Gary Hamrick - A Serious Wound (01/22/2026)
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God called young Jeremiah to warn Judah that because of their persistent idolatry and unfaithfulness—like a bride committing adultery against her husband—they faced His loving discipline through the coming Babylonian invasion from the north. Yet false prophets and priests downplayed the seriousness of sin, proclaiming "peace" when there was none, just as many today minimize the deadly wound of sin in human hearts. Ultimately, only recognizing our desperate need for forgiveness leads us to the Great Physician, Jesus Christ, who alone heals and grants true peace.
Introduction to Jeremiah's Ministry
Well, last week was our introduction to the Book of Jeremiah. So if you weren’t here, just to kind of catch you up to speed: the prophet Isaiah has been dead now about 60 years when God calls, appoints, and anoints Jeremiah as the new prophet to pick up and carry on where Isaiah left off. And so Jeremiah is prophesying to the southern kingdom of Israel, called Judah. And the capital city of this southern kingdom of Judah is Jerusalem.
The time when God calls Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nation—it is believed that Jeremiah may have been 22 years of age, but even more likely 17 or somewhere in between. So he’s young. He’s inexperienced. He has no clue what he’s doing. And you can see in chapter one his reluctance to really serve in this capacity. Who wouldn’t be reluctant if you’re that young and the task is so overwhelming? But God knows exactly what he’s doing. As I said last week, God is often most glorified when he uses people who are least qualified.
And so Jeremiah accepts God’s calling, and he becomes this mouthpiece of the Lord for the people of Judah—the southern kingdom, the Jewish people, his own countrymen that he lives with as well. And so the year is somewhere around 600 BC or so. And he’s going to live long enough to see the impending disaster that he prophesied. Because God has put it on Jeremiah’s heart to tell the people that, because of the fact that they had forsaken the Lord their God and because they had turned to false gods—gods that could not help them, gods that were not real, gods of wood and stone—and that the people had repeatedly rejected the warnings of the prophets, that God was going to subject them then to his discipline.
God would not destroy them. In fact, he’s very specific through the prophet Jeremiah to say, «I will not destroy you, but I will discipline you.» God always disciplines those whom he loves. And he wanted to purge them of their idolatry. And because they refused to listen to the Lord, the Lord is going to bring the Babylonian Empire to bear upon them as the rod of his discipline. He’s going to use the Babylonians as a corrective tool in their lives.
The Marriage Imagery of Unfaithfulness
Now, you’ll note with me that often through Jeremiah—particularly we’ll see it here in the opening few chapters—there’s a lot of imagery that Jeremiah uses, that God inspires for him to use, concerning the relationship with God and the people, like a marriage. And that God presents as the husband in the story, and that Judah or Israel presents as the bride. And God’s charge against his bride is that you’ve been unfaithful to me. You have committed adultery. You’ve gone after other lovers. They have left the true and living God in pursuit of other false gods—these idols and these gods that are not real.
And so for that reason—you can either turn or just listen—but in chapter 3, verse 9, God says Judah has defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. So there you have that marriage imagery there: the idea that Judah has been unfaithful. She’s committed adultery. It’s spiritual adultery. She’s abandoned her true love, and she’s gone after these other gods. And God also says in chapter 3, verse 20, «Like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, O house of Israel,» declares the Lord. So there you have that imagery: God is the husband, the people are like the bride, and she has been unfaithful to him.
Now, Judah got this whole idea—this false idea—of false gods and worshipping these false gods from their neighbors, from the foreign nations around them. They started adopting the gods around them and forsook the true and living God. And so what God is basically going to do—in fact, he spells it out in chapter 5, verse 19—what God is basically saying to them is, here’s what’s going to happen: if you guys so much love these gods of these foreign nations, then why don’t you just go ahead and serve these foreign nations where they worship these gods that you say you love? And then you’ll see how that goes for you.
