Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations: Praying Against the Wicked

Two Reasons Why You Don't Love The Lord As You Should

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: New Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2022-10-09

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver expounds Luke 7:36-50, contrasting Simon the Pharisee with a sinful woman who anoints Jesus' feet. He identifies two reasons believers fail to love Christ as commanded: failure to perceive the greatness and gravity of their own sin, and failure to perceive the graciousness of the Savior's forgiveness. Using vivid biblical imagery and illustrations, he urges self-examination and a deeper appreciation of God's mercy to cultivate greater love.

[John Weaver] Our Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Luke, chapter 7, and we're going to be reading verses 36 through 50. Luke 7, verses 36 through 50, and the message is entitled, Two Reasons As To Why You Do Not Love The Lord Jesus As You Should. Notice, if you would please, in Luke chapter 7, beginning there with verse 36. And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him.

[John Weaver] And he went into the Pharisee's house and sat down to meet. And behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meet in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment and stood at his feet behind him, weeping and began to wash his feet with tears. and had wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that touches them, for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have some what to say unto thee. And he said, Master, say on.

[John Weaver] There was a certain creditor which had two debtors, The one owed 500 pence, and the other 50. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, and thou gavest me no water for my feet. But she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

[John Weaver] Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith has saved thee. Go in peace." Have you ever wondered as to why our love for our Heavenly Father is actually so small? When you look at our lives, the truth of the matter is, we're occupied with so many things.

[John Weaver] We seemingly do not have the time or the energy or even the effort to obey His commands. When you look at Colossians 3, verses 1 and 2, the Bible says, if you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above and not on things below. So I could ask some questions and make it very personal, because I could ask, have you actually set your affection on things above? Are you seeking those things that are above? Is there a desire in your heart to be more loving toward our Lord Jesus Christ and to be more obedient toward the Lord Jesus Christ?

[John Weaver] And have you ever wondered or have you ever thought about this? And so why we really do not love him the way we have been commanded to love him. For instance, in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter six and verse five, The Bible says, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might. When you get to the book of Mark chapter 12, one of the scribes asked him, Master, which is the greatest commandment? And instead of quoting one of the ten, our Lord just simply said this, and he's quoting from Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 4, when he said, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment.

[John Weaver] Now, there have been some Christians, I am absolutely sure, that have recognized their sinful failure in not loving the Lord Jesus as He commanded, and certainly not recognizing the greatness of His grace and mercy. However, the truth of the matter is this most professing Christians just simply go on their merry way without ever thinking about these things, without ever desiring a greater love or a greater obedience. And of course, it does not bother the average professing Christian that he is unthinking, that he is unthankful, that he is ungrateful. that he is unappreciative. He just simply lives his life without even thinking about these things. And the truth of the matter is, in Luke chapter 7, our Lord actually deals with this issue.

[John Weaver] And this issue then involves a Pharisee, whose name was Simon, and a very notorious woman. Now, Simon the Pharisee is openly named. And you must remember that Pharisees were indeed self-righteous bigots. And they believed that they were sinless simply because they kept the externals of God's law. You remember the Apostle Paul himself was raised as a Pharisee. And he said in Philippians 3 and verse 6, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness of the law, blameless. Wow. Now, the Apostle Paul, understood that he was not really blameless, but in his pharisaical attitude, in keeping the externals, he actually thought himself to be blameless at one time. And interestingly, the Greek word for blameless is amiptos, and it literally means to be blameless, to be unblameable, to be faultless, one who deserves no censure, one who is free from fault and free from defect. Wow. So he said it's touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless. Just to show you the attitude of Pharisees, if you will hold Luke 7, but turn right over to Luke chapter 18, our Lord here gives us a good illustration between the Pharisee and the publican that went to the temple to pray.

[John Weaver] So if you'll begin looking at verse 10, Luke 18, verse 10, Our Lord says, two men went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, and probably to himself as well. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

[John Weaver] I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. So he believed, and he was righteous, because not just of his works, but keeping the externals. Verse 13, And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. And our Lord said, I tell you, this man, that is the publican, went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalted himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be Now, I point this out just so that you can be aware of the Pharisees' attitude. And the truth of the matter is, you remember how they condemned our Lord for associating with publicans and sinners. In fact, they asked the disciples, why does your master eat with publicans and sinners?

[John Weaver] And of course, when our Lord heard that, he said, Behold, need not a physician, but they that are sick, but go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. And then our Lord said he came not to call the righteous, but he came to call sinners to repentance. But let me show you a good illustration of a Pharisee before there basically were Pharisees in one sense of the word.

[John Weaver] So if you'll look in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah chapter 65, and let's begin reading there with verse 2. Isaiah chapter 65 and verse 2. Remember now these Pharisees, based their works upon externals. So notice, if you would, Isaiah 65, beginning there with verse 2, God says, I've spread out my hands all day unto a rebellious people, which walk in the way that was not good after their own thoughts. So they're not walking after God's law or God's thoughts, they're walking after their own thoughts. He says, they are a people that provoked me to anger continually to my face.

[John Weaver] that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick." That is, they're not worshiping at the temple. Verse 4,"...which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things in their vessels." But look what these people say. "...which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou." God says, these are a smoke in my nose. fire that burneth all the day So these people who did not want to be around others Lest they should defile or to pollute themselves Have this pharisaical attitude that they are holy when in reality they are not and unhappily The same pharisaical attitude is prevalent today among many professing Christians many professing Christians

[John Weaver] believe that that they have arrived at a very special place in their walk and they have embraced certain doctrines or certain views and or theories which make them therefore look with disdain and despite a disgust upon those who have not yet attained those views. In reality in doing so they have embraced a form of Gnosticism which taught salvation and spirituality by certain knowledge that only the elite had attained to. So anytime someone begins to look down and disdain and despise other Christians because they don't hold the same position, the same attitude, that is not only a Pharisaical attitude, that is Gnosticism as well.

[John Weaver] Now, Simon, the Pharisee, evidently did not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you look in Luke chapter 7 in verse 39, look at what Simon said, Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who in what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. So Simon would not even really ascribe to our Lord as being a prophet. And when you look at verse 40, and Jesus entered and said unto him, Simon. So Simon is named in this passage, but the woman is left unnamed. Why?

[John Weaver] The answer is because of the greatness and the gravity of her sin. So the Greek word there in verse 37, when it says this woman, which was a sinner, is the word hermartalos, which refers to one that is devoted to sin, especially one who is preeminently sinful, or one who is especially wicked. So this woman then, undoubtedly, was probably a prostitute, one which was known for a real lack of chastity and morality. And when you look at the word, was, in verse 37, which was a sinner, It's an imperfect indicative, and the imperfect tense actually, essentially, takes the present and sticks it back into the past. And in other words, here's what this woman was in the past, and she is this up until a very, very recent time. So evidently this woman then was a very eminent sinner, and she had only just recently repented. Her life had been one of sin and wickedness and rebellion and impurity. And it was strange, but the Lord had been gracious to her and evidently had dreaded her repentance.

[John Weaver] And now she hears that he's here at this meal with Simon and she comes to him. You know, one of the thoughts that we normally have when we see someone who is preeminently wicked, The standard attitude is someone like that will always be wicked. There's no hope for an individual like that, which is not true. Certainly this woman is a demonstration of the fact that there is hope for sinners like that.

[John Weaver] And then when you think of John Newton, John Newton was a drunkard, a whoremonger and a slave trader. And yet God saved him. and John Newton wrote Amazing Grace. Let me give you a quote by Spurgeon. He said, talking about this woman, her name is not given, and there are good reasons why it should not be given. Certainly she was not Mary, the sister of Lazarus, nor yet Mary Magdalene.

[John Weaver] We may be quite sure of that. Our Savior leaves her in an anonymous condition that is usually best that converts of this character should not be exhibited and their names made known. He then says this, I believe that much cruel wrong has been done to reclaim sinners when they have been pushed to the front. Then he says, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner. You know, it seems that men always want to magnify sin and sinners. Instead of the grace that saves sinners, you know, the interesting thing is I have known a very very wicked men that have repented and God had saved and the very first thing they do they're pushed forward not only in front of the church They're pushed forward in front of every meeting to give their testimony to give their testimony and their testimony Always begins with how wicked and how vile they were and what all they had done Well, let me ask you a question And I want you to think about this. I am so thankful that God does save sinners.

[John Weaver] And I know God saves drunkards because I have seen drunkards that were genuinely converted. I've seen whoremongers that were genuinely converted. I've seen murderers that were genuinely converted. I've even seen mobsters that were genuinely converted. In fact, I preached with one a number of times in years past. But here's a good question. Which do you think is a demonstration of the greater grace of God? The grace that reaches down and saves a drunkard, or saves a whoremonger, or saves a dopehead, or saves a murderer, or saves a mobster, or the grace of God that preserves a man and keeps him from going into all of those sins and then saves him anyhow?

[John Weaver] Isn't it strange that in our churches everybody wants to push these great sinners forward, and yet someone who's never been a great sinner, at least according to the world, God has protected them and held them back. Seemingly their testimony is useless or their testimony is absolutely worthless. So there's a vast contrast in this passage that is given between the Pharisee and this woman. If you'll look in verse 44, I want to show you this. Look in verse 44. And he turned to the woman and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman?

[John Weaver] I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment."

[John Weaver] Now, let me just stop right there. It should be pointed out that what our Lord is speaking of here is what you and I would call the normal, everyday, hospitable manners and custom in that day. So, if I came to visit Gary, and he takes me inside his house, I'm sure that he or his wife is going to say, well, pastor, would you like a glass of tea, a glass of water? Would you like? That's just mannerly. That's just being hospitable. Would you like to sit here and rest for a few minutes? That's just being hospitable. In Bible times, everyday hospitality, everyday manners was when someone came to your house You provided a bowl of water so they could wash their feet because everybody wore sandals and there were no paved roads. Everybody's feet got dirty and dusty. So it was just hospitality that you provided for them a bowl of water to wash their feet before they came in, because usually they'd leave their shoes at the door. Moreover, it was normal everyday hospitality for men to kiss other men.

[John Weaver] Now, let me back up. Don't jump to conclusions. The Bible says, greet you one another with a holy kiss. But the way men greeted other men is they would take their beard in their hand and kiss their beard. They wouldn't kiss the man, they'd kiss the beard. That was just a normal everyday custom. It was honoring that individual. And usually when you went to a home, they would take a few drops of oil and put it on your head. They would not pour a whole bottle of oil on you, but just enough to kind of refresh you is what it would amount to. And these were just what you and I would call clear hospitality and clear manners.

[John Weaver] Let me give you a quote by Spurgeon. Spurgeon said this. What a blessed amalgam of humility, penitence, gratitude, and love. All these are seen in what she did, especially in that the unbinding of the tresses of her beauty, that is her hair, which had been her nets in which she had taken the souls of men.

[John Weaver] Now she uses these for a towel. She begins to wash his feet with tears and had wiped them with the hairs of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you how much disrespect and dishonor this Pharisee had for the Lord Jesus Christ. Because he said, Simon, when I came to your house, you didn't give me any water to wash my feet in. You didn't kiss me. You didn't give me any oil for my head.

[John Weaver] Now, skip down to verse 49. Look at verse 49. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

[John Weaver] Now, there were more people there than Simon and our Lord and this sinful woman. And evidently, they were Pharisees because they are saying, like other Pharisees said throughout the scriptures, who is this that forgives sins also? So here's a question. I wonder if Simon had provided water for their feet. I wonder if he'd kissed their beards. I wonder if he'd given oil for their heads. And I wonder if they'd gotten there early, before the Lord. Which also makes you wonder, this was as a setup. Were they there to make fun of our Lord, to mock Him and to ridicule Him? So these other guests evidently were Pharisees and they were taking this then as an opportunity either to try to entrap him or just mock him or ridicule him. So the contrast is made very clear when you understand that the sinful woman loved the Lord Jesus Christ and believed in him when the Pharisee did not. There was absolutely no love in the heart of the Pharisee for the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you look in verse 39, because our Lord begins to question Simon and gives him a good illustration and a good question.

[John Weaver] Now, when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, saw what the woman had done, he spake within himself, saying, didn't say it out loud, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. Of course, our Lord knew his thoughts. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee." And he said, Master, say on.

