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Noel for leading the meeting 
tonight, it's good to be with 

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00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:06,840
you again. 
And also the brother Fred for 

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singing and we always enjoy our 
brother singing and he didn't 

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disappoint us tonight. 
And of course the congregation 

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for singing too. 
The hand cannot say to the foot.

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I have no need of the and as 
God's people, we are all in this

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mission together. 
If you can get people in, you 

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are the people on the ground. 
Noah and I are the blowins for a

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couple of weeks, couple of 
weeks. 

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And if you can get people in, 
well, then you'd be assured we 

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will preach the gospel of the 
grace of God with no interest in

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anything else other than 
preaching the word of God. 

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I've got that watch off me at 
last. 

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I thought it was going to be a, 
a shackle round my my wrist 

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there, but it came off there for
me. 

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Luke's gospel chapter 18, 
please. 

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Luke's gospel chapter 18. 
It's where we want to go tonight

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in order to preach this old 
message of redeeming love. 

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There's a Saviour from all sin 
if you only let him in. 

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We're going to read a wonderful 
story tonight from the Word of 

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the Lord, words of the Saviour. 
Look chapter 18 and look at the 

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verse 9 and it says, and he that
is our Saviour, the Lord Jesus. 

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And he spake this parable unto 
certain which trusted in 

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themselves that they were 
righteous and despised others. 

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Two men went up into the temple 
to pray, the one of Pharisee and

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the other a publican. 
Now we tend to think when we 

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talk about publicans, we think 
about the boys that serve the 

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booze. 
But you will of course know that

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the publican back in 1611 when 
our translation was translated 

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was the tax collector and nobody
likes the tax collector. 

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I was always amused that the man
who wrote to the Inland Revenue 

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to the tax collectors and he 
says can you take me off your 

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mailing list? 
I wonder how you got on with 

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that. 
I'd love to know if it worked 

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for have. 
It'll work for me. 

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But nobody likes attack. 
There's any tax collectors here 

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tonight, by the way, You just 
keep their head down and smile. 

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That's the fair thing to do. 
But this man was a tax collector

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and the two went up into the 
temple to pray. 

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The one of Pharisee. 
You know what a Pharisee is and 

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they are a Republican. 
The Pharisee stood and prayed 

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thus with himself. 
Here's his prayer. 

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God, I thank thee that I am not 
as other men are extortioners, 

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unjust adulterers, or even as 
this publican. 

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I fast twice in the week, I give
ties of all that I possess. 

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And the publican standing afar 
off, we'd not lift up so much as

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his eyes on the heaven, but 
smote his breast, saying, God be

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merciful to me, a Sinner. 
I tell you, this man went down 

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to his house justified rather 
than the other. 

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For everyone that exalteth 
himself shall be abased, and he 

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that humbleth himself shall be 
exalted. 

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Amen. 
God will bless, I have no doubt.

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What is really a short reading? 
What a very powerful reading off

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the word of the Lord. 
Now seek the Lord now again in 

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prayer. 
Our Father, we thank you for the

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meeting thus far. 
We thank you for the hymns that 

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we've been singing together. 
Hymns, Lord has centred largely 

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around the blood of the Lamb and
the great cry. 

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Wash me in the blood of the 
Lamb, and I shall be whiter than

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snow. 
Thank you for the two pieces 

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that our brother brought to us 
as well, using that gift, Lord, 

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that you have give to them, 
stirring it up and using it 

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again in the furtherance of the 
gospel. 

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We thank you for the reading of 
Scripture. 

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And now they are has come where 
the word of God is to be 

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preached. 
The Lord, thou hast said, we 

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remind thee as the Lord's 
remembrances tonight, we remind 

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thee that thou hast said that it
pleases thee by the foolishness 

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of preaching to see of those 
that will believe. 

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And while our Lord are inside 
this building, or maybe they're 

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at home watching online, while 
we're there in Northern Ireland 

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or maybe further afield, Lord, 
it could be in the far end of 

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the earth watching in for all we
know. 

