A Sermon for the Worst Man on Earth

A Sermon for the Worst Man on Earth

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 20, 1887,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"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." Luke 18:13.

IT was the fault of the Pharisee that though he went up into the Temple
to pray, he did not pray. There is no prayer in all that he said. It is
one excellence of the publican that he went up to the Temple to pray
and he did pray–there is nothing but prayer in all that he said. "God
be merciful to me a sinner" is a pure, unadulterated prayer throughout!
It was the fault of the Pharisee that when he went up to the Temple to
pray, he forgot an essential part of prayer which is confession of
sin–he spoke as if he had no sins to confess, but many virtues to
parade. It was a chief excellence in the devotion of the publican that
he did confess his sin, yes, that his utterance was full of confession
of sin! From beginning to end it was an acknowledgment of his guilt and
an appeal for Grace to the merciful God. The prayer of the publican is
admirable for its fullness of meaning. An expositor calls it a holy
telegram–and certainly it is so compact and so condensed, so free from
superfluous words–that it is worthy to be called by that name. I do
not see how he could have expressed his meaning more fully or more
briefly. In the original Greek the words are even fewer than in the
English. Oh, that men would learn to pray with less of language and
more of meaning! What great things are packed away in this short
petition! God, mercy, sin, the propitiation and forgiveness!

He speaks of great matters–trifles are not thought of! He has nothing
to do with fasting twice in the week, or the paying of tithes and such
second-rate things. The matters he treats of are of a higher order. His
trembling heart moves among sublimities which overcome him and he
speaks in tones consistent therewith. He deals with the greatest things
that ever can be–he pleads for his life, his soul! Where could he find
themes more weighty, more vital to his eternal interests? He is not
playing at prayer, but pleading in awful earnest. His supplication
speeded well with God and he speedily won his suit with Heaven. Mercy
granted to him full justification! The prayer so pleased the Lord Jesus
Christ, who heard it, that He condescended to become a portrait painter
and took a sketch of the petitioner. I say the prayer in itself was so
pleasing to the gracious Savior that He tells us how it was
offered–"Standing afar off, he would not lift up so much as his eyes
unto Heaven, but smote upon his breast." Luke, who, according to
tradition, was somewhat of an artist as well as a physician, takes
great care to place this picture in the national portrait gallery of
men saved by Sovereign Grace. Here we have the portrait of a man who
called himself a sinner who may still be held up as a pattern to
saints! I am glad to have the Divine sketch of this man, that I may see
the bodily form of his devotion. I am more glad, still, to have his
prayer, that we may look into the very soul of his pleading.

My heart's desire this morning is that many here may seek mercy of the
Lord as this publican did–and go down to their houses justified! I ask
no man to use the same words. Let no man attach a superstitious value
to them. Alas, this prayer has been used flippantly, foolishly and
almost looked upon as a sort of charm! Some have said–"We may live as
we like, for we have only to say, 'God be merciful to me,' when we are
dying, and all will be well." This is a wicked misuse of Gospel Truth!
Yes, it turns it into a lie! If you choose thus to pervert the Grace of
the Gospel to your own destruction, your blood must be on your own
heads! You may not have space given you in which to breathe out even
this brief sentence, or, if you have, the words may not come from your
heart and so you may die in your sins. I pray you, do not thus presume
upon the forbearance of God! But, if with the publican's heart, we can
take the publican's attitude. If with the publican's spirit we can use
the publican's words, then there will follow a gracious acceptance and
we shall go home

justified. If such is the case, there will be grand times today, for
angels will rejoice over sinners reconciled to God and made to know in
their own souls the boundless mercy of the Lord!

In preaching upon the text, I shall endeavor to bring out its innermost
spirit. May we be taught of the Spirit so that we may learn four
lessons from it!

I. The first is this–THE FACT OF SINNERSHIP IS NO REASON FOR DESPAIR.
You need, none of you, say, "I am guilty and, therefore, I may not
approach God. I am so greatly guilty that it would be too daring a
thing for me to ask for mercy." Dismiss such thoughts at once! My text
and a thousand other arguments forbid despair.

