Now returning to Luke chapter
18, and it says in verse 9 that He spake, He spake. What a marvel! God speaks to
sinners. He spake. This is God manifest
in the flesh, the Lord Jesus. He spake this parable, this story,
to teach us and these the way of salvation. through Christ
Jesus alone. That is the object of every parable
and all of Scripture is to show us the way of salvation in Christ
Jesus. Not to satisfy our curiosity,
not to answer those difficult questions, but simply that all
the parables and the whole body of Scripture is given to us to
show us how God saves sinners through the Lord Jesus Christ
and in Him. And he spake this parable unto
certain, now watch this, who trusted themselves. What a dangerous
thing it is to trust yourself for salvation. Now you think
about that statement. He spake this to those Pharisees,
those self-righteous Jews who were so convinced. Were they
sincere? Oh yeah, I don't doubt their
sincerity. They were so convinced that salvation
was conditioned upon them, When Pilate brought forth the Lord
Jesus Christ and declared, Behold your King, you remember what
they said? We don't have a King. We have no King but Caesar. As
far as this Jesus of Nazareth is concerned, you crucify Him,
you get Him out of the way. We need no Savior, especially
that one standing there. He spake this parable unto certain
which trusted in themselves. You remember that scripture from
Jeremiah 17. What it says about those who trust themselves? That's
a cursed man. That's a cursed man. You wouldn't
want to put all of your trust in that which God says is sinful
and wicked and corrupt. Would you trust that? Only a
fool, only a fool would trust himself for salvation. That's
why our Lord in all of Scripture comes down so hard. on those
who insist upon being saved by what they do. It's not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to God's
mercy He saved us. No wonder Paul said of those
Jews, his own people, his own Jewish family, he said they were
ignorant of God and they were going about to establish their
own righteousness and have not and would not submit themselves
bow and receive the righteousness which is of God in Christ." And
then we call that imputed righteousness in Christ Jesus. So it's a dangerous
thing to trust. It's deadly, damning to your
soul to trust yourselves for salvation. They trusted in themselves
that they were righteous and this is what it leads to. It
leads to Those who think they are good, it leads those who
are self-righteous in themselves to despise everyone else. And that's what self-righteousness
leads to. Now, the Lord here, in this parable,
in verse 10, two men. Two men went to the temple to
pray. Two men went to worship. Two
men went to a service. Two men that are scribed, one
very proud, and he brags on himself, and he says, I thank God I'm
not this, I'm not that, I'm not the other, and I'm certainly
not like that man over there. I'm just a little bit better.
Well, there's none righteous, no not one. There's none that
understand. They're all gone out of the way. They're all together become unprofitable. There is none that do us good,
no not one. The two men here are described,
one a very proud, Pharisee who despised others, and he despised
God even though he mentions God in his prayer. But he prayed
with himself. He bragged on himself and just
barely mentions the name of God. The other here that the Lord
mentions is this publican. This publican. Down in verse
13. The publican standing afar off.
What a contrast. What a contrast between this
proud arrogant, self-centered Pharisee and one who has been
humbled by the grace of God, this publican. And our Lord said
that this man would even not so much lift up his eyes, but
he hid upon his breast in conviction of his sin and conviction of
his guilt, and he cries out, God, have mercy upon me. Two vital things that he mentions
in that cry. Sin and mercy. Sin and mercy. And that's the cry of my heart.
I hope we can never, and I hope we never graduate above being
a sinner saved by God's sovereign saving mercy in Christ Jesus. I never want to get above that.
