In the sermon 'A Great Sinner,' Floyd Koenig reflects on the transformative power of God's grace through the story in Luke 7. The narrative centers around a sinful woman who, upon encountering Jesus, demonstrates profound love and repentance by anointing His feet. The parable of the two debtors is used to illustrate the depth of forgiveness, underscoring that all are indebted to God and that forgiveness is given freely to those who believe. Koenig emphasizes that God's grace brings a remarkable change in a sinner's heart, leading to love and service to the Lord. Through personal testimony, he highlights the significance of recognizing oneself as a sinner, the necessity of faith in Christ for salvation, and the assurance that accompanies a transformed life. The sermon concludes with a reminder of the urgency of accepting salvation, as peace with God is attained through faith in Jesus Christ.

Amen. Just excited. Getting better in this and heaven is going to be wonderful, isn't it? That's certainly good to be in the house of the Lord. I really enjoyed that Sunday School lesson.

The message this morning was tremendous. What a, this morning Luke and Luke's gospel? Luke's gospel chapter seven, Luke seven, I tell ya, as Brother Green was teaching this morning, preaching, brought my mind back to when the Lord had saved me. I was in the Air Force in California, raised in Texas, Bible Belt, lost, dead in trespasses and sins. And by God's grace, I was in California and sat on the preaching of a Baptist preacher and the Lord called me out of my sin.

I remember going to work on a Friday, foul mouth, telling filthy jokes and the next Monday I was a different person. I can remember that like it was yesterday. The Lord calls sinners out and certainly He called me out through the preaching of the Word of God. Let's look here in Luke chapter 7 beginning of verse 36. And one of the Pharisees desired him, that is our Lord, that he would eat with him.

And he went into the Pharisee's house and sat down to meet. And behold a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus set at meet in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of women, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, began to wash his feet with tears, and it wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the MacMillan. Isn't that precious? Now when the Pharisee, there's your religious crowd, now when the Pharisee which had bitten him saw it, he spake within himself. He wouldn't dare say this out loud.

But you see the Lord is omniscient and He knows all, He hears all, and He knew exactly what this Pharisee was thinking, 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." Now what he's saying is, if this guy's really who he claims he is, he'd have nothing to do with that old harlot woman. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. Isn't that precious? Simon, I got a message for you. And he sayeth, Master, say on.

There was a certain creditor which had two debtors, the one owed 500 pence and the other 50. Now a lot of people get hung up on the pence. I want to get hung up on the fact that they both owed a debt they could not pay. Yeah. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.

Tell me therefore which of them will love him most." Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most and he said unto him, thou has rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and said unto Simon, so he's looking at the woman, he's talking to Simon. Seeest thou this woman? I entered into thine house. Thou gavest me no water for my feet.

That was a cardinal, in those days they wore sandals and feet were dirty. It was a cardinal when you asked a guest in your house, you provided a way to wash his feet, but Simon didn't do this, but she hath washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman since time of I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet." Now again, you know, we shake hands, usually we welcome someone, but back then they kissed on the cheek or it was an expression of invite. Verse 46, by head with all thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with oil. Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins which are many are forgiven." Now I want you to know this.

Her sins wasn't forgiven because of what she did. She did what she did because her sins had already been forgiven. Verse 47, wherefore I say unto thee, her sins which are many are forgiven, for she loveth much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. Now, it's said in our day, there are a lot of religious people who claim to love Jesus, but they love Him little. They love Him not.

There are people who will not give to the Lord, to the Lord, to the church. I believe that if the Lord saved you, certainly you ought to be able to give something back to Him, amen? In order that others might be saved, or that the gospel might go forth. Verse 48, and he said unto her, thy sins are forgiven. Isn't that sweet?

Folks, that's the sweetest words you ever heard. Thy sins are forgiven. Do you realize folks we were all bound for hell? We were all hopelessly lost. Had the Lord not called us out of our sin?

We'd be on our way to hell today. Praise the Lord for his mercy and grace. And they that sit at me with him began to say within themselves, who is this that forgives sins also? Who can forgive sin? Well, I got news for you.

The Messiah, the one who died, was buried, rose again, and has ascended to heaven and is now our intercessor and he said unto the woman thy faith has saved thee go in peace go in peace You know this world never knows peace. Do you know sinners never know real peace? It's the reason they got alcohol, drugs, and all kind of foolishness. Trying to find that peace that's found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. No man can truly acknowledge how precious Christ is until he has seen himself as a condemned sinner, deserving of hell fire.

