Luke's Gospel chapter 18. And there's some verses we want to read here. We're going to read from verse 9. Just a few verses here, 9 to 14. It's one of the parables that the Lord Jesus spoke while he was here on earth. Luke's Gospel chapter 18, and beginning to read from verse 9. 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 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. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Amen, we know the Lord will add his blessing to that short reading from his holy and his inspired word. It's those few words at the end of verse 13 that we want to consider this evening. It's the prayer of the publican. In just a few words, God be merciful to me, a sinner. And if I could just change it a little bit because it actually in the original says, God be merciful to me, the sinner there's the definite article that is in there that's what he said god be merciful to me the sinner i want us to think about the first prayer that god ever hears from an individual the first prayer that god ever hears from an individual let's bow in prayer for a moment we need the lord's help and let's ask him for that heavenly father we thank thee that we are around thy word this evening, that we have read this portion, and bless the word of God to us. And now as we come to consider it and consider these few words, we pray that, Lord, thou wilt open up our hearts to thy word. And may the word of God enter with power and blessing, make it a saving word to some heart and soul this night. We pray that they might pray these words and be like this man that we have read of here, when he uttered these words, God be merciful to me, a sinner. O Lord, hear us, we ask of thee, give help in the preaching, now we pray. And may we know the Lord closing us in with himself. May no other voice be heard, save the Lord's. Close out every distracting thought, Lord. Every other thought may be brought into captivity. and that we'd have an ear to hear what God the Lord would say unto us for these few moments as we close this meeting. Hear us, we pray. Bless us now, we ask. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. There are many people who say their prayers. There are many people who pray in one form or another. But I wonder, have you ever thought upon the matter whether God actually hears the prayers that you offer. And sometimes when you're speaking to people, witnessing to people, when we're out on the outreach or whatever, somebody might say, as when you're presenting the gospel to them, they might say, oh, I say my prayers. Well, the most obvious question surely is, well, does God ever hear your prayer? Does God ever answer any of those prayers that are made to him? Surely that would be important. Why would be the point of praying? What would be the point of asking the Lord for anything if he never hears and if he never answers any of those prayers that are made to him? And the obvious question is, well, does God hear prayer? And then following on from that, what we want to think about this evening, what is the prayer that God hears first? Well, the words of the public in here that we want to consider this evening can be described as the first prayer that God hears from the lips of an individual. Now the Lord often uses the most unlikeliest of individuals to illustrate and to teach certain truths. you think about him taking the Samaritan who was so despised by the Jews but the Lord Jesus took the Samaritan as an illustration of charity and kindness and he illustrated to the Jews that that's how they ought to act towards their neighbor and he took up the Samaritan. the least individual that you would have thought among the Jews that the Lord would ever have have chosen or used as an illustration and yet an important illustration it was and a very pointed illustration it was you read about it just a little back there in the gospel of Luke well here's another unlikely individual that the Lord takes up this publican Because the publican was as despised as much as the Samaritan was. Because a publican in Bible times is not like what we understand a publican today, somebody to own a bar and serve alcohol. A publican in Bible times was a tax collector. And being a tax collector, it means that they had struck a deal with the Romans. that the Romans had demanded a certain level of taxes for the people or whatever area the tax collector, the publican, had responsibility for and then it was up to the tax collector to collect that from the people and pay it over to the Romans and he was at liberty to add on his percentage as well. And many of them were given to extortion. And again, we read that just into the next chapter there in Luke chapter 19, because you have the most famous publican of all in the Bible, that man, Zacchaeus, who climbed up into the tree and wanted to see the Lord Jesus. And it tells us that when the Lord spoke to him, if you look at chapter 19 of Luke's gospel and verse 8, This man was smitten in his heart, and it says, Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I've taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. So immediately the Lord deals with this man Zacchaeus and challenges him. This man owns up to what he has been doing. He has been taking far more of the people than he ought to have been taking. He was taking certainly what the Romans were expecting to be paid over, but he was adding on a far greater percentage than he ought ever to have been adding on, even to the point of extortion. And now he's going to pay it back, and he's going to pay it back fourfold as well. So the publican was a notorious individual, somebody that was