I realize that some of you have
heard me preach these several years together, have listened,
been instructed, but you still have no faith. You're still under the wrath
of God. You're still perishing without
hope. Coming home yesterday, I asked God to give me a message for you. A message that you need. A message that he'll call you
to him. If ever you and I enter into
heaven, We must be redeemed by the blood of Christ. Our sins
must be atoned. Our sins must be put away. God's
justice must be satisfied, and only Christ's blood can do that. We must not only be redeemed,
but we must be made perfectly righteous in God's sight. That
is, we must stand before him as men and women who have completely
obeyed his law thought, word and deed. That too comes only
by Christ. Only Christ can make you righteous.
Only Christ is righteous and only Christ can bestow righteousness. And we're all by nature dead. Dead. I'm preaching to you. Some of you sitting here right
now are dead. Stone, cold, graveyard, dead. You don't have any life. And unless God Almighty comes
to you and gives you life, what I have to say today That's what I've had to say to
you all these hundreds of times. We'll just kindly float over
your head. You're not going to hear it.
Because you're dead. You're dead. You must be regenerated
by the Spirit of God. Unless God does that for you,
you will never be saved by his grace. Now those things we recognize
are so. Men must be redeemed, they must
be righteous, and they must be regenerated. It's all together
God's work. But hear me well. Now listen
to me. Listen to me. Everybody here,
give me your ear. If you think that somehow God's
gonna come to you, knock you in the head, and drag you to
heaven by the hair of your head, going to die in your sins. It
doesn't happen that way. If you think that God's going
to come and save you, and you fold your arms, make
up your mind not to seek him, not to call upon him, not to
plead for his mercy, say, well, if I'm one of God's elect, he'll
save me. If I'm redeemed, he'll save me.
If I'm If I'm to be born of his spirit, he'll cause me to be
born of his spirit. And you fold your arms and wait
on God. Let me tell you something. You're
going to perish in your sin. You're going to perish in your
sin. Nobody. Nobody will ever enter glory
except those who seek the Lord. Except those who believe on Christ. except those who repent of their
sins. Now, my friends, you're going
to have to seek him. You're going to have to call
on him. You're going to have to repent of your sins. You're
going to have to come to Christ. Are you going to perish? That's
true, isn't it, Lindsay? That's true. Now, that's. So,
well, I can't I can't reconcile those things together. I can't
either. Don't even make any difference
to me whether anybody can reconcile them together or not. I'm just
telling you it's so. I'm telling you it's so. Well,
I'll just wait. You'll be waiting when the angels
cast you into hell. You'll be waiting when the angels
of God gather his elect into heaven. You'll still be waiting,
David. David. Oh, I realize that Repentance,
faith are gifts of God as much as redemption, righteousness
and regeneration are gifts of God. But I realize that repentance
and faith are as necessary for salvation as redemption and righteousness
and regeneration. You're going to have to call
on the name of the Lord. I want to give you an example of just
how to do that. I am by far I am far from giving
you any kind of a formula to say do this and you'll be saved,
but I'll give you an example. I'll give you an example of a
man like yourself who sought the Lord, and he found him. He came to the house of God one
day like you. He came to the house of God seeking
mercy, and when he left the house of God he had attained Oh, I
pray, maybe somebody here has come seeking mercy. If you have,
you can obtain it. You can leave here this day with
mercy, with a pardon, with righteousness, with justification before God.
Look in Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18. There was a Jew. A Jew who was
a publican. This Jew had become one of the
most despised, degraded, corrupt of men in his society. He was
a Jew who collected taxes for the Roman government. The publicans
were not only traitors to the countrymen, but they were notoriously
vile and wicked, a horrid group of men. This particular publican
was rather well known. He was probably a notorious one
in his day. That's evident from the fact
that the Pharisee knew his evil deeds. This man had cruelly oppressed
the poor. He had broken the heritage of
widows. He had robbed the friendless
and the orphans. This man was a cursed, despised,
scorned man, despised by the Jews and scorned by the Romans.
