4 words 2 change your life.
Reading: Luke 7:48 “Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Can four words really change your life? Sure they can! What about these examples?
Your doctor says: “I’m sorry, it’s cancer!”
The police say: “There’s been an accident!”
Your partner says: “Honey, I am pregnant!”
Your garage says: It’s a right off!”
Sometimes it is who is saying these words that can change your life. The wicked say, “YOU are a sinner!” Yet God can say “YOUR sins are forgiven!” Jesus changes lives, and did so in our text with just these four words. “Your sins are forgiven.”
In your greatest need, e.g. in sickness you will call upon a doctor. But what if you are found today in “your sin” (wrong doings). Like this woman was “She is a sinner” verse 39. Who then will you call upon? Well the answer is Jesus the Son of God, both the healer of the body and of the soul of mankind!
I want to tell you that our wonderful Lord stands ready, willing, and able to help you today. He is the Great Physician and you being here is not by accident, it is by Divine Appointment!
He has already diagnosed your problems.
He has already prescribed the correct treatment through His Word.
He has the knowledge He needs about you because He knows everything about you, even the things you have not told Him or anyone else.
He has the expertise and the ability to take care of you.
The greatest thing of all is that He has a deep desire to take care of you and see you made whole again.
It is up to YOU today what you will do with Jesus. Reject Him or Accept Him today? Where are you in this story? Who are you in this story?
1. THE WOMAN IN THE STORY.
In those days women were not invited to nor accepted at banquets. They were 2nd class citizens. Jewish rabbis did not speak to women in public. They did not eat with them in public. A woman of this type would not have been invited to the house of Simon the Pharisee. Though her sins are not named, we get the impression that she was a woman of the streets. Yet!!!!
She sensed a desperate need in her life.
She knew she was a sinner.
She was deeply convicted about her sin.
She approached Jesus in spite of all against her.
She gave her most highly valued possession – perfume…that which she used to wear to attract men to herself she now used to anoint Christ.
Her hair, a woman’s glory, she humbly used it to dry His feet.
She surrendered herself in total humility.
2. THE MAN IN THE STORY.
Are you the host? –Simon, the wealthy Pharisee, was the host of this banquet. The homes of the wealthy always had an open courtyard, usually in the centre of the house. Sometimes the host would allow the public to stand around the outside of the courtyard and listen to the discussions, especially when the guest was a great teacher or some celebrity.
He, too, was a sinner in great need. But he did not realize it because his chief problem was blindness – spiritual blindness. It was easy for him to say, “She is a sinner!” but impossible for him to say, “I am a sinner!” Both phrases have 4 words, but only one is life changing.
He was considerate, but self-righteous.
He considered himself better than the woman.
He sensed no need for forgiveness in his own life.
He was a good moral person – good in religion; good in outward behaviour.
YET, sadly, the Bible says that many good people are lost and on their way to hell, because they do not realize you cannot get to heaven by being good, only by being saved.
3. WHERE ARE YOU IN THE STORY?
Which person are you? All of us are in one group or another – either we sense our great need for salvation or we do not. Look at Jesus’ words in verses 41-43 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.”
The parable that Jesus told does not deal with the amount of sin in a person’s life, but the awareness of that sin in his or her heart. How much sin must a person commit to be a sinner? Simon and the woman were both sinners. Simon was guilty of hidden sins of the spirit, especially pride, while the woman was guilty of sins of the flesh. Her sins were known, while Simon’s sins were hidden from everyone...except God.
THE POINT IS THAT BOTH OF THEM WERE SPIRITUALLY BANKRUPT AND COULD NOT PAY THEIR DEBT TO GOD!
Now look what the Bible says about YOU and me! “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23. There we are:
All sinners!
All spiritually bankrupt!
All unable to pay our debt to God!
All in desperate need!
And all in the presence of the One who can forgive our sin and set us free.
What an incredible moment when Jesus said those 4 life-changing words “YOUR sins are forgiven” verse 48.
Listen to those words again. “YOUR sins are forgiven.” Now make that statement of Jesus personal to YOU! Have YOUR sins been forgiven? I would rather be found like that woman today, rather than the man. For she left forgiven!
How will you leave here today? Forgiven or in your sins? Let me leave you with a Bible verse “For the wages of sin is death,”..... “BUT, the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 6:23. Here are 3 words that will change your future, “Sin is death.” Or “Jesus my Lord.”