The Pharisee, instead of rejoicing in the fact of this woman's repentance had only bad thoughts of her former life. Without free forgiveness, none of us can escape the wrath to come. Our precious Savior has purchased this with his blood, so that he may bestow on all who believe in him. He saves those who call on him for salvation. Christ by parable forces Simon to acknowledge that the great sinner that this woman had been, the greater love she ought to show to him, having received His pardon.

Now we learn here that sin is a debt. It is a debt that we cannot pay. And all sinners are indebted to Almighty God. Now though some appear to be greater sinners than others, we all owe a debt we cannot pay. The good news is that the Lord is willing to save all who will believe on Him as their Lord and Savior.

Precious Gospel, precious Savior. What a wonderful change grace makes in a sinner's heart and life when he looks to Christ for forgiveness. I want to share with you this morning a message entitled, A Great Sinner. A Great Sinner. The Mary spoken of in our text is not Mary Magdalene, out of whom Jesus cast seven devils.

It is not Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, she did anoint the feet of our Lord, but this anointing took place in Bethany and was just prior to Christ's crucifixion. We see that in Matthew 26.6. This anointing took place in the house of Simon the leper. Now the anointing spoken of in our text is very similar to that of Mary of Bethany. But this anointing took place about six months earlier and was in the house of Simon the Pharisee which was located in Galilee.

Now here we have the count of an offering of a poor returning wonderer Who under deep sense of gratitude brings the best she has To her Lord and is accepted by grace Her humble actions cause Simon the Pharisees to object to the fact that the Lord allowed such a sinner to approach him. Now, in this text, we want to see grace, grace and love, they go together. Grace and love. If the Lord has bestowed His grace on you, you will love Him and you will love others. Notice first under this heading we see God's grace bestowed on this woman.

God's grace bestowed on this woman. Now grace is glorious in its object This woman was a sinner She was condemned. She was unclean. She was dead and trespasses and sin. She loved her sin and she invited others into sin.

She was a vile, guilty sinner. She sinned and made others to sin. Her offense provoked the Lord's jealousy and stirred up his anger. Yet she was the object of distinguishing grace. She was ordained unto eternal life.

Once again the Lord had chosen the lowest of the low and the vilest of the vile. The Lord showed himself to be a friend of publicans and sinners. Though a guilty, vile sinner, this woman was called out by the grace of God. The Lord said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Proud, respectable Simon, the Pharisee is left in his sin while this poor harlot is elected by distinguishing grace.

This poor wretched sinner was called out by grace and was expressing her gratitude to the Lord by her actions. And again, if the Lord has saved you and you love Him, you will serve Him. They won't have to beg you to come to church. They want to beg you to give. You'll do it because you love Him.

I mean, after all, He could have left us all go to hell and been just as glorious as He is today. Now, If you're saved here this morning, it's because Jehovah loved you from before the foundation of the world and has chosen you out of your sins by His grace. He certainly could have passed over you and left you in your sin. If the Lord had saved you, if He has saved you, you should be eternally grateful. Eternally grateful.

Were sin abounded, grace did much more abound. This woman which was a sinner is now before us as a weeping penitent. She come to realize her sin was an offense against the holy God and she was eternally sorry. The sinner of the city now declares herself to be a follower of the gracious Lord. What a change.

What a change. Notice again, grace is magnified not only in the object but grace is magnified in its fruits this woman who was once a slave to sin now seeks to express her love to the Lord in the best way that she knows how. She seeks to express her love for the Lord in a way that the Pharisees could not do. He could not do, even if he tried. Wasn't in his heart to do it.

By grace, this woman had heard the gospel and her heart was touched. She had heard of the abounding mercy of Christ and how he would accept all that were willing come to him in faith. She was brought to conviction, turned from her sin and repentance, and was gloriously saved. Her faith grew and she was determined to express her devotion to her Lord in the only way she knew how. This woman seized the opportunity to show her love to the Lord when he came to her city.

Don't you know she was excited when she heard our Lord had come to Galilee where she lived? When she knew that Jesus had entered the Pharisee's house. Now folks that took some doing. Here's this harlot woman who had gloriously been saved, but that Pharisee didn't know it. And she's going into this Pharisee's house for one purpose, and that was to show her love to her Lord.

So when she knew Jesus had entered the Pharisee's house, she too entered with a box of precious the box of precious ornament. Being overwhelmed by her emotions, she began to cry and wash his feet with her tears and dry them with her hair and kiss them and then begin to pour the precious on my feet. Notice again grace deserves our praise. You see there's not a one of us deserve God's grace. He looked on us in mercy and grace.

Praise the Lord. This woman's heart was changed by grace. Let me ask you, has the Lord changed your heart by grace? Or are you just religious? We meet so many people today.