Half of all that he possessed he had gotten by theft, if not
more. He was a totally selfish man. He had lived all his life only
to enrich himself. No matter who he had to trample
in the dust, no matter who he had to hurt, no matter who he
had to destroy, he lived for himself. But suddenly, for some
reason, this man's conscience began to bother him. His heart
was troubled. The Spirit of God, by some way
or another, had gotten hold of him. Up until this time, the
man had been without morals, without conscience, without feeling.
This publican didn't very often go into the temple. He knew that
he was not welcome in the temple. He knew that nobody there wanted
him there, and he knew that he didn't deserve to be there, and
he had no desire to be there. But in God's good providence
the Spirit of God met him and he made this man to think on
his ways. I don't know how that happened
but it does. If God's pleased to have mercy
on your soul he's going to make you think on your way. He's going
to cause the prodigal to come to himself. He's going to cause
the prodigal to think of his ways and his corruption and and
the end, the result of all that he is and all that he's done.
He'll cause you to come to yourself. Thank God he has ways of doing
that. Oh, this publican began to think
on the blackness of his heart and it began to give him pain.
He was full of trouble, but he kept it to himself. At night
he couldn't sleep. In the daytime he couldn't concentrate
on his business anymore. The hand of God was heavy on
this man. at last unable to endure the
misery any longer, he thought of the house of God at Zion.
He remembered the sacrifice that was daily offered in the house
of God. He must have thought to himself,
to whom or where should I go but to God? Where can I find
mercy but at the mercy seat, at the place where the sacrifice
is offered? And no sooner did he think it
that it was done. He went to the temple, but he
was ashamed. He was ashamed. He kind of just
sneaked in the back door, just crawled in the midst of the crowd
and found him a place over in the corner somewhere. This proud
Pharisee that we read of in this 18th chapter of Luke, he walked
right by the publican, didn't pay him any mind. He did happen
to notice that he was there. rather strange thing that he
should be here. This isn't the place for publicans.
This isn't the place for sinners. This is the house of God. This
is the place we have built. We don't want you around. He
walked right by this publican and he made his boastful prayer.
He stood and he said, God, I thank you that I'm not like other men.
I thank you especially that I'm not like this This publican with
this heavy-hearted center found a secluded corner, a place where
he hoped no one would either see him or hear him. For the
first time in his life, this proud man was humble. For
the first time in his life, this man of authority was spiritual.
For the first time in his life, this defiant rebel was trembling. Because he made up his mind he
was going to speak to God. He was going to speak to God. Oh, I expect he had said prayers
before. I expect he had been to religious
ceremony before. But now he's taking it on himself
to speak to God. He needs God. He needs mercy. He's fearful. He's trembling. He's humbled. Fixing his eyes
on the ground, the hot tears of repentance running down his
cheeks, not daring to lift his eyes up to heaven, he began to
speak. It wasn't much more than a groan.
But oh, what blessed language it was, for this is what it said
in verse 13, God be merciful to me, a sinner. Oh, what music. What heavenly music. What a charming voice. for the
ears of God. God, be merciful to me." That's
it. Now listen, if you, this day, from your heart, from your heart,
speak to God like the public You're going to walk out those
doors righteous in God's sight, forgiven of all sin, freely justified
forever. Well, it was done. The trembling
voice was heard in heaven. God had mercy on this publican
and he spoke peace to his country. We're told in verse 14 that when
he left the temple, he went down to his house justified rather
than the proud self-righteous Pharisee. He had come into the
temple guilty of sin with a heavy groaning heart, but he left the
temple a saint, redeemed, justified, rejoicing. He came in defiled. He left clean. He came in with
a broken heart. He left with a whole heart. He
came in with a wounded spirit. He left with a healed spirit.
He came in with a heavy heart. He left with a rejoicing heart
because he had obtained mercy. Now my business this morning
is somehow under God to try to persuade you to seek his mercy
in Christ. I just have two points. First, I want you to see what
this publican did. He made a full heartfelt confession
of his sin to God. Look in verse 13. The publican
standing afar off would not lift so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner."
To whom was the confession made? He did not go to a priest. He did not go to a preacher.
