[0:00] We have two stories this morning that we're going to read. The first one is from Mark, and the second one is from the book of Luke.! We begin with Mark chapter 2. We're going to read the first 12 verses.
[0:14] A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.
[0:26] Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus, and after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.
[0:44] When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven. Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, Why does this fellow talk like that?
[0:58] He's blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? Immediately, Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, Why are you thinking these things?
[1:14] Which is easier? To say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven? Or to say, Get up, take your mat, and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.
[1:30] He said to the paralytic, I tell you, Get up, take your mat, and go home. He got up, took his mat, and walked out in full view of them all.
[1:41] This amazed everyone, and they praised God, saying, We've never seen anything like that, or like this. Turn over to Luke chapter 7.
[1:57] Luke chapter 7 in verse 36. We'll read through verse 50. Now, one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table.
[2:13] When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears.
[2:32] Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him, and what kind of woman she is, that she is a sinner.
[2:51] Jesus answered him, Simon, I have something to tell you. Tell me, teacher, he said. Two men owed money to a certain moneyless, lender.
[3:03] One owed him 500 denarii, and the other 50. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, and so he canceled the debts of both. Now, which of them will love him more?
[3:15] Simon replied, I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled. You've judged correctly, Jesus said. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, Do you see this woman?
[3:30] I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.
[3:49] You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, for she loved much.
[4:02] But he who has been forgiven little, loves little. Then Jesus said to her, Your sins are forgiven. The other guests began to say among themselves, Who is this who even forgives sins?
[4:18] And Jesus said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. When I was in college, we typed our term papers on machines called typewriters.
[4:37] Evan and Grant, you'll need to Google that and find out what that looked like. But if you made a mistake, at least I only knew of two opportunities to correct them, and one was a little eraser, and if you rubbed too hard, you had a hole in your paper, or whiteout, that you would re-strike the key over it, and I never seemed to have the same color of white as my paper.
[5:09] And so neither were the best of solutions. Rather than totally eliminating the problem, they both seemed to draw attention to the fact that there was a mistake made here, and you tried to cover it up.
[5:24] Ah, but then came personal computers. And now with one push of the delete key, my mistakes are deleted.
[5:35] So no one can ever see them or even know that I made them. Delete. What would you give to have a delete key to push in life that would completely undo things that you've said and done that you now regret?
[5:56] Our sins against each other. Our sins against God. Ways that we have not done what He said we should do or not done what He says we should do.
[6:07] Ways we've broken His law. Those laws that we just recited that leave us guilty, leave us condemned before Him, deserving of eternal punishment.
[6:19] There are times when we feel that guilt. Some men have described it as a burden on the back that saps you of strength. It's an inner gnawing in the stomach, but it's just your conscience telling you that you're guilty.
[6:39] You've sinned against God. You're not right with God. There's a problem. And that guilt often creates other problems of depression and anxiety and fears and paranoia.
[6:52] And medical doctors and psychiatrists all over the world are being asked to medicate men's guilty feelings away. Give me a pill that will make me feel better.
[7:04] But drugs can do nothing to fix the real problem. They just help us forget about it and numb our inner pain of a condemning guilty conscience. Don't we all long to have our sin and guilt deleted?
[7:21] Made so that it's as if it never happened. Our sins forgiven and remembered no more. I have good news to proclaim this morning.
[7:36] There is a way to delete your sins. It's not a button you push. It's not a pill you pop. It's a person you trust in. And his name is Jesus Christ.
[7:47] He's the eternal son of God, the only savior of the world. And in him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, the deleting of our sins and remembering them no more.
[8:01] Now this morning we meet two sinners who heard the sweetest words ever came from the mouth of our savior. Your sins are forgiven. Your sins.
[8:14] You personally. Your sins. Are deleted. Now we're not told the name of either of these two individuals. Just a paralyzed man and an immoral woman.
[8:27] Let's start with the paralyzed man in Mark chapter 2. He heard that Jesus was nearby and he wanted to go see him but he couldn't because he was paralyzed. He couldn't walk.
