It's unusual, but in a moment
you'll see why. I've entitled it, Resume for Mercy. The Resume
for Mercy. Now, some of you, like me, have
probably applied in which you were required to
submit an application, a job application, along with what
is called a job resume. Some of you know what I'm speaking
of. And in that resume that you wrote to the employer, you listed
all of your previous jobs that you worked, all of your qualifications. your skills and in general information
about yourself and your family. And what you're aiming at in
writing that resume, what you're aiming at, your goal is to impress
the employer into hiring you. To impress them into hiring you. You're wanting to sell yourself
to that employer. to the one who is doing a hiring. Everything that you write in
that resume should in some way recommend you for that job. I'll give you an example here.
I have a resume here that I wrote about six, no, about, oh, eight
months ago. I was applying for a job with
Ashland Oil in Ashland, Kentucky, a large corporation there. And
needless to say, I wanted to make a favorable impression.
I wanted to do the best I could in writing this resume. So I
tried to make it very impressive, and I'll read it to you briefly.
It was addressed to this man, Mr. Stevens, Ashland Oil Incorporated,
and I said this, Dear Mr. Stevens, After recently submitting
an application for the position of such-and-such job, I am now
enclosing my resume. I am confident, and you want
to be confident, you want to feel the same that you're in
charge, I am confident that my personal work experience, my
aptitude, attitude, will qualify me for this position. For the
past fifteen years, I've been involved in such-and-such, and
more extensively involved in recent years, for the past six
years, in such-and-such. I am conscientious, I am loyal,
I'm a good listener, and a fast learner. And, above all else,
I have an old-fashioned diligence I do appreciate your consideration
and am available for a personal interview. Sincerely, Paul E. Mayhem. Well, as a result of
that resume, I was granted the first interview for that job. I was told later that more people
applied for that job than any other. And I was the very first
one interviewed. And I don't mind telling you,
I knew somebody on the side. But I went to that interview
dressed in this very suit, dressed to perfection, what I think perfection. You may not think so. But I thought
I had that job. The fellows that interviewed
me, there were two of them. I had a portfolio with me of
things that I had done, accomplishments and so forth, pictures and all.
And I thought I had the job, didn't I? I thought it was mine
for the taking, for the asking. And I'll get to the point here
in a moment, but I will tell you this. I didn't get the job. I couldn't understand it. But now I know, between us, this
was last February. And I didn't get that job last
February with this company, or else I would be with them right
now. But I'm here, you see. I see
God's providence in that. I wouldn't be here now if I had
got that job. At any rate, I tried to do my
best. I tried my best to impress the
people with that company into hiring me. I tried to convince
them that they needed me, that they needed me. And, I tried
to show them how incredible it was that they'd gotten along
this long without me. Evidently, I didn't convince
them. But, I ask you, in light of that, if you heard that God Almighty
was accepting applications or resumes for entrance into heaven
and heaven? What would you write about yourself? It's a good question, isn't it? If you knew that God Almighty
was accepting applications or taking resumes I say that reverently
because that's foolishness. It's not taking a written resume
from anyone. But if he were, what would you
write about yourself? What would you say in order to
impress God into taking you into his kingdom? What would you say?
If he were to grant you a personal interview, face-to-face, to speak
with you, how would you act? How would you dress? What would you say? Well, the Scriptures do indeed
say that God is indeed taking some people into His kingdom, and many from eternity past,
many from day one, have applied for entrance into His kingdom. Turn to Exodus, chapter 33. Look
at the book of Exodus, chapter 33. Here is scriptural proof that God
is indeed taking people into his kingdom, that he indeed is
going to be merciful. Look at Exodus, chapter 33, verse
19. Moses asked God to show him his
glory. And the Lord said, this was his
glory. This was the ultimate revelation of his person. Verse
19, he said, God said, I will make all my goodness pass before
thee, and I will, it's certain, I will proclaim the name of the
Lord before thee. And I will be gracious. That is, give to some what they
do not deserve. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. And I will show mercy on whom
I will show mercy. It's in my hands, this thing
of salvation. But indeed, I am going to save
someone. That's what he's saying. I will
show mercy. God indeed will show mercy. And some people have found that
mercy. I will. You see, it's true. God has been and is going to
be good, gracious, merciful by granting some people eternal
life. So, I ask you, how would you
apply for it? How do you apply for it? How
have you applied for it? if indeed you have. Well, I want
you to look at two examples with me of two men that did. Luke, chapter 18. We'll stay
right here in Luke, chapter 18, for every one turn. Here are
two examples. Two men who approached God Almighty
for different reasons. Nevertheless, these two men came
to God. They have come to speak with
this God who is going to show mercy, who is going to save,
who will save. In verse 9 it says, Our Lord
Jesus Christ is speaking here, and He spake this parable, this
story, verse 9, unto certain which trusted in themselves. He spake this parable to certain
individuals in His company who believed in themselves. They
believed that they were confident in themselves. They were confident
of themselves and their ability to do just about anything and
everything that they set their mind to. They were confident.