For, first, this man who was a sinner yet dared to approach the Lord.
According to our version, he said, "God be merciful to me a sinner,"
but a more accurate rendering is that which the Revised Version puts in
the margin–"the sinner." He meant to say that he was emphatically the
sinner. The Pharisee yonder was the saint of his age, but this publican
who stood afar off from the holy place was the sinner. If there was not
another sinner in the world, he was one–and in a world of sinners he
was a prominent offender–the sinner of sinners! Emphatically he
applies to himself the guilty name. He takes the chief place in
condemnation and yet he cries, "God be merciful to me the sinner."

Now if you know yourself to be a sinner, you may plead with God, but if
you mourn that you are not only a sinner, but the sinner with the
definite article–the sinner above all others–you may still hope in
the mercy of the Lord. The worst, the most profane, the most horrible
of sinners may venture, as this man did, to approach the God of mercy!
I know that it looks like a daring action and, therefore, you must do
it by faith. On any other footing but that of faith in the mercy of
God, you who are a sinner may not dare to approach the Lord lest you be
found guilty of presumption. But with your eyes on mercy, you may be
bravely trustful. Believe in the great mercy of God and though your
sins are abundant, you will find that the Lord will abundantly pardon!
Though they blot your character, the Lord will blot them out! Though
they are red like crimson, yet the precious blood of Jesus will make
you whiter than snow!

This story of the Pharisee and the publican is intended as an
encouraging example to you. If this man who was the sinner found
forgiveness, so shall you, also, if you seek it in the same way. One
sinner has speeded so well–why should not you? Come and try for
yourself and see if the Lord does not prove in your case that His mercy
endures forever.

Next, remember that you may not only find encouragement in looking at
the sinner who sought his God, but in the God whom he sought. Sinner,
there is great mercy in the heart of God. How often did that verse ring
out as a chorus in the temple song–

"For His mercy shall endure Ever faithful, ever sure!"

Mercy is a specially glorious attribute of Jehovah, the living God. He
is "the Lord God, merciful and gracious." He is "slow to anger and
plenteous in mercy." Do you not see how this should cheer you? Sinners
are necessary if mercy is to be indulged! How can the Lord display His
mercy except to the guilty? Goodness is for creatures, but mercy is for
sinners! Towards unfallen creatures there may be love, but there cannot
be mercy. Angels are not fit recipients of mercy. They do not require
it, for they have not transgressed. Mercy comes into exercise after Law
has been broken, not till then. Among the attributes, it is the last
which found scope for itself. So to speak, it is the Benjamin and the
darling attribute of God–"He delights in mercy." Only to a sinner can
God be merciful. Do you hear this, you sinner? Be sure that you catch
at it! If there is boundless mercy in the heart of God and it can only
exercise itself towards the guilty, then you are the man to have it,
for you are a guilty one! Come, then, and let His mercy wrap you about
like a garment this day and cover all your shame. Does not God's
delight in mercy prove that sinnership is no reason for despair?

Moreover, the conception of salvation implies hope for sinners. That
salvation which we preach to you every day is glad tidings for the
guilty. Salvation by Grace implies that men are guilty. Salvation means
not the reward of the righteous, but the cleansing of the unrighteous.
Salvation is meant for the lost, the ruined, the undone! And the
blessings which it brings of pardoning mercy and cleansing Grace must
be intended for the guilty and polluted. "The whole need not a
physician." The physician has his eyes upon the sick. Alms are for the
poor, bread is for the hungry, pardon is for the guilty. O you that are
guilty, you are the men that Mercy seeks after! You were in God's eyes
when He sent His Son into the world to save sinners! From the very
first inception of redemption to the completion of it, the eyes of the
great God were set on the guilty–not on the deserving! The very name
of Jesus tells us that He shall save His people from their sins.

