>> All right, good morning. Welcome to Breen Community Church. Let me get to a few announcements before we get started. First of all, men's and women's flag football flag football fellowship is happening on March 16th, and then the ladies on March 17th. So if you want to participate in that, sign up online, and they'll give you more direction than that.

That's coming up this Saturday, right? It's this Saturday. Newcomer's lunch. If you are new to the church and you want to find out about what's going on at church or you want to meet some of the leaders and just ask some questions about it, this lunch is for you.

It's happening next Sunday at 1245. So after the third service, across the courtyard in that building, where the youth group has their service, after the third service at 1245, there's going to be a lunch and then a brief presentation and some Q&A time. So if you want to come to that, that'll be open for you.

And for Passover meal, as we said, that as Passion Week is coming on Thursday at 630 p.m., Pastor Mark is going to be leading us through what the Passover meal looked like for the disciples. And so if you haven't participated in that, it's a great opportunity to see exactly what Jesus did when he says, "Do this in remembrance of me." And even if you have done it before and you want to participate, especially if you have small children and you want to teach them, because much of the Passover meal is to kind of educate the children about the significance and the meaning behind that.

So if you want to participate, please sign up for that. And then Women's Ministry Conference, that's happening on April 13th. So please sign up for that. And then Berean Service Auction for the members. Again, you can bid if you're not a member, but it's for members to volunteer for whatever things that you have that you want to donate, whether it's goods or services.

And people auction that, and then the finance that comes from that is going to be used for some of our missions to Korea. So please sign up for that. And one last thing that is really important. On May 4th, this coming May 4th, on Saturday, we're going to be having a special seminar on abortion, birth control, and IVF.

Right now, as I mentioned before, there's more and more of that discussion that's happening, just chatter that's happening, not only in the political arena, but it's happening inside the church. As I mentioned before, abortion is not a debatable issue for Christians, and I want to make that crystal clear.

But along with that, it has ramifications on birth control and also IVF. And so there's a lot of people who are not aware of what's going on. To be honest, that was not something that was readily available or talked about in years past. But now, because of what's going on around the world, there's a lot of chatter, and we need to have clarity on that.

And so we want to make sure that as many of you that can come. So that Saturday, we're going to actually even have babysitting. So we want as many people to come as possible, so we're going to provide babysitting, we're going to have snacks, and it's going to take us all the way.

We're going to have two extended sessions. Pastor James Lee from Cross Life is going to be speaking on this issue. And so I know we've had an abortion seminar before, but this is going to go a little bit more in-depth, and then it's going to connect us to birth control and IVF.

And so whether you're married or even if you're college students, I think this is a subject that is significant, and not only do you need to know, you need to be able to defend it. And so we want to encourage as many of you to sign up for that as possible.

So the actual sign-up is going to start next week, so when you want to prepare, whatever. So we haven't concluded yet whether we're going to have lunch provided, but it's going to go up to lunch. So if you can make it, please mark that on your calendar so that you can come.

It's going to be on May 4th. And so those announcements are going to start coming out this week, so just watch out for it. And again, we will have babysitting, so we want to have as many of our church members that can come. So it is Saturday, starts at 9, and it will probably take us to about 12, 12:30.

All right, let me pray for the offering. And afterwards, our brother Jacob Wong is going to come up and give his testimony and be baptized this morning. All right, let's pray. Father, we thank you for your continued grace and love that you give us. Lord, we desire to worship you genuinely from spirit and in truth.

Help us, Lord God, to put aside the entanglement, temptation, coveting, Lord, of this world, that we may desire to see a greater glimpse of the glory of Christ. Lord, we desire to love him, follow him, and obey him. Help us this morning, Lord God, with all that we do, that it would lead us to that path.

I pray that even the offering that we give, that we would not give, Lord, reluctantly, that we would give cheerfully as an act of worship, and may it be multiplied 30, 60, 100-fold for the sake of your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let us rise, and before we continue on with our service, if we could spend a few moments to greet the neighbors around us.

He became sin. He became sin, who knew no sin, that we might become His righteousness. He humbled Himself and carried the cross. Love so amazing. Love so amazing. Jesus Messiah. Name above all names. Blessed Redeemer. Emmanuel. Seeking for sinners. The ransom from Heaven. Jesus Messiah. Lord of all. The bread, His blood, the wine.

Broken and poured out all for love. The whole earth trembled when it was poured. Love so amazing. Love so amazing. Jesus Messiah. Name above all names. Blessed Redeemer. Emmanuel. The rescue for sinners. The ransom from Heaven. Jesus Messiah. All our hope. All our hope is in You. All our hope is in You.

All the glory to You, God. The light of the world. All our hope is in You. All our hope is in You. All the glory to You, God. The light of the world. Jesus Messiah. Name above all names. Blessed Redeemer. Emmanuel. The rescue for sinners. The ransom from Heaven.

Jesus Messiah. Lord of all. Jesus Messiah. Lord of all. Amen. You may be seated. Good morning, church. As long as I can remember, the church has been a part of my life. I was born into a Christian home and attended church with my family growing up. I professed faith in Christ at a young age and grew up learning teachings from the Bible.

