Turn with me if you would now
to Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18. I was talking, talking with a brother recently. And we were talking about the
evidence of being saved. How can a man really know if
he's saved? How can a woman really know if
she's saved? And in this conversation, I said,
well, let's turn over and look at this account. where the Lord
describes to us, He shows us a lost man and a saved man. He shows us right here what they
look like, what the evidences are. And then He plainly tells us
right here, this man was lost and this man was saved. And I'd like for us to look at
this account together this morning. I've titled this message, A Lost
Man and a Saved Man. Now let's begin reading in verse
9, and we'll read down to verse 14. Luke 18, verse 9, it says, And
he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that
they were righteous and despised others." Our Lord spoke this
parable to those who saw themselves as being worthy and saw others
as being unworthy. Verse 9 again, He spake this
parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were
righteous and despised others. And here's the parable, verse
10. Two men went up into the temple to pray. The one a Pharisee
and the other a publican. A Pharisee was an extreme church
goer. An extreme church goer. not just one who attended on
a regular basis, but one who was a leader in the church, a
teacher, a preacher, an elder, one who was on the committees, one who would head up the committees, a decision maker in the church,
okay? One who would be very well respected
and seen as a church member of all church members. A mega member. Okay, that was a Pharisee. A
mega church member. An Apublican was a member of
the Mafia. Literally. Not just one who was
in the Mafia, but an extreme Mafia member. who would go so far as to betray
his own people for the sake of living a life of extortion, crime,
adultery. A publican was a Jew who betrayed Jews for the sake of profiting from
the Romans. And they were seen as mafia members
of all mafia members. Mega mafia members. Heads of the families, okay?
Now as a publican. Verse 9, Our Lord spake this
parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were
righteous and despised others, Two men went up into the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself, God I thank thee that I am not
as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess."
The churchgoer said, I thank you for the fact that I am not like that mafia
member. I'm so thankful. This is what I thank you for.
Thank you for the fact that I am not in the mafia, not like that
man. This Lord is everything that
He is. Everything that He just said.
And I'm so glad for the fact that I am nothing like Him. He takes what's not rightfully
His. He commits adultery. I deny myself what is rightly
mine. I fast twice a week. It's right for me to have the
food that I've purchased with my own money sitting right there
in my cabinet, but I deny myself what is rightfully mine and I
fast twice in the week. He extorts money from people. He steals from people. I give tithes of everything that
I possess. I'm so thankful for the fact
that I'm nothing like Him. Verse 13, And the publican, standing
afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote upon his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. That mafia member said, Lord,
I have no, he wouldn't, in shame, he wouldn't even lift his head
up. He said, I have no choice but to acknowledge to you that
I am everything that that churchgoer is saying I am. Lord, I amen
what he said. I second what he said. He's saying
I'm unworthy. I'm saying it too. I'm a sinner against you. And I'm begging you, would you
just be merciful to me? Would you please just be merciful
to me? Where is mercy found? Mercy is in blood. Mercy is in the blood. Mercy is found in the blood.
This is what God said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. All right. Mercy is in blood. And he said, Lord, would you
show mercy to me? May mercy be on me. Would you
pour mercy all over me? Verse 14, the Lord said, I tell
you, this man, which man? Which one is he talking about?
He's talking about the mafia member. This man went down to
his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that
exalteth himself shall be abased. Man, this is so serious. We live
in a world where people are so proud of their religion and we
are too. We're proud of them. I'm thankful when men are upstanding
citizens and they dress well and they're respectful to their
peers and to their elders, you know, and they live a responsible
life and they pay their bills and they... But we're putting
importance where we shouldn't. We're seeing something in a way
that's not really so. Our Lord said every soul, verse
14, every one that exalts himself shall be abased. And he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted. Now let me emphasize something
about verse 14. It does not say They both went down to their
house justified. It doesn't say that. It doesn't
say, as it turned out, the Pharisee was worthy and the publican was
unworthy, but God is good and he loves everybody. And he said,
you know what? Both of you, we'll just call
both of you justified. Just go on and it'll be okay.
