Unfortunately there were technical issues tonight so the sound is poor. Apologies.
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[6:02] Amen. Amen.
[6:16] Thank you, John. Thank you. Thank you.
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[9:28] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Let's say, let's say, let's say, and the Lord, and the Lord, hear, and the Lord, and, take you, went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican.
[11:29] The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortionate, unjust, adulterous, 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.
[12:13] For every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. And he brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them. But when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto him and said, Suffer little children are certain to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God.
[12:44] Then I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a wicked child shall in no wise enter their living. Amen. We will finish the reading there, and we trust that God will bless to us. The reading of his own holy and inspired word. We'll sing again in Psalm 116.
[13:15] Psalm 116 at the beginning of the psalm. Psalm 116.
[13:26] I love the Lord because my voice and prayers he did hear. I while I live will call on him who bowed to me is here. Down to the end of the verse, Matthew 6. God, merciful and righteousness is, yea, gracious is our Lord. God says to me, I was brought low. He did in heaven.
[13:50] Psalm 116. The first four verses of the psalm. I love the Lord because my voice and prayers he did hear.
[14:15] I while I live will call on him who bowed to me is here.
[14:31] All death and courts and sodden, all death and courts and sodden, all day about become a throne.
[14:47] The gates of hell to hold on me, I keep a trouble found.
[15:03] Upon the name of God the Lord, then did I call and say.
[15:19] Delivered now, my soul, O Lord, I do thee humbly pay.
[15:35] All merciful and righteous is, yea, gracious is our Lord.
[15:52] God says the week I was brought low. He did me help of all.
[16:09] As we come to God's word, let us ask for the help and guidance of the Spirit.
[16:24] Our gracious God, O gracious God, as we stand before your open word this evening, we come acknowledging our own weakness and our frailty and the great need we have of the help and guidance of your Spirit.
[16:44] For it is your Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh, awareth us for nothing. And we thank you, Lord, for this your own day, the day that reminds us once again that our Saviour, Jesus Christ, rose triumphant over death in the grave, and that he is alive forevermore in the grave, and that he is alive forevermore in the power of an endless eternity.
[17:13] And we thank you, Lord, for the wonderful promise we have in your word, that where the twos and the threes are gathered in your name, that you are in the midst of them in order to bless, and we claim that promise for ourselves this evening.
[17:31] We thank you, Lord, for all that has been done this day already in your name, in all denominations of your church worldwide, where the good seed of the Gospel has been sown.
[17:45] And, Lord, where that seed has been sown, may be truly watered by the pressure of your praying people, and that you, our God, would give the increase in your good and perfect time.
[17:58] We thank you, Lord, for Angus and Duncan, as they prayed. They brought your word to this corner of the vineyard in the morning. We pray that the word they gave would be richly blessed by yourself.
[18:13] And we thank you for their willingness to proclaim your word. And we ask that you yourself would bless them in all that they put their hand to.
[18:24] Bless us together then as we come to wait upon. And we pray for the help and guidance of your Spirit as we open your word. And along with the psalmist of all that we could truly and honestly say, not unto us, Lord, not to us, but do thou glory take unto thy name, even for thy truth and for thy mercy's sake.
[18:52] For you, O Lord, are worthy of all our praises. Bless us, take the service in hand, and make a glorious name for yourself out of my weakness.
[19:04] Hear our prayers, pardon our sins. Accept us freely, we pray for Jesus' sake. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[19:15] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Now, Jesus very often spoke in parables.
[19:27] A parable, which is a short story with a mini. A man who went up into the temple to pray, one of them a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
[19:57] And those two men were completely different one to another. The Pharisee regarded himself, what you might call, a step above the rest, while the publican was regarded as the lowest of the low.
[20:17] The Pharisee regarded himself as the most famous women's bosses, when at times they extracted more than they ought to have, and that to lie in their own progress.
[20:37] And because of that, they were despised, hated and rejected. And they were the other castes of society.
[20:51] We see that the Pharisee prayed, if you could call it a prayer, in verse 11.
[21:02] In verse 11, And the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extrocerous, unjust, adulterous, or even as this publican.
[21:27] I passed twice in the week, and gave times of all that I possessed. This man had no humiliation.
[21:42] He made no confession of sin. He asked but no favor or mercy of God, because he believed he had no need of it.
[21:59] Ephesians chapter 2 and verses 8 and 9 says, For by grace are ye saved through my life, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should lose.