[John Weaver] There was a certain creditor which had two debtors. The one owed 500 pence and the other 50. When they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him the most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And our Lord said unto him, thou hast rightly judged. So notice if you would, one debtor owed ten times more than the other debtor, and the amount of the debt was very significant, yet God frankly forbade or forgave each of them, or the creditor forgave each one of them. So the question that our Lord asked had a very obvious and clear answer, and Simon answered it correctly.

[John Weaver] So what I want to do today is this. I want to show you from this passage two reasons as to why we do not love the Lord Jesus Christ the way we should. Two reasons as to why we do not love Him the way He has commanded us. The first one is this. We do not perceive the greatness or the gravity of our sins. We do not perceive the greatness or the gravity of our sins.

[John Weaver] Now, it is true that practically everyone is going to admit that they're sinners. because everyone knows that they have sinned. In fact, I've known people who not only admit it, but they laugh about it while they admit it, and they think it's very funny. Well, most people have never ever really considered, and I'm talking about most Christians, the seriousness of sin. Let me ask you just a couple of questions, and you know the answers to each one of these, but here they are.

[John Weaver] How many sins does it take to make a sinner? How about this question? How many sins does it take to condemn you? How many sins does it take to bring about death? And the answer to each of those questions is what? One. Just one sin makes you a sinner. Just one sin condemns you, and one sin is enough to bring about death. Listen to this quote from A.W. Pink. He said,"'Because God is holy, He hates all sin.

[John Weaver] He loves everything which is in conformity to His laws, and loathes everything which is contrary to it.' His word plainly declares, the froward is an abomination of the Lord, and again, the thoughts of the wicked are an abomination of the Lord. It follows, therefore, that He must necessarily punish sin. Sin can no more exist without demanding His punishment than without requiring His hatred of it.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to listen carefully to this sentence. I'm going to come back to it. But listen, I'm still quoting Pink. He says, God often forgives sinners, but He never forgives sin. Now, I didn't finish this sentence, but I want you to listen to it. And it's true. God has often forgiven sinners But he never forgives sin and the sinner is only forgiven on the ground of another Having borne his punishment for without the shedding of blood. There is no remission Therefore we were told the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries and he reserveth wrath for his enemies Now listen for one sin God banished our first parents from Eden For one sin, the posterity of Canaan fell under a curse which remains over them to this day. For one sin, Moses was excluded from Canaan land. For one sin, Elisha's servant was smitten with leprosy. For one sin, Ananias and Sapphira were cut off out of the land of the living. It is sin that brings sorrow and heartache and suffering and death.

[John Weaver] And yet the truth of the matter is, most Christians engage in sin as easily as they open a box of chocolate candy and eat the candy, and they think nothing of it. We have not really understood that sin is indeed a transgression of God's law. The Bible says in 1 John 3 and verse 4, whosoever commits sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is a transgression of the law. So we cannot sin without transgressing God's law. And when the Bible says in the book of Galatians chapter 3 verse 10, for as many as of the works of the law are under the curse of the law, for it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all the things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

[John Weaver] So it means then that God requires us to be perfect. And our perfection has to be perpetual, consistent, constant, which it is not. and therefore we're under the curse. So, do you realize what we do is we try to make ourselves more spiritual by comparing ourselves to other people. In fact, that's what the Apostle Paul talks about. I think it's 2 Corinthians, maybe chapter 10, where he talks about these people who compare themselves with themselves, and they're not wise. I mean, come on. I can be the smartest man in the world, I can think, if I could compare myself with an imbecile. But just because I compare myself with an imbecile doesn't mean that I'm really smart. I mean, I'm just simply saying, you know, when you compare yourself among yourself, I can say, wow, I don't do what Steve does. So I must be more spiritual than Steve. But Steve is not my standard. The imbecile is not my standard. But that's exactly what people do. We we we compare ourselves I preached in prisons many, many times.

[John Weaver] Do you realize there is a pharisaical division even in the prisons? I've talked to prisoners and the thieves will say, well, at least we have never murdered anyone. We're not murderers. And the murderers will say, well, at least we're not pedophiles. In other words, they try to justify themselves by comparing themselves with other prisoners in the prison. Well, we do the same thing. And when we say, well, I may be a sinner, but I'm not really that bad. Well, listen, if you would, to the book of James, chapter 2, verses 9 and 10.

[John Weaver] Our Lord said, if you have respective persons, you commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors. Now listen to this, for whosoever shall keep the whole law And yet offending one point is guilty of all. So if I could ask you, are you a murderer? And I'm sure that you're going to answer no, because you've never really murdered anyone. But if you've committed any sin in your life, you are guilty as a murderer, because whatever sin you committed, that means you violated the whole law. You're a murderer, you're adulterer, you're a thief, you're an idolater, you're everything. In other words, when you violate one, one, God's laws you're guilty of all now I Want to show you some pictures?

[John Weaver] Because I told you that we do not usually Perceive the greatness in the gravity of our sins. I Want you to look in your Bibles if you would to begin with to the book of Isaiah chapter 1 Isaiah chapter 1 and Look if you would please beginning there Isaiah chapter 1, and we will begin reading with verse 4. I want you to look at what God says. Here's a good picture of our sins. If you want to see the greatness and the gravity of our sins, here's a picture.

[John Weaver] He said in verse 4, He's talking to Judah and Jerusalem, a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corruptors, They have forsaken the Lord. They provoke the Holy One of Israel unto anger. They're going away backward. And then He asks this question, Why should you be stricken anymore? You will revolt more and more. In other words, correction doesn't change you at all.

[John Weaver] The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. Now look at this picture. From the sole of the foot, even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores that have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. So God says, here's a good picture of the greatness and the gravity of our sin. From the top of our head to the sole of our foot, we're nothing but open, putrefying sores, which have never been bound up or mollified whatsoever. In other words, we're just one Huge pus factory is what it amounts to.

[John Weaver] I was preaching in South Carolina. And right before I got started, there was still a special to be sung. One man walked in with an extremely large pair of overalls on. And the pastor leaned over to me and said, boy, I'm so thankful to see him. I said, why? He said, I'll explain to you after service. So after service, the pastor took me to him and the pastor said to him, brother, I'm so happy to see you. He said, I told Brother Weaver, I was so thankful that you were here tonight. Would you please show Brother Weaver how difficult it was for you to get here tonight? And the man reached down and pulled up the pants legs on those huge overalls.

[John Weaver] And every spot on his legs was nothing but open, running, putrefying sores. I could not take my finger and touch a spot where there was not a sore. And when I saw his legs, I immediately thought of Isaiah 1, verses 5 and 6. And just as repulsive as that was to me, I mean, I wanted to back up. I thought that's how repulsive our sins are to God. They're nauseating unto Him. That is a picture of the greatness of our sins. If you look in your Bibles to Isaiah 64 and verse 6, here's a passage that most of you can quote.

[John Weaver] At least you've heard it many, many times. But we've never seen, once again, the greatness of this passage in declaring our wickedness. So in Isaiah chapter 64 and verse 6, He says, but we're all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags, and we do all fate as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Now, we're all as an unclean thing. Then he says, all of our righteousness are as filthy rags.

[John Weaver] Actually, it's minstrel's cloths is what it is. That's, he said, is how defiled we are. That's why we all fade as a leaf. That's why our iniquities are like the wind, and they simply take us away. In other words, God is showing us how sinful, how wicked, how detestable, how vile we really are. Let me give you another illustration. Look in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel chapter 24. Ezekiel chapter 24. And I want to take the time to read the first 14 verses. Then I want to come back Point out the words that God uses and please understand now he's going to be talking about Judah and Jerusalem again. Okay, watch this Ezekiel 24 verse 1 again in the ninth month in the ninth year in the tenth month in the tenth day of the month the word of the Lord came into me saying son of man Rightly the name of the day even of this same day the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water in it.

[John Weaver] Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, the shoulder, fill it with choice bones. Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it. Make it boil well, and let them see the bones of it therein. Now watch. Wherefore thus saith the Lord God, woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it, bringing out piece by piece, let no lot fall upon it.

[John Weaver] For her blood is in the midst of her. She set it upon the top of a rock. She poured it upon the ground to cover it with dust, that it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance. I've set her blood upon the top of a rock that it should not be covered. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, woe to the bloody city. I will even make the pile for the fire great.

[John Weaver] Now watch what he says. Heap on wood, kindle with fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned. Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, and the brass of it may be hot, and it may burn, that the filthiness It may be molten in it and the scum of it may be consumed He's talking about Jerusalem She had wearied herself with lies and her great scum went not forth out of her her scum Shall be in the fire in thy filthiness is lewdness because I've purged thee that was not purged thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness anymore Till I've caused my fury to rest upon thee.

[John Weaver] I the Lord have spoken it It shall come to pass. I will do it. I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent. According to thy ways and according to thy doings shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God. So God says, here's a great pot. You put everything in it. You've heated it up. All the water's boiled out. And it keeps cooking and cooking and cooking until there's nothing melted in it, but nothing but pure scum.

[John Weaver] which stinks to high heaven. I tell you, I do like chicken salad, but I have been around a pot of boiling chicken that was forgotten until the water boiled out and everything melted became the scum on the bottom of the pot, and it stunk. God calls the sin scum, great scum, and filthiness. So I want you to understand something. Scum stinks. Filthiness stinks. Spiritual garbage is still garbage. Spiritual filth is still filth.

[John Weaver] It has a distinctive smell about it, And that distinctive smell is disobedience, wickedness, and rebellion. And the Bible is telling us this smell causes God to be nauseated. It demands His punishment. That's why He said the wages of sin is death. You remember how David sinned? And David wrote these penitential Psalms, seven of them. But in Psalm 38 and verse 5, he said, My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness." His foolishness was his sin. He said, My wounds stink and are corrupt. So we need to understand here are pictures that demonstrate our great sin and the gravity of our sin.

[John Weaver] Let me show you another one. Look back in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7. And look, if you would please, at verse 24. I've mentioned this one before, but I'm going to mention it again in light of this message. So, in Romans 7, in verse 24, the Apostle Paul says, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Now, what in the world is the body of this death?

[John Weaver] I want to give you two quotes. The first one is by Albert Barnes, and he says this, The body of this death denotes the corrupt and evil propensities of the soul. It is thus used to denote the law of sin in the members as being that which the apostle was struggling and from which he desired to be delivered. And then John Gill says it like this, listen carefully. The body of sin speaks of the load of sin and the burden of corruption under which he groaned and still bespeaks him a regenerate man, not for outward calamities but of indwelling sin is he all along speaking in the context, whereof it is better called the body of death, to understand what he says in Romans 6 and verse 6 when he calls it the body of sin, that massive corruption that lodged in him, which is called a body. It is called a body because it is fleshly, carnal nature, because of its manner of operation, it exerts itself by the members of the body, and because it consists of various parts and members, body does and a body of death because it makes men liable to death it was that which the Apostle

[John Weaver] says slew him and which itself is to a regenerate man a dead carcass stinking and loathsome so actually what you have in Romans chapter 7 verse 24 is a Hebraism which the dead body is understood to be the body of sin or the carcass of sin to which the Apostle Paul was inseparably fastened, which you and I are as well in that sense of the word.

[John Weaver] Now, this illustration is an allusion to the ancient custom that many tyrants used, and it was not just to murderers. If a man murdered another man and he was captured, one of the ways they punished the living man was they took the man that he murdered Tied him to the dead man The dead man was tied to his face the living man's face the living man's chest living man's arms living man's hands the living man's legs lemon man's feet and he stayed tied until the corruption of the dead man killed the living man and Sometimes tyrants just did that as a punishment as well Virgil paints all of this in its horrors and by the account that he gives in the life of the tyrant, Messetius.

[John Weaver] That was a way to do that. Now, it's our sin, it's our disobedience, our lack of holiness that should make us groan under this weight as well. Now, it's not that Paul did not know how to be delivered. If you look at verse 24 again, let's read that in verse 25. He said, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

[John Weaver] And now he gives you the answer. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the answer. So here he's talking about this body of death, this body of sin, which is corrupt, which defiles. You remember our Lord Himself in Matthew 23 and verse 27 said this same truth to the Pharisees, who, of course, believed that they were righteous. But our Lord said in Matthew 23 and verse 37, one of you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, For you are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but within you're full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness." So here are just pictures of our sin.

