Brothers and sisters, I'm preaching a sermon this morning on Luke chapter 18, verses 9 through 43. I encourage you to turn there in your Bibles, Luke chapter 18, verses 9 through 43. I'm going to begin a new sermon series next week called What Happened to the Church. I sent out an email explaining that a little bit. This week I wanted to preach on Luke 18 in my own devotions I was reading through the Gospel of Luke and came to this chapter again and I don't normally do this too much usually you've noticed when I preach through Mark I just preach through one little segment at a time but I'm preaching almost on the entire chapter of Luke 18 which has quite a number of different events in it because I think what really strikes me about this chapter is these themes that run through all of the incidents we find here from the life of Jesus which I want us to think about together this morning. Again Luke chapter 18 beginning in verse 9, here please the word of our God again. He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee standing by himself prayed, thus, God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector standing far off would not even lift up his eyes to heaven. but beat his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked him. But Jesus called them to him, saying, Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. And a ruler asked him, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother. And he said, all these I have kept from my youth. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, one thing you still lack, sell all that you have and distribute to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. When he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Those who heard it said, then who can be saved? But he said, what is impossible with men is possible with God. And Peter said, see, we have left our homes and followed you. And he said to them, truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this life and in the age to come eternal life. And taking the 12, he said to them, see, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him. And on the third day, he will rise. But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside, begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. And he cried out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, what do you want me to do for you? And he said, Lord, let me recover my sight. And Jesus said to him, recover your sight. Your faith has made you well. And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. Again, this is the word of our God. Let's go to the Lord in prayer and ask for his blessing on the preaching of his word. Our Father, we know, as we have already confessed this morning, that even as we come to worship each week, Lord, we come as needy sinners. Lord, we come as people that still often dishonor your name. we come recognizing that we don't follow you with the zeal and commitment that we need. And in this, we recognize that we are in need of your grace. We're continually in need of your grace. And Father, as we think about Jesus' words this morning and Jesus' life this morning, Lord, my prayer is that you will actually give us a greater sense of our need of your grace so that we would have a greater desire to come to Christ and to seek him as we should. We praise you that you have poured out your grace upon us through Jesus. And we pray that through this worship service and through the preaching of your word, Father, that you would give us a greater desire to seek Jesus for more of that grace. We pray that you would do this work in us for your glory. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, brothers and sisters, the section of Luke that we have just read includes many well-known incidents, characters, and sayings from the life of Jesus. Think about it for a minute. It's here in this passage, for instance, that Jesus tells the well-known parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. This is a parable about two men who both go up to the temple to pray. They both do the same thing. They go to the temple to pray, but they approach God in fundamentally different ways. It's here in this passage that you have Jesus' interaction with the rich ruler, a man who seems to be interested in eternal life but who ends up going away sad rather than joyful because he cannot let go of his riches. And it's following this interaction that Jesus makes his famous statement that it's easier for a camel, he says, to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. It's here in this passage that we also have Jesus healing of a blind beggar who interestingly cannot even come to Jesus on his own because he cannot see. But brothers and sisters, he seems to know for sure that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of David, the promised king, and that Jesus is the one who is able to restore his blindness and to heal him and to give him the gift of sight. Also included in this chapter is the account of Jesus welcoming and receiving infants and even declaring that whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. And brothers and sisters, not to be missed, in verses 31 through 34, Jesus makes known here for the third time in the gospel of Luke the reality of his impending suffering, death, and resurrection, and says that these events will fulfill everything that was written by him, about him, in the Old Testament prophets. And brothers and sisters, this is the question that I want you to think about. It's this, what do we learn from all of this? As we turn to this chapter, what do we learn from all of this? What do we learn from this combination of events, stories, and statements that Jesus makes here in Luke chapter 18? What's really striking about these verses is that despite the