Let me further say that inasmuch as that salvation of God is a great
one, it must have been intended to meet great sins. O Sirs, would
Christ have shed the blood of His heart for some trifling, venial sins
which your tears could wash away? Do you think God would have given His
dear Son to die as a mere superfluity? If sin had been a small matter,
a little sacrifice would have sufficed. Do you think that the Divine
Atonement was made only for small offenses? Did Jesus die for little
sins and leave the great ones unatoned for? No, the Lord God measured
the greatness of our sin and found it high as Heaven, deep as Hell and
broad as the infinite and, therefore, He gave so great a Savior. He
gave His only-begotten Son, an infinite Sacrifice, an immeasurable
Atonement. With such throes and pangs of death as never can be fully
described, the Lord Jesus poured out His soul in unknown sufferings
that He might provide a great salvation for the greatest of sinners.
See Jesus on the Cross and learn that all manner of sin and of
blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men! The fact of salvation and of a
great salvation, ought to drive away the very notion of despair from
every heart that hears of it! Salvation, that is for me, for I am lost!
A great salvation, that is for me, for I am the greatest of sinners!
Oh, hear my word this day! It is God's Word of love and it rings out
like a silver bell! O my beloved Hearers, I weep over you and yet I
feel like singing all the time, for I am sent to proclaim salvation
from the Lord for the very worst of you!

The Gospel is especially, definitely and distinctly addressed to
sinners. Listen to it–"This is a faithful saying and worthy of all
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of
whom I am chief." "I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance." "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was
lost." The Gospel is like a letter directed in a clear and legible
hand–and if you will read its direction, you will find that it runs
thus–"TO THE SINNER." O Sinners, the word of this salvation is sent to
you! If you are a sinner, you are the very man for whom the Gospel is
intended and I do not mean, by this, a merely complimentary nominal
sinner, but an out-and-out rebel, a transgressor against God and man! O
Sinner, seize upon the Gospel with joyful eagerness and cry unto God
for mercy at once!–

"'Twas for sinners that He suffered

Agonies unspeakable!

Can you doubt you are a sinner?

If you can–then hope, farewell.

But, believing what is written–

'All are guilty'– 'dead in sin'

Looking to the Crucified One,

Hope shall rise your soul within." If you will think of it again, there
must be hope for sinners, for the great commands of the Gospel are most
suitable to sinners. Hear, for instance, this Word of God–"Repent you
therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts
3:19). Who can repent but the guilty? Who can be converted but those
who are on the wrong track and, therefore, need to be turned? The
following text is evidently addressed to those who are good for
nothing–"Let the wicked forsake his ways and the unrighteous man his
thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon
him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." The very word,
"repent," indicates that it is addressed to those who have sinned–let
it beckon you to mercy!

Then you are bid to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, salvation by
faith must be for guilty men, for the way of life for the innocent is
by perseverance in good works. The Law says, "This do, and live." The
Gospel talks of salvation by believing because it is the only way
possible for those who have broken the Law and are condemned by it.
Salvation is of faith that it might be by Grace. Believe and live!
Believe and live! Believe and live! This is the jubilee note of the
trumpet of Free Grace. Oh, that you would know the joyful sound and
thus be blessed! Oh, that you that are sinful would hear the call as
addressed to you in particular! You are up to your necks in the mire of
sin, but a mighty hand is stretched out to deliver you. "Repent and
believe the Gospel!"

If you need any other argument–and I hope you do not–I would put it
thus–great sinners have been saved. All sorts of sinners are being
saved today. What wonders some of us have seen! What wonders have been
worked in this Tabernacle! A man was heard at a Prayer Meeting pleading
in louder tones than usual. He was a sailor and his voice was pitched
to the tune of the roaring billows. A lady whispered to her friend, "Is
that Captain F?" "Yes" said the other, "why do you ask?" "Because,"
said she, "the last time I heard that voice, its swearing made my blood
run cold! The man's oaths were terrible beyond measure. Can it be the
same man?" Someone observed, "Go and ask him." The lady

timidly said, "Are you the same Captain F_that I heard swearing in the
street, outside my house?" "Well," he

said, "I am the same person, and yet, thank God, I am not the same!" O
Brothers and Sisters, such were some of us, but we are washed, we are
sanctified! Wonders of Divine Grace belong to God!

