She Loved Much

[0:00] Lord's help, if we could turn back to that portion of scripture that we read. The Gospel according to Luke, chapter 7. The Gospel according to Luke, chapter 7.

[0:15] And if we read again at verse 44. Luke chapter 7, at verse 44. Then turning toward the woman, he, that is Jesus, said to Simon, Do you see this woman?

[0:30] I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet.

[0:45] You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.

[0:55] But he who is forgiven little, loves little. And he said to her, your sins are forgiven. But particularly the words that Jesus says, Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven.

[1:13] For she loved much. She loved much. When I was in college, training to be an electrician, I had a conversation with one of my lecturers in the college about Jesus.

[1:33] Now my lecturer wasn't a Christian, and he didn't go to church. But he had read some of the Bible, and in particular he had read the teaching of Jesus.

[1:45] What Jesus taught, especially in the Sermon on the Mount. And in the process of our conversation about Jesus, my lecturer wasn't convinced that Jesus was the saviour of sinners, and that he himself was in need of that saviour.

[2:00] But what my lecturer did say was that he believed that Jesus was a good man, with a good philosophy for life. He had good teaching, he said.

[2:12] And he had good morals. And he concluded that if everyone lived according to the teaching of Jesus, the world would be a far better place.

[2:23] If everyone loved one another, and if everyone treated others the way they would like themselves to be treated, if everyone went the extra mile, if everyone was good to their neighbour, and a charitable person, then the world would be a better place.

[2:39] And I suppose to some extent that is true. But it's a big if. It's a big if. And it's completely impossible.

[2:51] Not only because we're all sinners by nature, and we're sinners by practice, but it's impossible because there is one area in our lives which we are all guilty of.

[3:01] And that is our lack of forgiveness. Our lack of forgiveness. Because whether we want to admit it or not, we hold grudges.

[3:14] And we have feuds. And they increase hostility. Whether it's with our family members, or our neighbours, or our friends. And these things, maybe they can last for decades.

[3:27] And it's all because there is a lack of forgiveness. And yet, we're often taught to forgive and to forget. And it was D.L. Moody, an American evangelist from the 19th century.

[3:43] He wrote, he said, Those who say they will forgive, but can't forget, simply bury the hatchet, but leave the handle out for immediate use.

[3:55] Which means that they don't actually forgive. And if any further hostile situation were ever to arise, the past would be dug up again, and it would be used as ammunition.

[4:08] And it's all because there is a lack of forgiveness. A lack of forgiveness in our hearts. But you know, were we not taught as children to pray, and even as adults were taught it, forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

[4:27] But the problem we have is that we don't forgive as we ought to, because we don't love as we ought to. We don't love Jesus as we ought to, and we don't love people as we ought to.

[4:40] But you know, our failure to love, and our failure to forgive, that's what makes the message of salvation such good news.

[4:51] That's what makes the gospel such good news. My friend, the reason the gospel is good news is because it is the good news of God's love and God's forgiveness.

[5:03] The Bible tells us, we all know it so well, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And that son so loved this world that he prayed as he hung nailed to a Roman cross, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

[5:25] And the good news is that when God forgives us, he casts our sins into the depths of the sea, never to be brought up again. And that's what we were just singing in Psalm 25.

[5:38] My sins and faults of youth do thou, O Lord, forget. He remembers our sins no more when he forgives us. My friend, God's love and God's forgiveness, it goes far above and beyond our boundaries of love and forgiveness.

[5:59] Because in the gospel we see that Jesus is not just a moral teacher or a good person with a good philosophy for life. No. He is the God of second chances.

[6:11] He is the God of all grace. He's the God of love and forgiveness. A love and forgiveness which has been shown to this broken and sin-sick world.

[6:25] And you know, that was one of the greatest struggles that the Pharisees had with Jesus. That Jesus claimed he loved people and he could forgive them their sins.

[6:35] And in this passage which we're looking at this evening, there was one Pharisee by the name of Simon and he struggled with the concept of love and forgiveness.

[6:48] But through an unnamed woman and a parable, Simon was going to receive a lesson on what it means to love Jesus and experience forgiveness.

[6:59] And so I'd like us to consider this passage together this evening under three headings. And the first thing I want us to see is love demonstrated.

