Back in Luke 18, I have a message
this morning for the worst of sinners. If you don't consider
yourself a sinner, then I pray that God will show you that you
are. Now some of you here this morning readily confess that
you're not only a sinner, but you're the worst sinner that
ever lived. And I'm pretty well convinced that all believers
think that of themselves. The Apostle Paul did. He told
Timothy, he said, Timothy, there's a faithful saying that's worthy
of all acceptance. That Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. of whom I am chief." That word
chief simply means the worst of the worst. The first in rank. Paul's saying that there's no
sinner that's worse than he. And I just read to you the best
news, if you're a sinner, that you'll ever hear. And that is
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He came to save
the chief of sinners, the worst of the worst. And if you're a
sinner, then this message is for you. And it doesn't matter
how vile, how depraved, how wicked a sinner you are. Christ came
to save folks. like you. I suppose of all the
parables that Christ used to illustrate the gospel and how
to approach God for mercy, I don't think that there's probably a
more clear one than the story we have before us of the Pharisee
and the Publican. This parable is very clear about
the kind of person that Christ came to save, and it's very clear
on how that sinner comes to Christ. And you've heard many messages
and references to this amazing story, I know, but maybe Just
maybe, God in sovereign mercy and grace will show us afresh
and anew this morning the gospel which is good news to the worst
of sinners. Look at verse 9 again with me.
And He, being Christ, spake this parable unto certain which trusted
in themselves, that they were righteous and despised others. Now notice here in verse 9 who
Christ intended to hear this parable. First of all, it says
it's spoken to certain ones. There were certain among Him
this day whom the Scriptures say here trusted in themselves. That's what we have a lot in
religion today. We've got men and women who trust
in themselves. that they were righteous and
they despised others. These folks still exist. The
story we're about to hear was for the benefit of those that
first trusted in themselves. Are you here this morning trusting
in yourself? Second, this story was for those
who trusted in themselves that they were righteous. If you trust
in yourself, it means that you're trusting in your own righteousness,
which God says is nothing but filthy rags. Are you trusting
this morning in filthy rags? If you are, they'll never save
you. The Apostle Paul was clear and direct when he wrote to Titus.
In Titus 3.5, he said, Salvation is not by works of righteousness
which you've done, but according to His mercy He saved us. It's by mercy that God saves
sinners. And thirdly, this parable was
written to certain who trusted in themselves that they were
righteous. And notice the characteristic
of those who do that. This is always the fruit that
follows self-righteous folks that are trusting in themselves.
They despise others. No one is as good as they are.
No one knows God better than they do. No one has done more
for God than they have. They simply despise others while
loving themselves. So let's look closely at this
parable, and I promise not to keep you long. This parable that
Christ spoke to these self-righteous, despising ones who trusted only
in themselves. First he tells us in verse 10
that two men went up into the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee
and the other a publican. He's talking about two men. They
were two completely different men. One was a Pharisee. In the eyes of religion, and
especially of the Jews, the Pharisee was the best of the best. He
was the one who everyone admired and everyone made a fuss over.
Oh, there goes a Pharisee. Look at him in his fine religious
robe. His eyes are stuffed with prayers. What a holy and righteous man
he is. The other was a publican. considered
the worst of the worst. He was a tax collector. Look
at what this Pharisee prayed in verses 11 and 12. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank Thee that I'm not
as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even this
publican. I fast twice in the week. I give
tithes of all that I possess." First, the inspired word of God
tells us that he really didn't pray anything. He prayed thus
with himself, it says. He went up to the temple to pray,
but he didn't pray. There's no prayer in all that
he said. Was there any prayer in anything
that he said? He essentially prayed with himself,
and God didn't hear him. The Pharisee went up to the temple
to pray, but he forgot the most essential part of prayer. The
essential part of prayer was the confession of sin. The asking
for grace and mercy to help in the time of need. That's what
prayer is. He didn't have any sins to confess. He had nothing but wonderful
things to say about himself. Wonderful virtues to brag about.
Do you know why? He trusted in himself. That he
was righteous. And he made it obvious that he
despised others. But what did he say that makes
you think that? He said, I'm so glad. I am so
glad that I'm not like other men. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not unjust. I'm not an adulterer. And I'm sure not like this publican
standing here in the back. But the sad thing is, my friends,
he was all those things. He was all those things. All
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And I can assure
you that if he hadn't done them outwardly, he had done them inwardly.
God made it plain in this book that you hold this morning in
your hands from the same chapter of Romans 3 that says, "...all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God." But there
is none, how many? None righteous. And he reiterates
by saying, Toe, not a one. None. There is none. How many? None that understandeth. There
is none. How many? None that seeketh after
God. They are all. How many? All. Everyone. Gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable.
There is none that doeth good. No, not one. How many? None.
Not a single one. And after the Pharisee told God
all that he wasn't, he started telling him all that he was.
