Well, get ready for a breath of new life. Today Dr. Byrd speaks 00:00:03.33\00:00:08.04 on the topic “I'm Forgiven.” And now, here he is, 00:00:08.07\00:00:11.21 speaker-director of Breath of Life Ministries, Dr. Carlton 00:00:11.24\00:00:18.48 Byrd. Pastor Byrd: The Word of God says, “And one of the Pharisees desired him that he 00:00:18.51\00:00:23.95 would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house and set down to meat. And behold a 00:00:23.99\00:00:29.86 woman,” a what, everybody? “a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that 00:00:29.89\00:00:37.27 Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And 00:00:37.30\00:00:44.27 stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe 00:00:44.31\00:00:49.48 them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. 00:00:49.51\00:00:55.08 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This 00:00:55.12\00:01:02.16 man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth 00:01:02.19\00:01:09.60 him: for she is a” what, everybody? “she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto 00:01:09.63\00:01:18.74 him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.” Jesus said, 00:01:18.77\00:01:24.85 “There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the 00:01:24.88\00:01:31.15 other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me 00:01:31.19\00:01:35.69 therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon ananswered and said, I suppose that he, to 00:01:35.72\00:01:47.94 whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the 00:01:47.97\00:01:58.48 woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me 00:01:58.51\00:02:09.49 no water for my feet: but she washed my feet with tears, wiped them with the hairs of her head. 00:02:09.52\00:02:17.93 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. 00:02:17.97\00:02:25.54 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. 00:02:25.57\00:02:34.98 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: 00:02:35.02\00:02:42.39 but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.” And he looked unto her and said unto 00:02:42.42\00:02:50.77 her, woman, thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say 00:02:50.80\00:02:59.37 within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith 00:02:59.41\00:03:06.78 hath saved thee; go in peace. Today I just want to challenge you with two words: I'm 00:03:06.82\00:03:17.53 forgiven. I'm forgiven. Lord, bless us now for the next couple of moments we pray in Jesus' 00:03:17.56\00:03:26.33 name. Amen. In the text, Jesus is in the home of the Pharisee. Now, the Pharisee had religion. 00:03:26.37\00:03:35.74 He understood the tenets of religion. He understood the rules of religion. He 00:03:35.78\00:03:43.22 understood the system of religion. He understood even the scheme of religion. He 00:03:43.25\00:03:50.89 distinguished himself by strict observance of religion. A Pharisee was so self-righteous 00:03:50.93\00:03:57.40 that he saw himself as superior in religion. But before we're too critical of a Pharisee, 00:03:57.43\00:04:02.50 let's admit it, all of us have a tendency to be self-righteous. There's nothing as dangerous as 00:04:02.54\00:04:08.51 turning yourself over to a room full of church folk. We have rules for which we have no 00:04:08.54\00:04:15.12 scriptures. We have all kinds of ideas and concepts of what is appropriate or inappropriate. We 00:04:15.15\00:04:23.06 kill people over things that we later find out are not necessary, and even where we 00:04:23.09\00:04:29.33 have scriptures, we don't study them in their proper context. Many times we just throw these 00:04:29.36\00:04:37.67 texts out after the fashion of our fathers without questioning the possibility that our fathers 00:04:37.71\00:04:44.68 could have been wrong. And so we