Well, good morning to each and every one of you. And it is my privilege this morning to bring you the Word of God. As it was announced, my name is Ottavio Palombaro. I come from Italy, quite far away, but I'm studying at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. And it's a very great privilege for me to come before the Lord and minister His Word to you, brothers and sisters. And today, as we just sang, we will focus a little bit on the message of the resurrection from an unlikely episode. And past weeks I was reading the story of this family that their daughter was facing a great sickness. She was seriously ill with diphtheria and the doctors told that the mother should not have kissed his daughter, her little daughter, and then endanger her life by breathing the child's breath. And it happened to take place that once, when the child was struggling to breathe, the mother, forgetting herself entirely, took the little one into her arms to keep her from choking to death. Grasping and struggling for her life, the child said, Mama, kiss me. And without thinking of herself, the mother tenderly kissed her baby. She got diphtheria. And some day thereafter, she went to be forever with the Lord. And the child survived. You see how real love forgets about self. Real love knows no danger. Real love doesn't count the cost, but it's a sacrificial love. We hear in the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament that it says, many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it. And so it is in the character and the story that we will hear today from the New Testament. If you have your Bibles, I ask you to open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 7. In the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 7, there is an unlikely episode that almost passed silently. And it starts from verse 36 all the way to verse 50. We hear of a sinful woman who finds forgiveness in Christ. Verse 36 of chapter 7. Now one of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, When she learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisees' house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisees who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he answered, say teacher, a certain money lender had two debtors, one owed 500 denarii and the other 50. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more? And Simon answered, The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt. And he said to him, You have judged rightly. Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she had anoint my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little loves little. And he said to her, Your sins are forgiven. And those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, Who is this who even forgives sins? And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Let us pray. O gracious, merciful God, Nothing passed unnoticed before your eyes. Even the small little spark of dust of a sinner, of a rebel, of someone who is not worthy of you. And yet, in the secret, you come and you draw him or her to yourself. Please, Lord, open our eyes, open our ears, that today our hearts may receive your Word, that we may contemplate the beauty and the mercy of Jesus Christ toward unworthy sinners such as us. Help us to reflect your heart toward sinners, so that we may picture the Gospel, in everything we do and say. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The theme of our meditation this morning will be, The Love of God for the Forgiven. And there is a contextual problem that comes from this text. The Gospel of Luke, through this story of Jesus set it toward Jerusalem, and he is going around, and there's several problems that he's facing, actually. He has to face Pharisees, people who were debating with him over who is worthy to receive forgiveness. On one sense, we see a flock of people who are unworthy, people who are not the typical churchgoers, who are basically entering into the kingdom. And on the other hand, there's the complaint of the religious leaders and the class of the religious, class of the priests and Pharisees and scribes that are resisting to that forgiveness, and they're withstanding on the purpose of God. over forgiveness. They are scandalized by Christ's offer, unconditional offer to sinners. He is eating and drinking. He's a friend of sinners. And Jesus rebukes them and says, prostitutes and sinners enter the kingdom while Pharisees stay out. And verse 30 of this chapter mentioned these Pharisees. as opposed to sinners in verse 34. And now comes here an illustration of both categories. It's just a providential episode that is recorded for us. And Jesus, using this parable about two creditors, and the condition in the parable seems to be identical. None of us can pay our way to God. We are all debtors. Both we have same need of forgiveness and yet we have different response. Some commentary says that this Simon who is hosting Jesus in this house actually knew this woman. This woman had access to the house. And right after, in chapter 8, mentions... How does chapter 8 move on? It mentions women that are following Jesus now. They are ministering to the need of the disciples and of Jesus. Some were freed of demons like Magdalene. Others were great sinners like this woman. And the question that we ask ourselves is, Is this episode the same episode that