I believed in God and was blessed to have believing parents and supportive mentors to teach me about God's love and my need for Christ. However, I can't say that I had a personal relationship with Christ or that faith was a priority during this period of my life. Growing up, I found my identity in academic achievement and being a "good kid" to earn the favor of authority figures.

I idolized relationships and the approval of my peers. To me, the church was another community where I could fulfill my desire to be seen and known. In my pride, I looked down on other kids who I thought were different than me or who didn't fit what I thought was a Christian lifestyle.

During my teenage years, God stripped away some of these worldly sources of identity. I struggled academically and had a hard time finding community during high school. During these years, I clung to the church, but not for Christ, but to be in a place where I still felt seen and known by others.

However, I believe God was still planting seeds in my life during this time. While I may not have been going to church out of a personal love for Christ, I remember a lot of the counselors and youth leaders at my high school fellowship who would challenge me to consider why I was going to church and what it truly meant to have a personal walk with God.

These were questions that stuck with me and challenged me as I graduated and moved away for college. One day during my senior year of high school, I remember praying for the one thing that I wanted most at that time. I asked God to provide me with close friends who knew me well and understood me.

In my own pride, I was unsatisfied with the relationships God had already placed in my life and felt like they didn't meet my own idealized expectations. I believed that this lack of community was the source of a lot of the hardships I was facing at that time. When I moved away for college, I joined a Christian fellowship and initially thought that this was an answer to my prayers.

Here was a group of other Asian kids who grew up in church and had similar life experiences and values as me. I gradually got involved in the community, began serving, and went out to every fellowship event. As my time in college went on, my idealized view of this community began to fall apart.

I found myself falling into old patterns of growing dissatisfied with my relationships and clinging to insecurities and prideful ways of thinking. Once again, I began to question what was actually keeping me in church and with Christians. But by God's grace, this time He led me to His word and prayer as I struggled with these questions.

Through the encouragement of the church and just other people in my life, He led me to examine sins of pride, apathy, and the fear of man, which I had not previously acknowledged. Although I didn't have the words to express it at that time, God showed that I lacked a genuine love for the people in my life and therefore for Him.

1 John 4:20 "If anyone says, 'I love God' and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." My idolization of community and relationships to fulfill myself came out of a desire to fulfill myself, and this was a pursuit that could never fully satisfy me.

This also led me to ignore the people that God had already placed in my life, even during my hardest seasons, and ultimately blinded me of His own love. For a long time, I never thought of myself as a very prideful or selfish person, but God led me to realize that my sin went further than I could ever know, and for that, I needed to surrender my life to Him.

He showed me that true love cannot be found in any human relationship, but only through the truth of the gospel. 1 John 3:16 "By this we know love, that Christ laid down His life for us." The Christian walk is always a process, but in faith, I'm relying on God to help me grow in true humility, discipline, and love, both for other people and for Him.

Over the last few months, I've been thinking about what it means to be baptized, and have come to understand that it is a public expression ordained by God of a person's union with Christ through repentance and belief in Him. Galatians 3:27 "For as many of you were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." And I recognize that this is not something I've done before, and I'm sharing my testimony today as an act of obedience and an affirmation before the church of what God has done in my life.

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Psalm 139, where David writes about how intimately God knows him, and how He has planned out his life, even from before he was born, according to His purpose. Whenever I read that passage, it reminds me of how God has purposefully shaped my life to draw me closer to Him, not because I deserved it or earned it, but by His grace.

For a large part of my life, the one thing I wanted was to be seen and known by other people, but God has shown me that in Him, I have a Creator who has always fully known me and loved me. He has used every experience, every struggle, and every relationship in my life to lead me to believe in and surrender to Him.

And for that, I'm truly grateful. Thank you. - If you understand, when you go into the water, you're being united to Christ's death, and then when you come out, you're being united to His resurrected life. - Yes. - I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

- All right. Thank you for that great testimony. If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 7, we're going to continue in our series. I'm going to be reading from verse 36 to 39, but the text that we're dealing with this morning will go all the way to verse 50.

Luke chapter 7, verse 36 through 39. And reading out of the NASB. "Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner, and when she learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume.

Now when the Pharisees who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.'" Let's pray. Father, we pray for enlightenment. We pray that only Your Word, Lord, would go forth.

We pray for hearts that are eager, Lord God, to listen and to obey. Help us, Lord God, that our eyes may be opened to see the glory of Christ. May His name only be exalted. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. The text that we're looking at this morning really is a continuation of what we saw last week, where we are told by Luke that the reason why some people were able to understand the teaching of John and Jesus was because they were baptized by John, meaning that they were baptized into repentance.

And the reason why the Pharisees couldn't understand is because they did not repent. And so the distinction between somebody who hears the Word of God and is affected by the Word of God, and there's a change because of the Word of God, has a lot to do with what you bring into when you hear the Word of God.