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While nevertheless, Lord, we're 
praying that your word would 

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have free course and be 
glorified. 

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I need Thy power to preach the 
arm of flesh. 

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It will surely fail. 
We dare not trust our own, but 

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we look to Thee to bless thy 
word that'll have free course 

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and be glorified in Jesus name. 
Amen. 

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Amen. 
I believe that many, if not 

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indeed all of Christ's parables 
that He told were based on fact.

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In other words, there really was
a sower who went out to sew. 

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He wasn't making that up. 
He was able to look round them 

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and there were people out in the
fields, the sower going out to 

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sew. 
There really was a lost sheep, a

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man who had 100 sheep and he 
counted, and one somehow away 

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from the rest. 
It got out through a hole in 

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their heads, through the gate or
whatever. 

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There was a lost coin, a little 
widow woman looking frantically 

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for the coin that she had. 
There really was a prodigal son 

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when he had run away from home, 
broke the father's heart. 

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There really was a little woman 
in the back kitchen baking with 

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the leaven and therefore come. 
We doubt that there really was 

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two men who would go up into the
temple and to pray. 

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Is it beyond belief tonight that
one of them, the Pharisee, would

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would boast before the Lord of 
his supposed good works like 

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this Pharisee did? 
His strategy indeed is very 

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common. 
We meet with it constantly. 

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Perhaps not so public as his 
very went up, no doubt to the 

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front of the temple, and he 
prayed that our men might hear 

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him, and many of soul would 
maybe shrink back at that. 

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Perhaps not so nasty in relation
to ours, for I thank God that He

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was not as a sole man was. 
But many have a lot in common 

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with the Pharisee. 
And if you were to ask that 

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great question that people 
sometimes ask in evangelism, why

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should God let ye into his 
heaven? 

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They dwell with him forevermore.
Why should He let ye into him, 

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into his heaven, when it is 
universally admitted that we 

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have all sinned? 
Why should He let you? 

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In A general answer, a far too 
popular answer would be Thus my 

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church attendant, come the 
Sabbath morning, some soul will 

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say, I am in my Pew singing the 
praises of God. 

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My envelope is in my hand, I put
it in the little basket. 

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I support the minister. 
I, I help around the church, 

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someone else might say in the 
same line. 

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Well, I, I try, I try my best, I
do good, I, I harm nobody. 

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And on that basis they hope they
get him to heaven. 

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Well, such a position is miles 
away from that of the tax 

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collector. 
Yes, it would agree and line up 

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with what the Pharisee was 
saying, but we want to think 

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tonight about this poor tax 
collector, the one who spoke the

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words of our text in verse 13. 
He says, God be merciful to me 

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as son. 
There's no great eloquence 

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there. 
You want eloquent prayers, then 

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you need to look elsewhere. 
There's no list here of 

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commendable virtues that he had 
are on display. 

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All we have here in one lane in 
our Bible is simply a heartfelt 

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cry. 
Oh, God, be merciful to me, a 

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Sinner. 
The first thing that we want to 

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see, number one, is why we need 
mercy. 

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Why do we need mercy? 
It's in those words, me a 

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Sinner. 
It might help us to see, I 

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think, what sin actually is and 
why, when we have considered it,

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why we can only plead for mercy 
when we realise, as we must do 

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in order to perceive that we are
sinners. 

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The first thing that I want us 
to see here just to describe 

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sin. 
And they open it up and they 

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show it in all its heininess and
all its awfulness. 

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First of all, sin is a crime. 
It is a crime. 

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Sin is defined in first John 3 
and verse 4. 

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Sin is the transgression, the 
breaking, the stepping over the 

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line. 
That's what trans means, the 

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stepping over, the breaking of 
the law of God. 

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And sometimes we break the law 
of God by Commission. 

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In other words, the things that 
we do, the act of things that we

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do, and sometimes we break the 
law by omission. 

