Luke's Gospel and the chapter 18. We'll read from verse number 1 of the chapter down to the 14th verse. Luke's Gospel, chapter 18. Verse number 1, let us hear God's Word. And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint, saying, There was in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city, and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while, but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man, Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith, and shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth. And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the public, in standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For every one that exulteth himself shall be abased. and he that humble of himself shall be exalted." And God will add His blessing to the reading of His own precious and His own infallible Word. Luke chapter 18 verse number 13, And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner. The details of this text are exceedingly clear in the sense that they present to us the evidence of a sinner who was deeply concerned, deeply troubled about his spiritual condition before God. The man in view in this verse is a well-known character in the New Testament. He is described as the publican. There are no other details given about him. We do not know his name. We have no idea where he lived, whether in Jerusalem or elsewhere, though at this point he was in Jerusalem. All that is said about this man is that he was one of that group of individuals who were employed by the Roman government to collect the taxes of the nation of Israel. That's what's meant by the public and in the New Testament he was a tax collector. Now in itself that meant that such a man as this was viewed with the greatest antipathy and even hatred by the nation of Israel. Furthermore, these publicans or tax collectors were notoriously dishonest. so that in the light of the record of the gospels, they were men who were viewed as being in the same category as the harlots of society, those who had sunk into the very depths of sin and uncleanness. So the tax collector, the publican, was looked upon as being among the worst of men in the estimation of the people of the land. You see the evidence of this right here in this passage. Look with me quickly at verse 11 where that other man who was there that day as far as this parables record is concerned, this Pharisee, says this, verse 11, God I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers. What's this man doing? Well, he thinks he's praying, but he's really parading his own righteousness before God. And as he does so, he compares himself with other people. He takes that particular standard of measuring himself alongside other men as he boasts. of his own supposed merit and his own righteousness and against an array of notorious sinners he measures himself and in doing so he places the publican at the very end of his list. He places the publican at the very bottom rung of this list of notorious, ungodly, wicked sinners. Notice how it goes again. I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. In the estimation of the Pharisee, the publican there in the temple was actually the worst of the whole bunch of them whom he mentions in his prayer, his so-called prayer. So here's a man who is at the very bottom as far as the estimation of man is concerned. But leaving aside the particular level to which sin had brought this man, it had brought him very low. It had brought him right down altogether. I want you to see that the feature in which the Holy Spirit focuses in this text is that the publican knew that he was a sinner. He was aware of that fact in every fiber of his being as is shown by the details of our text. But the particular point that I want you to notice is that this man gave expression to his concern or his awareness that he was indeed a terrible sinner. Because you'll notice here in his prayer he vents forth how he saw himself, how he knew himself to be when he cried before God, God be merciful to me, a sinner. Or as it is in the original language, God be merciful to me, the sinner. You see, he didn't need the Pharisee to tell him or even to make any remarks about him as to his sinfulness and his wickedness before God because he knew it. and he was troubled about it, and he was concerned about it, and he gives expression to it here as he prays and he cries to God. He's a man deeply troubled, deeply concerned, and he brings it forth before God, before the one who really matters. It doesn't matter about the Pharisee, what he thinks of this man. The man knows he's a sinner. What really matters is to this poor man, he must get to the Lord. He must tell the Lord what he is. He must make this full confession, and it is a full confession, though it is encapsulated in just a few words, God be merciful to me the sinner. Remember that he was in the temple in the city of Jerusalem, he was in the house of God. from or in that very place and from his heart that this cry arose. It arose from the depth of his being because he senses what he desperately needs. Here is a biblical and a gospel truth, sinners aware of their sin and aware of their need of deliverance going before God and crying to Him for all that they need in order to be saved. And in that way we are taught that it is an integral part of God's way of salvation that the sinner consciously and deliberately and very personally seeks the Lord for salvation. That is an integral part of the gospel, that men and women aware of their sin get before the Lord and actually seek God for the mercy and the grace and the forgiveness and the deliverance that they desperately need, that they need above everything else. The gospel calls upon men, therefore, to come to the Lord, to seek the Lord, to turn to