not down. That's all I can say.
00:00:40
Speaker
But I usually have one song that sort of just grabs my heart. And last month, that favorite song was a song by Toby Mac called Heaven on My Mind. i don't know if you've heard that one, but it was a favorite for last month.
Matthew West's Song 'Unashamed'
00:00:54
Speaker
But this month, I've really been captured by a song by Matthew West called Unashamed.
00:01:00
Speaker
I love that song. The chorus of Matthew West's song Unashamed goes like this. I'm unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth that changed my life.
00:01:12
Speaker
For the name above all names, I'm unashamed, and I will live my faith out loud. Take a stand and stand my ground. For the one who took my shame, I'm unashamed.
00:01:25
Speaker
think it's so well written, that song. You know, Matthew West said in an interview that what inspired him toward personal boldness with the gospel and taking a stand for his faith was biblical characters like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel, and so forth.
00:01:45
Speaker
But Matthew West told Caleb last Monday, he said that the reason he produced that new song that he sang recently, there's a picture of it actually, he sang it from the rooftops of downtown Nashville. Being a Tennessee boy, that meant a lot to me.
00:02:02
Speaker
But anyway, here's what he said about that. He said, you know, being unashamed, about my faith really comes from being excited to share with the world what God has done in my life.
00:02:16
Speaker
I know what he rescued me from. i know how lost I'd be without him. And it's from that place of gratitude that I find a desire to tell anyone who can hear me that Jesus loves you.
Gratitude and Forgiveness in Luke 7
00:02:31
Speaker
ah love that. You know, that's what we're going to see in motion in God's word this morning in Luke chapter 7, verse 36 and following. You're to see this surprising and shocking action of an unnamed person.
00:02:48
Speaker
an ungodly woman as she unashamedly, as she unashamedly expressed her gratitude for forgiveness of her sins to Jesus.
00:03:00
Speaker
Her actions spoke so loudly that Jesus spoke up clarifying and amplifying her heartfelt gratitude was for the forgiveness that she had received.
00:03:12
Speaker
So I want you to look with me at Luke 7, verses 36 through 50. I want us to look through this passage, and I pray that this will ignite a fire in us that we would want to tell others. Would you stand in honor of God's inerrant inspired word?
00:03:28
Speaker
Here's what it says, beginning in Luke 7, 36. One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table.
00:03:39
Speaker
And behold, a woman of the city who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house... brought an alabaster flask of ointment and standing behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.
00:04:09
Speaker
Now, when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to him, if this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who's touching him, for she's a sinner.
Parable of the Two Debtors
00:04:27
Speaker
And Jesus answering said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he answered, say it teacher. A certain moneylender had two debtors.
00:04:39
Speaker
One owed 500 denarii and the other 50. And when they could not pay, he canceled the debt of both. Now, which of them will love him more?
00:04:52
Speaker
Simon answered, the one, i suppose, for whom he canceled the larger debt. And he said to him, you have judged rightly. Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, do you see this woman?
00:05:11
Speaker
I entered your house and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and what wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet.
00:05:27
Speaker
You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you her sins, which are many,
00:05:39
Speaker
are forgiven for she loved much, but who is forgiven little loves little.
Faith and Forgiveness
00:05:48
Speaker
And he said to her, your sins are forgiven.
00:05:53
Speaker
And then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, who is this who even forgives sins? And he said to the woman,
00:06:04
Speaker
Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Let's go to the Father in prayer. Lord, we're always hungry for a fresh word from your word.
00:06:15
Speaker
And so we pray that you would make this passage just come alive. You already promised that your word is living and active, that it can pierce down way beyond all of our defenses.
00:06:27
Speaker
And so Lord, we're gonna go ahead and open up our hearts right now and say, Lord, we need to hear. We need to hear about the gospel. We need to hear about forgiveness. But we also need to hear how you can forgive others of their sins.
Comparison with Mary in Bethany
00:06:41
Speaker
And so let it be a transformational experience as we come encounter with the true and the living God who's risen from the dead and who is still changing lives just like he changed this woman's life in this passage.
