God has dealt so forcefully with me over the power of a tear, and He is going to honor the kind of tears you will read about today. If you will use these tears, you will be a top soul winner for Jesus; and souls must be our business. I have told God so many times, “Don’t let me live when I can no longer win souls.” That is one thing that saddens my heart about the coming of the Lord—there will be no more souls to bring in.

The parable of the prodigal son and the story of the prodigal daughter are both powerful incidents that came to us through the heart of Luke, the great physician; and who would have had a greater right to record them than a doctor with great compassion who was full of the Holy Ghost? Luke loved Jesus and traveled with Him, and he had such great understanding of sin and of people and their feelings. He understood the cruel ways of sin and what sin would do to the body because he dealt with wretched lives and wretched spirits. These two accounts are hanging on the walls of love of the New Testament for all to see as a record of how God freely forgives sin when a heart is full of faith and love.

The Prodigal Daughter

In Luke’s recording of the story of the prodigal daughter, two extremes of society meet—the very highest and the very lowest, the rich and the poor, the self-righteous and the sinner. Simon, a Pharisee, was known for his virtue, his long prayers, his alms and his zeal for the Law—but not the law of Jesus. The woman Luke tells about was known for her vices.

And one of the Pharisees [Simon] desired him [Jesus] that he would eat with him (Luke 7:36). Jesus had received an invitation to a feast, and He knew that Simon greatly desired Him to come; but Jesus didn’t hurry to answer him. He hated the ways of the Pharisees, and He called them hypocrites. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves (Matthew 23:13-15).

The rich Pharisees sought the praise of people, and they did everything for a show. They wanted people to gather around and listen to them recite long prayers, but Jesus let them know that His Father did not hear them because their hearts were not right. The Pharisees made sure people knew when they were fasting because they would not bathe or groom themselves. They thought that smelling like a goat for a period of time would let everyone know how religious they were.

A Strange Invitation

At first, Jesus was somewhat surprised by the invitation; and He hesitated to answer it since it had come from a Pharisee. We do not know why Simon wanted Jesus to come to his home. Perhaps he wanted to embarrass Him; but Jesus did not question Simon’s motive or look into his life to see what it was like because Jesus was very man, and He gave people a chance. Perhaps Simon was really seeking the truth. I’m sure Jesus wanted to believe that; and if Simon was seeking, he was soon to find the truth in a way that he least expected. Many people find Jesus that way.

Jesus accepted the invitation in spite of what He thought about the Pharisees because He never missed a chance to redeem a lost soul no matter who was involved, and that made dining with hypocrites worth His while. Jesus knew those hypocrites, and He must have thought it was important to expose them for what they really were. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat (Luke 7:36).

When giving dinners like the one Jesus had been invited to, it was customary for the wealthy to allow poor and uninvited people to stand around the walls as spectators, not to eat but to watch and listen. Because of the Pharisees’ desire for show, this practice was greatly wished for and made their events a success; and Simon wanted to put on a big show. The Pharisees had so much ego, and that comes from the devil. One thing Simon did not know was that the prodigal daughter was standing against the wall that day, and he didn’t know why she was there.

Now, Simon was not the gracious host to Jesus that he was to the other guests, and that should break your heart. At mealtime, it was customary for the guests to recline on couches around the table with their bare feet projecting behind them, and it was the host’s duty to have servants wash their guests’ feet; but evidently, it had been prearranged that the service would be neglected for Jesus. The feet of the other guests at the table had been washed and their heads anointed, and Simon had bestowed on them every courtesy; but he ignored Jesus because he thought Jesus was not worthy of common courtesy. Jesus was not a Pharisee.

As we continue, I want you to keep this statement in mind: Man proposes, but God disposes. This means that man can suggest or devise his own plans, but God is the one who determines the way things will be.

Sorrowful Repentance

Sometime during the excitement of the feast, a woman of the city, known to all as an outcast, made her way into the room. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at 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 (Luke 7:37,38).

The woman carried an alabaster box of very expensive oil, and she passed immediately over to the place where Jesus sat and stood behind Him with the other uninvited guests. But no sooner did she reach that place when she burst into tears which poured down upon the Master’s feet.

