“Well, I declare! Here is a man who lives in the same street I do. Why,
he is my next-door neighbor.”
Then I come upon another, and I see--myself.
My friends, if you read your Bibles, you will find your own pictures
there. It will just describe you.
Now, it may be there is some Pharisee here tonight. If there is, let
him turn to the third chapter of John, and see what Christ said to the
Pharisee:
“Except a man be born again, he can not enter the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus, no doubt, was one of the fairest specimens of a man in
Jerusalem in those days, yet he had to be born again, else he could not
enter into the kingdom of God.
“But,” you may say, “I am not a Pharisee. I am a poor and miserable
sinner--too bad to come to Him.” Well, turn to the woman of Samaria, and
see what He said to her.
See what a difference there was between that publican and that Pharisee.
There was as great a distance between them as between the Sun and the
Moon.
One was in the very highest station, and the other occupied the very
worst station. One had only himself and his sins to bring to God, and the
other was trying to bring in his position and his aristocracy.
I tell you, when a man gets a true sight of himself, all his position and
station and excellences drop.
See this prayer:
“I thank God.”
“I am not.”
“I fast.”
“I give.”
“I possess.”
Why, if he had delivered a long prayer, and the copy had been put into
the printers’ hands, they would have had to send out for some “I’s.”
“I thank God,” “I,” “I,” “I.”
When a man prays--not with himself, but to God--he does not exalt
himself; he does not pass a eulogy on himself. He falls flat down in the
dust before God. In that prayer you do not find him thanking God for what
He had done for him. It was a heartless and prayerless prayer--merely a
form.
I hope the day will come when formal prayer will be a thing of the past.
I think the reason why we can not get more people out to the meetings is
because we have too many formal prayers in the churches. These formal
Christians get up, like this Pharisee, and thank God that they are better
than other men; but when a man gets a look at himself he comes in the
spirit of the publican.
You see this Pharisee standing and praying with himself, but God could
not give him any thing. He was too full of egotism--too full of himself.
There was no religion in it. God could not bless him.
Now, for a moment, take a look at that poor publican. Just give his
prayer your attention.
There was no capital “I” there--no exalting of himself. “God be merciful
to this Pharisee; God be merciful to the other people who have injured
me; God be merciful to the church members who have not been true to their
belief.”
Was that his prayer?
Thank God, he got to himself. “God be merciful to me, a sinner.” It was
very short. He had got his eye upon himself; he saw that his heart was
vile; he could not lift his eyes to Heaven. But, thank God, he could lift
his heart to Heaven.
There is not a poor publican in the audience tonight but can send up this
prayer. No matter what your past life has been--no matter if it has been
as black as hell--if you but send up the prayer it will be heard. He did
not buy his own righteousness; and God heard his appeal.
Spurgeon, speaking of that publican, said he had the soundest theology of
any man in England. He came before God, struck his hand on his heart, and
cried: “God be merciful to me, a sinner.”