They needed no help from anyone. They were independent people.
Had their own mind and a free will, if you will. A free will. You take this parable of the
person which trusted in themselves, look at it, verse 9, that they
were righteous. These people, these religious
fellows or ladies, they trusted that, and they felt certain that
if anybody would make it, they would. They said, much like Mr. Falwell says, that they were
sure for heaven as if they were already there. Anybody makes
it, I will, they thought. I have all the qualifications
for heaven. And it says they despised others. They thought this person, these
people, thought, well, nobody quite like me. Nobody quite like
me. Everybody else is substandard
compared to me. Much like I do. And that company. Yeah, I'm the
best man for the job. God needs me. That's what these
people thought. So two men, look at it, verse
ten, two men went up into the temple to pray. Now, both of
these men knew this much, that God had ordained one place for
them to come and worship. Back then, for the Jews, the
only place that they could meet with God Almighty was in the
temple. Evidently, both of these men
had been taught from a child. that the temple was the place
you were to go and to worship God, that God spoke to men and
women in the temple. They knew that much. Somebody
taught them that. Even so, today, a lot of people
are going to church, aren't they? A lot of people go to church,
they say. And, well, they should, for the
Scripture plainly requires us to, plainly says, forsake not
the assembling of yourselves together. The Scriptures say,
give attendance to reading, to education, to doctrine. The Scriptures
say. It tells us to pray. These men
prayed also. They went to church, and they
started praying. And the Scriptures plainly tell
us to do so. Pray without ceasing. And everything give thanks. Ask in his name. Call upon the
Father. These are commandments. These
are mandates laid down by God. So they were doing that much,
these two men. They were doing that much, what
was required. I want you to look at these two fellows now. Two
men went up into the temple to pray, verse ten. The one, a Pharisee. Now, you may or may not know
anything about a Pharisee, but back then, back in these days,
a Pharisee was by outward appearances the finest man on the face of
the earth. citizens in all the land, the
Pharisees were. They were outwardly pious, devout,
seemingly holy men, these Pharisees. They were strict observers of
all the laws, the rules, the regulations, and the traditions.
They were careful to dot every i and cross every t of the law.
They dare not do anything without consulting the law. They were
morally or outwardly perfect. They were blameless. No one held
them blamable for anything. They were revered and respected
by all people. Everybody everywhere called these
Pharisees Master, Teacher, Rabbi, Doctor, you know, the right reverend. Some of them called them Father,
perhaps, Father so-and-so. right reverend doctor, teacher,
so and so. You see, a Pharisee was man at
his best state. Man at his best state was a Pharisee. What does God call him? Vanity. God says man at his best state
is altogether vanity. But the men and women A Pharisee
was the best man on earth. Now look at the other fellow.
It says the one a Pharisee and the other a Publican. Even the
word sounds evil. It was to these Jews back then.
