Transcript
Speaker: Well, good morning once again, everyone. how are we doing? Good. Man, if y'all can't say you're doing great after that kind of worship, i don't know what's wrong with y'all. I mean, come on. There's no better way to start a Sunday morning service than with worship like that. Amen.
Speaker: Knowing that we serve a God who is risen. He's not dead. He is alive. He's preparing a place for all of us up in heaven. This is a glorious thing. And so for us, we need to come before him with with humble hearts and broken hearts and contrite hearts, but yet with grateful hearts. Amen.
Speaker: and so if you yeah If you guys do have your Bibles, though go ahead and open them up to Luke chapter 18. We're going to be continuing ah our our our series through the book of Luke, but more specifically, we're going to be continuing our series, that we are the sermon that I began last week, on the topic of persistent prayer. persistent prayer and Within this idea of persistent prayer, one of the things that we're going to be looking at or honing in on specifically is the fact that Through persistent prayer, we get to unlock a portion of our faith that we can't have without prayer, right?
Speaker: um And that's exactly what we're seeing here in these chapters as as Jesus and his disciples are continuing their journey to Jerusalem. They are almost there. They're almost at their destination. And we all know what's about to happen when they arrive in Jerusalem, right?
Speaker: Jesus is going to go in. He's going to be falsely accused. He's going to be rejected by his own. He's going to be falsely tried and ultimately condemned to go die on the cross.
Speaker: And all of this, Jesus already knew. and He's been trying to prepare his disciples for it. And as we saw at the end of chapter 17, he was reminding them of this reality and how that we shouldn't lose heart.
Speaker: We shouldn't lose heart over it because though the kingdom is here with Jesus now and the disciples are embracing it and those who are here are embracing it, there's going to be a day where he will return.
Speaker: Right? And until that day, what do we need to do? What do the disciples need to do? What Jesus says there, to be praying. Praying persistently.
Speaker: That's what verses 1 through 8 were all about. And that's what, and so as he was telling these disciples to pray persistently, ah he gave this incredible parable, the parable of the persistent widow, of how we ought to pray persistently with fervency, regardless of how annoying we may feel.
Speaker: God desires us to come before him to pray, not only for the things that on our heart, but for the kingdom to come. Right? For Jesus to come back. So that way he can reestablish everything forevermore. And so the first few points that we looked at last week were these.
Speaker: One, when it comes to persistent prayer, why we should be persistent in it is that we, persistency pays off. We talked about how the reality is that we almost feel, there's times, i don't know about you guys, but for me, i almost almost feel guilty coming to the Lord with my prayers over and over and over again as if like I'm burdening the Father with my prayers.
Speaker: But what we saw through the parable is that that's not the case. um God wants to hear our prayers. and And as a result of hearing our prayers, he wants to bless them and to and to provide the answer for them. The second thing that we saw is that God's goodness is guaranteed.
Speaker: God's goodness is guaranteed. And so, again, the key things that we saw from this last section, this first parable out of the two is this, that Jesus calls his disciples to pray persistently even when God's answer seems delayed or circumstances are uncertain.
Speaker: Pray persistently. Prayer is more than a duty. It's a connection with God. This is something that God has given us so that way we can have connection with him. So if we don't feel isolated or alone.
Speaker: We come to him because we recognize our need for him and trust in his character. God is not like the unjust judge, which we saw last week. This parable of this widow coming to this unjust judge who neither feared God nor respected man.
Speaker: But rather, God is not like this unjust judge. He is righteous, he is loving and good, and he hears the cries of his people. He hears the cries of his people.
Speaker: So unlike the unjust judge who eventually gave in to the woman because of what it talks about there where he says, I'm just going to give her what she wants so that she doesn't beat me down with her continual coming.
Speaker: It's almost like this judge was reluctant to give her what she wants, but he just wanted to be at peace. God is not like that unjust judge. He is good. He is just. He is loving. He is caring. And he hears the cries of his people. And he desires for you and I and everyone to come to him with our prayers. Regardless of how burdening it may feel.
