Mills, John Milton: Luke 11;1 ~ Luke 11;1

Luke chapter eleven, and let me read the first verse. The message this morning is about men whom the Lord has taught to pray. And it came to pass, as he, our Lord Jesus, was praying in a certain place, that when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples. Lord, teach us to pray. Now, chapter eighteen, verse nine: And he spake also this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and set all others at naught, despised everybody else. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, 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, the sinner. I say unto you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled, but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Let us speak to God again in prayer. Now, Father, we thank you that there is nothing that man needs to know that thy Son in his word does not teach him. Our Father, how often we're in darkness, how often we know not which way to turn, and yet the entrance of thy word give it light, and whatever is necessary, what course we should take, whether as children of darkness or as children of light, somewhere in thy word there is a teaching concerning it. We rejoice in this, our God. Whatever the need of man, the answer to that need is to be found in thy word. We have read portions this morning that can help unto the saving of the soul, those that know not thy Son as Savior, and our desire is that they may grasp this knowledge, and the others who already know thy Son is Savior may profit also by the teaching of thy Son to those who are in darkness. So grant us, by thy spirit working upon the hearts of those who are here, grant, Father, that they may understand. Thou knowest how feeble are the words spoken by earthly lips. We know how powerful thy word is when the spirit imparted his strength. So look upon us and bless us for good. You know our sins. We confess them. Be faithful and just to forgive and cleanse, and glorify the name of thy son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. It is not whether you pray or do not pray. It is whether that prayer is a God-taught prayer that counts. That is why the Lord, in the portion that I read to you this morning, gives us two examples of prayer. A prayer that is an abomination in the sight of God, and a prayer which in the sight of God moves his heart, and the Lord Jesus sets before us these two prayers. I told you that the message this morning is the Lord Jesus teaching men to pray. And when I read to you in Luke chapter eleven, this was a request not from a sinner, one who was a far off from God, needing to learn how to pray, but it was a request of those who already knew God as their father, seeking instructions as to how to pray. For that reason, the Savior said, when you pray, say, Our Father. If a man says, Our Father, then a relationship is already established. And in Luke eleven, as well as in Matthew chapter six, the prayer, and forgive us our debts, forgive us our sins, is not a forgiveness of justification, but it is a forgiveness of restoration. And for that reason, the Lord Jesus, not only when his disciples come and say, Lord, teach us to pray, teaches them to pray, but in case there is a sinner out there who has prayed to God many times, but wonders if the prayer that he prayed to God is the one that God wanted to hear, one that God listened to. What is so consoling is that the Lord Jesus gives us such a prayer. If you're lost, Christ gives you the prayer to pray to be saved. And if you are saved, he teaches you how to pray in an acceptable manner. A prayer that is acceptable because the Lord Jesus taught me to pray this way. Paul could say concerning Timothy, from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures. His mother taught him, his grandmother taught him. Well, if I told you I know how to pray, from the beginning of my life as a child of God, the Lord Jesus hath taught me to pray. That is the only thing that is better than a father or a mother or a loved one teaching you to pray. But we must learn how to pray. Understand that these disciples who asked this question have, from the beginning of their lives as Orthodox Jews, been praying, been saying words. But what happens is this, that when a man looks at the Lord Jesus and hears his prayers, he says, Lord, teach me to pray. I am afraid of a man that is complacent, who thinks that he knows how to pray. When he has read the Lord's prayer that he taught his disciples to pray, and the Lord's prayer that he himself prayed, when he examines those prayers and then thinks of the things that he says to God, he will turn to the Father and say, Lord, teach me to pray. I've been speaking words to you, but I need to know how to pray. And the consolation is this, that when the Savior himself says, this is the way to pray, and you follow the pattern laid. It is as acceptable as a building in which to worship God was acceptable. When the Lord said to Moses, I'm showing you the pattern of the things in heaven. Follow the pattern that I've shown you. And in like manner, the Lord Jesus says, the pattern that I am giving you as to prayer is that prayer that is acceptable in heaven. So we who are Christians, and as we go along over the weeks in God's will, we'll find the different ways that Christ teaches us to pray. But what we have to do is this. We have to turn to Luke eighteen If we've never known Christ as Savior, because with all our praying, of what value are our prayers if we are saying, our Father which art in heaven, and we've never been born into the family of God. So for that reason, we must turn to a portion of the scripture that tells us of a prayer that brings us into the family of God. It is like this. If you turn to the sacrifices in Leviticus, it starts off with the burnt offering, which is a magnificent offering, which is one that is most important to God. But before I'm offering a burnt offering, I want to learn about that sin offering. Christ was made sin for me, that I might be made the righteousness of God. And so for that reason, though God, because God must be first, the obedience of Christ is first for the glory of the Father, the thing that is