[22:20] The Pharisee, he was guilty of the sin of self-righteousness.
[22:34] There she loved it. We've just read it. There was nothing in his sin, there was nothing in his prayer but sin. And the year we paid, the man my sin.
[22:48] It was I, I, and I again. There was no supplication for mercy or grace. He was boasting his own merits, while at the same time, looking with disdain at his poor fellow son, the publican.
[23:13] This Pharisee could have saved the oceans of time without a care in the world. But what about the docking?
[23:28] Oh, the many souls who have been lost with the lives of that harbor in you. If there is no pilot on board to guide you through the channels safely to the harbor bright, you can easily make shipwreck.
[23:50] And Jesus is the pilot. And many a sore male shipwreck at the entrance of the harbor because they did not have Jesus on board.
[24:06] Do you, do we all have Jesus on board? Psalm 107, Psalm 107, Psalm 107, and verse 30 says, Then are they glad because of rest and quiet never they be.
[24:33] So to the haven he then brings, the pilot, he then brings, which they desired to see.
[24:46] And someone once said that no state of soul can be conceived so dangerous as that of the Pharisee.
[25:03] What accomplished with the poor public he would not as much just lift his eyes to heaven. He barely stood inside the door of the temple.
[25:20] He smote upon his breast and he cried, God, be merciful, to me, a sinner. And in the time we have left, it's the public and I would like us to think down tonight for a short time under three headings.
[25:43] First of all, the confession he made. Secondly, the mercy he made. And thirdly, the forgiveness he received.
[25:59] First of all, the confession he made. This man came to the temple to pray with only one thing on his mind, to find grace in the sight of God and with it to get forgiveness of sins.
[26:21] That was his main goal, forgiveness of sins and mercy. They both go together. He stood far back and would not as much as lift his eyes to heaven.
[26:38] Psalm 40 and verse 12 says, For ill's past reckoning compass me and my iniquities such hold upon me taken hand I cannot lift my eyes.
[27:04] Can't lift my eyes. And I remember years ago as a young Christian I was washing in a courtyard down in Orangal and an old elder that I looked up to greatly.
[27:23] It came from time to time to get some fewer. Well, Lord, to your born Shur Alastair and Young by Alastair MacLennan. And I loved to listen to Alastair.
[27:36] He always had beautiful stories and shame on me that I don't remember at all. But one business was stuck in my mind.
[27:48] He came one day and after the business was done he started talking and he said, well, well, forever, you know, I sometimes think that I've never been saved, that the Lord has never done the work saving grace in my heart.
[28:08] You know, the thoughts that come into my mind and into my heart was the blame that I've never saved. And you know, that was the last thing I thought I would hear from a man like Alastair.
[28:21] that was the very same thoughts that I had that day. The very same thoughts that go through my am I a Christian?
[28:37] Is it right for me to have the thoughts that I have? And you know, I believe that God sent Alastair that day to share love with me.
[28:49] And if you have stories don't be afraid to share them. You don't know just who you must encourage. That was a wonderful encouragement for me that day.
[29:06] And this man, the publican, he came to the temple to pray, to ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for his sins.
[29:18] He felt sorrow for his sins. He felt aggrieved by his sins. He felt shame for his sins.
[29:31] And as a child who has done wrong, stands before his parents. He looks down with shame and fright.
[29:41] man. And so this poor man comes, feeling his need of mercy, feeling that he's a sinner, feeling that he's lost, feeling that if he comes with Jesus, that he will have mercy on him.
[30:04] coming to just say, and I quote, this man's posture spoke of his unworthiness before God.
[30:20] In able to even lift his eyes to heaven, the burden of his guilt and shame weighed heavily upon him, and the load he carried became unbearable.
[30:36] overcame by his transgressions, he beats his breast in sorrow and repentance and appeals to God for mercy.
[30:51] The prayer he speaks is the very one God is waiting to hear. And his attitude is exactly what God wants from all who come to my court.
[31:19] So this man comes killing his great dead. And the prophet Isaiah was conscious of his own sin in chapter 6.
[31:32] The prophet says, then said I, woe is me. For I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.
[31:48] Jeremiah in 31.9 says, surely after that I was turned I went tempted and after that I was instructed I smote upon my thigh I was ashamed yet even confronted because I did bear to reproach of my youth.
[32:15] I took me all bear to reproach upon youth. We were young and foolish and if we could turn the gears back we would do things so much differently.
