The Love of God in Christ: No Rival for His Bride (Part 2)

Lucifer, you’re my tempter, but you will not be victorious. He was a lover, and He had a sword in His hand, and He was cutting away all obstacles to have a perfect counterpart. And He took hold of that boy, and He said, “Arise.” Brothers and sisters, the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ cannot be touched by death. That little boy was in the wrong dimension, and the Lord raised him from the dead. Well, don’t just sit there. Say something.

That same town, that same day. This is not told in the Bible, but you don’t have to draw on your imagination to know it’s true because the Scripture that reports the raising of that little boy tells another story and tells about what had happened to that girl from Nein. So, we’re not stealing from the word of God to tell this story. It was probably that same day. The scripture says that the Lord was healing many and casting out demons from many, and there in the city of Nein was a lovely young girl. And you can’t forget the story. Don’t forget it. You hear? I don’t know if someone brought her or if she came on her own, but she…two things. She was a harlot, and she had seven demons. I have a notion that she was a very beautiful girl. Very simple. I tell you, brothers. Very simple.

Many were saved that day, the day the Lord Jesus Christ looked at that girl, and He saw the demons, and He said, “Those are the principalities, and they’ll never again have any part in my bride.” Then the Lord Jesus looked at the little girl herself, and He saw…I’m going to have to put these together…He saw two things. He saw the incarnation of a creature, a living being, a type of disease that was alive. He saw it everywhere. Wherever He looked…When He looked at Simon Peter, He saw it. When He looked at Andrew, He saw it. When He looked at this little girl, He saw it. He saw a factory. What did He see? He had looked at men’s wrinkles. He looked at the disease, and it was all a result of sin. He watched the lying, cheating, stealing, and immorality. And what was this? The products coming out of the factory. It was sin. The Lord looked at that little girl and said, “So this is what happened to Adam. This is what went into Him and corrupted the cells in his body. This is what produced the whole race. This is the rampant disease that every creature of mine catches. This is what sends to hell. This is that which works death. This is that which ends, which corrupts, corrodes, and debases. This is that which produces the hate, the anger, the murder, the immorality, the lying, the stealing. This will never…at any cost…it will never…touch my bride. I have to choose between taking it all myself, and it ever touching my bride. I love her too much. The passion within me is too big. The jealousy in me is proof. The love in me beats too hot. Sin shall never touch her!” May I ask you if you believe that?

I will tell you the story. Anytime there is a new fad, let me talk religiously, in the denominations, anytime there’s a new evangelist, a great new pastor, or a new anything, the wealthy will always seek to lay claim. You don’t know that, but that’s true. And if you ever get in a position where anybody admires you, you will find the wealthy inviting you over for supper. They want to make you their friend. Frankly, they’re trying to own you. I have told my brothers that before. Don’t ever take anything from the wealthy. Don’t take anything from the wealthy, brothers. They will purchase you.

A wealthy Pharisee invited the Lord Jesus to supper, and the Lord said, ” Okay, I’m not prejudiced.” That day at their tables, they had no table. No such thing as a table. When you went to eat, they threw out a mat on the floor, and they put a tablecloth…maybe they didn’t call it that…they put the food on the tablecloth, and to eat, you knelt, and then you lay down and rested on one shoulder, like this, and you lay on the floor to eat. I have done this. No, not exactly. I shouldn’t say that. I did half of this while I was in Jordan. A big tablecloth on the floor, put all the food there, and we all sat around it squat-legged and ate from it that way. But in the ancient days, they lay on the floor.

The meal began. Everybody was talking. The Lord was there. Please hear the story. A girl came in, and she just stood there. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t say anything. She just stood there, and she was in complete… She just began to cry. The tears began to run down her face, turning into a river that fell on the Lord’s feet. They fell on the Lord’s feet. Simon was lying there beside the Lord, and he looked, and he looked at the Lord, and he knew the girl. Everybody in the room recognized her. And she just wept and wept and wept and wept and wept until the tears began to flow all over the Lord. Brothers and sisters, she knelt down, and she just kept crying. She just kept crying. It wasn’t sorrow; it was joy. And she could see the tears on His feet. She didn’t say a word. She had not uttered one word. She saw His feet wet with tears. She took her hair and undid it and just began wiping the tears away. Then she knelt over, and she kissed His feet, and she kissed them again and again and again, until they’re poured out of that little girl an utter passion, a total adoring love. Brothers, there was passion in it. It was a love story. Then she took some perfume and poured it on His feet, and she wiped it onto His feet and then kissed His feet. Have you ever had anything like that happen to you? Would that be embarrassing?