So if you love these foreign gods so much of these foreign nations, I’ll go ahead and I’ll send you to these destinations, and I’ll let you see how life goes for you there. And then maybe—maybe—you will realize what you are missing. You know, often we don’t appreciate what we have until we’ve lost it or until it’s missing.
The Impending Judgment from the North
And so here in chapter 4 of Jeremiah, God then pronounces his impending judgment in the form of the Babylonians. Chapter 4—look with me at verses 5 and 6. He says, «Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say: Sound the trumpet throughout the land!» This is like a battle cry. «Cry aloud and say: Gather together! Let us flee to the fortified cities! Raise the signal to go to Zion! Flee for safety without delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, even terrible destruction.»
God is telling the people this in advance. If you would underline or highlight in your Bibles «disaster from the north"—that’s what he says there in verse 6. God is about to bring disaster from the north. Now, the disaster from the north that God is referring to here is the Babylonian army. He’s going to bring the Babylonian army—the Babylonian Empire, located in what would be today modern Iraq in that region. And the Babylonians will come, and they will go through Syria, and they will swoop down on Judah and Jerusalem, coming down from the north.
So just to kind of orient ourselves—here’s a map. If I could have your attention, just to kind of realize what we’re talking about geographically and the people that we’re speaking of. So on the map here, of course, you have the Mediterranean Sea. South of the Mediterranean is Egypt. And then the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea, you have Israel here in this region. And the region we’re talking about specifically here is the region of Judah, capital city Jerusalem. Jerusalem located to the north and west of the Dead Sea. And we’re speaking here exclusively of the southern kingdom. The northern kingdom is gone now.
The northern kingdom of Israel—about 125 years before Jeremiah—has been taken captive by the Assyrians. The Assyrians used to be the dominant world power. They swooped down around 722 BC, and they took Israel to the north for the same reasons. Which, by the way, is why God holds Judah more accountable. Because he says to them, you saw your sister Israel. You saw what happened to her. She rebelled against me, and look what happened to her. And still you’re forsaking me.
You know, we are more accountable with more information. And the people of Judah had more information because they saw what happened in Israel, and yet they still didn’t turn from their wicked ways. And they’re doing the same thing: they’re worshipping false gods. They’re rebelling against the Lord, forsaking him.
So the region we’re talking about here is Judah, capital city of Jerusalem. And God’s going to bring the Babylonians to bear upon them. And so the Babylonian Empire was originally headquartered here in what is, in ancient terms, called Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia just literally means the land between two rivers. So you have the Euphrates River, and then you have the Tigris River. And Babylon, the capital city of Babylonia, is located right on the Euphrates River.
Now, at this time that they are about to besiege Judah—historically around 600 BC and shortly thereafter, the late 500s BC—everything you see on this map, everything will end up becoming part of the Babylonian Empire. So Judah is still kind of a stronghold, and that’s about to change. God is going to whistle for the Babylonians to come. And so they will end up coming to Judah by way of the Euphrates River. They’re just going to hug the Euphrates River. They’re going to make their journey through Syria.
It’s always important—especially in those days—you need to have a fresh water supply. So the troops of Babylon are going to come up the Euphrates River, and then they’re going to start to go south, cutting through Syria, down by Damascus. And they’re going to end up taking this trail, and they’re going to end up now coming to attack Judah.
And it starts around 606 BC: the first wave of exiles will be taken from Judah back to Babylon—among them Daniel and his friends from the book of Daniel. And it’ll be 20 years before ultimately the entire land, and in particular Jerusalem, is subdued. 586 BC: Jerusalem will fall into the hands of the Babylonians. And the Babylonians will besiege the city, destroy it, destroy the temple, take the articles of the temple back to Babylon. And it will be a destruction that is devastating.