I fast twice in the week, and I give tithes. I give. I'm a giver, God. Do you think
God was impressed? Why do self-righteous men and
women try to impress God? But this publican's prayer, it
was quite different, wasn't it? I'm going to tell you something,
it wasn't nothing but prayer. The Pharisees didn't have a word
of prayer in them, and his wasn't nothing but prayer. It was a
pure, unadulterated prayer throughout, from beginning to end. I read
one commentator on this who said that this old publican's prayer
was like a holy telegram. I like that. A holy telegram
to God Almighty. So let's look at it together,
and I'm going to give you four things concerning this man whose
prayer was heard. 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. Now my first point is salvation
and forgiveness is for sinners. The worst of the worst. Salvation
is for the worst of the worst. Are you a sinner? Do you qualify? I do. I qualify. That's what I am. And if you'd
be saved today, dear friend, you need not say, oh, I'm too
guilty. I'm too guilty. Therefore, there's no need for
me to approach God. No, no, no. Never ever think
that you're so guilty. there would be too daring a thing
for you to come to God for mercy." The publican was a sinner, but
out of a desperate need. See, that's the difference. Now,
the King James Version says that he said, God be merciful to me,
a sinner. But in the margin of the Revised
Standard Edition, It actually read this way. It renders the
interpretation as saying, God be merciful to me, the sinner. I like that. I like that. I think that's scriptural. Paul said, I'm the chief of sinners. I'm the sinner of all sinners.
And it's the same as I said with every chosen man or woman to
whom God's revealed to them their sin. They consider themselves
the sinner. They're not concerned with the
sins of those around them. They're concerned with theirs.
I'm THE sinner. They consider themselves the
worst of the worst. Now the Pharisee was the best
of the best in his own mind, but this publican who stood afar
off from the holy place was THE sinner. As if there was not another
sinner in the world, he was one. And in a world of sinners, he
was a horrific offender. The sinner of sinners. And the
amazing thing to me concerning this man and all the real sinners
in the world is that he still cried and asked for mercy. God
be merciful to me, the sinner. Now if you flippantly consider
yourself a sinner, and I've heard men do that, well yeah, I'm a
sinner, I know I'm a sinner. Just flippantly consider themselves
a sinner, you probably won't plead to God for mercy. I was a flippant sinner one time.
Oh yeah, I'm a sinner, I know I'm a sinner. But if you mourn
that you're not only a sinner, But the sinner with that definite
article D in front of it. D sinner. The sinner above all
other sinners. And you will like blind Bartimaeus.
They'll tell you to hush up and you'll cry all the more. Jesus,
thou Son of David, have mercy on me. You need to be quiet,
you old blind beggar. Jesus, thou Son of David, have
mercy on me. Would you please be quiet? You're
causing a disturbance. Jesus, thou Son of David, have
mercy on me. And the Scriptures say the Lord
stood still. the worst, the most profane,
the most horrible of sinners may venture, as this man did,
to approach the God of mercy for mercy. God delights to show
mercy. And when that's been made clear
to a man's heart, he'll ask for mercy, especially if he sees
his desperate need. And I ask you, if this man found
forgiveness with God, then others in his condition can find it
also. But we must first see that redemption
is for desperate sinners, the sinners, the worst of the worst. Now, salvation by grace. Now,
stay with me on this. Salvation by grace implies that
men are guilty. Doesn't it? Salvation doesn't
mean the reward of righteousness, does it? It means the cleansing
of the unrighteous. Salvation is meant for the lost. Redemption. That word means redeemed,
purchased. Why would one who's not lost
need purchasing, need redemption. It's for the ruined, the undone,
and the blessings that it brings. A pardoning mercy and cleansing
grace is intended for guilty sinners. Guilty. Polluted. Our Lord said Himself,
behold, those that are not sick, they don't have need of a physician. Let me tell you something, the
great physician's got his eyes on the sick. Those that are well
don't have a need. That's the key, don't have a
need. My second point, sinners will confess that they have no
right to mercy. Now let me tell you friends,
if we confessed that we had a right to mercy, it wouldn't be mercy. Mercy is undeserved. Having a
deep sense of sin, now this is very important. I gave this a
lot of thought. Having a deep sense of sin does
not entitle men to God's mercy. Well, did this lost publican
say, God be merciful to me because I'm humble and lowly? Did he
say in his heart, Lord have mercy upon me because I'm not a Pharisee? Did he say, Lord have mercy on
me because I'm a publican but compared to other publicans I'm
not that bad? That's not what he said, did
he? No. For if he had, he'd been no different
than the Pharisee. Now, here's what I'm trying to
say. If you make a righteousness out of your feelings, you're
just as much out of the true way as if you made righteousness
out of your works. Now, let me say that again. If
you make righteousness out of your feelings... Oh, I tell you,
I'm just... I'm such a sinner. and you find
righteousness, your righteousness in that, it is no different than
if you considered your righteousness out of works. You're just proud
of your humility is all you are. Whether it's work or whether
it's a feeling, anything which is relied upon as a claim for
grace is against the message of God's sovereign grace in Christ
and it's not worthy of it. You can no more be saved because
of the awareness of your miseries than you can because of your
consciousness of so-called merits. There's no virtue in either one.