shunned by society. They would have little dealings. with an individual like this. But this is the individual that the Lord Jesus chooses to illustrate this important point about the matter of prayer and being heard by God in heaven. And the Lord is highlighting that it is this man's prayer, an individual that would have been despised by many, if not all of those who were listening to the Lord Jesus that day. They would have been looking down their noses at the public and thinking, who is this individual? And what could we ever learn from this individual? but it was from this individual that the Lord was going to teach them this matter. Something else that is striking about the telling of this parable is the fact that the Lord Jesus and his disciples and the crowd that are there to hear this parable are all on their way up to Jerusalem. This whole section of Luke's Gospel takes place on the journey up to Jerusalem, the final journey of the Lord Jesus up to Jerusalem. That's often said when you go into the next chapter there with regards to Bartimaeus at the end of chapter 18 and then into chapter 19 with the man Zacchaeus. That was the Lord's last time traveling through Jericho. Here was the last time that the Lord was ever going to pass that way. And if you, just to give you the verses, if you go back to chapter 9 and verse 51, here's where this whole section starts. As I say, there's a whole section of Luke's gospel that all takes place with this company traveling up to Jerusalem. They're going up for the feast. Luke chapter 9, it's verse 51. And it came to pass when the time was come that he should be received up. This is referring to the Lord going to the cross, and then his resurrection, and then returning to heaven. So the time was coming near that he should be received up. He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. And there's the start of it. And everything that comes after that happens on the Lord's last journey up to Jerusalem. And for example, if you look at chapter 18 of Luke, verse 31, you'll see this again that's emphasized. It says, then he took unto him the 12 and said unto them, behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. So he's on his way up to Jerusalem. So that gives an importance to this parable as well. Those individuals that the Lord Jesus is speaking to here about this very matter of going up to the temple and praying and what is the prayer that God hears, they were actually on their way up to Jerusalem with the Lord Jesus. They're traveling up to Jerusalem because they're going to observe the Passover at this particular time. This is going to be the last Passover. that the Lord Jesus is going to be present at before he's going to be arrested and put to death at this very time. And I wonder, did the Lord Jesus tell this parable because there were some who were going up to Jerusalem to offer prayer and this is exactly how they were going to pray? Not according to the publican but according to the Pharisee. Was this one of the reasons why the Lord Jesus told this parable at this particular time? He gives us the reason why he's telling it there in verse 9 where we started our reading. He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. So he's directing this parable to those who were of a self-righteous spirit, who thought they were good enough as they were, that they didn't need salvation, they didn't need to come to know Jesus Christ, didn't need to acknowledge that they were sinners in any way, that they were righteous in and of themselves. The Lord Jesus has them in mind when he begins to tell this parable. But I want us this evening to consider this Pharisee, and particularly the publican, and these words that come from the lips of the publican at the end of verse 13. God be merciful to me, a sinner. The first prayer that God ever hears. And maybe you're here this evening on Sea. Maybe you would even say, oh, I say my prayers. But have you ever thought, does God hear my prayer? What is the first prayer God will ever hear from my lips? Well, here's a prayer that we can learn from. I want you, first of all, to consider here the posture of this man before the Lord in the temple. The two men come into the temple, it tells us, and the posture of the publican is very different to that of the Pharisee, because, you see, the Pharisee goes to the temple to be seen of others. That's his purpose for going to the temple. The Lord Jesus spoke about the Pharisees at other times, how that they prayed out in the marketplace. And the marketplace was a place where there's so many people coming and going. It was one of the busiest places in all of the city of Jerusalem or in any town or village. The marketplace, there'd be so many coming and going. The Pharisee would go out into the public place, out into the open place, and there he would begin to engage in his acts of devotion to God. He did it because he wanted others to see him. He's going up into the temple because he wants others to see him. That's what brings the Pharisee to the temple. But the publican comes to the temple for another reason. The publican comes to the temple to meet with God. there's a difference there's a difference just in turning up in the temple as the pharisee did to be seen of others and for others to notice him there's another thing entirely as the publican is here illustrating to come to this place to meet with god and the publican is there to meet with god and you'll notice what it says about him that the publican would not lift up his he was standing afar off verse 13 is the first thing that is mentioned there about him and the public and standing afar off so