[John Weaver] So the good question that you should be asking yourself, have you really seen yourself this sinful? Have you really seen yourself this depraved? Have you really seen yourself this corrupt? Have you really seen yourself this filthy? It's not just that we are sinners, we're sinners exceedingly. If you'll look in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah chapter six, here's a passage that you're familiar with, Isaiah chapter six. And let's begin reading their verse one and look what Isaiah proclaims when he sees the holiness of God. Then Isaiah chapter six in verse one, he says this.

[John Weaver] In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims. Each one had six wings, with twenty covered his face, with twenty covered his feet, and with twenty did fly. And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory. And the post of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me For I have undone Because I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the king the lord of hosts Then flew one of the seraphims unto me having a live cold in his hand Which he had taken from the tongs from off the altar and he laid it upon my mouth and said lo This hath touched thy lips and thine iniquities taken away and thy sin is purged But look what he said in verse 5, Woe is me, for I am undone.

[John Weaver] I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. So my question would be, have you and I really seen that we are undone? Have we really seen that we are of unclean lips? Have we really seen not just our sin, but the sins of others? Have we also seen the sins of our nation? In other words, the point I'm trying to make is this. If we've never seen the depth and the depravity of our sins, that means we've never seen the greatness and the gravity of our sins.

[John Weaver] And how in the world can you be thankful? How in the world can you be appreciative? How in the world can you love our Lord like you should if you've never seen what you were delivered from? Do you remember what our Lord said? Our Lord said, to whom much is forgiven, the same what? Loveth much. So if we want to love our Lord more, we really need to see what we were and what we are and what he delivered us from. So the first reason we do not love our Lord the way we should is because we do not perceive the greatness and the gravity of our sins. The second reason we do not love our Lord as we should is we do not perceive the graciousness of our Savior. You know. I don't know if you've ever thought about this. But if you ever considered. How much grace. And mercy. It would take.

[John Weaver] For God just to forgive. One sin. Just one sin. And look at the multitude of sins that you and I have committed and everybody else has committed. And when you begin to think that not one of us deserves forgiveness, each one of us actually deserves justice. And yet God graciously and kindly forgives us for our sins. David said it like this in Psalm 130, verse three, if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities. Oh, Lord, who should stand? If God started marking iniquities on us every time that we sinned, not only could we not stand physically, we could never stand spiritually. We could not stand before Him if God counted those. Let me mention this. Think it like this. If I were to ask you, do you remember any of your sins?

[John Weaver] And I know the answer is yes. Do you remember some of the sins that were very grievous, very wrong, very unethical? And you can say, yes, you can remember those. You know, the one thing about sin is this. Although it's forgiven, some of these sins are forever etched upon our memories. We can't erase them. They're there. So I know you can remember your sins. I can remember my sins. But how about this? Think also the multitude of sins that you and I have committed. And we have forgotten. And yet God knows every detail of those sins and they have not been forgotten. In that sense, the word, because God is omniscient, God knows everything.

[John Weaver] I've often said most people have a peace of mind that comes from their own forgetfulness, and that's true. We just forget our sins so many times. And yet the truth of the matter is, God hates all sin. That's what he said in Jeremiah 44 and verse 4. God said, Howbeit I send unto you my servants the prophets, rising early and sending and saying, O do not this abominable thing which I hate.

[John Weaver] When you look at Luke 7, and you think about this woman, probably everyone knew this woman. The Pharisees knew that woman. Not only was she known because of her immorality, she's probably known because of the gossip machine. Everybody talked about her. But one thing this woman did know, She knew the depth of her sin. She was humbled in her soul. She sorrowed over her transgression. She could not undo what she had done, but she could come to the Savior for forgiveness.

[John Weaver] The truth of the matter is this. Our Lord said to her in verse 48, and he said unto her, thy sins are forgiven. And then in verse 50, he said to the woman, thy faith has saved thee, go in peace. Wow. Someone says, well, I'm not a notorious sinner the way that woman was. Yes, you are. And yes, I am, because whoever violates the law on one point, guilty of all."

[John Weaver] I want you to think about two scriptures before I make an application. The first one is this, Psalm 130 and verse 4. The scripture says, but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. And then the Bible says in Ephesians 1 and verse 7, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace so we have forgiveness of sins through the Lord Jesus Christ so let me make these applications the first one is this there is not a sinner too vile to be saved I've had people actually tell me that I've had people tell me that I'm too sinful to be saved that is not true No one is beyond the grace and the mercy of God. It does not matter about the depth or the vileness or the wickedness of the sin, because the Bible tells us that the Lord is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him.

[John Weaver] And it is true, we do not deserve the least of His mercies, but yet He's very gracious and He gives us forgiveness. He is righteous, that is sure. And the good news is this, if you are a sinner, then you're a candidate for salvation because Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. So, no one is beyond the pale of salvation when it comes to God's grace and God's mercy.

[John Weaver] I can assure you there's another thought here as to the reason this woman was so broken. And that is, undoubtedly, she realized that her sins, her transgressions caused pain to the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, we never think about that. When we think about sin, we think about enjoying it. We think about, well, we want to go so far but no further. And then we think, well, I can sin and I can ask forgiveness, but we never think about how our sin affects the Lord Jesus Christ or has affected him.

[John Weaver] Let me remind you of this passage in Isaiah 53. I want you to listen very carefully. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray.

[John Weaver] We have turned everyone to his own way, but the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Have you ever contemplated the pain and suffering that your sins cause the Lord Jesus Christ. You have to remember what I read to you earlier. God often forgives sinners, but he never forgives sin. Sin has to be paid for. And whatever our sins are or were, our Lord Jesus Christ paid for them. and we will never recognize the graciousness of His forgiveness until we recognize the greatness and the gravity of what He forgave. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 12, verses 2 and 3, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, listen, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds." He said, think of what our Lord endured and all that He endured, He endured for us.

[John Weaver] If we want to love Him more, we need to really pray two prayer requests. The first one is this, Lord, show me myself. And if God ever opened your eyes to who you are and what you are, you will be in absolute fear. Dismay. Discouraged. Downcast, downtrodden. Until you pray the second one, Lord, show me thyself. And when God shows us Himself and His mercy and grace through the Lord Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ is the only answer for who we are and what we are, then that brings the joy of salvation. We'll recognize this simple truth where our Lord said, to whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much. If we don't recognize what our Lord has delivered us from, and the grace that He gave us in delivering us, our love will continue to be little, small, and insufficient compared to what He deserves. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all thy strength.

[John Weaver] And the reason we don't love Him as we should, we've never received never perceived the greatness and the gravity of our sins or the graciousness of his sufferings and forgiveness. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to this day. We thank you, Father, for your word, your truth. And we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we are sinners. We are grievous sinners, grave sinners. But we've never really seen the depths of our depravity. And we've never really perceived the greatness. Of your mercy and grace and delivering us from our sins and from ourselves. And Lord, we need to see thee as Isaiah saw thee in all thy holiness and righteousness and majesty. Help us, Father, to love Thee with all of our hearts. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

[John Weaver] so so

Two Reasons Why You Don't Love The Lord As You Should

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	4P-K5BI_6R8
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations: Praying Against the Wicked
Genre	Sermon
Date	2022-10-09
Dictation Name
Book	Book 137: Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations - Volume 2 — Chapter 36
Source Timed Segments	76

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Scripture Reading

Reading of Luke 7:36-50, the account of Jesus anointed by a sinful woman in Simon the Pharisee's house.

Our Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Luke, chapter 7, and we're going to be reading verses 36 through 50. Luke 7, verses 36 through 50, and the message is entitled, Two Reasons As To Why You Do Not Love The Lord Jesus As You Should. Notice, if you would please, in Luke chapter 7, beginning there with verse 36. And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house and sat down to meat. 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 and stood at his feet behind him, weeping and began to wash his feet with tears, and had wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he said, Master, say on.

There was a certain creditor which had two debtors, the one owed 500 pence, and the other 50. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, and thou gavest me no water for my feet. But she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith has saved thee. Go in peace. Have you ever wondered as to why our love for our Heavenly Father is actually so small? When you look at our lives, the truth of the matter is, we're occupied with so many things.

The Problem of Small Love for God

Observing that believers often lack time, energy, or desire to obey God's commands and love Him fully, despite the greatest commandment.

We seemingly do not have the time or the energy or even the effort to obey His commands. When you look at Colossians 3, verses 1 and 2, the Bible says, if ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above and not on things below. So I could ask some questions and make it very personal, because I could ask, have you actually set your affection on things above? Are you seeking those things that are above? Is there a desire in your heart to be more loving toward our Lord Jesus Christ and to be more obedient toward the Lord Jesus Christ? And have you ever wondered or have you ever thought about this? And so why we really do not love him the way we have been commanded to love him. For instance, in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter six and verse five, the Bible says, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might. When you get to the book of Mark chapter 12, one of the scribes asked him, Master, which is the greatest commandment? And instead of quoting one of the ten, our Lord just simply said this, and he's quoting from Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 4, when he said, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment.

Now, there have been some Christians, I am absolutely sure, that have recognized their sinful failure in not loving the Lord Jesus as He commanded, and certainly not recognizing the greatness of His grace and mercy. However, the truth of the matter is this: most professing Christians just simply go on their merry way without ever thinking about these things, without ever desiring a greater love or a greater obedience. And of course, it does not bother the average professing Christian that he is unthinking, that he is unthankful, that he is ungrateful, that he is unappreciative. He just simply lives his life without even thinking about these things. And the truth of the matter is, in Luke chapter 7, our Lord actually deals with this issue.

The Pharisee and the Sinful Woman Contrasted

Examining the self-righteous attitude of Simon the Pharisee and the notorious sinfulness of the unnamed woman, highlighting her repentance and love.

And this issue then involves a Pharisee, whose name was Simon, and a very notorious woman. Now, Simon the Pharisee is openly named. And you must remember that Pharisees were indeed self-righteous bigots. And they believed that they were sinless simply because they kept the externals of God's law. You remember the Apostle Paul himself was raised as a Pharisee. And he said in Philippians 3 and verse 6, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness of the law, blameless. Wow. Now, the Apostle Paul understood that he was not really blameless, but in his pharisaical attitude, in keeping the externals, he actually thought himself to be blameless at one time. And interestingly, the Greek word for blameless is amemptos, and it literally means to be blameless, to be unblameable, to be faultless, one who deserves no censure, one who is free from fault and free from defect. Wow. So he said it's touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless. Just to show you the attitude of Pharisees, if you will hold Luke 7, but turn right over to Luke chapter 18, our Lord here gives us a good illustration between the Pharisee and the publican that went to the temple to pray.

So if you'll begin looking at verse 10, Luke 18, verse 10, our Lord says, Two men went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, and probably to himself as well. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. So he believed, and he was righteous, because not just of his works, but keeping the externals. Verse 13, And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. And our Lord said, I tell you, this man, that is the publican, went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalted himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Now, I point this out just so that you can be aware of the Pharisees' attitude. And the truth of the matter is, you remember how they condemned our Lord for associating with publicans and sinners. In fact, they asked the disciples, why does your master eat with publicans and sinners?

And of course, when our Lord heard that, he said, Behold, need not a physician, but they that are sick, but go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. And then our Lord said he came not to call the righteous, but he came to call sinners to repentance. But let me show you a good illustration of a Pharisee before there basically were Pharisees in one sense of the word.

So if you'll look in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah chapter 65, and let's begin reading there with verse 2. Isaiah chapter 65 and verse 2. Remember now these Pharisees based their works upon externals. So notice, if you would, Isaiah 65, beginning there with verse 2, God says, I've spread out my hands all day unto a rebellious people, which walk in the way that was not good after their own thoughts. So they're not walking after God's law or God's thoughts, they're walking after their own thoughts. He says, they are a people that provoked me to anger continually to my face. that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick. That is, they're not worshiping at the temple. Verse 4, ...which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things in their vessels. But look what these people say. ...which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou. God says, these are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. So these people who did not want to be around others, lest they should defile or pollute themselves, have this pharisaical attitude that they are holy when in reality they are not. And unhappily, the same pharisaical attitude is prevalent today among many professing Christians.

Many professing Christians believe that they have arrived at a very special place in their walk and they have embraced certain doctrines or certain views and or theories which make them therefore look with disdain and despite and disgust upon those who have not yet attained those views. In reality, in doing so they have embraced a form of Gnosticism which taught salvation and spirituality by certain knowledge that only the elite had attained to. So anytime someone begins to look down and disdain and despise other Christians because they don't hold the same position, the same attitude, that is not only a Pharisaical attitude, that is Gnosticism as well. Now, Simon, the Pharisee, evidently did not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you look in Luke chapter 7 in verse 39, look at what Simon said, Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. So Simon would not even really ascribe to our Lord as being a prophet. And when you look at verse 40, and Jesus answering said unto him, Simon. So Simon is named in this passage, but the woman is left unnamed. Why?