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The things that we don't do, the
things that we ought to do, the 

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duties that are impressed upon 
us and we leave them undone or 

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we don't do them right. 
And when we fail in that, then 

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we have committed a sin against 
God. 

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It's a crime against the law of 
God because every one of us 

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tonight, everyone of us, are 
subject to the law of God. 

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00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:57,840
And we are subject to the law of
God because we are creatures, 

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His creatures. 
He created us and not we 

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ourselves. 
And not only are we creatures 

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who live in His domain, the 
earth being the Lords and the 

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fullness thereof, but we're also
dependent upon Him. 

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The very breath that you're 
drawing now as you listen to 

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this message is sent to you from
Almighty God, and we are 

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dependent upon Him. 
And sin is not only a crime, but

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sin is also rebellion, as 
there's another facet of it. 

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It is not a mere error. 
Sin is rebellion, and it says of

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the carnal mind of man that 
every one of us have if we're 

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still unsaved. 
The Bible says it is not subject

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to the law of God. 
In other words, it will not 

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00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:53,840
subject itself to the law of 
God. 

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00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:58,280
And indeed, the Bible says the 
carnal heart of man is at 

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eminently with God. 
He hates the law of God. 

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00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:07,280
And you see their rebellion in 
the hearts of men. 

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00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:12,160
The parallel verse here is 
Lamentation 3 and verse 42, 

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where there the cry went up, the
lamentation went up, we have 

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transgressed and we have 
rebelled. 

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00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:28,400
Sin is rebellion against God, 
and such rebellion is high 

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treason against God, not merely 
against an earthly king, but 

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against the king of kings 
himself, against the one by whom

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all the other kings and all the 
other Princess rule and decree 

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justice, this king of kings who 
can set them up and bring them 

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down in a moment of time, and 
that's high treason. 

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00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,720
You know in the Bible there was 
a very wicked woman called 

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Athaliah and she had a very 
wicked reign. 

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00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:06,560
However, there was a God driven 
revolution against her. 

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00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:10,240
The true king was in hiding. 
He was just a babe and then when

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he grew to a certain age, they 
came out, as it were, out of the

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woodwork and surprised this 
woman. 

185
00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:21,440
She realised what was happening.
Her days on the throne as wicked

186
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Athaliah were over and when she 
could see what was happening, 

187
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what did she cry? 
Treason. 

188
00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:30,880
Treason. 
She cried, but she was a 

189
00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:35,040
traitor. 
She was the one who shouldn't 

190
00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:39,960
have been on the throne. 
She is the one who had defied 

191
00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:44,360
the law of God, who had 
challenged the high King of 

192
00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:47,480
Heaven and was guilty of 
treason. 

193
00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:50,920
That was sin is high treason 
against the Lord. 

194
00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:53,480
Sin is something else. 
You know, there's another facet 

195
00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:56,200
to this. 
Sin is robbery. 

196
00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:02,680
The question is asked in 
Malachi, will a man rob God and 

197
00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:05,920
you can rob God of his glory. 
It's not that he ceases to be 

198
00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:11,880
all glorious, but sin is to fall
short of the glory of God. 

199
00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:16,720
Romans 323 all have send them. 
What comes short of the glory of

200
00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:21,080
God because God says to you 
tonight, he says, My son, note 

201
00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:27,720
those tender accents tonight, my
son, give me thine heart, give 

202
00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:29,600
me your life. 
That's what the Lord's asking 

203
00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:31,880
for tonight. 
Give me your life. 

204
00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:33,720
The old handwriter wrote the 
words. 

205
00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:37,440
He says, Take my moments and 
take my days old. 

206
00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:41,240
Let them flow and ceaseless 
praise. 

207
00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:45,800
But the rebellious traitor in 
our wicked heart would cry out 

208
00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:48,960
against that and say, who is the
Lord? 

209
00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:53,760
Just like Pharaoh of old, Who is
the Lord, that I should obey his

210
00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:56,840
voice. 
Sin is the robbery of God. 

211
00:14:57,040 --> 00:14:59,360
Sin is something else. 
That's uncleanness. 

