Sermon Central
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Four Words To Change Your Life
Contributed by Jerry Shirley on Mar 4, 2005 (message contributor)
Summary: "Thy Sins Are Forgiven"...excellent sermon material by Jon Daniels lends itself to a very visual sermon, whether using the free Powerpoint at our website or not.
4 Words 2 Change U Life
Powerpoint for this and hundreds more free sermons at our website:
http://www.gbcdecatur.org/sermons/4Words.html
4 Words 2 Change U Life
Can four words really change your life? Sure they can!
Examples:
I’m sorry, it’s cancer. Yes, you are pregnant. You owe one thousand. Whose bed is this? Please take a number. The baby needs changed. You are being audited! [financial equivalent of a colonoscopy]
Jesus changes lives, and did so in our text with just four words. [read 36-43]
True story--there was a woman who was on an overseas flight. Called flight attendant over to her and told her she was having a heart attack. Flight attendant asked, “Is there a doctor on board?” At that point, 67 people stood up. Obviously, they were doctors. "Which of you is a heart doctor?" They all remained standing. They were headed to a convention for cardiac surgeons.
Imagine her joy when she saw the doctors. They were ready, willing, and able to effectively diagnose her problem and prescribe the correct treatment. They had the knowledge, the expertise, and the desire to take care of her and meet her needs.
Friends, I want to tell you that our wonderful Lord stands ready, willing, and able to help you today. He is the Great Physician and you being here is not by accident, it is by Divine Appointment!
- He has already diagnosed your problems.
- He has already prescribed the correct treatment through His Word.
- He has the knowledge He needs about you because He knows everything about you, even the things you haven’t told Him or anyone else.
- He has the expertise and the ability to take care of you.
- The greatest thing of all is that He has a deep desire to take care of you and see you made whole again.
Where are you in this story? Who are you in this story?
Are you the woman? – In those days women were not invited to nor accepted at banquets. They were 2nd class citizens. Jewish rabbis did not speak to women in public. They did not eat with them in public. A woman of this type would not have been invited to the house of Simon the Pharisee. Though her sins are not named, we get the impression that she was a woman of the streets w/ a bad reputation. She was from the “red torch” district!
- She sensed a desperate need in her life.
- She knew she was a sinner.
- She was deeply convicted about her sin.
- She approached Jesus in spite of all the strikes against her.
- She gave her most highly valued possession – perfume…that which she used to wear to attract men to herself she now used to anoint Christ.
- Her hair, a woman’s glory, she humbly used it to dry His feet.
- She surrendered herself in total humility.
Are you the woman?
Or are you the host? –Simon, the wealthy Pharisee, was the host of this banquet. The homes of the wealthy always had an open courtyard, usually in the center of the house. Sometimes the host would allow the public to stand around the outside of the courtyard and listen to the discussions, especially when the guest was a great teacher or some celebrity.
- He, too, was a sinner in great need. But he did not realize it because his chief problem was blindness – spiritual blindness.
End of v. 39 - It was easy for him to say, “She is a sinner!” but impossible for him to say, “I am a sinner!” Both phrases have 4 words, but only one is life changing.
- He was considerate, but self-righteous.
- He considered himself better than the woman.
- He sensed no need for forgiveness in his own life.
- He was a good moral person – good in religion; good in outward behavior. And sadly, the Bible says that many good people are lost and on their way to hell, because they don’t realize you can’t get to heaven by being good, only by being saved.
Which person are you? All of us are in one category or another – either we sense our great need for salvation or we don’t. Look at Jesus’ words in v. 41-43. The parable that Jesus told does not deal w/ the amount of sin in a person’s life, but the awareness of that sin in his heart.
How much sin must a person commit to be a sinner? Simon and the woman were both sinners. Simon was guilty of hidden sins of the spirit, especially pride, while the woman was guilty of sins of the flesh. Her sins were known, while Simon’s sins were hidden from everyone...except God. THE POINT IS THAT BOTH OF THEM WERE SPIRITUALLY BANKRUPT & COULD NOT PAY THEIR DEBT TO GOD!