I was reading the other day a story of an old shepherd who had never
attended a place of worship, but when he had grown gray and was near to
die, he was drawn by curiosity into the Methodist chapel, and all was
new to him. Hardhearted old fellow as he was, he was noticed to shed
tears during the sermon. He had obtained a glimpse of hope. He saw that
there was mercy even for him! He laid hold on eternal life at once! The
surprise was great when he was seen at the chapel and greater still
when, on the Monday night, he was seen at the Prayer Meeting–yes, and
heard at the Prayer Meeting, for he fell down on his knees and praised
God that he had found mercy! Do you wonder that the Methodists shouted,
"Bless the Lord"? Wherever Christ is preached, the most wicked of men
and women are made to sit at the Savior's feet, "clothed, and in their
right minds." My Hearer, why should it not be so with you? At any rate,
we have full proof of the fact that sinnership is no reason for
despair.

II. I must now advance to my second observation–A SENSE OF SINNERSHIP
CONFERS NO RIGHT TO

MERCY. You will wonder why I mention this self-evident truth, but I
must mention it because of a common error which does great mischief.
This man was very sensible of his sin insomuch that he called himself,
THE SINNER, but he did not urge his sense of sin as any reason why he
should find mercy. There is an ingenuity in the heart of man, nothing
less than devilish, by which he will, if he can, turn the Gospel,
itself, into a yoke of bondage. If we preach to sinners that they may
come to Christ in all their anguish and misery, one cries–"I do not
feel myself to be a sinner as I ought to feel it! I have not felt those
convictions of which you speak and, therefore, I cannot come to Jesus!"
This is a horrible twist of our meaning! We never meant to insinuate
that convictions and doubts and despondencies conferred upon men a
claim to mercy, or were necessary preparations for Grace. I want you,
therefore, to learn that a sense of sin gives no man a right to Divine
Grace.

If a deep sense of sin entitled men to mercy, it would be a turning of
this parable upside down. Do you dream that this publican was, after
all, a Pharisee differently dressed? Do you imagine that he really
meant to plead, "God be merciful to me because I am humble and lowly"?
Did he say in his heart, "Lord, have mercy upon me because I am not a
Pharisee and am deeply despondent on account of my evil ways"? This
would prove that he was, in his heart of hearts, a Pharisee! If you
make a righteousness out of your feelings, you are just as much out of
the true way as if you made a righteousness out of your works. Whether
it is work or feeling, anything which is relied upon as a claim for
Grace is an antichrist! You are no more to be saved because of your
conscious miseries than because of your conscious merits! There is no
virtue either in the one or in the other. If you make a Savior of
convictions, you will be lost as surely as if you made a Savior out of
ceremonies! The publican trusted in Divine Mercy and not in his own
convictions. And you must do the same.

To imagine that an awful sense of sin constituted a claim upon mercy
would be like giving a premium to great sin. Certain seekers think, "I
have never been a drunk, or a swearer, or unchaste, but I almost wish I
had been, that I might feel myself to be the chief of sinners and so
might come to Jesus." Do not wish anything so atrocious! There is no
good in sin in any shape or fashion! Thank God if you have been kept
from the grosser forms of vice. Do not imagine that repentance is
easier when sin is grosser–the reverse is true. Do believe that there
is no advantage in having been a horrible offender. You have sins
enough–to be worse would not be better. If good works do not help you,
certainly bad works do not! You that have been moral and excellent
should cry for mercy and not be so silly as to dream that greater sins
would help you to readier repentance! Come as you are and if your heart
is hard, confess it as one of your greatest sins. A deeper sense of sin
would not entitle you to the mercy of God–you can have no title to
mercy but that which mercy gives you. Could your tears flow
forever–could your grief know no respite–you would have no claim upon
the Sovereign Grace of God, who will have mercy on whom He will have
mercy.