The answer is because of the greatness and the gravity of her sin. So the Greek word there in verse 37, when it says this woman, which was a sinner, is the word hamartolos, which refers to one that is devoted to sin, especially one who is preeminently sinful, or one who is especially wicked. So this woman then, undoubtedly, was probably a prostitute, one which was known for a real lack of chastity and morality. And when you look at the word, was, in verse 37, which was a sinner, it's an imperfect indicative, and the imperfect tense actually, essentially, takes the present and sticks it back into the past. And in other words, here's what this woman was in the past, and she is this up until a very, very recent time. So evidently this woman then was a very eminent sinner, and she had only just recently repented. Her life had been one of sin and wickedness and rebellion and impurity. And it was strange, but the Lord had been gracious to her and evidently had granted her repentance.

And now she hears that he's here at this meal with Simon and she comes to him. You know, one of the thoughts that we normally have when we see someone who is preeminently wicked, the standard attitude is someone like that will always be wicked. There's no hope for an individual like that, which is not true. Certainly this woman is a demonstration of the fact that there is hope for sinners like that. And then when you think of John Newton, John Newton was a drunkard, a whoremonger and a slave trader. And yet God saved him. And John Newton wrote Amazing Grace. Let me give you a quote by Spurgeon. He said, talking about this woman, her name is not given, and there are good reasons why it should not be given. Certainly she was not Mary, the sister of Lazarus, nor yet Mary Magdalene.

We may be quite sure of that. Our Savior leaves her in an anonymous condition. It is usually best that converts of this character should not be exhibited and their names made known. He then says this, I believe that much cruel wrong has been done to reclaim sinners when they have been pushed to the front. Then he says, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner. You know, it seems that men always want to magnify sin and sinners instead of the grace that saves sinners. You know, the interesting thing is I have known very, very wicked men that have repented and God had saved and the very first thing they do they're pushed forward not only in front of the church, they're pushed forward in front of every meeting to give their testimony, to give their testimony and their testimony always begins with how wicked and how vile they were and what all they had done. Well, let me ask you a question. And I want you to think about this. I am so thankful that God does save sinners.

The Parable of the Two Debtors

Jesus' parable illustrating that the one forgiven more loves more, and Simon's correct answer.

Now, when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, saw what the woman had done, he spake within himself, saying, didn't say it out loud, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. Of course, our Lord knew his thoughts. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he said, Master, say on.

There was a certain creditor which had two debtors. The one owed 500 pence and the other 50. When they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him the most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And our Lord said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. So notice if you would, one debtor owed ten times more than the other debtor, and the amount of the debt was very significant, yet God frankly forgave each of them, or the creditor forgave each one of them. So the question that our Lord asked had a very obvious and clear answer, and Simon answered it correctly.

So what I want to do today is this. I want to show you from this passage two reasons as to why we do not love the Lord Jesus Christ the way we should. Two reasons as to why we do not love Him the way He has commanded us. The first one is this. We do not perceive the greatness or the gravity of our sins. We do not perceive the greatness or the gravity of our sins.

First Reason: Not Perceiving the Greatness of Our Sin

We do not love Christ as we should because we fail to see the depth, depravity, and offensiveness of our sin before a holy God.

Now, it is true that practically everyone is going to admit that they're sinners, because everyone knows that they have sinned. In fact, I've known people who not only admit it, but they laugh about it while they admit it, and they think it's very funny. Well, most people have never ever really considered, and I'm talking about most Christians, the seriousness of sin. Let me ask you just a couple of questions, and you know the answers to each one of these, but here they are. How many sins does it take to make a sinner? How about this question? How many sins does it take to condemn you? How many sins does it take to bring about death? And the answer to each of those questions is what? One. Just one sin makes you a sinner. Just one sin condemns you, and one sin is enough to bring about death. Listen to this quote from A.W. Pink. He said, "Because God is holy, He hates all sin.

He loves everything which is in conformity to His laws, and loathes everything which is contrary to it. His word plainly declares, the froward is an abomination of the Lord, and again, the thoughts of the wicked are an abomination of the Lord. It follows, therefore, that He must necessarily punish sin. Sin can no more exist without demanding His punishment than without requiring His hatred of it.

Now, I want you to listen carefully to this sentence. I'm going to come back to it. But listen, I'm still quoting Pink. He says, God often forgives sinners, but He never forgives sin. Now, I didn't finish this sentence, but I want you to listen to it. And it's true. God has often forgiven sinners, but He never forgives sin, and the sinner is only forgiven on the ground of another having borne his punishment, for without the shedding of blood there is no remission. Therefore we were told the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. Now listen: for one sin God banished our first parents from Eden. For one sin, the posterity of Canaan fell under a curse which remains over them to this day. For one sin, Moses was excluded from Canaan land. For one sin, Elisha's servant was smitten with leprosy. For one sin, Ananias and Sapphira were cut off out of the land of the living. It is sin that brings sorrow and heartache and suffering and death.

And yet the truth of the matter is, most Christians engage in sin as easily as they open a box of chocolate candy and eat the candy, and they think nothing of it. We have not really understood that sin is indeed a transgression of God's law. The Bible says in 1 John 3 and verse 4, whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is a transgression of the law. So we cannot sin without transgressing God's law. And when the Bible says in the book of Galatians chapter 3 verse 10, for as many as of the works of the law are under the curse of the law, for it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all the things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

So it means then that God requires us to be perfect. And our perfection has to be perpetual, consistent, constant, which it is not, and therefore we're under the curse. So, do you realize what we do is we try to make ourselves more spiritual by comparing ourselves to other people. In fact, that's what the Apostle Paul talks about. I think it's 2 Corinthians, maybe chapter 10, where he talks about these people who compare themselves with themselves, and they're not wise. I mean, come on. I can be the smartest man in the world, I can think, if I could compare myself with an imbecile. But just because I compare myself with an imbecile doesn't mean that I'm really smart. I mean, I'm just simply saying, you know, when you compare yourself among yourself, I can say, wow, I don't do what Steve does. So I must be more spiritual than Steve. But Steve is not my standard. The imbecile is not my standard. But that's exactly what people do. We compare ourselves. I preached in prisons many, many times.

Do you realize there is a pharisaical division even in the prisons? I've talked to prisoners and the thieves will say, well, at least we have never murdered anyone. We're not murderers. And the murderers will say, well, at least we're not pedophiles. In other words, they try to justify themselves by comparing themselves with other prisoners in the prison. Well, we do the same thing. And when we say, well, I may be a sinner, but I'm not really that bad. Well, listen, if you would, to the book of James, chapter 2, verses 9 and 10.

Our Lord said, if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors. Now listen to this, for whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. So if I could ask you, are you a murderer? And I'm sure that you're going to answer no, because you've never really murdered anyone. But if you've committed any sin in your life, you are guilty as a murderer, because whatever sin you committed, that means you violated the whole law. You're a murderer, you're an adulterer, you're a thief, you're an idolater, you're everything. In other words, when you violate one of God's laws, you're guilty of all. Now I want to show you some pictures.

Because I told you that we do not usually perceive the greatness and the gravity of our sins. I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, to begin with, to the book of Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1. And look, if you would please, beginning there Isaiah chapter 1, and we will begin reading with verse 4. I want you to look at what God says. Here's a good picture of our sins. If you want to see the greatness and the gravity of our sins, here's a picture.

He said in verse 4, He's talking to Judah and Jerusalem, a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters. They have forsaken the Lord. They provoke the Holy One of Israel unto anger. They're going away backward. And then He asks this question, Why should ye be stricken anymore? Ye will revolt more and more. In other words, correction doesn't change you at all.

The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. Now look at this picture. From the sole of the foot, even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores that have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. So God says, here's a good picture of the greatness and the gravity of our sin. From the top of our head to the sole of our foot, we're nothing but open, putrefying sores, which have never been bound up or mollified whatsoever. In other words, we're just one huge pus factory is what it amounts to. I was preaching in South Carolina. And right before I got started, there was still a special to be sung. One man walked in with an extremely large pair of overalls on. And the pastor leaned over to me and said, boy, I'm so thankful to see him. I said, why? He said, I'll explain to you after service. So after service, the pastor took me to him and the pastor said to him, brother, I'm so happy to see you. He said, I told Brother Weaver, I was so thankful that you were here tonight. Would you please show Brother Weaver how difficult it was for you to get here tonight? And the man reached down and pulled up the pants legs on those huge overalls.

And every spot on his legs was nothing but open, running, putrefying sores. I could not take my finger and touch a spot where there was not a sore. And when I saw his legs, I immediately thought of Isaiah 1, verses 5 and 6. And just as repulsive as that was to me, I mean, I wanted to back up. I thought that's how repulsive our sins are to God. They're nauseating unto Him. That is a picture of the greatness of our sins. If you look in your Bibles to Isaiah 64 and verse 6, here's a passage that most of you can quote.

At least you've heard it many, many times. But we've never seen, once again, the greatness of this passage in declaring our wickedness. So in Isaiah chapter 64 and verse 6, He says, but we're all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Now, we're all as an unclean thing. Then he says, all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Actually, it's menstrual cloths is what it is. That's, he said, is how defiled we are. That's why we all fade as a leaf. That's why our iniquities are like the wind, and they simply take us away. In other words, God is showing us how sinful, how wicked, how detestable, how vile we really are. Let me give you another illustration. Look in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel chapter 24. Ezekiel chapter 24. And I want to take the time to read the first 14 verses. Then I want to come back and point out the words that God uses. And please understand now he's going to be talking about Judah and Jerusalem again. Okay, watch this. Ezekiel 24 verse 1, again in the ninth month, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day. And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water in it.

Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, the shoulder, fill it with choice bones. Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it. Make it boil well, and let them see the bones of it therein. Now watch. Wherefore thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! Bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it. For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it upon the ground to cover it with dust; that it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for the fire great.

Now watch what he says. Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned. Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, and the scum of it may be consumed. He's talking about Jerusalem. She had wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire. In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee. I the Lord have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God. So God says, here's a great pot. You put everything in it. You've heated it up. All the water's boiled out. And it keeps cooking and cooking and cooking until there's nothing melted in it, but nothing but pure scum.

which stinks to high heaven. I tell you, I do like chicken salad, but I have been around a pot of boiling chicken that was forgotten until the water boiled out and everything melted became the scum on the bottom of the pot, and it stunk. God calls the sin scum, great scum, and filthiness. So I want you to understand something. Scum stinks. Filthiness stinks. Spiritual garbage is still garbage. Spiritual filth is still filth.

It has a distinctive smell about it, and that distinctive smell is disobedience, wickedness, and rebellion. And the Bible is telling us this smell causes God to be nauseated. It demands His punishment. That's why He said the wages of sin is death. You remember how David sinned? And David wrote these penitential Psalms, seven of them. But in Psalm 38 and verse 5, he said, My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. His foolishness was his sin. He said, My wounds stink and are corrupt. So we need to understand here are pictures that demonstrate our great sin and the gravity of our sin.

Let me show you another one. Look back in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7. And look, if you would please, at verse 24. I've mentioned this one before, but I'm going to mention it again in light of this message. So, in Romans 7, in verse 24, the Apostle Paul says, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Now, what in the world is the body of this death?

I want to give you two quotes. The first one is by Albert Barnes, and he says this, The body of this death denotes the corrupt and evil propensities of the soul. It is thus used to denote the law of sin in the members as being that which the apostle was struggling and from which he desired to be delivered. And then John Gill says it like this, listen carefully. The body of sin speaks of the load of sin and the burden of corruption under which he groaned and still bespeaks him a regenerate man, not for outward calamities but of indwelling sin is he all along speaking in the context, whereof it is better called the body of death, to understand what he says in Romans 6 and verse 6 when he calls it the body of sin, that massive corruption that lodged in him, which is called a body. It is called a body because it is fleshly, carnal nature, because of its manner of operation, it exerts itself by the members of the body, and because it consists of various parts and members, as a body does, and a body of death because it makes men liable to death, it was that which the Apostle

says slew him and which itself is to a regenerate man a dead carcass, stinking and loathsome. So actually what you have in Romans chapter 7 verse 24 is a Hebraism which the dead body is understood to be the body of sin or the carcass of sin to which the Apostle Paul was inseparably fastened, which you and I are as well in that sense of the word. Now, this illustration is an allusion to the ancient custom that many tyrants used, and it was not just to murderers. If a man murdered another man and he was captured, one of the ways they punished the living man was they took the man that he murdered, tied him to the dead man. The dead man was tied to his face, the living man's face, the living man's chest, living man's arms, living man's hands, the living man's legs, living man's feet, and he stayed tied until the corruption of the dead man killed the living man. And sometimes tyrants just did that as a punishment as well. Virgil paints all of this in its horrors and by the account that he gives in the life of the tyrant, Mezentius.