we find in the other gospel? And it is an important question because in the other gospels, in John, in Mark, in Matthew, is recorded of this woman, of Bethany, that anoints Jesus. And in that case, it actually becomes this pouring out of the anointing on Jesus' feet and head, becomes a prophecy over his death and resurrection. And that's how resurrection fits within. And I will argue that this episode is actually almost similar to the others. What we find in difference is that Judah was, in the other Gospels, he was the one who was scandalized about this waste of ointment. In this case, it's Pharisees, but Judah was a Pharisee himself, you could say. And we find some difference in the fact that Jesus was anointed in the head and not in the feet. Well, it could have been both. But the point is, again, that this sinful woman has been enacting and has been actually fulfilling a prophecy over what is to come, the death and burial of Jesus Christ. And what we notice in our text is, first of all, the abundance of love in the forgiven. The abundance of love in the forgiven. This woman, is rushing into town. It is enough for this woman to hear that Jesus is in town, that she's even willing to go in a house of purity, such as the Pharisee's house, to which, behold, she, of all people, an impure, unclean sinners, was likely not admitted. She had a bad reputation in town. And yet she goes. She goes and sells her own fortune to buy this precious ointment, which cost a lot of money back then. And she buys this alabaster flask. This is not just some regular olive oil. Now, you know, I'm Italian and I really enjoy olive oil. I find it to be precious. But again, this is a very costly investment for a sinful woman to do. A fragrant, costly ointment. And in order to be poured out, this ointment had to be broken. And once it's broken, you can't use it anymore. And so, it had to be used only for special occasions. Now, did she know why she was doing this? Was the Holy Spirit already at work? As in the other Gospel account, Mary brings about this anointing and Bethany over Jesus. And here she comes, sneaky and silently. She hides inside of the home of a pure Pharisee. She gets even to reach behind the Savior. She crawls. She knows she's unworthy. She bows in front of the Savior at His feet. She's finally face to face with God, and she knows inside that she's a cursed woman, a woman of unclean lips. She knows her past, and yet she insists. She knows that she lived in sin. She wasted a life after sex, after money, after things that were against all the abuse she had to face, the adultery. How can I stand before the Son of God and live?" And so here she is and she burst into tears. Now Peter and the other disciples perhaps started to notice this awkward situation. A woman at the feet of the Son of God starting to weep. While Jesus later will wash the disciples' feet in John 13, this woman did more than washing the feet of Jesus. She even used her own tears of repentance over her sin instead of regular water. She loses her own tresses in front of everyone. She used her own hair instead of a towel around her waist. She kissed the feet of the precious Savior with her own lips instead of her hands in order to have a part with Christ. This is the love of God for the forgiven. That no matter how hard she washed those feet, she knows that the Savior is completely clean. In fact, it is Christ who is really doing the washing in her heart with the Word of God later on. With His death, with His burial, which was about to come. Therefore, Mary, proceed with this prophetic enactment of what is about to come. She recognized that Jesus is the Anointed One. She recognized that a sinful woman, of all people, anoints His head with oil. While a Pharisee fails to recognize the Christ, you know, Christ means anointed. In Greek, Christ. This sinful woman understand that Christ is all clean. He's all worthy. Even the death of the cross, even the breaking of the jar of his own body will not prevail against the perfect Savior because he's sinless and dies for such a wretched sinner, such a forsaken woman as me. In fact, we just read from Mark this morning, the next very chapter starts with this woman going to the sepulcher, right? And what do they bring? They bring oil. They want to anoint the body. And guess what? They reach that place and there's no more need of it. Because it's not a rotten body. Because it's reason Jesus Christ has conquered the grave. And so there's no more anointing needed. He is reason. And so Jesus is approached by this woman. He says to the questioning disciples and the Pharisees, He says, Leave her alone. She has done a beautiful thing to me. Christ will rise for that woman and for all who put their trust in Him. She declares by faith that Christ is altogether lovely. Now some of you may feel upon you the weight of shame of your past, and the guilt of sin, and the accusations of the devil over who you are, who you have been, and what you have done in secret, and he knows, God knows what you've done. Some of you may have come to the end of your rope, Yesterday I was in the street of Grand Rapids and we were evangelizing and this man came to me. I quit going to church and now I am at the end of my rope. I don't know what to do. I'm looking for God. If that's you, you know you sinned against God. You know you turned away from Him. And you rebelled against His law. And perhaps you have shed tears over your sin. over what you have done to people, to yourself. Let nothing stop you from coming at the feet of the Savior, like this sinful woman. Before His grace, you may be overwhelmed with genuine sorrow, spreading your tears that He will dry and wash away all of them. Wash His feet, and He will wash completely with His blood. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, says Psalm 2. Kiss the son, so that his wrath may be appeased, so that peace with God may result in the repentant, weeping sinner that goes to God and knows he has no righteousness of his own, but he says, I cling to you God. I cling to you. That prayer in secret, nobody has noticed, but the Savior noticed it. In verse 41 and 43 to our text, in order to answer the secret comment in the mind of Simon the Pharisee, Christ now used a parable to illustrate the love of God for the forgiven. And the point of this parable The story of the two creditors is love and especially thankfulness when you have received forgiveness. Apparently, such thankfulness is proportionate to the debt amended. Who will love Him more? Forgiven little, loves little. Forgiven much, loves much. Verse 47. But what does it mean that this woman loved much? Love doesn't produce forgiveness, but forgiveness shall lead to love. We love Him because He first loved us, and yet we are lacking in love. Thomas Watson appeared and said, we need not to climb up into heaven to see whether our sins are forgiven. Let us look into our hearts and see if we can forgive others. If we can, then we need not doubt that God has forgiven us. If we have an understanding of all the depth, the infinite gap between me and God, and what God has done at the cross, freeing me from the guilt and condemnation, then thankfulness, then a life of joy in the Lord for what He has done at the cross should result. God looks at the heart. God looks at the hurt and the brokenness. Beyond sin, however, God looks at our broken need and He brings the solution. He says to the Pharisees, do you see this woman? Have you ever even noticed people around you who are broken? And when God comes and works to the most unlikely person, Do you see that she went out of her way to show the fruits of her love? She wet at Christ's feet with her tears. She wiped them with her hair and she kissed Christ's feet. And on this basis, Christ in verse 48 gives his divine pronunciation. He says, This is a divine pronunciation that this woman, she was hunted by the devil. And she was hunted by people's look, hunted by people's understanding. And she waited. She had a burden on her shoulder. Oh, she was waiting the Savior to say those words all of her life. Her innumerable transgressions, her many sins, a whole lifestyle of wickedness, taint with dirty lawlessness. And now what Jesus says is, you are forgiven. Her sins, which are many, countless, they're forgiven. Even in the face of all the hypocrites, Jesus says with confidence that your faith has saved you. Your faith that brought you all the way here to make a spectacle of yourself in front of all people's opinion, has saved you. You trusted in Me. And now peace, peace is restored for you. This house, we learn in John, after the spreading of the anointing, is filled with this fragrance, right? That's what Judah smells. But what's the fragrance? But the reconciliation between God and a sinful woman and a sinful man. The room is full of that fragrance. God has made peace with the worst wretched sinner. The wormwood has been turned into honey. Peace, that peace that she longed for all of her life, and she could not find in satisfaction in anything in this world. No matter what she tried, she found it in Christ. She was hunted by her sins, her reputation. How can this be? That a sinful person like me will find such forgiveness? And she rises from the feet she washed with tears. Now, she goes forward in the footstep of a new creature. And she follows her Savior. God owns us. We are creatures. He doesn't owe anything to you and me. We owe everything to Him. And He forgives our debts because of Christ's payment on our behalf. The Scripture speaks of this doctrine of expiation. To which all these sacrifices done in the temple were pointing in the Old Testament. He takes away as far as the east is from the west. This is how far He removes our transgression. This is what the wrath of God at the cross has done and accomplished for us. It has completely wiped out all the sins. They're gone! They're gone! There's no end to the amount of sins that Christ can forgive. His blood, contrary to all the voices in your mind that may say, His blood is enough to forgive, to cover them all. So whoever you are and whatever you have done, whatever point in your life is now, you are not too far to run from God and His endless love to be spread among the most unworthy, wretched sinner. Oh, the marvel of God's grace. To you His love and forgiveness, His bread. To you and me who deserve hell. All of the sin, how can this be? All of them? Yes. They're all forgiven. Even that sin? Jesus you forgive me even that sin? Yes. To the deepest and vilest sin. How can this be? And so, out of this, there should be a fountain of thankfulness springing out of us that we cannot even describe and cry out to heaven, I am forgiven. When we realize what He has