The publican trusted in God's divine mercy and not in his own
convictions. And you and I must do the same.
God shows us what we are. But we don't just say, oh, I
must be saved because I'm a sinner. No, we beg for mercy, don't we? Lord, be merciful in me, a sinner.
I like to imagine that an awful sense of sin somehow or another
constituted a claim upon God's mercy. It would be like giving
a reward to great sin. People might think, well, I've
never been a thief. I've never been a murderer. I've
never been an adulterer. Well, from what you're telling
me, I almost wish I had been. Then I might feel myself to be
the chief of sinners, the sinner, so that I could come to Christ.
Why would you wish such a ridiculous thing? There's no good in sin
in any way, shape, or form. And the truth of the matter is
that every man and woman has been these things inwardly. This is an inward thing. This
is an inward thing. It's not outwardly. And every
single one of us need mercy. A deeper sense of sin won't entitle
you to the mercy of God. You can't have any entitlement
to mercy except that mercy which the God of mercy gives you. Third
thing, God shows sinners how to approach Him. Did you know
that? God shows men, He shows sinners,
how to approach unto Him. Now I'd be willing to say, and
I think you'd agree with me, that this republican had probably
not been to the temple very often. Matter of fact, I would almost
say that he'd probably never been at all. But God and mercy
had taught him how to approach the God of mercy. First, notice
that instead of coming forward, walking up to the front, where
that old Pharisee was, that he stands afar off. He doesn't dare
to come where that respectable Pharisee is. It's up there tooting
his own horn. displaying himself in front of
others that are in the temple. You see, this republican does
not feel worthy. He leaves space between himself
and God. He leaves an opening for a mediator. He leaves room for an advocate.
He leaves a place for an intercessor to stand in the gap between him
and the throne of the Most High God. No, there he stands afar
off. Notice also that the verse says
that he would not so much as lift his eyes unto him. His downcast
eyes mean something. Our Lord doesn't say that he
could not lift up his eyes, but it says he would not. Because
it seemed presumptuous that such a sinner as he would even look
into the heavens toward where the holy God would dwell. He
stood afar off and he wouldn't even lift up his eyes. And you
know what? During this whole time, he kept
smiting upon his breasts. The original translation of this
doesn't say that he smote upon his breast once. No, he just... I'm just saying, can't you? It's
a continuous act. He seemed to say, oh, this wicked
heart. Oh, this wicked heart. His heart
had sinned, and he smote it. His eyes had led him astray,
and he made them look down to the earth. And he himself had
sinned by living afar from God, and he made himself stand far
from where he felt the presence of God to be. Every gesture that
he made was significant. And yet, they came spontaneously. Well, they didn't give him a
book before he went into the temple and said, now here's how
you're supposed to act while you're in the temple. No. These
things came natural to him because of his condition. Didn't have
any book of directions on how to behave. It was his sincerity,
dear friends, that guided him. God will guide a sinner on how
to approach him for mercy. I can assure you of that. And
the last thing. True repenting sinners always,
always, did you hear me? Always find grace. They always find grace. True
repenting sinners always find grace. His prayer was, God be
merciful to me a sinner. Do you know what the answer was? Verse 14, this man went down
to his house justified. There's the answer. There's the
answer. He went down to his house justified
rather than the other. Who was the other? Well, he was
that religious man up there bragging, telling God how significant he
was. What all he'd done. There are
others in that day of judgment who are going to say, Lord, didn't
we prophesy in your name? Didn't we do many wonderful works
in your name? And he's going to say, depart
from me, you doers of iniquity! I never knew you! Friends, that's the issue at
hand. You come broken like this publican,
asking for God's mercy, I'm going to tell you something, there's
a good chance that God knows you. Yes sirree. And this publican, he didn't
make any excuses for his sin. He was too honest before God
to do that. He's a sinner and he owns up
to it. And he humbly pleads, God be merciful to me, a sinner.
He doesn't make any future promises. He doesn't say, Lord be merciful
to me for the past and I'm going to do better in the future. You
know, that's what a lot of men do. Well, it's because preachers
say you need to straighten up and fly right. God's forgiven
you for your past, but now you've got to do better in the future.
No, not this man. He said, God, be merciful to
me, a sinner. Sinner is what I've always been,
it's what I am, what I'm going to always be until you come for
me in glory. And we as believers still pray
for mercy, don't we? Day in and day out. Lord, be
merciful to me, a sinner. That was his one and only request. And it says he went down to his
house justified rather than the other. Now, look at the last
part of verse 14. Everyone, everyone, You know what that means? It
means everyone. Everyone that exalteth himself. Who is this parable spoken to?
Those that trusted in themselves that they were righteous and
despised others. Everyone that exalteth himself
shall be abased. And he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted. May the Lord add His blessings
to the preaching of His Word.