That was a way to do that. Now, it's our sin, it's our disobedience, our lack of holiness that should make us groan under this weight as well. Now, it's not that Paul did not know how to be delivered. If you look at verse 24 again, let's read that in verse 25. He said, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? And now he gives you the answer. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the answer. So here he's talking about this body of death, this body of sin, which is corrupt, which defiles. You remember our Lord Himself in Matthew 23 and verse 27 said this same truth to the Pharisees, who, of course, believed that they were righteous. But our Lord said in Matthew 23 and verse 27, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. So here are just pictures of our sin.

So the good question that you should be asking yourself, have you really seen yourself this sinful? Have you really seen yourself this depraved? Have you really seen yourself this corrupt? Have you really seen yourself this filthy? It's not just that we are sinners, we're sinners exceedingly. If you'll look in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah chapter six, here's a passage that you're familiar with, Isaiah chapter six. And let's begin reading there verse one and look what Isaiah proclaims when he sees the holiness of God. Then Isaiah chapter six in verse one, he says this.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. But look what he said in verse 5, Woe is me, for I am undone.

I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. So my question would be, have you and I really seen that we are undone? Have we really seen that we are of unclean lips? Have we really seen not just our sin, but the sins of others? Have we also seen the sins of our nation? In other words, the point I'm trying to make is this. If we've never seen the depth and the depravity of our sins, that means we've never seen the greatness and the gravity of our sins.

And how in the world can you be thankful? How in the world can you be appreciative? How in the world can you love our Lord like you should if you've never seen what you were delivered from? Do you remember what our Lord said? Our Lord said, to whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much. So if we want to love our Lord more, we really need to see what we were and what we are and what he delivered us from. So the first reason we do not love our Lord the way we should is because we do not perceive the greatness and the gravity of our sins. The second reason we do not love our Lord as we should is we do not perceive the graciousness of our Savior. You know, I don't know if you've ever thought about this. But if you ever considered how much grace and mercy it would take

Second Reason: Not Perceiving the Graciousness of Our Savior

We do not love Christ as we should because we fail to appreciate the magnitude of His grace and forgiveness in delivering us from our sins.

for God just to forgive one sin. Just one sin. And look at the multitude of sins that you and I have committed and everybody else has committed. And when you begin to think that not one of us deserves forgiveness, each one of us actually deserves justice. And yet God graciously and kindly forgives us for our sins. David said it like this in Psalm 130, verse 3, If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? If God started marking iniquities on us every time that we sinned, not only could we not stand physically, we could never stand spiritually. We could not stand before Him if God counted those. Let me mention this. Think it like this. If I were to ask you, do you remember any of your sins?

And I know the answer is yes. Do you remember some of the sins that were very grievous, very wrong, very unethical? And you can say, yes, you can remember those. You know, the one thing about sin is this. Although it's forgiven, some of these sins are forever etched upon our memories. We can't erase them. They're there. So I know you can remember your sins. I can remember my sins. But how about this? Think also the multitude of sins that you and I have committed and we have forgotten. And yet God knows every detail of those sins and they have not been forgotten. In that sense, the word, because God is omniscient, God knows everything.

I've often said most people have a peace of mind that comes from their own forgetfulness, and that's true. We just forget our sins so many times. And yet the truth of the matter is, God hates all sin. That's what he said in Jeremiah 44 and verse 4. God said, Howbeit I sent unto you my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.

When you look at Luke 7, and you think about this woman, probably everyone knew this woman. The Pharisees knew that woman. Not only was she known because of her immorality, she's probably known because of the gossip machine. Everybody talked about her. But one thing this woman did know, she knew the depth of her sin. She was humbled in her soul. She sorrowed over her transgression. She could not undo what she had done, but she could come to the Savior for forgiveness.

The truth of the matter is this. Our Lord said to her in verse 48, and he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And then in verse 50, he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. Wow. Someone says, well, I'm not a notorious sinner the way that woman was. Yes, you are. And yes, I am, because whoever violates the law on one point is guilty of all.

I want you to think about two scriptures before I make an application. The first one is this, Psalm 130 and verse 4. The scripture says, But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. And then the Bible says in Ephesians 1 and verse 7, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. So we have forgiveness of sins through the Lord Jesus Christ. So let me make these applications. The first one is this: there is not a sinner too vile to be saved. I've had people actually tell me that. I've had people tell me that I'm too sinful to be saved. That is not true. No one is beyond the grace and the mercy of God. It does not matter about the depth or the vileness or the wickedness of the sin, because the Bible tells us that the Lord is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him.

And it is true, we do not deserve the least of His mercies, but yet He's very gracious and He gives us forgiveness. He is righteous, that is sure. And the good news is this, if you are a sinner, then you're a candidate for salvation because Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. So, no one is beyond the pale of salvation when it comes to God's grace and God's mercy. I can assure you there's another thought here as to the reason this woman was so broken. And that is, undoubtedly, she realized that her sins, her transgressions caused pain to the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, we never think about that. When we think about sin, we think about enjoying it. We think about, well, we want to go so far but no further. And then we think, well, I can sin and I can ask forgiveness, but we never think about how our sin affects the Lord Jesus Christ or has affected him.

Let me remind you of this passage in Isaiah 53. I want you to listen very carefully. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Have you ever contemplated the pain and suffering that your sins cause the Lord Jesus Christ? You have to remember what I read to you earlier. God often forgives sinners, but he never forgives sin. Sin has to be paid for. And whatever our sins are or were, our Lord Jesus Christ paid for them. And we will never recognize the graciousness of His forgiveness until we recognize the greatness and the gravity of what He forgave. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 12, verses 2 and 3, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. He said, think of what our Lord endured and all that He endured, He endured for us.

If we want to love Him more, we need to really pray two prayer requests. The first one is this, Lord, show me myself. And if God ever opened your eyes to who you are and what you are, you will be in absolute fear, dismay, discouraged, downcast, downtrodden. Until you pray the second one, Lord, show me thyself. And when God shows us Himself and His mercy and grace through the Lord Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ is the only answer for who we are and what we are, then that brings the joy of salvation. We'll recognize this simple truth where our Lord said, to whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much. If we don't recognize what our Lord has delivered us from, and the grace that He gave us in delivering us, our love will continue to be little, small, and insufficient compared to what He deserves. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all thy strength.

Applications and Conclusion

No sinner is too vile to be saved; we must pray to see ourselves and see Christ, leading to greater love and gratitude.

And the reason we don't love Him as we should, we've never perceived the greatness and the gravity of our sins or the graciousness of his sufferings and forgiveness. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to this day. We thank you, Father, for your word, your truth. And we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we are sinners. We are grievous sinners, grave sinners. But we've never really seen the depths of our depravity. And we've never really perceived the greatness of your mercy and grace in delivering us from our sins and from ourselves. And Lord, we need to see thee as Isaiah saw thee in all thy holiness and righteousness and majesty. Help us, Father, to love Thee with all of our hearts. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Greatness and Gravity of Sin

Summary: Sin is exceedingly offensive to God, depicted as putrefying sores, filthy rags, and a stench; even one sin makes us guilty of all.

Evidence: From the sole of the foot, even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores... (Isaiah 1:6).

The Graciousness of Forgiveness

Summary: God forgives sinners through Christ's sacrifice, but sin itself must be punished; forgiveness is according to the riches of His grace.

Evidence: God often forgives sinners, but He never forgives sin... the sinner is only forgiven on the ground of another having borne his punishment.

Love Proportional to Perceived Forgiveness

Summary: Our love for Christ is small because we do not grasp how much we have been forgiven; to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

Evidence: Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

Self-Righteousness vs. Humble Repentance

Summary: The Pharisee's external righteousness contrasts with the woman's brokenness; true love flows from recognizing one's own sinfulness.

Evidence: Simon... spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is...

The Necessity of Seeing Ourselves and Seeing Christ

Summary: To love God more, we must pray for God to show us our sin and then show us Himself in His mercy and grace.

Evidence: Lord, show me myself... Lord, show me thyself.

Key Arguments

We do not perceive the greatness of our sins

Summary: Most Christians trivialize sin, not realizing that even one sin condemns and makes us guilty of the whole law, and that sin is repulsive to God.

Evidence: How many sins does it take to condemn you? ... One. Just one sin makes you a sinner.

We do not perceive the graciousness of our Savior

Summary: We fail to appreciate the immense grace required to forgive even one sin, let alone the multitude we have committed and forgotten.

Evidence: If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

Sin causes suffering to Christ

Summary: Our sins caused Christ's suffering and death; contemplating this should deepen our love and gratitude.

Evidence: He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities...

No sinner is beyond salvation

Summary: The sinful woman and examples like John Newton demonstrate that God's grace can save the vilest sinner.

Evidence: John Newton was a drunkard, a whoremonger and a slave trader. And yet God saved him.

Scripture References

Luke 7:36-50

Context: The main passage: Jesus anointed by a sinful woman in Simon the Pharisee's house.

Colossians 3:1-2

Context: Command to set affection on things above, not on earthly things.

Deuteronomy 6:5

Context: The greatest commandment to love God with all heart, soul, and might.

Mark 12:29-30

Context: Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:4-5 as the first commandment.

Philippians 3:6

Context: Paul's pharisaical zeal and blamelessness according to the law.

Luke 18:10-14

Context: Parable of the Pharisee and the publican praying in the temple.

Isaiah 65:2-5

Context: God's rebuke of a rebellious people with a pharisaical attitude.

1 John 3:4

Context: Sin is the transgression of the law.

Galatians 3:10

Context: Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things written in the law.

James 2:9-10

Context: Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles in one point is guilty of all.

Isaiah 1:4-6

Context: A picture of sin as wounds, bruises, and putrefying sores from head to foot.

Isaiah 64:6

Context: All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

Ezekiel 24:1-14

Context: Parable of the boiling pot with scum, picturing the filthiness of sin.

Psalm 38:5

Context: David's wounds stink and are corrupt because of his foolishness (sin).

Romans 7:24-25

Context: Paul's cry of wretchedness and deliverance through Jesus Christ.

Matthew 23:27

Context: Pharisees likened to whited sepulchres full of dead men's bones.

Isaiah 6:1-7

Context: Isaiah's vision of God's holiness and his confession of uncleanness.

Psalm 130:3-4

Context: If God marked iniquities, no one could stand; but there is forgiveness.

Jeremiah 44:4

Context: God hates all sin, calling it an abominable thing.

Ephesians 1:7

Context: Redemption through Christ's blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Historical References

John Newton

Context: A drunkard, whoremonger, and slave trader who was saved and wrote 'Amazing Grace'.

Charles Spurgeon

Context: Quoted regarding the anonymity of the sinful woman and the danger of pushing reclaimed sinners to the front.

A.W. Pink

Context: Quoted on God's hatred of sin and the necessity of punishment; God forgives sinners but never forgives sin.

Albert Barnes

Context: Quoted on Romans 7:24, defining 'the body of this death' as corrupt propensities of the soul.

John Gill

Context: Quoted on Romans 7:24, describing the body of sin as a stinking, loathsome carcass.

Virgil and Mezentius

Context: Ancient custom of tying a living man to a dead body as punishment, illustrating the body of death.

Important Quotes

From the sole of the foot, even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores that have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

Significance: Vivid biblical picture of the totality and repulsiveness of sin.

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Significance: Paul's cry expressing the burden of indwelling sin, used to illustrate our need for deliverance.

To whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much.

Significance: The central principle of the passage: love is proportional to perceived forgiveness.

Discussion Questions

Why do we often fail to see the seriousness of our own sin, and how can we cultivate a more biblical view of sin's offensiveness to God?

Context: The first reason for small love is not perceiving the greatness of our sin.

