We'll finish that chapter today, verses 36 through 50. Once you get there, put your finger there, flip back to Matthew chapter 11. So from Luke chapter 7 back to Matthew chapter 11 in a message that I'm calling, Two Sinners and One Savior. And to me, it seems best to sum up the section of Scripture that we're at least preparing to launch into with these words, the words of Jesus, those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. And we are entering into a section of Scripture whereby we'll find the Lord balancing both ends of the spectrum. On the one hand, he's dealing with a self-righteous Pharisee, while on the other, ministering to a notoriously sinful woman. And they are on polar opposite ends of the moral spectrum, yet both are in need of the same life solution, and that is forgiveness of sin and reconciliation to God. And the answer for both lies in the same place, or maybe better stated, in the same person, the person of Jesus Christ. Now, by the time the stage is set and the curtain on this drama comes up, we discover through comparing the harmony of the gospels that just before Jesus accepted the invitation of this Pharisee to come and dine, He Himself offered or extended an invitation to all of mankind. You know, you recall that from last week, Jesus was put into a place whereby, well, it was the disciples, a couple of them, a couple of disciples from John the Baptist, they came to Him, they asked a question of Him on behalf of John, are you the coming one or do we look for another? You know, John was in jail, and this whole set the captives free business that had been recorded in the Scriptures wasn't really working out for John in the way that he had envisioned it. And you recall that Jesus commenced to heal infirmities, to cast out evil spirits, and open the eyes of many who were blind. And then he sent back word to John, saying, John, the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them, and blessed is he, blessed is the one who is not offended because of me. Here's the point. Jesus is at work, but His work may not always be in the form or after the fashion we'd prefer it to be. In Christ, we're still subject to hardship, to pains, to problems, to trials, to unfair treatment. And so Jesus says, blessed are you. If you can receive the fact that life in Christ isn't always going to be what you thought it would be when you signed up for it, but you've counted the cost, you'll go the distance, no matter what curveballs life may throw your way in times of difficulty, you'll trust in Me. Okay. Following that, Jesus commended John, he chastened his nation, and then Matthew in his gospel tells us that he then began to praise the Father for his wisdom in revealing spiritual truths to the unassuming, the babes, the humble, and hiding them from the wise of this world. You're in Matthew chapter 11, allow me to draw your attention specifically beginning at verse 25. Chapter 11, verse 25, where we read that at that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for it seemed good in your sight. All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." I want you to notice in verse 27 of Matthew chapter 11 that no one knows the Father except the Son. and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him to." Jesus said that. And then in verse 28, He tells us exactly who it is that He's willing to reveal Him to, and that is anyone who is tired of the ways of this world and what it is that this world has to offer. So that here you are, and if you are worn out and disillusioned with what this world has to offer you, all you have to do, Jesus said, is come unto Me. Just come to Jesus and He will reveal the Father to you and bring refreshment to you. How's that? Through resting your soul. Well, it's with these words that we believe most plausibly that the woman who's in the section of Scripture we're studying specifically today, you can make your way back to Luke chapter 7, that it is at this point that she caved in inwardly before Christ. She surrendered her life to Christ. And Simon, the Pharisee, invites Jesus to dinner upon the completion of his call, upon the completion of his message. He says, I'd love for you to come and dine with me. And with that, we catch up to Luke chapter seven, beginning in verse 36. Notice, then one of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him. And he went to the Pharisee's house and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus was at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil and stood at his feet behind him weeping. And she began to wash his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. And she kissed his feet and anointed them with fragrant oil, the fragrant oil. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he spoke to himself saying, this man, man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who's touching him, for she is a sinner. We'll stop right there, if I could have your attention please. I don't know about you, but for me, this is one of those scenes that's filled with intensity, an uncertain expectancy, mingled with a certain curiosity. There's this whole dynamic range of things that's happening here. There's a notoriously sinful woman, a self-righteous Pharisee, and Jesus, so you've got the sinful woman, the self-righteous Pharisee, and Jesus in the middle of them in what would appear to be a precarious position, the question is, what's He going to do? What will Jesus do? Now, by the time this unfolds, it's no secret that the Pharisees are not fans of Jesus. And so we kind of wonder, what were Simon's motives and inviting him to dinner. We don't know if perhaps he was curious about