[8:39] But he had some good friends. And four of them who each man grabbed a corner of the man's mat and carried him to Jesus.
[8:51] But when they got to the house they couldn't even get in the door because the place was so packed with people who had come to hear Jesus and to be healed by him. But these were really good friends.
[9:03] Not just good friends. Really good friends who would not take that for an answer no and somehow managed to get the man up on top of the roof and to tear open a hole in the tiles and to lower the man down in his mat right in front of Jesus inside.
[9:24] So you imagine you're there and you're inside. You got there early in time to be in the house and Jesus is teaching the word of God.
[9:36] no one ever spoke like he spoke and you're listening and then you hear footsteps up above you and then you start to see dust coming down and pretty soon the sun is shining in a hole and there's just hands making the hole bigger and then there's eight eyes looking down in and then there's this mat that's lower down from the roof on which a paralyzed man is lying and he comes down right in front of where Jesus is.
[10:16] What an event and what a savior what a savior we meet in this moment for when he saw their faith Jesus said son your sins are forgiven.
[10:30] Forgiven. Now that was a jaw-dropping statement and for a couple of reasons. First of all for just talking about the category of sin in this moment would have been a surprise to the people.
[10:44] These four friends had brought him to Jesus for healing of his paralysis and instead Jesus starts to talk about his sins. How could Jesus be so cruel as to speak of the sins of this poor handicapped man that must have drawn the pity of man wherever he was carried.
[11:05] But handicapped or not Jesus knew he was a sinner and he knew that his sins were a bigger problem than his paralysis. His paralysis would only handicap him for the rest of his life.
[11:20] I don't say that lightly but I do say it. His paralysis would have only handicapped him for the rest of his life but his sins would land him in hell forever and ever.
[11:33] So he says to the man son your sins are forgiven. I wonder if you've realized that your biggest problem in life is your sins against God.
[11:48] My biggest problem in life is my sins against God. It's not your handicap it's not your health it's not your financial problems your family problems it's your sins.
[12:00] The various ways we have broken God's law for the wages of your sin is death death and the Bible says not just physical death but the second death which is the lake of fire that endures forever and ever a place called hell separated from God and all that is good.
[12:19] That's where your sins take you and so your greatest need is to have your sins deleted forgiven by God totally removed and remembered no more against you.
[12:33] what an infinite kindness of our Lord Jesus to this man. They brought the man for healing Jesus does something better he forgives his sins and if that was all that Jesus did for this man it would be amazing grace to spend the rest of his paralyzed life with the joy of sins forgiven and then to die at peace with God to go to heaven and at Christ's return to have his body raised a new body without weakness and paralysis and to dwell with his savior in a perfect new heavens and new earth forever and ever and so I say it was a jaw dropping statement to speak of this man's sin but it was jaw dropping for another reason the place was crawling with Pharisees and teachers of the law these are the
[13:36] Jewish leaders the religious leaders and they'd come from all over Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem they had come with a suspicion about this Jesus they wanted to hear him for themselves they had heard reports of him and now they're in the house you see and they're listening and when Jesus said your sins are forgiven to the man their minds went into overdrive and they're thinking to themselves who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy for who can forgive sins but God alone they had two thoughts they were right on the second score God alone can forgive sins what they don't know is that this man Jesus is God and so he's not blaspheming but they do know more than some Christian counselors today who are telling people that what they need to do is forgive themselves they've got guilt and guilty feelings and it's ruining their lives in so many ways and causing all sorts of other problems for them physically emotionally relationally you need to learn to forgive yourselves the truth is you can't forgive yourself you've got a conscience and your conscience knows that you're guilty and it tells you you're guilty whatever you might be telling it telling yourself to the contrary and never in all the Bible do we hear God telling people that they need to forgive themselves for the simple reason that all sins are against