done, when we realize that the gates of hell have been shut for me, and the gates of heaven are open, And this thankfulness is a proof and an evidence of being a true child of God. So that when we look at the flip coin and the other side, our second point, the love of God for the forgiveness, however, shows us also that there is lukewarmness in the self-righteous. Lukewarmness. in the self-righteous. We often hear this proverb, don't judge a book by its cover. And sometimes we think, got it, I'll figure it out. We express rash judgment over others publicly. And we are cold, patronizing, and discourteous toward others. And then the truth comes to surface. We realize that we were wrong. We become convicted. Have you ever been in a situation like that? Daily, you're embarrassed, you're silent, you don't know what to say. Have you ever felt that way? I remember this movie about this gangster that was trying to reached this woman that was in a car, and she was stuck. And the man pushed the door, speaks in broken Spanish, and she's screaming, she doesn't know what to do, and he breaks the window, and, oh man, what's going to happen? Well, he saved her life. Her car was right in the railway, and she was about to die, and he broke the window to save her life. Well, she thought that he was some sort of Gangster or something or there's a picture on Facebook that I saw of this man covered with tattoos and going around the streets and and yet he he gives and feed the homeless and So that's a little bit what's going on in our passage among the Pharisees We invited this great religious teacher. We are important We got the best reputation in town and now what? We see an adulterous prostitute secretly entering our clean house and standing on the ground and weeping and doing all sorts of weird stuff. Are we going to allow this to happen in our house? She's ruining the party. She doesn't fit here. Someone should get her out of here. And what does the Master do? Nothing. He allows such a humiliating thing to happen to him and ruin his reputation. Perhaps you have been around, I've been around even Christians who tend to think that way. Who are very quick to look at the appearance. Who miss the opportunity to share the gospel with souls that are watching what will the Christian do. They impose laws which are not from the Scripture, but are laws that we create so that we can feel better about ourselves. So that we are better than that guy over there. Will that make you fit for heaven? No. And here's the thought pattern that escalates. Simon says, if this man was a prophet, which means Simon has invited Jesus to his house only for curiosity. Let's see what he thinks of this. Let's check him out. If he is who we say he is, but this is too much. If he was who really he said to be, if he really was a just man and able to see the secrets of man, he will know what sort of woman this is. A prostitute, a sinner, unlike me. But he's about to find out. that while outwardly awkward, she was far more hospitable than the owner of the house." And the irony is not only that Jesus' answer basically denies this thought pattern of Simon. It says, I have something to tell you, Simon. A message from God to you. Which shows that, indeed, Jesus is a prophet. Not if he was a prophet. He is a prophet. He knows the secret of the heart. And he's about to unveil that secret. He can read your mind. He can unveil the secrets of your heart. And by using a parable, he unveils the real issue in Simon's heart. He's flipping the roles around. He's turning off the tables. Like Nathan, in the Old Testament, before David, gives that story about the sheep and the stealing. And, you know, David listens and then Nathan says, You are the man! That's what a prophet does. He unveils the secrets of the heart. But most importantly, as we see in the other accounts of this episode in the Gospel, Christ knows this woman, her past history, her present condition, And while this woman, Mary, was despised by others, she was prophesying over Christ's burial. She was doing a prophetic act by pouring out that oil. She herself. He is the Savior. clothed with authority to forgive sin for whoever comes to Him, no matter how sinful, as long as you grieve for your sin, as long as you turn from your life of sin, and in true repentance, because that was the problem, you see. Prostitutes and very bad sinners apparently understood what repentance is. It's more than just cleaning the outside. It's more than just going to church on Sunday. It's a complete turnaround. Not just of what sin I don't do, but of my entire affections. Everything becomes centered on Christ. That's true repentance. Grieve over sin. And this woman, and not Simon, finds forgiveness. And you make sure you don't find yourself in the same shoes of the Pharisee. I remember the quote from John Wesley. He was talking with a woman and she said to him, I never forgive and I will never forget. What was the answer from John Wesley? Well, I hope you never sin. Which means the greatest mistake of the self-righteous is thinking that he deserves something from God, that somehow he's got God's favor. because of, again, outward ritual, outward elements. This is the greatest mistake. Somehow forgiveness only must be extended to those who deserve it. And in fact, even getting upset if Jesus pretends to forgive sins. Who do you think you are? Who