Speaker: Regardless of how minuscule it may be or how powerful it may be. He desires to hear our prayers. but And within that, though, as we bring our prayers to him, we have to trust that God's timing is perfect, that his answers may not come according to our timing.
Speaker: That's oftentimes one of the reasons why we don't go to the Lord of prayer. It's because we often think that he's not going to deliver in our own timing or why we get frustrated with God because he doesn't answer in our timing.
Speaker: But there are always, but you got remember, God in his perfect timing, he's always governed by his justice, his goodness, and his sovereignty. We have to trust him. He is perfect.
Speaker: He is just. And his plan is completely sovereign and perfect. But we also saw that within persistent prayer, it requires humility and great faith.
Speaker: We don't pray because we know what is best. We pray because we trust the one who does know. That's a key factor within it. And then lastly, ultimately, our persistence is about remaining faithful until Christ returns.
Speaker: Again, when it comes to how we pray, it's more than about bringing our prayers so that will we get the answer we desire, but rather we pray out of a heart of overflowing that the kingdom of God come now.
Speaker: You see, our prayers have a tendency of being self-centered, self-focused. rather than keeping our eye on the true kingdom that God is going to restore and to bring back and reestablish here on earth, that we, as broken, sinful people, because of the atonement of Christ, get to participate in, that we don't deserve.
Speaker: And that's why Jesus ended that section there in verse 8 of chapter 18. He says, I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? Amen.
Speaker: earth So are you walking in persistent prayer? Are you bringing your heart before the Lord? He desires that.
Speaker: So the main thread that we saw throughout that first section is that we persist in prayer, not because we're trying to convince God to care, but because we already know that he is good, righteous, and faithful, unlike the unjust judge.
Speaker: But my question to you guys is this, is how many of us actually practiced that this last week?
Speaker: I'm gonna, is this a sobering, humbling reality? Because we come here each and every Sunday, many of us do, we hear messages that are incredible. We hear words from God's word. and We try to figure out, you know, we when we hear these things, it's are we actually applying them to our lives?
Speaker: And I was thinking about that even this morning. i was like, Lord, did I walk in persistent prayer this past week? And the answer is no, I didn't. I gave the message last week. And I didn't even find myself doing that.
Speaker: And so with that reality, we have to we have to humble ourselves and trust that God, despite my brokenness, despite my sinfulness, despite my stubbornness, you are good. And I pray that we all together, right? You and i that we all as brothers and sisters Christ, that we will take that next step together, that we will continue to apply the word of God, amen?
Speaker: Because this isn't just a suggestion. This is how Jesus commanded his disciples to walk as they were going into Jerusalem. Pray persistently. Do not allow Satan to give you ah to to have a foothold over your life.
Speaker: But as we transition though, as we move into verses 9 through 17, Jesus shifts our attention from the persistence of prayer to the posture of the person praying.
Speaker: So it's more than just about how you approach prayer, but it's the posture in your prayer as well. Because it's possible to pray persistently and still have a wrong heart. That's the reality of it.
Speaker: It's possible to pray persistently and still have the wrong heart. We can often pray we could pray often we could pray boldly and even pray with confidence yet to fail or yet fail to recognize our dependence on God.
Speaker: Have y'all ever been there before? i have. it's ah It's just a bunch of empty words, right? So Jesus is going to show us what is the right posture before God what it looks like.
Speaker: First, through the contrast of the Pharisee and tax collector. and then through the example, as we conclude this section, of the children who come to him humble, dependent on faith. Dependent in their faith.
Speaker: So the the question Jesus puts before us is this. When we come before God in prayer, are we trusting in ourselves? Right? Are we trusting in ourselves or are we completely dependent on him?
