The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18 contrasts self-righteousness with genuine humility before God. The Pharisee, trusting in his own merit, despised others, while the tax collector, acknowledging his sin, pleaded for mercy. True righteousness stems not from religious observance but from recognizing one's sinfulness and seeking God's grace. The parable illustrates that humility and a plea for mercy lead to salvation, not self-reliance. Salvation is found in calling upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone offers mercy and covers sins.
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and you is all of mine Jesus Christ my Lord divine there you are he is life alright Don we're going to have the next part for you and after Don has given us A little message for the evening from the Word of God. We'll have a closing song before we're dismissed. Okay, Don? I'd like to take this occasion to...
give my thanks and appreciation for the privilege of working with me, for the Milo and family. Also, being here with you, all of you who have come out tonight to this little meeting, I would like to also in a special way to recognize to me a very special group. The Friday night Bible class that I have the privilege of teaching It's here, in part at least, that I'm grateful for all of those who have come out from our regular Friday night Bible class that Brother Calvary Lennon and I work with, and happy to see all of them here, and all of you, and do hope that these messages and songs will be a real encouragement to Anna, and an occasion of joy in your heart.
I want to look at a verse of Scripture tonight with you, found in the book of Luke chapter eighteen. I believe tonight with all of my heart that everyone here in this room is headed for one of two places. Everyone here tonight is headed for one of two places. There are only two destinies. We either go to heaven after death or to hell. We either go to thee with the Lord Jesus. who could say to the thief on the cross who repented that day, this day shall thou be with me in paradise.
We go to be with him, or we go to be with the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience. Ephesians chapter two and verse two. So, man really is destined for one of two places. Now which will it be for you tonight? Thinking like this with this idea of one of two places, let us think of two persons. And I'm going to raise a question, which one are you? Which one are you? Four words, one of the short questions. Luke chapter eighteen.
Verse nine, Jesus made this parable unto serpents which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Now, this thing of thinking that we are righteous is a very subtle foe to the soul. For, you see, it is really an indicative character of our mind to think that. You know, we can shrink from that and say, oh, boy, you're not talking about me, because I've never felt like I'm like this, so let me tell you something about yourself that maybe you don't know. Down in that old flesh of yours, there is that thing that we call sin, S-I-N.
And sin has a way of gripping the soul, like cancer has a way of gripping the body. It is common knowledge that a good deal of cancer today is terminal as far as light is concerned. I've known some dear friends, some of the dearest friends I've ever had that have terminal cancer. I'll not forget one dear lady who used to be a nursery keeper in a church where I was serving this cancer before I separated from the denominational group that I was connected with for twenty-one years. And one day out in her little flower garden she was having a visit with some of her lady friends and she was up in her mid-fifties as to age and likewise her lady friends were something like that age and they were having a little visit one day in her flower garden and we find that in the course of the conversation this dear lady said to the others, you know since this dress is getting a little bit tight for me.
Now, it was very apparent that it wasn't the first time it's been washed. It was one of those nice print dresses that they wear down home in Texas. You know, they wear the nice print dresses in the summertime. And it was one that had shown evidence that it had been washed several times. You know, it was beginning to get a little threadbare. And so one of her ladies then said, you know, I called her by her name and said, maybe you should go have a checkup from a doctor. And some of the other ladies sort of came in with her amenes. And so she purposed to do that. And the next day she went to the clinic for a doctor's examination, and he immediately told her she used to go down to the hospital for surgery.
And they got into her abdominal cavity and absolutely made a real quick, sore enough job and just ceased the operation as soon as they sutured it back together. I was standing right there at the door where the doctor comes out from the surgical room. As a matter of fact, I had worked rather closely with some of those doctors at that hospital, having been living there about three years, well over three years. And he came out and told me, he said, Don, that woman has the fastest growing known cancer to man. And said, there's nothing we can do, nothing. They did not tell her.