He did not come down to the front of the church and make a confession
to the church. But rather, he went directly
to God himself. He said, God, be merciful to
me, a sinner. He seems to have said within
himself, no one but God knows the fullness of my sin. All others
recognize that I am a sinner, but no one but God knows the
extent of my sin. No one but God knows my heart. And above all else, my sin is
not against man, but against God. And so he goes to God. Recognizing that none but God
could forgive sin. None but God could have mercy
upon him. None but God could relieve him
of his guilt. None but God could pronounce
absolution of sin. And so he doesn't fool with men.
He doesn't fool with a priest. He doesn't fool with a preacher.
He goes to God. Oh. That's where you're going
to have to go to find mercy. I know that in this day we, in
our Baptist pulpits, cuss the papists because they have their
confessional booth. We give them down the road and
tell them, tell everybody they're going to hell if they go to the
confessional of the Church of Rome. Well, that's so, that's
so. But then we pretend that we can
do the same thing priest queens do. And it's a whole lot easier,
whole lot easier for any of you to come talk to Don Fortner and
Grace Baptist Church about your sin than it is to talk to God
Almighty about your sin. Now that's tough, Merle, that's
tough. But the only way you ever obtain
mercy is to speak to God about your sin. You're not speaking
to God about your sin. You don't have to call upon God.
You must somehow do business with God himself. It'll never
do you any good to walk a church aisle, to shake a preacher's
hand, or to sign a decision card, or get in a baptismal pool, or
stand up here in front of the church and sob your eyes out
about some little crime that you committed, whether it was
stealing a watermelon, or adultery, or murder. That's not the issue. You stand before a holy God condemned,
and you're going to have to do something about it. You're going
to have to do business with God himself. This publican came in
the place where God met with men, at the place of sacrifice,
at the place of mercy, and he said, God, be merciful to me,
a sinner. His confession of sin was secret. I don't have any doubt that his
heart was open to God. In his heart, he told God much
more than he spoke in public. He said much more than he gave
for men to hear. Before God, he confessed everything.
Before God, he confessed, oh God, I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner
by birth. I'm a sinner by nature. I'm a
sinner in heart. I'm a sinner in word. I'm a sinner
in deed. Everything I am is sin. Everything
I do is sin. I've tried my best to reform
my life and my reformation is sin. I've tried my best to do
this and to do that. All that I am is marred with
sin. I'm a blind, helpless, condemned,
justly condemned sinner who confessed to sin to God. But all that any man heard was,
I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. I almost think that in our churches,
we reward folks depending on the measure of their
sin, you know. We get a fellow out of prison
who's committed multiple murders and rapes, and he makes a confession
of faith, and we introduce him now, oh, Joe over here, boy,
he used to be a scoundrel. Let me tell you about what he
did. And you tell him about it, and then he gets up and brags
about it a while, and we just make some big whoop-dee-doo over
a man's sin. Well, we're all the same. We're all the same. Every last
one of us. You see, the ground around the throne
of God is all level ground. The ground around the cross is
all level ground. Nobody stands any higher than
anybody else there, and nobody lower. We're all sinful men. We fall at the footstool of mercy
and confess our sin. In our hearts, confess it. It'll be of no value to you,
to me, or to anybody else, for us to talk about our sin and
say, yes, I'm a sinner and confess our sin openly before men until
in our hearts. In our hearts, we acknowledge
sin. Now, when in your heart you acknowledge
sin, you've confessed sin. But until you acknowledge sin
in your heart, all the confession of your mouth is nothing but
a hypocritical show of religion. a hypocritical show of humility.
Not only was his confession of sin secret before God alone,
but his confession of sin was spontaneous. No one had to tell
this publican what to say. No one had to convince him that
he had done certain things contrary to the law. The confession of
sin, my friend, is not true. It is not real unless it's spontaneous. You stand around and wait on
me to tell you what to say. Your confession is just a shame.
You see these folks on television. Most of you have been through
it. They say, well, you say this, repeat after me. If you need me to put words in
your mouth, you hadn't got it yet. You just hadn't got it yet.