diversity of incidents and activities that we have in this section of Luke, there are some clear and distinct themes that run through this passage. What I want us to do this morning is to look at a few of these themes together to see where they lead us. For this is a passage, brothers and sisters, that teaches us not only what we have to do and understand to come to Christ, It's a passage that also teaches us what we have to do and understand to grow in Christ. The first theme I want you to think about this morning, the first theme that we find in these verses is one that I call the danger and futility of self-reliance, the danger and futility of self-reliance. That can seem like a mouthful and you're probably sitting there wondering how in the world I got that from these verses, but I think this will become clear if we look together at some of the events here that we find. in Luke chapter 18. I'll begin with the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, and I particularly want to focus on the prayer of the Pharisee. As I said, this is a parable Jesus tells about two men. They both go up to the temple to pray, but they approach God in very different ways. The Pharisee prays like this in verses 11 through 12. He says this, thank God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. Brothers and sisters, think about this prayer for a minute. What should we make of the prayer of the Pharisee? J.C. Ryle said this. He said that this hardly deserves to be called a prayer at all. And I think that he's actually right. It really isn't a prayer at all. Think about it. All the elements that normally we find in prayer are not present here in the words of the Pharisee. There's no confession in this prayer whatsoever. He's not confessing anything to God, no sin that he's committed. There's no petition. in his prayer either. He's not asking God to do anything. He's not asking God for anything. We may think, well this is a prayer of thanksgiving because he begins with these words, God I thank you. When you start to examine his prayer, you realize there's no thanksgiving in his prayer either. His prayer completely lacks true gratitude because inherent in the whole idea of gratitude is that we are acknowledging our indebtedness to somebody else. If you're grateful to somebody, you're acknowledging your indebtedness to them in some way and the Pharisee is not acknowledging his indebtedness to God in this prayer in any way. If you want to call this a prayer at all, his prayer is more like a list of his accomplishments. It's a statement of his moral superiority. It is entirely a prayer that is self-focused rather than being God-focused. You see, he doesn't really see himself as being in need of God's mercy or in need of God at all. In fact, it's almost as if he thinks from his prayer that God needs him. He's listing all of his accomplishments, his good deeds. It's not as if he needs God and his mercy. It's almost as if he thinks that God needs him. You see, his whole approach to life, his whole approach to God here is one of self-reliance. What is he relying on? It's not on the mercy of God, he's relying on himself. What is he trusting in here? It's not God, he's trusting in his own ability and in his own works. And brothers and sisters, this is what I want you to think about, that what is presented to us here in the fictitious character of the Pharisee is actually fleshed out in the real life character of the rich ruler. The rich ruler is a man who comes to Jesus in verse 18 with a question, what must I do, he says, to inherit eternal life? It's not a bad question. In fact, it's a very good question. And as he asks this question to Jesus, he refers to Jesus as good, good teacher, he says. What must I do to inherit eternal life? eternal life. And Jesus responds this way. He says to this man, why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. What's the point that Jesus is making? Why does he respond this way? Of course Jesus is good because Jesus is God. Brothers and sisters, Jesus responds this way because he knows that this man calls him good, not because he thinks that Jesus is God in the flesh, but because he thinks that people are good. and particularly because he thinks that he is good. He thinks that Jesus is a good man, and he thinks that he is a good man as well. And so what does Jesus do? Jesus immediately points him to the Ten Commandments. He says this to him, you know the Ten Commandments, and then he begins to list some of those. You shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, and Jesus begins to list the commandments. Jesus wants this man to see that he's not as good as he thinks. This is why Jesus is doing this. He wants him to look into the mirror of God's law and see that actually he's not as good as he would like to think. But brothers and sisters, amazingly, when Jesus does this, he says, you know the Ten Commandments, how does the man response? He immediately responds to Jesus, saying in effect, Jesus, I'm glad that you brought up the Ten Commandments because I wanted to let you know that I've obeyed them perfectly from my youth. It's a remarkable response. Jesus is wanting him to see that he doesn't match up to what God requires. He responds in effect, Jesus, I'm glad you brought up the Ten Commandments. I wanted to bring them up myself because I've obeyed them perfectly from my youth. You see what's going on here? It's the same approach to life, the same approach to God. as you see in the Pharisee in the parable that Jesus tells. How is this rich ruler approaching God? It's with a resume of his own accomplishments. Where is his confidence? It's entirely in himself. There's no sense that he needs to rely on somebody else. He's relying on himself. Jesus, thanks for bringing up the Ten Commandments. I've