Speaker: That's a really sobering question. So let's read these verses again. I'm going to read the whole section again from verses 1 through 17. So if you guys want to stand in honor of God's word with me, we'll read this and then we'll jump into the third point of of what we're going to be looking at with in persistent prayer.
Speaker: So again, picking up at verse 1, it says this, and he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, in a certain in a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him saying, give me justice against my adversary.
Speaker: For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, though I neither fear God nor respect man, Yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down with her continual coming.
Speaker: And the Lord said, hear what the unrighteous judge says. and Will not give or would not God give justice to his elect who cried to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?
Speaker: I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? He also told him this parable. He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.
Speaker: Two men went up to the city to pray, one a Pharisee, the other tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus, God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
Speaker: I fast twice a week. I get tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
Speaker: I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
Speaker: Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called it to him saying, let the children come to me and do not hinder them for such belong to the kingdom of God.
Speaker: Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. Will you guys pray with me? Father, just can we pray right now that you just go before this time.
Speaker: Lord, reveal these words to us. Teach us how to pray persistently with a right heart posture. Teach us how to walk faithfully in you in light of today's circumstances.
Speaker: Lord, allow us to humble ourselves before you so that you can lead our paths and make straight our paths and walk faithfully with you who is good, just, and righteous.
Speaker: Be with us this morning. Be with our hearts. Speak to us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you. may be seated.
Speaker: So the third thing, so the again, the first two things that we saw last week was persistent prayer pays off. The second thing is that God's goodness is guaranteed. And this morning, the third thing that we're going to see is that through persistent prayer, we find humility in Him, in God, in Christ. We find humility.
Speaker: We see that in verses 9 through 14, where Jesus We see there in verse nine what the purpose of the parable is. He told them this parable to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt. So he immediately draws the attention from the persistency of prayer and and and the reality that we have a good, just, and loving God who will answer our prayers speedily to then addressing the heart posture of how we approach the throne.
Speaker: Because if we're approaching the throne with pride and with self-righteousness and self-exaltation, we see very quickly that that's not going to play out good for us. And so what we ultimately see in this parable is that we must approach God with sincerity, with repentance, recognizing our need for his mercy rather than relying on our pride or self-righteousness.
Speaker: And this is this is actually something want us to see here because given the audience that Jesus is talking to, this would have been a very shocking parable. And why is that? It's because within this audience, we have the Jews, maybe some Gentiles, but predominantly the Jews, the disciples.
Speaker: And so for him to use an illustration with a Pharisee and a tax collector, that those are two stark different people in their society and their culture. Because the Pharisee, if y'all remember, they are teachers and the keepers of the Torah. And they ah and they were well respected and they were looked up to by the people.
Speaker: They were the standard. They were the ones that people wanted to become. So like in our case, it's like the pastors, right? Please don't become like me in a lot of ways, okay? But like, but it's the pastors. It's it's those, the leadership of the church that we should want to emulate.
Speaker: And so the people, they want to emulate these Pharisees. So for Jesus to use him in retrospect of a tax collector and talk about how the tax collector would be justified because of his heart condition would have completely shocked his audience.
Speaker: He completely flipped the script on them. Because for tax collectors, if y'all remember correctly, even with, if y'all remember the disciple Matthew, Right? Matthew, he himself was a tax collector, so you can only imagine how he was feeling as Jesus was giving this parable as he was speaking. They're known for collaborating with the Roman government and known for their corruption.
Speaker: they're They're known for taking excessive money from their own people for themselves. So these were the most hated people probably among the Jewish people.
Speaker: And you even see that again with the the the tension between the disciples and Matthew when Jesus called him from his tax booth. Peter did not like Matthew. Right? And that's why I like the chosen. I always like i always appreciate the creative writing that because you see the tension there between these two characters.
Speaker: But the tax collector was not someone that was well thought of. Okay? So while the Pharisee would have been considered the role model for the audience under normal circumstances, we see that Jesus flips the scripts the script on his audience.