Evidently, this sudden reaction was not a part of the woman’s plan because she had not brought a towel or a cloth to wipe away the tears, so she wiped His feet with her hair. She had intended to anoint His feet, but she could not restrain the tears. Notice what a contrite and broken spirit she displayed as she stooped down to wipe His feet with her long hair and then kissed them passionately. What humility! She was a woman of the streets, but she had come for help for her soul.

As she knelt there, she remembered her purpose; so she poured out the fragrant ointment and proceeded to anoint Jesus’ feet. Soon, the whole room was filled with sweet perfume, the most precious and expensive type in that day.

The Lord Hates Hypocrites

Suddenly, all eyes were turned on Jesus and the woman. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself [He had hidden thoughts.], 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 (Luke 7:39). Simon thought that Jesus should have been able to read the secret character of a woman who was so unclean, but that is a hypocrite for you. Actually, Simon was in a much worse condition than that of a mere sinner because the Bible teaches that the Lord loves a sinner, but He despises a hypocrite.

Jesus saw through Simon and said, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on (Luke 7:40). Jesus spoke up to put things into perspective; and Simon, the Pharisee, called Jesus “Master.”

Then Jesus continued, There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. 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 hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman (Luke 7:41-44)? Jesus wanted Simon to see that this woman had humbled herself the way he should have done if he had not been so haughty and full of ego. Simon did not feel the need of God, and he thought he was better than anyone else; but Jesus knew him for the hypocrite he was. With her humble spirit, the woman, who had been so sinful, was much greater in the eyes of Jesus than was the Pharisee.

The Woman Knew She Had Sinned

Jesus pointed out the way He had been treated saying, I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet [That omission was an insult.]: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss (Luke 7:44,45). It was the custom to greet guests with a kiss, usually on both cheeks; and they still greet one another that way in the Holy Land today.

But this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet (Luke 7:45). Such great love she displayed as she humbled herself, weeping and falling to her knees! She did not feel she was worthy to even stand in His presence.

My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment (Luke 7:46). “You anointed all the guests except me,” Jesus was saying; “but this woman bestowed an honor upon me when she anointed my feet with ointment.” Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much (Luke 7:47). She knew she was a sinner and that she had committed many sins. Hypocrites are the ones who never admit their sins no matter what they do, and God cannot deal with a sinner who refuses to confess his sins.

But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little (Luke 7:47). Jesus was talking about the knowledge of sin, not the number of sins a person has committed. Simon did not want to know what sin really was or that he was a sinner, and he didn’t care. He had no love, and he received no forgiveness because he did not have the love to ask for any. Simon was given a wonderful chance to receive salvation, but he refused it. He probably never found the Lord and is in hell today.

When God lays conviction on your heart, you come into the knowledge of sin; and you feel the weight of that knowledge. You feel like you are the worst sinner in the whole world, and you realize that sins you have never worried about in the past have caused you to trample the precious blood of Jesus underfoot and to count it as nothing. How terrible! You come to the knowledge of that awful sin but also to the knowledge of the great, divine love salvation brings.

Jesus Forgives

And he [Jesus] said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also (Luke 7:48,49)? That was a hard thing for the hypocrites to accept. They thought to themselves that this man, Jesus, must be either in fanaticism or an outright blasphemer; but they evidently were afraid to talk out loud because they had seen the authority with which Jesus had rebuked their host, and they were reluctant to face the same kind of chastisement.

And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace (Luke 7:50). This story includes the direct words of Jesus, and you must take them into your heart. It is a wonderful message of love and humility which reveals that any penitent sinner who will humble himself at the feet of Jesus can receive forgiveness and deliverance just like the woman who had washed His feet with her tears.

To every mother and daddy with a wayward son or daughter, the unmistakable message is, “Come on home; you are forgiven! Come on home; you will find you are special after all. Come on home; you are loved!” Jesus’ heart is filled with love for sinners, and He is still seeking to save the lost today. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).

A Contrite Soul

This incident can be divided into three scenes. Scene one: A penitent soul stood behind Jesus.

Notice that the woman stood behind Jesus because she did not feel worthy to stand in front of Him. Who was she? Was she someone Simon had hired to put the Master in an embarrassing position?

Some biblical scholars believe that this was the woman taken in adultery whom John wrote about. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him [Jesus] a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more (John 8:3-5,7,10,11).