[7:12] Love demonstrated. If you look again with me at verse 36, we'll just read it again. Love demonstrated. Verse 36. One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table.

[7:27] And behold, a woman of the city who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment. And standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.

[7:51] This event which took place in the house of Simon the Pharisee, it's only recorded for us in Luke's gospel. No other gospel writer ever mentioned what happened in the house of this Pharisee.

[8:07] But you know, we ought to be thankful for thankful that Luke does mention it. Because in this passage, we're given an insight into the depth of love and the extent of forgiveness that Jesus has for sinners.

[8:21] And that that love and forgiveness was demonstrated right before the eyes of a man who had never experienced love and forgiveness before. And so Luke introduces the narrative by telling us that Jesus had been invited to the house of one of the Pharisees to eat with him.

[8:41] And, but this wasn't the first time Jesus had received an invitation to the house of a Pharisee. And it wouldn't be the last time either because throughout Luke's gospel, we always find Jesus sitting at the dinner table, sitting with the Pharisees and he's eating with them.

[9:01] But you know, Jesus not only sat with the Pharisees, he also sat with all the tax collectors and the sinners too. Because Jesus, he didn't have social boundaries.

[9:12] He didn't keep away from certain people or certain groups in society. There were no boundaries that Jesus was unwilling to cross. He crossed every boundary in order to reach those who are lost.

[9:26] And you know, he's still doing it today. But this really got to the Pharisees. So much so that they started to complain more and more about Jesus. And their hostility increased and their hatred towards him increased to the point that they wanted to kill him.

[9:44] And that's what we can see from verse 34 of this passage where Jesus says about the Pharisees. He says, the Son of Man has come eating and drinking and yet you say, look at him.

[9:57] A glutton and a drunkard. A friend of tax collectors and sinners. But the reason the Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus was because there was no love and no forgiveness in their heart.

[10:13] But at this point in Luke's gospel, it seems that the Pharisees, they're on their usual fault-finding mission where they're trying to discover who Jesus is and what Jesus is all about.

[10:26] And they've heard many things about him, many good things about Jesus. And they've seen many miracles performed by him and they've heard the teaching from his lips that he claimed to have authority to forgive sins.

[10:41] But if that were true, if that sticking point were actually true and he were to confess such a thing under the roof of a Pharisee that he is able to forgive sins, then the Pharisees, they have the right to accuse Jesus of blasphemy and have him arrested.

[11:00] But this fault-finding mission around the dinner table in the house of Simon the Pharisee, it is rudely interrupted as a sinner walks in.

[11:12] And as you expect, in the house of a pious and well-dressed and well-respected Pharisee, a sinful woman would have stood out from the crowd.

[11:24] Her arrival would have shocked all the guests who were there. Her presence would have made all the Pharisees feel a little uneasy because she's there. Not only because she was a woman in a house full of men, which wouldn't have been allowed anyway, because women were viewed as a lower class and substandard than men, and they're only good for two things, that's children and cleaning.

[11:50] But this woman would have stood out from the crowd for another reason. Her previous occupation would have been well-known in the small community because this woman was the local prostitute who had served the needs of filthy men.

[12:09] and for that alone she was regarded as a sinner, a filthy, wretched sinner who was unworthy to sit in the presence of Jesus.

[12:22] And yet, this anonymous, filthy, wretched sinner came to Jesus because she knew where to find him. She had heard that he was dining in the house of Simon the Pharisee.

[12:35] She knew that Simon would never have invited her into his house to come and meet with Jesus because she was unclean and Simon wasn't used to having such filth in his house.

[12:48] And I suppose it leaves us for the question, why did she come? Why did this sinful woman come into the house of Simon the Pharisee?

[12:58] Well, I believe that she came not because Simon had invited her, but because Jesus had invited her. Jesus had invited her to come to him.

[13:13] Jesus had urged those who were sinful and burdened all the outcasts of society, he had urged them to come to him. And is that not what Jesus says to us in the gospel?

[13:26] Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

[13:46] Jesus had issued the invitation to come and this sinner she came. And my friend, Jesus, he's still in the business of inviting sinners to come to him.

[13:57] He's still in the business of calling people to come to him with all their burdens and with all their baggage to come straight to him and fall down at his feet and cry for help.