They sent her to a room that was on Wednesday. I went in after she was conscious. This was her while. I stayed at the hospital almost that time till Sunday. I would go home for meals, but I spent as much time at the hospital as I could with that dear Christian lady. And every time I had an opportunity when I thought I could do so, I said, Mrs. Roper. I said, Mrs. Roper. Mrs. Roper, do you feel any pain? She said, not a bit. What about the incisions? Why, she said, that doesn't even hurt you. I just didn't realize that this surgery would be such a simple thing. Came Sunday, that was her birthday. So a lot of us Christians carried some presents to her that Sunday for her birthday.
Had a nice celebration there in the hospital. On Sunday afternoon with her, enjoyed visiting with her, she enjoyed the fellowship, said, guess what, Brother Don said in the morning, they said, I could go home. And she did. She said, what's the strange about that? She went home to heaven that night. In the morning hours, she slipped away into eternity. Never having one thing. She told me. Now, I understand, I don't know. That's what she said. Ten is like that. You don't feel it, but it grips the soul with a strangulation hole. And it makes us think we're all right.
That's what thinking that we're righteous is. Thinking I'm all right. Or righteous comes from the word right. And I think I'm okay. I'm all right. I really don't need any help. I'm going to make it on my own. But the truth of the matter is, God said, there's none right. No, not one. There's none that understand that. There's none that seek it after God. They're all gone the way. They're together to become unprofitable. There's none that do it good. No, not one. So, Jesus said this parable, verse nine, unto certain which trusted in themselves. and the worst person that you can trust on earth tonight is yourself.
God says in Proverbs twenty eight, he that trusts his own heart is an elf, devil elf, a fool, an empty head. And so they trusted in themselves as they were righteous and despised others. Two men, Jesus said, went up into the temple to pray. The one of Pharisee and the other Now prayer is a wonderful thing. Real prayer that's given as a real privilege to all Christians is communication from earth to heaven, not from man to man. And that was the problem with one of the prayers that was voiced here in this particular passage.
Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee prayed thus with himself. Now notice prayers to be from Earth to heaven. And yet here's a man praying from earth to earth. He prayed thus with himself. His prayer was introverted. That is, it turned back into himself. He's praying to himself, really. God, I thank thee that I'm not as other men are. Extortioners. Here's someone who takes something from someone else. that does not belong to him. Someone snatches something away by crude and by maybe ingenuity of mind or by force or whatever it is.
It's just taking something that belongs to another and extorting it, taking it away from them. Extortioners, unjust. That is someone who was not honest in his feelings, not right in his feelings. Adulterers. What made adultery more heinous than fornication? Both are sexual immorality. Both are sins. God hates both. But why were the consequences more severe for adultery than fornication? Well, the answer, at least in part, is simple.
For adultery, not only committed an immoral act, it was the committing of an immoral act, but it was violating a marriage vow before God. Now, this man well knew that the law declared an adulterer and the adulteress were to be stoned. So he said, I'm not an extortioner. I'm not snatching something from someone by my sleight of hand or my cunning mind. He said, I'm not unjust. I'm really fair in my dealings. I'm right or righteous in my dealings. I'm not slipping around on my wife. I'm not violating a marriage battle committee's immorality.
He said, and even as this public, I'm not like this fellow over here. I am at least as good or better than he. I'm not like that one. And he points to the public. I fast twice in the week. I would say, that this is very commendable. I wouldn't be surprised that all of us here tonight be better off if we fast twice in a week. No offense, please. Is there another door in this room? All right. Very commendable. Nothing wrong with it. I give prize of all that I possesses. That was certainly commendable. As a matter of fact, God required it.
You can read in the book of Leviticus chapter twenty-seven where God required the Israelites to give a tithe which was the first tenth of all that he possessed. Now that was just for a person, of course, in the farming community this won't have much meaning or significance, but a person who lives in the urban areas in the towns and draws a salary will say. Then, of course, where he worked, they deduct a certain amount for income tax. They deduct a certain amount for Social Security. They deduct a certain amount for insurance. They deduct a certain amount for this. And by the time the ducts and the deductions are taken from the check of the salary, really there's not a whole lot left. And then a lot of folks say, I tied.