We do not know for sure that this prodigal daughter was the same woman; but we do believe her to be someone to whom Jesus had spoken the words of life, and great love and compassion had been kindled in her heart for Him. Perhaps she had heard Him tell the parable of the prodigal son and had decided, “I will be the prodigal daughter.” Jesus could have spoken to her alone or as one among the crowds who had listened to His words and learned about His miracles. No doubt, she had been openly sinful because all at the table knew her, and Jesus made no denial of her sin. She herself spoke not a word; but at one time, she had been some mother’s innocent baby. What a thought that is to think about!

The lines of a poem the Lord wants me to share with you give a good character sketch of this woman.

 
Beautiful Snow
by J.W. Watson

 
Once I was pure as the snow—but I fell:
Fell, like the snowflakes, from Heaven—to hell:
Fell, to be trampled as the filth of the street:
Fell, to be scoffed, to be spit on and beat.
Pleading, cursing, dreading to die,
Selling my soul to whoever would buy,
Dealing in shame for a morsel of bread,
Hating the living and fearing the dead.
Merciful God! have I fallen so low?
And yet I once was like this beautiful snow!
 

Once I was fair as the beautiful snow,
With an eye like its crystals, a heart like its glow;
Once I was loved for my innocent grace,
Flattered and sought for the charm of my face.
Father, mother, sisters—all,
God, and myself, I have lost by my fall.
The veriest wretch that goes shivering by
Will take a wide sweep, lest I wander too nigh;
For all that is on or about me, I know
There is nothing that’s pure but the beautiful snow.

Every door of hope had been shut against that woman; but in the divine presence of Jesus, her old life had melted away, and a new life had sprung up. She had a heart of tears that came from her soul and a heart that was hungry for goodness and joy.

Tears from the Heart

Scene two: The woman began to cry tears that flowed like water so much so that they washed the feet of Jesus.

The woman was emotional about our Lord because she was on a mission—to seek the Man of Galilee. The favored guests were dining sumptuously and wearing fine clothes, but she was not looking for someone prosperous and well-dressed; she was looking for a Savior, a deliverer.

Some people think it isn’t dignified to cry, but everyone is going to cry someday. One day, the Lord will say, Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out (Luke 13:27,28). The Bible also says, Every eye shall see him…and all kindreds of the earth shall wail [or weep] because of him (Revelation 1:7).

After the Rapture takes place, some of you will be sprawled out at an altar screaming, “Come back, Jesus! Come back! Don’t leave me!” But the Bride will be gone; and you will think, “What a fool I was!” Then, God will pay no attention to your cry or care about your tears because you brought them on yourself. Jesus, the very Son of God, paid the price; but you didn’t care about Him just as Simon, the Pharisee, didn’t care about Jesus when he had invited Him to his house. Nobody has ever loved you like Jesus loves you, and nobody has ever cared for you like He cares; but some of you don’t believe that.

Multitudes are crying in hell right now, but the wise do their crying ahead of time at Calvary. When I found Jesus at Calvary and fell at His feet, I cried my heart out before Him; and He recognized that I was sorry for my sins. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of (II Corinthians 7:10). Godly sorrow means you must be as sorry for your sins as God is that you committed them, and that is a lot of regret. Somebody once said that we should shed a tear from the heart for every sin that we truly want God to forgive us of—each sin demands a tear. Some people are always talking about the sins they have committed, and they glory in them; but don’t do that. Just tell people enough to let them know that you were not a hypocrite but a real sinner who was saved by grace.

When the woman with the alabaster box wept, she did not care how she looked. Somehow, she had received faith for her salvation, and forgiveness comes through faith. It is impossible to have forgiveness without faith.

Divine Tears

Tears can talk. They can tell more truth and express more of the feelings that are in the heart than the tongue, and that is powerful! Jesus said, Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted (Matthew 5:4). This refers to weeping before the Lord, and the Holy Ghost will cry and groan through me and make intercession. He did that so often when the Lord took my wife, Angel, and I don’t know what I would have done if He had not. If you have had the Holy Ghost for very long, no doubt He has groaned through you when you were under such a heavy load. Maybe you had a burden for somebody you loved who was about to die without God, or maybe it was another kind of burden.