212
00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:03,920
It's uncleanness. 
We usually refer to uncleanness 

213
00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:08,440
as a sexual sin, as in morality.
But the Bible says all sin comes

214
00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:10,880
in under this term of 
uncleanness. 

215
00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:14,600
All sin pollutes the soul. 
Do you remember what it says? 

216
00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:21,560
And I say a chapter 64 and verse
6, it says we are all as an 

217
00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:25,800
unclean thing and all our 
righteousness is. 

218
00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:27,520
There's one full of Pharisee, 
isn't it? 

219
00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:34,000
Not merely our sins, even our 
righteousnesses, our filthy rags

220
00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:39,760
in the sight of God doesn't know
what Titus says to them that are

221
00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:46,960
defiled and unbelieving is 
nothing pure, but even their 

222
00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,960
mind and their conscience is 
defiled. 

223
00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:54,920
And you know one of the saddest 
occasions is when that time 

224
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comes, when the Spirit no longer
strives with man and God says, 

225
00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:04,840
let him that is filthy, let him 
be filthy still. 

226
00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:11,080
And the man has left to woal 
like the pig in the mire in his 

227
00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,200
own sinful filth. 
Sudden is something else. 

228
00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:19,720
Sin is vanity indeed. 
The Bible says it is vanity and 

229
00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:22,960
man of these because sudden 
really in what attracts men to 

230
00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:27,400
it is based on the devil's lie. 
We get a lot of information. 

231
00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:30,360
You get a little texts in your 
phone from your bank or your 

232
00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:34,240
building society or whatever. 
You see it on the television. 

233
00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:37,800
There's entire programmes almost
dedicated to it. 

234
00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:42,600
The idea of the scammer, 
somebody coming along pretending

235
00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:46,320
to be somebody else, some 
official agency or whatever. 

236
00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:49,800
They want your money, it's in 
your bank, they want it in 

237
00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:53,200
theirs. 
It's a big scam, and that's what

238
00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:55,880
sin is. 
That's what sin is. 

239
00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:59,320
It's a big scam. 
The pleasures of sin are only 

240
00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:01,760
temporary. 
The Bible says they last only 

241
00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:05,079
for a little season, a little 
small little season. 

242
00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:10,880
Says again that even in laughter
the heart is sorrowful, and the 

243
00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:18,800
end of that mirth is heaviness. 
Sin brings men down into death 

244
00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:25,640
and into hell. 
That's the earned wage of sin. 

245
00:17:26,599 --> 00:17:29,560
We reap what we sow It's the sow
and harvest. 

246
00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:34,240
It's entirely just because God, 
He is the God of justice has 

247
00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:38,960
imposed it. 
And the Bible says the whole 

248
00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:44,120
world, including those self 
deluded Pharisees stand guilty 

249
00:17:44,120 --> 00:17:47,160
before God. 
The whole world stands guilty 

250
00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:50,800
before God. 
Every mouth, it says, will be 

251
00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:55,320
stopped. 
Listen to this, even the damned 

252
00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:58,360
souls in hell. 
Now and again, you know, the 

253
00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:01,320
Lord just pulls back the little 
curt, and we all get the chance 

254
00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:04,680
to look. 
And even the damned souls in the

255
00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:09,440
hell will cry out in their 
torment and in their despair and

256
00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:13,120
in their pain. 
And they say, Lord God Almighty,

257
00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:18,960
just and true are thy ways, thy 
keen of Saints. 

258
00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:25,000
You see now why we all stand in 
need of mercy of any one of 

259
00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:29,640
those, any one of those things 
named is enough to bring us 

260
00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:35,200
down. 
But we tick all the boxes we've 

261
00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:40,320
got to say tonight like this 
man, me the Sinner. 