Never. It's always the sinner saved
by grace. The Lord Jesus Christ, He came
to save the ungodly. He came to save to seek and to
save that which is lost." Now listen to this statement. All
men are either one or the other. You think about that now. All
men, and that includes women too, all people are either one
or the other. They're either a proud, arrogant
Pharisee or they're a stripped sinner seeking for mercy. One
or the other. One or the other. Every man by
nature is proud and arrogant and self-righteous, and it's
only by the grace of God that a man knows himself to be a sinner
in need of mercy. All men are either one or the
other. Every man by his sinful nature, even though it's depraved
and wicked, and it's so depraved and wicked that he thinks he's
good. How depraved is that? That's pretty depraved. And those
who seek salvation upon their deeds, certainly are in big trouble. Our Lord said to those Pharisees,
you are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knows your
heart. That which is highly esteemed
among men, God says it's abomination in my sight. And surely anything
I can bring or anything I can produce, even though it may look
good unto men and may be commendable unto men, what is that toward
God? All of our righteousnesses, plural,
filthy rags in God's sight. Those who seek salvation upon
their work. Solomon described them this way.
Proverbs 14. There's a way that seems right
unto men, but the end of that way is death, death, death. Every sinner who seeks salvation
totally on the deed, merit, and righteousness of another, the blood sacrifice of another,
Christ alone is likened to this publican, a sinner, saved by
God's grace. Now, which one are you? Which
one do you consider yourself? You consider yourself pretty
good? Salvation is not for good folks. Salvation is for sinners. Salvation for the ungodly. This
is a faithful saying. Worthy of all acceptation that
the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. And I have to tell
Paul, I had to nudge him over just a little bit to say, Paul,
I'm the cheap one. I'm the cheap offender. Have
you ever considered yourself sinful before God? Well, if you
do and if you are, you're a blessed person. You're a blessed person. Salvation for sinners. I take
my place as a mercy beggar at the throne of God's grace and
beg for mercy. I've never ever seen a mercy
beggar turned away. I read this morning from Micah
chapter 7 that our God delights to show mercy. He delights to
show mercy to sinners. I'd cry for mercy if I were a
guilty sinner and that's what I do by His grace each day. Now two parts to this message
of grace. We see in this prayer, parable,
we see the publican's confession in verse 13, and then we see
in verse 14, the publican's justification, his justification. The publican's
confession, I'm a sinner, God be merciful to me, this sinner.
And then the publican's justification, our Lord said, this man went
down to his house justified, justified, rather than that other
man, justified, cleared of all guilt before God Almighty. Justified. Just as if you never
sinned. Justified, declared righteous
in the sight of God. And that by the grace of God,
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. Now let's look at these two things.
The publican or the sinner's confession. He made a full heart
confession of his sin to God. Notice he said, God. Not daddy
I've sinned, not mama I've sinned, not preacher I've sinned, not
certainly the pope or the priest, but our confession done to God. God. We read that in Psalm 51,
against thee and thee only have I sinned, and done this evil
in thy sight. Notice to whom the confession
was made. God, be merciful to me, to me. He didn't go to the
priest, the preacher, or the church. He went directly to the
only one who knew of his problem, the one against whom he had sinned,
and the only one who had all power to forgive sin. As David
prayed, Have mercy upon me according to thy lovingkindness, according
to the multitude of thy tender mercies, Lord, blot out my sin. He prayed that. Blot out my sin. His confession was secret. He
smote upon his breast. He stood to far off. His confession
was secret because he knew that God looked on his heart. He said,
Lord, you know my heart. He smote his breast. He said,
You know my heart. You know my need. His confession
was spontaneous. Cried unto the Lord. He cried
out of His need. It wasn't come forward and let's
pray the sinner's prayer. It was a spontaneous cry. No
one needed to lead this man in prayer. He cried out from the
heart, God have mercy on me. I'm the sinner. I tell you, if
God ever convicts you of your sin, shows you what you are in
the light of His bright holiness, you'll cry for mercy, you'll
sue for mercy, and flee to the Lord Jesus Christ and rest in
Him. Notice to whom the confession
was made unto God. Secondly, what did He confess?