Publican. When you mention the name Publican,
he's a Publican. Publican. A Publican was to the
Jews the worst man on earth. Despicable man. What he was was
a turncoat. He was a Jew who was in league
with the Roman government to collect taxes from the Jewish
people, and the Roman government gave him leeway to exact from
those taxes to take some cream off the top. So, he was dealing
underhandedly and wickedly with his own people. He was reaping
where he hadn't sown. He was reaping from other people's
misery. He was taking a percentage. He
was kind of a collection agent, you know. When people couldn't
pay the bills, somebody called you on the phone, you owe, you
owe. You won't much care for that job. That's not going to
be your bosom buddy, that collection agent. Now, that's what these
publicans were. And, as a result of that job,
they were probably very wicked and immoral fellows. I'm sure
that when they reported back to the Roman government, The
governor or whoever was in charge of taking his money, I'm sure
he and the publican got together and kind of pocketed a little
bit, you know. Pocketed a little bit, and then
they went out and had a drink together. Good buddies. Went out and partied
together and all. Wicked and marred. Cohorts with
the Romans, which the Jews hated. The Romans. These oppressive
Romans. And this publican, these publicans
were hated and despised by all. They were ignored. in all of
Jewish society. They couldn't have any part in
Jewish society, especially worship. They didn't want them in the
temple. Don't come in our assembly. You publicans aren't wanted here.
When they talked about sinners, they said publican in the same
breath. They said that about Christ. And the Pharisees said,
He's a friend of publicans and sinners. So here they are, these two fellows.
These two men are coming to the temple, and they're about to pray to
God Almighty. Now, if you were to ask anybody, anyone, to choose
between these two men, to choose which one that God Almighty would
accept, which one God would hear the prayer of, if you were to
ask anybody, 100 out of 100 would say the Pharisee. No doubt. Or he lives a religious life.
Surely God will hear him. Surely God will accept this religious
man. He's here every day. He's here
in the church all the time. He's outwardly moral. He's blameless. Nobody can find any fault with
him. He prays a good prayer. He talks a good talk. He looks
the part. Surely God will accept this man. Republicans? No way. No way. We know when they said this to
that blind man, the man was healed, they said, we know God doesn't
hear sinners. Remember that? So here these two fellows are
in the temple. Look at the first one, the Pharisee, verse 11. The Pharisee, now he came out
of habit. He came out of duty. It was Sunday
morning, time to go to church. His wife, if he had a wife, probably
woke him up, honey, get out of bed, it's time to go to church.
Now he might not have wanted to go. He might have been reluctant. But he thought, what will people
think? I'm a Pharisee. I'm supposed to be there on Sunday
morning. I'm a Christian. I'm supposed to be there. I'll
wake up. I'll go. It's my duty. I've got
to go. So he dressed in his finest.
He went down to the church house full of pride, knowledge, and
he quotes scripture. Pharisees quote scripture from
front to back. Look at verse 11. It says he, the Pharisee,
came into that temple. He came down front. Everybody's
greeting him. Hello, Rabbi. Hello, Doctor.
How are you today? Oh, fine, brother. Amen, brother. Hallelujah. And he came, and
it says, and he stood down front. He stood. I believe he stood so as to be
seen by everybody around him. He was too proud to bend. Too
proud to kneel. Too proud to get in the dust.
before God. But he stood. He stood. And it says here in verse 11,
that he prayed thus with himself. He prayed with himself. He really wasn't talking to God.
He just wanted everybody else to hear him. He just wanted most
of all to hear himself. You know, when he got through
with his prayer, I'm sure he'd sit down and talk to the rest of
us. He praised us with himself. He
didn't really need anything from God anyway. I mean, he was rich
and increased with goods and had need of nothing. He was righteous,
as sure for heaven as if he was already there. What's he mean
with a faker now? He didn't need mercy. Mercy's a sin. But he'd take all the honor he
could get. He liked to hear the adulation when he walked in.
And he said this in verse 11. He said, God? He probably had
his hands in the air, you know, lifting up holy hands. God? It's me again. Here I am. Here I am. And you
know, this is what galls me about this religious generation that
rush into a restaurant And in the midst of all the clamor of
the dishes and all the foolish talk, they'll be talking about
anything in the world, any foolish subject in the world, and then
immediately drop their head and say something for about 10 seconds
and raise their head. You're talking to God? Rush into God's presence as if
God is waiting in heaven, just waiting for so-and-so to pray
to Him. That's all you can answer. Now, wait, wait, wait. Hold it
here. Somebody's going to pray to me. That's blasphemy. That sort of
thing is blasphemy. That's making a mockery of prayer.