And Jeremiah is telling the people in advance: this is what is going to happen. This is what is going to happen. Now, Babylon is inferred here with this phrase, this devastation from the north. Babylon as a word, as a name, will not be mentioned until chapter 20 of Jeremiah. But then from chapter 20 through the end of Jeremiah, there are more references by name to Babylon in the book of Jeremiah than anywhere else in all of the Bible combined—all other references to Babylon in the Bible combined, not as many times as Jeremiah speaks of Babylon: 164 times he mentions it by name.
Why is that important? Because this is the common cry of Jeremiah’s: like Babylon, Babylon, Babylon—they’re coming. Babylon, Babylon, Babylon. And here’s what the people are hearing: you’re just babbling on, babbling on, babbling on. You know, blah blah blah blah blah. It’s like Charlie Brown’s teacher. That’s all that they’re thinking that he sounds like: wah wah wah wah wah wah. And so they’re completely turning a deaf ear—completely. They don’t believe it. They don’t believe the danger. They don’t really believe the seriousness of their own sinful condition. None of it. They don’t believe it at all.
Now, just pause for a minute and think with me: if Jeremiah were to, like, suddenly appear here in the United States, and he was announcing to the United States this impending judgment from God—which would not be too, you know, out of the question—but anyway, and he says there’s devastation coming from the north, there’s an army coming from the north, and you people better get your acts together—what do you think most Americans would think? Why, we’d be like, army from the north? What kind of a threat is Canada? Come at me. Come on. Come on. Doesn’t even have an army.
I mean, we’d be sitting there: yeah, what are their weapons? Hockey sticks? Come on, really. What are they going to do? Come over and beat us with Canadian bacon? Come on. Attack us with maple leaves? I mean, really. So we wouldn’t believe it. That’s exactly what’s happening here. They’re like, oh, come on. No problem. This kind of devastation from the north? It’s no big deal. And so they completely don’t take it seriously. And they write off the whole warning. And so it’s falling on deaf ears. Jeremiah’s words are falling on deaf ears.
False Prophets and the Serious Wound of Sin
Jump over to chapter six now, if you would, with me. Chapter six of Jeremiah. And he says as much: how it’s all falling on deaf ears. Chapter six, verse 10: «To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.»
Jeremiah says they’re not taking me seriously. They’ve just closed off their ears. They’re not listening. Keep there in chapter six. Jump ahead to verse 13. And this is where we’re going to really focus the rest of our study. He says in verse 13: «From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them,» says the Lord.
Jeremiah says to us that the conditions were so bad in that day that even the spiritual leaders—the prophets and the priests among them—are deceiving the people and giving them a false sense of security. These false prophets and these deceiving priests were going around telling people it’s no big deal. You know, our sin is not as bad as people are making it out to be. Peace, peace. Love, harmony. It’s all good. And they’re even putting «coexist» bumper stickers on the back of their chariots. And that’s just their mentality. They’re just like, it’s all good. We’re all good. Everybody, can’t we just get along? And, you know, it’s all fine. And everything is going to be okay.
And they’re giving their people this false sense of security instead of telling them what they really need to hear. Because God’s evaluation of things is very different. And that’s why we read there in the middle of verse 14 where God says that my people have a serious wound, but the prophets and priests are treating it like it’s nothing. You know, sin is a serious wound. The people are dying because of their rebellion against God. Sin is killing them. They’ve got this serious wound. And the prophets and priests are treating it like it’s nothing.
I mean, to use a modern equivalent: it would be like a soldier who loses a leg from an IED, and instead of somebody quickly putting a tourniquet on and rushing them to a combat hospital, somebody just gives them an aspirin and says it’s no big deal. You’re going to be fine. This is the analogy that God is making here in Old Testament terms.
So we need to kind of bring it up to date to realize the seriousness of what’s happening here. There’s a serious condition, and the prophets and priests are looking: it’s not that big a deal. Don’t worry. It’s not that big a deal. It is a big deal. And what concerns me is that I think this problem still plagues some, if not many, churches today. There’s a lot of feel-good gospel out there—pastors who are telling their congregations what the people want to hear instead of what the people need to hear.