he just goes into the precincts of the temple he doesn't go in very far he certainly doesn't go as forward as far as others he he holds back he lingers back There's something that keeps him from going right in and going as far as the others. And the obvious question is, well, why did he stand afar off? Why did he not act like the Pharisee and like others as well and press in and get to the very front and go as far forward in the temple as it was possible? Did he feel himself to be an individual at a distance from God? Was there already in his heart and in his soul a sense that he separated from God? that there isn't the fellowship with God that there ought to be? Is this man already conscious of the gulf that there is between him and God? Because there is a gulf between God and every sinner. Every sinner is at a distance from God. Isaiah 59 and verse 2 tells us that our sins have separated between us and our God. So there's the cause of the gulf. Isaiah 59 verse 2, So it wouldn't matter if somebody was praying or saying their prayers because we're told here that God will not hear that individual who's at a distance from Him, who's separated from Him because of their sins. And was that the feeling of the publican as he comes into the temple? He only comes in a little. Oh he's drawn there and he senses his need to be in the temple but he doesn't come in very far because he's conscious of this gulf that there is between him and God. And he stands afar off conscious that he is indeed separated from God because of his sins. Verse 13 tells us as well that he would not lift up so much as his eyes on to heaven. He would not. It's not that he could not, he would not. He would not for he dare not. There is such a sense of his own unworthiness and his own sinfulness in the sight of God. Nobody has to tell him that he's a sinner because from the words that he prays here, he knows himself, he comes into the temple with this consciousness, I am a sinner. So no one has to tell him that he's a sinner. He's already coming with that consciousness in his own heart and in his own soul and he won't even lift up his eyes to heaven. because he's so conscious of the sins that he has committed, the shame of those sins. The shame has overcome him. How different he is to the Pharisee. The Pharisee comes in there as bold as brass, and he's praying. His prayer is given first there in verse 11, and it says, he stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are. And then he begins to list some sins and then he takes notice of the Pharisee and he thanks the Lord that he's not even like the Pharisee. Or sorry, he's not like the publican. He says, Lord, I thank you that I'm not like this publican. What a difference there is in the heart and spirit of this man who is the publican. He won't even lift his eyes towards heaven because he's conscious of the shame of his sin. How remarkably does the spirit of the Lord take away the daring spirit out of men when under the conviction of sin. You think of Saul of Tarsus and what a bold man he was at a time. Bold against the Lord, opposing the Lord for all his might, saying all the things that he could, blaspheming the Lord's name, even causing others, forcing others, arresting people, throwing them into prison, even putting them to death. What a bold man Saul of Tarsus was at a time. There in Acts 9, you read about Saul of Tarsus brought to his knees in the dust. When there was that voice from heaven that day and that light that shone, and Saul fell off the horse that he was on, and he's down in the dust. He's down in the dust. The Lord has brought him down. And how the Lord can quench that spirit that isn't in an individual and make them to sense their sinfulness Has the Lord ever done that? Has the Lord ever made you to feel your sinfulness? Has the Lord ever shown you your sin? Because as I say, this publican is drawing into the temple. Nobody has to tell him that he's a sinner. He's acknowledging it as we know from his prayer. Have we ever had a sense of sin? A consciousness that we're sinners in the eyes of God? Have we ever been in the place where we wouldn't dare even to lift up our eyes to heaven because we're so conscious of our sins and ashamed of them? John Newton is well known for his hymn writing. Amazing Grace is his most famous hymn, but he wrote many other hymns as well. Olney hymns. He was the Church of England minister in a little village of Olney and he wrote many hymns. William Cowper lived just a short distance away from them, and many hymns they shared among themselves, and they were great friends. But if you've ever read anything of the life story of John Newton, you'll find a man who was humbled by the Lord and brought to a place with a sense of sin. It's said of John Newton, to summarise his life before his conversion, he was a blaspheming slave trader. Eventually he had his own ship that he would sail to Africa and he would have a number of men who would raid inland and take slaves and then take those slaves to the Caribbean and then sell them. And then he would sail home to England with the proceeds of what he had earned from slavery. But God began to deal with John Newton. And Newton tells the story himself. And he acknowledged that in his unsaved state, even unsaved men got out of his way when John Newton lost his temper because he had such a foul tongue in his head. And the blasphemies that could come from John Newton's tongue when he got into a bad mood, even the ungodly didn't want to be around. But he was coming back over the Atlantic in a storm. arose. And that little ship that he was in that he had plied his trade back and forth