the Lord, to call upon the name of the Lord. The gospel instructs you to take that step. Listen, sinner, to call upon the Lord, to seek the Lord, to turn to the Lord, to cry to the Lord as the publican did. The gospel instructs you to take that step. That is a part of the proclamation of the gospel and the very message of the gospel. that sinners are to come before God like this man and they are to cry out and call out as He did that day so long ago there in the temple in Jerusalem. Seeking God for salvation has been the experience of men in this world from the very time that man fell into sin. Way back in Genesis. In the fourth chapter, the last verse of that chapter, we have these words, Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. Genesis 4.26, taking us way back, way back to shortly after the time that man fell. When you read that verse, remember, Adam's still alive. His son Seth is mentioned. And then Adam's grandson Enos, or Enosh. And we're told that in those days men began to call upon the name of the Lord. There was a great awakening. There was a stirring among men. There was a sense of sin. There was a consciousness of their need. And at that time, oh, way back in those remote days, remote from us that is, men began to call upon the name of the Lord. And there's the point proved that down through time men have been calling upon God to save them because that is an aspect of the gospel that is one that we must never fail to see and one that must never fail to be stressed. Sinners must and need to call upon the name of the Lord or take the case of Manasseh. who was the rebellious son of the godly king Hezekiah. When this man Manasseh, he himself became king of Judah. What a wicked man he was. He overthrew everything that Hezekiah had done. He filled Jerusalem with idols and he filled Jerusalem with blood because he was a murderer. He was a terrible man, a wicked man, an ungodly man. But at the age of 67, God saved him. God dealt with Manasseh. He awakened that man. And the story is recorded in 2 Chronicles 33. The wonderful story of the awakening of Manasseh as God dealt with him and showed him his sin and brought him to an end of himself. And we are told that the salient feature, the outstanding feature of what happened to Manasseh is that he began to pray. He began to pray. We read there in that chapter, he sought the Lord. He entreated the Lord. Terms like these, you'll find seven or eight references to Manassas praying at the time that God dealt with his soul. And ah, my dear friend, as he prayed, the outcome was that God heard us cry. God took note of his prayer, God saved him, and he put away his sin forevermore. Other examples could be given, but these are enough to show us, along with our text this evening, that the Word of God is very clear in this point. Sinners need to come before the Lord and actually seek Him and cry to Him that they might be saved. And here in our text, a sinner is praying. A troubled, anxious man. He's at the very point of seeking the Lord. He can't go on any farther. He cannot continue as he's living. And furthermore, he can't go on in the agony of soul that he feels. And he feels it desperately. And therefore, the point has come where this unnamed man, this publican, can put it off no more. He can wait no longer. He senses his sin. He knows his guilt. And there in the temple in Jerusalem, a cry goes up in the midst of that throng, no doubt that was there that day, God be merciful to me, the sinner. It is our prayer. It's our longing for you, dear unsaved one. that even here this very night, in God's house, in this gospel meeting, as God's Word is being preached, and we're gathered together to wait before the Lord to hear what He would say to our hearts, that from your soul, from your soul, even before I finish preaching, even before this meeting concludes, There will arise the cry, the very same cry, the same kind of cry I mean, the same kind of appeal to heaven, God be merciful to me the sinner. Oh, that that would happen. That would happen. What a glorious night this would be. What a glorious, wonderful event that would be. As sinners so moved by God, broken by God, could no longer go on in their sin but cry to God for mercy. Ah, sinner, if you could only see your danger, if you only could become aware of your need, then undoubtedly there would arise a cry to heaven, God be merciful to me the sinner. Notice the problem that he addressed in his prayer. His words are these in which he describes himself or refers to himself are a sinner, as I've already indicated, the sinner. That's how it is in the original text, which means that this man saw himself as the greatest of sinners, singularly wicked, and he's now overcome by the conviction that he felt and the awareness that has come over his soul that he's utterly unrighteous before the holy God of heaven. And therefore he saw very clearly, he saw so plainly that day the problem in his life, the problem in his soul in terms of his sin. And therefore he comes and he faces it and he confronts it and he prays about it. Indeed his very posture As you look at this verse, it's indicative of the fact that he knew that the problem that was in his life and in his heart was the problem of his sin and his guilt and his wickedness and all the attendant problems that sin brings into a man's soul, into a woman's life. It's all before him. It's all over his very being. He can't get away from it. He's dealing with the problem of sin. as he prays before God, and his very body language, and I can rightly use that term, for we're going to look at it right now and it's here, his very body language spoke just as loudly as the actual words that he uttered that day before the God of heaven. The problem he addressed in his prayer, his sinfulness, his wickedness, he's