You don't pray like that. Besides the fact, Christ said
in Matthew 6, He said, You take heed. You be careful how you
do your alms before men, not to be seen as men. When you pray,
He said, get in the closet so nobody will know what you're
doing. Don't pray to be seen as men like these parishes do,
and that's what everybody's doing. And He said, God, I think, see,
he said this out of habit. It was the right thing to say. He said it out of duty, out of
habit. It was always what he said. It was always the way he
preceded his prayer. Much like people say, in Jesus'
name, at the end of theirs. It's the thing to say, in Jesus'
name. Now, if you'll write to us, I'll send you this book.
They don't even get the praise out of her until they're wanting
to sell their little book, aren't they? In Jesus' name. And if you'll write to me, I'll
tell you how to live a better life, and I'll keep it. That's
black. And that's what this guy said.
I thank thee that I'm not as other men are. Extortioners,
unjust, adulterers. I'm not as other men are. He
couldn't wait to get to this. He wanted to get the thanks out
of the way, so he could get to the tooting of his own horn.
After all, you know, they say if you don't toot your own horn,
nobody else will. He said, God, I think, see, I'm not as other
men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers. I don't drink. I
don't smoke. I don't chew. I don't cuss. I
go to church on Sunday. I wouldn't work or be. I've been married to the same
woman for 35 years. I grew up in church. I set Sunday
school records for attendance since I was a boy, and when I
grew up, they said great things about me, and I went to seminary.
I graduated with honors. I got my B.A., my M.A., my M.D.,
my D.D., and a lot of B.A.s. I have the largest Southern Baptist
church now in the district, and last month I baptized more people
than any other church. God, I thank you for what I've
done. I have much to be thankful for. And he says this, he says, I'm
sure no publican. I'm not as other men are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers. I'm sure not a publican. In other
words, he was saying, I'm sure no sinner. If you ask this man, are you
a sinner? And if you ask 99 out of 100 people in this world,
are you a sinner before God? Condemned in yourself. Do you
deserve to go to hell before God Almighty? Ask 99 out of 100
and they'll say, no, no, no. I go to church. I made a decision
when I was 12. I'm not that bad. I'm not as
bad as so-and-so. Are you a sinner? Me? No. No way. I'm a saint. Look at verse 12. He says, I
fast twice in the week. Ask anybody. You know, Christ
said, when they fast, they like to disfigure their faces so everybody
else would know they're fasting. He said, I fast twice a week.
Just ask anybody, they'll tell you. I give tithes, look at this,
I give tithes of all that I possess. I'm the first one down there
to lay my money into play. Just ask anybody. I'm a member,
I've been a long-standing member of the 700 clubs, the 1500 clubs,
the 3000 clubs, the 144,000 clubs, and the 238,342 clubs. I'm a member of
the Baptist Church, the Baptist Bride, the Southern Baptist Convention, I'm on the missionary board.
I give to the Red Cross. I'm a member of the Masons. I
go to PTO meetings. I'm on the Board of Education.
I'm a member of the Lions Club. I donated my eyes when I died.
I give tithes of all that I possess. I'm a lion man. God, here I am in case you need
me. And surely God must because this
man thought God had no hands but his hands and no feet but
his feet. God was a quadriplegic, he couldn't do anything without
this religious belt. So you're making fun of religion,
you better believe it. This is just what's going on
today. They're not worshiping God all night, in the day. but they're bragging on themselves
and one another. That's the reason they mention
everybody that comes in. We're glad to have Sister So-and-so
here this morning. We're glad to have Brother So-and-so. Brother
So-and-so has given his life to Jesus. Let's pat him on the
back. Let's have a big hand for Brother So-and-so. Nobody's praising
God. That's what this whole thing's
all about. Worship God. Well, there's another fellow
in this story. Look at him. Verse 13. And it says the public
came. The public came. In the temple? What's he doing
here? Everybody was there and thought,
what's he doing in here? He doesn't belong in here. Why
he bothered to come, nobody knew. Much like if some known prostitute
in this town came walking in. Maybe this goes on. I don't know
how we would react. If a known prostitute or some
drunk off the street, you've probably seen this fellow that
walks the streets all the time. If some derelict off a park bench
somewhere came walking into our services, how would we react?