00:06:54
Speaker
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank You you may be seated. You know, this incident of the penitent woman, it's only recorded by Luke. It's not in the other gospels.
00:07:07
Speaker
Now you may say, no, wait a minute. I thought I read in Matthew or Mark or John about someone anointing his feet. Yet that was Mary. That wasn't this lady.
00:07:18
Speaker
And this event is in Galilee. But that event you're referring to in Matthew, Mark and Luke, Matthew, Mark and John, that was in Bethany. And so both were in the house of someone named Simon, but here it's Simon the Pharisee.
00:07:34
Speaker
But in Mary's case, when she anointed Jesus' feet, it was he was Simon, the man who lives in Bethany, and he's called a leper.
00:07:46
Speaker
So just think of the difference between those two. But there's ample biblical fuel in this text to ignite a holy fire of gratitude for the forgiveness that each one of us have received from Jesus Christ. So I want us to look back through here and see what can we learn about forgiveness from this passage.
00:08:08
Speaker
The first thing I wanna call your attention to is verse 36. Would you look at it with me, please? I want you to notice the invitation toward forgiveness. Luke records three invitations by Pharisees.
00:08:22
Speaker
I mean, you wouldn't think that a Pharisee would want Jesus to come and eat at his house, but three times in Luke 7, 36, in Luke and in Luke one.
00:08:34
Speaker
but you know what jesus did He didn't say no to the Pharisee. He went every single time. But you know who he also went into the home of? A tax collector. They called him back then publicans.
00:08:47
Speaker
And so he wasn't just going into the home of a Pharisee. He went in the home of publican. Do you remember when we went through chapter 5 in verse 29? There was a tax collector named Levi. Levi.
00:08:59
Speaker
And he invited Jesus to his house and he invited a lot of other tax collectors to his house. And you know what? Jesus accepted that invitation. There was another tax collector that we haven't gotten to yet in Luke's gospel. In chapter 19, verses 6 through 10, his name was Zacchaeus.
00:09:16
Speaker
He and I got something in common. Man of little stature. But Zacchaeus also was saying to Jesus, hey, you're welcome at my house. Is Jesus welcome in your heart? Is he welcome in your home?
00:09:30
Speaker
Is he welcome in your life? Are you going to say, Lord, my future is wide open to you. I want whatever you want for me. Do you know the the word ask there? It says in this verse 36, one of the Pharisees asked him.
00:09:46
Speaker
That word's not commanded him. That word is like a request. So this man requested, Jesus, would you come? The Bible scholar J.C. Ryle notes how the Pharisee shows outward civility and respect toward Jesus, and yet there was no inward commitment or devotion toward Jesus.
00:10:10
Speaker
So if that's the case, why would Jesus even go? Well, I've got something I'd like for me you to think about. Even if it was window dressing for the Pharisee, I think that Jesus saw it as an opportunity to introduce the Pharisee to genuine repentance and forgiveness, to show him his way. And perhaps Jesus was even saying, I would welcome you. I invite you to come to faith in me, speaking for Jesus.
00:10:42
Speaker
It's kind of like where Romans 5a, you remember what it says? But God demonstrates his own love toward us, all of us. But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
00:10:57
Speaker
So you see, he would he would say, I'll invite anybody. in but But let's move to the second thing. As we go to verses 37 and 38, we learn something else about the forgiveness that is portrayed here. And that is the indication of forgiveness.
00:11:13
Speaker
You know, someone's going to come on to the biblical platform in these verses. It's this woman. She's going to come and she is not, we're not given her name, but we are told what she's like.
00:11:25
Speaker
And all it says is that she was a sinner. She was a woman of the city who was a sinner.
00:11:35
Speaker
You know, the best way to convince the artificial is to introduce them to the authentic. And I think that there was something authentic about this woman who, even though she was so sinful, she was genuine. She was real.