It does not say that. It says one was justified and
one was not. One was saved and the other one
was lost. And God Almighty said the sinful
man was the saved one. The heathen, the wretch, the
wretch of a person, that was the saved one. And the one who
headed up all the committees at church, and I hate to say
it this way because I just don't even like talking this way, but
here's the truth. God said he was condemned to hell, not justified. Now here's our question for the
morning. Okay. All we've done so far is read the scripture.
Here's our question for the morning. Why? Why would a fine, upstanding,
moral, good example Christian man end up being lost and a vile, ungodly, worthy of
condemnation, sinful man end up being saved? Why? I'm going
to tell us the answer right now. Here's the answer. It has everything to do with.
It all hinges on who they stood before God trusting in. It has everything to do with who
we stand before God trusting in. The outcome of these two
men and every man and woman that's ever stood on this earth will
be revealed the day that they stand before the judgment throne
of God. It's going to be said one way
or the other. And a man or a woman's eternal
end will be evidenced in that moment by who they stand their
trusting in. This is the honest truth. This
is the honest truth right here. Based on the Word of God Himself.
Verse 9 says, He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in
themselves, that they were righteous, and despised others." Well, I'm
saved. I know I'm saved. If anybody's
saved, I'm saved. Ain't no doubt in my mind I'm
saved. How do you know? Because I'm a good person. That's why. And I do the right things. He
spake this concerning those who trusted in themselves, that they
were righteous, and despised others. Our Lord spake this to
men and women who felt in their heart that they were good enough
people, good enough to go stand before
the holy justice of God. He spake this to certain that
trusted in themselves, trusted in their good deeds, trusted
in their good heart, trusted in their good decisions, trusted
in their good life, That God would be happy with them and
he would accept them. Based on what he saw in them. Because
of what they see in themselves. They thought, well God will be
happy with me. They were trusting in themselves. Trusting in what
they thought was their fine Christian way. Thinking God has to be pleased
with my morality. He just has to. God has to be
pleased with what I've done. He has to be. He has to be pleased with what
I've sacrificed in this life to be able to do for Him. Everything
I've done for Him. Everything I've given to Him.
That's where man goes wrong. That's where men and women go
wrong. Turn with me over to Titus chapter 3. Titus 3 verse 3 says, For we ourselves also were sometimes
foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures,
living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. That
describes mankind. Verse 4, But after that the kindness
and love of God our Savior toward man appeared. And how did the
kindness of God appear? Christ manifest in the flesh.
God our Savior manifest in the flesh. After that the kindness
and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of
righteousness which we have done, But according to His mercy, and
where is mercy? It's in the blood. According
to His mercy, He saved us by the washing of regeneration and
renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through
Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace,
We should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Do we see that? Our works are
not a component of our salvation at all. It's Christ's work alone. That's the difference. That's
the only difference in a saved man and a lost man. Verse 5 says,
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy He saved us. Salvation is not in our works.
God's people cannot go around making the statement, I got saved.
They just can't bring themselves to say, I did anything. I gave
my heart to Jesus. I didn't do anything. I was dead.
He did it. He did it all. Salvation is not in our works.
It has nothing to do with our works. Our works are not a component
either way, good or bad. And the reason is because they're
all bad. That's the reason why they're all bad. Even though
there are times when we think we do good things, this is our
reality before God in His own Word. All of our righteousnesses
are filthy rags. There is none good, no not one.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Therefore,
it is foolishness for any man to believe that he can trust
in himself. It's impossible for man to produce
a work that's worthy to be trusted in before God. It is impossible.
Our works play no role in our salvation at all whether we seem
to be good or bad. Turn with me over to Romans 9. Romans 9, the end of verse 6,
it says they are not all Israel which are of Israel. That means
not every person born there is a child of God. Some are saved, some are lost.
Verse 7, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they
all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is,
they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the
children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for
the seed. God promised Isaac and Abraham got tired of waiting
and he said, well I'll take matters into my own hands. And God said,
no, the promised one. Verse 9, for this is the word
of promise, at this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.