So even this morning, if you came eager to hear the Word of God and ready to receive it because you're willing to repent of whatever sins that may be exposed, you're willing to follow Christ, but if you came into this room, "I want to kind of hear and make my choice if I'm going to do it or not to do it," and you've already had that in your heart, then no matter what comes off from this pulpit, you're going to gain knowledge, but there's no transformation that takes place.

Your ability to see God, your ability to hear the Word of God is directly linked to, are you willing to repent? Are you willing to change? Are you willing to follow whatever the Word of God says? But if that is not there, your heart is already hardened toward the Word of God.

And so you'll hear it, you may be able to gain knowledge from it, but there's no transformation that takes place. That's what it says in the previous text that we looked at last week. This text is an illustration of that. What does it look like for a sinner who repents?

And what does it look like for a Pharisee who's unrepentant? And what is the end result of that? So it really is, last week's passage and this week's passage should be understood together because this week's passage basically is telling us that when somebody who is unwilling to repent, what that leads to, when somebody is willing to repent, what that leads to.

So this morning I want to first look at Simon the Pharisee, who he is. First of all, I want to make it clear. If you're reading through the New Testament, you'll find that there is another event that looks very similar to this event, but it is very different. It's different because this event happens in the beginning of Jesus' ministry.

That happens at the end, preparing him to go to the cross. This event looks similar because it's talking about Simon the Pharisee. There it's talking about Simon the leper. This event happens where this woman is anointing his feet. That event is anointing of his head. So one happens at the beginning of his ministry, another one happens at the end of the ministry.

So I don't want you to be confused when you're reading through the New Testament. These are not two same events. Well, this particular event exposes to us these two people, a repentant sinner and an unrepentant sinner. Simon the Pharisee, Luke chapter 7, 36, said, "Now one of the Pharisees was requesting him to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table." He invites Jesus to his house.

The question is, was Simon the Pharisee, was he a believer? Is that why he asked Jesus to come to his house? Because he heard the teaching, and so he wanted to, he recognized that this is the Messiah talking, so I want him at my house. Well, we clearly see that he was not, because we see at the end of verse 39 that after he encounters this woman who anoints his feet, he gets disgusted with this event and he says, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of person this woman is, and who is touching him, that she is a sinner." So it clearly spells out that not only did he not believe he was the Messiah, he's not even sure if he was a prophet.

So we know he's not a believer. Then why did he invite Jesus to his home? What is the context of this? Because understanding the context of this will help us to understand who he is and why he ends up doing what he's doing. So the question is, what is the context of this?

It clearly seems like that this was an open event. He wasn't inviting Jesus because he was a believer. He was inviting Jesus because he was curious. Jesus' fame is beginning to spread. Multitudes are starting to come to Christ. A Pharisee was an individual who lived all his life to gather multitudes around him, so his claim to fame is to use the law to become somebody.

Somehow he's going to get closer to God, that he was the righteous one, and he used his religiousness to climb this ladder. So here's this man, all of a sudden there's chatter that maybe could he be the Messiah, he's performing miracles, and thousands are starting to come to him early on in ministry.

So what it looks like is Simon the leper was a looky-loose. Some of you guys who know what a looky-loose is. A looky-loose is somebody who has no intention to buy, but is eye shopping. So a looky-loose, if you're going around checking out houses and you have no down payment, and you have no timeline when you want to buy, but you like looking at houses.

Or, maybe you're a window shopper. You don't have any money. You have no intention to buy anything, but you just like looking. Simon the Pharisee seems like the reason why he wanted Jesus at his house is because of Jesus' fame. And so maybe if he invited him to his house, that he could somehow be associated with him, and maybe somehow by being associated with him, that he would get some of the attention.

And the reason why I say that is that even the invitation that he gave was not a private invitation. If he really believed in Christ and wanted to have a private hearing, you would think it would be a private event, but it was not. It was a very public event.

In fact, later on in verse 49, it tells us that there were other peoples reclining at the table. It was big enough that a sinner, this woman who was a sinner, was able to come in. You would have never, that would have been scandalous, that a Pharisee would allow somebody like her to even enter into his house.

So the context of this is that he throws basically a big banquet. There's a bunch of people gathering here, and the whole purpose of that is so that he can rub shoulders with him. That's the context. That's what we see here, right, from this text. Not only that, Jesus describes how he was disrespected as a guest.

In Luke chapter 7, 44-46, 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 and with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet.

You do not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with perfume." Every one of these acts was a courtesy, common courtesy that you gave to a guest, especially a special guest like Jesus. So the fact that he did none of this means that Jesus was not a special guest to him.

All he was doing was, a lot of people following him, get him to my house and invited other guests to come and see. And so it would have been an insult to have Jesus in his home and not to offer to wash his feet, not to anoint his head, not to give him a brotherly kiss.

But he said you did none of that, meaning he was disrespected in his home. So we see that the reason behind why Simon invited Jesus was not because he was a seeker. He was genuinely seeking. He just wanted to be around Jesus. Let me take a moment here to highlight some of the issues that a growing church has.

