I hope there is someone listening
this morning who does not attend a so-called church somewhere
because I have something to say to you. Now, I believe we all
ought to be thankful to God for everything we are and have and
worship God, but I don't blame anyone for not wanting anything
to do with today's religion. I don't blame you at all. With
all the ridiculous stuff that's going on, all the foolish preachers,
and they're obviously in it for themselves, all the money begging
and so on, all the wild carrying on in religious services, all
the crying and shouting and waving and falling down and jumping
up, it reminds me of some of this pro-wrestling that you see
on TV today, and some of the characters are just as ridiculous. Maybe you do not attend so-called
church because religious people make you feel uncomfortable.
Well, I confess that I feel the same way around most religious
people. I feel so inferior to most of
these super Christians. I don't fit their mold, or I
can't reach their high standards. But do you know what God hates
more than anything else? God hates self-righteousness,
which is another word for pride, or being proud of what you are,
what you have, what you do, or what you don't do. It's thinking
we're something when the Scripture says we're nothing. It's thinking
we can do something on our own when Scripture says without Him,
without God, we can do nothing. It's thinking we're good or thinking
we're righteous or thinking that God sure must take notice of
me because I'm such a good fellow. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ,
tells a story in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 18. If you have
a Bible, you can follow along with me in Luke, chapter 18.
The Lord Jesus Christ tells the story of two men who came to
the temple, or came to the church house, two very different men. One of them was real religious. He was a church-going fellow,
a very moral fellow. And the other fellow was just,
well, he was just an out-and-out bad fellow. In Luke chapter 18,
I'm reading beginning with verse 9, and Christ spake this parable,
it says, unto certain which trusted in themselves, believed in themselves,
that they were righteous and despised others, or they trusted
in themselves or believed that they were righteous, and they
looked down on other people. Well, verse 10 says that two
men, our Lord tells this story of two men, went up into the
temple, or today it would be called the church house, to pray
or to worship, went to the service. One was a Pharisee and the other
a publican. The equivalency today would be
these men would be like one of them a deacon or a Sunday school
teacher, and the other would be just an old party fellow. Or these could be women as well. One could be a lifelong church-going
woman, and the other one be a common street walker. Well, look at
verse 11 now. The Lord continues. And he said,
the Pharisee, the first man, the religious fellow, the temple-goer,
the Pharisee stood, or the deacon, you could say, or the Sunday
school teacher, he stood up, it said. He wanted everybody
to see him, so he stood up. And it says that he prayed thus
with himself. He prayed out loud. He prayed
with himself. He really wasn't praying to God,
but he just liked the sound of his own voice. Why, he prayed
everywhere. He prayed in all public places
and restaurants and everywhere. He wanted everybody to know that
he was a good Christian. So he prayed thus with himself. And listen to what he said. God,
I thank Thee that I am not And on and on he goes. Now, if you'll
notice in this prayer, there's one thing that sticks out more
than anything else. There's a big capital letter
throughout this prayer. Five times you'll find the big
I in this man's prayer. I, I, I. Well, if this fellow
drove an automobile, he would have a bumper sticker on it that
begins this way with a big I. I love Jesus, or I this, I that. And he says, God, why He's so
proud, He's so sure of Himself, why He's saved and is sure for
heaven as if He's already there, he thinks. Why? Why does he think this way? Because
of what he does and what he does not do. Listen to him. He says,
I thank Thee that I am not as other men are extortioners, unjust,
adulterers, or even as this publican over here. I'm not a sinner.
Why, I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't cuss, I don't chew, I
don't run around on my wife. I'm no sinner. I either have never sinned, liquor's
never touched my lips, or I either that or I gave that up long time
ago, and I don't do that anymore. Listen to him. He goes on. Verse
12, I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. While I go to church, I teach
Sunday school. I tithe. I pray. I read my Bible. I, I, I, I. I act right. I walk right. I live right. I
dress right. Ain't I something? I'm sure glad
I'm no sinner like that fellow over there. Surely, God, surely
You're proud of me. Why, I am. Well, the Scripture
says this. Over in 2 Corinthians 10, verse
18, it says this, "...not he that commendeth himself is approved,
but whom the Lord commended." We are going to see that there
is only one thing that will commend us to God or cause God to look
on us with approval. Now, look at this other fellow,
the publican. in verse 13. Listen to him. It says, "...the publican standing
afar off." Now, remember, the publican here, he's a sinner. He would represent today a party
fellow, a common person, a streetwalker, a loose lady perhaps. And his
prayer is a very short prayer. He doesn't have much to say.