One day, God’s love handkerchief will wipe away all our tears, and we won’t cry anymore. Our glorified bodies will have no tear ducts just as Adam and Eve had no tear ducts—God let me know that. He never intended for man to cry, but sin brought about the need for tear ducts. God never intended for man to have a little septic tank on the inside of their bodies so that food and water could pass through. Adam and Eve were to have lived like the Lord—with glorified flesh; but sin brought the septic tank, the kidney trouble and all the other troubles we have, and the devil is to blame for sin.

The greatest thing needed today is the right kind of tears that come from the soul. Too many tears are just salty water, but the tears of Calvary are divine tears; and you must learn to shed them for souls. That is why the Lord gives me so many souls. I never use salty tears for souls; I use the Jesus tears He shed at the whipping post when cruel men beat Him nearly to death. They are the tears He shed on His way to Calvary, and the tears He shed while He died crying, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me (Matthew 27:46)?

God the Father had not looked into the future to see what the Crucifixion would be like, and He had not talked it over with His Son. It was a proven fact that the Son thought the Father had forsaken Him; but the Father had not forsaken Him, and He would have come down if He had not blacked out the scene and turned His back on His own Son for you and me. He had to do it because Jesus was dying for us.

The Lord told me that the only time He had ever used all of His love was when He gave Jesus for our sins. He said He had not given it all in Eden or anywhere else in the Old Testament, but He gave it all at Calvary; and if people don’t accept that love, there is no hope left for them. You cannot be saved any other way or through any other name or source, and the Lord is very definite about that. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

Many of you are shedding the kind of tears the woman shed in scene two, and those are the tears God wants us to shed. We are end-time people, so we have to use His tears the rest of the way; and as we do, God will be with us.

The Eye to the Soul

God’s forgiveness and love make a song without words, a wireless message that can be received on God’s radio station—G-O-D. Do you listen to His station? He is broadcasting love to His people, so tune in.

David said, The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise (Psalm 51:17). When you sacrifice to God, you must have a broken spirit and a contrite heart; and God will be well-pleased. He knows from experience that sin and weeping go together.

For so many, the eye has been the inlet for sin because people take so much in willfully through their eyes. Jesus said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness (Mark 7:20-22).

The eye is also the outlet for sin. Demons enter through the eyes; and many times, they are cast out through the eyes. When I look into people’s eyes, I can see the devils that bind them.

Most people don’t know that the Bible says there is an evil eye; but there is, and many people have it today. In Noah’s day, all but eight souls had it; and the Lord destroyed them. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5). Every thought of the people’s hearts was evil, and that was what they desired every waking hour.

God told me Himself that He has taken so much in the past that the devil has blamed Him for; but He said, “I won’t have it in this last hour.” God is going to let people know where the evil is coming from and who is involved. The Bible is a fact book which says that if you die in your sins, you will go to hell; but if you die in the righteousness of the Lord and in the blood of Jesus, you will go to Heaven. There is no in-between.

A Love Sacrifice

Scene three: A devout soul washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, wiped them with the hairs of her head, kissed them and anointed them with ointment.

The woman was no longer behind Jesus but with Him—what a difference! The soul that realizes the awfulness of its sin and the great debt God has forgiven it of in its hour of salvation desires to express its love to God through devotion and sacrificial service. All people who really get born again leave the altar lit up with divine love, and that love begins to express itself. They may shake hands with or hug different ones, and they are so full of love that they can even hug an enemy.

Strong affections must have an outlet, and the right kind of love has to show itself. It is impossible to have real love and not show it. It will show in a marriage, and it will show in church. Real love cannot be hidden no matter where it is.

Every feeling we have has a tendency to express itself just as a tree cannot grow unless it expresses itself in leaves. We must learn how to increase our graces, and we can take lessons from nature. You will notice that the Lord used nature in His parables because it included things people knew about, and He used those things to get the understanding of the truth to them.

The prodigal daughter’s experience shows us the way into the holy of holies of the Christian life. Her tears reveal that the penitent soul knows it needs forgiven. When she kissed Jesus’ feet, it showed her devotion. When she wiped His feet with her long hair, that was a service, a real, love work. Anointing Jesus’ feet revealed sacrifice; she was ready to sacrifice that expensive perfume.