When our church is small, you know, we don't get a lot of people who come to church that's kind of like, "Ah, I just want to rub shoulders." And we have some. But as our church gets bigger, we tend to and as it gets bigger, we tend to attract people simply because we have pretty girls.

We have decent looking guys. We have a children's program. We have guys of certain age that do things together. We have Dodger fans. We have people who like to play football. We have people who like to play softball. And so there's a benefit of coming to church. And so not necessarily because you're hungry to know Christ, but simply because there's benefits of coming to church.

And as a result of that, if we're not careful, we can fill our churches with people who just want to rub shoulders with other good, moral people who are, look like me, act like me, and have similar interests. But at the core of it, what's binding people, the fellowship, isn't truly fellowship.

It's just a gathering. And you can have people, church filled with people who are not genuinely seeking Christ, who love the church, love the people, love the gathering, but their worship is never any more genuine ten years later than when they first began, because that was not what brought them to church.

See, in Christ, as Jesus' ministry is growing, it was attracting all of these people coming to Him, even the leaders of Israel. Even the leaders of Israel wanted to come and rub shoulders with Christ, and that's why when the Pharisees showed up, John the Baptist straight up said, "You brood of vipers." Because he knew, right away, that they didn't come to repent, they didn't come seeking Christ, they came because they saw that he was becoming a religious celebrity.

Kind of like if you run into a celebrity out in the airport or something, and you're quick to go over there and take a selfie with that person, and you put it on Instagram. Like, why do you put it on Instagram? You don't know this person. Because some of the love that they gave, some of the glory that they get by putting a picture up, it's like, "Hey, maybe some of it will rub up on me.

I met somebody important." I think that that's the reason why Simon the Pharisee invited Jesus to his house, considering the context of that. He was not genuinely interested in Him. He had an unrepentant heart. This man was known to be, at least at that time, a religious leader. He was the guy that people would run to if they had questions about the Bible.

He was the guy, if they had questions about how they should live, how to pray, how to give, how to serve at the temple, this is the guy that they would have run to. And yet, we know that the greatest rebuke was given to the leaders of Israel. And the reason why the greatest rebuke went to the leaders of Israel is because their sins had greater consequences.

It's one thing for anybody else to sin, not that sin is sin no matter who commits sin, but when a leader commits sin, it prevents other people from coming to Christ. And that's exactly what it says in Matthew 23, 13. Jesus says, "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people, for you do not enter in yourself, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." Because of your sin, because of your hypocrisy, it prevents other people to come to Christ.

It is the greatest danger to just anoint anyone to come into ministry. Because of the consequence, the Bible says not many of you should become teachers because there is greater judgment that comes upon you who says, "Stands between God and sinners, thus saith the Lord." There's a greater temptation for leaders to be hypocrites because we are judged by our action.

The church looks at us and says, "Is he holy? Does he know the Bible? Does he pray? Does he do this and that?" So there's a greater temptation for leaders to pretend to be holy at church and to be unholy behind the scene. To be a certain way when people can judge us and when people can't see we're a completely different person.

In fact, in Luke chapter 11, 52 it says, "Woe to you, lawyers, for you have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter, and you hinder those who are entering." He says, "The lawyers, they were the ones who were experts of the law. These guys were the PhDs in theology." And he says, "You take away the keys of knowledge.

They were the ones that were known for knowledge." And he rebukes them and says, "No, you're not giving them knowledge." Because of your hypocrisy, because of your unrepentance, in fact even the very things that you're teaching is preventing people to come to them. You missed the whole point. And then I think Matthew 23, 25-26 gives a summary of the danger of false leadership.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisees first clean the inside of the cup and the dish so that the outside of it may become clean also." You notice here the priority of sanctification is inside.

Inside. He said clean the inside so that it would affect the outside. But a hypocrite is somebody who is paying all the attention on how he's going to be judged externally, but sanctification never happens internally. Bitterness, anger, coveting, slander, none of that ever changes because it's not obvious. And so we only pay attention to something that people are going to judge immediately.

If you have a foul mouth, if you do something, if you go places you're not supposed to go. And so those things we've learned how to package it well, but internally nothing is changing. No true sanctification is happening. So Jesus says, "You hypocrites, you pay so attention to your appearance and your reputation, but there's no true sanctification." He says, "Sanctify and clean the inside so that whatever happens on the outside will be an overflow of what happens on the inside." So the priority is sanctification on the inside.

But a hypocrite is somebody who spends all his life presenting himself one way while he never has clear conscience behind the scene. And Jesus rebukes them repeatedly over and over. Now understand, these two people are being compared. The sinner that everybody knew, that this Pharisee was disgusted by even her being present in his home, that that man, that religious, righteous, holy man, at least by reputation, him and his partners were the ones who were rebuked the harshest.

That because of their hypocrisy, people would not come to Christ. And he says greater judgment is coming upon him. That's why, you know, as our church gets bigger, there's a greater temptation. We need to plug in the holes. We need to get more people. But it is a great danger.