Oh, they claim to love Jesus. They'll shake their hands and that. But somehow, they just don't have the love for the Lord that this woman expressed. Grace does not choose a person and leave him in his sin. Grace does not choose a person and leave him the same.

The grace of God had worked a wondrous transformation in this woman's soul. Did you know, in that effect you'll call. God not only calls us out of our sin But He quickens us He gives us light where before we were darkness We can all of a sudden understand and receive the blessed truths of the Lord. You know the Bible says in order to believe you you have to repent but let me tell you you're not going to repent until You see yourself as a sinner on your way to hell, and you see Christ as your only Savior. And that comes only through the quickening power of the Holy Spirit, through the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So this woman's whole countenance was changed. This shamelessly immoral person was brought to repentance and became a new creature in Christ. I want you to look with me. I want you to remember this verse, 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Now, you're here this morning and you're saved.

This should have happened to you. 2 Corinthians 5, 17. Look at it. 2nd Corinthians 5, 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, that is be saved, be born again.

Therefore, if any man be in Christ, He is a new creature. Folks listen, when the Lord saved you, He made you a new person from the inside out. He changed your heart. He changed your desires. He changed your way of life.

Therefore, if Amen be in Christ, He is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. Now listen, if that hasn't happened to you, You're claiming something you're not. Because I'll tell you, when the Lord saves a sinner, He never leaves him the same. You become a new creature in Christ.

And I'm telling you, things change. You'll love what you used to hate and you'll hate what you used to love. That's how you know you're saved. That's the assurance of salvation. People always ask, well, how do I know if I'm saved?

Well, as the Lord changed your heart, that's how you know. If He hadn't changed your heart, you're just kidding yourself. You're on your way to hell thinking you're going to heaven. Now in sorrow and shame, she wept bitterly. I'll tell you, as she washed our Savior's feet with her tears She's she's realizing what the Lord had done for her Have you ever come to the realization of what the Lord has done for you?

Has it ever really touched your heart? I mean, man, there's a time you were a hard-hearted sinner. Man, I was a foul-mouthed dude. I was a member of a church, a liberal church, never heard the gospel. You know, I tell Baptists, they can hardly believe this, But I was raised, I was 19 years old before I ever heard the gospel.

And I was raised in a liberal church. And I mean we had Santa Claus and we had Christmas trees and we even studied the catechism. But I never once heard the gospel, never, until I got into a Baptist church and the Lord called me out of my sin. This woman expressed her gratitude to the Lord in a very practical way. Now it's rank apoc, apoc, apocrycy to profess to love God and then go to be merely in your, to be miserly in your giving to him through the church.

A lot of people claim to love the Lord, but boy when it comes to giving they're stingy. And I'll tell you that's not an attitude of a Christian. In fact I tell people if you don't give to the Lord, you're robbing yourself. You're robbing the church, and certainly you're stealing from the Lord. You find that in Matthew, in Malachi.

It's a dangerous thing to steal from God. Would a man rob God? Yeah. There are those who do. This woman was willing to give all she had in order to bring glory to her Lord.

Notice again grace is displayed in Christ's defense of this humble woman. Proud Simon was greatly offended that Jesus would allow this sinful woman to touch him. Look back again if you will in Luke's Gospel chapter 7. Notice verse 39. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden 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 touches him for she is a rotten sinner Aren't you glad the Lord came to seek and to say that which is lost see that's where he found us Now there are many proud people in our day who are offended by the free grace of our Lord.

Some cannot accept the doctrine of election. Some get all upset over the doctrine of predestination, even though it is clearly taught in the Scripture. Now listen, if you don't believe what the Scripture teaches, You admit you're a heathen. The scripture teaches election. The scripture teaches predestination.

Amen. If you don't like that, talk to the Lord about it. Yeah. That's God's doctrine. I'm glad he loved me for the foundation of the world.

I'm glad he called me out of my sin. I'm glad he didn't leave it up to me. I'd be on my way to hell today. Some get all upset over the doctrine of predestination. I had a woman call one day when I was a pastor in Worcester.

And she says, I don't like the church because you preach predestination. I said, well, it's in the Bible. Read your Bible. It's nothing but pride that moves a person to reject these precious truths that are found in the Word of God. Now I have to admit, When I first got saved, I didn't even know what predestination was.

But when the Lord, through time, introduced that truth to me in election, I didn't have any trouble with it because it's God's word. It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Notice again this morning grace is seen in the bestowing of added blessings. It was her love for the Lord that moved this woman to pour out her affections on him. How much do you love the Lord?