Speaker: And as you see there in verse 14, I tell you, this man talking about the tax collector will go down to his house justified rather than the other. Okay? For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
Speaker: So how is this possible? let's look at Let's look at these two figures for just a second. The Pharisee and Tashkala. And let's see how ah the heart conditions are so different. And then I pray that as we look at this, that we will do some self-examination as well.
Speaker: With how we approach the Lord in our prayers. Okay. Because let's be honest, even in just this time of worship, some of us can worship the Lord right now with the wrong heart.
Speaker: It's kind of weird, isn't it? It's kind of it's it's kind of convicting to think about. How often do we actually come into the house of God and with self-evaluation before we actually worship the Lord?
Speaker: Because that's what is he actually expected of us. It's come before the Lord with humble and broken, contrite hearts. Right? But let's see the differences here. So, the Pharisee, what we see there is that, let me find my place here. Alright.
Speaker: The Pharisee standing by himself. Standing by himself. Now, some of y'all are like, well, what's wrong with that? He's okay for him stand by himself.
Speaker: But when you actually look at context here, it's not that he was standing by himself out of humility. He was standing by himself so that way he wouldn't associate with the wicked. Right? So he wouldn't be tainted by the sinful.
Speaker: And you're like, well, Josh, that's kind of ah that's kind of a a dangerous thing to insinuate here. Well, it's like, well, if you keep reading, you see that. you keep If you keep reading, it says that standing by himself, he thus prayed, i thank you, God, I'm not like other men.
Speaker: So, yeah, he's standing by himself for a reason. So that way he can isolate himself and make himself look better. Okay, beginning, this is the Pharisee party. and Now, I'm not saying all the Pharisees are like this one individual, but their goal was to set an example. Their goal was to make themselves look holier than others.
Speaker: Okay, and so for him to say that, thank you, God, not like other men. These extortioners, the unjust, the adulterers are even like this tax collector. I can't even imagine him praying and saying, that guy, Lord, I'm glad I am not like that guy.
Speaker: And so when you think about how this guy is choosing to set himself apart from the rest, wow, what is his heart condition? He's being prideful. He's being self-righteous.
Speaker: He is exalting himself, making himself better than others. And the reality is this is the scary part. Y'all ready for this? It's so easy to fall into the snare.
Speaker: Lord, thank you so much that I'm not like the homeless guy on the corner. out there. Lord, thank you. i am not like the person of the political party, of the other political party. Oh my gosh, thank you for delivering me, right?
Speaker: Or Lord, thank you that I'm not like so-and-so, or you know, it's so easy to play the comparison game. And if you're not careful, you're finding yourself just in the same position as this Pharisee.
Speaker: And I pray that the Lord will reveal that in our own hearts as believers as we go through this process of sanctification, this process of becoming more like Jesus. If you're a true follower of Jesus in this room today, pray against these moments.
Speaker: Pray against these moments. Humble yourself before the Lord and allow him to reveal the things in your heart that are causing you to be a distraction or causing you to be a stumbling block, not only to others, but for yourself and your relationship with Jesus.
Speaker: And then on the flip side here, let's look at ah the the tax collector. It says here, after the Pharisee, actually, the this read let's continue this verse 12. So he identifies himself separate from the sinful the from the extortioners, the unjust, the adulterers, or even the tax collector. and He goes to verse 12, I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I give. Y'all hear this prayer?
Speaker: I, I, Not as in I, I, Captain, as in like, this is about me. He's making it all about him. It's so self-focused. But verse 13, but the tax collector standing far off.
Speaker: Did y'all hear the difference there between the two positions? The Pharisee standing by himself versus the tax collector standing far off. See, standing by himself means that he chose to be in that position because ah he didn't want to be affiliated. Whereas the the tax collector standing far off is that he's embarrassed even try to even come into the room.