The ointment that was poured out upon the feet of the Master showed the past life was over, and the prodigal daughter had a new life. That was the fragrance of salvation that went up to Heaven. In the past, she may have used it for her own adornment and attention; but this time, she used it as an act of love and devotion to break with the past and as an act of dedication to His service—and Jesus understood her motive.

All of the woman’s acts tell of great love! Must we sin more so that love may abound? No. The Bible says, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein (Romans 6:1,2)? The sense of sin has to precede forgiveness. Then forgiveness precedes love, and love precedes all acceptable service. Love is willing to do whatever the Lord wills for you to do for Him, and you must never forget that.

Now, this is a profound statement: What is waiting in order to love much is not sin but the knowledge of sin. That is what will bring that love about. You come into the knowledge of sin, and then you come into the knowledge of your own sins—the Holy Spirit reminds you of them. Then that great knowledge of sin comes just in proportion as we approach the Cross of Christ.

You are the one who has to approach the Cross of Christ. You have to first come out of the night, and then you will see. It is impossible to see in the dark; but the Cross will light up a path so you can get to it, and then the knowledge of your sins will be before you. The Psalmist said, My sin is ever before me (Psalm 51:3).

No Repentance for Simon

Surely, the prodigal daughter knew the awfulness of her sin, but that knowledge did not lead to an expression of love and devotion until she drew near to Christ. Only then did she break down, and the tears just poured. Her heart was filled to the very depths with unutterable gratitude that she had been forgiven of her sins.

Imagine how disgusted Simon must have felt when that woman fell at the feet of Jesus. He was thinking to himself that Jesus should have known she was a sinner. After all, wasn’t it obvious? Everyone knew she was a woman of the streets. Perhaps Simon himself as well as some of his other guests had even been with her, yet there they were condemning her.

Simon’s inflated ego and smug arrogance were completely shattered by an outcast woman and the words of Jesus. Simon probably wished he had never seen Jesus as he thought, “I used such poor judgment in inviting Him. What must my friends think?”

The manner in which Jesus pointed out Simon’s wrongs should give you a glimpse of what Judgment Day will be like. It was no wonder that the Pharisees hated Jesus. As the prodigal daughter knelt at Jesus’ feet, the power of the Lord was so strong that it held them in their seats; and not one hand was raised against her. Simon could not even open his mouth to cry, “Throw her out!”

First Love

If you really get saved, you will get the first love that all born-again people receive at Calvary; but you can also lose it. Read what Jesus said in one of the letters He dictated to John the Revelator for one of the seven churches: I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love (Revelation 2:2-4).

You must have your first love to get out of here; and while you are here on Earth, you must have your first love to sacrifice for the Lord. Some people will sacrifice for the Lord for a while, and then wax warm. The Lord said, I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth (Revelation 3:15,16). Only Christians are in the mouth of God, so it is lukewarm Christians who are being spewed out.

I am glad that Angel and I never lost our zeal to work for God. We were sent of God, and we started this work with only two people; a big, canvas tent; chairs; an organ and a piano; and now, this ministry is going to the world. I was fought by preachers in the organization I belonged to because they didn’t want me to go to Akron. I was persecuted so much that I came to the place where I was willing to die for Christ’s name’s sake if it would have settled things and brought in the souls that the Lord expected Angel and me to win for Him, but the Lord had another plan—He defeated those preachers, and most of them have since died.

“How can I get to that place, Preacher?”

When I received my first love, I kept it; and I was willing to do anything for the Lord. If there was anything that nobody else wanted to do, I would do it no matter what it was. If you want to do things for the Lord, He is telling you what you need—love. He gives you unending, eternal love, love to do His will only and love for all the lost souls He died for. Love is the answer. It will help you to climb the highest mountain, and it will help you to fight hordes of devils knowing that you are a winner before you even go into that battle.

Paul had been zealous to persecute and destroy; but when he experienced the love and forgiveness of Christ, he used that same zeal and knowledge to strengthen and lift up the Kingdom for the ones he loved—and for Christ, his Lord and Savior.

Learn Jesus

If you want to know more about love, Heaven and the next life, learn Jesus. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls (Matthew 11:29). I want to know everything I can about Jesus, but you can only do that through divine love and divine faith.