obeyed them perfectly from my youth. And brothers and sisters, what I hope you understand is that what Jesus is teaching us here, and we'll see this more as we go off, is that self-reliance doesn't pay off. In fact, it is the very thing that keeps us from the kingdom of God. Think about it for a minute. What does Jesus say in his parable? It's not the Pharisee who goes home justified, Jesus said. It's not the Pharisee who receives God's verdict of acceptance. Rather, it's the tax collector. And the same thing is true in Jesus' interaction with the rich ruler. We're told that he goes away sad, not joyful. He remains outside the kingdom of God because he doesn't see his need of Christ. He doesn't see that he needs to rely on anybody else. And the message Jesus is proclaiming to us here is that self-reliance doesn't work. In fact, it's the very thing that keeps you from Christ. It's the very thing that keeps you from the kingdom of God. But brothers and sisters, Jesus makes this point here. This passage makes this point not just with negative examples like the Pharisee and the rich ruler. This passage points us to the danger of self-reliance also with positive examples. Think with me for a minute about the incident of Jesus healing of the blind beggar that comes at the very end of this chapter in verses 35 through 43. Think about this man for a minute. Here's a man who can't possibly rely on himself. Think about it. The whole idea of being a beggar is that you're dependent upon others. You've got to ask others to help you. And this man can't even come to Jesus on his own. He has to be brought to Jesus. He has to be led. He needs someone to guide him because he cannot see. And his condition is one that he's not able to free himself from. He can't restore his own sight. And then think about what happens here in this passage in contrast to these other examples we've seen. It's this man who cannot rely on his own ability, who knows that he's helpless, who knows that he needs the mercy of Christ, who knows that he needs God's to help him. It's this one that we find in this text who is healed by Jesus and receives his sight. It's the one who cannot rely on himself. But brothers and sisters, think about verses 15 through 17 here, where Jesus welcomes children to come to him. What's interesting about Luke's account is that Luke makes it clear that these are not just children. These are infants. These are the youngest children, babies that are being brought to Jesus here. And Jesus says this in verse 16. He says, to such belongs the kingdom of God. And then he follows this with these words, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. To understand Jesus' words, we've got to ask the question to ourselves, what is it about infants that Jesus is saying we need to imitate if we're going to enter the kingdom of God? In what way are infants examples to us? What is Jesus getting at here? Some people argue that what Jesus is highlighting here is the innocence of children. But brothers and sisters, that's not really what distinguishes a child from an adult. That's what the world will tell you. I hope you understand that that isn't true. Children are not actually innocent. From the very youngest age, when they come forth into the world, they show right away that their hearts are corrupted with sin, just like you and me. The difference between a child and an adult is not that they are innocent. What distinguishes an infant from an adult is their helplessness. A child is completely dependent upon others. Think about it. If you took a baby, an infant, and left them alone, they would quickly die. They cannot feed themselves. They cannot clothe themselves. They can't even get from one place to another because they can't walk. You have to carry them everywhere that you go. A child is completely helpless. And brothers and sisters, it's these helpless infants that cannot rely to himself that Jesus welcomes to himself. And he tells us that this is what we're supposed to be like if we're going to enter the kingdom of God. We have to recognize that we too are helpless. We've got to stop relying on ourselves. Thinking that we can manage on our own and recognize that we are actually more helpless than we like to think. And the point that Jesus is making in all of this is that it's our self-reliance that keeps us from experiencing the mercy of God. This is actually the greatest impediment to God's work of grace in our lives. It's the fact that we don't see ourselves as really being as needy as we really are. And so we don't seek the help of God in the way that we should. Brothers and sisters, there are different kinds of self-reliance, of course. There's the legalistic self-reliance of the Pharisee, where we try to overcome our unworthiness and our guilt by piling up visible moral achievements. We all fall into this at times. Trying to seek God's approval and the approval of others with our good works, making ourselves look good before other people, that's a kind of self-reliance. There's other kinds of self-reliance as well. Simply thinking that you're wise enough to get through life is a kind of self-reliance. Not praying. as you should, shows that you're living a life of self-reliance. Prayer is how we live in dependence upon God. If you're not praying, then you're not depending upon God. And if you're not depending upon God, who are you depending upon? Yourself. Or often, our overworking. is a sign of our self-reliance. This is what I fall into so often. Things get busy and stressful. There's too much to do. You feel like you don't have enough hours in the day. So what do you do? You work longer. You work harder. You think, if I work harder, then everything will come out right. Not praying, not seeking God's help, just working more. I'll work