This confession of sin came from the man's heart. It was a willing,
spontaneous confession. He confessed himself a sinner
because he had to do so. He couldn't keep it in. He couldn't
help himself. His sin was crushing his heart,
and the only way he could get relief was to confess it. This
man came before the throne of God. He took his place in the
dust, freely surrendering himself into the hands of Almighty Justice,
confessing that he was a rebel, a sinner deserving eternal condemnation. Now that's the place where mercy
is found. And it's not found until you
come to that. Turn over to Psalm 51. Psalm
51. I want you to see this. This man came confessing his
sin and in so doing he took sides with God against himself. Are you prepared to do that? Are you prepared to bow before a holy God, now
listen to me, are you prepared to bow before
a holy God and plead with Him like this, Lord God, the hottest, deepest, darkest,
pit of eternal damnation, I justly deserve. And if you should forever cast
me into hell, I fully deserve your eternal
wrath. That's a strange way to plead
for mercy, isn't it? You go to the courts in Danville They arrest
you for stealing, and you go up there and you tell them, well,
that's what I am. I'm a thief. I've always been a thief. I would
have got caught sooner, but I just hadn't had it catch up with me
yet. And I, I've broken the law. I deserve the penalty of the
law. If you let me go, I'd probably do it again. Well, they're not
likely to let you go. That's the only way to deal with
God, Oscar. I'm a sinner. A guilty, helpless sinner. I've
broken your law. All I am is sin. I've tried my
best to kick God off his throne. And if you'd let me go, I'd do
it all again. That's what we are. That's what
we are. Are you prepared to deal with
God like that? If you are, there's hope for you. That's the way
David spoke to God. Look here in Psalm 51. 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. Did you notice he used all three
words to describe his sin that are used in the Bible? As a matter
of fact, he used all three words that are used in our language
to describe his sin. He said, I've transgressed your
law. I am a man of iniquity at heart, and I am a man of a sinful
nature. He's saying by transgression
I've broken your law, by inequity I've not come up to the measure
of your law, and by sin my heart by nature's in rebellion to your
law. For I acknowledge my transgression, 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 says,
Lord God, mighty judge of the universe, righteous and true
in all your ways, when you take out your sword against me, you're
doing what's right. When you judge me, you're doing
what's right. For I was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me. This is the way the publican
confessed his But what did he confess? He simply confessed
that he was a sinner and this prayer and confession is suitable
to the lips of every man and woman in this place. He says
here in Luke 18 in verse 13, God be merciful to me a sinner. Now if you know in your heart your guilt and your sin. This
prayer is suitable for your lips. Don't play games with God. Don't
pretend with God. Oh, if you know your sin, you can call on God for mercy.
If you know your sin, you can seek His mercy. If God the Holy
Spirit comes to a man's heart in saving grace, this is what
He'll teach him to say, I'm a sinner in need of mercy. If you want
to be saved, if you want to obtain mercy, if you want God to hear
you, you must come to Christ as a poor, helpless, bankrupt,
filthy, hell-deserving sinner. Our Lord said, except you become
as little children, you shall in no wise inherit the kingdom
of God. You know how little children
come into this world? Every one of them come into this world
with three things. They come in naked, they come
in helpless, and they come in without any claims, without any
right whatsoever. That's the way you're going to
have to enter the kingdom of heaven. Naked with no righteousness. Helpless with no strength and
without any claims before a holy God God be merciful to me a sinner
Someone asked me this question one time. I've been asked several
times Brother Don, do you think that God hears the prayers of
sinners? He won't hear anybody else He
won't hear anybody else The only people whose prayer he hears
is the prayer of sinners. That's the only people he hears,
Bob. You can't do business with God except as a sinner. That's
the only way you can approach God as a sinner. The only title
you and I have to God's mercy is our sinnership. Your nakedness
is your only claim to heaven's robe of righteousness. Your hunger
is your only claim to the bread of life. Your thirst is your
only claim to the fountain of life. Your poverty is your only
claim to the riches of grace. Your emptiness is your only claim
to Christ's fullness. And your filth is your only claim
to his cleansing. How did this sinner come to God
for mercy? He stood afar off. He felt as
if he was a man separated from God. Indeed he was. A man unfit
for God's presence, indeed he was. His sin lay so heavily upon
him that his heart felt there was no sinner in all the world
like him. In reality, if I could read this
prayer to you just the way he prayed it, this is what he said,