It's easy to place somebody into leadership, to plug up holes, to get the work done, because there's a need. But it is far more difficult of a task to remove somebody and wait until they do the damage in order to remove them. I've learned and I think pastors who have gone before me, who are wiser than I am, have confirmed over and over again, it is better not to have leadership than to have poor leadership.

It's better to have lack of leadership than to have bad leadership. So we try to be careful and there is a greater temptation to just plug up the holes. Because it makes things run smoother immediately, but it may explode in the future. There's a reason why the Bible says that if a brother sins against you, go and tell him.

If he doesn't repent, take another brother. And if he doesn't see that, then take it to the church. But it tells us that if an elder sins, and if there is an agreement that this sin is unrepentant, he says take it to the church. There's no process, you just take it to the church.

Because of the damage that that person does. In order to protect the church from the damage that the leader may do, he says to take it to the church. And that's why the Bible warns us. It warns us, do not lay hands hastily. Make sure it's not a brand new believer.

Simon the Pharisee. His response clearly tells us that he was not a believer. But not only was he not a believer, his disgust toward this lady. His disgust toward this lady. He comes to Jesus like, if you're a prophet, how can you dare allow her to touch you? And that was the response of these religious leaders of that time.

Jesus actually turns the table. Not only did he come for people like her, he turns the table around in Luke chapter 15. He said, you don't know my father. If you don't understand why I'm with the tax collectors and why I'm going after these sinners, you don't know my father.

He gives a parable of the lost sheep and how he goes out to get the one, comes back and they celebrate. How a lady loses a coin, sweeps the whole house, finds it, and there's a huge celebration. And then he ends it with the bang with the prodigal son.

When he comes back, there's celebration, he's restored, and all of that is given to rebuke the Pharisee. Not only did I come for the lost, you don't know my father if you don't know why I came. Let's look at this lady. In Luke chapter 7, 37-38 it says, "And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner, and when she learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, kept wiping them with the hair of her head, kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume." First of all, why is she singled out as a sinner?

Aren't we all sinners? And the Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." But it says she was known as a sinner. Remember in the previous passage it tells us that all these people were able to acknowledge God's justice and then it says the tax collector also.

Well, the tax collector is part of the all people. But the reason why they selected to identify him as a tax collector, because of his great sin. Not only just the regular people, but even this vile sinner was able to recognize because he was willing to repent. So in the same way here, all these people are gathered, but she was a particular sinner.

It doesn't tell us what that sin was, but most commentators believe that because of how this word is used, particularly of this woman and the way Simon the Pharisee reacts, most commentators believe that she was probably a well-known prostitute in that area. It tells us that she recognized Jesus and he was reclining at the table, that she took an alabaster vial and broke it to show her adoration for Christ.

You have to understand that that alabaster vial would be similar to, let's say if you didn't trust a bank and you wanted to make sure that you kind of had control over your wealth, you may buy gold and bury it somewhere, right? So at that particular time, a lot of them bought precious oil that they put into an alabaster jar.

So this represented the hard work, the humiliation that she endured in order to get this. The fact that when she recognized that Jesus was where he was at, reclining at the table, and she had the alabaster jar with her, tells us that most likely she was moving around looking for him with the alabaster jar.

This was not a by chance walking around. "Oh, I have my alabaster jar with me." Most likely she's been looking for him. And when she found out that he was at the banquet in an open court, that she was able to sneak in. It tells us that as Jesus was reclining at the table.

Now, if you've ever seen the portrait of Jesus at the Last Supper, they're seated in a very western style, you know, seating with chairs and you have people leaning over, Jesus in the middle, you've probably seen that, right? That is not an accurate picture of what would have happened.

At that particular time when they ate, they were literally, they were literally leaning. And so they would, because it was an Asian culture, if you go to certain parts of the world, even to this day, they'll sit on the ground and they'll have, you know, cushions on the ground, and typically the picture would have been leaning with one elbow to the ground, and the rest of his body leaning, and that's why his foot was stuck sticking out.

That's probably a closer picture of what a meal, a Passover meal would have looked like. And that's what it's describing here. So you have all these people in the banquet, and maybe there's tables everywhere on the ground, and, or maybe there's no table, the food may be on the ground, and they're leaning toward the food with Jesus sliding, and when she sees an opportunity, she comes, and she breaks the jar and begins to show her love for Christ.

You may look at that and say, well, I can understand why the Pharisee was so offended, right? Because in no other context would a Pharisee would allow somebody who was a prostitute to be near him. Not only would he have been disgusted, he would have considered himself unclean just by her presence.

Let alone have her in my house, not only in my house, but to do what she did to Jesus, it disgusted him. Sin is a sin, no matter how you cut it. Sin can never be excused. But how we respond to people's sin may say a lot about how we understand that person.

If somebody we love sins, yes, sin is sin. But how we respond to somebody that we love, versus somebody we don't love, it's night and day. We want the full wrath of God to come on somebody. They don't deserve this. As much as this Pharisee was disgusted with her sin, Jesus shows compassion.