He confessed, I'm the sinner. I'm the definite article. As
if to say, He was thinking there's no one as bad as I am. I'm the chief offender. And certainly, I think everyone
that's convicted of sin by God the Holy Spirit will have to
say, there's none as vile as me. There's none as vile as me. If you knew how vile I am and
what I am, you probably wouldn't listen to me anymore because
I'm a guilty sinner. I'm a guilty sinner. What did
he confess? He said, I'm a sinner. We are
by nature, by birth, in heart, before God. There is none righteous,
no, not one. But now, if I knew you like you
know yourself, I probably wouldn't have anything to do with you.
You see, we're sinful through and through. But aren't you glad
that God has said in His book the salvation for sinners? That's
the very reason the Lord came. He didn't come to call good folks. The well don't need a physician.
You remember the Pharisees were upset, and those around the Lord,
and said, why does your master eat with Republicans and sinners? That's disgusting to us! He said,
oh, well, you know, the well don't need a physician as those
who are sick. Will you go learn what this means?
I'll have mercy. I'll have mercy, not sacrifice. I didn't come to call the righteous,
but sinners, sinners to repentance." Well, let me ask you this question.
Does God hear the prayer of a sinner? Does God hear the cry of a sinner? He doesn't hear any other. I
guarantee you He didn't hear the prayer of this Pharisee who
bragged on himself. Does God hear the prayers of
sinners? He doesn't hear any other cry but that of a sinner. out of a sinner, no other. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
died for the ungodly. He came to seek and to save that
which is lost. The only claim we have to mercy,
now you think about this, the only claim that we have to mercy
is the fact that we're guilty. The only claim for mercy is the
fact that we're sinners. And aren't you glad that God
said He saved sinners? He delights to show mercy to
such as we are? Your nakedness and guilt is our
only hope of His covering. That's right. Your hunger is the only hope
for the bread of life, the Lord Jesus Christ, if you're hungry.
Your thirst is the only hope for water. Oh, everyone that's
thirsty, our Lord said, come to Me and drink. Your poverty
is the only hope for His abundant riches of His grace. Your poverty. Your poverty. Your emptiness
is the only hope to be filled with all the fullness of God
in Christ Jesus. In Him dwells all the fullness
of a Godhead bodily and in Him you are complete. You are complete. Thirdly, how did the sinner approach
God? How did this man, this publican,
how did he approach God? Humbly. Humbly. He didn't move up to the front
of the room like this Pharisee did and prayed to be... You remember
our Lord said they prayed long prayers and stood on the corner
to be seen of men? We're coming up pretty soon on
what they call that national day of prayer. And I'm not against
prayer, but I'm against prayer to be seen of men. I'm against
it. I always get phone calls from
the schools about that time of year and asking me to come down
and participate in the National Day of Prayer where all the children
can hold hands around the flagpole and look awful pious and self-righteous. I'm against that. That's just
nothing more than an exercise of self-righteousness. That's
all it is. Be done with it. And I wouldn't
have anything to do with it. If I were in school, I'd advise
my children not to participate. And the preacher would probably
have a hard time from the community, but they pretty much well try
to ignore me. say to others that I'm a nobody,
and I am. I'm a voice, like John. John,
who are you? I'm a nobody. I'm a voice, one
crying in the wilderness, but I've got God's message. I've
got God's servant. I've got God's message and a
servant of the Lord with God's message. How did this sinner
approach God? Humbly. He stood far off. He
stood far off. He felt his guilt. You see, our
sin has separated us from God. He would not even lift up His
eyes. He was so broken-hearted with guilt. Our Lord denied unto
them of a broken heart. And saith unto them, Touchest
thee of a contrite spirit. And He smote upon his breast,
on his chest, with a cry of guilt. I've got a guilty heart. A guilty
heart. For what reason? What reason
did he hope for mercy? What reason did he hope to receive
mercy? Now watch, this is key. Look
back at verse 13 of Luke 18. This is key. Upon what reason
did this man hope to receive mercy? Now remember, this is
a parable given by the Lord who knows all things, who is the
way of salvation. And our Lord said, this publican
said, God be My sacrifice. That word there, mercy, is where
we get merciful. Be my mercy seat. Or be my propitiation. Be my sacrifice unto God. That's what he's saying here.