00:11:50
Speaker
Do you remember when you when you were like that? do you remember that maybe before, if you were like me, I grew up in a Baptist church. I grew up around Christianity and Christians. And I mean, I knew how to kind of play the game.
00:12:03
Speaker
But when I went to college, No longer were all of those guardrails there to keep me going to church. I had decide, will I go for myself? You know what I chose?
00:12:15
Speaker
I chose to drop out. I chose not to go to church. But then there came this one point in my life when I realized something bad, something is missing, and I feel it within my heart.
00:12:27
Speaker
And it was Christ. He was not a part of my life. So I called my uncle and I said to him, ah would like to go to church with you. I'll never forget it. When the phone is ringing, i had not called this uncle the whole time.
00:12:40
Speaker
When he answered the phone, he said, what time do you want me to pick you up? And I said, hey, Uncle Wayne, this is Victor, your nephew. And he said, yeah, I know. And I said, this is before caller ID, guys. I mean, i'm I'm like a dinosaur. This is before caller ID.
00:12:58
Speaker
And so I was so shocked that he knew that it was me. And I said, well, how did you know? and he said, well, we've been praying for you all day. And I was like. Okay, this is Twilight Zone stuff for me. But I said, whatever time you're going, i would like to go if you don't mind. And so I went.
00:13:17
Speaker
But you know, when I went, I saw the real, the authentic, the genuine. Perhaps today you're going to be around people in your Sunday school class or maybe even in your family.
00:13:29
Speaker
People that are, they're not playing a game. It's real for them. And they're living it out in the way that they do their work, in the way that they build relationships. And you're going to be impressed by that. As a matter of fact, I can't get away from 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3 verses 1 through 6.
00:13:44
Speaker
first peter three verses one through six Because it tells us that if you have a situation where you have a godly wife and a disobedient husband, it says to her, what's the best way to win your husband over?
00:13:59
Speaker
Nagging him? Nope, that's not it. It's not nagging. It says, you live it out. You demonstrate it in your gentle and quiet spirit.
00:14:10
Speaker
You show how real it is for you. And so I thought, wow, that's exactly what this woman did. She demonstrated something that was real. It indicated already she must have heard the message of Jesus already. She came into the room already saying, I'm unashamed.
00:14:32
Speaker
But can you imagine a woman like this who's known as a woman, a sinner in the city? She goes into a Pharisee's house uninvited.
00:14:43
Speaker
and just goes right up to Jesus. Man, that's that's like unashamed. What would ever cause her to do that? I think there's indications that she had already experienced forgiveness.
00:14:55
Speaker
For example, let's look at her actions. I think, number one, she was aware that she needed what only he could offer. You know, if you're not going to go to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, what will you do with your guilt?
00:15:09
Speaker
What will you do with your mistakes? How will you ever be able to get past the bad things that you've chosen to do in your life? But also I noticed that she was responsive to what she had heard.
00:15:22
Speaker
It says that she learned that he was in there. She knew that he was in there. She had heard it somewhere around town. They said, hey, Jesus is over at the Pharisees house. And you know what she did? She said, I'm going.
00:15:34
Speaker
She was responsive to what she had heard. Are you responsive to what you've heard? ah believe she was also honoring. She honored him with what she had.
00:15:47
Speaker
Maybe this alabaster flask of ointment, maybe that's just all she had. That's the best she had. And so what she said was, Jesus, I'm so grateful for the forgiveness. I'll give you the very best I have.
00:16:00
Speaker
Sometimes I feel like we give Jesus the leftovers and the scraps of our life. And it's like, he's worthy of the best of our life for all that he's done, for all the sins that he's forgiven, for all the sacrifice that he gave.
00:16:15
Speaker
But also I noticed that she surrendered to him by where she stood. You know, back then they used to lean on their left elbow and they had their feet going away from the table. It was a small table.
00:16:27
Speaker
Like when I was serving in Japan, we used to sit at small tables. As matter of fact, sometimes I'd tell them right in the middle of a meal, I'd say, look, I got to get up. This cross-legged stuff is really getting to me. And i would get up and have to move my legs around.