Speaker: So standing far off would not even lift his eyes to heaven. He's so embarrassed by his state, by his heart, by his condition of brokenness that he's afraid to even come to God.
Speaker: Have you guys ever been there before?
Speaker: have. But praise God that we have a God who desires for us to come to him even with our brokenness and our sinfulness. Amen. Because he desires to deliver us from that.
Speaker: He says he wouldn't even lift his eyes to heaven, but he beat his breast. I mean, you just see the agony, the tension here of this tax collector when he's when he's standing far off by himself. You can only imagine that he desired to be, I'm sure he was a Jew, he desired to be in the presence of God.
Speaker: But because of his heart condition, because of his status, because of his position, he he he's too embarrassed. He probably is well aware that everybody else in that congregation is hating him because of what he's known for. Taking money for his own for his own good. Deceiving people, right?
Speaker: But he's beating his breast. He's saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Okay, so again, what's the differences here between these two figures?
Speaker: we have it exactly We have a self-righteous, prideful Pharisee who is exalting himself, thinking that he is better than others, even though he is just as broken and sinful, according to the word, according to the law, than as the tax collector. Then you have this tax collector who...
Speaker: knows who he is. He recognizes the state of his condition. And what does he do? Does he cry out, Lord, I'm so sorry that I am bad and I'm going to fix it. I promise I'm going to fix it before I come before you.
Speaker: I'm going to do all these things to make sure that I'm right before you. Is that his heart? No. What does he do? God, I'm so sorry.
Speaker: Be merciful to me for I am a what? Sinner. I am a sinner.
Speaker: This is the posture that we must take before coming before coming before the Lord. Yes, for those us who in Christ, we've been redeemed, we've been restored. Praise God for the atonement of Christ. Amen.
Speaker: But guess what? We're still broken. We're still sinful. We need to come before the Lord with humble hearts, broken hearts over our sin, desiring for the Lord to come in to restore us, to complete us, to make us whole and new so that way he can do a good work in us and through us.
Speaker: And if for those of you who are in the room and who do not have a relationship with Jesus, I pray you hear the heart of believers. This is the true heart that we should all have as believers, this humble heart. And if you don't a relationship with Jesus, and you've been doubting or questioning to even start relationship with him, this is what God desires from all of us.
Speaker: All of us have fallen short of the glory of God and deserve death. We deserve separation. But because of God's great grace and mercy and love, he welcomes anybody who comes before him with a broken and contrite heart, confessing their sin before him.
Speaker: That's the reality of the God that we have, that we serve. You don't have to do anything to deserve his love other than just recognize that you're broken. But man, pride really reeks and it is ugly and it holds us back from truly recognizing the true state of our lives and of our hearts. does that Would y'all agree with that?
Speaker: And again, so the point that we're trying to make here, and I believe the point that Jesus is trying to make here, even with his disciples before these Pharisees, is that you have to humble yourself in order for the Lord to use you.
Speaker: In order for the Lord to guide you. in order for the Lord to to use you for his kingdom. Humble yourself. Because you know how it works out.
Speaker: When you choose to cling to your pride and you try to pursue something. And if it doesn't work out, what happens? You become devastated. Devastated. When you don't achieve that goal, when you don't achieve that status because you're trying everything in your wheelhouse and your willpower to make it happen, man, it is deflating when it doesn't work out.
Speaker: And then you have one of two options. It's either you recognize your pride and you humble yourself before the Lord, or you only become more prideful. You're like, all right, here we go again. I'm going to fix it. But I really do hope to pray that we will choose The humble factor rather than becoming more prideful, right?
Speaker: And Jesus goes on, I tell you, this man, the tax collector, went down to his house justified. Justified.
Speaker: This legal term, right, of of no longer being held, accounted for your actions, right?
Speaker: He's justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
Speaker: And there's some other passages that I wanted to read you guys that echo this humility and exaltation, like Matthew 23, verse 12, where Jesus is addressing the scribes and the Pharisees, and he gives them these seven woes, right?