[15:26] God he's the offended party and so he alone has the right to forgive sin sin incurs a debt it's a debt that we owe to God there is a punishment a penalty to be paid for our sin and forgiveness is the cancellation of that debt it cancels the debt and therefore there's no punishment to pay there's no payback but no one has authority to cancel the debt except God that's his prerogative that's his right as God because he's the offended party our sins have offended him so Reese if Mark here owes you a thousand dollars don't know what he he needed it for but you loaned him a thousand dollars and he spent it he doesn't have anything to pay you back with and I just come up to
[16:27] Mark one day and say you know Mark it's a happy day for you because I forgive your debt against Reese I cancel it I'm going to delete it and Reese would say wait a minute who do you think you are what gives you the right this is none of your business this is my business with him he owes me the debt and he's right isn't he I can't but in and forgive the debt that he owes to Reese and even more importantly neither can Mark forgive himself the debt and look in the mirror and say Mark this is your happy day you no longer owe Reese a thousand dollars he can't do that why not because he's not the offended party Reese was the one who he owed the money to yes he owed the money to and in the same way you see our sins against
[17:27] God are such that nobody and least of all ourselves can forgive that debt and cancel it say you know we're just going to forgive that no priest no minister no pope and most of all not ourselves we don't forgive ourselves there's only one with the right and authority to forgive sins so the Pharisees got that one right didn't they who can forgive sins but God alone preach it Pharisees you're right on so to see this Jesus of Nazareth standing in front of them and proclaiming the forgiveness of sins was blasphemy blasphemy to them who does he think he is claiming to do what only God has authority to do forgive sins but what they failed to see was that the man standing before them was God
[18:30] God in the flesh Jesus of Nazareth is the eternal everlasting creator of heavens and earth and all that is existing in them he is God and so the reason Jesus forgives sins is because he's God and that's his prerogative as God to forgive sins he indeed has authority on earth to forgive sins and so as God Jesus also knows exactly what's passing between the ears of these men and what they're thinking of in their heads and so he rebukes them for their evil thoughts about him and then he asked them which is easier to say your sins are forgiven or to say get up and walk well they were stumped there was no answer because you see with man both of those are equally impossible both forgiveness of sins and instantaneous healing healing by a spoken word are works of
[19:40] God acts of God and so if Jesus can do the one then he can do the other but how would they know that he can forgive sins how would they know that he has the authority to forgive sins that's an unseen transaction that takes place in the books the record books of heaven where where the record is is white clean deleted of all the sins that were on that person's record we don't see into heaven's books how were these people to know if this man's sins were really deleted forgiven well Jesus will prove that he is God with authority to forgive sins by doing what they could see healing the paralytic by his word and if he has authority in himself to heal then he has authority in himself to forgive sins and so he says that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins turns to the paralyzed man and says
[20:44] I tell you get up take your mat and go home and immediately he stood up in front of them he took what he had been lying on and he went home praising God and everyone was amazed and praised God saying we have never seen anything like this this was God God in the flesh healing with a word forgiving with a word Jesus taught the invisible truth the deleting of his sin in heaven by a visible truth the healing that could be seen prove the reality of the unseen forgiveness of sins both performed by Jesus own authority as God and so the man went home a happy man do you remember when you were forgiven of sins John Bunyan in that allegory pilgrim's progress remember when the burden rolled off of Christians back and went right into the grave
[21:47] Christ's empty grave he jumped for joy he sang you don't know what true joy is until you know that your sins have been deleted the world's got its ways of getting its happiness and it's hollow and it has repercussions you don't know what true happiness is until you know the sweetness of having all your sins not in part but the whole deleted forever remembered no more so we're meant to learn from this event in Jesus life that he has authority to forgive sins and friend if that's so why don't you go to him and ask him to forgive your sins how sad that he should have authority to forgive sins and you have sins and not come to him for forgiveness maybe you didn't come today seeking forgiveness you came for other reasons but Jesus is ready to forgive you if you're ready to confess he will forgive you your sins now that kind of good news spread fast among guilty sinners you can see why that's good news for us who have sinned that our sins can be forgiven and so that report spread and it paved the way for other sinners to seek this