more. But who am I relying on? I'm relying on myself and not on God. Or think of the attitude of our culture today. It's so prevalent. What are you being told over and over by our culture today? You can find all the answers to your problems, not by looking outside of yourself, not by seeking help outside of yourself, not by turning to God, but where? By looking inside of yourself. This is the ultimate form of self-reliance. We're told today, let your feelings be your guide. If it feels good to you, do it. That will provide you true happiness. Who are you relying on? Who are you looking for your guidance in your life? It's you. It's you. All you need to do is look to you. That's what the world's telling you. Self-reliance. Self-reliance. Self-reliance. Brothers and sisters, whatever way it might be served up, What this passage is telling us, what the scripture tells us over and over is that self-reliance is a dead-end street. It's a hopeless self-deception because you cannot fix yourself. You cannot make yourself right with God. You cannot wash away your own sins. You cannot change your heart. You cannot draw near to God on your own. Self-reliance is a hopeless self-deception because you cannot fix yourself. And even worse, self-reliance is the thing that actually keeps us from what we need the most, and that's the mercy and help of God. This is the reality. Self-reliance is the thing we fall into that actually keeps us from God himself. And this is what I want you to think about this morning, that self-reliance is not just a problem in the world among people that don't know Christ, it's also a problem among us, even people that know the Lord Jesus. It's a deadly and subtle temptation that it is so easy for us to fall into. Think about it, how easy is it to fall into trying to cover your ongoing sense of sin and guilt with your kingdom achievements? How easy is it for us to try to build up our own self-esteem in ways that have nothing to do with your identity in Christ? It is so easy to come to Christ for the first time when you're saved and you recognize and acknowledge you're a sinner and you come to him and tell him you need him to save you. But then after you're a Christian, you stop relying on God altogether. You stop living the same life of dependence upon him. You start living by your own resources and by your own means. And brothers and sisters, what I hope you would hear this morning is that the problem with this is that our self-reliance keeps us from the grace of God. This is the very thing that keeps us from growing into the likeness of Christ and overcoming our sin. Because self-reliance keeps you from Christ-reliance. Self-reliance keeps you from Christ-reliance. It keeps you from relying on the grace of Christ, which is what the Christian life is all about. God didn't save you so that then you could manage things on your own. He saved you so that you could live in dependence upon him and find grace for everything you need in life through the Lord Jesus Christ. What self-reliance does is it keeps us from drinking continually from the fountain of grace that God has provided for us in Jesus Christ. Let me say that again, self-reliance, this is the danger and futility of it. It keeps us from drinking continually from the fountain of grace that God has provided for us in Jesus Christ. And brothers and sisters, this leads me to the second theme then that I want you to think about this morning that we find in these verses, which I call the necessity of acknowledging our sin and our need of God's grace. The necessity of acknowledging our sin, and the need of God's grace. If Jesus teaches us here that self-reliance keeps us from the grace of God, at the same time, he also teaches us here that the way that we can experience God's grace and grow in the likeness of Christ is by acknowledging our sin and our need of Jesus. Again, you see this throughout this chapter in the various incidents that we're told about here from the life of Jesus. Think again with me for a minute about the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Jesus contrasts the self-righteous prayer of the Pharisee, which we've already thought about, with the prayer of the tax collector. In verse 13, this is how the tax collector prays, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. God be merciful to me, a sinner. You see the contrast here? The Pharisee, what was his approach? Here's my list of accomplishments, God. Here's my resume of all the things I've achieved. You should be proud of me. You need me, God. Look at me and all that I've done. You see the approach of the tax collector? It's acknowledging his sin. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. He comes to God expressing his need of God's help and his need of God's forgiveness. And Jesus is saying, this is the way that we must approach God. if we want to experience His grace and His mercy. You see, brothers and sisters, all of our efforts to appear good, all of our self-reliance, none of this can actually change us. It only masks our sin, but it can't solve the problem of our sin. We need outside help. As I said, you cannot fix yourself. And so we must approach God as sinners, acknowledging that we are sinners and seeking His mercy. And brothers and sisters, if this is true, then think about it for a minute. This creates a great challenge for us as Christians in trying to share the gospel with people today. If we have to approach God by acknowledging our sin, the problem today is that there is little, if any, awareness of sin in our society. The most important thing today is not truth. As I said earlier, the most important thing is feelings. Your feelings. If it feels right, then people say it must be right. You see, this is how we judge our morality, right or wrong, it's