Speaker: And he even says the same thing. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. And you see in James 4, 1 through 9, about this idea of the fellowship of believers. He says, "'What causes quarrels and fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
Speaker: You desire to have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.'" You ask and do not receive because you because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions.
Speaker: He goes on and says, you adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend, ah With the world is whoever to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is no to no purpose that scripture says he yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell within us, but he gives more grace. It goes and says, therefore, says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to what?
Speaker: The humble. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw it near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Speaker: Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. So this whole idea of of our pride typically leading our way, but when we walk in pride, what kind of status do we have before the Lord?
Speaker: Enemies. But when we humble ourselves, when we humble ourselves, he is faithful to deliver us. But on the idea of humility, though, and you also see in the Psalms, these beautiful Psalms, Psalm 15, which is a Psalm of David, it says, "'O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? "'Who shall dwell on your holy hill? "'He who walks blamelessly and does what's right "'and speaks truth in his heart, "'who does not slander with his tongue "'and does no evil to his neighbor, "'nor takes up a reproach against his friend, "'in whose eyes a vile person is despised, "'but who honors those who fear the Lord?'
Speaker: who swears to his own hurt and does not change, who does not put out his money and interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.
Speaker: This is like the reversal of the tax collector here in Psalm 15.
Speaker: Because the s tax collector is the one who takes the money from everybody who has been swindling and deceiving his neighbor. But yet in this moment, in this passage, we see here from the tax collector that he is broken over his sin.
Speaker: He recognizes that the only way he can come before the the holy place of God is by humbling his heart.
Speaker: Psalm 51 verse 17 says, And the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. O God, you will not despise. And all these things that we're seeing here in this parable ultimately lead into the last section that we're going to look at in our final point here of childlike confidence. So when we walk persistently in prayer, we will ultimately gain this childlike confidence. And I don't think it's i don't think it's out of the blue that that Luke put this in right after this parable. I think it's very fitting.
Speaker: Because again, this whole idea that Jesus is talking about with this parable of the tax collector with the Pharisee is this whole idea of humility and having childlike faith before coming the lord before coming to the Lord. And so as he's giving this parable, what's going on in the background? It says, now they were bringing even infants. This idea when it says they, most likely parents. These parents are bringing their infants to Jesus that he might touch them.
Speaker: Talk about an act of faith, right? That they just want him to touch their children. And says, and when the disciples saw it, what did they do? Did they welcome it? Were they bringing the children? Were they grabbing them to themselves and bringing them to Jesus?
Speaker: No, what were they doing? They're actually kind of being like the Pharisee in the parable. No, no, stay back. Stay back. He's doing, he's teaching. He's doing his own thing.
Speaker: Don't bother him. And why how does Jesus respond? But Jesus called to them saying, let the children come to me and do not hinder them.
Speaker: Do not hinder them. He didn't care about the inconvenience of it. He just wanted the children to come to him. Now, here's the thing about children during this time. Were they of value?
Speaker: No. They aren't like the children today. Like when we look out and see all the children in the audience, they're in a crowd right now, this would not be happening in first century Israel. They wouldn't be among those in the crowd.
Speaker: they were They were not of value until they were of age of working where they can obtain value. And so for for this to happen, for these for these parents to see the need to bring their children to Jesus, they were taking a risk of being rebuked, which they were by the disciples.
Speaker: And Jesus sees these days, hey, hey, hey, do not rebuke them. So again, this is another flip of script here. This is another countercultural thing. Jesus says, bring them to me. Bring them to me.
Speaker: And he doesn't just say bring them to me. But he says, ah let the children come to me. Do not enter them for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
Speaker: Truly, I say to whoever does not receive the kingdom like a child shall not enter it. Shall not enter it. So again, Jesus is is is completely flipping their minds here and their understanding of what it means to be holy and righteous and worthy of coming into the presence of God.