a man who felt condemned. Look with me and notice, as I've said, his bodily language. It says there in our text, the publican standing afar off. He takes up a certain place in the temple, afar off. You know, the temple of God in Jerusalem in those days was in a very real way surrounded by a set of rules and regulations. And there was a certain place where the Jew could stand. And there was a certain place where the Gentile could be. And here's a man who is a Jew. We've no doubt about that. And yet he takes up the place that belongs to the one who was a Gentile. Far off. You will find in the Bible that that very term, far off, is used in many instances to describe the position of those who are Gentiles, those who are not part of the Jewish nation, those who are outside the pale of Israel. You'll find this term used in many places to describe them. They are a people far off, far away, cut off from God, estranged from God. is used over and over again. And here's a man who is a Jew, and yet he feels himself to be so utterly condemned before God because of his sin. Here's a man who saw that he had no acceptance with God because of his sin, but rather condemned before God that he takes that posture, or that position rather, away in the very corner, so to speak. Far off. Because he knows that he's under condemnation. That detail makes it very clear that he was utterly aware of the problem of a sin, that he's condemned before God, he's under wrath. And you find that expression far off used in that way in Scripture in terms of signifying man's condemnation, but the place that I want us to notice about this particular line of thought is back just two chapters in Luke chapter 16. And listen to verse number 23. And notice what it says there about this particular man, a man who has died, a man who has left this world, this man who is known as the rich man. And it says in verse 23, and in hell, he has died you see, his funeral has taken place because verse 22 tells you he's already buried. That's his body. His body's in the grave. He's buried. And no doubt there was great pomp and great ceremony, a great assembly that have come from near and far. They'd have lauded this man. He was a rich man. He had much of the world. He's a Jew as well. He's highly esteemed. People thought him to be the very epitome of goodness and morality and all these things. A man who no doubt was even envied because of what he had in life. Now he's buried, and his soul's in hell. And as he's in hell, and remember men and women, he's still in hell. His soul's still there. And he's still been punished in the flame, as this chapter shows us. But there in hell it tells us, he lift up his eyes, being in torments, being punished is what that means, and he saith, Abraham, afar off. There's the very same term, far off or afar off. And while it says he saw Abraham afar off, what it also means is the rich man was far off. He was as far away from Abraham who was in heaven as Abraham was from him. There's a great gulf the rest of the chapter shows us. It's fixed and there is no transmission from one side to the other. Here's a man who's far off. And now my friend, the tragedy is, he's far off forever. There's no restoration for him. There's no way out of hell. There is no recovery for his soul. There is no alleviation of his torments. He's a far off in this account in Luke 16. He's a far off still. And he'll be a far off forevermore. Because he died in a sin. He died a condemned man. And how vividly that is brought out. A far off, in hell, being in torments. And this publican in Luke chapter 18 stands afar off because he realizes that he's condemned, condemned already, realizes that the wrath of God is against him and that he should be cut down to everlasting hell immediately. And my friend, there's the very essence of the damnation of hell is to be separated from God forevermore. And this publican realizes that that is the terrible danger in which he's falling. found, so he stands afar off because he knows. He knows that already he's cut off from God. And if he dies as he's now found, he'll be cut off forevermore. And therefore, as he addresses the problem of sin in his prayer, God be merciful to me, the sinner. He feels condemned? Do you feel condemned? Do you sense what is actually a reality? The Bible says that he that believeth not is condemned already. You are condemned before God for your sin, At this moment, His judgment, His wrath hang over your head. He that believeth not the wrath of God abideth on Him. It's a reality, man. It's not some theological formula. It's a fact. It's a real issue. It's something that you should tremble. to consider, as you said in this gospel meeting, that right now you are condemned before God, and you're cut off from God. And if you die the way you're living, you'll be cut off forever and condemned for all eternity, banished from God forevermore. That's the way it is right now, and that's the way it will be. You've got a problem therefore. It needs to be addressed. He felt condemned. He also felt corrupt, unclean, sinful, wicked. Notice those next words, he would not lift up so much as his eyes on to heaven. He would not lift up so much as his eyes on to heaven. There is a clear pointer to the fact that he was ashamed of his sins. And he felt not only his condemnation, but he felt his corruption before God. He sensed the uncleanness of his nature. He could not lift up his eyes and look as it were God in the eye. He cannot do this, as no man may do so. Because every man is corrupt and defiled and therefore cannot look into the eye of God in the sense of being able to do so without any shame or any embarrassment. Just think for a moment of the awful corruption that sin brings into the heart and the defilement it brings into a person's life and