In what ways do we, like Simon the Pharisee, compare ourselves to others to feel more righteous, and how does this hinder our love for Christ?

Context: Discussion of self-righteousness and comparing ourselves among ourselves.

How does understanding that Christ suffered for our specific sins change the way we view sin and forgiveness?

Context: The application that our sins caused pain to Christ.

What practical steps can we take to remember the depth of our forgiveness and let it fuel greater love and obedience?

Context: The need to perceive the graciousness of our Savior.

Why is it dangerous to push 'great sinners' forward as testimonies while neglecting the grace that preserves others from such sins?

Context: Discussion on magnifying sin versus magnifying grace.

Applications

Pray for a true sight of your sinfulness

Summary: Ask God to show you the depth and depravity of your sin so that you may appreciate His forgiveness and love Him more.

Evidence: Lord, show me myself... If God ever opened your eyes to who you are and what you are, you will be in absolute fear...

Pray for a true sight of Christ's grace

Summary: Ask God to reveal the graciousness of Christ's suffering and forgiveness, leading to greater love and gratitude.

Evidence: Lord, show me thyself... when God shows us Himself and His mercy and grace through the Lord Jesus Christ...

Do not compare yourself with others

Summary: Avoid the pharisaical trap of measuring spirituality by comparing with others; recognize that all sin makes us guilty before God.

Evidence: We try to make ourselves more spiritual by comparing ourselves to other people...

Remember that no sinner is beyond salvation

Summary: Do not despair of God's mercy; the vilest sinner can be saved, as demonstrated by the woman and John Newton.

Evidence: There is not a sinner too vile to be saved... No one is beyond the grace and the mercy of God.