Upon what reason did he hope to receive mercy? Upon the sacrifice
of Christ. That's it. And that's the only
reason for salvation, the only reason for mercy. Upon the mercy
seat. Christ our propitiation. Here
in His love, John said, not that we love God, but that He loved
us and He sent His Son in the fullness of time to be our propitiation. And it's a big, complicated word
and I don't know how to spell it, but I know what it means.
It means salvation and atonement and sacrifice for sin in Christ
Jesus is enough. God provided it and God will
accept it. That which He provides, He will
accept. Christ is my mercy seat. He is my sacrifice for sin. All of it. And upon that ground
alone, alone, is all my hope, forgiveness, pardon, salvation.
God is only merciful to sinners in Christ Jesus. He set Him forth,
it says in Romans chapter 3. He set Him forth to be that mercy
seat. that sacrifice for sin that He
might be just and justify the ungodly. Only in Christ. That's
why He said, come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may
obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Upon what
ground? Upon Christ our mercy seat. And it goes all the way back
to that day of atonement when the blood was sprinkled on the
mercy seat. God said, that's where I will meet with sinners. Upon that Blood covered mercy
seat. Propitiation. Satisfaction in
Christ Jesus. I trust by God's grace, by the
grace of God, that we can take our place by His grace as this
publican and cry unto God this plea of mercy. God, be merciful
to me, thee, thee, sinner. That's a good plea. And I cry
that way every day. Lord, have mercy upon me. Secondly, that's the sinner's
cry. Secondly, then the sinner's confession.
Secondly, we see the sinner's justification in verse 14. I
tell you. Now, who's speaking here? Who's
speaking here? I tell you. I tell you, the Master,
the Lord, of the Lord of the heaven and earth. He says, I'm
going to tell you something. Now, we ought to listen. If He's
going to tell us something, we've got to listen. It's worth our
time. Be swift to hear and slow to
speak, slow to anger, slow to wrath. I'll tell you something.
This man, upon the ground of the mercy seat and blood sacrifice
of Jesus Christ, this man went home justified. Justified. Cleared of all guilt, all of
his sin put away, rather than the other. For everyone that
exalts himself will be abased, and those that are humbled by
the grace of God he shall exalt." The sinner's justification. He
received full, free, eternal justification from God. Who can
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God who justified. It is Christ who died. Yea, rather,
is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also
makes intercession for us, seeing he ever lives to intercede for
us." Notice this carefully. The Pharisee justified himself. The Pharisee justified himself. God, I thank you, I thank you.
I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not like that man. The Pharisee
justified himself and was condemned The publican condemned himself
and was justified." Oh, what a miracle of grace. The publican
condemned himself and God said he was justified. My friend,
this is a way of grace. This is a way of grace. You see,
the way up is not up. The way up is not up. The way
up is down. Down, humble, in the dust. As Brother Scott Richardson used
to say, make your headquarters in the dust and beg for mercy
at His throne. The way up is down, humbled in
the dust at His throne. One must be stripped, stripped
by God before He's clothed. One must be slain, convicted
before He's healed. And aren't you glad that sword
of the gospel is a two-edged sword, quick and powerful? It
operates. It cuts, and then it heals. It heals. Now, three things here. In Christ Jesus, through Him,
there is complete pardon from all sin. Complete pardon from
all sin. In Psalm 103, He said, "...as
far as the east is from the west, have I separated you from your
sin." In Isaiah 38, He said, "...all those..." Let's turn
over there. Isaiah 38, Hezekiah prayed this
way, in verse 17, Isaiah 38, 17, Behold, for peace I had great
bitterness, but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it
from the pit of corruption, for thou hast cast all my sins. Now you get a hold of that. How complete is the blood atonement
of Christ? Look what it says there. From
the pit of corruption you delivered me, redeemed me, Deliver them
from going down to the pit, and I have found a ransom, for thou
hast cast all my sins behind thy back." Behind thy back. Where is that? Well, into the
depths of the sea. He said there's sin and there's
iniquity. Well, I remember no more. Justification is of God
in Christ. Now listen to this. Hawker said
this. Justification is of God in Christ, therefore the self-condemned,
not the self-righteous, find justification before God. the
self-condemned, not the self-righteous, find justification before God
in Christ Jesus. Secondly, in Christ Jesus, sinners
are justified justly. They're justified justly. Turn
over to 1 John, 1 John chapter 1. They're justified justly. You see, He is a just God and
Savior. He's not going to Pardon my sin
and forgive my sin at the expense of His holiness, at the expense
of His justice. It must be in such a way that
it's honoring to His law, honoring to His justice, and yet magnified
to His mercy. And that's only in Christ Jesus.