And what we all need to hear is that we all have a serious wound called sin, and we all need a trauma center now. And the only physician who can save us is Jesus. That’s the truth. That’s what we all need. And we must take sin seriously. And it begins with our own hearts.
The Heart Issue and Modern Examples
So I was watching yesterday some of this news coverage of this terrible scene there in Pittsburgh with this shooter. And what a horrible, tragic thing: 11 people dead, six injured—four among them police officers. And I’m watching the news coverage, and the news anchor was interviewing some expert to get his perspective. And I don’t even remember, like, the title of the person or the name—it doesn’t really matter. They were some kind of, like, an anti-terrorism expert.
And the anchor was asking the expert, you know, how do you make sense of this? And how do we recover from this kind of thing? Basically that kind of a question. And I remember what the guy said almost verbatim. This is what he said almost verbatim: he said, «There is no bottom for evil people, and there is no ceiling for good people. And it will be the goodness of people who will be the answer to this terrible tragedy.»
Now, I knew what he meant. But honestly, when you don’t put Christ in the equation, all you can end up doing is putting your hope in humanity—which is no hope at all. So I was yelling at my TV. Now, the neighbors couldn’t hear. It wasn’t like a bad yell. It was just like, you gotta be kidding me. Like, the idea—and this is a common notion. It’s common for people today to incorrectly think that the evil of mankind can be solved by the good of mankind.
I mean, let me tell you something from a biblical perspective of life: evil in this world will only be held at bay as long as bad people exercise some form of self-restraint. But the moment they decide no longer to be restrained is the moment that literally all hell breaks loose. And that’s why we’re all wondering from time to time: when the next shoe will drop? You know, what school is safe? What church is safe? What synagogue is safe? What college campus is safe? What movie theater is safe? What outdoor concert is safe? What military base is safe? What workplace is safe? We don’t know anymore.
Because we’re always wondering: when’s the next bad person going to be unrestrained and just do what they jolly well want to do? And then listen: this is not an argument—my statement is no reflection at all against guns. The fact of the matter is that if it’s not guns, it can be pipe bombs like we’ve seen this week too. Or it can be anthrax. Or it can be box cutters. The problem is not what is in someone’s hand. The problem is what is in the heart. And it’s a heart issue.
Mankind is not the solution to mankind’s problem. Jesus is. But here’s the disconnect for most people. And this is where the teaching gets a little bit what you need to hear, not necessarily what you want to hear. Here’s what often becomes the disconnect: however, in a situation like the horrific scene of yesterday and scenes like that, most people in reaction to those things tend to quietly, subconsciously say to ourselves, I’m not as bad as that guy is. I haven’t killed anybody. I’m not as bad as that guy is. I’m not anti-Semitic. I’m not as bad as my coworker is. I don’t cheat on my spouse. I’m not as bad as my neighbor. I don’t get wasted as much as he does. I’m not as bad as my husband because I don’t get as angry. I’m not as bad as my wife because I don’t gossip that much. I’m not as bad as my parents because I don’t treat my kids the way they treated me. And on and on the list goes.
And we end up—whether we recognize it or not—making mental lists of good guys and bad guys. That’s the way we see our world. And we almost never—almost never—put ourselves on the bad guy list. Because the bad guy list are the really bad people: the pimps and prostitutes and rapists and murderers. So we see our world that way.
But let me tell you the way God sees our world as reflected in the Bible: there are bad guys, but there’s only one good guy. And we are all the bad guys. And Jesus is the only good guy who died on a cross for all the bad guys and bad girls in the world to give us a new heart and a new life through faith in him—who died on a cross for all the bad guys in the world. That’s the answer. And that’s the way God sees our world. That’s the way God sees us.
Now, I know some of you are like, did you just lump me in the list with a bunch of bad people that I don’t really think I’m like? I get it. Probably nobody here has murdered anybody. And if you have, don’t tell me—I really don’t want to know. And by the way, killing in the line of duty is different from murder. And the Bible makes the distinguishing difference between the two.