[23:07] Jesus and to trust in his promise to forgive sins and to enjoy the forgiveness of sins we meet such a one in Luke chapter 7 here we find the holy sinless Jesus is a friend of sinners isn't he he's he's never standoffish with sinners he eats with them he drinks with them he talks with them he died for them he identifies with them and this time the sinner is a very self righteous Pharisee named Simon who had invited him to dinner and Jesus went and was reclining at his table you see Jesus not only came to seek and to save down and out sinners but refined self-righteous religious sinners and so he's now eating and drinking with sinners most people would think that's because this immoral woman was there but it also included the self-righteous religionist
[24:10] Jesus eating with sinners who need forgiveness in both cases and then she made her entrance and again no name is given to her just this phrase a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town and that's Luke's polite way of saying a sexually immoral woman of the town everyone knew her her reputation the vile life she had lived the marriages she had spoiled but what they did not know is that she had recently trusted in Jesus Christ and he had forgiven her all her sins and she was so happy and so at peace and relieved that she found out where Jesus was and she comes to pour out her love and gratitude to him for having forgiven her sins here she comes and Simon the strict and separated
[25:13] Pharisee thought of all the gall for her to come into my house scum that she is well she went at once behind Jesus and you'll have to remember that in those days the tables were not such as ours so high off the ground with chairs that we pulled up but were short tables maybe you've seen it in the art and so they would recline on their side and on an elbow at the table and that would leave their feet stretched out behind them as they reclined at the table literally reclining at the table don't ask mom for a recliner at the dining room table but that's the way it looked so Jesus feet were very accessible they're sticking out the back like everyone else is not under the table as at our houses and we're told that it was not uncommon when a banquet was given for even folks to come in off the street and to stand around the edges of the room and to watch listen in at the party at the banquet well here she is and she starts by just standing at his feet weeping tears of repentance tears of humility tears of joy to know that all of her sins have been deleted because of this one
[26:31] Jesus of Nazareth and then her warm tears roll off of her cheeks and start splashing onto the feet of Jesus whose feet probably were dusty with travel on the unpaved roads in quantity enough to actually wash them and then she stooped down and using her own hair as a towel she dried his feet she kissed them and she poured expensive perfume on them and Simon the Pharisee is just taking it all in he's just watching this happen in his house now he knew her immoral life and so he's saying to himself again none of this was spoken just as the other time the Pharisees were thinking to themselves he's thinking inside if Jesus was a real prophet from God he would have supernatural knowledge available to him that nobody else had he would know what kind of woman she is that she's an immoral woman this woman who is touching him what kind of woman that she is a sinner and he would shun her rather than be defiled by her touch
[27:48] Simon cannot for the life of him imagine that Jesus could possibly know who this woman was and how she had lived and nevertheless receive such gratitude from her just as earlier the Pharisees failed to realize that Jesus was God and could forgive sins so now Simon the Pharisee fails to realize that Jesus has come from heaven to seek and to save sinners sinners he loves to save sinners and this Pharisee doesn't get that so he's ready to write Jesus off as a false prophet he doesn't even know what kind of woman is touching him oh but in reality Jesus not only knows everything this woman had ever done in her past life but he also knows that he had freely forgiven her of every sin and she is now pouring out her loving gratitude to him for forgiveness and he also knows the inmost thoughts passing through Simon's mind and so reading his mind
[28:59] Jesus answered him I love that way that it's put usually when you answer someone someone asks the question and you answer Simon never said anything but he was thinking an awful lot and Jesus answered his thoughts now that's to be found out isn't it Simon I have something to tell you tell me teacher he said and Jesus tells him a story with a question two men owed money to a certain money lender one owed him 500 denarii and the other 50 that is one owed a year and a half wages the other about a month and a half wages 10 times more than the other but neither of them had the money to pay him back so he canceled the debts of both now which of them will love him more Simon replied well I suppose I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled this is an easy question and Jesus says you're right you've judged correctly so far so good but Jesus now applies this story to the present scene showing knowing that these two debtors are right here in the room the woman is the 500 denarii debtor the woman with an immoral past life knew her many sins and she knew that her many sins had been forgiven her and she showed it by her lavish and grateful loved for Jesus