00:16:43
Speaker
But, you know, she didn't go up to where his head was. What does the text say? She stood back there behind his feet. She stood away. She's like, I'm not worthy to come up to the table.
00:16:56
Speaker
But I'll take my stand right here. I'll stand at the foot of Jesus. I think she was sorry for what she had done. i think that's what the tears were all about, but they weren't just tears of sorrow. I think it was tears of gratitude. She's like, I cannot believe that someone like you would welcome someone like me.
00:17:17
Speaker
And so she expressed to him how she felt. You see, the actions of this woman clearly indicated her grief for her sin, but her gratitude.
00:17:30
Speaker
over her savior. I believe it was real and I believe it was genuine. And I believe that's why this is in the word of God, because it's an indication that she had already begun to experience forgiveness.
00:17:43
Speaker
So now the biblical camera is going to kind of pan and switch and transition. And now it's going to be on the Pharisee. So let's take a look at the Pharisee in verses 39 and 40. thirty nine and forty and what do we see?
00:17:57
Speaker
Well, to be honest, to be honest with the text and honest with you, ah think his and his intention was far away from asking Jesus for forgiveness.
00:18:09
Speaker
If you were to go back, not here in Luke 7, but you were to go back to Luke 6, verses 7 and 8, Luke 6, verses 7 and 8, you would see that the Pharisees were looking for something with Jesus.
00:18:24
Speaker
They were searching. They were really watching him closely. Oh, they wanted to know more about forgiveness. No, that's not what it says in Luke 6, 7, and 8. It says that what they were looking for, they were looking for something that they might find a reason to accuse him.
00:18:40
Speaker
So what if this Pharisee's whole dinner invitation was all about setting Jesus up? I'm going to catch him doing something wrong, and I'm going to be able to bring down everybody on top of him.
00:18:56
Speaker
The Bible scholar John MacArthur says that Jesus knew that Simon had evil intentions. Jesus knew he had incriminating he was looking for incriminating evidence.
00:19:08
Speaker
Jesus knew that Simon wanted to mount a case against him. And you can hear it in Simon's question. You see, he has a question on his mind. What's the question on your mind today?
00:19:20
Speaker
Here was the question on Simon's mind. When he saw the woman, he said, if this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who's touching him for she's a sinner. So his question was, he can't be real.
00:19:37
Speaker
He can't be the Messiah because he would know she's a sinner. So Jesus, you know what? For every question that you have and I have, that we have, that Simon has, for every question, Jesus has an answer.
00:19:53
Speaker
And he says, Simon, I got an answer for you. I got something I'd like to share with you, Simon. And so Simon, in a sarcastic manner, I think, sarcastic tone, he says, say on, teacher. Say it, teacher.
00:20:10
Speaker
The Bible scholar who's a Greek expert, A.T. Robertson, he cites a man named Frederick Godot and says that what this is, it's called the Socratic. Remember Socrates? The Socratic irony.
00:20:24
Speaker
Socratic irony involves pretending to be ignorant to show someone else is ignorant. Thus, the irony. You see, Simon is pretending to need instruction. Say it, teacher.
00:20:40
Speaker
hoping to expose the ignorance or the inconsistency of Jesus.
00:20:47
Speaker
You know, I think we need to be aware that even if, like Simon, one keeps inner thoughts and inner agendas to oneself, The Lord may still give you an answer like he did silent Simon and say, here's what you need to know, Simon.
00:21:05
Speaker
And wow, he's about to really bust things wide open. Why don't we move to that next point, verses 41 to 43, when we'll see Jesus, the teacher. He said, say it, teacher. So Jesus is like, okay, I'm going to use a parable and I'm about to give you instruction.
00:21:23
Speaker
So let's see what the instruction is on forgiveness in verses 41 to 43. He gives what could be called a mini parable, just a short one of two debtors.