Then, dear Friends, remember, if we begin to preach to sinners that
they must have a certain sense of sin and a certain measure of
conviction, such teaching would turn the sinner away from God in Christ
to himself. The man begins at once to say, "Have I a broken heart? Do I
feel the burden of sin?" This is only another form of looking to self.
Man must not look to himself to find reasons for God's Grace. The
remedy does not lie in the seat of the disease–it lies in the
Physician's hands. A sense of sin is not a claim, but a gift of that
blessed Savior who is exalted on high to give repentance and remission
of sins. Beware of any teaching which makes you look to yourself for
help! You must, rather, cling to that doc-

trine which makes you look only to Christ! Whether you know it or not,
you are a lost, ruined sinner, only fit to be cast into the flames of
Hell forever. Confess this, but do not ask to be driven mad by a sense
of it. Come to Jesus just as you are and do not wait for a preparation
made out of your own miseries. Look to Jesus and to Him alone.

If we fall into the notion that a certain sense of sin has a claim upon
God, we shall be putting salvation upon other grounds than that of
faith–and that would be false ground. Now, the ground of salvation
is–"God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." A
simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the way of salvation! But to
say, "I shall be saved because I am horribly convicted of sin and
driven to desperation," is not to speak like the Gospel, but to rave
out of the pride of an unbelieving heart. The Gospel is that you
believe in Christ Jesus; that you get right out of yourself and depend
alone on Him! Do you say, "I feel so guilty"? You are certainly guilty,
whether you feel it or not! And you are far more guilty than you have
any idea of. Come to Christ because you are guilty, not because you
have been prepared to come by looking at your guilt! Trust nothing of
your own, not even your sense of need. A man may have a sense of
disease a long time before he will get healing out of it. The
looking-glass of conviction reveals the spots on our face, but it
cannot wash them away. You cannot fill your hands by putting them into
your empty pocket and feeling how empty it is! It would be far wiser to
hold them out and receive the gold which your friend so freely gives
you. "God be merciful to me a sinner" is the right way to put it, but
not, "God be merciful to me because I sufficiently feel my sinnership,
and most fittingly bewail it."

III. My third observation is this–THE KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR SINNERSHIP
GUIDES MEN TO RIGHT ACTION. When a man has learned of the Holy Spirit
that he is a sinner, then by a kind of instinct of the new life, he
does the right thing in the right way. This publican had not often been
to the Temple and had not learned the orthodox way of behaving. It is
easy to learn how we all do it nowadays in our temples–take off your
hat, hold it in front of your face and read the maker's name and
address! Then sit down and, at the proper moment, bend forward and
cover your eyes and, furthermore, stand up when the rest of the
congregation does. People get to do this just as if they were wound up
by machinery–yet they do not pray when they are supposed to be
praying, nor bow before the Lord when worship is being offered.

This publican is out of rank! He does not follow the rubric. He has
gestures of his own. First, instead of coming forward, he stands afar
off. He does not dare to come where that most respectable person, the
Pharisee, is displaying himself, for he does not feel worthy. He leaves
space between himself and God, an opening for a Mediator, room for an
Advocate, place for an Intercessor to interpose between himself and the
Throne of the Most High! Wise man, thus, to stand afar off! For by this
means he could safely draw near in the Person of Jesus. Furthermore, he
would not lift so much as his eyes to Heaven. It seems natural to lift
up your hands in prayer, but he would not even lift his eyes. The
uplifting of the eyes is very proper, is it not? But it was still more
proper for "the sinner" not to lift his eyes. His downcast eyes meant
much.

Our Lord does not say that he could not lift up his eyes, but he would
not. He could look up, for he did in spirit look up as he cried, "God
be merciful to me." But he would not because it seemed indecorous for
eyes like his to peer into the Heaven where dwells the holy God.
Meanwhile, the penitent publican kept smiting upon his breast. The
original does not say that he smote upon his breast once, but he smote
and smote again! It was a continuous act. He seemed to say–"Oh, this
wicked heart!" He would smite it. Again and again he expressed his
intense grief by this Oriental gesture, for he did not know how else to
set forth his sorrow. His heart had sinned and he smote it! His eyes
had led him astray and he made them look down to the earth. And as he,
himself, had sinned by living far off from God, he banished himself far
from the manifest Presence.