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Clean Transcript

Two Reasons Why You Don't Love The Lord As You Should

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Our Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Luke, chapter 7, and we're going to be reading verses 36 through 50. Luke 7, verses 36 through 50, and the message is entitled, Two Reasons As To Why You Do Not Love The Lord Jesus As You Should. Notice, if you would please, in Luke chapter 7, beginning there with verse 36. And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him.
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And he went into the Pharisee's house and sat down to meat. 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 and stood at his feet behind him, weeping and began to wash his feet with tears, and had wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he said, Master, say on.
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There was a certain creditor which had two debtors, the one owed 500 pence, and the other 50. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, and thou gavest me no water for my feet. But she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
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Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith has saved thee. Go in peace. Have you ever wondered as to why our love for our Heavenly Father is actually so small? When you look at our lives, the truth of the matter is, we're occupied with so many things.
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We seemingly do not have the time or the energy or even the effort to obey His commands. When you look at Colossians 3, verses 1 and 2, the Bible says, if ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above and not on things below. So I could ask some questions and make it very personal, because I could ask, have you actually set your affection on things above? Are you seeking those things that are above? Is there a desire in your heart to be more loving toward our Lord Jesus Christ and to be more obedient toward the Lord Jesus Christ?
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And have you ever wondered or have you ever thought about this? And so why we really do not love him the way we have been commanded to love him. For instance, in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter six and verse five, the Bible says, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might. When you get to the book of Mark chapter 12, one of the scribes asked him, Master, which is the greatest commandment? And instead of quoting one of the ten, our Lord just simply said this, and he's quoting from Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 4, when he said, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment.
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Now, there have been some Christians, I am absolutely sure, that have recognized their sinful failure in not loving the Lord Jesus as He commanded, and certainly not recognizing the greatness of His grace and mercy. However, the truth of the matter is this: most professing Christians just simply go on their merry way without ever thinking about these things, without ever desiring a greater love or a greater obedience. And of course, it does not bother the average professing Christian that he is unthinking, that he is unthankful, that he is ungrateful, that he is unappreciative. He just simply lives his life without even thinking about these things. And the truth of the matter is, in Luke chapter 7, our Lord actually deals with this issue.
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And this issue then involves a Pharisee, whose name was Simon, and a very notorious woman. Now, Simon the Pharisee is openly named. And you must remember that Pharisees were indeed self-righteous bigots. And they believed that they were sinless simply because they kept the externals of God's law. You remember the Apostle Paul himself was raised as a Pharisee. And he said in Philippians 3 and verse 6, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness of the law, blameless. Wow. Now, the Apostle Paul understood that he was not really blameless, but in his pharisaical attitude, in keeping the externals, he actually thought himself to be blameless at one time. And interestingly, the Greek word for blameless is amemptos, and it literally means to be blameless, to be unblameable, to be faultless, one who deserves no censure, one who is free from fault and free from defect. Wow. So he said it's touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless. Just to show you the attitude of Pharisees, if you will hold Luke 7, but turn right over to Luke chapter 18, our Lord here gives us a good illustration between the Pharisee and the publican that went to the temple to pray.
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So if you'll begin looking at verse 10, Luke 18, verse 10, our Lord says, Two men went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, and probably to himself as well. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
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I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. So he believed, and he was righteous, because not just of his works, but keeping the externals. Verse 13, And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. And our Lord said, I tell you, this man, that is the publican, went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalted himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Now, I point this out just so that you can be aware of the Pharisees' attitude. And the truth of the matter is, you remember how they condemned our Lord for associating with publicans and sinners. In fact, they asked the disciples, why does your master eat with publicans and sinners?
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And of course, when our Lord heard that, he said, Behold, need not a physician, but they that are sick, but go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. And then our Lord said he came not to call the righteous, but he came to call sinners to repentance. But let me show you a good illustration of a Pharisee before there basically were Pharisees in one sense of the word.
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So if you'll look in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah chapter 65, and let's begin reading there with verse 2. Isaiah chapter 65 and verse 2. Remember now these Pharisees based their works upon externals. So notice, if you would, Isaiah 65, beginning there with verse 2, God says, I've spread out my hands all day unto a rebellious people, which walk in the way that was not good after their own thoughts. So they're not walking after God's law or God's thoughts, they're walking after their own thoughts. He says, they are a people that provoked me to anger continually to my face.
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that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick. That is, they're not worshiping at the temple. Verse 4, ...which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things in their vessels. But look what these people say. ...which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou. God says, these are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. So these people who did not want to be around others, lest they should defile or pollute themselves, have this pharisaical attitude that they are holy when in reality they are not. And unhappily, the same pharisaical attitude is prevalent today among many professing Christians.
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Many professing Christians believe that they have arrived at a very special place in their walk and they have embraced certain doctrines or certain views and or theories which make them therefore look with disdain and despite and disgust upon those who have not yet attained those views. In reality, in doing so they have embraced a form of Gnosticism which taught salvation and spirituality by certain knowledge that only the elite had attained to. So anytime someone begins to look down and disdain and despise other Christians because they don't hold the same position, the same attitude, that is not only a Pharisaical attitude, that is Gnosticism as well.
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Now, Simon, the Pharisee, evidently did not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you look in Luke chapter 7 in verse 39, look at what Simon said, Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. So Simon would not even really ascribe to our Lord as being a prophet. And when you look at verse 40, and Jesus answering said unto him, Simon. So Simon is named in this passage, but the woman is left unnamed. Why?
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The answer is because of the greatness and the gravity of her sin. So the Greek word there in verse 37, when it says this woman, which was a sinner, is the word hamartolos, which refers to one that is devoted to sin, especially one who is preeminently sinful, or one who is especially wicked. So this woman then, undoubtedly, was probably a prostitute, one which was known for a real lack of chastity and morality. And when you look at the word, was, in verse 37, which was a sinner, it's an imperfect indicative, and the imperfect tense actually, essentially, takes the present and sticks it back into the past. And in other words, here's what this woman was in the past, and she is this up until a very, very recent time. So evidently this woman then was a very eminent sinner, and she had only just recently repented. Her life had been one of sin and wickedness and rebellion and impurity. And it was strange, but the Lord had been gracious to her and evidently had granted her repentance.
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And now she hears that he's here at this meal with Simon and she comes to him. You know, one of the thoughts that we normally have when we see someone who is preeminently wicked, the standard attitude is someone like that will always be wicked. There's no hope for an individual like that, which is not true. Certainly this woman is a demonstration of the fact that there is hope for sinners like that.
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And then when you think of John Newton, John Newton was a drunkard, a whoremonger and a slave trader. And yet God saved him. And John Newton wrote Amazing Grace. Let me give you a quote by Spurgeon. He said, talking about this woman, her name is not given, and there are good reasons why it should not be given. Certainly she was not Mary, the sister of Lazarus, nor yet Mary Magdalene.
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We may be quite sure of that. Our Savior leaves her in an anonymous condition. It is usually best that converts of this character should not be exhibited and their names made known. He then says this, I believe that much cruel wrong has been done to reclaim sinners when they have been pushed to the front. Then he says, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner. You know, it seems that men always want to magnify sin and sinners instead of the grace that saves sinners. You know, the interesting thing is I have known very, very wicked men that have repented and God had saved and the very first thing they do they're pushed forward not only in front of the church, they're pushed forward in front of every meeting to give their testimony, to give their testimony and their testimony always begins with how wicked and how vile they were and what all they had done. Well, let me ask you a question. And I want you to think about this. I am so thankful that God does save sinners.
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And I know God saves drunkards because I have seen drunkards that were genuinely converted. I've seen whoremongers that were genuinely converted. I've seen murderers that were genuinely converted. I've even seen mobsters that were genuinely converted. In fact, I preached with one a number of times in years past. But here's a good question. Which do you think is a demonstration of the greater grace of God? The grace that reaches down and saves a drunkard, or saves a whoremonger, or saves a dopehead, or saves a murderer, or saves a mobster, or the grace of God that preserves a man and keeps him from going into all of those sins and then saves him anyhow?
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Isn't it strange that in our churches everybody wants to push these great sinners forward, and yet someone who's never been a great sinner, at least according to the world, God has protected them and held them back. Seemingly their testimony is useless or their testimony is absolutely worthless. So there's a vast contrast in this passage that is given between the Pharisee and this woman. If you'll look in verse 44, I want to show you this. Look in verse 44. And he turned to the woman and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman?
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I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
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Now, let me just stop right there. It should be pointed out that what our Lord is speaking of here is what you and I would call the normal, everyday, hospitable manners and custom in that day. So, if I came to visit Gary, and he takes me inside his house, I'm sure that he or his wife is going to say, well, pastor, would you like a glass of tea, a glass of water? Would you like? That's just mannerly. That's just being hospitable. Would you like to sit here and rest for a few minutes? That's just being hospitable. In Bible times, everyday hospitality, everyday manners was when someone came to your house you provided a bowl of water so they could wash their feet because everybody wore sandals and there were no paved roads. Everybody's feet got dirty and dusty. So it was just hospitality that you provided for them a bowl of water to wash their feet before they came in, because usually they'd leave their shoes at the door. Moreover, it was normal everyday hospitality for men to kiss other men.
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Now, let me back up. Don't jump to conclusions. The Bible says, greet ye one another with a holy kiss. But the way men greeted other men is they would take their beard in their hand and kiss their beard. They wouldn't kiss the man, they'd kiss the beard. That was just a normal everyday custom. It was honoring that individual. And usually when you went to a home, they would take a few drops of oil and put it on your head. They would not pour a whole bottle of oil on you, but just enough to kind of refresh you is what it would amount to. And these were just what you and I would call clear hospitality and clear manners.
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Let me give you a quote by Spurgeon. Spurgeon said this. What a blessed amalgam of humility, penitence, gratitude, and love. All these are seen in what she did, especially in that the unbinding of the tresses of her beauty, that is her hair, which had been her nets in which she had taken the souls of men.
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Now she uses these for a towel. She begins to wash his feet with tears and had wiped them with the hairs of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment.
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Now, let me show you how much disrespect and dishonor this Pharisee had for the Lord Jesus Christ. Because he said, Simon, when I came to your house, you didn't give me any water to wash my feet in. You didn't kiss me. You didn't give me any oil for my head.
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Now, skip down to verse 49. Look at verse 49. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?
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Now, there were more people there than Simon and our Lord and this sinful woman. And evidently, they were Pharisees because they are saying, like other Pharisees said throughout the scriptures, who is this that forgives sins also? So here's a question. I wonder if Simon had provided water for their feet. I wonder if he'd kissed their beards. I wonder if he'd given oil for their heads. And I wonder if they'd gotten there early, before the Lord. Which also makes you wonder, this was as a setup. Were they there to make fun of our Lord, to mock Him and to ridicule Him? So these other guests evidently were Pharisees and they were taking this then as an opportunity either to try to entrap him or just mock him or ridicule him. So the contrast is made very clear when you understand that the sinful woman loved the Lord Jesus Christ and believed in him when the Pharisee did not. There was absolutely no love in the heart of the Pharisee for the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you look in verse 39, because our Lord begins to question Simon and gives him a good illustration and a good question.
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Now, when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, saw what the woman had done, he spake within himself, saying, didn't say it out loud, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. Of course, our Lord knew his thoughts. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he said, Master, say on.
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There was a certain creditor which had two debtors. The one owed 500 pence and the other 50. When they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him the most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And our Lord said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. So notice if you would, one debtor owed ten times more than the other debtor, and the amount of the debt was very significant, yet God frankly forgave each of them, or the creditor forgave each one of them. So the question that our Lord asked had a very obvious and clear answer, and Simon answered it correctly.
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So what I want to do today is this. I want to show you from this passage two reasons as to why we do not love the Lord Jesus Christ the way we should. Two reasons as to why we do not love Him the way He has commanded us. The first one is this. We do not perceive the greatness or the gravity of our sins. We do not perceive the greatness or the gravity of our sins.
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Now, it is true that practically everyone is going to admit that they're sinners, because everyone knows that they have sinned. In fact, I've known people who not only admit it, but they laugh about it while they admit it, and they think it's very funny. Well, most people have never ever really considered, and I'm talking about most Christians, the seriousness of sin. Let me ask you just a couple of questions, and you know the answers to each one of these, but here they are.
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How many sins does it take to make a sinner? How about this question? How many sins does it take to condemn you? How many sins does it take to bring about death? And the answer to each of those questions is what? One. Just one sin makes you a sinner. Just one sin condemns you, and one sin is enough to bring about death. Listen to this quote from A.W. Pink. He said, "Because God is holy, He hates all sin.
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He loves everything which is in conformity to His laws, and loathes everything which is contrary to it. His word plainly declares, the froward is an abomination of the Lord, and again, the thoughts of the wicked are an abomination of the Lord. It follows, therefore, that He must necessarily punish sin. Sin can no more exist without demanding His punishment than without requiring His hatred of it.
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Now, I want you to listen carefully to this sentence. I'm going to come back to it. But listen, I'm still quoting Pink. He says, God often forgives sinners, but He never forgives sin. Now, I didn't finish this sentence, but I want you to listen to it. And it's true. God has often forgiven sinners, but He never forgives sin, and the sinner is only forgiven on the ground of another having borne his punishment, for without the shedding of blood there is no remission. Therefore we were told the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. Now listen: for one sin God banished our first parents from Eden. For one sin, the posterity of Canaan fell under a curse which remains over them to this day. For one sin, Moses was excluded from Canaan land. For one sin, Elisha's servant was smitten with leprosy. For one sin, Ananias and Sapphira were cut off out of the land of the living. It is sin that brings sorrow and heartache and suffering and death.
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And yet the truth of the matter is, most Christians engage in sin as easily as they open a box of chocolate candy and eat the candy, and they think nothing of it. We have not really understood that sin is indeed a transgression of God's law. The Bible says in 1 John 3 and verse 4, whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is a transgression of the law. So we cannot sin without transgressing God's law. And when the Bible says in the book of Galatians chapter 3 verse 10, for as many as of the works of the law are under the curse of the law, for it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all the things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
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So it means then that God requires us to be perfect. And our perfection has to be perpetual, consistent, constant, which it is not, and therefore we're under the curse. So, do you realize what we do is we try to make ourselves more spiritual by comparing ourselves to other people. In fact, that's what the Apostle Paul talks about. I think it's 2 Corinthians, maybe chapter 10, where he talks about these people who compare themselves with themselves, and they're not wise. I mean, come on. I can be the smartest man in the world, I can think, if I could compare myself with an imbecile. But just because I compare myself with an imbecile doesn't mean that I'm really smart. I mean, I'm just simply saying, you know, when you compare yourself among yourself, I can say, wow, I don't do what Steve does. So I must be more spiritual than Steve. But Steve is not my standard. The imbecile is not my standard. But that's exactly what people do. We compare ourselves. I preached in prisons many, many times.
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Do you realize there is a pharisaical division even in the prisons? I've talked to prisoners and the thieves will say, well, at least we have never murdered anyone. We're not murderers. And the murderers will say, well, at least we're not pedophiles. In other words, they try to justify themselves by comparing themselves with other prisoners in the prison. Well, we do the same thing. And when we say, well, I may be a sinner, but I'm not really that bad. Well, listen, if you would, to the book of James, chapter 2, verses 9 and 10.
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Our Lord said, if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors. Now listen to this, for whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. So if I could ask you, are you a murderer? And I'm sure that you're going to answer no, because you've never really murdered anyone. But if you've committed any sin in your life, you are guilty as a murderer, because whatever sin you committed, that means you violated the whole law. You're a murderer, you're an adulterer, you're a thief, you're an idolater, you're everything. In other words, when you violate one of God's laws, you're guilty of all. Now I want to show you some pictures.
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Because I told you that we do not usually perceive the greatness and the gravity of our sins. I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, to begin with, to the book of Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1. And look, if you would please, beginning there Isaiah chapter 1, and we will begin reading with verse 4. I want you to look at what God says. Here's a good picture of our sins. If you want to see the greatness and the gravity of our sins, here's a picture.
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He said in verse 4, He's talking to Judah and Jerusalem, a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters. They have forsaken the Lord. They provoke the Holy One of Israel unto anger. They're going away backward. And then He asks this question, Why should ye be stricken anymore? Ye will revolt more and more. In other words, correction doesn't change you at all.
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The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. Now look at this picture. From the sole of the foot, even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores that have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. So God says, here's a good picture of the greatness and the gravity of our sin. From the top of our head to the sole of our foot, we're nothing but open, putrefying sores, which have never been bound up or mollified whatsoever. In other words, we're just one huge pus factory is what it amounts to.
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I was preaching in South Carolina. And right before I got started, there was still a special to be sung. One man walked in with an extremely large pair of overalls on. And the pastor leaned over to me and said, boy, I'm so thankful to see him. I said, why? He said, I'll explain to you after service. So after service, the pastor took me to him and the pastor said to him, brother, I'm so happy to see you. He said, I told Brother Weaver, I was so thankful that you were here tonight. Would you please show Brother Weaver how difficult it was for you to get here tonight? And the man reached down and pulled up the pants legs on those huge overalls.
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And every spot on his legs was nothing but open, running, putrefying sores. I could not take my finger and touch a spot where there was not a sore. And when I saw his legs, I immediately thought of Isaiah 1, verses 5 and 6. And just as repulsive as that was to me, I mean, I wanted to back up. I thought that's how repulsive our sins are to God. They're nauseating unto Him. That is a picture of the greatness of our sins. If you look in your Bibles to Isaiah 64 and verse 6, here's a passage that most of you can quote.
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At least you've heard it many, many times. But we've never seen, once again, the greatness of this passage in declaring our wickedness. So in Isaiah chapter 64 and verse 6, He says, but we're all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Now, we're all as an unclean thing. Then he says, all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
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Actually, it's menstrual cloths is what it is. That's, he said, is how defiled we are. That's why we all fade as a leaf. That's why our iniquities are like the wind, and they simply take us away. In other words, God is showing us how sinful, how wicked, how detestable, how vile we really are. Let me give you another illustration. Look in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel chapter 24. Ezekiel chapter 24. And I want to take the time to read the first 14 verses. Then I want to come back and point out the words that God uses. And please understand now he's going to be talking about Judah and Jerusalem again. Okay, watch this. Ezekiel 24 verse 1, again in the ninth month, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day. And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water in it.
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Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, the shoulder, fill it with choice bones. Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it. Make it boil well, and let them see the bones of it therein. Now watch. Wherefore thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! Bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.
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For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it upon the ground to cover it with dust; that it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for the fire great.
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Now watch what he says. Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned. Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, and the scum of it may be consumed. He's talking about Jerusalem. She had wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire. In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.
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I the Lord have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God. So God says, here's a great pot. You put everything in it. You've heated it up. All the water's boiled out. And it keeps cooking and cooking and cooking until there's nothing melted in it, but nothing but pure scum.
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which stinks to high heaven. I tell you, I do like chicken salad, but I have been around a pot of boiling chicken that was forgotten until the water boiled out and everything melted became the scum on the bottom of the pot, and it stunk. God calls the sin scum, great scum, and filthiness. So I want you to understand something. Scum stinks. Filthiness stinks. Spiritual garbage is still garbage. Spiritual filth is still filth.
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It has a distinctive smell about it, and that distinctive smell is disobedience, wickedness, and rebellion. And the Bible is telling us this smell causes God to be nauseated. It demands His punishment. That's why He said the wages of sin is death. You remember how David sinned? And David wrote these penitential Psalms, seven of them. But in Psalm 38 and verse 5, he said, My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. His foolishness was his sin. He said, My wounds stink and are corrupt. So we need to understand here are pictures that demonstrate our great sin and the gravity of our sin.
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Let me show you another one. Look back in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7. And look, if you would please, at verse 24. I've mentioned this one before, but I'm going to mention it again in light of this message. So, in Romans 7, in verse 24, the Apostle Paul says, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Now, what in the world is the body of this death?
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I want to give you two quotes. The first one is by Albert Barnes, and he says this, The body of this death denotes the corrupt and evil propensities of the soul. It is thus used to denote the law of sin in the members as being that which the apostle was struggling and from which he desired to be delivered. And then John Gill says it like this, listen carefully. The body of sin speaks of the load of sin and the burden of corruption under which he groaned and still bespeaks him a regenerate man, not for outward calamities but of indwelling sin is he all along speaking in the context, whereof it is better called the body of death, to understand what he says in Romans 6 and verse 6 when he calls it the body of sin, that massive corruption that lodged in him, which is called a body. It is called a body because it is fleshly, carnal nature, because of its manner of operation, it exerts itself by the members of the body, and because it consists of various parts and members, as a body does, and a body of death because it makes men liable to death, it was that which the Apostle
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says slew him and which itself is to a regenerate man a dead carcass, stinking and loathsome. So actually what you have in Romans chapter 7 verse 24 is a Hebraism which the dead body is understood to be the body of sin or the carcass of sin to which the Apostle Paul was inseparably fastened, which you and I are as well in that sense of the word.
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Now, this illustration is an allusion to the ancient custom that many tyrants used, and it was not just to murderers. If a man murdered another man and he was captured, one of the ways they punished the living man was they took the man that he murdered, tied him to the dead man. The dead man was tied to his face, the living man's face, the living man's chest, living man's arms, living man's hands, the living man's legs, living man's feet, and he stayed tied until the corruption of the dead man killed the living man. And sometimes tyrants just did that as a punishment as well. Virgil paints all of this in its horrors and by the account that he gives in the life of the tyrant, Mezentius.
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That was a way to do that. Now, it's our sin, it's our disobedience, our lack of holiness that should make us groan under this weight as well. Now, it's not that Paul did not know how to be delivered. If you look at verse 24 again, let's read that in verse 25. He said, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
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And now he gives you the answer. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the answer. So here he's talking about this body of death, this body of sin, which is corrupt, which defiles. You remember our Lord Himself in Matthew 23 and verse 27 said this same truth to the Pharisees, who, of course, believed that they were righteous. But our Lord said in Matthew 23 and verse 27, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. So here are just pictures of our sin.
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So the good question that you should be asking yourself, have you really seen yourself this sinful? Have you really seen yourself this depraved? Have you really seen yourself this corrupt? Have you really seen yourself this filthy? It's not just that we are sinners, we're sinners exceedingly. If you'll look in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah chapter six, here's a passage that you're familiar with, Isaiah chapter six. And let's begin reading there verse one and look what Isaiah proclaims when he sees the holiness of God. Then Isaiah chapter six in verse one, he says this.
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In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. But look what he said in verse 5, Woe is me, for I am undone.
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I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. So my question would be, have you and I really seen that we are undone? Have we really seen that we are of unclean lips? Have we really seen not just our sin, but the sins of others? Have we also seen the sins of our nation? In other words, the point I'm trying to make is this. If we've never seen the depth and the depravity of our sins, that means we've never seen the greatness and the gravity of our sins.
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And how in the world can you be thankful? How in the world can you be appreciative? How in the world can you love our Lord like you should if you've never seen what you were delivered from? Do you remember what our Lord said? Our Lord said, to whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much. So if we want to love our Lord more, we really need to see what we were and what we are and what he delivered us from. So the first reason we do not love our Lord the way we should is because we do not perceive the greatness and the gravity of our sins. The second reason we do not love our Lord as we should is we do not perceive the graciousness of our Savior. You know, I don't know if you've ever thought about this. But if you ever considered how much grace and mercy it would take
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for God just to forgive one sin. Just one sin. And look at the multitude of sins that you and I have committed and everybody else has committed. And when you begin to think that not one of us deserves forgiveness, each one of us actually deserves justice. And yet God graciously and kindly forgives us for our sins. David said it like this in Psalm 130, verse 3, If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? If God started marking iniquities on us every time that we sinned, not only could we not stand physically, we could never stand spiritually. We could not stand before Him if God counted those. Let me mention this. Think it like this. If I were to ask you, do you remember any of your sins?
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And I know the answer is yes. Do you remember some of the sins that were very grievous, very wrong, very unethical? And you can say, yes, you can remember those. You know, the one thing about sin is this. Although it's forgiven, some of these sins are forever etched upon our memories. We can't erase them. They're there. So I know you can remember your sins. I can remember my sins. But how about this? Think also the multitude of sins that you and I have committed and we have forgotten. And yet God knows every detail of those sins and they have not been forgotten. In that sense, the word, because God is omniscient, God knows everything.
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I've often said most people have a peace of mind that comes from their own forgetfulness, and that's true. We just forget our sins so many times. And yet the truth of the matter is, God hates all sin. That's what he said in Jeremiah 44 and verse 4. God said, Howbeit I sent unto you my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.
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When you look at Luke 7, and you think about this woman, probably everyone knew this woman. The Pharisees knew that woman. Not only was she known because of her immorality, she's probably known because of the gossip machine. Everybody talked about her. But one thing this woman did know, she knew the depth of her sin. She was humbled in her soul. She sorrowed over her transgression. She could not undo what she had done, but she could come to the Savior for forgiveness.
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The truth of the matter is this. Our Lord said to her in verse 48, and he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And then in verse 50, he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. Wow. Someone says, well, I'm not a notorious sinner the way that woman was. Yes, you are. And yes, I am, because whoever violates the law on one point is guilty of all.
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I want you to think about two scriptures before I make an application. The first one is this, Psalm 130 and verse 4. The scripture says, But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. And then the Bible says in Ephesians 1 and verse 7, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. So we have forgiveness of sins through the Lord Jesus Christ. So let me make these applications. The first one is this: there is not a sinner too vile to be saved. I've had people actually tell me that. I've had people tell me that I'm too sinful to be saved. That is not true. No one is beyond the grace and the mercy of God. It does not matter about the depth or the vileness or the wickedness of the sin, because the Bible tells us that the Lord is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him.
#69 | 51:46 to 52:58 | cleaned
And it is true, we do not deserve the least of His mercies, but yet He's very gracious and He gives us forgiveness. He is righteous, that is sure. And the good news is this, if you are a sinner, then you're a candidate for salvation because Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. So, no one is beyond the pale of salvation when it comes to God's grace and God's mercy.
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I can assure you there's another thought here as to the reason this woman was so broken. And that is, undoubtedly, she realized that her sins, her transgressions caused pain to the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, we never think about that. When we think about sin, we think about enjoying it. We think about, well, we want to go so far but no further. And then we think, well, I can sin and I can ask forgiveness, but we never think about how our sin affects the Lord Jesus Christ or has affected him.
#71 | 53:29 to 54:22 | cleaned
Let me remind you of this passage in Isaiah 53. I want you to listen very carefully. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray;
#72 | 54:24 to 54:51 | cleaned
we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Have you ever contemplated the pain and suffering that your sins cause the Lord Jesus Christ? You have to remember what I read to you earlier. God often forgives sinners, but he never forgives sin. Sin has to be paid for. And whatever our sins are or were, our Lord Jesus Christ paid for them. And we will never recognize the graciousness of His forgiveness until we recognize the greatness and the gravity of what He forgave. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 12, verses 2 and 3, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. He said, think of what our Lord endured and all that He endured, He endured for us.
#73 | 54:52 to 56:34 | cleaned
If we want to love Him more, we need to really pray two prayer requests. The first one is this, Lord, show me myself. And if God ever opened your eyes to who you are and what you are, you will be in absolute fear, dismay, discouraged, downcast, downtrodden. Until you pray the second one, Lord, show me thyself. And when God shows us Himself and His mercy and grace through the Lord Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ is the only answer for who we are and what we are, then that brings the joy of salvation. We'll recognize this simple truth where our Lord said, to whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much. If we don't recognize what our Lord has delivered us from, and the grace that He gave us in delivering us, our love will continue to be little, small, and insufficient compared to what He deserves. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all thy strength.
#74 | 56:34 to 58:07 | cleaned
And the reason we don't love Him as we should, we've never perceived the greatness and the gravity of our sins or the graciousness of his sufferings and forgiveness. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to this day. We thank you, Father, for your word, your truth. And we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we are sinners. We are grievous sinners, grave sinners. But we've never really seen the depths of our depravity. And we've never really perceived the greatness of your mercy and grace in delivering us from our sins and from ourselves. And Lord, we need to see thee as Isaiah saw thee in all thy holiness and righteousness and majesty. Help us, Father, to love Thee with all of our hearts. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.
#75 | 58:10 to 59:23 | cleaned
so so
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T22:57:31Z