Jesus. Maybe he just wanted to be seen with a man so famous, so popular as Jesus. Perhaps he was looking for a reason to discredit Jesus. We don't know. But what we do know is that whether you are notoriously sinful or you are sinfully self-righteous, Jesus loves you, He desires to minister to you, so that regardless of what Simon's motives may have been, Jesus took the opportunity to try and minister to him personally. As for the banquet environment, you should know that in that culture, at that time, if you were holding a feast, especially if you were wealthy, which a Pharisee would have been, his house would have been built basically around a banquet hall of sorts. It would have been out, there would have been no roof over it, walls around it, but gates open to it, an outer courtyard, if you will. And if your guest was popular, A notable rabbi, or whatever. It was a commonly acceptable practice for people in the community to come through the gates, not to eat, but to listen to the conversation that this rabbi or this popular, this guest of honor who was in your place, the conversations that he would engage in with the people, the common people, or anyone else was free to enter into the environment and just kind of hang out around the walls and listen in on the conversation. The part that makes this scene a little uncomfortable is that women would not have generally been invited or included in that privilege. And notorious women, seemingly she was a prostitute it would seem, most believe, would have never been included in this kind of a gathering. So this was a pretty bold move on this woman's behalf, coming as a known, notorious sinner into the courtyard of a Pharisee. That took a lot of guts. Here's what we need to see. She was determined to demonstrate her love for Jesus, regardless of what anyone else may have thought or how they would have perceived her. And I wonder how often we would be cited as guilty for holding back Our display of love, our affection for Jesus because of public pressure or because of peer pressure. Well now listen, this woman is not going to go there. She's not going to be guilty of that. She would show openly her love. She would display her affection deeply for her Lord. How so? Notice it begins in verse 37. She brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, which suffice it to say, was the single most valuable asset that she owned. In biblical times, fragrant oils were incredibly valuable. They were a hope chest of sorts, a life savings investment, if you will. This was the 401K, the 403B, whatever the case may be. This is her life savings kind of hung around her neck in a flask. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, there's a book called The Treasures of Tutankhamen, it's about King Tut, and by, let's see, I wrote it down, Gilbert Holt and Hudson, and on page 110 you discover that his tomb, packed with, quote unquote, an array of breathtaking treasures, ransacked and robbed more than once in ancient times, yet on at least one of those occasions, the thieves took only the fragrant oils and left the gold and the silver. It was that valuable in that day. Now, to set the stage, I want you to realize kind of the scene that's happening here. When we read that Jesus came to dine with him, in our kind of, well, American kind of culture, we can just kind of picture him just scooting a chair up, sitting under a table, and there he is. But that would not be the case. It was more of an oriental kind of a setting, would be the closest you probably would be able to envision it. They were very low tables. There were pillows around the table. He would have sat or laid on his left side on the ground there, nosed up to the table, his left elbow down, reaching into the table, and the table would have been set in a U shape. It would be like three, like of our tables, only about, you know... this high or so, and they would nose in this U-shape, and they would sit around them, and the guest of honor would sit opposite his host there, and he would be leaning on his left elbow, his feet outstretched behind him, reaching with his right hand into whatever dish it may be. It was just the custom of the day. It's how they all ate. And so we can know with certainty, this is the situation. And so his feet are behind him, outstretched there, and now here she is. She walks in. And she makes her way to the feet of Jesus. And something starts happening in her. It begins to overwhelm her. And being overwhelmed in His presence, she begins to weep. It's not a word for crying silently. She is sobbing convulsively, seemingly uncontrollably. It's as if the awareness of the gravity of her sin is colliding with the abundance of His grace and being undone in the presence of such holiness, such righteousness, she can no longer contain herself and she begins to break down and just ball. And I don't know, maybe it was at that point that she kind of caved or collapsed. And she's weeping there and she's sobbing there. And it's as though the text reads, she notices her tears, they're splashing down on his feet from her face. And I don't know if it's embarrassment. I don't know if perhaps she feels ashamed, but she sees it, and she senses a need. She takes her hair, and she begins to wipe her tears from his feet with her hair, and then she begins to just, she has his feet there, and she begins to lavish them with her kisses, and she has the oil, and she cracks the flask, and she begins to anoint his feet with this costly, fragrant oil. Well, it's a scene that, is shocking, stunning, and quite frankly, embarrassing for Simon. The truth, however, is that what we have here is a, well, it's a deep devotion. It's