kill our sons, our future, trying to be loyal to our 00:04:44.71\00:04:51.95 fathers, our past. And our future is compromised by our commitment to our history 00:04:51.99\00:04:58.99 because we love our history more than we seek our destiny. Be careful that you don't 00:04:59.03\00:05:06.63 denigrate, castigate, demean and criticize Pharisees, because there's a whole lot of Pharisee 00:05:06.67\00:05:16.11 in a whole lot of us. You see, Pharisees know the rules of the church. They know all the 00:05:16.14\00:05:24.49 regulations of the church, all the policies of the church, all the procedures of the church, 00:05:24.52\00:05:32.93 all the processes of the church, all the statements of the church, all the sayings of the 00:05:32.96\00:05:40.07 church. And there's nothing wrong with this. Only when you forget the Savior of the church. 00:05:40.10\00:05:48.74 The Bible says Jesus is invited to dinner by a Pharisee in a Pharisee's home. Simon is his 00:05:48.78\00:05:55.85 name. He wants to know more about Jesus. But soon it becomes obvious that you can't 00:05:55.88\00:06:07.76 count Simon as a believer but rather as a skeptic trying to be open-minded. Jesus accepts the 00:06:07.83\00:06:15.20 dinner invitation. It's appropriate for Jesus, a man of God, to be seen with the 00:06:15.24\00:06:22.34 Pharisee at a Pharisee's house. But then the Bible says the woman in the city--the Bible 00:06:22.38\00:06:29.75 says a prostitute, a sinner, hears that Jesus is in a Pharisee's house. She makes it a 00:06:29.78\00:06:37.83 point to go to the house to meet Jesus. What's this woman doing at this house? She's not 00:06:37.86\00:06:47.20 invited. She's not holy. She's not pure. She's not righteous. She's been around the block. 00:06:47.24\00:06:56.85 People know her not by name but by what she did. She's not important. She's not 00:06:56.88\00:07:06.82 significant. She's not notable. She's not influential. She's the continual object of cutting 00:07:06.86\00:07:17.80 criticism and insults by the wives of her customers. She's the example that many mothers in 00:07:17.83\00:07:27.18 town use to warn their daughters of what not to be. She's the brunt of nasty jokes. She's 00:07:27.21\00:07:33.52 shunned by the best people and abused and used by the worst people. She's a mess. How dare 00:07:33.55\00:07:40.42 she show up in a Pharisee's house, and Jesus is in there? How dare she show up at a dinner 00:07:40.46\00:07:44.36 with religious people? Or better yet, how dare a person like that step foot in the 00:07:44.39\00:07:52.70 Oakwood church? How dare she mess with our nice, clean, holy institutional church with all 00:07:52.73\00:08:00.51 her mess, her drama, her history, her ankle bracelets, chains around her neck, 00:08:00.54\00:08:07.35 earrings, rings, tattoos, her urban seductive disposition? Who is she to walk up in here, 00:08:07.38\00:08:15.86 looking like that? And that's just like some church folk. They want to keep the people out who 00:08:15.89\00:08:24.50 need the church the most. Sometimes it's hard to get to God because of God's people. 00:08:24.53\00:08:32.67 [Aud. reaction] But she comes into this environment against all odds, against all 00:08:32.71\00:08:41.82 possibilities, against all probabilities. She comes up behind Jesus. She knows that 00:08:41.85\00:08:52.19 according to the customs and traditions of the day she shouldn't be in the room. A 00:08:52.23\00:09:00.07 prostitute in the company of a preacher? It's not Simon, he's not the problem, he's a 00:09:00.10\00:09:06.98 Pharisee. It's not Jesus, he's a preacher. It's the woman. She's a prostitute, she has no 00:09:07.01\00:09:14.78 business here. For her, then, to come into Simon's house is hard. For her to even show up is 00:09:14.82\00:09:20.16 tough. She's viewed as a sinner. One who conveys uncleanliness by her very touch, almost as if 00:09:20.19\00:09:27.50 she has AIDS, HIV, syphilous, gonorrhea, leprosy or some other STD. She knows that Simon is 00:09:27.56\00:09:35.14 not happy to see her in his house. She knows everybody is looking at her with disdain. 