262
00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:44,280
But then notice secondly, we 
need mercy, not only because 

263
00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:47,200
we're sinners, but notice 
secondly here, who alone can 

264
00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:52,880
grant that's needed mercy? 
He's going to be merciful too as

265
00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:56,400
well. 
He says here he cried out in 

266
00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:02,360
prayer and he says, oh God, oh 
God, be merciful to me, the 

267
00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:05,840
Sinner. 
And only God, of course can do 

268
00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:08,240
it, because first of all, he's 
the offended one. 

269
00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,280
We are. 
Who are we to grant mercy when 

270
00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:17,280
we are equally guilty? 
And even the holiest of Saints 

271
00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:20,600
in the Bible, the men who walked
with God, the men who were the 

272
00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:25,000
friend of God, the men who were 
after God's own heart, they all 

273
00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:29,120
confessed their total, excuse 
me, their total worthlessness 

274
00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:33,360
and their sins. 
Because the Bible says not only 

275
00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,640
because of all our sin are we 
totally depraved, That is, the 

276
00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:40,560
whole man is depraved, but we 
are totally guiltless, our guilt

277
00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,400
guilty rather, and we're totally
helpless. 

278
00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:50,280
And only God against whom we 
have sinned, house the right to 

279
00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:57,920
extend order, withhold mercy as 
it pleases him, and only God has

280
00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:00,600
the power and the authority to 
do it. 

281
00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,080
But God can do it, not only 
because he has he offended one, 

282
00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:12,080
but because he sent his Son into
the world to die for sinners. 

283
00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:16,760
And the sinless Son of God, and 
that old rugged cross, that 

284
00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:23,600
emblem of suffering and shame, 
He took our guilt and He took 

285
00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:29,840
our punishment for us. 
The Lord led on him the iniquity

286
00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:33,080
of us all. 
Yes, he was wounded, but it was 

287
00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:35,720
for our transgressions. 
He was bruised. 

288
00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:39,400
It was for our iniquities. 
The chastisement of our peace 

289
00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:44,000
was led in him. 
And by his stripes are we 

290
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,920
healed. 
You know, rebellions are usually

291
00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:51,880
quashed. 
The high treason in the past day

292
00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:55,200
was was a capital crime. 
About a month ago, maybe 5 weeks

293
00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:59,200
ago, it was over in London, all 
of and I went over for just for 

294
00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:03,120
a few days in the first full 
day, but went to the Tower of 

295
00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:07,080
London and we were able to get 
in and see the big white tower 

296
00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:08,840
and all the other towers 
rounded. 

297
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:13,840
We saw a place right in the 
banks where he could come up by 

298
00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:17,280
boat and go into the tower 
traders gate. 

299
00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:22,960
And when many a soul brought in 
through traders gate and taken 

300
00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:29,360
down into the dungeon and tried 
for treason and then they were 

301
00:21:29,360 --> 00:21:32,160
beheaded. 
We saw the place where Anne 

302
00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:36,240
Boleyn was beheaded. 
We saw the place where traitors 

303
00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:38,520
and the result were places all 
over London. 

304
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:43,000
And when the traitor's head went
on the block and the big acts of

305
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:47,880
the executioner fell upon that 
head, they were decapitated. 

306
00:21:48,120 --> 00:21:53,200
The head was taken off the the, 
the executioner would lift up 

307
00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:56,920
that head, what a gruesome 
thing, and he would shout the 

308
00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:02,720
head of a traitor. 
But you know God maketh the 

309
00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:07,800
rebel, The Bible says a priest 
and the king. 

310
00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:13,640
There was no mercy given from 
among the kings of the earth. 

311
00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:20,040
But the Kane of kings, 
confronted with the rebellion of

312
00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:27,520
his subjects, sent his Son, his 
only begotten Son, the fairy 

313
00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:33,160
darling of his bosom. 
He sent them into the world to 

314
00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:37,880
take the sinner's place. 
Was it for crimes that I had 

315
00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:41,440
done? 
He groaned upon the tree. 

316
00:22:42,120 --> 00:22:48,200
Amazing petty grace or known 
love beyond the greed? 