God be merciful to me, the sinner, the sinner. He was saying, of all men, I'm the sinner, I'm
the sinner. I wonder, I wonder honestly, if any of us know what that is. I know that all of God's All
true believers come to this place just like this public. But if I consider myself to be
the sinner, why on earth would I ever speak an accusing word
of David Coleman? If I've come before God and acknowledged
to God that I'm the sinner, not David, but Don, If I come before
God and in my heart acknowledge to God my sin and that I recognize
myself to be the chiefest of sinners, then how dare I speak
of any evil in David when I say I'm the sinner? This publican said, God be merciful
to me, the sinner. I am quite certain that every man or woman who experiences
God's grace in Christ is brought by grace right down to that place
where Paul was. And he says, I am the chief of
sinners. So that in his own eyes, It's
not just a pretty religious saying. It's not just a cliche. It's
not just a theologically accurate statement. But in his own eyes
before holy God as he looks at what he is. Oh my God. Be merciful to me. For there's no man in all the
world who so desperately needs mercy as I. I'm the same. I'm the same. This publican stood afar off
and he would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven. He was
so broken and dejected in his heart that he could not look
up. He was so vile, so filthy, so
guilty that he dared not presume to look up toward God. And he
smote upon his breast. Not to do penance, not to punish himself, but he
knew where the mischief lie. He knew the source, the cause,
the fountain of his sin was his own heart. His own heart was
evil and beating upon his breast, he was saying, I'm angry with
myself. I've judged myself. I imprecate
myself. My heart is a den of iniquity. What reason did this man have
to hope for mercy? Well, there's a little bit more
in this word merciful than our English translation projects. If you got your pen handy, right
somewhere in the margin, this is what he said. Quite literally
now, this is what he was saying. God, be propitiated to me, the
sinner. That's exactly what the word
means. While pleading for mercy with God, he had his eye upon
the mercy seat. the place of sacrifice, the place
where blood was shed, the place of propitiation. My friend, there's
no hope for a sinner apart from the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God cannot and will not show any sinner mercy apart from the
propitiatory, sin-atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Only
through the blood can God be mercy. This publican, While he
was a publican, he was still instructed in the truth of Scripture. He knew that a man couldn't approach
God without blood. He knew that a man couldn't come
to God without a sacrifice. He knew that a man couldn't come
to God without a propitiation. And as he approaches God, he's
got his eye upon God's Son, the sacrifice, and he says, God,
be propitious to me. The word propitiation is a word
we seldom use except in the church here. I'm sure you get outside
the walls of this church building, none of you folks ever hear the
word. Let me try to illustrate it for you. The old heathen,
idolatrous, pagan religions. I was down in the Yucatan, those
Indians down there, when Cortes came in and conquered Spanish
peoples, or conquered the Indian peoples, the Spaniards came in
and conquered them. They were worshiping, making human sacrifice
to their idol gods. Of course, that wouldn't do,
so they, the Spanish came in and made them all Catholics.
They had the same worship, had the same gods, they just gave
them Christian names. Instead of calling it by the
name of some pagan deity, they called it Saint Peter or whatever,
but it had the same gods. Anyway, they would come and bring
young maiden and their children and tie them upon an altar and place that body in the arms
of their pagan god and set the oven ablaze and sacrifice their
That's what they're doing, appeasing the anger of the gods. For this is what Christ did for
us. The Lord Jesus Christ, as our substitute, lay in the red-hot
hands of God's offended justice, and God was satisfied with the
blood of his son. and through the blood of His
Son, God's propitious descendants. God's propitious descendants. His anger is satisfied. His wrath is appeased. His justice
is silenced. God's propitious. This is what
the publicans sought. He sought mercy through blood.
When you plead with God for mercy, The eye of faith must be upon
the crucified Son of God. Are you here? In need of mercy? Is there a sinner in this place? Anywhere in this place? A sinner. Oh, it's a hard thing to find. Maybe God's found one this morning.
A sinner. A sinner in need of mercy. There's
mercy with God in Christ Jesus. There'll be no empty seats in
glory, but there's plenty of room for all who come. Will you
come to the Savior? There are no empty places around
the cross, but there's plenty of room for all who come. Will you come to the cross? There
are no empty robes among the family of God. The robe of righteousness
is tailored for each of God's elect, but there are plenty of
robes to go around. Do you need a robe of righteousness? with which to stand before God?