00:21:36
Speaker
And they're very different in a way, you know, because one debtor owes 500 denarii and the other debtor owes 50 denarii. Well, the one who owes 500 denarii, how much was that? Well, it was quite a bit.
00:21:50
Speaker
As a matter of fact, back then, that would have taken a person a little less than two years to pay it off. So imagine being so in debt that it's going to take two years of you working hard in order to pay it back.
00:22:05
Speaker
That's a lot. That's 500 denarii. But the other guy, not so much, not as much as that. Anyway, he owed 50 denarii, which was worth about maybe two months, two months wages.
00:22:19
Speaker
But even though they were different in that way, it's kind of like when the Bible says in Romans 3.23, have sinned. All have sinned. Me, you, all of us. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
00:22:31
Speaker
You see, there's an insolvency because it didn't matter if he owed 500 denarii or the other guy owed 50 denarii. The fact is they can't pay it back.
00:22:42
Speaker
They don't have enough to pay what they owe. And so that's the problem. They could not pay is what the text says. And so not only did they have insolvency in common, they had one other thing.
00:22:55
Speaker
ah This is where it gets good. Mercy. You see, they had mercy. It says that this money lender canceled the debt of both men.
00:23:07
Speaker
Do you know that the word canceled there mercy? Karizomai. You know what karis is in Greek? It's the word for grace. So karizomai means to have grace upon somebody. It means to bestow an unconditional favor. It means to forgive. And if you're talking about a debt, you know what it means?
00:23:27
Speaker
It means you cancel. You remit the debt.
00:23:32
Speaker
So Jesus had a relevant question for Simon. Simon. Which of them, the one that owed 500 denarii or the one that owed 50 denarii, which of them would love the money lender more?
00:23:47
Speaker
So Simon gives a reluctant answer. ah I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt. Wow. There's a truth that under under is underneath the surface. i don't want you to miss it.
00:24:03
Speaker
I spent time this week with the text, so I want to bring it out there in the open so you don't miss it. The truth is this, that great love comes from great forgiveness.
00:24:14
Speaker
Oh, if you'd have known my life when I was in college, if you'd have known my life, you know, when I was in high school, you would say to me, you have no right to stand in a pulpit.
00:24:25
Speaker
And you would be right to say that. But you see, all of my sins, all of my sins were canceled. All my sins were washed away. And that's the same for you.
00:24:37
Speaker
Whatever they were, they were washed away the the day that you said yes to Christ. Do you remember what Paul wrote to a man in the small little letter, Philemon?
00:24:49
Speaker
He writes to his friend Philemon, and there had been a runaway slave, Onesimus. And Onesimus had stolen from the master some things from his house. And you remember what Paul said in Philemon 18 and 19?
00:25:04
Speaker
He said, Paul says to Philemon, he says, look, whatever Onesimus owed you, put it on my tab, I'll pay it. Because if somebody forgives debt, then somebody's gonna have to step up and pay that debt.
00:25:19
Speaker
And you know what he says? The money lender in the parable says, I'll cover the debt. And I think that's exactly what God did with our sins. That's exactly what he Jesus did when he died on the cross.
00:25:32
Speaker
He said, you know what? I'll pay what you owe. That's why it says substitutionary debt. But notice the indifference to forgiveness that's portrayed in verses 44, 45, 46.
00:25:47
Speaker
You see, it isn't it kind of shocking that Jesus turns, it says, then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon. So it's like if Simon is on this side, he says, he takes he looks at the woman, let's say the woman is that guitar, and he says to the woman, Simon, you know, it's like Simon's back there.
00:26:09
Speaker
And so anyway, it's so interesting how that happens. But he contrasts Simon's indifference with this woman's diligence.
00:26:22
Speaker
You see, while this the Pharisee, Simon, was grumpy, she was grateful. While Simon was insulting, guess what she was doing? She was exalting. She was happy.
00:26:33
Speaker
She was exalting the Lord and so excited. You see, Simon hadn't really, he hadn't really seen the woman. And that's why when Jesus says to Simon, he said, Simon, have you...