think of the shame, think of the embarrassment that such brings over the soul when that awareness comes, that sense of corruption before God dawns upon the soul, what a shameful thing sin actually is. shameful to the last degree, never to be boasted of or treated lightly, but over which we should all hang our heads in shame. And especially those who are yet in their sin and are unsaved and unconverted, you would do well tonight to hang your head before God and cry like this man for mercy, because you are not only a condemned sinner, you are a corrupt sinner. Your sin rises up before God with the most terrible hues, the most awful, embarrassing, shameful nature to it. We think of a man of God called Ezra. We read of that man getting down before God one day and we're told that as he prayed he said, I am ashamed to lift up my face to thee." He's praying about the sins of his nation, the sins of the Israelites, and he's ashamed to come before God. He's a godly man, he's a holy man, and yet he felt the wickedness of his times. and he felt the sin of his day and he comes before the Lord and he can't even lift up his face to God. And the psalmist as well in Psalm 40 says this, mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up. Do you wonder why we teach our children to bow their heads and close their eyes when we come to pray? It is, of course, a sign of reverence. It's also, I just say in passing, to teach them that God is the invisible God. We're not praying to an idol or to something that man has made with his hands. We're praying to the absolute, infinite, eternal, invisible Spirit, the everlasting God. And therefore we tell our children, close your eyes to bring home to them that this is the God before whom they come and to whom they pray. But we also tell them to bow their heads and close their eyes to teach them. that they cannot look into the face of God because they are little sinners. And from earliest days children need to be taught this fact. And men and women here this evening, I trust and pray that God will bring it home to your soul that you have much over which to be ashamed. Not that I know what your sin is. I have enough of my own over which to be ashamed." But the point is this, God knows your sin. God knows your shameful ways. You cannot look into the face of God because of the corruption of your nature. He feels condemned. He feels corrupt, and then he also feels contrite, broken. The text says, he smote upon his breast. That in the Bible is a sign of contrition, brokenness over sin. Actually the word here, he smote upon his breast. indicates that he actually smoked not once, but over and over again. There was the gesture of sorrow, contrition, or brokenness. And the Bible talks about this smiting on the breast to bring home to us. It's within man that sin lies. It's within the heart. And therefore, there's a smiting on the breast to underline that very fact. that in our very being, in the spiritual heart, symbolized by the physical heart that lies in the breast, there is the fountainhead of all sin, and all guilt, and all wickedness, and all rottenness before God. And here's a man who in brokenness smites his breast because he's dealing with the problem of his sin. And he's broken. And he's mourning over that. And he realizes that his heart is deceitful above all things, and it's desperately wicked. And in his godly sorrow, he focuses on that sin in terms of the grievous state of his own soul, his own life, his whole being, and therefore here is the problem that he addresses in his prayer. He is the sinner, condemned, corrupt, but thank God at this point he's a broken man. And now, my dear friend, it is to that point, and I pray God the Holy Spirit will bring you It is okay, indeed it's necessary, it's very essential, and I must not take away from it, that you would feel your condemnation and feel your corruption. But you could feel condemned and feel corrupt and feel yourself to be the worst of men and the greatest of sinners. But until you get to the place where you're broken, not that there's any saving merit in being broken, may I hasten to add. But until you get to the place you are broken, you will never sense and feel your need for Christ. There's no pride in this man. There is no cover-up. There is no trying to make himself feel better than he actually is. Here's a man who is honestly before God, and he is facing the problem of his sin. But then there is also the plea that he uttered, God be merciful to me a sinner, a plea for mercy. And notice that he emphasizes the source of mercy, God be merciful to me the sinner. And the particular mercy this man was looking for was that God would declare him righteous. And we know that from the next verse where it says, the Lord says, Jesus says, I tell you this man went down to his house justified. Beautiful, wonderful words. Think about it. That day in the temple, we'll see more about this in a moment or two, but that day in the temple, this man experienced what is actually said right here by Christ. When the Lord declares, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, which means that right in the temple he was justified. As he prayed, he was justified. And that was the very issue over which he sought the Lord. That was the very heart of his plea, that he would be justified. And because, men and women, that is the very center of what mercy, God's mercy is all about. God justifies sinners. And what a mercy that is. What is justification? It's a change of standing. It's a change of position legally speaking before a holy God. We've already seen that He was condemned along with His corruption, but He was condemned and therefore He knew that before God legally speaking, He had no standing. He was, as we've seen under wrath, He had broken the law. He deserved to be