Look what he says here in 1 John 1. Verse 7, if we walk in the
light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. If
we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth's not
in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, just
to forgive our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we've not sinned, we make Him a liar and His Word's
not in us. He in Christ Jesus, God Almighty,
in Christ, sinners are justified justly, not apart from God's
law being honored and not apart from God's law being satisfied.
That's the very reason the Lord Jesus Christ came. It's mercy
upon the law being satisfied. It's mercy upon God's justice
being honored in Christ Jesus. Thirdly, in the Lord Jesus Christ,
sinners are made to know in their heart before God in their conscience
that the blood atonement of Christ is all our peace before God. He makes us to know it. Turn to Hebrews 9. He makes us
to know it in our heart, in our conscience before God. Hebrews
9. Look at verse 11. Hebrews 9,
11. But Christ being come a high priest of good things to come,
by a greater, more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by His own blood. He entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For it is
the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of the heifer,
and ashes of the heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctify us through
the purifying of the flesh. How much more, now watch this,
how much more, says the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit Offered himself without spot to God. Purge your conscience. Purge your conscience from dead
works. What is dead works? Everything
apart from Christ. Self-righteousness. Purge yourself
from dead works to serve the living God. Your conscience purged
from dead works to serve the living God. In Christ Jesus,
sinners are made to know in their heart before God, in their conscience,
the blood atonement of Christ is enough. Is enough. He's all
our peace before God. Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, look
back at the text again. I tell you, the Lord says, I'm
going to tell you something. I'm going to tell you something
I'm going to tell you. And I'm going to tell you what I done
told you. I tell you this man went down to his house justified
rather than the other. God has firmly promised that
all, all that come to him upon the blood and righteousness and
merit of the Lord Jesus Christ, he will abundantly save and abundantly
keep. That's safe ground. That's good
ground. Christ Jesus and it's the only
ground for salvation He's able to save to the uttermost all
that come to God by him Hebrews 7 25 And he's able to keep He's able
to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the
presence of his glory with exceeding joy God be merciful. I'm the sinner I'm the guilty
one, I'm the offender, have mercy upon me. I pray we will, every
one of us, go home to our house today as a mercy beggar justified
in Christ Jesus. And may our continual cry be,
God be merciful to me, thee, thee, sinner, before God. You see, mercy, mercy, mercy. Don't turn, let me just read
this to you. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. It is of His mercy only. Our
Lord's mercy in Christ. Because His compassions do not
fail, His love does not fail. They are new every morning. Great
is our faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith
my soul. Therefore will I hope in Him. The Lord is good unto
them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. This is
from Lamentation 3, verse 26. It is good that a man should
both hope and quietly wait. Quietly wait. For what? For the salvation of the Lord. That's the message of this book.
Salvation is of the Lord. Well, I pray the Lord will bless
that and honor it to His glory and
cause us to seek mercy. You know, it's wise It is wise
to seek mercy where mercy is found. There's no mercy in the
law. You seek mercy upon the ground
of the law, you're going to be cursed. Cursed is everyone that
continues not in all things which are written in the book of the
law to do, but to seek mercy on the basis of Christ alone. To seek mercy where mercy is
found. I tell you, that's the gift of
God. That's the gift of God.