from Africa to the Caribbean and back to England a number of times was buffeted in the storm. And Newton knew that God was dealing with him. And Newton tells the story himself how he cowered in the wheelhouse of that little vessel. He actually got down in the corner of the wheelhouse afraid of God. Not just afraid of the storm. afraid of God, afraid of God with a sense of his own sinfulness. And as a result of God's dealings with Newton, the Lord saved him. The Lord saved him, turned him around, and that's why he wrote the words of that hymn, Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. Has God ever made you to feel a sense of your own sinfulness, that you wouldn't even lift up your eyes toward heaven? Do you notice as well here, verse 13, it says that he smote upon his breast, Not only has he a sense of sin, but he's sorrow for sin. He realizes here's the source of all of this sin, all of this trouble. It's in his own heart. He's not blaming someone else. He's not pointing the finger at someone else. He's pointing it into his own heart. He's smote his own heart here, knowing that here's the source of all of the trouble. It lies within. It lies in my own breast. It lies in that heart. that there is within all of us a sinful heart, an unbelieving heart. That's the posture of this man as he comes into the temple. You see, the Pharisee isn't concerned with what's in his own heart. No, he's more interested in his own pride and bolstering his own pride. But the publican, he's concerned with what is in his heart. He knows what is there. And he comes into the temple. I want you secondly to consider here this man's prayer before God. And here we come to these words itself, God be merciful to me a sinner. And again, you have quite a contrast between the prayers of these two men. The prayer of the Pharisee was for the benefit of others. The prayer of the publican was for his own benefit. It was for the good of his soul. It was for the eternal good of his soul. He's there in the temple, not for the good of others, not that others would take notice of him or see him there, although they would. If there were others gathering in as they would into the temple, certainly they would see this man and maybe even notice him because, as I say, he would have been notorious. If this incident had taken place in real life, it's a parable, but it may well have taken place in real life that the Lord Jesus was actually talking about two individuals like this. But this man isn't interested in what others think of him or the fact that others are seeing him as he comes to the temple. That man is coming to the temple for the eternal good of his own soul. That's what brings him. That's what draws him. He's not there for any other reason. He's not there like the Pharisee. who is there for his own good, bolstering his own pride. This man is there for the good of his soul, for the eternal good of his own soul. He wants to settle the eternal question. That's what brings him to the temple. He wants to put this matter right before God. And that's why he utters these words, God be merciful to me, a sinner. Notice the character of his prayer. It's characterized by one simple thing, confession. He confesses himself to be a sinner in need of God's mercy. He confesses himself to be a sinner in need of God's mercy. And if we are going to pray in such a fashion that it will do us eternal good, here is how we must pray. We must pray with confession, seeking the mercy of God. That's the prayer that God will hear. That's the first prayer that God will hear from us. When we cry to him in confession, seeking his mercy. And that's what this man is doing, conscious of his own sinfulness, As I say, he's there acknowledging that he is the sinner. It's as if nobody else was there. It's as if nobody else matters in this matter. He's not concerned about others. He's not there pointing the finger at others, pointing out the faults of someone, or even trying to bolster his own pride. He is not there like the Pharisee at all. This man comes into the temple and he is convinced of his own sinfulness. And it doesn't matter about another individual. He is there to sort out this matter once and for all with regards to himself. And here he is, uttering these words, God be merciful to me, a sinner, or God be merciful to me, the sinner. There's confession. That's the first prayer God hears. Have you ever prayed a prayer of confession? Have you ever prayed before God, Lord, I am a sinner. I have broken your law. I am guilty in your sight. I have committed many sins." Have you ever prayed like that? Because you need to pray like that. If it's going to be well with your soul, if your soul is ever going to be saved, then you need to pray like this. This is the prayer that God hears where there is a confession of our sinfulness and where there is a looking for mercy. This man is coming looking for mercy. You see, you have the object of his prayer as well. He's praying to God. Because it's God's law that he is broken. It is against God that he has sinned. And therefore it is to God that he needs to direct his prayer. And that's how he prefaces his prayer. He says, God be merciful to me, a sinner. Isn't it interesting the contrast there with the Pharisee in the previous verse? Because it says in the previous verse, the Pharisee prayed with himself. He prayed with himself. He didn't pray to God. Although he uttered those words, God, I thank thee, that's how he started off. He wasn't praying to God. God wasn't interested in his prayer. God wasn't listening to that man's prayer. He was just praying with himself for the benefit of others around him. He