[32:30] those people they were conscious of their own sin they cried out to God and that is what this poor public is doing.
[32:49] He is calling out to God being miserable but to me a sinner. This was a real petition a direct passionate prayer.
[33:09] This man did not speak of anyone else but himself. He didn't condemn the Pharisee he didn't condemn anyone he spoke about himself.
[33:22] A prayer in which mercy was the church thing desired it was a prayer that rose from his heart. He was deeply moved he bit his chest felt his unworthiness and cried out God be merciful unto me a son.
[33:44] ! the smiting upon the breast of the thigh was a custom of the Jews in Jesus' day to show how sorry one fished for their deeds some would rend their clothes and cover themselves in sackcloth others would put ashes on their heads this man beat upon his chest his prayer was short and to the point seven words that were full of substance fear and shame probably kept him from saying much his cry came from a from a broken and a bruised heart
[34:47] Psalm 51 verse 17 says a broken spirit is to God a praising sacrifice a broken and a contrite heart Lord thou wouldst not despise this man comes confessing that he is a sinner by nature and by practice he knows that without forgiveness of his sins that he is going to a lost eternity he knows he knows that he is guilty before a holy God a God who is sin he comes claiming not his own merits but claims to the merits of a gracious and loving saviour that is the only thing he relies upon so let me see the forgiveness that he sees and the second point the mercy he asks have mercy upon me oh God forgive my sins for Jesus sake receive me graciously love me freely and he bids his breast and cries
[36:29] Lord be miserable but to me a sinner what a prayer and anyone who says I cannot pray or I don't have a prayer this is the most fantastic prayer you could ever pray seven short words God be miserable to me a sinner God will always hear and answer that prayer have we have you come to Jesus confessing your sins and asking for his forgiveness remember that unforgiven sins sins is like a child rolling a snowball down hill and as the snowball rolls it gets bigger and bigger and it rolls faster and then it's out of control and your own sins and my sins out of control where the physician was more than able to give her sins but we come to him for cleansing you see those sins and if my sins were projected on that wall there
[38:17] I could never show this again I would be so ashamed if I could turn the clock back for whom I would live my life dirty you know the wee white lie at all no such thing as a wee white lie a lie is a lie and to cover that lie you tell another one and another one and another one and you see it's snowballing all the time one thing leads to another until it's out of control just as the snowboard children were moving down the hill and sin gets a hold of us but as I said the physician this day who come to the physician with their sins the great physician the one who is able to deal with all their sins he will cleanse and purify us from all their sins he will come even as the tax collector came the public came to
[39:29] Jesus his prayer was shortened to the point and Jesus heard him see the chapter we read there 18 verse 14 Jesus says I tell you I tell you this man went down to his house justified Jesus heard him he answered him the story was told of an old man who lived alone in a run down little cottage and one day he was approached by a rich man a rich man was out walking in the area and he was smitten with the beauty of the dress and a rich man approached the old man and he said I would like to buy your cottage and the old man was delighted that anyone was interested in his old cottage and a price was agreed and the day that the key was to be handed over was agreed and the old man thought to himself
[40:44] I has bruised the old house up a wee bit he made some repairs and he did a spot of painting and the house was actually looking pretty nice he was dreaming and the old man was a man of it and the day the rich man came to take the key and the old man took him in and he showed him a road this is what I've done that as us as our saviour what is usually said is I'm not ready I'm not good enough I must do something to make myself better the truth is we can't it is perfectly true we are not good enough none of us is good enough and never will be this sign of eternity all the goodness is in the one of
[42:17] God's right hand Jesus oh that we would have the words of the hymn writer and that we would take them to heart when he penned these wonderful words I came to Jesus as I was weary and bored and sad I found in him a resting place and he has made him glad did you hear that I came to Jesus as I was that's the way the tax collector came he came as he was a sinner in need of forgiveness that is the way you and I lives to come as well just as we are the tax collector he did not try to better himself he knew through well that there was no other to whom he could turn he comes as a hungry beggar begging for a motion of food justice condemns me nothing but mercy nothing but mercy will save me and he earnestly prays for that for the benefit of that mercy
[43:58] God be merciful unto me I said Dr.