00:26:47
Speaker
Have you seen the woman? Have you really looked at her? And remember, he's not looking at Simon. He's looking at her. He said, Simon, have you really taken time to see the woman?
00:26:59
Speaker
That's incredible, isn't it? Wow. Wow. And so Jesus walked Simon through three contrasts. And he said, you know what? You gave me no water for my feet. You gave me no kiss on my cheek or forehead. You did not anoint my head with oil.
00:27:14
Speaker
And yet, when you look at her actions, she's wet my feet with her tears. She's not ceased to kiss my feet. She's anointed my feet with ointment. You know it's shocking that while looking over the sinful woman's past,
00:27:32
Speaker
Simon overlooked his own need in the present. And so it's like, wow, what's going on here? And so I wanted to close with one last thing. It's the best thing of all.
00:27:44
Speaker
You know people save the best for last? you ever seen the fireworks and it's like, man, the grand finale at the end, that's always the best one. That's how I feel about the last point. This is the best saved for last. And it's Jesus in his wisdom did this.
00:27:59
Speaker
Look at verses 47 through 50. I like to call this incredible forgiveness. That's the way I would describe the forgiveness that's been given to me, a sinner saved by grace.
00:28:12
Speaker
But what is so incredible about it? Well, let me just walk you through a few quick things. I think it's incredible because of the pardon. There's an incredible pardon that's mentioned here. Did you catch what it says about her?
00:28:25
Speaker
says, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. Wow. Maybe that could be your testimony. My sins were many, but you know what? They were forgiven. That's an incredible pardon, but notice the incredible proof. How do we know that it's real in her life?
00:28:43
Speaker
Well, we know it says she loved much. Jesus didn't miss it. He said, you know what? Compared to your response, Simon, This woman, she has loved much.
00:28:54
Speaker
There's proof there. And so remember reading where Spurgeon said this was the most incredible proclamation that you or I will ever hear in all eternity.
00:29:07
Speaker
You know what the incredible proclamation is? It's not hard. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to appreciate this. Your sins are forgiven.
00:29:19
Speaker
to stand and and before the eternal God who watched you every second of your life, who heard everything you've ever said, everything you ever thought, everything you ever did, he saw it all.
00:29:33
Speaker
And for you to go to him and say, Lord, please forgive me. And then for you to stand one day before the throne of grace and him say, your sins are forgiven.
00:29:46
Speaker
There's nothing else you need because if our sins are forgiven, we're welcoming into heaven. And it's an incredible priority because how did she get? Did did she get it because she brought her best? She brought the perfume? No, no, that's just evidence. That's just proof that she had been forgiven.
00:30:06
Speaker
No, the priority is what Jesus says at the end. Your faith has saved you. You see, the only thing we can do is put our faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
00:30:19
Speaker
Our righteousness is as filthy rags, is what Isaiah said. So we can't bring to God a lot of things that we're wanting to do for him, lot of promises. What we've got to come to God and say is,
00:30:32
Speaker
You know what? I just trust that Jesus' blood, that his sacrifice on the cross was enough for me. That faith right there will open incredible doors for you.
00:30:44
Speaker
And you know what comes after that? An incredible peace. An incredible peace that now you're not accountable for it anymore. And it doesn't cost you. It cost Jesus everything. doesn't cost you anything.
00:30:58
Speaker
because you just put your faith and trust. You know, read an interesting story about Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. Now some of you history buffs are saying he doesn't know Teddy Roosevelt was a president. He called him a colonel. I'm talking about before he became a president.
00:31:14
Speaker
But during the Spanish-American War, Colonel Theodore Roosevelt offered to buy food from the Red Cross in Cuba. But there was a lady that was in charge and her name was Clara Barton.
00:31:27
Speaker
And you know what she did? She refused. And he was like, I don't understand this. I've got wounded troops. I've got men who are so hungry and you're refusing to help. And so somebody pulled him aside.