wanted others to see him. He was doing it in public so that people would praise him and think that he was a very great individual. But the publican, the publican just says, God be merciful to me, a sinner. He directs his prayer to God for mercy. He's looking for forgiveness. He's looking for forgiveness. That's another feature of the prayer that God will hear. The prayer that seeks God for forgiveness. And again, I asked you tonight, have you ever prayed for forgiveness? Have you ever come to the Lord acknowledging that you're a sinner? Praying for his mercy, knowing that you don't deserve any good thing from God. You don't deserve any blessing. None of us do. None of us do. There's not an individual in all the world who can lay claim to any blessing from God. We are all cast upon his mercy. And have you ever come conscious of that? I am a sinner. I need, I need his mercy. I need his forgiveness. The word merciful there indicates to us the grounds upon which he was seeking forgiveness. That's a very interesting word that he uses and it indicates to us that this man knows something of what goes on in the temple. This is what brings him to the temple because the obvious question is, well, why does he not pray this somewhere else? Why does he not pray this in his own home? Why does he not pray it somewhere else? Maybe he's out collecting his taxes wherever. Why can he not just find a quiet spot and utter these words, God be merciful to me, a sinner, will the Lord not hear him? Well, there's a significance in him coming to the temple because of the word that he employs. You see that word merciful is a word that is connected with the sacrifice that is offered in the temple. It's a very interesting word. in the New Testament and that explains why he is in the temple and why he is praying the way that he is praying. Because you see there has to be grounds upon which God will forgive us. God just doesn't forgive sin arbitrarily. God forgives sins upon the grounds of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Somebody has to pay for sin. Somebody has to pay for sin. You and I either will pay for our own sins lost in hell forever, or Jesus Christ will pay for it. But we will pay for sin. Sin will be paid for one way or another. And don't ever forget that. Never think that sin is a light thing that's thin. Sin is something God doesn't take notice of. The Bible tells us he knows the very thoughts, the sinful thoughts that you think. And somebody has to pay for that sin. And either it will be you, lost in hell forever, with eternal punishment, or it will be Jesus Christ. It's going to be one or the other. But sin is going to be paid for. And this man is conscious of that. In these few words that he utters as he comes into the temple and he prays in the way that he did, he is realizing, if I am going to be forgiven, if I am going to have mercy from God, if God is going to forgive my sin and put away my sin, he's only going to do it on the grounds of the sacrifice. that was being offered in that temple, maybe even at that very moment, but certainly that very day, he's only going to forgive this man on the grounds of that sacrifice that points to Jesus Christ. You see, that word merciful means to be propitiated. And what does that mean? Well, it's a word that has to do with reconciliation. But turn over to 1 John chapter 4. and verse 10. And here's the explanation of it. And as I say, this is the key to understanding why he came to the temple to pray. Because he's looking for forgiveness and he's looking for forgiveness on the right grounds. He's just not saying, oh Lord, no, forgive me. Turn a blind eye, pretend it didn't happen. That's not the type of praying that the publican is engaged in. The publican is praying. Yes, he's praying for forgiveness and for mercy, but he's doing it on the grounds of Christ's atoning work. 1 John 4, verse 10 is the verse. It says, Herein is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. And here's this similar word. that is merciful in the prayer of the Pharisee. That's the English word that appears there in the prayer. God be merciful to me a sinner. Or we could put in the word that is here in 1 John 4 and 10. God be propitious. God look upon the sacrifice and forgive me. That's what he's literally praying. God look upon the sacrifice and forgive me my sin. That's what that man prayed that day. that sacrifice it had been offered in the morning and there was going to be offered in the evening as I say he might even have been there at the very time when the sacrifice was being offered but that's what he's praying lord look on that sacrifice and forgive this sinner now have we ever prayed like that Not some, as I say, airy-fairy idea, Oh Lord, forgive me my sins. Have we ever said, Lord, on the grounds of Jesus Christ, forgive this sinner. Take away the sins of this sinner. Cleanse me from my sins on the grounds of what Jesus Christ has done at the cross. Because that's what this man prayed. That's the prayer that the Lord hears. So while it is good to pray, And while it's good to have a habit of saying prayers, let's make sure that when you ask God for forgiveness, you're doing it the way that you'll find forgiveness. Very quickly, I want you to notice here as well, his position before God. We've thought of his posture, we've thought of his prayer. Look at verse 14. It says, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Here's the evidence you see that God heard this man's prayer and the Lord emphasizes it with those words there at the beginning of verse 14. I tell you. Oh, let there be no doubt about it, the Lord is saying. I want you to