[30:35] Simon thinks of himself as a 50 denarii sinner debtor he's the self-righteous Pharisee he thought he he obeys God's law he does what's right he's not like this woman and sure everybody sins so yeah I'm a sinner but he only needs a little bit of forgiveness few small sins and he shows it by his lack of love for Jesus the Savior sinners and the contrast could not be greater her great love and his lovelessness for Jesus so Jesus turned toward the woman while speaking to Simon now if we're going to understand this we must just understand culture when someone you've invited someone to your house what happens when the doorbell rings you just go on set in the table and just ignore him out there no you go to the door and you open the door and maybe you you give them a handshake maybe you give them a kiss depends where you're at from the world but you greet them well in in the customary ways of
[31:46] Palestine there was a whole lot of customary courtesies that were done for guests when they arose arrived at the door and that's the context in which we see this this situation play out so Jesus looks at the woman as he speaks to Simon do you see this woman I came into your house I should have received some things from you you did not give me any water for my feet that was just common courtesy in those days traveling on dusty roads there was the basin there was the water there was the towel you didn't give me any water for my feet but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair uncommon unheard of love you didn't give me the normal greeting of a kiss but this woman since I came in has not stopped kissing my feet and you didn't put cheap oil on my head again common courtesy for traveling in the heat of of the eastern sun but she has poured expensive perfume on my feet
[32:59] Simon in every way she has outstripped you in love and then Jesus draws the telling conclusion therefore I tell you Simon her many sins have been past tense have been forgiven how do we know it for she loves much but he who has been forgiven little loves little Simon what you've seen here in your own house today is the thankful love of a woman who's aware that her many sins have been forgiven you've seen the 500 denarii debtor who knows she could never repay her debt her great debt to God that her sin had bankrupt her of any claims on God's favor but I have already canceled her debt in full and made her right with God her debts gone her sins are deleted they're forgiven and she has shown her gratitude in the way that she loved much and here in this home the self-righteousness of
[34:02] Simon is exposed exposed see he's a mere 50 denarii debtor it's all he sees no need of forgiveness oh well maybe a little bit but not much I'm I'm pretty good not as bad as her folks the truth is we're all 500 denarii debtors before God whether we are the sexually immoral woman or Simon the religious socially acceptable leader in Israel our offense to God is not small it's more than the hairs of our head it's the mountain of our sin and our offense this is so great that it will take eternity in hell to remove that offense it will never get to the place where we'll pay the last penny so great is our sin against God but Simon thinks he's good to go and so his heart is rock cold toward the Savior of sinners no one loves the Savior sinners unless you're a forgiven sinner and he's not and then Jesus said to her those sweetest words a person can hear from the mouth of the
[35:27] Son of God your sins are forgiven now she already knew this this is why she was here at the house that's why she was weeping tears of joy at his feet and and pouring out her love upon her Savior that's why she loved so much because her many sins had been forgiven there was a previous faith in her part that went out to the Savior for the forgiveness of sins so she's now reassured yes there's a reassurance to her that your sins are forgiven you know when people beat up on you and keep reminding you of your sin and how bad you are and look down their nose that you we need to be reminded and Jesus does that for her he reassures her your sins are forgiven they're deleted what a precious thing we do it each time we come to the table and we're reminded with the juice and the bread your sins are forgiven they're gone this is why but it not only reassured her this was a public declaration of her sins being forgiven because there were still a lot of people in town who still viewed her as the immoral woman Simon being one of them and he needs to know this is a different woman yes she's the same woman on the outside but she's got a different heart she's a new woman and she's got a different record in heaven for all of her sins have been deleted forgiven her past life is gone she's a forgiven new creature in Christ Jesus and once again these words of Jesus staggered the other guests I would imagine there were a lot of Pharisees there once you Simon usually invites his friends to the dinner party probably a lot of Pharisees just like we're in the house in Mark 2 and these guests are staggered and say among themselves who is this that even forgives sins never heard that before coming from the mouth of a man oh how blessed we are to know the answer to their question who is this that forgives sins he's Jesus the Savior sinners God in the flesh he's the only one who can cancel your debt and forgive your sins so that they're remembered no more and Jesus then said to the woman your faith has saved you go in peace important for him to say that lest anyone thought that her love had saved her oh it's because she loved much that that she's forgiven oh no doesn't say your love has saved you go and it says your faith has saved you let me say to you it's not loving Christ that saves you it's it's it's trusting in