a displayed affection and a desperate love for Jesus. Now, as I considered verse 38, it seemed to me that Her love for the Lord is here demonstrated in a four-fold manner, all woven together, brought cohesively together through a thread of humility. I see in verse 38, brokenness, service, sacrifice. and affection, each of them brought to the Lord in the spirit of humility. As the psalmist declared, for I will declare my iniquity, I will be in anguish over my sin. That's what we see happening here. And again, as he said, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. These, oh God, you will not despise. She's broken before Him, weeping at His feet. She's serving Him as she washes His feet. She's sacrificing for Him in the offering of the oil, and she's showing her affection for Him as she kisses His feet over and over and over again. Now, ordinarily, this type of oil that she has would have been poured out if at all, over or upon his head. But she brought it to his feet." Why? We don't know. Perhaps she thought that the best that she could offer was only good enough for his feet. It's a scene of broken humility. The cost was irrelevant. The most that she had was the least that she could do in her display of love for the Lord. Jesus doesn't swatter away. He doesn't freak out and say, what are you doing, man? This is kind of weird. Is anybody else seeing this? Could someone please escort this lady out? He doesn't do that. There's none of that. There's here's the message. Listen there. Listen, there's safety for the sinner at the feet of Jesus. If we will repent, he will not never by no means reject. But rather, he will receive all who will come to him, all who will humbly surrender their lives before him. It's a moving scene, to say the least. Yet Simon and those at the table, other than the Lord, don't seem moved at all, except perhaps with contempt. Simon kind of mumbles, it's like he's offended. He just kind of starts mumbling, man, if this guy was a prophet. Number one, there'd be none of this. And number two, he would know the kind of woman who's touching him, man. Sinner. The implication being that lest her sin rub off on Him, He'd have nothing to do with that kind of thing. Remember back in verse 16 of chapter 7, how after Jesus raised the the son of the widow from the dead, that the people were rejoicing, they were speaking about how this great prophet had risen among them. That's where Simon's rationale comes. He's checking him out, he's wondering about it, and he's saying within himself, doesn't seem to have the discernment of a prophet. As far as Simon was concerned, Jesus just failed the test. The problem here is that the test wasn't for Jesus, it was for Simon. It wasn't the woman's character that Jesus was concerned with at that moment. She was forgiven. She was clean. However, Simon's character was of great concern to Jesus. It was Simon's heart that Jesus was looking into, and Jesus is going to show him exactly what's happening in his heart. Oh, he knows this woman's heart. He's not worried about that woman right now. He's going to tell Simon. Simon's going, well, he doesn't know what kind of woman that is. Oh, yeah, he does, Simon, and he knows what kind of man you are. And He's going to show you exactly what's happening in your heart. Simon was a man. He was blind on every level, except the physical. I mean, he had eyes, but he couldn't see. He couldn't see what kind of man he was. He couldn't see what kind of woman she was, nor could he see who the Lord was. He couldn't perceive this woman as being forgiven and clean. She had no right in his mind. to be in the presence of Jesus or to be in any form of service to Jesus. Listen, when someone comes to Christ, they are made clean. The Bible says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation, old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new. Don't be someone, listen, don't be someone who refuses to release someone of their past. Okay? If that guy, man, that gal serving at Calvary Chapel, that ministry must be messed up. Because I know that guy. I know that gal. I know where he's been. I know what she's done. And believe me, they have no right serving the Lord, no right seeking to be used of the Lord. Hey, who does? Do you? This is one of those, let him who's without sin cast the first stone kind of moments. Here's the beautiful thing about coming to Jesus, where sin has abounded, grace abounds much, much more. Who's really the one with the problem here? As we survey the scriptures that's in front of us, this woman or this man? You know, This could have been revelatory for Simon. This could have been, this was his moment, man. This was his encounter with Christ. This could have been his moment in time whereby he was changed forever. The Lord wasn't reaching out to the sinful woman here. He already has her. This scene is for Simon. Look at verse 40. Jesus answered and said to him, you know, he just kind of whispered something under his breath to himself like, this guy ain't no prophet, man, he's a prophet, this is embarrassing. Jesus looks at him and says, Simon, I want to tell you something. You know, I have something to say to you. So he said, teacher, say it. You know, go ahead, what's on your mind? There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed 500 denarii, now a denarii was about a day's wage, so basically this guy is in debt about a year and a half, or a little over, almost a couple years, and the other 50. So he's just saying, look, one owed 500 denarii and the other 50. And when they had nothing with which to repay, underline it, he freely forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which