by what we feel. And this has led us to make up our own morality. We've decided what we think is right and we decide what we think is wrong on our own. Rather than looking to God's standards or to God's word, we judge what we think is moral by our own feelings. And brothers and sisters, what I hope you understand is that that can seem like freedom, but it's really only a facade. Think about it this way, if you're a liar and you lie all the time, you're not honest with people, you deceive them. People get hurt because you lie to them. You can tell yourself and convince yourself that lying isn't wrong. You can tell yourself it's not immoral to lie. You can do that all day. It may make you feel better about yourself, but it doesn't change who you are. You're still a liar and you still lie to people and people still don't like it when you lie and deceive it. It doesn't change your heart. It doesn't change who you are. It appears like freedom, but it's only a facade. The only one that can change you and truly set you free is Jesus. And to experience the true freedom that Jesus can provide you, what Jesus is teaching is you've got to acknowledge your need of him. You've got to acknowledge that you're a sinner, that you're guilty in the sight of God, and that you need God's mercy. And this is the same thing that we see in Jesus' interaction with the rich ruler after Jesus points this man to the Ten Commandments. And remember, what does he say? Great God, Jesus, I'm glad you brought up the Ten Commandments. I've obeyed them perfectly from my youth. After that, in verse 22, Jesus says this to him, one thing, he says, you still lack. And then he tells him to sell his possessions and to give what he has to the poor. And we may wonder, why does Jesus do this? Why all of a sudden does Jesus tell this man that he needs to sell his possessions and give the money to the poor? And the answer is that Jesus knew that this man was rich. He knew that what he loved more than anything else was his riches. And what Jesus wanted him to see is that what God requires of us is not just that we obey the external duties of the law, we do some sort of external righteousness, we go to church, we do these things to appease God. That's not what God requires. God requires a pure heart. God requires that we obey him from the heart. God requires that we have a heart that truly loves him and that loves him above everything else. And by telling this man to sell his possessions to give the money to the poor, what Jesus was doing was he was exposing the fact that this man's heart was selfish. He didn't want to give up his riches. You see, his heart was really corrupt. He loved his money more than he loved God. He was greedy for his own gain. He really wasn't zealous for the glory of God, though it appeared that way in the way that he was doing the external duties of the law. And brothers and sisters, the same is true of us. We will never Experience the mercy of God unless we acknowledge it that our hearts are also selfish that our hearts are also corrupt Think about it. We can even be doing the right sort of Christian things and yet have our hearts be far from God You can be going about your life doing what appears to be the right Christian things and yet you're not really doing them out of a love for God or a zeal for his glory And what Jesus is teaching us here is that what we need is the mercy of God because we need God to change our hearts. We can't make our hearts right with God. We can't change our hearts so that we truly love God as we should. And in order to receive God's grace, in order to have Jesus do this for us, we must acknowledge our sin and come to him recognizing that we need to be healed by him. And brothers and sisters, this is also what we see in the healing of the blind beggar at the end of this passage. Think about this incident again. This man's disability, this man's condition is a picture of our depravity and our sinfulness. This beggar is blind, he's helpless, and in the Bible, blindness is often used as a metaphor for our sinful condition. Think about it. The Bible speaks of us walking in darkness when it speaks of us walking in sin. This man can do nothing to fix his infirmity. He can't restore his sight. The only thing that he can do is to confess his helplessness to Jesus and to seek his mercy. And what Jesus is showing us through this example is that we must do the same if we are going to be healed. And brothers and sisters, what I want you to see in all of this is that not only must we approach God this way in salvation, acknowledging our sins, seeking his mercy, we must also repeatedly approach God this way as Christians if we are to overcome our sin and grow into the likeness of Christ. Growth happens in our lives when we're willing to be rebuked by scripture, when we're willing to let the Holy Spirit expose the true state of our hearts as Jesus exposed the heart of this rich ruler, and when we're willing to admit our failures and then seek the help and grace of Jesus. And brothers and sisters, the problem we have, the reason we don't do this more, the reason we don't grow more into the likeness of Christ as we should, is because we tend to view ourselves better than we really are. This is true of every one of us. I'm not just saying this of a few. I'm including myself in this. This is part of our fallen condition. We need to recognize it, that all of us have an inflated view of ourselves. We want to see ourselves as better than we really are. This is what was true of the rich ruler. He thought that he was far more godly than he really was. It's true of every one of us. We don't see ourselves as God sees us. We want to see ourselves as better than being the sinners that we really are. And this is what happens, and I want you to think