important to me is my being accepted, my being justified, my being made righteous in the accounting of God. And for that reason, that is why I turned you to Luke eighteen, because Christ is telling us about two individuals that go to the temple to pray, and both of them pray, and changes take place in one of them. And this is what Christ likes to do. He likes to give us people that apparently are alike, but in reality, there is every difference in the world between them. Here are two men, they go to the same place, they pray to the same God, but their prayer is entirely different. In Matthew twenty five, there are ten virgins, but five are wise and five are foolish, and the outcome of their wisdom and folly has eternal consequences. And so, in like manner, all of you who are here this morning, who have gone to a place like this, because what I'm going to do, since this is a house of God, a house dedicated to the glory of God, and the temple was God's house, patterned according to what was shown Moses first in the tabernacle, and then to David as to the temple, what we're going to do is to see these men going to the house of God and praying, because it was the only place that they could go that God had prescribed that was acceptable in his sight. He said, if you're going to offer sacrifices, you may not sacrifice them anywhere you want to. What you have to do is to bring them to the door of the tent of meeting in the days of Moses, if you wanted forgiveness. As much as you might have personal prayer in your own tent, if there were going to be forgiveness, there was a place of meeting, and that was at the door of the tent of the tabernacle, and you had to bring a lamb, and it had to be offered upon that altar before you were accepted. And so, in like manner, if a Jew was going to think about being saved, being accepted by God, he had to come to the temple, and he had to speak to God. And so this was the right place, whereas Solomon told us, God dwelleth not in houses made with hands, yet there was a special presence of God that was in that temple. God was in that temple when those men went into that temple. You say, how do you know that? Because the Lord Jesus told us in Matthew chapter twenty three. it speaks about God being in that temple. The Lord Jesus said, God is in that temple, even though the priests were hypocrites, and even though they were the ones that would eventually slay the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke of God being in that temple in Matthew chapter twenty three. In like manner, men have fallen, but three times it says that we are still created in the image and likeness of God. In Genesis nine, in First Corinthians eleven, in James three. and so even though we have fallen, we still bear the image and likeness of God, marred though it might be. And even though Israel had sinned, God was in that temple. The Lord Jesus told us that. And for that reason, they went to the temple to pray. Now, I assure you that you can be saved as easily at home by the riverside of a sycamore tree, the way Zacchaeus was saved. But understand that the Lord puts them in the place that most people think about being saved today. I remember a black man years ago telling me that he wanted to be saved for the longest kind of time, but he thought the only time he could be saved was when they had revival meetings, and he had to come to the altar and pray through and get saved. He said, and I had to wait, even though I wanted to be saved. That isn't necessary. You do not have to go to any special place to be saved, but according to the Jew, if he were in Jerusalem and he wanted to draw nigh to God, the special presence of God, he would go to that temple, and he would get as near as he could, as was allowed by the demarcations as to how close those that were Gentiles and women could come, how close those that were ordinary Jews could come, and those that were priests could come, and then the high priest could come. And so this man that Christ is setting before us to understand how not to pray for acceptance in God's sight, he came and he stood as near as he could to God. He goes in with no need, nothing to confess, no glory to give to God, but he went in and he prayed this prayer. He took a stance and he said, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men. I'm not an extortioner, I'm not unjust, I'm not an adulterer. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I get. Now think how fortunate you are, O God, having me as one of your adherents. Do you see? Isn't that remarkable that a man could be so blind that he would go into God's presence and utter such words? But listen, better men than he have done the same thing. Listen to Elijah. When God is speaking to Elijah and he says, Elijah, what doest thou here? And he said, God, he said, your, your people have forsaken your covenant. They cast down your altar. They've slain your prophets with the sword, and they are seeking to take my life, and I, even I alone, am left. You see, this is Elijah. God, aren't you fortunate? I'm still around. I'm the only one you have left. And God says to Elijah, I have seven thousand that did not bow the knee to Baal. And yet Elijah said, I'm the only one that is left. And beware, all of us who gather to the name of the Lord. Lord, the whole world is forsaking you, but we, we only are the ones that are bringing glory to your name. You see, John came to the Savior, and he said, Master, we saw one casting out demons in thy name, and we forbade him because he followed not us. You see that attitude? As it says in the book of Job, and Job has seen through his miserable comforters, he said, no doubt you are the people, and wisdom shall die with you. And so here is John saying, they do not follow us. So the attitude is entirely wrong. Here is a man that goes into the presence of God, and his attitude is that God should be flattered that one such as he would speak words, and God would be permitted to listen to those words. In fact, another thing that was hilarious was this. There were Jews of old that used to have discussions of the Bible, and they said among themselves, if God were to come and sit in on our conversations, he