But whether or not you might have done—or I may have not done—any of us may have done or not done the things that we, quote, think are horrible compared to what other people have done, it does not change the fact that all of us stand guilty before a holy God. If you like to think of yourself as a decent, good person, that might be noble, but it’s not true.
The Bible says in Romans 3:10 that there is none righteous—no, not one. Not a single one of us. David would write in Psalm 51, verse 5: «Surely I was sinful from birth; I was sinful from the time my mother conceived me"—in the womb. Because he understood we’re born with a sin nature. We’re a fallen human race. And we have a serious wound that only Jesus the Great Physician can cure. It’s called sin. We have to all come to grips with this.
Mankind is not the solution to mankind’s problem. Jesus is. Because it’s not just what we do—it’s who we are. And who we are, like it or not, is sinful. Because it’s about the heart. It’s always about the heart.
Jesus Teaches on the Heart
You know, the Jews in Jesus' day placed strong emphasis on the external. So they were more about religious rituals and ceremonial cleansing and dietary aspects of the law. Because they all thought it was about the external—that that’s what made a person holy. And this is the very thing that Jesus confronts even in his own day. Because it’s not the external—it’s the internal.
And so in Mark chapter 7—you don’t need to turn there—but in Mark chapter 7, Jesus addresses this with the people of his day. He said this: «Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him unclean?» They used to think there’s certain dietary things you can or cannot eat. Jesus: no, no. Listen: what goes into the man doesn’t make him unclean because it just goes into his stomach and out his body. But he adds in verses 20 and 21: «What comes out of a man is what makes one unclean.» And then he adds the list. He says, «For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly.» He says, «All these evils come from the inside and make a man, quote, unclean.»
In other words, what he was saying is: where do you think evil behavior comes from? It comes from an evil heart. Things begin—they’re germinating—in the heart.
This is part of the reason why Jesus addresses in the Sermon on the Mount—the largest, the longest recorded sermon that Jesus ever delivered in Matthew 5, 6, and 7—the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus addresses: it’s not just what you do—it’s the heart issues. Because we need to understand that we’re corrupt to the core.
And so Jesus, for example, in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5:21, he says, «You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder,' and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.» Now, he’s quoting the sixth commandment out of the Ten Commandments. And no doubt there were people in the crowd hearing him saying, yeah, true—murder bad. Haven’t done it. Check the box. Good to go.
And then Jesus adds, «But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother 'Raca'—which in Aramaic means idiot, basically—is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool'—in the Greek it’s 'moros'; we get our English word 'moron' from it—it’s disparaging someone’s heart and character—if you say 'you fool,' will be in danger of the fire of hell.»
You know how Jesus kind of raises the bar there just a little bit? He’s like, you know what? You may not have killed anybody physically, but if you’re killing people with your words, it’s wrong. And if you’re killing people in your heart, it’s wrong. That’s how much I’m concerned about the condition of the heart.
God says to us—he goes on in the same sermon to address the seventh commandment. In Matthew 5:27, he says, «You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'» I’m sure there were people in the crowd—some who had, and others who said, haven’t done that. Check the box. Good to go.
And then Jesus adds, yeah, but wait: «I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.» So you’re not off the hook if you haven’t actually committed adultery. Because if you’ve committed lust in your heart, it’s as good to God as a sinful thing. And so it’s offensive to him.
And so God always brings it down to the heart. It’s the heart issue. And when mankind doesn’t understand the serious wound—that is to say, that we all are sinful—if we just dismiss it and say, well, compared to other people, I’m a decent, good person—that you will never deal with the thing that separates you from a holy God, which is the sinful condition of the human heart.
The Story of the Sinful Woman and the Pharisee
I’d like you to turn your New Testaments, if you would, to the Gospel of Luke chapter 7. And I’ll close with this story. Luke chapter 7—if you have one of the church Bibles, it’s page 731. Luke chapter 7. I want to just kind of tie this together so we can understand. It’s a very tender scene where Jesus addresses heart issues and sin issues.