about, I know this happens in my life so often, is that what God does in his mercy is the Holy Spirit will start breaking holes into your facade. He does this to me. We all have this sort of facade of our righteousness that we built up. We think of ourselves as better than we are. a bubble we have around us, how we appear to other people. We want to appear better than we are. The Holy Spirit will start breaking holes into your facade, revealing the true state of your heart in order to help you to repent and to seek the mercy of Christ so that you can be changed. This is what God does in his mercy. He doesn't let us keep up this facade. But what we so often do, even as Christians, is when the Holy Spirit is busy breaking holes into our facade, we're busy trying to patch the holes up as fast as we can. Right? We don't want to see the facade come down. We're trying to patch it up. No, I'm really not like that. Lord, we're making excuses. No, fix that hole there. No, really, this is how I am. Really, we don't want this facade to crumble because we want to avoid the pain of seeing ourselves as God really sees us. Brothers and sisters, what I hope you understand is that when you're doing that, and we all do this at times, we're actually keeping ourselves from experiencing God's healing and transforming grace. You're choosing to keep up a facade rather than to be really and truly transformed by Jesus. It's as if you're the blind man in this story. Jesus is passing by. He could heal your sight forever. And in effect, you're just letting Jesus pass by because you'd rather just keep up a view you have of yourself, that you're more righteous than you really are. And brothers and sisters, what I hope you understand is this, in order for you to know Christ, in order for you to be transformed by Christ, in order for you to be healed by Christ, in order for you to become more like Christ, you have to become more aware of your sin. And you have to become more aware of your need of God's grace. We don't think this way. We think that we just go to church, we do the right things, God will just kind of make us more like Jesus and it'll just kind of work without us even being aware of it. But it's not the way sanctification takes place. You only become like Jesus when you become more aware of your sin and you repent of that sin and you seek the grace of Christ. To see the glory of Christ and to experience the glory of Christ, you also have to see the wretchedness of your own heart. It's the way it works, but it's part of God's grace. He shows you this so that you will come to Christ, so that Christ will heal you and make you new. Think about it this way. I wonder sometimes, maybe you've never thought of this in your life, but I've thought of this before. I wonder sometimes what it would be like if Jesus appeared today in our midst. The risen, exalted, bodily resurrected Jesus. What if he appeared in our midst? What if he came to worship next week? We showed up to worship, every one of us. Jesus was here with us. What would it be like? You see, I think we're tempted to think that if Jesus appeared, it would just be this great time of celebration. We would all be so joyful to have Jesus here. I think there's some truth in that, but I think what we forget, brothers and sisters, is that the worthiness of Christ, the beauty of Christ, the glory of Christ, would make us all instantly aware of how unworthy we actually are. You see, when we get to heaven and we're going to enjoy the presence of Christ forever, be able to see him face to face, the reason we'll be able to enjoy the presence of Christ there as we have never enjoyed it before is because there will be no more sin, no more barrier between us and God. But brothers and sisters, in our current state, if Jesus appeared here next week, well, I think we would certainly be drawn to his beauty. And well, I think that we would have a much greater sense of how great the love of God is for us. I think we would also have a profound sense of our own unworthiness, just like the tax collector. We would see our shroud of moral goodness. We would see our inflated image of ourselves, the facade we put up. We would see it for what it truly is, nothing more than filthy rags. And we would have no choice but to do what the tax collector did. We would have no choice but to do what the blind man did. to cry out to Jesus, Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. And brothers and sisters, what Jesus is saying in this text is that this is the only way that you can approach a holy God. It's the only way you can approach a glorious Savior like Jesus. It's the only way you can experience the grace of God and be changed. It's not by relying on yourself. It's not by trying to make yourself appear better than you really are. It's by acknowledging how helpless you actually are, how sinful you actually are, how needy you actually are, and seeking the help and the grace that God has provided for you in Jesus Christ. This is the way that we are saved. It's also the way that we are transformed and conformed into the image of Jesus. And brothers and sisters, this leads me to the third and final theme that I want you to think about this morning that we find in these verses. This final theme is what I call the free offer of grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. The free offer of grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. Jesus is not only telling us in this passage about the futility of self-reliance, he's not only telling us about our need to approach God by acknowledging our sin and our need of his grace, he's showing us here in this passage that he came to provide grace for sinners. He came to provide the grace that we need. You see, the reason that we can come to Christ, the reason we