Well, how do you tie? Well, what I get in my hand, I give a hint of that. It's not a tie. The pinnacle tie was the first tenth, you see, the first tenth. So if a man made two hundred dollars a week, and yet by the time the ducks and de-ducks are taken out of it, and he really went home with a hundred and thirty-five dollars, or a hundred and twenty-five dollars, and he gave only a tenth of that, he's not tired of him. Or you see, a tenth of two hundred dollars be twenty dollars, not twelve dollars and six cents. All right, this man says, I give tithes of all that I possess. That's very commendable. But now, let me stop and raise the question, will that save? That's the big issue. Will it save? Whatever we do, if it doesn't bring salvation, it's really of no avail in the final analysis, because after all, what are we going to show God in the end time?
What are we to offer for our sins? Have we had sacrifice? Well, this man had no sacrifice, but he had tithing, and he had fasting twice a week, and he had an exclusion, as far as his life is concerned, from certain sins that were very base and immoral. So we would call him a very honorable person in our community, the kind of fellow you would like to live next door to, the kind of fellow that you wouldn't mind leaving personal belongings at his house and think that when you got back from your vacation, they'd still be there, the kind of fellow you'd trust. But notice, Jesus points out the other person.
And the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smoldered upon his breath, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Now, if you have your Bible, won't you take the index finger in your right hand if you're right handed? Look over to Job chapter forty-two. Job forty-two. You only have to read about the last few chapters of the book of Job.
I would guess chapter thirty-two on you'd probably read those and you'd learn more about the life of Job than you would if you read the first thirty-one chapters, in my opinion. That's just human opinion. Because it is this young man, Elihu, or Elihu, where do you put the accent mark, that seems to really uncover the true nature of Job's heart concerning his oppression and his deep sorrow and his sickness and illness. So we find that God finally revealed the real character of Job as far as his reacting to those things that befell him.
The sickness, the three friends, and we put quotation marks around the word friends, the three persons who came to visit him, the way they treated him, his reactions to them, his reactions to his circumstances, I think they're more clearly characterized from chapter thirty-two on down through chapter forty-one. And there we get Elihu and God indicting Job as to how he really reacted. But now in chapter forty-two, look what we find there. Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that thou can't do everything and that no thought can be withholding from thee. Now this is the true statement.
Who is he that hath his counsel without knowledge? And he's raising the question that God has already raised. Therefore have I uttered that I understood not? In other words, he's saying that I talked about things I didn't understand. Things too wonderful for me, too full of wonder is the idea, which I knew not. Here I did speak to you and I will speak. I will demand of thee and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear. But now mine I am. the of thee. Wherefore, I abhor myself. Now if you're not familiar with the word abhor, he's simply saying, I hate myself.
I hate myself. And what? Repent in dust and ashes. So back in our passage in Luke chapter eighteen, we have a man that has come to the place in life when he could say really in his heart, I hate myself. all he had come to see that he was a guilty, vile, hell deserving. Sin cursed sin, one who was surely destined for the pit of hell. One who could say, Be merciful unto me. Now let's notice the character of this little prayer that he's ready. The public in verse thirteen, Luke chapter eighteen, standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes into heaven but smote upon his bread saying, God, be merciful.
There are several things that we can recognize about this very brief little prayer. One is that he recognizes God as the Supreme Being. That's very important. It doesn't save anyone, but it's absolutely essential to being saved. Just recognizing God as the Supreme Being has never saved a soul. And yet no one has ever been saved without recognizing that God is a supreme being. Now that's almost contradictory, but it really isn't. It's a paradox. See? What I'm trying to say is this. Almost everyone that I meet that's honest will admit that God is the supreme being.