Every gesture and posture is significant and yet all came
spontaneously. He had no book of directions how to behave himself in
the House of God, but his sincerity guided him. If you want to know how
to behave yourselves as penitents, be penitents. The best rubrics of
worship are those which are written on broken hearts. I have heard of a
minister who was said to cry in the wrong place in his sermons–and it
was found afterwards that he had written in the margin of his
manuscript, "Weep here." His audience could not see the reason for his
artificial moisture. It must have had a ludicrous effect. In religion
everything artificial is ridiculous, or worse! But Grace in the heart
is the best "master of the ceremonies." He who prays aright with his
heart will not much err with foot, hand, or head. If you would know how
to ap-

proach God, confess yourself a sinner and so take your true place
before the God of Truth–throw yourself on Divine Mercy and thus place
God in His true position as your Judge and Lord.

Observe that this man, even under the weight of conscious sin, was led
aright, for he went straight away to God. A sense of sin without faith
drives us from God, but a sense of sin with faith draws us immediately
to God. He came to God alone. He felt that it would be of no avail to
confess his fault to a mortal, or to look for absolution from a man. He
did not resort to the priest of the Temple, but to the God of the
Temple! He did not ask to speak to the good and learned man, the
Pharisee, who stood on the same floor with him. His Enquiry Room was
the secret of his own soul and he enquired of the Lord. He ran straight
away to God, who alone was able to help. And when he opened his mouth,
it was, "God be merciful to me a sinner." That is what you have to do,
my dear Hearer, if you would be saved–you must go distinctly and
immediately to God in Christ Jesus. Forget all things else and say,
with the returning prodigal, "I will arise and go to my Father." None
but God can help us out of our low estate! No mercy but the mercy of
God can serve our turn and none can give us that mercy but the God of
Mercy! Let every broken-down sinner come to his God, against whom he
has offended.

The publican did not look round on his fellow worshippers–he was too
much absorbed in his own grief of heart. Especially is it noteworthy
that he had no remarks to make upon the Pharisee. He did not denounce
the pride, or the hypocrisy, or the hard-heartedness of the professor
who so offensively looked down upon him. He did not return contempt for
contempt, as we are all too apt to do. No, he dealt with the Lord alone
in the deep sincerity of his own heart–and it was well. My Hearer,
when will you do the same? When will you cease to censure others and
reserve your severity for yourself, your critical observations for your
own conduct?

When he came to God, it was with a full confession of sin–"God be
merciful to me a sinner." His very eyes and hands joined with his lips
in acknowledging his iniquities. His prayer was wet with the dews of
repentance. He poured out his heart before God in the most free and
artless manner–his prayer came from the same fountain as that of the
prodigal when he said, "Father, I have sinned," and that of David when
he cried, "Against You, You only have I sinned, and done this evil in
Your sight." That is the best praying which comes from the lowliest
heart.

Then he appealed to mercy only. This was wise. See how rightly he was
guided. What had he to do with justice, since it could only condemn and
destroy him? Like a naked sword, it threatens to sheathe itself in my
heart–how can I appeal to justice? Neither power nor wisdom, nor any
other quality of the great God could be resorted to–only Mercy
stretched out her wing. The prayer, "God be merciful," is the only
prayer that you who have been greatly guilty can pray. If all your
lives you have spurned your Savior, all you can now do is to cast
yourselves upon the mercy of God.