And so here in Luke chapter 7, Jesus is dining at the home of a Pharisee by the name of Simon. It starts in verse 36. Luke 7:36 says, «Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume on them.
„When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.'
„Jesus answered him, 'Simon, I have something to tell you.' 'Tell me, teacher,' he said.
„'Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which one of them will love him more?'
„Simon replied, 'I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.'
„'You have judged correctly,' Jesus said.
„Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, 'Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.'
„Then Jesus said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.'
„The other guests began to say among themselves, 'Who is this who even forgives sins?'
„Jesus said to the woman, 'Your faith has saved you; go in peace.'“
Jesus is at the home of this Pharisee by the name of Simon. A Pharisee was a Jew who was a part of a religious sect—the Pharisees: very strict separatists. They didn’t hang out with anybody that they thought was beneath them. They were very legalistic when it came to the letter of the law. They prided themselves in that.
They are reclining at dinner. It’s typical Middle Eastern style where the table would be low to the ground. You would actually lie on the ground, reclining with your feet outstretched away from the table—people around the table like spokes on a wheel. Typically you’d lean on your left elbow, eat with your right hand. Probably the door is open—it’s Middle East, arid climate—they’re trying to catch some kind of a cool breeze.
And this woman learns that Jesus is there having dinner, and she becomes an uninvited guest. Now, the Bible describes her here in this story as a sinful woman. It’s a euphemism—she’s a prostitute. She falls at Jesus' feet. She weeps. She’s a broken woman. She’s coming here because she’s broken about her own sinful condition. She knows that Jesus is the only one that can help her. She weeps over him. She’s drying his feet with her hair. She pours an alabaster jar of perfume to show her respect and her love for him.
Meanwhile, Simon the Pharisee is standing there seeing the scene, and he says to himself—okay, in his mind—if this guy was really a prophet, he would really know what kind of woman is touching him. And, you know, basically he wouldn’t be letting her touch him.
Okay, by the way, please take note from this story: Jesus knows your thoughts. Jesus turns immediately to Simon and says, „Simon, I have something to tell you.“ Simon says, „Say on. I’m all ears.“ And Jesus launches into this little parable: there’s a moneylender. There’s two guys that need money. The moneylender gives one guy five hundred denarii—and the denarius on that day was a day’s wage—so one guy gets about two years' worth of money lent to him. The other guy gets 50 denarii—about ten weeks' worth of pay.
Jesus says the moneylender cancels the debt of both these guys—they can’t repay it. Which one of those borrowers do you think loves the moneylender more? And Simon says, probably the guy that had a bigger debt canceled. Jesus says, you have judged correctly.
Of course, we see—you because we have the bird’s-eye perspective—that what Jesus is trying to teach Simon is: the reason why this woman here is broken and weeping and loving Jesus is because she sees her own sin, and she sees the need for a Savior, and she knows that Jesus is our only hope.
You see, Jesus ends the conversation by saying to her, „Your sins are forgiven.“ He says in verse 50, „Your faith has saved you; go in peace.“
One of the tender things I love about Jesus' ministry is the wonderful ways that he dealt with women in particular. This woman had been a prostitute all her life. She had been rejected by men. Because the fact of the matter is that there’s nothing quite as rejecting as someone who is being used sexually. For the first time in her life—probably at least in her adult life—she’s met a man that doesn’t recoil, that loves her, that forgives her.
She saw the seriousness of her wound. She knew how much she needed a Savior. And she left there with greater peace than she came with. That’s why he said, „Your faith has saved you; go in peace.“ Guaranteed she left there with greater peace than what she came with.
But Simon, on the other hand, just stood there and didn’t get any benefit from it except a good lesson from Jesus. You have two people in this story: the woman who’s the prostitute, the man who’s the religious Pharisee. Only one left with greater peace.