But I wish that all that I've met were saved, and I'm quite sure they're not. However, no one has ever been saved, apart from acknowledging the fact that God is supreme. and the only one that can save a sinner. So the one he recognizes is the Lord God himself. And then look at his request upon addressing God. He says, Be merciful to me, a sinner. Be merciful to me, a sinner. What he's really saying is, you, O God, you be merciful to me, a sinner. Now another recognition that we find here is that in God there's mercy.
He recognizes that. You notice that he didn't call on this public, on this Pharisee over here. My, he had all the nice rituals. He had all the religion you'd want really. A very commendable fellow. But in his great hour of need, he didn't address the Pharisee. He addressed God. And he addressed God as the one who was capable of mercy. I've said many times that grace goes out to the worthless. And mercy goes out to the helpless. I learned a few years ago something about the word grace as it evolved out of the ancient or Homeric Greek.
Grace is the word that comes from the Greek language. And it's not native to the Koine or New Testament Greek. It really is a word that goes back to a language that precedes the New Testament Greek language. And in that language the word grace means favor be sold on one who is not deserving. Secondly, it means that same favor but that is lavishly given. And thirdly, making no demand of return. Now, if your Bible proves that, then you believe in Homeric priest, wouldn't you? Does it prove that, though? Does it prove that it's unmerited favor, freely given, making no demand on return? Can you prove that?
Yes, I can. Is anyone here tonight deserving of God's love? So it's undeserved love given. Secondly, it's that undeserved love given freely or lavishly. For we're sin abounded, grace is much more abounded. God just poured it out. Now sometimes we can show our affection from one to another, can't we? We can show our love sometimes. In a very small length of time, very small breadth of time we can show it. But you know, do we show it all day long? Every day like we should. Now God knows. That's great.
He just keeps on pouring it out. It's like the well that you don't have to put a pump jack on. It just keeps boiling the balance. For we're sending the balance of grace that makes more balance. The third aspect is making no demand return. Don't you expect someone to love you if you love them? And if you say, no, I'm just going to wonder if you're lying through your teeth. I reason you haven't going to wonder. I didn't say you were. I said, I'm going to wonder. I'll be honest with you. I really will. When you love someone really, you really want them to love you. You expect it, don't you? Sure you do. Any of you husbands don't expect your wife to love you here enough? Any of them?
Oh, you've got some solemn basis. I always want to say this. Wow. Any of you women don't expect your husbands to love you? Well, of course you expect them to love you. And rightly so. But you see, God doesn't demand that we love Him. Can you prove that one? Sure. Hebrews two nine. We see Jesus, who became a little more than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, noted now, should take death for every man. Is every man going to be saved? No. Is every man going to love him? No. But he tasted death for every man. How? Grace. He, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man, his grace didn't demand that every man be saved.
Mind you, he could have. God could smack his fingers and obliterate the entire world. He just had that much power. But, oh, God, I can't even cure grace. What a wonder it is. Who can really understand it thoroughly? But we find it's not only the grace of God that saves the men, by grace that you save your faith, that out of yourselves is the gift of God. Not a worthless any man should boast, but we're saved by mercy. Not the works of righteousness which we've done, but according to His mercy, He saved us. Now, except word mercy, we want to sort of focus in on that. So grace goes out to the worthless, but mercy goes out to the helpless. And this word, mercy, or merciful here, is a different word, though.
It's not the word allos for mercy. What's a completely different word? It's the word telus ma. And it's translated in your English Bible in Hebrews nine five. Mercy seat. Mercy seat. And it's also translated in first John chapter two. Proficiation. So look at this request that man is making. God. And he's addressing the Lord God himself. Recognizing him as the supreme being. be merciful to me that is be propitiated for me be of covering for me for you see really the word has the basic idea of covering well what does God need to cover the one thing that needed to be covered was the accusing finger of the law that he violated for he was a sinner and it's the law that condemns men as sinners.