don't have to try to rely on ourselves or make ourselves look better than we are, is because Jesus is a Savior who welcomes sinners. We can come to Him and find the grace that we need. And brothers and sisters, this is a theme that runs through every section of these verses here in Luke chapter 18. Christ's free grace for sinners. This is the theme of the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. It ends this way, think about it, with Jesus telling us that it was the tax collector who went home justified. not the Pharisee. This was the result of his prayer for mercy, Jesus says, he went home justified. And brothers and sisters, to be justified is to be made right with God. It's to be forgiven of all of your sin. It's to be accepted by God and welcomed into his eternal kingdom. This is the grace that Jesus bestows on this man freely as he comes acknowledging his sin and seeking God's mercy. This is what we receive when we seek the mercy of Christ. And this is made clear at the end of that parable with the words Jesus says. He says this, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself, he says, will be exalted. I don't think Jesus is simply teaching us in that verse about our general need to be more humble or to have humility. He's teaching us here about what God does for sinners. If you are willing to acknowledge your sin and your need of God, then what Jesus is saying is God in his grace will take you from the lowly position of being a sinner under the wrath of God, outside the kingdom of God, and he will raise you up and exalt you to the position of being a child of God and an heir of the kingdom of God. This is what God does by his grace. If you want to try to exalt yourself and rely on yourself and your own works, God is going to humble you. But if you're willing to humble yourself and acknowledge your sin and come to Christ, God will exalt you by pouring his grace upon you in Jesus Christ. And brothers and sisters, this is what Jesus demonstrates when he welcomes infants to come to him and takes them in his arms. Think of this picture we have here. This is exactly what Jesus does for us in his grace. He welcomes us as helpless sinners and makes us the object of his love. Think about what Jesus does for us in salvation. It's as if he takes us in his arms like an infant and he carries us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God. And brothers and sisters, we see the same thing in Jesus' interaction with the rich ruler. After this man goes away sad, Jesus says these well-known words, how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. Jesus says it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And the people respond immediately. They say to Jesus, well then, who can be saved? You see, they understand actually what Jesus is getting at. If what God requires is not just that we do external religious duties, if God requires that we love him from the heart and we love him above everything else, then they're saying, who has a heart like that? Who can give up everything to follow God? Who can be saved? What does Jesus say in the very next verse? What is impossible with men, Jesus says. is possible with God. What is impossible with men is possible with God. Jesus is saying, God has made this possible by his grace. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot do anything to enter the kingdom of God. We cannot love God from the heart as we should, but what is impossible with men is possible through the grace of God. Jesus is announcing that God has made the impossible possible through him. that God has poured out grace on sinners like you and me. God has made it possible that we can be changed by Jesus so that we can enter the kingdom of God. And brothers and sisters, again, this is demonstrated in the healing of the blind beggar. Jesus stops everything when this man cries out to him. Think about this. There's all these crowds. They're following Jesus. It's a busy scene, hundreds of people. Jesus is walking. This man starts crying out, have mercy on me, son of David. And what does Jesus do? He stops everything for this man. He hears his cry. He commands this helpless man who couldn't see to be brought to him. And then this is what Jesus says to him in verse 41. What do you want me to do for you? What do you want me to do for you? Brothers and sisters, think about that. If that isn't a statement of God's free grace, nothing is. Imagine Jesus, the Son of God, the creator of the universe, standing before you and saying, what do you want me to do for you? That's the grace of God to you. And what does Jesus do? Jesus freely heals this man and restores his sight. And brothers and sisters, this grace in Christ which sets us free both from the guilt of our sin and the power of our sin is made possible because of what Jesus tells his disciples about in verses 31 through 34. It's there that he tells them about his coming death and resurrection, where he freely suffered for our sins and rose to give us new life. And what's interesting is that here in verse 31, Jesus tells his disciples that his suffering in Jerusalem would fulfill everything that was written about him in the prophets. And brothers and sisters, this means that the disciples should have understood that Jesus was the one who had come to fulfill the suffering servant prophecy of Isaiah 53, which we read this morning. They should have understood that because we're all like sheep and we have all gone astray, that in order for us to be saved, it was necessary for God to lay our sin and our iniquity on Jesus. That he had to be wounded for our transgressions. He had to be crushed for our iniquities so that by his stripes, By His wounds we could be healed. This is what the grace of God is all about. This is what God freely provides for