In this story of the prodigal daughter, we can learn much about Jesus. Notice that a penitent soul at the feet of Jesus meant more than anything else in the world to Him. Jesus said, For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul (Matthew 16:26)?

Money and material things meant nothing to Jesus. He said, Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33). Our heavenly Father will look out for us if we are obedient to Him. Prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it (Malachi 3:10).

Jesus forgave that soul; and then He revealed the real woman to Simon when He asked, “Seest thou this woman?” She had been converted, changed, forgiven and made brand new; but Simon saw only the shadow of a sinful woman. Simon had no love, but her love was great; and she saw the greatness of Jesus. She saw Him as Lord, Master and Savior while Simon continued to stumble over his thought that Jesus should have known she was a bad woman.

You Must Repent

The prodigal daughter had approached Jesus wanting to receive forgiveness for her sins, and she had really repented. Only true repentance brings salvation; and Jesus said that if you don’t repent, you will perish. But, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish (Luke 13:3).

When it came to unrighteousness and uncleanness, Simon preferred a hazy idea of sin; but the prodigal daughter approached Christ as just a sinner and nothing more. That is the only way we can approach Christ and hope to be saved, and we can make no excuses. You have to meet Him with godly tears of sorrow, and God will give them to you when you behold the Cross, the crucifixion of Jesus who died for you. You stand there all alone just as if you had been there when it happened 2000 years ago because the Holy Ghost makes it so real. The way of the Cross leads home, and you cannot get to Heaven any other way.

Oh, the power of a tear! The Lord wants you to hear that. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not (Luke 13:34)! Jesus wept over Jerusalem, but the people would not accept His tears. I have sat upon the Mount of Olives and thought about Jesus crying over Jerusalem as I overlooked the city and prayed for the lost.

One Last Tear

I read about a girl who was lost and undone without God, but she had one good Christian friend who was very dear to her. When she heard that her dear friend was dying, she rushed to her side. Her friend was near death and could not speak; but she lifted a hand with her last bit of strength and pointed to Heaven as if to say, “Seek Jesus and meet me in Heaven.” Then a tear rolled down her cheek, and she was gone.

The girl later confessed, “I could not get away from that tear. The image of it followed me everywhere I went day and night because I knew that the last tear my friend would ever shed was for me. That one tear on a cold face in death is what brought me to the Lord.” Just one tear of a dying child of God who could no longer speak brought the prodigal girl home.

In another true story from a missionary, a young girl who had been a heathen but had since been saved brought a silver coin worth about eighty-five cents and gave it to the missionary—it was her gift to the Savior. In that particular country, that coin was a very large gift; and the missionary was astonished. She hesitated to accept it at first because she thought it must have been stolen. She did not think the girl could have gotten it any other way, but the missionary was not thinking of Jesus.

When the missionary questioned the girl about the coin, she discovered that in order to secure it, the girl had gone to a neighboring farmer and had sold herself as a slave for the rest of her life. The girl had brought the equivalent of her whole life and had placed it as a single gift at the feet of her Lord. Oh, that everyone would give all, and all to Him we owe. Do you feel you owe all to Him?

Admit Your Sin

I heard of a great English prince who once visited the king of Spain; and in honor of the prince’s visit, the king promised freedom to the one prisoner whom the prince chose. So the prince was taken down to a boat galley to see the men who were chained to the oars and doomed to be slaves for life. To one of the prisoners he said, “My poor fellow, I feel sorry for you. Tell me how you came to be here.” “Oh, Sir,” he answered, “false witnesses gave evidence against me, and I am serving wrongfully.” Doesn’t that sound just like some sinners? They say they are so good; and even though they are in prison, they claim they didn’t do anything wrong.

The prince passed on to the next man and asked, “My good fellow, how came you here?” He said, “Sir, I certainly did wrong but not to a great extent, so I should not be here.”

The prince went on to others, and they told similar tales. Finally, he came to one man who said, “Sir, I am often thankful that I am here because, and I am sorry to say, that if I had received justice, I would have been executed. I am certainly guilty of all that has been charged to me.” Then the prince replied, “It is a pity that a guilty wretch like you should be chained among these innocent men. Therefore, I set you free!”

Forgiveness comes through divine faith, not human faith. Remember that Jesus had told the prodigal daughter, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace (Luke 7:50). Faith always goes along with salvation and with the fruits of the Spirit. Without faith and love in the world, fear would dominate; and instead of peace, there would be only unrest.