00:31:42
Speaker
Somebody said, Colonel, it's not really that hard to understand what she's saying. And he said, well, please explain it to me because I don't understand it. And he said, you know what all you need to do is?
00:31:54
Speaker
Just ask for it. Just ask for it. Don't say you'll pay for it. Don't say you'll buy all of the provisions. The provisions are not for sale.
00:32:06
Speaker
The provisions are a gift from the Red Cross. Wow, it's something like that when we come to the Lord Jesus Christ and we say, you know what? I'm not gonna offer a bunch of things, make a bunch of empty promises.
00:32:20
Speaker
All I'm gonna say is, I'm so glad. I'm so glad that you died for me. You know that same truth There was a seasoned missionary named Paul trying to communicate that to a young guy named Titus, a young pastor.
00:32:37
Speaker
And he says in Titus 3, verses 4 through 7, But when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior, appeared, he saved us. Not because of works done by us in righteousness, but but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
00:33:12
Speaker
You see, the sinful woman of Galilee was unashamed Because of one reason, Jesus took away her shame.
00:33:23
Speaker
You know, that's what forgiveness means, actually. It's sort of one of those compound words. And one part of the word means far away. And you know what the other part of the word means?
00:33:34
Speaker
Send away. So that's what God does whenever you repent, whenever you put your faith and trust in the finished work of Christ. He sends away all your shame, all your guilt and so forth. You see, grace removed the shame.
00:33:53
Speaker
As we extend the invitation of grace to you this morning. I want you to consider the gratitude of the sister in Christ as she boldly came into the Pharisee's house to honor her Lord and express her devotion to him.
00:34:09
Speaker
And maybe you'd say, yeah, but there's a lot of people watching this morning. i get that. I get that. But I do want you to balance that right there with one thing Jesus said in Luke 9 26.
00:34:25
Speaker
Don't forget what he said. Here's what he said. For whoever is ashamed of me and my words of him, will the son of man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the father and of the holy angels.
00:34:41
Speaker
You see, when Jesus went to the cross for us, He could have been ashamed of us. He could have said, no, I'm not gonna do that. But he wasn't. And so now for us to say, well, somebody might be watching, somebody might laugh, somebody might say something.
00:34:57
Speaker
don't Don't think about that. What do you need to think about is the savior. That's what that the the penitent woman, the woman who had repented of sin and turning away from it, putting her faith and trust in Christ.
00:35:10
Speaker
When she came in that room that day, she wasn't wanted. but she knew I'm welcome at Jesus' feet. Would you do that today? There's an opportunity to do that. I'm going to be standing down front. I'd love to pray with you if you would like for someone to pray for.
00:35:27
Speaker
But we're going to sing a ah song that's interesting considering this passage. You know what the name of the song is? Come as you are. Wow.
00:35:38
Speaker
Let's all stand together. Let's pray and let's ask God's blessing on our invitation. Lord, we wanted to extend the invitation. We never know when someone may be ready. And so we make sure that we give that opportunity.
00:35:51
Speaker
And so Lord, if there is someone here and they're kind of like that woman, maybe they've heard it. They've heard it so many times that really it's like it's already grabbing their heart, but maybe they haven't made it public yet.
00:36:04
Speaker
Like this woman. I mean, there's no doubt that woman went public with it when she shed those tears and poured that perfume upon Jesus' feet and so forth. Thank you so much, Lord, for this biblical account.
00:36:19
Speaker
It reminds us that we too can be unashamed. Maybe what we need to do is not come out come up here to the front. Maybe we need to reassess, how much am I saying to someone else what Jesus has done for me?
00:36:34
Speaker
He's forgiven me, and I'm not telling anybody anybody in my whole world. Nobody at work, nobody at school, nobody in the neighborhood, nobody in the family.
00:36:45
Speaker
I'm not saying one word. I pray that from this message today, we would go out of here saying like Matthew Weston, I'm going to be unashamed. In Jesus' name we pray.
00:36:57
Speaker
Amen.
00:37:03
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.