one of them will love him more? And Simon answered and said, well, I suppose the one whom he forgave more. Jesus said, you have rightly judged. Well, let me break it down for you. Jesus is saying, Simon, here's the deal. It's easy for you to say that she is a sinner. The problem is that you can't say I am a sinner. You can't see your own sin. Understand something about this parable. It does not deal with the amount of sin in a person's life, but rather the awareness of that sin in their lives, the awareness of guilt that they have. I want you to note that both Debtors had a debt, and notice sin is like unto debt. God is the one we are in debt to with our sin. And I want you to notice that neither one of them could in any way had no means with which to repay. They both owed a debt. Neither one of them could repay it. Here's the point. All have sinned. and fall short of the glory of God. Whether you're at the top of the moral ladder, or you're the dregs of society, as the case may be, there's nothing you can do to reconcile your sin debt to God. Believe me when I tell you that Simon was every bit the sinner that this woman was, because why? Here's why. Once you cross the sin line, you're a sinner. And there's no such thing as not so bad sin. Okay? You're either a sinner or you are not. And this is what the Bible declares for whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point, he's guilty of all. Which is to say what I just said, you are either a sinner or you are not. And since sin is somehow woven into, bound up in your DNA, if you will, you came forth from the womb, you are already condemned a sinner. Now, Jesus makes an observation for us. The one who realizes the gravity of their sin debt, And the degree of forgiveness they've received will respond in a greater way, okay, than the one who doesn't really see their sin as all that bad. So it's not that we need to sin more that we might love the Lord more. That's not what's going on here. It's that we need to be more sensitive to the gravity of sin that we have been forgiven of. Okay? Jesus paid our debt freely. What is the appropriate response? That we would love Him greatly, you see. If you've repented of your sin and you've received the forgiveness of God, which are hand and glove, if you've repented, you've received the forgiveness of God, that will, not might, not maybe, that will result in affection for Christ, which will then begin to evidence itself in acts of love and service for or toward or unto Christ. If you have not repented, if you are not forgiven, then you have no real affection for Christ, not really. This is the picture that's being painted for us in this scene via this sinful woman, this self-righteous Pharisee. Verse 44, then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, I like this, up until this point He hasn't even acknowledged this woman. I mean, there he is at the table. This woman is at his feet, weeping over him, placing an anointing upon him, lavishing his feet with her kisses. Jesus is just kind of hanging out and chilling. Everybody's observing all this that's happening. Simon kind of says this. Jesus begins. This woman is just back here, just with all of this going on, and he begins to speak to Simon, and she's just there probably in some way It's not even cognizant of all of that. She's enraptured with, she's engaged in, she's focused on her service, her love to her Lord. And Jesus is beginning to interact with Simon. Who do you think is going to love more, Simon? The one forgiven much or the one forgiven little? He says, well, I suppose the one who was forgiven more. And he says, you're right. And then he looks at the woman for the very first time. And he's talking to Simon. So, Simon. You see this woman? And he's speaking to him, but it's you can see it in his face, he's he's ministering to her. You see this woman, Simon? I entered your house. I just love this, because he's talking to her, or talking to him, but he's looking at her. He says, Simon, I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet. But she, and you know, he's still looking at her. She, I'm sure they're locked on. She has washed my feet with her tears. and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet from the time I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. Then he said to her, Your sins are forgiven. Jesus reaffirms to her that she's been forgiven. You know, Sometimes our sins seem so great, so grievous, it's like we need to be persuaded of our forgiveness. We just have a hard time believing and we have a hard time receiving it. And Jesus is gracious enough to do just that. How is it that she knew that she was forgiven? Well, listen, Jesus gave to her his word. He gave her his word. Now, how is it that you know that God's forgiven you? Because God's given you his word. If you are a fast writer, a quick note taker, write them down. Isaiah 1, verse 18. Same book, chapter 43, verses 25 and 26. Chapter 55, verses 6 and 7. The book of Acts, chapter 13, verses 38 and 39. Romans 4, verses 7 and 8. Ephesians 4, verse 32. Hebrews 8, verse 12. Just to name a few. Look them up. Lavish over them. Think them through later. God has given you His Word. Now, don't think that Jesus was saying that this woman loved much and that's why she was forgiven much. No, no, no. It's quite the opposite. She knew that she had been forgiven much, therefore she loved much. Her love was displayed by her outward acts of service and devotion. It was common courtesy, you guys, in that culture, at that time, on that day, it was a common courtesy to see to it that your guest had the dust and the dirt removed from the road off of their feet when