II Corinthians 4:5-7
"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, Who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."
November 3rd
"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." Luke 7:38
There was, perhaps, no greater example of REPENTance set forth in the dramas in Jesus' life than as recorded when Simon – the publican – invited the Lord to dine at his house.
No sooner was He seated than in came a certain Mary whom the publican knew to be a common sinner (a public prostitute).
Instead of quickly scanning those gathered to see if some one of her clients might be there, to receive from her a seductive wink, she instantly knelt at the Savior's feet. Then, in heart-searing anguish of soul in remorse over her past life: in remorse so penetrating it cut to the quick, with tears streaming fast on the feet of her Messiah, then with her long flowing hair she wiped the grime from off His feet. Suddenly they reflected CLEANness into her soul, engendering within that burning, vehement yearning that her own soul might be equally as clean and shining. Again she knew – deep within – that the Ever-Living had beheld her soul's travail. Wherefore, she lavished His feet with kisses. When ALL within her soul had been wrenched forth in the agony of remorse, the precious ointment she had brought was also poured upon His feet (that every step the Savior took might shed a fragrance into human lives)….
The Lord turned Himself to the publican, in substance saying: "Seest thou this woman? When coming in you gave no water for the washing of My feet, but this woman has washed them clean in the tears wrenched from her anguished soul. Neither was I given a towel. But this repentant woman did not hesitate to use her adorning hair to clean all the dirt from off My feet! YOU were too self important to greet Me with a kiss – lest some fellow man might find fault with you. Yet this repentant outcast in your society has not ceased to kiss My feet since she came in: Neither even one drop of oil did you provide unto My anointing; yet this woman – despised by the self-righteous in your midst – has poured precious ointment on My feet, that the fragrance of REPENTance might be carried far…."
Sermon 3/13/84