Men are sinners who are born sinners, but it's the law that condemns us as such. You see, I couldn't help how I was born. No more than you could help how you were born. But I'll tell you one thing. I can help something. What is it? I can help either accepting or rejecting God's offer of mercy. And that's what the man is talking about tonight. God, be merciful to me as sinners. Oh, God, you are a covering for my sins. And what is it that's accusing me of sin? What's the law? By the law is the knowledge of sin. Romans chapter three. The law of a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. Galatians chapter three. And the law was given that sin might be exceeding sinful.
Romans five. And so we find that if the law condemns a man, it says you're worthy of death. And this man recognizes that he's worthy of death. He says, oh, he says, no! be a covering for me, be merciful unto me, a sinner. There are three kinds of sinners in the world. This is going to be a new twist. Most of us usually recognize only two, a saved sinner and a lost sinner. But over in the lost sinner section, I'm going to divide that into two. Those who know that they are condemned sinners and those who don't, I'll try to go straight there.
Suppose that you were lying on a table. We've got a table. Let's make an imagine. While we're imagining, we just will imagine something fantastic. So we've got a nice table right here. And we're going to take Skip right here, Skip Meyer. We're going to tie Skip on this table. Do you mind, Skip? He's looking kind of strange at me. We're going to bind him to this table, and then we're going to put the table on a conveyor. You got it now? And so this table is automatically moving to the south. And down here to my left and your right is a giant rich saw, as a blade stands about this saw, and it's turning ten thousand revolutions per minute.
And each tooth on that wrist saw is razor sharp. All right. We start the conveyor up, and it's moving in that direction. Is Skip on the table? Sure is. Is it getting near death? He sure is. It's getting closer. Now, let's leave Skip there just for, if you don't mind me, let's go over here. Let's find just beside that on a parallel track another conveyor and another lip saw. And this time we're going to put Albert mine.
He didn't know that. I'm going to put him on there. He'll deal with me after the meeting. And we're going to tie Brother Albert up on there. And he's moving toward the conveyor. But suddenly Albert tries out, get me off. I know I'm going to be killed. Well, let's say Skip doesn't. Well, now, if there's someone there to respond to the call, if, notice now, if there's someone there to respond to the call, which one is saved from the death? The one who called. Is that right? Sure. What was the difference in these two men?
Were both of them bound to the table? Yes. We're both tables on a conveyor, yes. We're both conveyors running into a ripsaw, yes. So you see really two kind of law centers. Those who know they're condemned and those that don't seem to understand that are not willing to face it. But both are just as laws until one point, over that one point, at a point when the one who knew he was a condemned sinner cried out, gave me off to you. All right, here in our package, to me and our sinners, both of them are sinners. We don't want to look at these as saved and lost. We've got to look at both of them as lost.
The Pharisee was lost, and the publican was lost, and they were both on the conveyor going toward the midst of them. One of them talked with himself, oh, I thank thee, God, that I'm not like so-and-so. The other one talks with God, says, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Now that's the difference, beloved. Of course, there are saved sinners, and that's those of us who call on the Lord. Our sins have been forgiven. We're saved. We're on the way to heaven, like Milo was saved a while ago. And we're sure to be there. Either through death or the rapture when the Lord comes. Either way, we're certainly going to be there. But now look further at the verse. Smaller points, we're saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
One thing is, God, be a covering for my sins. Now, it was the law and the ark of the covenant that rested in there, that the Israelites had broken ark, had violated, that condemned everyone who peered down in the box. Everyone that that law had been, how will I put it, everyone that had had knowledge of that law and violated its principles, certainly it was condemning them. But there was one thing that kept that law from condemning anyone. And it was a mercy thing. It was a thin sheet of pure gold laid across the top of the box.
And on that thin sheet of pure gold, blood was placed. Now we find here the publican is praying, God, be a covering for me. A covering that has the blood on me. And that's what he's really praying. He's praying for blood. What does blood speak of? The death of someone. The death of who? Someone who has to be innocent for otherwise a guilty could not pay the debt for a guilty. It has to be an innocent for a guilty. So really in his prayer he recognizes that God is the only one who is guiltless, not guilty, and that God is the only one that can give the blood.