317
00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:54,000
Oh, I bid you tonight, if this 
is your decision to turn away 

318
00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:57,840
your eyes from your own 
concocted righteousness, turn 

319
00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,680
away your eyes from an earthly 
institution, whatever church it 

320
00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:03,840
may be. 
Even if it's this church, turn 

321
00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:11,040
your eyes away from us and cry 
to God the merciful, the mere 

322
00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:15,640
Sinner. 
Thirdly and lastly, here we have

323
00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:19,120
the effect of such mercy when it
is granted. 

324
00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:22,880
What happened to this man when 
he cried? 

325
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:25,360
What? 
What became of him afterward? 

326
00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:27,760
What's the end of the story? 
What's the sequel? 

327
00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:32,360
How did it all work out? 
Well, God heard his cry. 

328
00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:41,680
Isaiah 45 verse 19, I said not 
under the seed of Jacob seek ye 

329
00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,680
may in vain. 
They that seek him will find 

330
00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:51,120
him, and they find him as the 
Bible says, rich in mercy, not a

331
00:23:51,120 --> 00:23:57,400
tremendous thing. 
God who is rich in mercy, the 

332
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:01,760
great love or with he loved 
this, and he's not only rich in 

333
00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:05,080
mercy, but he delights and 
mercy. 

334
00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:08,280
That's a wonderful thing too. 
Sometimes you know, you have 

335
00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:12,040
some people and they've got all 
the ability to help someone out 

336
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:15,800
of all the riches that are 
needed, but they're not too 

337
00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:19,520
willing to part with it. 
Never little use. 

338
00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:23,480
And then you've got people who 
would love to be able to help 

339
00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:26,840
you, but they don't have the 
world withal to help you. 

340
00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:30,480
And they can only look on and 
pity you and maybe try and bring

341
00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:34,040
you a little bit of comfort, but
they can't help you because they

342
00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:38,240
haven't got what it takes. 
But our God, behold your God 

343
00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:40,840
tonight. 
Now what the Isaiah says, behold

344
00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:44,880
your God. 
He's not only rich in mercy, he 

345
00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:48,000
delights in it. 
It pleases him. 

346
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:52,360
There's rejoicing in heaven 
among the angels of God when a 

347
00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:58,400
Sinner repents, because a 
repenting Sinner finds mercy, 

348
00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:05,760
and God delights in mercy. 
Listen indeed, listen to this as

349
00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:11,720
an overture of peace, because on
the cross Christ made peace by 

350
00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:14,640
the blood of us, by the blood 
that he shed. 

351
00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,080
He made peace by the the blood 
of his cross. 

352
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:19,840
And listen to what he says to 
you. 

353
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,840
He says today, seek ye the Lord,
while he may be found. 

354
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:29,400
This man went into the temple to
seek the Lord, to seek God. 

355
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:34,240
He knew where to find him, and 
he lifted up his voice unto the 

356
00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:37,040
Lord. 
And he says, Lord, be merciful 

357
00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:40,400
to me, a Sinner. 
Seek ye the Lord while he may be

358
00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:42,000
found. 
Call upon him. 

359
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,880
That's what this fellow is doing
while he is near. 

360
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:52,520
Let the wicked, let the wicked 
forsake his way, and let the 

361
00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:57,880
unrighteous man forsake his 
thoughts, and let him return 

362
00:25:57,880 --> 00:25:59,600
unto the Lord. 
Why? 

363
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:06,440
For he will have mercy upon him 
and let him return on the our 

364
00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:10,200
God, for he will abundantly 
pardon. 

365
00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:14,720
That's what this fellow needed 
as public in this tax collector.

366
00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:20,440
He needed abundant pardon. 
He is as guilty as hell itself. 

367
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:23,160
He knew it. 
He knew it in his heart of 

368
00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:25,560
hearts. 
He didn't listen to this other 

369
00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:29,440
fellow pray and then join in a 
similar prayer and say, well 

370
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:33,280
Lord, I'm glad I'm not as greedy
as some of my fellow workers. 

371
00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:36,600
I'm glad that I'm not this and 
that and something else. 