00:09:35.17\00:09:41.64 Which makes me ask, have you ever walked up on a group of people and you knew they were 00:09:41.68\00:09:49.65 talking about you? Have you ever walked into a room and you could feel the malice, the 00:09:49.68\00:09:57.06 meanness and the hatred toward you? Anybody know what I'm talking about? It's enough to 00:09:57.09\00:10:06.63 make you back up, turn around, shut the door, ‘cause you don't need all of this. You see, 00:10:06.67\00:10:17.68 I've learned in life it's easy to praise God in a room when folk are smiling, when folk are 00:10:17.71\00:10:28.86 happy, and folk are not excluding you. It's easy to clap your hands in church when 00:10:28.89\00:10:39.33 everybody else is clapping, but it's hard to praise God when you're hated, in a room when 00:10:39.37\00:10:46.68 you're talked about, when you're shunned. But something was in this woman. Pushed this woman 00:10:46.71\00:10:51.28 beyond all that hatred. Pushed her beyond all the shame. And she said, “Talk about me all 00:10:51.31\00:10:58.75 you want. But I got to see my Jesus. Criticize me all you want, but I got to see Jesus. 00:10:58.79\00:11:08.03 Look at me funny all you want, but I got to see my Jesus.” Jesus, sweet rose of Sharon. 00:11:08.06\00:11:15.00 Jesus, lily of the valley. Jesus, he's a way-maker, a company-keeper, a bill-payer. 00:11:15.04\00:11:23.45 Jesus, I've got to see Jesus. She has heard of his teaching. She has heard of his gracious 00:11:23.48\00:11:31.92 words of love and forgiveness and repentance, restoration and healing. She heard him speak of 00:11:31.95\00:11:44.07 his Father's kingdom in words so plain and compelling that she can see herself as a child of 00:11:44.10\00:11:52.51 God again, full citizen of the Kingdom of Love. Yes, she's broken. But she can see light 00:11:52.54\00:12:02.58 at the end of the tunnel. Her condition is not her conclusion. She falls down at his feet. She 00:12:02.62\00:12:11.06 does not seek his hand. She does not try to look at him in the eye. She's not trying to 00:12:11.09\00:12:17.73 get his favor, but tears, the Bible says, just begin to fall down her face. Each tear makes 00:12:17.77\00:12:24.71 a brown wet mark in the dust of his feet until his feet are wet with her tears. And then she 00:12:24.74\00:12:30.71 lets, the Bible says, her hair down. She lets her hair go free. She kneels down and 00:12:30.75\00:12:36.18 begins to wipe Jesus' feet with her hair. Her hair wipes his feet after her tears have washed 00:12:36.22\00:12:52.37 his feet. The Bible says then she begins to kiss his feet. She then begins to pour scented oil 00:12:52.40\00:13:03.88 onto his feet out of an alabaster box. And once the box is opened, everybody knows it. 00:13:03.91\00:13:14.06 It's detected by everybody in the room. Where Jesus had formerly been the center of 00:13:14.09\00:13:21.16 focus in the room, all eyes now turned to the woman at Jesus' feet. She's weeping, she's 00:13:21.20\00:13:26.40 wiping, she is caressing his feet with her long black hair, kissing his feet with her lips 00:13:26.43\00:13:32.97 and pouring perfume upon him. The very intimacy of her actions appear to many of the guests as 00:13:33.01\00:13:43.65 shocking. Add that to her reputation in the community, and this is downright scandalous. 