Acts twenty-eight. The scripture said, Take heed to yourself and all the flock over which the Holy Spirit made you overseers to feed the church of God which he purchased with his own blood. God did it with his own blood. So God was the one who could cover the loss. God was the one who could give the blood. And God is the one who would grant the pardon. God be merciful to the sinner. Now connect that with one verse of scripture in closing. And with this, I thought, Brother Milo, how did that clock get around so quickly? Did you do that? I did. I'm sorry. One word of Scripture. Romans ten, thirteen.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be said. He went to Calvary for you. He died for our sins. He was buried. He rose again the third day according to Scripture. Would you call him tonight? Draw him. Be merciful to men's sins. Won't you do that tonight? Well, there's an opportunity. We're going to have the pre-order come and sing one more number. We're going to be singing about the Lord's return. Suppose the Lord comes tonight and you haven't called. Watch the movie as tragic. It's not only an tragedy of time, but it's a tragedy of eternity. To reject the mercies of God in the Lord Jesus Christ and all God requires of you is to recognize your sinner's guilt.
Change your mind about yourself. Recognize it. And then call upon the one who can grant mercy. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. Won't they trust you? They're not there. They give us this closing message and song. Just before we have the closing song, I'm going to ask my son Merlin to lead us in a word of prayer. And one little announcement that I was asked to make, that is for the young people. There aren't any age specifications mentioned here, but Bill and Donaldemeyer have invited all the young folks over to their home for a young people's meeting as soon as this meeting has been dismissed. If there is anyone who would like to visit further while we're in the area, would like for us to call at your home or speak to us after the meeting tonight about this business of going to heaven, it's very important for many a person to know this may be the last opportunity.
We don't want you to miss. An opportunity of trusting Christ as your Savior. You could do that even while we sing this closing song, Even So Come, Lord Jesus. There's been a number of times that mention has been made tonight in the songs and in comments about the coming of the Lord Jesus. It is very near at hand. Many Christians tonight are praying, even so come, Lord Jesus. And he is coming. Wouldn't it be nice just to be able to go home tonight and really know that you're ready? Just pillow your head tonight in peace and say amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus. I'm ready now. Now, if he doesn't come, of course, we hope to be back here tomorrow night.
And if he doesn't come, it's another opportunity for you to invite your friends to come to the meeting tomorrow night so that once again we'll be able to get the word of the Lord out. And there'll be another message from the word of God tomorrow evening. Okay, Merlin, would you lead us in a word of prayer? And then we'll sing this closing song after which the meeting will be dismissed. Praise to God and Heavenly Father. This evening we may thank you for your love. Thank you for the gospel of the Lord Jesus and the simplicity of it. The fact that he loved us enough to go all the way to the cross of Calvary. And also, Lord, for the fact that we can avail ourselves of that full and free salvation by simply believing in him, believing that he's the Son of God, that he was crucified and that he wrote the gift on his third day on our behalf.
We thank you that we can know we are saved. Father, there are so many around us who think so and hope so and even don't care. Lord, we just thank you tonight that we can know tonight that we're saved. Now, we just pray that you've blessed the words of this closing song to the hearts of all those here. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we ask these things and thank you again. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Even so, Lord Jesus, come.
My heart has longed for me. So I failed and betrayed thy trust. Even so, Lord, Jesus, come. in a world of fear and turmoil, in a race that is so hard to ride. Why thy knees, thy riches fill thee. Even so thy feet thus come. When my eyes down the river, when I gave to the vast unknown, May our day we come on your end, even though Lord Jesus' Son, even though Lord Jesus' come your
heart of life for thee so I failed and betrayed thy job even though Even thou, our Jesus' love, even thou, our Jesus' love, My heart does love, Lord Jesus. So I failed and betrayed thy cross, even so Lord Jesus.