they entered your house. If you didn't have a servant, or you didn't have maybe a child, then you yourself would see to it that their feet were cleaned when they came in to your house. You would give them, you've probably seen it on television, or maybe you've been in a different culture, where there's a customary cultural kiss, one on each cheek, as you enter and greet one another. You know, there would be a time where they would anoint just a little bit, they would just drizzle. It's the common oil, just olive oil. You've been being beat down by the sun. real lotions or skin care products, and it was hot, and it was dry, it was desert-like. You'd come into someone's house, they would put a little olive oil on your head, kind of help rejuvenate, refresh, and all of that kind of stuff. This Pharisee didn't even extend to Jesus the simple common courtesies, but now he wants to reproach this woman for doing for Jesus what he himself refused to do. He didn't wash Jesus' feet. This woman couldn't cease from weeping at his feet. And she in essence washed his feet with her tears. She cleaned them with the hair of her head. Simon didn't offer Jesus any common, customary kiss. She refused to quit, to cease kissing his feet. He didn't anoint his head with even common oil. She poured out and anointed his feet with costly, fragrant oil. I want you to notice something as we think through this. Jesus noticed both the neglect, he noticed it, and the acts that were born out of affection. He noticed both neglect and in the act of service that came from affection for him. And far from rejecting deeply emotional devotion, Jesus both accepted and appreciated her affection, her service toward him, born out of his forgiveness toward her. And so Jesus validates her works as an offering from her heart. The fact that she gives to him, the fact that she humbles herself before him and physically serves him, practically, tangibly serving him, he sees, he acknowledges as an overflow of her love for him. The Pharisee, on the other hand, think it through. The Pharisee was a man of right words. He had the right answers. He dressed in the appropriate attire. He knew the scriptures. Yet, listen, listen, not so much as a single shred of practical evidence that demonstrated his love for God at all. Question. Which category, think about it, which category accurately reflects where you are at today, right here, right now? Is your life earmarked with religious rhetoric, you know, going to church, you know your Bible? Or are you one who humbles yourself before the Lord comes to his feet to worship and honor the Lord somehow in some way you're affectionately serving and sacrificing unto the Lord? What is the affection, what is the overflow of your love for him look like practically, tangibly? You see. And I'm not saying coming to church is bad, we need to be here, the Bible's clear. I'm not saying knowing your Bible's bad, we need to study the scripture, we need to hide God's word in our heart, absolutely. But if it stops with an academic understanding, with going through motions and mechanics, and never evidence itself in an overflow of just practical somehow and in some way serving your Lord out of an overflow of love for your Lord, I don't know. Think about it. I just want to leave that with you. Just challenge you with that. Now look at verse 49. And those who sat at the table with him began to say to themselves, who is this who even forgives sins? I was like, who is this, you know? And then he said to the woman, This whole time, man, he's been looking at her, and he'd been talking to Simon, and then he looks at her, and he says, your sins are forgiven. And they start mumbling, gasping around him. He just blows all that off. He's got this tunnel vision thing going. And he says, your faith has saved you. Go in peace. You see, it wasn't her love, nor her works that saved her. It was her faith. Jesus says, your faith has saved you. The Bible is clear, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Oh, the people at the table are shocked, because who but God alone can forgive sins? And you know what? They're exactly right. Jesus is God, the second person of the triune Godhead. Right there before them, they were too blind to see it. He tells her, go in peace. More literally, he says, go into peace. From this point forward, I want you to go into peace. You see, prior to her forgiveness, she had been at enmity, the Bible says, with God, at war with God, having no peace in her life, no peace with God. But now she has peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ, trusting in His reconciling work on her behalf. He gives to her the peace of God now that she has made peace with God through Him at His feet. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him, you see. She did not, listen, I think this is of paramount importance in our day and in our society, when people are looking for peace, they're confused, they're hurting, they're wanting answers, they've got questions. She did not find peace in a counselor's office. She found it through repentance of her sin at the feet of Jesus. She had sown in tears, now she would reap in joy. Write it down, Psalm 126, verses five and six. And we love this scene, don't we? We love this scene. Jesus did a lot of great things in this chapter. He really did. He healed the sick. He opened the eyes of the blind. He even raised the dead. However, this is a work that outweighs them all combined. Believe you me, the physical works are at best temporary. Those whom He had healed would one day get sick again. Those whom He had raised from the dead would one day die again. However, this was a work that would