00:13:43.69\00:13:50.99 But this woman, this woman, is sorry for the life she has lived. She's sorry for what 00:13:51.03\00:14:03.81 she's done. This woman is asking for forgiveness. She's asking for pardon. She's asking for a 00:14:03.84\00:14:12.78 new start. She wants to surrender. And all she knows how to do is to let her hair 00:14:12.81\00:14:21.06 down, because she let her hair down for so many other men that were less worthy than this one, 00:14:21.09\00:14:30.93 that when she sees Jesus she said, “If there were ever a man that I would let my hair 00:14:30.97\00:14:47.55 down for,” I wish I had a witness in this place. You see, if you're going to do it for 00:14:47.58\00:14:57.46 anybody, you ought to do it for Jesus. Do I have a witness in this place? You've gone after 00:14:57.49\00:15:08.40 your flesh, you've gone out for people who love you and leave you, forget you and forsake you. 00:15:08.44\00:15:19.41 But if there's anybody worth letting your hair down for, you ought to let it down for Jesus 00:15:19.45\00:15:28.99 Christ. Last thing, remember, Simon is a Pharisee. Simon is religious. Simon is standing 00:15:29.02\00:15:42.00 over in the corner in his house, watching all of this with a frown on his face, watching all 00:15:42.04\00:15:52.38 this, mean mugging Jesus and the woman, turning up his nose, expressing his religious 00:15:52.41\00:16:02.82 intolerance to her relational behavior. He even questions Jesus' discernment. The Bible 00:16:02.86\00:16:13.23 says, if he were such a prophet, he should have known she was a prostitute. If he were a 00:16:13.27\00:16:22.74 prophet, he should have known she was a prostitute. That if Jesus knew who she was, he would 00:16:22.78\00:16:32.19 have stopped her. The law said she was supposed to be stoned. But what Simon didn't understand 00:16:32.22\00:16:38.09 was that Jesus is omniscient, which means Jesus is all-knowing. Jesus knew the 00:16:38.13\00:16:44.00 woman was coming before she even knocked on the door. Jesus was waiting all along. And today 00:16:44.03\00:16:52.57 he's waiting for a sinner to knock on the door and let their hair down. We stood up in church 00:16:52.61\00:17:00.22 and we act all holy. But everybody up in here is an ex-something. Everybody has a 00:17:00.25\00:17:09.42 past. And everybody has done something in the dark. I wish I had a witness in this place. All 00:17:09.46\00:17:20.47 have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So don't point a finger at somebody else, 00:17:20.50\00:17:27.61 but take a look at yourself in the mirror. The text says, “Seest thou this woman?” 00:17:27.64\00:17:37.65 You better tell somebody, you're looking at me but you don't even know me. But this man, Jesus 00:17:37.69\00:17:46.33 the Christ, hallelujah, he sees me and he knows me. He loved me when I was unlovable. He didn't 00:17:46.36\00:17:58.94 wait ‘til I got right to love me. He loved me when I wouldn't act right. He loved me when I 00:17:58.97\00:18:08.58 didn't talk right. He loved me when I wasn't living right. He loved me when I was shacking up, 00:18:08.62\00:18:12.99 when I was shooting up. He stopped the car from crashing. He stopped you from dying. 00:18:13.02\00:18:18.99 Somebody should be dead right now. Somebody should be strung out right now. Somebody should 00:18:19.03\00:18:32.31 be in jail right now. But if it had not been for the Lord on my side, where would I be? And if 00:18:32.34\00:18:40.18 none of y'all, excuse my southern slang, will praise him, I will bless the Lord at all 00:18:40.22\00:18:45.35 times, and his praise shall continually be in my mouth. I know it was the blood. I know 00:18:45.39\00:18:59.67 it was the blood for me, one day when I was lost he died upon the cross, I know it was the blood 00:18:59.70\00:19:12.58 for me. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy, create in me a 00:19:12.61\00:19:27.76 clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit in me. One more thing. Notice Jesus, even 00:19:27.76\00:19:35.90 though Simon is looking at the woman crazy, Jesus doesn't linger on Simon's shortcomings. 