Like I said, sin is a sin is a sin. But you have to understand, in this particular time, a woman did not choose to become a prostitute simply because she enjoyed the work that she was doing. When a woman was divorced by her husband and she can't remarry, there was no other recourse to survive.

And if she had a child, the only way to feed that child is to sell her body. If a woman who didn't have a husband and, again, loses the only children that they have, many of them, no matter how old they were, either them or they had to prostitute one of their children in order to do that.

And Pastor Peter Chung told us stories about that. He wrote a certain part to the world and how the dad or the mother would volunteer their young teenage daughter to prostitution because that was the only way to take care of their family. And I remember that one time when we were in the Philippines, and we were in a nice hotel, and you could see a lot of middle-aged men, 50, 60 years old, hanging around with probably they looked no more than 13 or 14-year-old young girls.

So initially we thought it was strange because we weren't thinking about anything. And then we realized that these girls were coming to prostitute themselves to these guys. And they were having so much fun. And we would walk out into the lobby and we could see these same girls who were laughing and partying out in the lobby with dark faces.

Because they themselves were disgusted with what they had to do. So they would come into the room and pretend like they're having fun and then as soon as the guy is gone you could see in her demeanor how much she hated what she was doing. And through that we realized that, yeah, this is a really complex problem.

Because many of these girls who are being sex trafficked and doing this was volunteering because that's the only way that they can survive. That's the only way that they can provide for their family. So as much as what these men were doing was vile, it's a lot easier to have compassion for these young girls because of the situation that led them there.

And, again, don't get me wrong. Sin is sin is sin. But Jesus looks upon her with compassion. And you could tell that she's been so affected. Can you imagine the humiliation that this girl, this lady, had to endure to save that oil? How many times that she was in front of a male in heat abusing her just so that she can save.

And then that alabaster jar represented all her humiliation, all the hard work. And she was waiting to break it for Jesus. Jesus sees that. And knowing what this Pharisee was thinking, it says to him in Luke chapter 7, 40 to 43, "Jesus answered him, 'Simon, I have something to say to you.' And he replied, 'Say it, teacher.' A moneylender had two debtors, one owed 500 denarii, and the other 50.

When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?' Simon answered and said, 'I suppose the one whom he forgave more.' And he said to him, 'You have judged correctly.'" Now, you know what's interesting is that word "suppose," right? You know, a lot of times you see the translation and they would add certain words to kind of brighten up or make it make more sense.

That word actually exists in the Greek, "suppose." And that word "suppose," if you read the Greek definition of that, it is "questioning." It is not a confident answer. It's like, "You are correct." It's, "I guess." It's when somebody has no other recourse but to admit, "I can't deny it's there." That's basically what he's saying.

He doesn't like where Jesus is taking this. Because Jesus sees his heart and his disgust, and because of that, he's questioning even Jesus, and he turns the table around. What she's doing is expressing her love for me because so much has been forgiven her. Now, the question is, is Jesus saying that if you want to love Jesus, if you want to obey the greatest command, first be a prostitute.

I have nobody in here saying yes. Of course that's not what he's saying. He's not saying because so much has been forgiven her. And a Pharisee doesn't have a lot of sins to be forgiven. And that's why he's not able to love him. But because she was a prostitute, she understands.

Is that what he's saying? As crazy as this is, I've actually heard a pastor say that. He said, "We need to experience the world, and we need to know," because Jesus said, "If you want to love God, you need to know sin intimately." I'm not exaggerating. I've actually heard a pastor say that.

Is that what he is saying? Of course not. What he is saying is, she recognized her sins. She probably lived every day, and everybody reminded her, so she knew. Jesus didn't have to convince her. She knew. That's why she was carrying this jar around, looking for Jesus, for an opportunity to thank him.

But the Pharisee was blind. Even though he had a reputation of godliness, he was further away than the tax collectors and this prostitute. Imagine how offensive that would have been to a Pharisee's ear. Where his whole life he'd been living to gain the reputation of godliness, and Jesus says, "They will enter the kingdom of heaven before you.

Your sins are much more vile than you recognize." Many people who grew up in the church say, "I never strayed. I never sold drugs. I never did prostitution." I don't know. The greatest sin that has the greatest damage are the ones that we don't see. Or the ones that we don't see.

If you ever buy a house, or if you're renewing your insurance in the house, there's two things that every insurance company, every realtor will tell you you have to have. What are those two things? One, fire alarm. You need to have a fire detector. What's the other one? You haven't renewed your insurance recently.

Carbon monoxide detector. Up to about 15 years ago, carbon monoxide detector was not mandatory. They suggested it, but it was not mandatory. You have to have it, or they're not going to give you the insurance. Now, fire detector, it's like, "Oh, okay. That's good. That's useful, because if a fire breaks out, I'd like to know." Because fire is obvious.