372
00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:42,760
No, the Bible says he just went 
and he stood before the Lord. 

373
00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:45,000
Do you see him there? 
Do you see the repentance? 

374
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:49,800
It says he smote his chest. 
One of the old commentators 

375
00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:53,440
says. 
It's as if he was saying, Lord, 

376
00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,720
here's the problem. 
It's in here. 

377
00:26:57,360 --> 00:27:00,840
It's not my environment in which
I have grown up. 

378
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:03,560
It's not my education or my lack
of it. 

379
00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:07,160
It's not my family tree that 
we're all in this business of 

380
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:10,080
robbing people. 
It's not the wickedness of the 

381
00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:13,120
age. 
It has had an influence upon me 

382
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:14,960
that is at the root of the 
problem. 

383
00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:19,120
No, he says He's smiting his 
breath sin here. 

384
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:24,280
It's my own wicked, sinful heart
that drives me to do these 

385
00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:28,280
things. 
And he says, Lord the merciful 

386
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:31,400
unto me. 
And God heard his cry. 

387
00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:36,960
You know the ear of God does not
have a that I cannot hear and 

388
00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:42,040
his arm is not shortened or lame
that I cannot see if he's 

389
00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:46,360
listening for the cry of the 
Sinner tonight and that Sinner 

390
00:27:46,360 --> 00:27:50,560
who just can about put together 
this prayer and says to God, 

391
00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:56,320
Lord be merciful to me. 
God will hear that prayer and 

392
00:27:56,320 --> 00:28:00,880
God will answer that prayer. 
That's a tremendous thing Jesus 

393
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:08,120
said him that cometh to me. 
I will in no wise cast out and 

394
00:28:08,120 --> 00:28:12,040
he didn't push out this man. 
You see, when our Lord died upon

395
00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:15,000
the cross, he died for the 
ungodly. 

396
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:20,640
It's sinners Jesus will receive.
Send a word of grace to all. 

397
00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:24,600
Don't argue yourself out tonight
of getting saved. 

398
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,000
Don't argue yourself out and 
say, well, I'm not, I'm not that

399
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,000
big Sinner that needs to get 
Christ. 

400
00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:33,560
You start thinking like that. 
You're closing the door on your 

401
00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:36,120
own mercy. 
You are forsaking your own 

402
00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:38,320
mercy. 
You're putting a hole in the 

403
00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:42,040
bottom of your own boat and 
you'll sink your vessel and you 

404
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:45,280
will be lost forever more. 
What happened to this man? 

405
00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:48,000
Listen to what it says there in 
verse 14. 

406
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:50,000
I tell you, there's the 
emphasis. 

407
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:58,320
This man, not both men, this man
went down to his house 

408
00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:01,480
justified. 
You know what justified means? 

409
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:08,040
It means that the record was his
record of crime was gone. 

410
00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:14,200
It was just as if it's one of 
the old Puritans worded it just 

411
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:19,920
as if when he had never sinned, 
his blood of Christ had washed 

412
00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:22,560
the way the blood of Christ had 
washed the way, all the sin, 

413
00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:24,400
because that's why the blood was
shed. 

414
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:26,680
That's what we were singing 
about. 

415
00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:31,720
Wash me, cleanse me in the 
blood, in the blood that he 

416
00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:35,320
shed. 
It cleanseth us from all sin. 

417
00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:39,680
The Bible asks a great question.
It's it's God throwing down the 

418
00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:44,120
gauntlet, the hell itself, who 
shall lay anything, anything, 

419
00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:47,880
anything to the charge of God's 
elect. 

420
00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:54,160
It is God that justifieth. 
It is Christ that thy ye rather 

421
00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:58,680
is risen again. 
And none can lay anything to the

422
00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:04,800
charge of God's elect. 
The records clear because Christ

423
00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:11,360
has borne our sins on his own 
body to the tree and this man 

424
00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:15,840
went down home justified doesn't
know what the Bible says. 