[14:10] And Jesus, he's still bidding us to come because he can see that we need to come to him. Regardless of who we are or what our past is or what we've done or where we've been or how we act or how we're still acting or what we've been through this Jesus, he invites us to come to him and find rest for our souls.

[14:37] And you know, I hope that we'll all be able to say like the hymn writer did, I heard the voice of Jesus say, come unto me and rest.

[14:49] Lay down, thou weary one, lay down thy head upon my breast. I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad. And I found in him a resting place and he has made me glad.

[15:04] And my friend, that's what this woman did. she came to Jesus as she was. She came to Jesus as the sinner, weary and worn and sad.

[15:17] She didn't make herself sinless. She didn't make herself holy or righteous by all her efforts. No, she came to Jesus. She came to Jesus because she saw in Jesus a resting place.

[15:31] and a forgiveness that went deeper and further than any of her sins. And when this woman came to Jesus, she may have come silently, but she came publicly.

[15:48] And she demonstrated her love for Jesus because she had come to know and experience the love and forgiveness of Jesus in her own heart. And this woman, she does a beautiful thing.

[16:03] Because we're told that this sinner came into Simon's house carrying something. She's carrying an alabaster box full of precious perfume.

[16:17] Now, alabaster, it was a type of stone that was commonly found in Israel. And it's a hard stone. It resembles like a white marble stone.

[16:28] often used to carry perfume in. And the perfume was kept in a box shape with a lid on it and it was sealed with wax to preserve the perfume from being spoiled.

[16:42] But at the time of use, which would have only been on very special occasions, the wax seal on the alabaster box, it would have to be broken. And as soon as it's broken, the sweet fragrance of the perfume would fill the room.

[16:59] And as Jesus sits at the table, now to imagine him sitting at the table, he would have been leaning, they would have been sitting on the floor, leaning on his left arm and using his right hand to eat food, to pick up the food off the table.

[17:17] And because they're leaning on their left arm and using the right hand, the legs are behind them. And as they're sitting on the floor, this woman comes in, here's this sinner and she comes over and she's standing behind Jesus, standing at the feet of Jesus.

[17:34] And she's weeping. She's weeping so much that her tears which are running down her face are falling onto the feet of Jesus.

[17:47] And there's enough there to wash his feet. and her hair it's long enough to wipe his feet with. But what's more is that this woman loves Jesus so much that she kneels down behind him and she starts kissing his feet.

[18:08] It was Isaiah who prophesied by saying how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. And you know if anyone knew how beautiful the feet of Jesus were it was this woman.

[18:25] Because the news of his love for her and her forgiveness it was the best news that she had ever heard. And on this very special occasion in her life where her shackles of sin had been broken and she had been set free this woman she broke the seal.

[18:44] She broke the seal on her alabaster box and she anoints the beautiful feet of Jesus. The perfume was probably her most expensive possession but that didn't matter because she loved Jesus and she thought that nothing was too much to do for him because of what he had done for her.

[19:08] And that ought to be the case for everyone who comes to kneel at the beautiful feet of Jesus us. That nothing is too much for him because of what he has already done for us.

[19:21] Where we love him because he first loved us. He demonstrated his love towards us that whilst we were yet sinners he died for us.

[19:36] Paul tells us because he is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses and sins. Oh my friend he loved us and he gave himself for us and I must ask you this evening have you been to the feet of Jesus?

[19:57] Have you ever been to the feet of Jesus? Because it's at the beautiful feet of Jesus that you will find the good news and a full and free forgiveness of all your sins and a love so amazing so divine a love that demands your soul your life your all.

[20:24] My friend make sure you come to the feet of Jesus because there are many who don't want to and Simon the Pharisee was one of them because even though he had love demonstrated by this sinful woman he didn't see his need to love Jesus and to seek forgiveness which is why Jesus goes on to describe the experience of love and forgiveness using a parable and so we've considered love demonstrated but secondly I'd like us to consider love described love described just read with me verse 39 now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself if this man were a prophet he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who's touching him for she's a sinner and Jesus answering said to him