could learn a lot. And so that is the attitude of many people. We are the people, and wisdom shall die with us. And this poor Pharisee who goes in and prays this prayer to God is oblivious that God finds it repugnant and that the heavens are as brass, and his prayer is rejected. And perhaps some of you are looked upon by God in the same way because you come with the wrong attitude. This man did, and the Lord Jesus said he went home the same way that he came to the temple, an unjustified man. And so there are some who come to church, there are some who have prayed prayers their whole life long, but they go home the same way they came from home. They come to a house of God unjustified, and they go back home to their homes unjustified. But I've prayed. Yes, you have prayed, but it is not that you have prayed. That is why I read you those words. Lord, teach us to pray. The disciples had prayed their whole life long. They understood that in comparison to Christ's prayer, the way that he prayed, they knew nothing of prayer. And in like manner, there are those who had prayed their whole life long, and they're like that rich young ruler. They've done good, but they are aware that something is wrong. They say, what lack I yet? But the tragedy of this man is that he has gone to the temple, and he has prayed this prayer, and he is oblivious to any need that exists in his life. And that may be the trouble that some of you hear. You've come out to an evangelical group of Christians, you've heard the gospel, you sing with them. Did you not read words from the Bible this morning in unison? You've done all of those things, and you say, now I have pleased God, and he will accept me. Listen to what it says. The Lord Jesus describes this man. He spoke this parable to certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous. You see? They trusted in themselves that they were righteous. And I must tell you about this word. It's fascinating when you'll put these things together. They were persuaded concerning themselves that they were righteous. We are going to consider this for a little. Here are people that come to church, and they are persuaded that they are righteous. They have trusted in themselves because they have been persuaded that they are right with God. Now, let me tell you that there are good persuasions, and there are bad persuasions. And this man's was the worst kind of persuasion, a persuasion that makes him trust in himself. But listen, others have had those bad persuasions as well. Here are the Corinthians who think that a man must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses and do good works, or else he cannot be saved. And Paul says in Galatians five, this persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. And so some of you out there say, I have this persuasion. I say, what is the source of that persuasion? This man was persuaded that he was right with God, but his persuasion was wrong. Now let me give you good persuasions. The Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter fourteen, he says, I know and I am persuaded in the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that persuasion acceptable? You say, of course it is. Yes. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this one. Paul says in Romans eight, I'm persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor angels, nor height, nor depth, nor any other thing shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Is that a proper persuasion? You say, yes, thank God. Listen to this one. Paul says in Romans nine, he says, I speak the truth, I lie not, my conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit. Now, the conclusion you come to under that condition, will it be a good one? You say, yes. Well, all of you who think you're saved, can you say my conscience bears witness with me in the Holy Spirit? Can you say, I'm persuaded and know in the Lord Jesus Christ that I passed from death into life? Can you say that? Or do you have to say, like this man, well, I went to church, I prayed, I lived a moral life. Which can you say? He was persuaded that he should trust in himself, personal merits, his own goodness before God, and he was persuaded that he was righteous in the sight of God. And the Lord Jesus said, I'm speaking a special parable to that kind of person. What kind? One who trusts in himself. And this is the kind of man that trusts in himself that he is righteous. He is persuaded, but understand that Paul was persuaded before he saw Christ on that road to Damascus that he was doing the will of God, but he was wrong. And in like manner, here is this poor man persuaded that he is acceptable in God's sight, and God is pleased with his words, but he is lost. And Christ says, for that reason, I am teaching you how to pray, and I'm showing you how to pray by giving you an example of how not to pray. And there is a right prayer to pray to be saved. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And so God puts before us the plan of salvation and how to pass from death to life in many ways. It can be like this. The Savior said, I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. So, salvation is like a door through which you pass. Yes, and Christ is the door. Salvation is also like he came unto his own, and his own received him not, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. It's like taking something good that God gives. You embrace it and make it your own. Do you understand? But at the same time, salvation is also trusting not in yourself, but salvation is trusting in another, and you make that trust in another known by the words that come out of your mouth. By your words shall you be justified, and this man's words condemn him. Why? Because Christ said, here is a man that trusts in himself. Listen to a man that trusts in himself. God, I thank you that I am not as other men. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not unjust. I'm not an adulterer. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all I possess. Christ said, that is a man who trusts in himself. And so his defense before God is his own personal worth and the life that he lives in the world. And the Lord Jesus says, this is a prayer that shall send you to hell because you have never been accepted by the grace of God. You understand that? And so this man is praying all of these things, and when he finishes his prayer, he is no different than when he began his prayer. And here is another, and it says this man is a tax collector, and understand that a tax collector was so bad that the Lord Jesus said that when a person has been excommunicated from a meeting, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. It's the same word. The publican is a tax collector, a Jew who has cast in his lot with Rome and would go and take people, take money from his own people for that despised nation that was their ruler. And the Lord Jesus said, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and as a tax collector. And yet the Lord Jesus, in showing an example of the prayer of salvation, gives us this despised tax collector, just as he gives as an example of who is your neighbor, that despised Samaritan. Christ invariably does that. He takes the very worst, and he shows the worst in the best light, and he takes the very best, and he shows them in the worst light, and he says, this is the way not to be saved. This is the prayer you pray to be lost, he said, and this is the prayer that you pray to be saved. So this is the man who trusts not in himself, but he trusts in another, and he is a despised tax collector. And this other man went and stood in the presence of God, and evidently he lifted up his eyes, and evidently he lifted up his hands. This man stood afar off. He would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, and instead of lifting up holy hands, he hid his hands, and he smote upon his breast, and his words were, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And the heart of God was thrilled because that is the prayer of salvation. And I assure you this, that if from your heart you have prayed such a prayer, as lacking in theology as it is, it contains every element that is necessary for a man to pass from death unto life, and God will not refuse it because if you stand in the presence of God and God says, on what grounds do you think I'm going to admit you to heaven? You can say, I from my heart prayed that prayer that your son taught sinners to pray, and God will not refuse you. You are accepted on the basis of the words that Jesus Christ spoke, and he himself said concerning his words, the words that I've spoken unto you, they shall judge you in the last day. And if I stand before God and say, God, my defense, my plea is this, I am a guilty sinner, but Jesus died for me because I'm a step ahead of Luke chapter eighteen. I know the gospel of the grace of God, but my prayer and the prayer of every sinner who has been saved is the same. It's casting himself upon the mercy of God. Listen to this man's defense. Listen to this Pharisee. It's his own goodness. God, I'm good. I'm unlike other men. Now, this is what will amaze you. The very thing that he says that he is not like, Paul in Ephesians two says he is like. He says, God, I'm not as other men. Paul says, we all at one time were dead in trespasses and sins. We were led about by the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience, and we were by nature children of wrath, even as the others. The identical words. This man says, I'm not as others. The Apostle Paul said, I am just like all the others. I'm a child of wrath. I'm influenced by Satan. I'm separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, a stranger from the covenant of the promise. If you are a Gentile, having no hope and without God in the world. Here is a man who comes before God, and this poor tax collector casts himself upon the mercy of God. The Pharisee says, here are all of my credits, and God says, rejected. And the publican says, I have nothing but demerits. The only thing I say concerning myself is one thing. I am the sinner. Paul said, I am the chief of sinners. And this man said, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. He individualized it, and he said, God, I'm the sinner, and I want mercy. And the Lord Jesus said that mercy was shown. Why? Because every man that humbleth himself shall be exalted, but he that exalteth himself shall be humbled. And you who are self-righteous, who trust in yourselves, you have never learned God's way of salvation. There has never been a man who trusted in himself that has been accepted in God's sight. David, the man after God's heart, said, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputed not sin. Do you understand? It is all that is casting a man upon the mercy of God, and that is what God wants you to do today. Your prayer, I confess that it sounds beautiful, telling God all your credentials, and this other man casting himself upon the mercy of God. But God is impressed by all who say, I am a sinner, and there is no good thing in me. All my righteousnesses are as filthy rags. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And I promise you, on the authority of Christ's promise, that if you pray that prayer from the heart, you shall go home justified. To think, coming to church this morning lost and going home saved. Such a thing is possible. Call upon the name of the Lord, for everyone that calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Time is gone. Let us pray. Our Father, we are thankful that your Son has taught us to pray. We confess that we would think that we should tell you some good things about ourselves, but we are aware that your Son has given us a prayer that says absolutely nothing good about ourselves, that did not lift up holy hands, that did not lift up eyes to heaven, but in shame and confession of what we are by nature in practice, we confess that we are sinners, and we call upon you for mercy, and we are thankful that you had said, come every soul by sin oppressed, there is mercy with the Lord. Him that cometh unto me, I shall in no wise cast out. So by thy spirit working upon the hearts this morning, may some who have prayed the prayer of the Pharisee, pray the prayer of the publican and go home justified. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.