[44:09] Alexander White frequently told how on one occasion he went into a solicitor's office and he was asked is there any message for an old sinner staggered by the request he repeated the text that the Lord had put on his heart for the next sermon man chapter 7 and verse 18 he delighted in mercy delight and mercy and that brings us to the last point the forgiveness he receives the mercy and forgiveness that was extended to the poor collector that day is extended to each one of us and if you're here tonight in this church building or if you're listening online and you still haven't given your heart to
[45:28] Jesus Jesus is listening to the tiniest little whimper of fear that rises up from a broken heart a heart that is lost in the darkness of sin and you're fearless in you completely hopeless and that there's no help for the public and praise God had he answered he's waiting to hear the tiniest whimper from your servant man and he'll take you in and he'll take you and he'll surround you with his arms and he'll say to you oh my dear dear friend I love you so much that I gave my life for you
[46:33] I've been waiting to hear this whisper from you for such a long time and he'll take you with and he'll tell you I'll never leave and I'll never forsake God heard the humble prayer of this cruel man and he's waiting to hear even the tiniest whimper from the servant man remember the tax collector and take courage be encouraged the same Jesus who commanded his prayer is sitting at the right hand and he is receiving his salvation he is more willing to hear and answer of this than we are to call on man what are we to learn from this passage to this evening well surely it has to be humility that is the way this poet public came it came in humility but how are we to come we are to come we are to come with boldness to the throne of grace to receive mercy but we are also to come with a humble contract and a broken spell reverend david mcclare used to tell a story about an old elder he didn't have much english and he got into conversation with people that didn't have gaelic and they asked him what was the first steps to holiness and the old elder said down and the second steps to holiness he old elder said down and the third and the old elder said down and mr mcclare used to say oh down down down humility humility humility that is the way we come to jesus in humility and in holiness as we come to finish have a look at what jesus has to say about the future in you in their verses 15 and 16 and he brought unto them thoughts or infants that he would touch them but when his disciples saw it they rebuked them but jesus called them unto him and said send the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of god and this is the way each one of us came to jesus as a little child we came with variety we didn't have much many words and talk about ourselves to tell me there were days that I were long winded but when
[50:12] I first came to jesus I could hardly put three or four words together but what better way to come to jesus if you haven't already come than with this prayer of the paprika god be merciful unto me a sinner what children they take their first steps in the great outdoors they look around it oh they said it for the first time they don't want to go back again and when you come to jesus and you taste of his love and his kindness and his strong power you just want more and more and so this food this food talks collective kindness!
[51:27] not with his own righteousness but he had known that he came as he was and may the player of the poor tax collector be offered on your own lips or a night horse when he cried out he said!
[51:51] in his heart and to me say amen! may the Lord be pleased to bless anything of the mindset that is in the man let us pray let us pray let us pray let us pray let us God we do thank you for your word and we pray that each one of us would have the humility and the loneliness of the public who would not as much as lift his eyes to heaven where he stood inside the door of the tent smote upon his breast and cried out for mercy oh gracious God we pray for all those who are still out with the poor within our own homes and our families in our surrounding villages and islands and highlands and to the ends of the earth men and women and boys and girls and we pray
[53:05] Lord that you would take your sons from above and daughters from the ends of the earth that we would see your churches filled to over glory of prayer meetings bursting of the sins with men and women and boys and girls coming to pray as you want to wait upon you all what is impossible as mine as possible with you Lord and we bring it to you this evening and we ask that you will come in a day of your love and that you will touch souls here and and that many will come to you and look to you and look into you that they would be saved for time and for eternity and pray that you would bless us as we sing your praises in conclusion and as this week opens up before us and pray
[54:06] Lord that you will keep us safe in all! that we will seek to do that we will honor and glorify and magnify you in our daily work and in our words and our conversations bless us and prepare us for whatever you have in store for us cleansing us from all our sins and accepting of us for we ask it in Jesus name and for his sake Amen!
[54:38] The final phrase is hymn number 663 and may we each one of us use this as a prayer as well all for a cross and walk with God a calm and healthy faith a life to shine upon the Lord that leads me to the life this hymn to the kingdom of God to the kingdom of God to the kingdom of God to the kingdom of God the kingdom of God to God to God our cross and walk with all our common heavenly!
[55:34] GodNINGNINGNINGNING Thank you.
[56:35] Thank you.
[57:05] Thank you. Thank you.
[57:37] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[57:49] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. and now may grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit rest on and abide with us all and with all those whom we love and fordeal and with all of God's people everywhere this night forth and for the Lord Amen Amen