You know a lot of people claim love the Lord and they came get up go to church That's sad The Lord Then gave her full assurance Of her salvation I'll tell you that's a blessing of serving the Lord. When you serve the Lord, the Lord's going to bless you. He's going to give you assurance. A lot of people want assurance, but they don't want to serve the Lord. And he says unto her, thy sins are forgiven.

Isn't that sweet? Thy sins are forgiven. He then told her to go in peace. Verse 50. Now if you'll look to the Lord in faith, He will bestow His blessings on you.

He will lift you up out of miry clay and set your feet on a solid rock. He will put a new song in your mouth and establish your goings." So we noted first this morning the grace of our Lord. But notice secondly we see the love that this woman had for her Lord. Now she loved the Lord because the Lord had bestowed His grace upon her first. But look at verses 37, 38 of Luke 7.

And behold a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat in meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment." What a precious sight. Now the source of the love, the source of love is the grace of God. Source of love is the grace of God. No one in his natural state loves God. Look with me, just flip with me quickly back in Romans chapter 7.

And here we find our natural state. Romans chapter 7. Or I'm sorry, Romans chapter 8 verse 7. Romans 8 verse 7. It says, because the carnal mind, that's the unsaved mind.

That's the mind we had before the Lord quickened us. Because The carnal mind is enmity against God. Now folks, that word enmity means that a continual state of war. Yeah. Because the carnal mind is against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

And what's that verse teach? That law center has no ability to serve God, none. He's in love with himself, he's in love with the world. Look at verse eight, so then they that are in the flesh, that's the unsaved. Now we're all in the flesh, but we've been quickened by the Spirit.

But those who are left in their sin, So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. So I want you to notice the lost sinner has no desire to serve God and no ability to serve God in himself. So you see we need a Savior. That's our only hope. Now if you truly love God this morning, you will desire to serve Him.

And your faithful service will give that evidence to yourself as you. You see folks, that's where assurance comes from. It comes from knowing the Lord and having that desire from the depths of your heart to serve Him because you love Him. Now, as this woman begin to cry tears and gnaw on her Lord's feet with her tears, Let me tell you, we may not cry tears like that, but we will express our love for the Lord in some way. You can't love the Lord.

You can't have him bestow his grace upon you without you having to love him in return. We serve the Lord because we love Him. We don't serve Him because we have to. I don't serve the Lord to go to heaven. I serve the Lord because I love Him.

And so should you. Now this woman had received this love. This woman had received this love by the hand of faith by the hand of faith you know what faith is it's like reaching out and receiving the Lord as you're saying she was saved by faith the Lord said, thy faith has saved thee. Look at verse, look back in Luke chapter 7, look at verse 50. And he said to the woman, thy faith has saved thee, go in peace.

Thy faith has saved thee. This woman had trusted Christ for salvation. Now it was only after she had been forgiven of her sins that she desired to express her gratitude to the Lord for what he had done. She didn't do it in order to be saved. She did it because the Lord had already bestowed His grace and mercy upon her.

He had quickened her heart and she said of love and sin she loved her Savior. Well I conclude with several questions for you. First, have you seen yourself as the great sinner this month? I believe there's a sense, folks, in which there's a time before we're saved, we see ourselves as the greatest sinner ever lived before God. Secondly, have you trusted Christ to forgive you of your sins?

You know, there's some people who know they're sinners, but they just won't look to Christ. Folks, salvation's in Christ. You must repent of your sin and believe on Him in order to be saved. And then thirdly, have you been quickened by the Holy Spirit? Has the Holy Spirit quickened you and made you spiritually alive?

Has there been a change in your life? Do you love what you used to hate and hate what you used to love? And fourthly, how much do you love the Lord this moment? How much do you love the Lord this moment? How much do you love the Lord this moment?

Now, I can tell you the Lord knows your heart. He knows your heart. But think of who the Lord is. He's the sovereign of the universe. He has an eternal plan that He is working.

And there's coming judgment day. May be sooner than we think. But you don't want to be caught in your sin on Judgment Day. That's the reason the Savior came. He came to save sinners like you and me.

If you haven't trusted the Lord, if you haven't gotten on your face before the Lord and cried out for mercy, you need to do that before it's everlasting too late. Now it's only through faith in Christ that a person can have peace with God. I wanna close with this, this morning, Romans chapter five, Romans five. And I want you to look at verse one, Romans 5 verse 1. The Lord's coming when He comes.

It's going to be too late to get saved. Today is the day of salvation. But look here, Romans 5 verse 1. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, notice, through our Lord Jesus Christ. This woman come to realize that she deserved hell, and the Lord saved her.

And she was eternally grateful. And she expressed that as we find in her text this morning. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your love.