A debt paid in full

Luke chapter 7, and maybe we'll start reading at verse 36. Luke 7 and verse 36. And one of the Pharisees desired him, that's the Lord Jesus, desired him that he would eat with him.

And he went into the Pharisee's house and sat down to eat. And a whole lot woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment and stood at the feet behind him and weeping. And began to wash his feet with tears and then wipe them with the hairs of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.

Now when the Pharisee which had been him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have someone to say unto thee. And he said, Master, say on.

There was a certain creditor which had two debtors. One owed five hundred pence, the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.

I tell you, tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. So we'll read at this time and we know God will bless us the reading of his word.

I want to notice mainly tonight those two verses in verse 41 and 42 about these two creditors. The one that owed five hundred pence, the other that owed fifty. You know, in this audience tonight, there might be many that would say, I'm not too bad.

I grew up in a Christian home and I know what's right and wrong. And I don't do what the kids do at school. I'm not too bad.

And we like to compare ourselves to others. You know, the speaker's no different. And look around at others and think, I'm not too bad.

But I want to think a little bit about the one who owed a lot and the one who owed very little. I want to think about how neither had anything to pay. Neither had anything to pay.

You know, for all honest with ourselves, saved and sinner alike, we have to acknowledge and remember before God that we have nothing to pay. And in our sins, we have nothing to pay. And dear friend, I'd like to drive home tonight that you have nothing to pay before a righteous and a holy God.

In your sin, you can do nothing to please God. God is a holy God. God is a righteous God.

God cannot look upon sin. And God will judge sin. And God must punish sin.

And in your sin, you are guilty before God. And these two creditors, one owed 500 pence and the other owed 50. I was thinking a little bit of the verse that we were reminded of yesterday in Psalm 49 that the redemption of a soul is precious.

The redemption of a soul is precious. What's that mean it's precious? That means it's costly. The redemption of a soul is costly.

You know, dear friend, tonight, if you're in your sins, for your soul to be redeemed, for your sin to be forgiven, it's costly. It's costly. Tonight, we're going to tell you a little bit about how you don't have to pay anything.

But I want you to know that in order for you to be saved, it took a high cost. It took a high cost. It took the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the spotless Son of God, to die on a cruel, wicked cross and to be put upon the cross and nailed His hands and feet upon our cross, but ultimately to suffer on the loan of the wrath of God.

It was a high cost. You want to know the cost of sin? Take a look at Calvary. Take a look at the depths of the sufferings of the Savior and tell us of the cost of sin.

The cost of sin. We like to compare ourselves to others. You know, we were reminded last night in the gospel meeting about Romans chapter 3. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

You know, we like to look upon others, but we've all missed the mark. You have missed the mark, and I have missed the mark. And in ourselves, we cannot meet God's standards.

We've all come short of the glory of God. So you might not think you're a bad sinner tonight, but as I was pondering this portion last night, these two individuals, the one owed five hundred and the other just fifty. Quite a difference in debt there.

But tonight, if you're in your sin and you miss God's salvation, you will be in the same hell as the worst sinner that ever lived. Tonight, if you're in your sin, you're headed to the same hell for your sin as the worst man that ever lived. I was thinking a little bit about Hitler.

What a man, what a solemn thing for a sinner to be in the same hell as him. A child that grew up in a Christian home. But God will punish mankind who is in their sin.

He only has one place to run, and that's hell and the lake of fire for all eternity. It's a solemn thing. So dear friend, you might not think you're too bad, but in your sin you have no hope of ever escaping the judgment of God.

The judgment of God. All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, Isaiah tells us. We can do nothing.

We have no way to make ourselves better in the sight of a holy God. I want to turn now over for a few minutes to John chapter 19. The gospel of John chapter 19.

We read in Luke 7 there, nothing to pay. John 19 and verse 30. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished.

And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. I want to think a little bit now about nothing to do. You know the wonderful news of the gospel is that there's nothing for you to do.

And not only that, there's nothing you can do. And we want to present to you tonight in the clearest way possible, the Lord Jesus Christ. The one who met every requirement of God.

The one who satisfied the heart of God. That which we could never do. We want to tell you tonight it's a finished work.

A finished work. There's a satisfied throne in heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ could satisfy, satisfy the heart of God and the count of mankind.

You know it's God who was offended. And if we ever hope to be saved, it's God who's gonna have to be appeased. It's God who's gonna have to be appeased.

And what offended God? It's your sin. Tonight, if you're in your sins, you're on the way to hell. But oftentimes, and I was no different, we get all taken up with, oh, I'm not saved.

I'm not saved. I need to be saved. I'm not saved.

The problem is not that you're not saved. The problem is your sin. The problem is your sin.

The reason individuals are barred from heaven is because of their sin. God says in Revelation, there shall not enter in anything that defileth. It's your sin.

It's your sin. So it's a righteous and a holy God that we have to deal with. You don't have to turn to it, but I'm going to read a verse in Isaiah chapter 53.

I was thinking of this verse concerning something on the train of thought that we have nothing to pay. Isaiah 53 and 11 tells us that God, he shall see of the travail of his soul, that's the Lord Jesus Christ, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.

I'd like to tell you about the righteous servant. You know, none of us are righteous. None of us are righteous.

We're reminded there in Isaiah, all our righteousness is our stealthy ways. We're not righteous. But I want to tell you about the righteous servant of God.

The righteous servant of God, and what did he do? The righteous servant of God can justify many. He can justify many because he's perfect. And what did he do? He bore the iniquity of the sin.