[21:26] Simon I have something to say to you and he answered say it teacher a certain money lender who had two debtors one owed 500 denarii and the other 50 when they could not pay he cancelled the debt of both now which of them will love him more Simon answered the one I suppose for whom he cancelled the larger debt and he said to him you have judged rightly and in these verses Luke tells us that Simon he wasn't best pleased with his intruder neither was he pleased with the way Jesus had dealt with her because well she's a sinner and with this we begin to see the contrasts emerging between Simon and this sinner because as this woman enters his home and disrupts this meal with Jesus and his other Pharisee friends all Simon cares about is his status and he immediately begins to take the proud position by looking down on this sinful woman who has ruined her life with prostitution and Simon can't understand why she is in his home let alone at the feet of

[22:40] Jesus he can't understand why there's all this emotion and weeping and the need for this alabaster box because this is his home and he should be she should be showing him respect in his home and the sinful woman who's lived lawlessly all her life she should have the decency to wait outside until Jesus has finished his dinner because Simon he is the one who had invited Jesus into his house not this sinful woman but Simon had invited Jesus because Simon wanted respect he wanted respect from Jesus and he wanted status from his fellow Pharisees he wanted to be seen to be making an effort with Jesus he wanted to be seen to share a table with him and have fellowship with him he wanted to be seen to be doing the right thing and the righteous thing and the self righteous thing but Simon didn't want to sit at the feet of Jesus no he wanted to keep

[23:45] Jesus at arm's length just where he could see him because Simon the Pharisee he was the man who had a great outward respect for Jesus but no inward love for Jesus and there are many Simons where they respect Jesus and the things of Jesus and the people who follow Jesus but they have no love for Jesus in their heart no space for Jesus in their heart you know it's a sad way to be to be like a Pharisee thinking that self-righteousness and status and respect for the church that will get us on side with Jesus but it's our love Jesus wants because it's his love that was shown to us yet the problem is there are far too many Simons and not enough sinners because

[24:48] Simon didn't love Jesus but this sinner did she loved him but strangely in his heart Simon thought that he deserved to be closer to Jesus than this sinner Simon the Pharisee thought that this woman was too sinful for Jesus she was too much of an outcast for Jesus she was too far removed from society to be welcomed by Jesus but my friend is that not what the gospel is for is that not what the message of God's love and forgiveness is all about is it not all about sinners coming to Jesus because there's no one too sinful no one too distant no one too much of an outcast no one too far gone no one too old no one too young my friend there is no one who is out of the reach of Jesus because this Jesus he is able to save to the uttermost the uttermost

[25:54] I love that word he is able to save to the uttermost and yet the Simons of this world think that sinners don't deserve help from Jesus Simon thought that this sinner didn't deserve to be in the presence of Jesus Simon thought that this sinner didn't deserve to be spoken to by Jesus Simon thought that this sinner didn't deserve to come into his house and see Jesus and as Simon looks down at this sinner he thought that she didn't deserve God's salvation but the lesson Jesus wants to teach Simon and all the Simons in the world is that he didn't deserve salvation either but before we look at the parable which Jesus told Simon I want us to see that when Jesus addressed Simon he knew everything about him because having looked down at this sinful woman and the love she demonstrated towards Jesus

[27:05] Jesus says Simon I have something to say to you but what's interesting is that prior to Jesus addressing Simon by name Jesus hadn't been told his name and Luke tries to portray this in the narrative because he only describes Simon as the Pharisee until Jesus addresses him by his name where he addresses him in verse 40 and from that point Luke from verse 40 then Luke refers to him as Simon but before then he's just the Pharisee and it stresses the point that Jesus already knew everything about Simon and he knew everything that was in Simon's heart Simon was questioning whether Jesus was a prophet and yet Jesus knew Simon and he could read Simon far better than Simon could read himself and you know the same is true for every Simon and for every sinner

[28:07] Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves he knows what's in our heart and he knows what condition our heart is what it's in before God but another interesting point about Simon which I want to highlight is his name Simon in the gospels there are three Simons of course there's Simon Peter the disciple of Jesus there's Simon of Cyrene the man who carried the cross of Jesus and there's here Simon the Pharisee but as we know from Simon Peter and his conversation with Jesus when Jesus said that there was when Jesus said that Simon was no longer to be called Simon but Peter which means rock Jesus then gave the assurance that upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it he changed the name of Simon to Peter because the name Simon means stone