[38:42] Christ it's faith in Christ that saves you faith is the empty hands that that hold out and receive Jesus and his forgiveness of sins your faith has saved you faith is first forgiveness follows and love flows from forgiveness that's what had happened here she had faith in Jesus he had forgiven her her sins and that's why she loves so much and Jesus makes it plain your faith has saved you go in peace faith is just taking God at his word believing the promise now go in peace your past is forgiven now go live a new life at peace with God and that my friend was not some special deal cut for this woman alone that for faith in him Jesus would blot out her sins it wasn't just a deal cut for her or for the paralyzed man in her it wasn't just for these two you know what Acts chapter 10 and verse 43 says all the prophets all the Old Testament prophets testify about him about Jesus what what do they say that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name everyone who believes everyone who has faith in him receives what forgiveness of sins canceling of the debt delete on the record books of heaven on the spot free and full forgiveness the moment we believe friend that could be you this morning that could be you whoever you are whatever you've done religious or immoral if you trust in Christ to save you forgive you of your sins he will forgive you you came lost you can go home say might have come in guilty you can go home forgiven what a gospel twice today we've heard Jesus say to sinners your sins are forgiven oh but it cost Jesus dearly to say those words for he will have to pay for every sin that he forgives this is no cheap forgiveness he will have to pay for every sin that he forgives I mean how is it that he can forgive sins you say well because he's God that's his prerogative that's his authority yes we talked about that but we need to know that not even God can forgive sins in a way that violates his holiness and his righteousness he cannot compromise any of his attributes in order to forgive sins he can't just brush your sins under the rug and say oh we'll forget about them they're forgiven no he's too holy for that he's too righteous for that no for sins to be forgiven and canceled they must be paid for in full every last penny must be paid you see the word has already gone out from heaven's courtroom the soul that sins it shall die the wages of sin is death eternal hell is the payment for sin that's where sinners pay for their sins under God's wrath forever and the only other place where sin is fully paid is at the middle cross of Calvary where Jesus died for the sins of his people it's the only other place where sins are paid for in full you see this same Jesus who twice in our readings this morning said your sins are forgiven was was right then on his way to the cross in a couple of years he would be there and and would take upon himself the
[42:43] sins of his people and be punished for them and so we come to that middle cross outside Jerusalem two years later and Jesus Christ the son of God is hanging there and men have already done their worst and beating him and plucking out his beard and crowning him with thorns and flaying his back with whips and nailing him to a cross and mocking him and then Almighty God lays upon him all the iniquities of that paralyzed man all the iniquities of this sexually immoral woman because the sins that he forgave he must now pay for every last one and so the father forsook him turned his back on him poured out his wrath on him crushed him pierced him with the sword of justice damned him made him suffer what we would have suffered in hell forever hell came to Calvary that day as a collection was being received for the sins of his people
[43:56] Jesus was paying for every sin that would be forgiven payment that satisfied the holy demands of God's justice so that he can be just and the justifier of those who believe in Jesus he can still be as holy as he ever was and still say your sins are forgiven and remembered no more because they've been paid for well this was no surprise to the Lord Jesus it wasn't like oh what's happening here on Calvary no it's why he left heaven in the first place he had come to seek and to save sinners he came to die the death that sin deserved for even the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many and this is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins that's why whenever a sinner trusts in Jesus their sins are forgiven their debt is deleted because Jesus paid it all and they simply believe the promise they trust in Jesus and that's why sinners can can live a guilt-free life that's why they can live with a sense where their conscience is not condemning them they have freedom they have joy now because they know that if God is satisfied with the payment Jesus made for my sins then my conscience is satisfied as well and I no longer live under a condemning conscience not because I forgave myself but