do you think you are? God is the only one who can forgive sin. God is the only one. Well, guess what? He's the Son of God. He has authority to forgive sin. And He's willing and able to forgive your sin. And what is interesting in this parable, watch, it says that He canceled the depth of both. Canceled the depth of both. And what do we learn from that? that probably Simon is not just a Pharisee self-righteous, he's probably even a proselyte. He has been cancelled adept. Is it possible? It is indeed possible to be a believer and yet act pharisaically in self-righteousness. It is. We see that all the time. Now, we wonder about this connection that Jesus does. It says, few sin, few love. Is Simon less of a sinner than the woman? Has Simon committed less grievous sin than the woman? Well, if the perspective again remains us, I remember trying to evangelize people and Yeah, I'm better than Hitler, yes. So in one sense, he has done more grievous sin than me. Okay, but who are we sinning against? A perfect, pure, holy God who will not tolerate iniquity before His face. Now tell me, you and Hitler seem to be two dots. Black, as black as you can be. Maybe it's a little bit bigger, but in perspective toward God, we're both in trouble. By nature, we are all debtors to God. All debtors. And unfortunately, the unbeliever, the person in his natural state, in his pride, he will do whatever. He will even go to church, but he will not submit to this concept. Two years ago, I was back in Italy and I was with my family. And I was trying to share the gospel with my brothers, with my parents. And there seems to be a wall, just a wall. No interest, no question. Let's go at the Mass on Sunday morning. No interest at all, no spiritual interest. And then I go one night with some friends, and they were going to a disco, and I said, OK, well. So I went there, and guess what? One kid after the other. They came and flocked and they talked to me and they started to ask me questions. So you're a Protestant, so you want to be a pastor. What is a pastor? What is so different about that compared to a Catholic? Tell me about this, tell me about that. And you know, again, kids going to these parties and they were all like broken, broken. They had far more thirst. than my natural family which could care less because they think they got it. They think they got it. And if we find ourselves in this situation and then repent, we must repent and have the perspective of God over this. Notice, for example, in a river. The banks of a river become broader not because of age. you know, an old river has broader banks, but because of the quantity of water that flows through it. And at the same time, in the Christian life, it's similar. Just because you claim to be an older Christian who has been a Christian for longer, doesn't make you more mature, and especially having this perspective of thankfulness that Jesus calls us to have. Actually, sometimes you may be very lacking. and having forgotten your first love so that Jesus has to rebuke that church in Ephesus. You have forsaken your first love. You live in lukewarmness. It is only by virtue of my love that flows through you, Christian, that you can, therefore, in your Christian life, be filled with the Spirit. And the point is that an uppouring of love should result from the sense of having been forgiven. Do you remember those first months? Do you remember those first minutes that you realized? What happened? What just happened? That the burden of your sin was lifted from you? Perhaps it has been many years ago, and what has happened to your contagious thankfulness for what God has done in your life? I have been forgiven. Let me share that with everyone that I meet. Because you see that the love of God and thankfulness, it's more important than the sacrifices that we do. It's more important than coming and doing my checklist and coming to church or doing this and doing that. It's more important. Obedience. It's more important than sacrifices. In our daily Christian life, all the other formalities are useless if this, inward aspect is lacking. If all that we see is a cup that is very clean on the outside, but inside, you just don't want the Lord to open that closet. We should stop judging others if that's the case. Like the brother of the prodigal son sees this brother, right? And he started complaining. He says, I've been with you all my life. I've done every single thing that you asked me to do. And now this brother who has wasted all his possession, and you let him in like this, you celebrated, you never did anything like that for me. Is that your attitude at that time? Lack of love reveals a pharisaical spirit, even in the Christian, even in the Calvinist. Essentially, with all our good behavior, all of our good upbringing, growing up in a Christian home, No gross, wretched lifestyle. We are accustomed with all the privileges of the religious life, like Simon was. A reservoir of kindness, a receiver of kindness and mercy. But his fountain was very dry. No service, no hospitality. Filtering every word that the Savior will say to him. No affectionate welcome. Only an internal, continuous judging of the mind over the worthiness of people and the worthiness of Jesus himself. This is our constant struggle between appearance and the inner heart. And we will never be able to be like Jesus, be able to see