[29:14] Peter means rock and although it's not highlighted in the narrative I think it's worth pointing out that the name Simon was certainly a fitting name for this Pharisee because he had a heart like stone he had a heart like stone and it's clear that Simon the Pharisee was living up to his name in the way his heart was cold and hard and indifferent towards others and towards Jesus and that's what every Simon is like they can't see their need of the love of Jesus they can't see their need of forgiveness from Jesus they can only see themselves and their own things but gracious as Jesus is he doesn't leave Simon the Pharisee in the dark because Jesus described to

[30:14] Simon what love and forgiveness actually looks like and he does so using a parable and as we've said before the parables of Jesus they weren't just sermon illustrations to make the teaching of Jesus easier to understand and they weren't just a little story used to entertain the crowd in order to keep their attention but the purpose of a parable was to get the listener deeply involved and see that they are the ones in the parable they are being portrayed in the parable and that when they see themselves in the parable it ought to compel them to make a personal decision about Jesus and that's what Jesus did with Simon he wanted Simon to see that he is being represented in the parable because Jesus says in verse 41 he tells him the parable he says a certain money lender had two debtors one owed 500 denarii and the other 50 when they could not pay he cancelled the debt of both so the parable is simple because there are two contrasting characters in the parable just like the two contrasting characters in

[31:28] Simon's house in the parable one has a large debt to pay and the other a smaller debt to pay in Simon's house the woman knows that she has a large debt of sin but Simon only thinks that he has a small debt and almost an insignificant debt of sin but in the parable these two contrasting characters they have something in common because they both didn't have enough money to repay the debt to the creditor they were both bankrupt not just the one who owed more like the sinner but also the one who owed less like Simon but there's more to the parable and this is the wonderful part because Jesus says that the creditor freely forgave them both he didn't just clear the debt of the one who owed more he cleared the debt of both he freely forgave them both and Jesus follows the parable with a probing question that is fired at the stony heart of

[32:36] Simon when he says tell me which one of them will love him more and then verse 43 it reads Simon answered the one I suppose for whom he cancelled the larger debt and he said to him you have judged rightly you have judged rightly and in these words Jesus emphasizes the way in which Simon had wrongly judged this sinful woman Simon had claimed that she was a great debtor to God because of her sin but Jesus explains to Simon that he is also in debt to God because of his sin and his sin has left him completely bankrupt and in need of forgiveness and that no amount of righteous acts will be able to save him but what's so beautiful about this parable is that Jesus also describes to Simon that he is the creditor who is more than willing to forgive him he is more than willing to freely forgive him if he will but humble himself and ask and my friend that's all it takes that's all it takes to receive the love and the forgiveness offered to us in

[34:00] Jesus Christ it takes a humble heart that is willing to ask Jesus for forgiveness you do not have says Jesus because you do not ask which means that we must ask we need to ask we need to ask for forgiveness because the promise is that if you ask you will receive and you know the hymn writer another hymn writer he summed up the love and forgiveness which is being offered to us in Jesus when he said I had a debt I could not pay he paid the debt he did not owe I needed someone to wash my sins away and now I sing a brand new song amazing grace all the day long Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay and my friend that's what love is that's what love is

[35:05] Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay but have you come to know that for yourself have you come to experience that for yourself and so we've considered love demonstrated by this sinful woman who came to Jesus we've considered love described to Simon the Pharisee but lastly we see love defined love defined by Jesus love defined if you look at verse 44 it says then turning toward the woman he said to Simon do you see this woman I entered your house you gave me no water for my feet but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair you gave me no kiss but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet you did not anoint my head with oil but she has anointed my feet with ointment therefore I tell you her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much but he who is forgiven little loves little and he said to her your sins are forgiven and in these verses

[36:17] Jesus defines for Simon the Pharisee what love and forgiveness actually looks like in the heart of a believer and Jesus does so by highlighting the actions of this sinful woman in contrast to Simon's actions because Jesus points to the sinful woman and he says to Simon do you see this woman Jesus doesn't call her a sinful woman because he has dealt with that part but he says do you see this woman I entered your house with all your Pharisee friends and all your pomp and all your ceremony and I sat at your table but you never humbled yourself to wash my feet when I entered your house you never showed me hospitality and you never gave to me a warm welcome when I came into your home because you were far too obsessed with your status amongst your friends and your pride wouldn't allow you to do it but do you see this woman she welcomed me into her heart and she humbly washed my feet with her tears of thankfulness and she wiped them with her hair