punished forevermore. We've seen all this. He knows all this. And therefore, he comes before God and the one thing that he desires, the one thing for which he seeks with all his heart is that he might receive mercy from the Lord and that God might declare him righteous. Oh, that you could see tonight your need of God to declare you righteous and justify you before His law? that you could sense this and see in your heart of hearts, there's one thing I desperately need. I am before God. I am condemned because of my sin. I've broken His law. I cannot stand acceptably before Him. I can't enter heaven. There's no way there for me. And dear sinner friend, that is absolutely true. If you were to die now, do you understand it? You would not enter heaven. No man is able to enter heaven being condemned, being declared by God unjust and unrighteous because of breaking the law and violating God's holiness. We cannot enter heaven and therefore the mercy that we need and the plea that should rise from our hearts is that God would justify us. and say to us as He does when He justifies a man, Thou art no longer condemned. Thou art now perfectly righteous, just as if you had never sinned. You might say, Preacher, that is incredible. That could not possibly be true. Ah, dear sinner, the gospel to men is an incredible issue. Something because of your own belief, but it's what the Bible reveals. It is God that justifies, Paul says in Romans 8, 34. God justifies sinners. He gives them a righteousness that is perfect, and He declares them to be no longer condemned. That's what happens the moment we trust the Lord Jesus. Condemnation is gone. Our guilt is taken away. We're accepted before the law, God's holy law, and the matter is settled for eternity. But in what is this mercy actually found? He says, God be merciful to me, the sinner. Justify me, Lord. Well, the word merciful is the key word. It actually means be satisfied toward me. Be appeased toward me. It brings out the great fact that this publican realized that God will only justify a man upon a certain basis. a certain foundation when His own righteousness, His own holiness is eternally satisfied and forever appeased. And I tell you tonight, this publican, though he was the man he was, he had got a hold of that truth and he wouldn't let go. Because this word merciful is a word that's used of Jesus Christ in many, many New Testament verses. It's rendered in different ways. But the point is this, where is mercy found? How can God justify unrighteous, undeserving, ungodly sinners like us, like you? How can you stand accepted before the law? What is the foundation for this? What is the basis for this? There has to be a basis. Yes, God justifies, God forgives, God accepts. but not without the sin that's the problem being dealt with and satisfaction being made for that sin. Now my dear friend, this is what the gospel is all about. Jesus Christ, the just, died for the unjust. Jesus Christ by His perfect obedience has brought in an everlasting righteousness. That's what old Daniel said hundreds of years ago, Daniel chapter 9, the Messiah had been cut off, not for Himself, and then bringing in everlasting righteousness. The righteousness of Christ is in view in this word, merciful. The word is used, as I say, of Christ. And I'm going to take you through the verses. Just take me at my word. I could show you every one of them if we had time to do it right now. But again and again and again, The word merciful is used in relation to the atoning death of Christ, the precious blood being shed, the great work of atonement being made for sin, the Savior's sacrifice on the middle tree. The word that's used here is used in a multiple of verses concerning the death of our Lord. And I'm telling you simply and plainly, that the only ground or only basis for a man's justification, the only source of mercy therefore, is the death of Jesus Christ, in which satisfaction has been made to God for sin. Do you see the point I'm making? The problem that this man addressed in his prayer was the problem of a sin. He's talking to the Lord. He's before God. He's actually praying. His words are few, but that doesn't matter. He's praying. He's addressing the problem. And then he is uttering this plea, God be merciful. And he focuses on the atonement, he focuses on the shed blood, he focuses on the great truth of Christ's satisfaction for sin, and he cries out to God on that grounds. Now listen carefully. Notice the pardon he received as he prayed. And again we come back to verse 14 where the Savior tells us, the Lord Jesus tells us what happened. when this man prayed, I tell you, underline those words. Unsaved one, sinner in this gathering, underline those words. They are the words of our blessed Redeemer Himself, and He is saying to you tonight, listen to them carefully, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified. The Lord tells us here and there's no doubt about it. There might be a question in your mind wherein you're saying, well, if I come to the Lord tonight and I pray the prayer or I cry to God, I seek Him, I ask Him to save me, to justify me, to have mercy on me, will He answer me? Will He give me this mercy, this pardon, this salvation that I need, that I urgently seek? I've come to see it now. That's the way you're thinking. I must have it. I can't leave without being justified before God. But preachers tell me, can I be sure that the Lord will give it to me? Well, did it not happen here? Does our Lord's commentary here not assure you? I tell you, it's not me, it's not John Greer telling you this, it's not anybody else, it's the Lord Jesus. He's saying to you sinner, I tell you, do you want to hear it? Do you care enough about your soul? Are you concerned enough about your state when you're standing before God