00:19:35.94\00:19:44.85 Jesus doesn't sweat the small stuff. I'm getting to the point in my life, I can't do drama. 00:19:44.88\00:19:56.56 Are you hearing what I'm saying? You got to rise above that. Okay, God bless you, thank you 00:19:56.59\00:20:09.20 for sharing. [Aud. reaction] Jesus doesn't linger on Simon's shortcomings. His hang-ups, his 00:20:09.24\00:20:16.54 self-righteous or holier-than-thou spirit. Because people who perceive themselves 00:20:16.58\00:20:23.45 to be holy are never great worshippers. You will never worship truly God when you feel 00:20:23.49\00:20:28.89 like he ought to be happy that you're here. Jesus turns to the woman and he says, “Woman, thy 00:20:28.92\00:20:36.53 sins are forgiven.” Thy sins are what, everybody? Aud.: Forgiven. Come on, thy sins 00:20:36.56\00:20:43.71 are what? Forgiven. Now, I'm ready. I am a sinner just like you. I'm just a nobody trying to 00:20:43.74\00:20:49.78 tell everybody about somebody who can save anybody. And I just stopped by to tell somebody 00:20:49.81\00:20:57.82 your sins are forgiven. [Aud. reaction] What you did last night is covered by the blood. 00:20:57.85\00:21:03.09 What you did last week is covered by the blood. What you did last year is covered by the 00:21:03.12\00:21:13.47 blood. What you did twenty years ago is covered by the blood. You're forgiven. I said 00:21:13.50\00:21:22.31 you're forgiven. I'm forgiven. We're forgiven. I know you've slept around and fooled around, 00:21:22.34\00:21:30.69 but you're forgiven. I know you've messed around and played around, but you're forgiven. I 00:21:30.72\00:21:44.67 know you talked about somebody, but you're forgiven. I know you gossiped about somebody, but 00:21:44.70\00:21:52.27 you're forgiven. I know you haven't given somebody the benefit of the doubt, but in the 00:21:52.31\00:22:01.62 name of Jesus you're forgiven. I know you've doubted, I know you have been unfaithful, but 00:22:01.65\00:22:08.52 you're forgiven. I know you've been negative, but you're forgiven. [Aud. reaction] I 00:22:08.56\00:22:14.76 know you've drunk something you shouldn't have drunk, eaten something you shouldn't have 00:22:14.83\00:22:53.03 eaten. You've even smoked something you shouldn't have smoked. But guess what? You're 00:22:53.07\00:23:12.55 forgiven. I know you haven't been faithful in your church attendance, I know you haven't 00:23:12.59\00:23:20.20 been faithful in your church giving. But you know what? You're forgiven. So tell 00:23:20.23\00:23:28.30 somebody after you leave church and take communion today, criticize me all you want, but 00:23:28.34\00:23:44.62 I'm forgiven. [Aud. reaction] Laugh at me all you want, but I'm forgiven. Point the finger 00:23:44.65\00:23:55.26 at me all you want, but today I'm blood washed, I've repented of my sins, and I am forgiven. 00:23:55.30\00:24:02.97 And because I'm forgiven, I praise him. You don't know what I've been through, but I praise 00:24:03.00\00:24:11.41 him. You don't know what I've gone through, but I praise him. You don't know the costs of my 00:24:11.45\00:24:33.70 praise. You weren't there when Jesus found me, when he wrapped his loving arms around me. You 00:24:33.74\00:24:47.75 don't know like I know. Aud. reaction] What he's done for me. But know this: I'm forgiven. 00:24:47.78\00:24:56.32 Is there anybody else in this place today that's forgiven? [Aud. applause] Mary: Ahhhh! 00:24:56.36\00:25:02.00 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your 00:25:02.03\00:25:03.16 body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important 00:25:03.20\00:25:06.13 than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and 00:25:06.17\00:25:08.60 yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you, 00:25:08.64\00:25:09.74 by worrying, can add a single hour to his life? [Piano] Mary: Hey, I'm doing well, I'm doing 00:25:09.77\00:25:13.71 well, just, you know, got some stuff going on. Well, you know, just some living situation 00:25:13.74\00:25:15.74 stuff. Oh, I'm sorry, is that a baby in the background? Oh, okay, I'm sorry. You guys had a 00:25:15.78\00:25:24.85 baby? I didn't know. Oh, this isn't a good time? Look, I totally understand, definitely. 