The original Greek permits us to see that this man had an eye to the
Propitiation. I do not say that he fully understood the doctrine of
Atonement, but still, his prayer was, "God be propitiated to me, the
sinner." He had seen the morning and the evening lamb and he had heard
of the sin-offering. And though he might not have known all about
atonement, expiation and substitution, yet as far as he did know, his
eyes were turned that way. "O God, be propitiated, accept a sacrifice
and pardon me!" If you know your sin, you will be wise to plead the
Propitiation which God has set forth for human sin. May the Spirit of
God constrain you to trust in Jesus now! The new year is already
gliding away– its second month is slipping from under us–how many
months are to go before you, a guilty sinner, will come and ask mercy
of God, the infinitely-gracious One? Great God, let this day be the day
of Your power!

IV. I now close with my last head, which is this–THE BELIEVING
CONFESSION OF SINNERSHIP IS THE

WAY OF PEACE. "God be merciful to me a sinner," was the prayer, but
what was the answer? Listen to this–"This man went down to his house
justified rather than the other"!

In a few sentences let me sketch this man's progress. He came to God
only as a sinner, nakedly as a sinner. Observe, he did not say, "God be
merciful to me a penitent sinner." He was a penitent sinner but he did
not plead his penitence. And if you are ever so penitent and convicted
of sin, do not mention it as an argument lest you be accused of
self-righteousness. Come as you are, as a sinner and as nothing else!
Exhibit your wounds. Bring your spiritual poverty before God and not
your supposed wealth. If you have a single penny of your own, get rid
of it. Perfect poverty, alone, will discharge you from your bankruptcy.
If you have a moldy crust in the cupboard of self-righteousness, no
bread from Heaven will be yours. You must be nothing and nobody if God
is to be your All in All! This man does not cry, "God be merciful to me
the

penitent," but, "be merciful to me the sinner." He does not even say,
"God be merciful to me the reformed sinner." I have no doubt he did
reform and give up his evil ways, but he does not plead that
reformation.

Reformation will not take away your sinnership, therefore do not speak
as if it could do so. What you are to be will make no atonement for
what you have been! Come, therefore, simply as a sinner, not as a
changed and improved sinner. Do not come because you are washed, but to
be washed! The publican does not say, "God be merciful to me a praying
sinner." He was praying, but he does not mention it as a plea, for he
thought very little of his own prayers. Do not plead your prayers–you
might as well plead your sins! God knows that your prayers have sin in
them. Why, Man, your very tears of repentance need washing! When your
supplications are most sincere, what are they but the wailings of a
condemned creature who cannot give a single reason why he should not be
executed? Feel and acknowledge that you deserve condemnation–and come
to God as a sinner. Off with your paltry finery, I mean your "filthy
rags!" Do not trick yourself out in the weeds of your own repentance,
much less in the fig leaves of your own resolutions–but come to God in
Christ Jesus in all the nakedness of your sin–and everlasting mercy
will cover both you and your sins.

Next, notice that this man did nothing but appeal to mercy. He said,
"God be merciful to me." He did not attempt to excuse himself and say,
"Lord, I could not help it. Lord, I was not worse than other publicans.
Lord, I was a public servant and only did what every other tax
collector did." No, no! He is too honest to forge excuses. He is a
sinner and he admits it. If the Lord should condemn him out of his own
mouth and send him to Hell, he cannot help it–his sin is too evident
to be denied. He lays his head on the block and humbly pleads, "God be
merciful to me a sinner." Neither does this publican offer any promises
of future amendment as a setoff. He does not say, "Lord, be merciful
for the past, and I will be better in the future." Nothing of the sort!
"Be merciful to me the sinner" is his one and only request.

So would I have you cry, "O God, be merciful to me! Although I am even
now condemned and deserved to be hopelessly damned by Your justice, yet
have mercy upon me, have mercy on me now." That is the way to pray and
if you pray in that way God will hear you. He does not offer to pay
anything. He does not propose any form of self-paid ransom. He does not
present to God his tears, his abstinence, his self-denial, his
generosity to the Church, his liberality to the poor, or anything
else–he simply begs the Lord to be propitiated and to be merciful to
him because of the great Sacrifice. Oh, that all of you would at once
pray in this fashion!