Speaker: Because again, who are their examples? The Pharisees. The Pharisees who are self-righteous men who are all about going into the public places and and praying in these places. crazy ways to get the attention to make it seem like they're more worthy of God's presence than anybody else, right? And they they hold up to these standards of requirements to the law. And yet Jesus is saying, no, no, no, don't be like those guys.
Speaker: I want you to be like these children. Because children, are they worthy of taking them taking care of themselves?
Speaker: No. Why do you think we're giving parents? right? They're now typically capable of taking care of themselves. They don't typically understand. They don't have, their brains are still developing. they're and They're trying to understand the world. They have an innocence factor to them. That's what Jesus expects of us.
Speaker: Come to him as children of great faith. Understanding that we in and of our own knowledge and our own wisdom of this world cannot achieve anything. But rather it's only through his wisdom and his knowledge and his direction that we can actually begin to do anything moving forward.
Speaker: i was going to read... a a couple different passages or ah Proverbs here. Proverbs 3 verses 5 through 8 says this, trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Speaker: Do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will what? Make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes.
Speaker: Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. So in other words, he's saying, when you come to me as a child, you're going to experience a relief that you've never experienced before.
Speaker: You see, in this broken and simple world, there's a lot of pressures that we put on ourselves and that people put on us. But when we choose to follow the Lord who is not of this world, you know, this whole idea of be in the world but not of it, he he delivers us from the pressures of the world to where we can see clearly what is important.
Speaker: What are we supposed to pursue? And when we we're able to see clearly, that allows us to come before the Lord with true hearts of humility and prayer. And we're able to pray for the things that we must be praying for.
Speaker: For example, the return of the kingdom, return of Jesus, You see, this world is wonderful. There's a lot of beautiful things about this world that I don't ever want to miss out on. I want my daughter to experience the world, but yet I also understand that in the next world, when Jesus returns, she's going to see something way better than this world.
Speaker: So why should i why should I dwell on the things here? Why should I long for my daughter to see the broken, beautiful world, the beautiful world that is broken, rather than longing for her to see perfection?
Speaker: longing for both my daughters to see Jesus in his glory.
Speaker: So when we choose to humble ourselves as children, we're allowing the Lord to truly utilize us in a way we've never been able to be utilized before. And this is what's so powerful about Apostle Paul, right? Saul, who became Paul. If y'all remember, if y'all go read the book of Philippians, there's this account that Paul gives us when it talks about his conversion.
Speaker: where he's he's talking to the Philippian audience about how to remain faithful to their identity in Christ. And he says, hey, if anybody has more confidence in the flesh, he's saying, I have more confidence in the flesh.
Speaker: He's like, I was up the cream of the crop people. I was a Pharisee among Pharisees for the for my passion for the law. I had i was zealous, right? I'm paraphrasing what Paul's saying here.
Speaker: But he says, was the cream of the crop. So if anybody has confidence in the flesh, I should have it. But he was like, but when I encountered Christ, when Christ came into me, my world was flipped. And I realized that everything that I once lived for, I counted now a loss compared to knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.
Speaker: He recognized it. He was like, the things i was living for were not bad. I was doing my due diligence to uphold the law, but I was missing the mark because I wasn't following the true God. So when Jesus encountered Paul on that road to Damascus and and he revealed himself to him, in that moment, Paul's eyes were open to the reality of the true gospel, of the true hope that we can have in Jesus.
Speaker: Which then propelled him on a completely different path moving forward. And now 70% of the New Testament is written by this guy, Paul. many So maybe some of you in this room are just like Paul right now.
Speaker: Or sorry, I say Paul. Maybe you guys are just like Saul before he became Paul. You think you're going down the righteous path. You think you're faithfully following the gospel. You think that you're doing all these right things and it's going to deserve that you to where you deserve to be in the kingdom of heaven.