There at the place called Calvary, when God punished his son on the account of my sin, on the account of your sin, and the Lord Jesus Christ there, as he suffered and hung between heaven and earth, he was lifted up as that serpent in the wilderness. He could say, so must the son of man be lifted up. There he suffered under the hand of God.

Yes, men did the worst they could to him, and they nailed his hands and his feet, and they scourged his back, and they put that crown of thorns on his head, and that soldier came and pierced his side. But dear friend, in the hours of darkness at Calvary, our feeble minds cannot enter into what the Lord Jesus Christ passed through. That is where God seen the travail of his soul, the travail of his soul, the suffering of his soul, where he was made out to cry, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He was suffering under the wrath of God for my sin, and he was suffering under the wrath of God for your sin.

He was made sin for us, Paul says in Corinthians, he who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Only the righteous servant can do that. No man could do that.

We were reminded this afternoon, there's no bullock or ram or lamb, the blood of them could ever do that, but the righteous servant of God could do that. He paid that debt, and he brought us nigh unto God. You know, Isaiah 44 and 22 says, I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgression.

I was appreciating that verse. What's it say? He says, I have blotted out. It's a finished work.

It happened 2,000 years ago, and as Isaiah wrote that, he was looking forward. God was saying, it's as good as done. I have blotted out.

We want to tell you tonight, it's a finished work. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you can do, and there's nothing you have to do.

You know, the night I got saved, I got saved through John 19 and 30. You know, I read that verse many times, and I never understood it, but there laying upon my bed with my Bible open, I understood, stood for the first time, it's finished. It's all done.

There's nothing I could do to merit salvation. There's nothing I had to do to try to figure it out. There's no way I had to make myself better.

It was finished. Finished. A completed work, and tonight we'd like to tell you that the Lord Jesus Christ bid you come.

He says, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden. You have a heavy laden tonight. You have a burden of sin.

The Lord Jesus Christ said, I will give you rest. You come unto him with your burden. Come unto him with it, just as you are in your sin.

He'll forgive you of all your sin, and he'll cleanse you from all unrighteousness. The forgiveness of sin, a finished work. There's nothing to do.

I would just like to think now for a few minutes from a verse in Matthew chapter 22. Matthew chapter 22. Matthew chapter 22.

I'm not going to read the whole portion. To give a little context, they have this portion of the marriage feast, and the king, he calls in all the guests, goes to the highways and byways and bids them to come to the feast of the wedding. And there were those that would come.

They made light of it. They made excuses. So then he tells the servants to go into the highways and the byways and bid them to come.

And then he, now he comes in to the guests, into the, into the wedding and sees it furnished with guests. And we'll begin reading here at verse 11, Matthew 22, verse 11. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there was a man which had not on a wedding garment.

And he saith unto him, friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, bind him hand and foot and take him away and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

And many are called, but few are chosen. What do we have here? We have a man that had nothing to say. A man that had nothing to say.

Why did he have nothing to say? Simply because there was a provision made that he refused. There was a provision made that he refused. You know, tonight we talked about nothing to do.

There's nothing you can do. You have nothing to pay. The wonderful thing is you have nothing to do.

But dear friend, I want to tell you solemnly on authority of God's word that if you refuse God's salvation, you'll have nothing to say before God. No sinner will ever be able to say to God, you didn't provide salvation for me. No sinner will ever be able to say to God, you didn't love me.

No sinner will ever be able to say to God, I didn't have it explained to me. God has made provision for you. God has made provision for the whole world.

The death of his son is sufficient for the most vilest of sinners. And if you refuse God's salvation, if you pass it up, you might not think I've rejected it, but you know, there's no difference between the Christ rejector and the Christ neglector. You might think, oh, I need salvation, but there's not tonight.

I'll get it someday. But, but I got other things on my mind. If you miss God's salvation, you're no better off than the Christ rejector.

You'll be caught with the door being shut. The door is going to close, you know, if we had to charge you, I can tell you the open door and I can tell you on the day coming when there's going to be a closed door. You know, that closed door could be night before the meeting's over.

Does that really sink in? I have to confess to you, it doesn't even truly sink into my heart. But the truth of God's word says that the coming of Christ is imminent. It could happen at any time.

And if you miss God's salvation, you'll miss it for eternity. It's a solemn thing, dear friend. It says here in verse 13, the king says, bind him hand and foot and cast him away into outer darkness.

That seems like a pretty solemn punishment, doesn't it? Why is the punishment so solemn? Because it was a great salvation. Hebrews tells us, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? So great a salvation. You know, dear friend, tonight it's been a great salvation that's been provided.

A great salvation from provided to the whosoever. And if you miss God's salvation, you'll miss it for eternity. And you'll weep and wail for all eternity.

You know, I was thinking a little bit about this king that came in. The king came in to see the guests. You know, the eye of the king came in looking.

You know, God can look upon your heart tonight. And God knows what you think. And God knows what you desire.

And God knows you in the earnestness of your heart to be saved. God knows what you think of his son. What do you think of his son tonight? He is the one that's finished the work.

He is the one that's died in your place. What are your thoughts of him? Have you ever accepted him as Savior? Dear friend, tonight, take him as your Savior. Receive him as your own personal Savior.

Because if you don't, you'll miss it for eternity. It's a solemn thing. It's not something to be trifled with.

May God show you your need. Show you that you're a sinner. Show you that you have nothing to pay.

And might you flee to the Savior. Might you trust him for it's eternal unto the end of all our blessings.