to listen to Christ? Forget about preachers. Forget about the human voice. Hear the word of the Lord. I tell you, And you need no other witness. I tell you that this publican, this man who faced his sin, this man who felt his guilt, this man who felt his terrible condemnation and saw that he was before God, he went down to his house that day, a justified man. Now, do you notice something? He was justified before he left the temple. I pointed at this, I mentioned this briefly a few minutes ago. It was instantaneous. It was right in the house of God. Do you see what I'm saying? It was as He prayed. God be merciful to me, the sinner. I was thinking about this today again as I was going over final preparation for this message, and I'd never seen or thought about this before. The very Word of Christ tells you that this man was justified that day as he prayed, because the word justified here is in a certain form in the New Testament in this verse that points us back to a point in time prior to when the Lord makes the declaration, and therefore it takes us right back into the temple. I want you to get the scene. The man has gone up to the temple. He stood away in the corner. He couldn't lift his eyes. He's so ashamed. He beats on his breast in his brokenness. He knows the problems in his heart and in his life. And yet the cry goes up. And the words of Christ tell us that at that very moment he was justified. He didn't have to wait. until some future time. You know how people tell you you can't be saved in an instant? Ah, my friend, that's a lie. He was saved in an instant. He was justified in a moment. It took place there and then as he prayed, as he cried to God. And right away the work was done. The justification was complete. He passed from death unto life. He was delivered. He goes away no longer condemned, pardoned, accepted by God forever. There's no reversal of God's justifying act of grace. And that man's in heaven tonight. There's absolutely no doubt about this. He's there in glory. He's in that blood-washed throng. He's arrayed in the white robes. This publican, this unnamed man in the Bible, oh, the Lord knows his name because his name was written down in the Lamb's Book of Life. And one day the saints will meet him. One day you who are saved will see this man. And you'll talk to him, and you might say to him, tell me about that day when you were in the temple, in the house of God, and the Lord met with you and justified you, and now let me tell you about my experience. You say, preacher, you're getting a bit far-fetched. No, I'm not. The saints will talk together in glory about what the Lord did for them on earth, and you'll tell the public on what He did for you. as well as He telling you what the Lord did for Him. That's what will happen in glory as we all stand around the great throne and see the Lamb. But sinner, you need to take the step. You need to call upon the Lord. And I come right back tonight to where I started. Sinners seeking God, calling on the Lord. out of the awareness and the consciousness of sin, the knowledge of guilt, corruption, and condemnation, and crying to God. And you know, you could do nothing better than take the words of this dear man and right now make those words your very own. Remember last Sunday night when I preached from Hosea 14, I showed you that God puts words in sinners' mouths. He says to sinners, take with you words turned to the Lord and say unto him, receive us graciously. And the Lord's putting the very words into your mouth tonight. He's giving you the words of the prayer of a sinner. It's the Word of God, and it's recorded for us by the Holy Spirit, and you may take those words and make them your own. Now sinner, here we come to this issue, the issue of your need. and your response, and what you must do, and must do even this very night, right now in this house before you leave God's meeting house, that from your soul there will arise the cry, God save me. Have mercy on me. Oh, that you could see your poor soul's desperate need, feel it, and act upon it, and come, come to Christ. Let your cry be heard in glory, for it will be if you pray what the publican prayed or something like it. God be merciful to me, the sinner. Let us bow in prayer. Let's all bow quietly, reverently before the Lord in these closing moments. Let's maintain that quietness, that reverence. We're before God. He has spoken to hearts. We must heed what he's saying. Sinner, will this be the night when that feature of the gospel will become true in your life, that is calling upon the Lord? Will this be the night when your voice will be heard in glory, when your cry will arise and God will hear it? Will this be the night when you'll take the step? I urge you to do so. It would be my joy to sit down with you in a moment or two when the meeting is over and the meeting is dismissed and open up the book, pray with you and lead you to Christ. I am here to help you as the minister of the gospel and as a servant of Christ, guide you to the Savior. And I pray that this night you will not leave the house of God, just as that publican didn't leave the temple until he was a justified man. Oh, that this night you will not hasten away. as if there was nothing over which to be concerned or worried, but that this night you will make certain that all is well with your soul. I beg of you to stay and seek out help. Come down to the door, let me know. See me afterwards. O gracious God and Father, May the Holy Spirit take the Word, may He use it, may He apply it powerfully to hearts here this night. May sinners see their need to get through to God and cry for mercy, and may the Holy Spirit draw and give grace, and may the work be done, and may Christ be glorified. part is with thy blessing. We pray in Jesus' name and for Jesus' sake. Amen.