What's he doing here? And you know, that's what this
publican thought. That's what he thought. He thought, well,
I don't belong in there. In recent days, past days, he
had heard from somebody, maybe a believer, maybe a Pharisee
had, in condemnation, said, no, God's angry with the wicked every
day. God will know I'm clearly guilty. Maybe he said, the soul
that sinned must surely die to this publican, and the publican
heard it. Or maybe some believer said it
in true hope of his conviction and his repentance, is that the
Holy Spirit must surely die. And God is angry with the wicked
every day. You need Christ. You need mercy at the hands of
this Holy God. At any rate, he heard these words,
and he thought, I've got to have mercy. I've got to have mercy. The word pricked his heart and
made him ashamed of what he was. It made him to see himself clearly
as being and no good, hell-deserving sinner, publican. But he had heard, he'd heard somewhere from somebody
that God has mercy to sinners, towards some sinners. That God
will show mercy to some sinners, and he thought, maybe, just Maybe,
maybe if I go down there, maybe I'll hear some about that mercy.
Maybe I'll get some mercy. Maybe God will hear me. Maybe,
I don't know. He doesn't deserve, or I don't
deserve to be heard by him. And he doesn't have to hear me.
What's he need with an old public? But maybe, maybe God will hear
me. Maybe for some reason. Look at
verse 13. And he came down and says he
stood afar off. He sat on the back row. He didn't
want to be seen. He didn't want to be recognized
in this service. He didn't want to be heard by anybody but God. He sat standing apart off, and
he says he wouldn't lift up his eyes to heaven so much as his
eyes did. He didn't want to look anybody
in the eyes, certainly not God. But it says he slowed on his
breath. as if to beat the sin out of
him. Have you ever done that? Have
you ever felt so burdened by something? This is killing me. Have you? He smote on his breath,
and it says, he said, God be merciful to me, the sinner. God be, he said to himself there.
See that? Saying, God be merciful. Whether
he said this out loud or to himself, it doesn't really matter. But
in his heart, he asked, he begged, Lord, I beg you, forgive me. Now, it wasn't a silly little
prayer that he recited after the preacher told him to do it.
This was his heartfelt desire, Lord, be merciful. God, I beg
your forgiveness, because I'm not like other men. I'm not. I'm the worst man on earth. I'm
a wretched, vile, wicked, hell-deserving sinner, and Lord Jesus is mine." He said, be merciful to me. He
said, I've heard, Lord, that there's no way that I can approach
this holy God without perfect righteousness and holiness. That
there's no way I can approach God's throne without the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So let His blood be propitiation
for my soul. Let his righteousness cover my
sinful soul. Make him to be sin for me, who
knew no sin, that I might be made the righteousness of God
in him. That God can accept me. God be merciful. Be perpetual
toward me. Let the blood cover my sinful
soul. That's the only way I can approach
you. That's what he was saying here. Show mercy to me. I sure need it. But look at verse 14. Now, Lord
Jesus Christ now is speaking, and He says, I tell you, I tell you. Who's speaking here? He who has
all authority. He who does the deciding, who
gets saved. He who has the keys of hell and
death and decides, says, I tell you. I tell you, this man went
down to hear how holy God Almighty accepts that man, not this religious,
pious fellow that you think he ought to accept. That man, the
publican, yes, that man, God accepts and is justifies that
man, that man. He said in other places, to this
man will I look, to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit,
contrite heart and trembles at my word. The Pharisee could quote it,
but he wasn't trembling at it. Christ said, for sinners such
as he, I was made sin. It's for fellows like him that
I came down here. He said, I didn't come to call the righteous, but
sinners. Oh, good sinners. I didn't come
to help those who helped themselves. I came to help the helpless.
I didn't come to heal sick folks. I came to raise from the dead.
sinners that are dead and trespassing in sin. And this is a faithful
Savior, and mark it down, it's worthy to be accepted, to be
bowed to by everybody, that Christ Jesus came in the world to save
sinners. He said in another place, you
go and learn what that means. Go and learn what this means,
and if you don't hear another word I say today, go and learn
what this means, what Christ said. He said, God will have
mercy, not sacrifice. God won't taste anything we do. He'll have mercy on sinners.