Speaker: But the reality is is that you're missing the most fundamental piece to the gospel, and that is Jesus.
Speaker: That is Jesus. That he is king, that he is Lord, and that only in him and by him and through him that you can enter the kingdom. It's not by your works.
Speaker: It's not by what you're capable of. None of that. It's all by the finished blood of Jesus that you are able to pursue righteousness and holiness and enter the kingdom of God. That's been the message from the very beginning, from before the world began until now.
Speaker: God set this plan in motion through Jesus. through his son Jesus, that from the very beginning that he was going to have to send him so that way he would die for broken, simple people like us where we can be redeemed and restored.
Speaker: If you don't believe me, go back and read it from Genesis up until Revelation. you'll You'll understand. okay
Speaker: But may we not miss... what the Lord is asking of us. If we truly want to unlock the power of faith in the Lord and in our persistent in our prayers, we must truly have a heart that is persistent in prayer and a posture of true humility.
Speaker: If we don't have these two things, we are no better than the self-righteous and proud Pharisee. But if we do have these things and we become like the tax collector, And as a result of that, then we were able to experience his righteousness, his justice, and his goodness and his sovereignty.
Speaker: So may we submit to these things. And as I said, if you're here this morning you've never surrendered your life to Jesus and you want to do that, that's what time of invitation is all about. As we go into this time of invitation, I pray that if the Lord is working on your heart, that you will allow him to meet you where you're at.
Speaker: So that way he can transform your heart and your mind from this lovely body into a new heavenly body, into a new heavenly mind. You know, Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, for anyone who's in Christ, they are a new creation.
Speaker: The old has passed away and the new has come. Maybe you don't like how your life is currently living right now. Maybe you're you're struggling with some strongholds or some sin or something in your life that you need to surrender.
Speaker: and I pray you do that today. That way you'll surrender those things that are holding you back from getting to know a holy and righteous God who desires to use you to know you. But for the rest of us who already have relationship with Jesus, I pray that we will do some self-examination.
Speaker: That we will humble ourselves before a holy righteous God. That we will find ourselves in a posture of the tax collector rather than the Pharisee. Because you gotta you gotta understand, and remember this, what's the number one thing about churches that people say when it comes to why they don't come to church?
Speaker: because it's full of hypocrites.
Speaker: How sad is that? A place like this, a house like this, as meant is meant for those who are broken who need healing, not for those who are self-righteous and have it figured out.
Speaker: All of us in this place need healing. So may we lead out in that. May we be the salt of the earth. May we be the light into the world to those who need Jesus. Can we do that together?
Speaker: Can we humble ourselves? Can we find ourselves persistently in prayer over these things? Walking in humility, trusting in God's timing and his goodness.
Speaker: I pray that we can do that together. Let me pray over you. Father, we come before you and Lord, we thank you for your word. And again, we thank you for these parables specifically. Amen. just to Just how... um they just address the true heart condition of how we approach, not just prayer, but how we approach ourselves before you.
Speaker: So God, I pray that there's any pride, self-righteousness, or or anything in our hearts that are holding us back from truly walking humbly before you and and being vessels for your kingdom. I pray, God, that you will reveal those things to us, myself included. That way we can walk humbly before you.
Speaker: So we we can trust in your wisdom and in your knowledge and trust in your good plan. that we can walk boldly sharing the faith in which we now receive in the kingdom of the gospel, Lord. I pray that you just truly work in our hearts.
Speaker: Allow us to be the hands and feet which you've called us to be. God, just ah please work in our hearts. And and if there's anyone who needs to make a decision today, I pray, Father, that they will do that.
Speaker: Whether it's coming out talking to me or just doing it right there in the pew, Father, please work in hearts. Transform hearts this morning. lord we love you. We praise you for the power of the gospel that transforms lives. And I just thank you again for Jesus. We pray all these things in his name.
Speaker: Amen.
Speaker: This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.