You're going to feel the heat. The smoke's going to come up. But the carbon monoxide, according to the study, 2,600 people die of fire each year. 2,100 die by carbon monoxide, so it's almost equal. We can see why a fire detector would be necessary, but carbon monoxide, I've never even smelled it before.

Why do we need it? It's almost irritating that they make us get it. It's because the danger of the carbon monoxide that we're not even aware of, you go to sleep, and if it affects you, you just don't wake up. It says equal number of people die of carbon monoxide than the fire.

The sins that we have excused, that we have swept under the rug, sins that are common, that other people struggle with, that doesn't seem that sinful, is what erodes and kills professing Christians. See, the problem with the Pharisee is that he did not recognize his sin. As vile, and as dirty, and as filthy as it was in God's eyes, he himself did not recognize how far he was from God, and therefore when Christ came, he didn't see a need for a Savior.

He needed a conqueror. He needed a king, but he didn't need a Savior. On the other hand, this woman broke what was the most valuable to her, and they poured it out. And it would have been scandalous for a woman at that time, not only to break the oil, but for her to let her hair down.

In the Talmud, in the Jewish teaching, it says that if a woman puts her hair down in front of another man, that that's grounds for that man to divorce his wife. Because it was considered scandalous, that you were just being free in front of another man. And then, on top of that, she was kissing his feet.

Now you have to understand that feet was the dirtiest part of the human being at that particular time, and it was reserved for the lowest of the servants, to even clean their feet. So this woman not only breaks the jar, she loses their hair, and uses her hair to wash his feet, and she's kissing it in adoration.

Now we may look at that and say, "Oh yeah, that's scandalous." But look, from her point of view, she was so thankful to Jesus. She wasn't thinking about her reputation, she wasn't thinking about what other people were going to think, she wasn't thinking about how other people were going to respond to her.

She just wanted him to know! She wanted him to know how much you mean to me! That's what true worship looks like. Whenever, if you're in a game, again, in a secular way, if you're watching a game and your team ends winning the championship, and every fan of that team is elated and they get up, they give high fives, they're not saying, "I can't give a high five to you because we didn't come in together." You're not, "Hey, so I can't high five you." We're not in the same bracket, we have different opinions of things.

No, when true worship breaks out, you lose yourself. You forget who you are. You might have starved for three days, but you're going to forget at that moment. You might have hated this guy who's sitting next to you, but because he's wearing the same Dodgers hat, he's your brother.

All of a sudden. That's what true worship looks like. So much of our worship is clouded because we're concerned about what are they going to think? If I pray out loud, what are they going to think? If I stand up and clap, what are they going to think? If I sing too loud, what are they going to think?

And so much of our free expression of our love for Christ is hindered because we're overly concerned about other people. True worship looks like her. She's not thinking about anything other than, "I want Jesus to know. I want him to know how much he's meant to me." Can you imagine this woman who, everywhere she went, right?

I mean, no different than a leper. If she comes, "Get out, that sinner. Here comes that sinner. How did she get in here? How can you dare let her touch you?" She went from that to Jesus saying, "You're saved. You're saved." That is the touch of Christ. That's genuine salvation.

How do we come to know our sins? One, it doesn't matter. If you encounter the holy, holy, holy God, automatically you're fully aware of your sins. Just like Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6. Here's a man who's called to represent him to Israel. A man who, in every other respect, he would have been a holy man, but as soon as he encounters God, what does he say?

"Woe is me. Woe is me." In light of his holiness, all of a sudden he realized how vile his sin is. An individual who lives day-to-day living in sin and not recognizing how vile that is has not encountered God. Not the God of the Bible. Maybe God of the culture, but not God of the Bible.

Because the first thing that happens when we encounter this God, and you see it in every instance of the Bible, when somebody encounters this God, they fall to the ground, say, "Woe is me!" And they're fully aware. So this Pharisee never encountered that God. That's why a Christian man who claims to have met God and is filled with pride is a contradiction.

How can you be in the presence of this holy God? How can you have met this holy God and be filled with pride? The other way that we recognize the depth of our sin is striving for holiness. See, an individual who has accepted a nominal Christian life does not understand how far he is because he's accepted it.

"It's too hard, so I'm just going to live my life right here." So because you've chosen to make this your goal, you don't know how far you are from God. But any individual who makes any effort to live a life that is holy, "Lord, search me and know me.

See if there's any hurtful ways in me." Immediately, they're confronted with their sins. That this sin is much deeper than you thought. This sin has affected you much more than you realize. You are far more desperate than you've ever known. But an individual who's not striving for holiness will never come to that conclusion because he's never strived.

See, a man who has encountered God, and because of this encounter he is striving to be sanctified, inevitably comes to the conclusion, "I'm a desperate man in need of a Savior. That my greatest need is His forgiveness. My greatest need is not for my bank account to be full, or my children to be healthy, or that I get the job that I want, or a relationship to go okay.

My greatest need, every sinner's greatest need if our eyes become open, is my own sins." That's what this man, because he was unwilling to repent, he could not recognize his own sin. And here's this woman, a known prostitute, and the example of true worship comes from her, not from him.