00:25:24.89\00:25:29.02 Yeah, keep me in your prayers, I appreciate it. Thanks. [sighs, tearful] God, haven't I been 00:25:29.06\00:25:34.00 faithful? Haven't I obeyed your commands? Why is this happening to me? Can you even hear me? 00:25:34.03\00:25:39.97 ‘Cause I don't hear you. What are you saying, God? Why now, why this? What did I do to 00:25:40.00\00:25:45.61 deserve this, God? I can't handle this. [song] I've made mistakes and had to pay Mary: 00:25:45.64\00:25:48.91 God, I need you right now. [song] I've had some friends that walked away Mary: God, I 00:25:48.94\00:25:53.95 can't handle this on my own. [song] But there's someone whose love is real, Who cares about 00:25:53.98\00:26:00.79 the way I feel Every pain, and erase every stain There's peace when I call out your name 00:26:00.82\00:26:04.89 (Listen) Jesus, You're my everything] Woman: Mary, hi! Hey, girl, how you doing? I 00:26:04.93\00:26:08.16 haven't heard from you all week. How have you been? Mary: You know, just regular. Same old, 00:26:08.20\00:26:11.33 same old. How are you doing? Woman: I'm good. I was actually thinking about getting 00:26:11.37\00:26:18.97 my hair done, and since I know you're the best in town, I thought about you. Mary: ___, 00:26:19.01\00:26:25.41 you're so silly. I have, I have a lot going on now, and this just probably isn't a good time. 00:26:25.45\00:26:27.48 Woman: Really? What's going on? You okay, something wrong? Talk to me, I'm your friend. 00:26:27.52\00:26:36.76 Mary: I don't want to bother you. Woman: Mary, please, now, you know, I got you. I'm here 00:26:36.79\00:26:54.21 for you. What do you need? What's wrong? What is this? Oh, my goodness, Mary, oh man. 00:26:54.24\00:26:58.95 Girl, I'm so sorry. But you know what? God has answered your prayers long before you even 00:26:58.98\00:27:01.58 asked. Mary: I've heard that before. Woman: It's true. Well, you know, my brother, he 00:27:01.62\00:27:06.89 just left for college, and I got an extra room, so you're welcome 00:27:06.92\00:27:10.29 to stay with me. Mary: Are you serious? 00:27:10.33\00:27:11.83 Woman: Yes, I'm so serious. We could go, start getting packed 00:27:11.86\00:27:17.70 right now. Mary: Oh, my goodness. Thank you so much. 00:27:17.73\00:27:22.10 Woman: You're welcome! God has always got us, huh? He is on time, always on time. 00:27:22.14\00:27:30.25 Mary: Yes. 00:27:30.28\00:27:33.48 Woman: Well, let's go pack. 00:27:33.52\00:27:36.08 [song] 00:27:36.12\00:27:36.79 So whatever You take me through 00:27:36.82\00:27:38.75 I promise you 00:27:38.79\00:27:41.62 I'll spend my always with you 00:27:41.66\00:27:46.16 Man: Jesus is my whole life. 00:27:46.19\00:27:48.00 Mary: As I went through the situation that I just experienced, it really was ____. 00:27:48.03\00:27:51.87 Going through an eviction is just really, really hard, and the feelings of doubt and, um, 00:27:51.90\00:27:58.21 just really not feeling like God was with me through that journey, um, that really just 00:27:58.24\00:28:05.45 kind of overwhelmed me. Woman: I couldn't really understand what she was going through, but 00:28:05.48\00:28:07.52 that part didn't matter. Announcer: Thank you for joining us for another exciting 00:28:07.55\00:28:10.89 broadcast. We'd like you to partner with us as we offer the Breath of Life to a dying world. 00:28:10.92\00:28:16.29 All of our sermon titles and DVDs can be purchased at www.breathoflife.tv. 00:28:16.32\00:28:23.53 Until next time, God loves you! 00:28:23.57\00:28:38.58