Who was she? Do you know who she was? She was a harlot, out of whom seven demons had been cast. The Lord said, “Simon, I know what you’re thinking. I want to ask you something, Simon. If a man owed $500 and another one owed $50, and the one who was owed forgave them both, who is loved the most?” And Simon said, “I guess the one who owed $500 that was forgiven.” And Jesus said, “Simon, you’re just as right as you can be. Whoever is forgiven loves much.”

Was she loving much? Was He stopping her? Why wasn’t He stopping her? You tell me why He didn’t stop her. Because she was His bride. Because He had come to love and He had come to be loved. And although it was an unusual display to say the least, He never stopped her. There’s only one thing I want to say before we go on. Sisters and brothers, one question. Who loves much, who loves much? Those who are forgiven much. Now I ask you, who was the bigger sinner, Simon or the girl? The girl. She was only forgiven more. Simon could have been forgiven. He could have melted as Simon Peter melted. He could have melted as that little girl melted. He could have seen Him for who He was and let the whole inner witness of his pain or what he needed well up. He could have been forgiven with a contrite spirit.

That little girl had stood there at His feet and allowed the Lord to forgive her totally. Simon was holding out on the Lord. Brothers and sisters, if you have in you a sense of having forgiven a great deal, you will love a great deal. Oh Lord, we’re going to be like that little girl. We’re going to kiss you and kiss you and kiss you. We’re going to pour out our tears of joy over you. We’re going to hold you, and we’re going to love you. We can’t help it. Lord, we allow You to forgive us of a great deal. Who can love Him with a passion? Who can love Him with a passion? Those who have allowed Him to forgive them a great deal.

Have you been forgiven? I’m just not sure how much you’ve been forgiven. Will you please hold on to this? How much will the Lord forgive you? You have allowed the Lord to forgive you for how much? Completely. Completely? You have allowed Him to do that. Do you know, brother, I don’t believe you. And you know something else, brother, you don’t believe it. Brother, I have a question for you. Have you ever come to the Lord in the morning, in the early morning, and felt a tremendous sense…has the sense of your sinful state ever stood between you and fellowship with the Lord? How many sins? The story didn’t end.

The Lord turned around and looked at the girl. He had allowed her, Simon said, to hold Him. That must have been quite a scene. He turned around and looked at her. What did He say? What did He say to her? We read it earlier. Your sins are forgiven. And He turned to Simon and said, “The Lord asks not for sacrifices, but for what? Compassion, for affection.” Then He turns to the girl, and what did He say to her? “Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace.” Did she accept that? She accepted that. Did she go in peace? She probably was the only believer who ever took the Lord up on that. You haven’t heard the last of this girl. I tell you, in the last few weeks, I have become her number one fan. I have even asked the Lord if I’m going to be like anybody in the Bible. I want to be like that girl. Don’t give two toots on a whistle if I ever know anything about the Bible. I want the privilege she had. I want the privilege of being forgiven much, of having the peace of knowing that; I want the privilege of loving Him a great deal. I wouldn’t trade places if I were that little girl for all the kings who ever lived. She got the privilege of loving the Lord Jesus Christ.

Did He condemn her? He praised her. Lucifer, the kingdom of Satan, the world, the principalities and powers, sin. Well, He saw some other things as He walked around on this earth that stood between Him and His wife. See, He must have had a glorious experience. Can you see Him walking around with this God in Him? Constantly every day discovering His bride and constantly every day discovering the obstacles that she faced. He came to such an appreciation, my brothers, of everything that had ever caused man to go away.