Cleansed through the Blood

Martin Luther was a great man of God who many years ago turned the world upside down for the Lord with his doctrine: The just shall live by faith. I read that at one time when Martin Luther was very ill, the devil came to torment him; and he unrolled a scroll that listed hundreds of sins that Martin Luther supposedly had committed. It included everything the devil could think of, and I’m sure some of them were things Martin Luther had never even thought of doing. The devil knows how to aggravate a man of God who is in a weakened condition. Martin Luther went down the list; and when he got to the bottom, he looked up at the devil and said, “But, Devil, there is one thing you forgot. Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.” The devil could say no more about it.

When you use the divine blood of Jesus, it puts the devil to flight. When you are born again, you know your sins have been washed away; and they no longer count against you. The devil may keep track of them, but God does not. Jesus cleanses us from all sin through His blood, so trust in the blood because there is nothing like the blood of Jesus!

I beg you to come to the Cross today with the tears of Jesus. He gave His life to give you those tears. The woman with the alabaster box took advantage of the salvation offered to her when she made her way to find Jesus; and, unlike Simon the Pharisee, she is no doubt in Heaven today.

That woman must have become a devout follower of Jesus, and I feel sure she was at His trials and crucifixion, weeping her heart out. She probably was among those who rushed to see the empty tomb when she heard He had been resurrected. I would not even be surprised to learn that she followed Jesus during the forty days He stayed on Earth after He had been resurrected, the time when He taught the disciples how to get ready to go forth with the Jesus Church. She could have been on the Mount of Olives and watched Jesus ascend back to Heaven, and she could have been in the Upper Room with her heart of love and with more tears rolling down her cheeks—but those would have been tears of gladness as she praised the Lord until the Holy Ghost came in.

The Lost Daughter

I have one last touching story to share about a girl who had gone astray and left her home for the big city. For a while, she had continued to write her mother who was a godly woman; but the letters became less frequent, and then they ceased altogether.

In the city, the daughter had become a girl of the streets. She had degraded herself in the lowest way and was ashamed to go home. The devil whispered in her ear again and again, “You can never go home; you would not be accepted.”

The mother prayed and prayed, but she suspected the worst; so she went to the city to search for her lost daughter. God had a hand in that, and she soon met a minister who worked in the slums of the city. “Can you help me find my daughter?” the mother asked. “She ran away from home, gave herself over to sin and ungodliness and degraded herself; and I have come to find her.”

“I think I can help you,” he replied, “but you will have to do exactly what I tell you to.”

She agreed saying, “I will do anything to get my daughter back.”

Then the missionary said, “Have your picture taken; then get it enlarged and bring me 100 copies of it.” The mother did not know what the minister was going to do, but she got the pictures and took them to him. “Now,” he said, “write these two words at the bottom of each photo: ‘Come home.’”

The mother did that, and then the missionary asked her if he could take the photos to the lower parts of the city and put them up in saloons and other places of sin. The mother’s love answered, “Yes, anything to get my daughter back.”

The minister put up the pictures, and time passed. Then one night, the daughter straggled into a smoky saloon with a rough-looking gang. A picture on one of the walls looked familiar to her from a distance; and when she walked over to it, she was shocked to see that it was her mother. She also recognized the handwriting of the two words, “Come home.” The picture broke her heart; and as her tears began to flow, she raced out without telling anyone good-bye and caught the first train she could get.

Within a few hours, she was wrapped in her mother’s arms; and tears rolled down their cheeks as the mother cried, “I forgive you, Honey! Welcome home!” Notice that she did not say, “What have you done?” She said, “I forgive you. Your place is still here waiting for you!” I’m sure that girl also found Jesus and her ticket to Heaven.

Whosoever Will, Let Him Come

Jesus is just as interested in the prodigal daughter as He is in the prodigal son, and He is waiting for all the prodigals to come home in the same way that the mother was waiting with wide-open arms for her daughter. The Bible says, The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:17). In another place, it says, Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out (John 6:37).

When the prodigal daughter had at last arrived home, I can hear the Master saying, “Make ready; we are going to have a great feast! The wayward one has arrived home and found Heaven’s forgiveness. She is free through the divine blood!” The angels in Heaven rejoice over every prodigal daughter and every prodigal son who come home.