And here's an interesting question, Luke 7, 49, after all this happens, it concludes by saying, "Those who are reclining at the table with him began to say to themselves, 'Who is this man who even forgives sins?'" Let me ask you, how do you read that? Let me give you two ways that you could read this.

After seeing everything that Jesus has done, and Jesus says, "Your faith has saved you. Your sins are forgiven," is the response from the people, "Who is this man? How dare he say he can forgive sins? Only God can forgive sins. Who is this man?" Are they saying this because they're offended, or are they amazed?

How can this man forgive sins? Who is this man? Do you understand the distinction between the two? So let me ask you, how many of you think that this is the first one? How dare he? Is that what they're responding? Is he mimicking Simon the Pharisee? How dare he?

Who is this man who's forgiving sin? How many of you think that that's what's happening? Raise your hand. How many of you think it's the other where they're amazed? He can forgive sins? Who is this man? How many of you think that that's the case? How many of you don't want to get it wrong?

That's most of you. Let me give you the answer. This is the answer. I don't know. Because it doesn't say. So how you answer that question, how you answer my question, may be a revelation of your heart. I'm just kidding. I don't know. From this text, I don't know.

Because it doesn't explain. But how you ask this question and how you answer this question, the consequence is night and day. If the question is how dare a man, just a mere man, claim to forgive sins? How dare you do that? If you don't believe him, he's just a man who's going around saying that he came to forgive sins.

Jesus has ruined more lives than any other human being that has ever lived on earth. Think about the sacrifices that you have made. Think about the missionaries. Think about the people who got martyred. Think about his closest companions. Every single one of them suffered and lost everything they had because they believed that Jesus came to forgive sins.

Think about the countless number of people. Millions, possibly billions of people who gave their lives big and small because they believed what Jesus said. So I can understand why the communists think that religion is an opiate of the masses. Because if you believed him, you can't pursue what is true.

You've been lied to. If that's the question, and if that's the final conclusion, or who is this man? How can he forgive sins? How can he allow a vile sinner like a tax collector and this prostitute to forgive her of her sins? How can he turn this curse around?

He can do that. He can do that. Even the vilest of sinners, he can forgive them. And if your conclusion is, yes, he was more than just a man. He is exactly who he said he was. Then for the rest of our lives, we are to worship him in spirit and in truth.

Who is this man? Why would he have done this? Why would he sacrifice? Why would he who knew no sin become sin so that you and I can become the righteousness, even her, even the tax collectors? Who is this man? You notice there is no middle ground to this?

There is no middle ground. There is no third answer. There is no how vile, how dare he do this, or wow, why did he do this? And then the middle ground is, oh well. He could or he could not be. You see why the harshest rebuke in Revelation is the lukewarm who is pretending.

Who is pretending to know Christ. Whether you are a leader in the church or whether you are just a congregant, that self deception of claiming to know Christ while you don't. Why the greatest rebuke went to the Pharisees. So the conclusion of the matter is this. What is being illustrated for us?

To know Christ and to reject Christ. Love Christ or hate Christ. Proclaim Christ or live the rest of your life like you never heard it. There is no middle ground. So let me ask you again. How do you ask this question? Who is this man? A mere man who has deceived millions of people.

Ruined people's lives because they gave everything they had to follow this fake man. Or who is this man? Why would he do this for us? Why would he do this for us? And to live the rest of your life proclaiming his glory to as many people as possible. Choose you this day whom you will serve.

Let's pray. Father. You are deserving of our praise. You are deserving of our lives. You are deserving of our eternity. Help us to recognize the precious gift that we have in Christ. That we would be like this woman. Completely lost in worship. We can't help but to worship. To praise your name.

To worship you in spirit and in truth. Open our eyes Lord God. That we would not stay in mediocrity. Give all that we have. That we may serve you, worship you, and honor you. As you've given all that you have for us. May Christ and Christ alone be magnified.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Would you all stand up with me for the closing praise? Amazing grace. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found. Was blind but now I see. 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear.

And grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come. 'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home. When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun.

We've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun. I once was lost. I once was lost but now am found. Was blind but now I see. Let's pray. Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and eternal love of God the Father challenge us, rebuke us, inspire us that we may worship in spirit and in truth.

Lord help us. Help us Lord God that we may have a clear sight of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That we would be changed. That we would know that this is not our home. That Christ is coming one day. That we may be glorified with him.

Help us Lord God to number our days. Help us to see that even in our suffering that it is temporary. That glory is coming. Salvation is coming. Eternity is coming. That we would invest all that we have for the eternity that you have promised. May Christ's name be magnified.

May this world know through us, through our lips, through our lives that there is only hope in the name of Jesus Christ. Exalt yourself through the church this week. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. God sent his son They called him Jesus He came to love He'll never give He lived and died to by my pardon An empty grave is there to keep my Savior lives Because he lives I can face tomorrow Because he lives All fear is gone Because I know He holds the future And life is worth the living Just because he lives Amen.

Amen. Amen. Pardoned from his sin (upbeat music)