Now, I want to cheer your hearts by noticing that this man, through
this prayer and through this confession of sin, experienced a
remarkable degree of acceptance. He had come up to the Temple
condemned–"he went down to his house justified." A complete change, a
sudden change, a happy change was worked upon him! Heavy heart and
downcast eyes were exchanged for glad heart and hopeful outlook. He
came trembling into that Temple–he left it rejoicing! I am sure his
wife noticed the difference. What had come over him? The children began
to observe it, also. Poor father used to sit alone and heave many a
sigh, but all of a sudden he is so happy! He even sings Psalms of David
out of the latter end of the book! The change was very marked. Before
dinner he says, "Children, we must give God thanks before we eat this
meal." They gather round and wonder at dear father's happy face as he
blesses the God of Israel!

He says to his friends, "Brethren, I am comforted. God has had mercy
upon me. I went to the Temple guilty, but I have returned justified. My
sins are all forgiven me. God has accepted a Propitiation on my
behalf!" What good would come of such a happy testimony! This was a
very sudden change, was it not? It was worked in a moment. The process
of spiritual quickening is not a matter of hours, but of a single
second of time. The processes which lead up to it and spring out of it
are long, but the actual reception of life must be instantaneous. Not
in every case would you be able to put your finger upon that second of
time, but the passage from death unto life must be instantaneous. There
must be a moment in which the man is dead and another moment in which
he is alive. I grant you, life would be very feeble at first–still,
there must be a time in which it was not there at all! And again, there
must have been an instant in which it begins. There can be no middle
condition between dead and alive. Yet a man may not know when the
change took place.

If you were going to the Cape you might cross the equator at dead of
night and know nothing about it, but still you would cross it. Some
poor landsmen have thought that they would see a blue line right across
the waves. But it is not perceptible, although it is truly there–the
equator is quite as real as if we could see a golden belt around the
globe. Dear Friends, I want you to cross the line this morning! Oh,
that you might go out of this house saying, "Glory, glory, hallelujah!
God has had mercy upon me!" Though you feel this morning that you would
not give two-pence for your life, yet

if you come to God through Jesus Christ, you shall go away blessing God
not only that you are alive, but that you shall live forever, happy in
His love!

Once more, this man went away with a witness such as I pray we all may
have. "He was justified." "But," you add, "how do I know he was
justified?" Listen to these words. Our blessed Lord says, "I tell you
that this man went down to his house justified rather than the other."
"I tell you." Jesus, our Lord, can tell! Into our ear He tells it. He
tells it to God and the holy angels and He tells it to the man,
himself! The man who has cried from his heart, "God be merciful to me a
sinner" is a justified man! When he stood and confessed his sin and
cast himself wholly upon the Divine Mercy, that man was unburdened so
that he went down to his house justified! We are all going down to our
houses. Oh, that we might go down justified! You are going home. I want
you to go home to God, who is the true home of the soul. "He went down
to his house justified," and why should not you do the same?

Perhaps, my Hearer, you have never been to the Tabernacle before.
Possibly, my Friend, you are one of those gentlemen who spend Sunday
mornings in their shirtsleeves at home reading the weekly paper. You
have come here this morning quite by accident. Blessed be God! I hope
you will go home "justified!" The Lord grant it! Perhaps you always
come here and have occupied a seat ever since the Tabernacle was
built–and yet you have never found mercy. Oh, that you might find
mercy this morning! Let us seek this blessing. Come with me to Jesus. I
will lead the way! I pray you say with me this morning–"God be
merciful to me the sinner." Rest on the great Propitiation–trust in
Jesus Christ's atoning blood! Cast yourself upon the Savior's love and
you shall go down to your house justified!

Is it a poor cottage? Is it less than that–a back room up three
flights of stairs? Are you very, very poor and have you been out of
work for a long time? Never mind. God knows all. Seek His face. It will
be a happy Sunday for you, if you, this day, begin a new life by faith
in Jesus! You shall have joy, peace and happiness if you seek and find
mercy from the great Father. I think I see you trudging home, having
left your load behind you, but compassed about with songs of praise
unto our God. So be it! Amen and Amen!