Simon had a knack for seeing the sins of other people but not so much the sin of his own heart. And therefore he didn’t really see the need for a Savior. She, on the other hand, saw her sin and knew her need for a Savior and humbled herself and received forgiveness and peace.
Which one are you in the story? If you’re here today and you don’t know Christ as your Savior, he still forgives, and he still offers his peace that you can’t find anywhere else and with anyone else.
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God but are justified freely by his grace through faith in Jesus Christ who died on a cross for our sins. If you don’t understand the seriousness of your wound, you won’t understand your need for the Great Physician to forgive you and to heal you of your sins. But if you do, you’ll leave here with greater peace than you came with.
Invitation and Prayer
I’m going to give you the opportunity today to choose Christ—to receive him as your Lord and Savior—to know what it is to have your sins forgiven and to leave here with his peace. Would you pray with me?
Lord, as we come before you humbly right now, I pray in Jesus' name that you will lead as many people to you right now. Draw as many people to you—such as should be saved today. I pray that you would work on the heart of every man, every woman, every young person—that they would come to the place of surrender right now, right here today—that they can leave here with a greater measure of peace than what they came with because they will have had a personal encounter with the living Lord Jesus.
I pray, Lord, that you would stir our hearts right now—that you would move, Lord, to bring us to that place where we humble ourselves, where we surrender to you. In Jesus' name, Lord, I pray right now: move among our hearts that you would be glorified here.
I’m just going to ask you right now—with your heads bowed, eyes closed—if you would, to just raise your hand if you would say to me, Pastor Gary, that’s me. I just need Jesus today. I need to know his forgiveness. I need to know his love. I need to know his grace. Just don’t be ashamed. Just slip up your hand. Just say, that’s me today. Yes, God bless you, ma’am. Yes, God bless you. Just say, I want to know his forgiveness. I want to know his grace today. Just slip up your hand. Don’t be embarrassed. Yes, God bless you, sir.
Here’s what I’d like to do. I’m going to have Ben sing this chorus. I just want everybody to stand, if you would, please. Can we all just quietly, just respectfully stand? Don’t try to leave right now—people are going to make decisions for Christ.
And here’s something I’m going to ask you to do: if you raised your hand—or even if you didn’t—and you want to receive Christ as your Savior, make a bold decision for him today. I want to lead you in a word of prayer for as many as want to receive Christ as your Savior.
But I’m going to ask you to get out of your seat, come stand down front here. Say, oh, that’s uncomfortable. No—you’re among friends. We will applaud you, trust me. We will applaud you, and we will love you because you are making a wonderful decision to trust Christ as your Savior.
But don’t leave here today missing his peace. Leave here today knowing that you’re forgiven and that you belong to his family and that you can have his peace that only comes from him.
And so as Ben sings this song, if you want to receive Christ, just get out of your seat, come stand down front here. And then I’m going to lead people in a word of prayer. Whoever responds—this is just between you and the Lord now. You come and you stand down here, and then I’ll pray.
So band, you sing, and you come, folks.
Jesus, is there anybody else who wants to come before I pray with these folks? I’m going to lead you out, and I don’t want you to leave here feeling guilted into coming, okay? And I also don’t want you to leave here feeling like you missed out. So I’m going to just pause just ten seconds. I’m going to wait. Because if you have any inclination whatsoever to come forward, I want to invite you to come before I pray with these folks. So I’m going to wait just ten sec…
Anybody else?
Those of you who are standing down front here, I’m going to ask you to join me in this prayer. And I’m just going to ask you to pray it out loud with me. Just be bold with me and just repeat it after me. Just pray it together and out loud. Just say this:
Say, Jesus, I thank you that you died on a cross for me. I ask you today to forgive me of my sins, to come into my heart, to be my Lord and Savior. I accept you by faith. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for dying for me. And thank you for forgiving me. I surrender my life to you. In Jesus' name.
And all God’s people said amen. And amen.