425
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:20,280
Being justified by faith. 
Faith brought this man into the 

426
00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:23,240
temple. 
Faith brought this man to the 

427
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:27,280
very throne of God. 
Faith encouraged him to cry, but

428
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:32,280
merciful to me, a Sinner. 
Faith claimed what God was 

429
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:39,240
offering and he went down to his
home, justified rather than the 

430
00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:41,000
other. 
The old Pharisee went down, 

431
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:45,600
probably self satisfied. 
I've been to that church again, 

432
00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:49,360
I've stood up and everybody 
knows what a great fellow I am. 

433
00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:54,240
I'll maybe come back again 
tomorrow. 24 hours near to hell 

434
00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:58,280
than they've ever been before. 
God looking upon him. 

435
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:04,280
You know, when our Lord spoke 
the sinners, he always spoken 

436
00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:09,600
the most tenderest of tones. 
They, they goered unto him all 

437
00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:13,960
the harlots, and all the the 
publicans, and, and all the vile

438
00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:17,160
sinners. 
But when he spoke in anger, he 

439
00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:20,760
directed it at the Pharisees. 
Woe unto you Pharisees, 

440
00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:25,720
hypocrites, hypocrites. 
He wasn't very keenly in 

441
00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,520
nonsense towards them. 
He exposed them for what they 

442
00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:33,560
were, hypocrites, and he said 
they may make their converts 

443
00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:37,160
twofold more. 
The child of hell land 

444
00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:40,760
themselves. 
But this man, this man went down

445
00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:45,680
to his house justified. 
He went home and he went to bed.

446
00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:48,960
We had to go to bed sooner or 
later, didn't they? 

447
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:53,680
And he put his head in the 
pillow that night and for the 

448
00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:58,040
first time he was able to say, 
it is well. 

449
00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:02,040
It is well with my soul. 
Not a tremendous blessing. 

450
00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:04,920
That's the sleep of the just 
man, isn't it? 

451
00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:08,800
Be able to say I LED me down and
slapped. 

452
00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:11,280
I await for the Lord sustained 
me. 

453
00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:16,640
The grace that has brought me 
safe thus far will leave me 

454
00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:18,920
safely home. 
I wonder what will you do 

455
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:23,800
tonight if you're still unsaved?
See yourself as God sees you. 

456
00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:29,720
See yourself as your conscience 
exposes you too. 

457
00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:33,960
Get that X-ray of your heart. 
It's not good, it's wicked. 

458
00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:39,360
The heart of man, Deceitful of 
all things, desperately wicked. 

459
00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:42,480
Who can know it? 
God says, I'll give you a new 

460
00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:44,680
heart. 
That's the message of the 

461
00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:47,240
gospel. 
I'll make you a new creature. 

462
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,640
That's what we'll call been born
again, and without the new 

463
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:53,480
birth, you'll not enter the 
Kingdom. 

464
00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:58,200
Will you come to him tonight if 
you're still unsaved? 

465
00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:02,000
Don't come into the House of God
a Pharisee and go out a 

466
00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:06,480
Pharisee. 
Come in as a lost Sinner and go 

467
00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:11,640
home, justified by the free 
grace of God. 

468
00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:15,120
May God give you that grace to 
do so. 

469
00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:16,880
Just setting where you are in 
your seat. 

470
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:21,440
You OfferUp our prayer to God. 
Be merciful to me, a Sinner. 

471
00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:25,040
Be merciful to me. 
Mean it with all your hearts, 

472
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:29,240
not just the formula. 
Formal words, it needs to be a 

473
00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:33,920
heartfelt conviction, work of 
God in your soul and you're 

474
00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:35,600
perceived. 
If you want to meet with us 

475
00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:40,080
afterwards, know all here 
myself, Mr Greenfield, whatever,

476
00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:46,760
we're willing to help you if we 
can maybe clarify something, but

477
00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:52,160
go down to your house justified.
That's what these meetings are 

478
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:55,400
all about. 
May the Lord bless His word.