And not only this, but when Rebekah also had conceived by one, even
by our father Isaac. And again, this was a son of
promise. We're about to read it. Verse 11 says, For the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, no works
good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, But of him that calleth, here was
the promise. It was said to her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." What that means is the work is
not ours, it's God's. For His people, God has already
finished that work. He chose to do it for sinful
people. And to every one of them, He
will evidence what He has done for them by giving them faith
to trust in Him. Why was that vile, wretched publican
justified before God? Why him? Why was that publican
justified before God? It's because he was caused to
stand before God trusting in the mercy of Christ alone. That's
the reason why. Where is mercy? It's in the blood. It's in the blood. That publican
said, Will you please be merciful to me in the place where you've
provided mercy, the blood of your son, the blood of the lamb,
the lamb that God slew to put away sin. Will you pour that
blood on me? I'm a sinner. And that's what
I need. As I stand before you, the only
thing I can trust in is the blood you provided to put away sin. Please pour that on me. The Lord
said any soul whose trust is right there, that's a justified
soul. That's the only justification
before God that any sinner has ever had since sin entered the
world. Adam and Eve sinned. God slew
a lamb. Blood was shed. Cain and Abel. Alright, that right there is
the story of a lost man and a saved man. What made the difference? Good works? Blood. The blood that was shed for sin.
Moses? Kill a lamb. The law was instructed,
Moses represents the law, under the commandment of God, kill
a lamb. The law said, kill a lamb. The prophets all said, kill a
lamb. The Psalms said, kill a lamb. That's the only hope a sinner
has ever had before God. That's the only place a sinner
can put his trust. Turn with me right over there
to Psalm 51, where our brother just read for us. Psalm 51 verse 1 says, Have mercy
upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness, according
to the multitude of Thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, have
I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight. that thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest."
He said, whatever you do with me, you're right in it. Verse
5, he said, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my
mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in
the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me
to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall
be clean. Wash me, and I'll be whiter than
snow." What he's saying here is, Lord, I have sinned against
you. And our brother very adequately
told what was happening right here. I have been unjust in my
actions. I have taken what was not mine. I have committed adultery. He was saying, I've done the
very same thing the public and in the temple did. I'm no better
than he is. But if you shed the blood of
your lamb and cover me and cover my sin in his blood, I know I
will be clean before you. I know that blood will make me
whiter than snow, so I'm trusting in the blood. I am trusting in
that blood. I need that blood. I plead that
blood. Where is it? Where can I find
it? John the Baptist was baptizing by the River Jordan one day and
the Lord Jesus Christ walked up and He said, Behold the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Cast your all
on Him. Cast your all on Him. Let me
just say something, okay? Don't cast your all on your good
works. Just don't do it. I'd rather
us be good people than bad people. But don't do it. Don't cast your
all and cast your hope on anything that is good about us. Speaking
as a man, speaking foolishly, in my folly, okay, I'm looking
at good people. Don't put your trust in it. Don't
put your trust anywhere before God. Don't put it in anything
but the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Cast your all on Him. That's the only hope. That gift
that God has given, and I'm done, I'm closing, but that gift is
called grace. Free gift. The gift of Christ,
the gift of the Lamb, the gift of the blood. The grace of God
that provided mercy in the blood, that's our hope. That's our only hope. Cast all
your trust right there. Stand before God if anyone goes
to stand before God today or tomorrow or at any point for the rest
of this year or next year. Or sometime soon, if all of the
sudden you're walking on this earth and you realize, I'm not. And there's the throne of God.
Plead the blood of Christ alone and nothing else. Don't say anything
else. Don't say anything else. The
blood of the land, the blood of Christ alone. What do you
have to say? The blood of Christ alone. If that blood is on you,
you're gonna have an advocate saying he's already under my
blood. The blood of Christ alone. You cast your all right there. Salvation is by the gift of the
blood of Jesus Christ alone. That's the difference. That's
where our trust is, and that's a saved man or a saved woman.
May the Lord give that to us.