[37:33] Simon when I entered your house you didn't greet me with a kiss you weren't delighted to see me yes you wanted to show everyone that you had invited me and that you had outward respect for me but inwardly your heart was far from me but do you see this woman she hasn't stopped kissing me from the moment I walked through your door she hasn't stopped demonstrating her love for me by her actions Simon you did not anoint my head with oil you didn't spare any of your oil but do you see this woman she anointed my feet with precious perfume she gave her most expensive possession to me because she considers me far more precious than anything else in this world and she thought nothing was too much for me

[38:34] Simon and to all the Simons in the world says Jesus do you see this woman do you see this woman her sins which are many they are forgiven because she loved much she loved much and it was J.C.

[39:02] Ryle who said in his commentary here is the true explanation of the deep love which the penitent woman displayed her many tears her deep affection her public reverence her action in anointing his feet they were all traceable to one cause she had been forgiven much so she loved much her love says Ryle was the effect of her forgiveness not the cause her love was the consequence of her forgiveness not the condition her love was the result of her forgiveness not the reason her love was the fruit of her forgiveness not the root her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much my friend it's only those who realize the depth of their sin that can truly appreciate the love and forgiveness found in

[40:05] Jesus Christ and you know I want to share this with you this passage in Luke's gospel it always reminds me of my great granny my great granny who was my mother's granny and she was about 96 when she died I was only about 8 at the time and she was such a godly woman who left a lasting impression upon me which is something I'm sure that many of us can relate to we can all relate to people who have had or are still having a godly influence upon us godly christian parents or grandparents who made this lasting impression upon us for good and for me one such person was my great grandmother and the reason for this was because she was a woman who never cut her hair she had very very long hair and that might seem like a strange thing to remember but as a little boy

[41:11] I used to ask her why why did she have such long hair and she would always reply to me by saying Murdo when I see Jesus I want to wash his feet with my tears and I want to dry them with my hair and although I didn't understand what she meant at the time looking back I can say that she was a woman who knew that her sins were many but she was also a woman who knew that her sins were forgiven and she loved much because she had been forgiven much she loved much my friend it's only those who realize the depth of their sin that can truly appreciate the love and forgiveness found in Jesus Christ and so having considered love demonstrated love described and love defined the question which I would like to leave you with this evening is how do you view yourself how do you see yourself do you see yourself as a

[42:33] Simon or a sinner a Simon who is proud and self righteous and doesn't see the love of Jesus and the need of forgiveness or do you finally see yourself as a sinner a sinner who realizes the depth of their sin but also a sinner who has heard the invitation of Jesus to come and embrace the love of God and the free forgiveness offered to us in the gospel I hope that we will all leave here this evening conscious of our sin but also aware of the love and forgiveness of God in Jesus Christ and that it will be said of us that we will be remembered like this sinful woman where it was said of her her sins which were many are forgiven for she loved much she loved much may the

[43:42] Lord bless these thoughts to us let us pray oh Lord our gracious God we give thanks to thee for the wonder and the beauty of the gospel we thank thee oh Lord that thou art one who loves us with an everlasting love a love that is beyond our asking and beyond our thinking and thou art one who is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness if we will but confess them help us Lord we pray to come to the feet of Jesus and to kneel before him and to confess our utter need of him oh Lord we plead with thee that there may be rejoicing in heaven tonight over sinners repenting over those coming to Jesus and finding him in him that resting place which will make them glad both for time and for eternity do us good we pray go before us and cleanse us for Jesus sake amen we shall conclude by singing in psalm 103 psalm 103 that's in the scottish psalter page 369 psalm 103 singing from verse 8 down to the verse marked 12 psalm 103 from verse 8 the Lord our God is merciful and he is gracious long suffering and slow to wrath in mercy plenteous down to the verse mark 12 as far as east is distant from the west so far hath he from us removed in his love all our iniquity these verses of psalm 103 to God's praise the

[45:39] Lord our God is merciful and he is gracious long suffering and so to rock in mercy plenty us he will not shine continually nor keep his anger still with us he dealt not as we sinned nor did we quite our ill for us the heavens in his high the earth surmounted far so so great to those that to him fear his tender mercies are as far as east is distant from the west so far at thee from us remove it in his love all our in in in in in in in in in in in in in the grace of the

[47:42] Lord Jesus Christ the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forever more Amen