Come, seek His mercy." Quickly, this second thing. The publican
confessed his sin. And secondly, he received a full,
free, complete justification with God. In verse 14, our Lord
said, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other. For everyone that exalteth himself
shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." The way up is down. The way of salvation is to be
lost. The way to be filled is to be
emptied. The way to glory is in the dust. There is such a thing as the
full, free, absolution from sin. The Pope can't give it. And Don
Fortner can't give it. No priest can give it. No preacher
can give it. No soul winner can give it. No
church can give it. But God Almighty, through the
merits of His own beloved Son, gives a total absolution from
all sin to all who did it. This publican was justified immediately. Immediately. All the work of
justification is done at Calvary, but let me tell you, the moment
you look to Christ in faith, the moment you confess your sin,
the moment like this publican, you cry, God, be merciful to
me. be propitious to me, the sinner." God says, you've got it. You've
got it. You've got it. First, are you
sure? I am absolutely sure that's so.
I'm absolutely sure because I've experienced it. This man was
justified completely. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. You mean to tell me that God
Almighty will forgive me and absolve me and clear me forever
of all sin, of all guilt, of all condemnation and never bring
my sin up again? I mean to tell you, I mean to
tell you, this man was justified justly. God justified him on
the basis of an atoning sacrifice. And the Apostle John says that
if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This
publican was justified in his own conscience. Oh boy. What justification? I stand before you, I stand before God Himself with
a clear conscience. I'm talking about a clear conscience. With no guilt. With no guilt. I said, well, Don, don't you
remember all the evils you've committed? I remember them and
more. I'm aware of the evil that goes
on right now in all that I think and say. I'm aware of it. But Bobby, I don't have any guilt.
My conscience does not condemn me. My heart is not condemned. I'll tell you why. I believe
God. I believe God. He promised He'd
forgive my sin. His Son died to put away my sin. And I flat believe He'll do what
He said He said. I believe. I believe. I believe the blood of Christ
is sufficient to pardon even my sin. Now I couldn't believe it any
other way, but I believe that. And I believe the righteousness of
Christ is sufficient to robe even me and make me accepted
before a holy God. That's what this publican experienced.
He said, God be merciful to me, a sinner. And he went down to
his house justifying, clicking his heels together as he went. He delighteth in mercy. The blood
of God soon cleanses us from all sin. He was pardoned, justified. He knew it. God spoke peace to
him. God gave him pardon. He went
down to his house justified. And you can too. You can too. This is what our Lord says, Everyone that exalteth himself
shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted. Humble yourself this day at the
hand of God, bow down at the throne of Christ, Bow down at
the gate of mercy. Enter in the way of life by the
straight and narrow way, and you shall be exalted. But until
you bow down, a guilty sinner, you'll never have mercy. Oh,
come to Christ like this publican did, and you'll go home like this
publican did. As surely as God is God, He'll
never cast out one who comes to Him by Christ. Come to Christ
like you are, in all your sin, just as I am, without one plea. But that thy blood was shed for
me, and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come." Come to Him right then. no need to wait, no need to put
it off. Matter of fact, there's not much
need me talking to you like that. For if you know yourself to be
a center in need of mercy, you'll come soon as you know
your need. And God shows you the answer
to all your soul. Soon as you know your sin and
God shows you the cleansing fountain, soon as you know your nakedness
and God shows you the robe of righteousness, you'll come, you'll
come. God in heaven is able, willing, with all his being, to save all
who come to him, like this publican, crying, God be merciful to me,
the sinner. God be propitious toward me and
show me mercy through the blood of Christ, I'm the sinner." When you go home today, get alone
with God. I mean every one of us, every
one of us. Get alone with God and let this
cry go out from your heart to God. God be merciful to me, a
sinner. Folks sometimes tell me that
we oughtn't to encourage God's people like that to think about
themselves as sinners. We ought to encourage them to
forget about their sinfulness and concentrate on their saintliness. Now hear me, hear me. If you
ever grow beyond a sinner in need of mercy, You've outgrown
grace. This is the only way to approach
God. God, be merciful. Be propitious to me. Forgive
me. Through the blood of Christ,
I'm the sinner. Amen.