beyond. But we have to aim at looking beyond appearance. The greatness of one loves is proportionate to the greatness of the sin in the one being loved. Thomas Kemp says that, "...whoever so loves much, does much." Which means, having received this love and this salvation, we're resolved then. Not as a condition of salvation, but will result as a fruit in our Christian life. And will be evidence of a transformed heart. A heart that is not a heart of stone. A heart made of flesh. A heart that loves because He has been loved so much. And will never repay all the love of God that we receive. When all your transgressions are not mentioned anymore, They're done away with. Are we sharing that with our spouse, with people that we witness to? Forgive our debts as we forgive others. How many times, Jesus? Seven times? Seventy times? Seven? We're all debtors. Not as the necessary money to pay our immense debt before God. I remember this Spanish person, he said, well, you know, I'm a good man. I'm a good man. I'm going to compensate what I did with the bad and the good. No, you can't. It's like trying to fix 6,000 points with 300. Nobody has 6,000 points to go to heaven. And yet we are offered more and more lavished love of God through Jesus Christ and forgiveness in His name. In Him we have redemption. And if we confess our sin, He is faithful to forgive our sins, to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. So that nothing, nothing is left to pay. Your account has been set. And what will you do? If you have a big debt, sometimes I watch on this advertising and this man receives from the bank a complete payment of all this debt. He went to the university and he paid a lot of mortgage and stuff. And they tell him it's all paid. And the person started to cry. I mean, this is nothing compared to what Jesus Christ has done. Saving us from the gates of hell. and giving us eternal life, and a life with His people in His church, and blessing upon blessing in the heavenly places that are awaiting us. He blotted us all of our sins, as dark as they were, as white as snow they are now, by His bleeding hands. free and forgiven. The debt has been paid and the debtors has been set free. And now I ask, how myopic it would be for sinners who have experienced all of this to hang on certain prejudice, to hang on to certain wrongs that have been done, to hang on and looking just with appearance. After all that I've been forgiven. Do you love Him? Do you know this forgiven? Do you have that thankfulness? If not, I encourage you to come to Him. And to experience the love of God that can change the worst of sinners. When I was an unbeliever, I used to listen to this He was a heavy metal singer who basically was anti-God and so angry at God. And guess what? He got saved. And he gave his testimony in an incredible manner. He was on drugs. He lost his wife for drugs. His daughter was dying because of him. Addiction to drugs. Tattooed all over his face. Rasta and all that stuff. He heard about this. Jesus says, come to me, all of you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He went to the dictionary. He listened and he put down the dictionary. I'm heavy laden. I'm afflicted. And he says, Jesus, come. And guess what? The love of God flowed even on that sinner, even on that man that has been an enemy of God. filled Him with love, and love, and love, and all the things that He was looking for, that couldn't satisfy Him in success, sex, and anything. God gave it through His love. And this is what the power of the gospel does. It takes weary, and wounded, and broken sinners, and it changes them, and it makes them a new creature, so that the old things are passed away. This is the power of God. And so may this become yours. Flee from any sense of self-righteousness. Nothing in my hands I bring. Only to Thy cross I cling. Let's pray. O gracious God, we thank You. We thank You for the power of the Gospel. We thank You because You look inside the heart. We thank You because we have been forgiven so much, Lord. If I look back at all my sins, and all the sins that I could have ever committed, and commit in the future, and knowing that they have been blotted out at the cross, O God, what thankfulness, what thankfulness should be O Revival Hearts, wherever we are in our walk, in our Christian walk, let us ponder the wonder of Your forgiveness. Let us ponder what You have done for us. And I pray for those who yet do not know You, who yet stay afar, who yet stay in the apathy and the lukewarmness of the world and one feet in the sin and one feet in You, O Lord, help them to turn to You. Help them to feel their misery and understand that You alone can fill their heart. You alone can give what nothing in this world can give. And I pray, Lord, that the new creation will come. And we look ahead when we will see you face to face. And we will see your wounds. That you have paid for us all that you have done. And your love, Lord, help us to abide in your love. I'm forgiven. I'm set free. And help us to share that, even with the most unlikely sinner. Even with a person, Lord, that we say, oh, he will never come to Christ. He has been a thorn in the flesh in the past years. Oh God, give us patience. Give us steadfastness as we pray and share the same love. and look with the eyes of Jesus to people around us. And it is in His name that we pray. Amen.