us. This is what Jesus did for you. He suffered so that you could be healed. He suffered so that you could be forgiven. He suffered so that you could have new life. He suffered so that you could come to Him and acknowledge your sin and receive the grace that you need. Brothers and sisters, this is what I hope I hope you understand that the same grace of Christ that saves us, the same grace of Christ that's able to wash away all of your sin, the same grace of Christ that can raise you from death to life, this is the same grace that you need more of every single day to follow Jesus and to walk with Jesus and to obey Jesus and to grow to be more like Jesus. If you want to grow up into Christ your Savior, if you want your life to experience more fruit to His glory, and I know that you do, I pray and hope that you do, what you need to do is simply follow the pattern of these themes that we see here in Luke chapter 18. Recognize the futility of your self-reliance. Every time it rears its ugly head, And it does this in our life over and over. When you're relying on yourself and not on God, when you realize you're not praying, you're not seeking God, you've got to fight against this. Recognize the futility of your self-reliance. When the Holy Spirit is showing you your sin, don't make excuses for it. Recognize the futility of relying on yourself and then acknowledge your sin over and over in your need of God's grace and believe in God's free grace in Christ. That he invites you to come whenever you need it to receive the grace that you need because he wants to make you more like himself. You see, the same way that we must approach God in salvation, this is the same way that we must approach Him in sanctification, recognizing our need of God's mercy. And brothers and sisters, the reason we must do this, to come to Christ this way, is because we are helpless. As I said, we cannot fix ourselves. And the reason we can do this Get rid of our self-reliance. Acknowledge our sin. Come to Christ to receive His grace. The reason we can do this is because God's grace for us in Jesus never runs out. Jesus welcomes sinners. Jesus is able to heal you. Jesus is the one who is able to help you to walk in newness of life. And I say this to you this morning, and this is the main point of my sermon that I hope you'll get. I say this as I close this morning. The problem we have, even as Christians, is not that we come to Jesus too much. The problem is that we don't come enough. God has poured out on us endless grace, the availability of grace upon grace upon grace upon grace, and the problem we have is not that we come too much. We don't come to Jesus enough. Imagine me as a pastor, somebody coming into my office, wanting to talk with me. I was going to counsel them, and they talked to me, and I say to them, I think I know what your problem is. You come to Jesus too much. You just keep asking Jesus for too much grace. You're always bugging Jesus for grace and mercy to help you in every situation. You've got to stop coming to Jesus so much. Brothers and sisters, that would never be the case because there's never been a person who ever lived who has come to Jesus too much. The problem is not that we come too much, it's that we don't come enough. With all the challenges we face in life simply trying to live as Christians in this wicked world, trying to raise our families, trying to deal with temptations we face every day, trials that we face all the time, the problem is we don't come to Jesus enough. Too often we're still trying to rely on our own resources. Think about it, it's like this, and I know that I have been guilty of this so many times. It's as if Jesus is standing before you. You're the blind man in Luke chapter 18. He's standing in front of you saying to you, what do you want me to do for you? That's the grace. Come any time. What do you want me to do for you? And so often, what do we do when Jesus is standing there? What do you want me to do for you? Jesus, that's okay, I got it. I can handle this. No, Jesus, it's okay. What do you want me to do for you? No, Jesus, I think I'm all right. I got it. I'm managing. I'm kind of managing on my own. I think it's all right, Jesus. It's not until our life is falling apart. We've come to the end of our rope. We're so overwhelmed. We're getting angry at people, hurting other people. Maybe I need to cry out to Jesus for help. And Jesus is standing there the whole time. What do you want me to do for you? His grace never runs out. It's our self-reliance that's the problem. It's our unwillingness to acknowledge how needy we are and how sinful we are. This is what keeps us from the transforming grace of God in Christ, which we need more than anything else. Our problem is not that we come to Jesus too much. It's not that we rely on Jesus too much. The problem is that we don't come enough. We're still relying on ourself. And so I close by asking you this question. What areas are there in your life where you're still relying on yourself? Think about it. Think about it today. Think about it when you go home. Think about it tomorrow. What areas are there in your life where you're still relying on yourself instead of seeking the grace and the help of Jesus? What areas in your life are there where you're not really growing because you're not really crying out to Jesus to give you the grace to help you to grow to be more like him? Brothers and sisters, I say this to you, Jesus invites you to come over and over and over and over again. It's as if he's standing there saying, what do you want me to do for you? His grace never runs out. And this is what you need to remember, the very words of Jesus, what is impossible with men is possible with God. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our Father, we marvel.