He's not looking for our good deeds. He's not accepting the
best we can do. He's accepting only perfection
in Christ. Well, he said, I tell you, I
tell you, that man went down to his house, justified, declared
innocent of all charges, guiltless, holy, unblameable, unreprovable,
and God Almighty accepted in the Beloved rather than the other. And look at this. the moral of
the story, the moral of the parable, everyone that exalteth himself
shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
Only the man who sees God as he is, and himself in the dust
before that God, only that man is going to be accepted by God. Only the woman who says this
in her heart, he must be in Christ, I must be in Christ, only that
woman will ever see God, will ever experience salvation. And
I ask you, how do you come to God? Can you pray, can you sing that
song, In My Hand, No Price I Bring? I have nothing. My righteousness,
my best words, my prayers, everything I have, filthy rags in God's
eyes. My righteousness are filthy rags. Can you pray that? Do you
say that? In my hand, no cross. My brain God doesn't know anything
I've got. He doesn't need anything. Simply to thy cross, the cross,
the Christ on the cross I claim. Is that your prayer? Let me close
by giving you this. I feel stressed. country, there was a king, a great and
mighty king. And this king one day determined
that he was going to pardon someone. So he told the keepers of the
jail, the warden, that he was going to come down to the prison,
he was going to disguise himself, and he was going to go into the
prison and play the part, look the part
of one of those prisoners in order to pardon one of those
prisoners. He was going to pardon whomever
he saw fit to pardon. So he did. He put on a disguise,
some old prison clothes. And the keepers of the jail,
the jail keeper and the guards and all, they knew him well,
and they were keeping a close eye on him while he was in there,
while he was in prison. So the king went down into that
prison. He looked like a prisoner, but
he was a king. And he walked around the jailhouse
yard, and he walked up to one fellow, and he said, Bud, why
are you here? He said, oh, I was falsely accused.
I got blackmailed. I'm innocent. I wasn't around
to accuse him of murder and rape, but I wasn't in on that. His
old Joe over there, he did it. So the disguised king said, oh.
So he walked on to another fella, walked up to him and said, Bud,
what are you doing in here? What are you serving time for?
Oh, he says, I've had a poor upbringing. My folks didn't have
much, and I was raised in the ghetto, and consequently I had
to steal for a living. But, you know, I only did it
to feed my family and all. And I really didn't mean anything
by it. It was really just harmless.
But I'm in here. I wish they'd let me out. I don't
deserve to be in here. So the disguise king said, oh,
okay. So he walked on in, and he noticed over in the corner,
It was a fella crouched down in the corner, and he looked
like he was crying. And he walked over to the fella and said, But,
sir, what's wrong? And the fella said, I'm scheduled to die, sir. I'm to go on death's throw real
soon. And the king said, Well, why?
Why, what'd you do? He said, Oh, I'm a foul fella. He said, I got into some trouble,
and I was in trouble all my life. He said, I got in a fight and
killed a seller during a robbery, and they put me in here. He said,
I'm getting what I deserve. They're going to kill me, and
rightly so. I deserve it. Oh, my. I'm going to die. The king said,
no, you're not. He said, come on, you're going
with me. You don't belong in here with all these good folks.
I'm going to pardon you. You see, I'm the king. I look
like everybody else, but I'm the king. And he told the jail
keepers, open the door. And me and this fella are coming
out pretty. And they did. And he went through. Do you see what that's talking
about? You see who that's talking about. Christ came down here,
made, born of a woman, made in the likeness of sinful flesh,
looking for sinners, looking for his sheep, who are all sinners,
who know themselves to be what they are. And he comes across
a good person, a fair estate. Oh, I'm not as bad as other men.
I've gone to church. All these things, like that rich
young ruler, all these things I've kept from my youth up. I
really don't deserve to go to hell. Oh, okay. That's where
you're going. But it comes to an old sinner
like you or me who says, Lord, I'm getting what I deserve. Would
you please show mercy to me? He says, all right. I will give
mercy. And he delights to show mercy.
And I ask you, do you need mercy? Do you need mercy? Stand with me now as we get to
the temporary.