No boasting or bragging, only begging in his prayer. Well,
look at it. Verse 13, it says, "...standing
afar off." Or that is, he's not worthy to be down front with
those good religious folks, those good church-going folks. He doesn't
feel worthy to be in their company. It says, "...he would not lift
up so much as his eyes unto heaven." There's no show of religion here,
no great elaborate prayer, no pious look on his face. He doesn't
change his voice either when he's praying. And he can't even
look up. He's just ashamed of himself.
Ashamed to look up. And look what it says. It says,
he smote upon his breast. Or that is, he beat on his chest.
As if to say, I can't do what I want to do. There's something
in me that makes me do what I don't want to do. And it keeps me from
doing what I want to do. There's no good in me. In my
flesh dwelleth no good thing. And all he can pray is this.
Here's what he said, God be merciful to me, a sinner. Original copies read this way,
God be merciful to me, the sinner. Not the best man like that Pharisee
over there. I'm the worst. I'm the chief
of sinners. And do you know what he's saying
here, what he's really saying here when he says, God be merciful. The word merciful means propitious. That's not just a fancy religious
word. What that means is, let the blood
be a covering for me, for my sins on the mercy seat. These people back then knew what
the mercy seat was in the temple, what the blood was and all. That's
what he's saying here. Let the blood cover my sins on
the mercy seat. I'm coming to the mercy seat.
I need mercy. I'm guilty. I need mercy. And
there's only one thing that I need. I need blood. Now, let me explain
this. The only reason that God Almighty
accepts or approves of any human being on this planet is not because
of anything they have done or anything they quit doing. But only what Jesus Christ does
for some people. It's only if Jesus Christ, now
Jesus Christ, the scripture said, is the only man approved of God. The only human being to ever
live on this planet whom God said, he's holy, he's righteous,
he's good. One time a fellow came to Christ
and said, good master, and Christ stopped him and said, wait a
minute, why do you call me good? There's none good but God. That's
what the Scripture says. Scripture says there's none righteous,
no, not one. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. Jesus Christ, only man, only
human being ever live on this planet who did good, who was
righteous, who was holy. That means in thought as well
as action, in word as well as deed. God looks on the heart. And God looked at Christ inside
and out, and He was holy, perfect. No human being that has ever
lived can say that. And only if what Jesus Christ
did as a man, only if He charges that to you, or impute, that's
what the scriptural word is in Romans 4, impute. That means
charge it to you. If God charges you with what
Jesus Christ did, or that is, his holy life, and charges or
imputes to him your sinful life, only then will you be accepted
by God. And Jesus Christ will pay for
your sin. That's the only way that God
can approve of a human being. That's what this blood is all
about. That's what his death is all about. His blood was shed. That means he died to pay for
those sins that I committed. And God said it long before,
when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. That means your sins
have been paid for. And when I see you in Christ
covered with His righteousness, when I see the blood that paid
for your sins, I'll pass over you. I'll declare you not guilty. I'll justify you. I'll accept
you in the Beloved, in the Son." That's what this fellow was praying
for. Let the blood be payment for my sin. Be merciful to me. I'm just a sinner. Well, look
at what Christ said about these two men. Now, remember, it's
not who man approves of, but whom God approves of. And it
says here in verse 14, Christ said, I tell you, this man, this
publican, this sinner, went down to his house justified. Justified. This fellow, this
sinner, went down justified, declared not guilty, holy, righteous,
rather than the other. Not the religious fellow. Not
the moral fellow. Because he says, everyone that
exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted. Well, this is what made religious
folks fighting mad at Christ, but it made the average or common
folk glad. He said, I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. You see, there's no good people
allowed, only sinners. Now, this is real religion. for
real people who have a real sin problem. What about you? Well, if you would like this
message on cassette tape, write to us and we'll send it to you
free of charge. Until next Sunday, good day. All right, good day.