[45:31] Jesus paid for my sins and I believe in him so where will your sins be paid for only two places in hell by the sinner himself and it will take forever or on Calvary by the sinner substitute it simply means if you don't come and surrender in faith and repentance to Christ you are saying I'll pay this debt myself salvation is in Christ alone how unnecessary to pay the bill when Jesus is making an offer to everyone who is here today that if you believe in me I will forgive your sins he's just that rich in mercy he's just that loaded in love he's that that abounding in grace he loves to save sinners it's his happy work he really wants you to take him at his word and he sent his heralds into all the world to bring this offer to one and all they too were people who were bankrupt sinners and tasted and saw by faith that
[46:46] Jesus he's this is no fraud it's true he does forgive sins well he'd be happy to forgive your sins how sad when we we recognize that is the case and yet his his promise of forgiveness just goes ignored today doesn't it people yawn with indifference but you know a day is coming when when there will be nothing more valuable than the forgiveness of sins we fast forward to that awesome day of judgment when the eternal destinies of all men are meted out by Jesus the righteous judge so here comes that immoral woman from Luke chapter 7 she knows she has sinned greatly but she hears the judge say your sins are all forgiven there's none left on the books I suffered them all in your place go at peace with God forever and ever here's that man who'd been paralyzed he comes the books are opened all his sins are are gone they're deleted come and enter into the joy of your Lord now here comes Simon that self-righteous Pharisee oh he'd gone to synagogue faithfully he had he'd given his money did a lot of praying a lot of reading of the Bible but his heart was so full of pride and self-righteousness he never saw his need for Jesus and trusted in him to save him depart from me I never knew you never knew you you worker of iniquity and here you come here you come what will I say to you a Canadian man was found guilty of many crimes involved in trafficking drugs in Colombia and while serving a long sentence in a Canadian prison he read his Bible learned of a Savior who forgives sins trusted in Jesus and was forgiven forgiven all of his crimes had a lot of time on his hands and so he studied and he got a university degree as years passed he came up for parole the books were open and once the crimes were read all considerations for parole were immediately dropped and this happened over and over his crimes on the books were of such that they called for no mercy and it looked like he'd be in prison till he died and one day he received a large envelope in the mail this is a true story this was told last month by a pastor who knew him and inside of that envelope was a full pardon of all of his crimes from the queen the queen of England who reigns over Canada sort of this meant he could go free and when the records were searched they could not find his name or his crimes anywhere they'd been deleted they were gone they were remembered no more and so he was set free and he used his freedom to go to Columbia the very place where he had committed his crimes and to tell poor sinners there of a gracious savior who forgives sinners and deletes their sin forgives their sins and remembers them no more if only they will come and trust in him repenting of their sins he will forgive them well that's what Jesus is offering full pardon full forgiveness the deletion of your sins from the records he'll forgive your transgressions and remember them no more trust in Jesus today let's sing of that in number 465 and even as we sing to you my sinner friend trust in this promise and ask Jesus to have mercy on you as the great savior
[50:46] who died for sin 465 let's stand as we sing all the prophets have testified about him that's the prophet Isaiah testifying whoever everyone who believes in Jesus will be forgiven of their sins let's pray thank you father for having given us such a sweet promise all the way through the scriptures that Moses and Aaron and David and Abraham and Jacob could trust in that promise that coming savior that we living on this side of the cross could could trust in that promise and know the forgiveness of sins thank you for your faithfulness thank you that the promise is true and many of us have tasted and seen just how gracious you are bring others to taste to take this Jesus and the forgiveness of sins he offers by faith and then we who have been forgiven may our love and gratitude to you be such that it would draw others to want to know the sweetness of this forgiveness we pray in Jesus name amen amen you