Two Reasons Why You Don't Love The Lord As You Should

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver expounds Luke 7:36-50, contrasting Simon the Pharisee with a sinful woman who anoints Jesus' feet. He identifies two reasons believers fail to love Christ as commanded: failure to perceive the greatness and gravity of their own sin, and failure to perceive the graciousness of the Savior's forgiveness. Using vivid biblical imagery and illustrations, he urges self-examination and a deeper appreciation of God's mercy to cultivate greater love.

Introduction and Scripture Reading

Reading of Luke 7:36-50, the account of Jesus anointed by a sinful woman in Simon the Pharisee's house.

The Problem of Small Love for God

Observing that believers often lack time, energy, or desire to obey God's commands and love Him fully, despite the greatest commandment.

The Pharisee and the Sinful Woman Contrasted

Examining the self-righteous attitude of Simon the Pharisee and the notorious sinfulness of the unnamed woman, highlighting her repentance and love.

The Parable of the Two Debtors

Jesus' parable illustrating that the one forgiven more loves more, and Simon's correct answer.

First Reason: Not Perceiving the Greatness of Our Sin

We do not love Christ as we should because we fail to see the depth, depravity, and offensiveness of our sin before a holy God.

Second Reason: Not Perceiving the Graciousness of Our Savior

We do not love Christ as we should because we fail to appreciate the magnitude of His grace and forgiveness in delivering us from our sins.

Applications and Conclusion

No sinner is too vile to be saved; we must pray to see ourselves and see Christ, leading to greater love and gratitude.

Two Reasons Why You Don't Love The Lord As You Should

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	4P-K5BI_6R8
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations: Praying Against the Wicked
Genre	Sermon
Date	2022-10-09
Dictation Name
Book	Book 137: Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations - Volume 2 — Chapter 36
Source Timed Segments	76

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Scripture Reading: Reading of Luke 7:36-50, the account of Jesus anointed by a sinful woman in Simon the Pharisee's house.
The Problem of Small Love for God: Observing that believers often lack time, energy, or desire to obey God's commands and love Him fully, despite the greatest commandment.
The Pharisee and the Sinful Woman Contrasted: Examining the self-righteous attitude of Simon the Pharisee and the notorious sinfulness of the unnamed woman, highlighting her repentance and love.
The Parable of the Two Debtors: Jesus' parable illustrating that the one forgiven more loves more, and Simon's correct answer.
First Reason: Not Perceiving the Greatness of Our Sin: We do not love Christ as we should because we fail to see the depth, depravity, and offensiveness of our sin before a holy God.
Second Reason: Not Perceiving the Graciousness of Our Savior: We do not love Christ as we should because we fail to appreciate the magnitude of His grace and forgiveness in delivering us from our sins.
Applications and Conclusion: No sinner is too vile to be saved; we must pray to see ourselves and see Christ, leading to greater love and gratitude.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

We do not perceive the greatness of our sins

Most Christians trivialize sin, not realizing that even one sin condemns and makes us guilty of the whole law, and that sin is repulsive to God.

How many sins does it take to condemn you? ... One. Just one sin makes you a sinner.

We do not perceive the graciousness of our Savior

We fail to appreciate the immense grace required to forgive even one sin, let alone the multitude we have committed and forgotten.

If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

Sin causes suffering to Christ

Our sins caused Christ's suffering and death; contemplating this should deepen our love and gratitude.

He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities...

No sinner is beyond salvation

The sinful woman and examples like John Newton demonstrate that God's grace can save the vilest sinner.

John Newton was a drunkard, a whoremonger and a slave trader. And yet God saved him.

Scripture References

Luke 7:36-50: The main passage: Jesus anointed by a sinful woman in Simon the Pharisee's house.
Colossians 3:1-2: Command to set affection on things above, not on earthly things.
Deuteronomy 6:5: The greatest commandment to love God with all heart, soul, and might.
Mark 12:29-30: Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:4-5 as the first commandment.
Philippians 3:6: Paul's pharisaical zeal and blamelessness according to the law.
Luke 18:10-14: Parable of the Pharisee and the publican praying in the temple.
Isaiah 65:2-5: God's rebuke of a rebellious people with a pharisaical attitude.
1 John 3:4: Sin is the transgression of the law.
Galatians 3:10: Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things written in the law.
James 2:9-10: Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles in one point is guilty of all.
Isaiah 1:4-6: A picture of sin as wounds, bruises, and putrefying sores from head to foot.
Isaiah 64:6: All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
Ezekiel 24:1-14: Parable of the boiling pot with scum, picturing the filthiness of sin.
Psalm 38:5: David's wounds stink and are corrupt because of his foolishness (sin).
Romans 7:24-25: Paul's cry of wretchedness and deliverance through Jesus Christ.
Matthew 23:27: Pharisees likened to whited sepulchres full of dead men's bones.
Isaiah 6:1-7: Isaiah's vision of God's holiness and his confession of uncleanness.
Psalm 130:3-4: If God marked iniquities, no one could stand; but there is forgiveness.
Jeremiah 44:4: God hates all sin, calling it an abominable thing.
Ephesians 1:7: Redemption through Christ's blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Historical References

John Newton: A drunkard, whoremonger, and slave trader who was saved and wrote 'Amazing Grace'.
Charles Spurgeon: Quoted regarding the anonymity of the sinful woman and the danger of pushing reclaimed sinners to the front.
A.W. Pink: Quoted on God's hatred of sin and the necessity of punishment; God forgives sinners but never forgives sin.
Albert Barnes: Quoted on Romans 7:24, defining 'the body of this death' as corrupt propensities of the soul.
John Gill: Quoted on Romans 7:24, describing the body of sin as a stinking, loathsome carcass.
Virgil and Mezentius: Ancient custom of tying a living man to a dead body as punishment, illustrating the body of death.

Important Quotes

From the sole of the foot, even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores that have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

Vivid biblical picture of the totality and repulsiveness of sin.

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Paul's cry expressing the burden of indwelling sin, used to illustrate our need for deliverance.

To whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much.

The central principle of the passage: love is proportional to perceived forgiveness.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

Why do we often fail to see the seriousness of our own sin, and how can we cultivate a more biblical view of sin's offensiveness to God?

[Context]

The first reason for small love is not perceiving the greatness of our sin.

[Question]

In what ways do we, like Simon the Pharisee, compare ourselves to others to feel more righteous, and how does this hinder our love for Christ?

[Context]

Discussion of self-righteousness and comparing ourselves among ourselves.

[Question]

How does understanding that Christ suffered for our specific sins change the way we view sin and forgiveness?

[Context]

The application that our sins caused pain to Christ.

[Question]

What practical steps can we take to remember the depth of our forgiveness and let it fuel greater love and obedience?

[Context]

The need to perceive the graciousness of our Savior.

[Question]

Why is it dangerous to push 'great sinners' forward as testimonies while neglecting the grace that preserves others from such sins?

[Context]

Discussion on magnifying sin versus magnifying grace.

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T14:12:00Z