To you who are lost, I bring the picture of Jesus before you. See His love, His tenderness and His mercy. He loves you more than anyone has ever loved you; and He is begging and pleading for you to come home. Look at the crucified Jesus with the nail prints in His hands. Look at His great picture of love hanging on the gallery wall of the Gospel. Hear Him calling, “Come and walk with me! Come and live with me in the city whose builder and maker is God. I am your door and your gate into that great city! I am your passport. Come home!”

The Tear That Changed a Life

Now, I want to bring to you one last story that you will surely never forget. It is a true story of a great woman who had six sons, and five of them were ministers. Her baby boy was grown and still living at home, but she couldn’t win him for the Lord. She was a great prayer warrior, and she had prayed and prayed for him; but nothing would bring him to God. Think about the tears she must have shed.

One night in a morning hour when she thought he was asleep, she decided to go into his room and pray. The boy was the one who told me this story; and he said that when she came in, he was really awake, but he pretended to be asleep. She leaned over him and prayed, “Oh, God, save his soul! Don’t let him go to hell!” And while she prayed, a tear of love rolled down her cheek and fell on his face. She wasn’t even conscious that it had fallen on him, but it broke his heart to pieces. He said, “I couldn’t get away from that tear, and it brought me to the Lord. Later, he began preaching the Gospel, and then all six of the mother’s sons were preachers.

It is hard to tell how many tears that mother had shed for her youngest boy, but what if she had not shed those tears of love? Thank God, she did; and her son is no doubt in Heaven today because of them. Who would have ever thought that just one tear could have done that? It was more than a salt and water tear; it was a tear from her very soul, one of agonizing with God and praying for her son. He had gone deep into the world; but that mother had kept her faith, and she hadn’t failed the Lord.

Unless you receive pardon for your sins, you have no divine love for God because love cannot mix with the sins that are in your heart. The divine blood must first wash your soul clean and fill it up with God’s great, pure love. Then you will love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your strength as the Bible says you should. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment (Mark 12:30).

It Is Time to Come Home

We are carrying this message of forgiveness and salvation to all the sons and daughters of the world who are in sin. Oh, Dear One, if you have run away from home, no matter how much you have degraded yourself in sin, come home. You may have some deadly disease working in your body because you have sinned against God and gone the way of the devil; but Jesus will make you a vessel of honor. He will not only save you but heal you and make you well.

You may feel as though no one cares for you, but come home. You may think you have lost daddy, mother, brothers and sisters and that you have nothing; but you have everything through Jesus. Turn to Him, and He will help you find your way back home. His message is, “Renounce sin; turn away from the devil, and I will set you free. Come on home!”

I want every sinner and backslider to pray this prayer: Oh, God, I have gone so far away and so deep into sin that I have almost destroyed my life completely, but I have come home. I beg for your forgiveness. Oh, Lord, the tears coming down my cheeks are because I love you with all of my heart. I am sorry, Lord, that I have sinned against you, but here I am; the prodigal has come home. I believe the blood of Jesus washes away all of my sins! Come into my heart, Jesus! Come on in!

It Is Miracle Time

You who are sick and afflicted, it does not matter what deadly diseases are working in your body or in your child’s body; you can be made whole, and your child can be made whole. Your child may be deformed, but there have been so many children like that who have been healed. God has given children born with just part of a brain a whole brain, and they are as normal as any other children. That is the love of God for you. Healing is the Lord’s promise, and He keeps His promises.

Lord, I bring the sick and afflicted to you. You said a believer would lay hands on the sick, and they would get well. I am your believer. Heal, in the blood name of Jesus! Give that blind man his sight right now and give that paralyzed woman her help. Give life to the dying and heal those little children who are so close to death. Re-create the brains of those who have been born with just part of a brain and those who have a damaged brain. Heal and deliver in the all-powerful, blood name of Jesus!

Jesus is here, and He loves you. Decide that you and your little one are going to get well. If you are the prodigal who has come home, know now that you are loved by Heaven; and you are going to walk in the grace of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. One day, you will see Heaven for yourself and go sweeping through the pearly gates with a shout, “The prodigal is home!” Then all Heaven will rejoice with you.