last throughout eternity, man. And we see here that as sinners, man, we're always within reach of Jesus. He's never too far away. You can always reach out to Him and be changed by Him. Two sinners, one Savior. Which company do you find yourself in today? Standing at a distance with self-righteous Simon, with your doubts about Jesus, your criticism of others? or broken and overwhelmed at the grace of God as you take your place at the feet of Jesus and you look to pour your love and affection out for Jesus. God, truly your grace is overwhelming. And I pray, oh God, that you would teach us to realize the gravity of our sin that you have so freely forgiven us in Christ and help us to respond to you in pouring out our love for you, in service, in affection towards you. Keep us, God, from a spirit of criticism and self-righteousness. that we might walk in humility before you, that we might learn true intimacy with you. And Lord, I wanna pray that if there's anyone here who's struggling receiving your forgiveness, they've come to you, they've been broken before you, Lord, just continue to minister to them. Lord, look into their heart, God, and persuade them. Your sins are forgiven. Now go in peace. And we thank You, Jesus, that You've given us Your peace. You've left us Your peace. Not peace as the world gives. Your peace. And You've removed the burden of the guilt and the shame of our sin. And we give You praise. And listen. While our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, you've not given your life to Christ. I want you to know that God loves you. I want you to know that Jesus has died upon the cross for you. And He's waiting to freely forgive you of all your sin. Are you able to see your need? Do you realize that you are a sinner, that you need a Savior? You need to be a new creation. If you're ready for old things to pass away, you're ready to find rest for your soul. And come to Jesus. That you might be given eternal life in Jesus. Is he knocking on the door of your heart? I don't know everyone here. I don't know the details of your story. It's not necessary for me to know. What you need to know is that it doesn't matter where you've been or what you've done. It doesn't matter how old you are, how young you are. It doesn't matter the things you've engaged in or entertained in your mind. What matters is that you're ready, that you're willing to respond to the invitation that Jesus has given to all of mankind. Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. He will rest your soul. Is there anyone I can pray for in that capacity? You're saying, man, this moment's for me. My heart's beating a little bit. I'm uncertain of what exactly is happening in me, but I know that I need Jesus to be made real to me. I know I need to be forgiven of my sin. I want that peace. If so, here's what I'm going to ask you to do. I'm going to ask you to raise your hand wherever you're at. When I see your hand, I'll say it and you can put it back down if you want. But I don't want you to worry about who's around you. I want you to worry about is this moment for you, man. There's nobody here but you and Jesus Christ. And he's calling to you. Will you come to him? Is there anyone I can pray for in that capacity at all? God bless you. And God bless you. Because I just don't want you to be the victim of public or peer pressure. I want you to just be bold and say, hey, you know what? Here's the fact. I need Christ in my life. Is there anyone else I can pray for in that capacity? Father God, we just thank you for your love, for your patience, for your goodness and your mercy. Thank you, Lord, that you're drawing on heartstrings, that people are responding to you, just wanting to be made right with you. And now I pray, Lord, that as they have shown me their hand, Lord, really they've shown you their heart. And I trust, Lord, that as you search our hearts, Lord, that you're gonna do what you need to do in bringing us to that place of intimacy, of a walk in relationship with you. Listen, I want you to know that the Bible says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But that if we will confess our sin, God is faithful. He is just to forgive us of our sin, to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. And so I'm going to just say a quick prayer. And you don't have to pray out loud, you can, but you're is to reach down into that deep place of your own heart. Just cry out from your heart and just come to the Lord. Don't make excuses before the Lord. Don't hide in shame from the Lord. Just be undone before the Lord and just come to Him and say to Him, Lord, here I am, a sinner. I've crossed the sin line and I am undone. Now, Lord, I'm calling upon you. I'm crying out to you. Would you forgive me? I'm coming unto you. I'm tired. I'm just tired. And I welcome the rest that you have for my soul. Fill me, Lord, with your spirit. And just make yourself real to me. And help me, Lord God, to, from this moment on for the rest of my life, live my life for you. And thank you for putting my name in your book of life. I want to encourage you that if you prayed a prayer like that, that God has heard you, That Christ has responded to you. He's come into you. He's filled you with His Spirit, man. He's made you new. And He's going to bring rest to your soul. Don't be ripped off from it, man. Receive it. Believe God for it. Trust in His Word and rejoice in it. He's given you His Word. You are forgiven of your sins. Now go in peace. Lord, we thank you for your tender touch in our hearts today. We pray, God, you just continue to minister, and we give the remainder of our time to you. Have your way in it. In Jesus' name we pray.