know this. So the Lord has spoken about these two men, the Pharisee and how he has prayed, the publican, and how he has prayed. And now the Lord Jesus says, I want you to know, I want to tell you, I want to tell you, here's the man that went down to his house justified. The word justified there has to do with being absolved from his sins. He went down a forgiven man. The word justified is a legal term. It means to declare someone righteous before the law. There's no charges. There's no condemnation. There's no guilt before the law. Before the law, someone stands without any condemnation. That's what it is to be justified in God's sight. And this man, this is what happened to him. He prays this prayer. God hears his prayer. God forgives him on the grounds of the sacrifice. the work of Jesus Christ, and this man goes down to his house justified, the Lord says. And the Lord says, I want you to know it. I want you to know that this man goes down to his house justified. If you're unsaved in this meeting this evening, the Lord wants you to know you can go down to your house justified tonight. You can go out those doors and down those stairs, and you can go home justified tonight with your sins forgiven. If you come to know Jesus Christ, if you seek forgiveness, through the work of Christ upon the cross. This man had peace with God. The going down to his house suggests that the matter is settled. As we've looked at, he has come into the temple for a purpose. He came into the temple to sort out this matter with regards to his soul. And it's sorted. And he's going down to his house. We've explained why he has come particularly to the temple and why he didn't pray in his house. He's there because he's looking to the sacrifice that was being offered in the temple. he has done all of that and his sins are forgiven now and he can go down to his house and he has got a peace with God because Romans 5 and verse 1 says therefore being justified by faith and the Lord Jesus has said this man is justified therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God this man has peace with God do you have a peace in your heart tonight can you go home and lay your head on the pillow and say, I have peace with God. And no matter what happens tonight, whether I never see the light of another day, I know it's well with my soul. I have a peace in my heart. Can you say that? Because this man went home without peace. He went home forgiven because he took the sinner's place. That's the significance of those words at the end of verse 14 there. Everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. This man took the sinner's place. He humbled himself. He wasn't too proud to take the sinner's place. He wasn't like the Pharisee. who boasted of the things that he wasn't. The Pharisee never confessed what he was. He just boasted of the things that he wasn't. I thank thee that I'm not this and I'm not that and I'm not even like that publican either. The Pharisee, that's all he was taken up with, the things that he wasn't. The publican was taken up with the things that he was. I'm a sinner and I need forgiveness. And he went home justified. He went home with the peace, the peace of God reigning in his heart because he was not too proud. to take the sinner's place. And my friend, if you do not take the sinner's place, you will never find forgiveness, and you'll be lost in hell forever. If you do not take the sinner's place, if in your pride you go on as you are, you will never have forgiveness, because they'll never bring you to Christ. Your pride will keep you back from coming to Christ. Is it not time to be like the publican, even to pray these very words tonight? Is it not time you were saved? Is it not time you were saved? I say it again, is it not time you were saved? Is it not time you took the sinner's place and uttered these words, God be merciful to me, a sinner. There's many in this room who have done that. And we thank the Lord for his grace. And we discovered that when we did that, took the sinner's place and sought the Lord for mercy, he forgave us. He took away our sins and he gave us the peace of God. The Lord can do that for you tonight and he will. He will. Now may you come to Christ. It's time you were saved. It's time you prayed these words. May you pray them even tonight. Let's bow together in prayer. If you're unsaved, you can pray those words where you're sitting now. You can just be like that publican. That publican that doesn't tell you that he needed a priest, or he didn't need a Levite in the temple. He didn't need any individual like that to help him. He just comes into that temple because he came to look to the sacrifice, and he just simply prayed. Maybe he didn't even pray out loud. It may be he just prayed in his heart, just those few words, God be merciful to me, a sinner. Is it not time you prayed those words? Is it not time you prayed those words? Even now where you are, in the quietness as we finish this meeting, may you pray those words. If I can help you, I'm happy to talk to you, but you don't need to talk to me. You just need to talk to the Lord. And take those simple words, and make them your prayer tonight. Our Father, we pray that each one of us will have prayed these words. O Lord, deliver us from whatever would hold us back, from taking the sinner's place, and acknowledge that we need your mercy, and we need forgiveness in Jesus Christ. We pray tonight, O Lord, that thou wilt have mercy upon our souls. May there be someone who will pray, God be merciful to me a sinner. Bless thy word, we pray. Speak on, we ask of thee. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.