WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 Well, good evening everyone. It's a great privilege and pleasure for me to be with you tonight. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:11.000 And I appreciate the opportunity of preaching on this great theme that is before us in our text, 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:18.000 that is before us in our discussion of what it means to be celebrating the great solas of the Reformation. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:24.000 Tonight we are looking at faith, what it means by faith alone, or if you want the full title, 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:34.000 what justification by faith alone looks like, what it means, and how we can see this great truth in action. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:39.000 When we come to our text we read two stories that Jesus told, two parables. 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:46.000 And the message of both parables seems quite simple. Jesus tells us, for example, in the first parable, 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:53.000 the parable, the persistent widow, that the object here is that we are to pray and not lose heart. 00:00:53.000 --> 00:01:00.000 The theme of prayer comes through the second story where Jesus describes the temple, the place of prayer. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:09.000 He describes two people who go to the temple to pray, and he describes their prayers and then the answers to those prayers. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:17.000 But as we look more closely, we'll see that our theme comes to the fore in these stories. 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:26.000 So if you look at the first parable, the parable of the persistent widow, we have the familiar story where the widow who has nothing, 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:32.000 you have this great juxtaposition, you have a woman versus a man, you have a widow versus a judge, 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:37.000 you have someone seeking justice and someone who has no care or concern for justice, 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:47.000 and you think the outcome here is quite obvious that the one who is weak will not succeed, that the one who is strong will prevail, and nonetheless, 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:53.000 the one who is asking, she keeps asking until the point where the judge says, I'm tired. 00:01:53.000 --> 00:02:00.000 And rather than be weary with this woman's continual coming, I will give her what she asks. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:07.000 This is a very vivid picture of what prayer looks like that we pray, we keep on praying, we ask, we keep on asking. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:13.000 But notice the contrast here because Jesus goes on to say that this is not what God is like. 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:20.000 God is not unjust, God is not unconcerned, God is not disinterested, quite the opposite, 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:25.000 because God gives what we need, God gives what we require, 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:33.000 and at the end of the parable, we have Jesus giving us this punchline which should draw our attention, 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:40.000 because he says that God, in verse 6, the Lord said, here with the unrighteous judge says, 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.000 again, that word, unrighteous, we'll come back to that term in just a moment. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:49.000 What does it mean to be right? What does it mean to be wrong? What does it mean to be right in God's sight? 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:58.000 This man clearly was not, and will he not give justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night, 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:04.000 will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:11.000 Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth? 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:17.000 So Jesus is looking for faith. Jesus is telling us that he will come back, 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:22.000 and when he comes back, he's going to look for faith. But what does faith look like? 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:28.000 What does faith look like when he sees it? What is he looking for in your life or in my life? 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:33.000 Because this is critical not just to understanding this parable, 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:39.000 not just to understanding what Martin Luther stood for, but it's critical in understanding how we can know 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:45.000 and engage with and come to understand the living and the true God. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:52.000 For one of our classes, a couple of weeks ago, we were reading a short book that was written by Charles Spurgeon, 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:56.000 a great preacher in London in the 19th century. And he wrote a book. It was published. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:02.000 It sold more than a million copies. And Spurgeon was great at illustrating these truths. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:11.000 And he said, imagine two men fall into a fast-flowing river, and that river is quickly moving towards a waterfall. 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:18.000 Their life is in danger, and all of a sudden, a large log passes by. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:25.000 One of the men climbs up onto the log thinking that this large log will provide him safety. 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:32.000 At that same moment, a line is thrown from the shore, and the other man grabs hold of the line. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:39.000 Now, the observer would think that this slender rope might be a very little effect. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:49.000 And the man who climbed onto the log would have chosen well, because it's much larger, much more secure, much more stable. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:56.000 But of course, the story continues that the man who jumps on the log, climbs on the log, with the log, goes over the waterfall. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:03.000 Whereas the man who was connected by the rope, even though it's a slender rope to the shore, is able to be broad ashore. 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:10.000 And what Spurgeon is illustrating here is what faith looks like, because faith is not something that's abstract. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:17.000 It's not something that's an idea or a concept, but faith is a relationship word. 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:31.000 Because by faith we trust, by faith we believe, by faith we rest, as it were, our whole weight and strength on something, or more precisely on someone. 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:35.000 Now, a lot of times people can speak in the abstract. 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:39.000 My favorite team growing up was the New York Mets. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:45.000 New York Mets was traditionally, they were the worst baseball team when I was supporting them. 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:50.000 But their one year of glory happened in 1969, long time ago. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:55.000 And they were called the Amazing Mets, because the last place team eventually won the World Series. 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:57.000 This doesn't happen too often. 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:02.000 But the motto or one of the slogans of the team was, you've got to believe. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:07.000 And this phrase has often been repeated, you've got to believe or you've got to have faith. 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:16.000 But this is a very abstract idea, because whenever somebody says you've got to believe, the next question you should ask is, believe what? 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:18.000 Or believe whom? 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:23.000 Because faith is to connect us to the living God. 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:28.000 The living God who creates heaven and earth, the living God who sustains all things, 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:34.000 and the living God who through the person of his son has redeemed for himself a people. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:38.000 So Jesus says that when he comes, he's going to look for faith. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:43.000 So this idea of faith being important is not an idea that Martin Luther came up with, 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:51.000 but the Bible is constantly asking us to trust, to believe, to turn in faith to the God who created us, 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:57.000 to turn in faith to the God who sustains us, and to turn in faith to the God who saves us. 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:02.000 So this evening, who is the object of your trust? 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:04.000 In whom are you trusting? 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:06.000 In whom are you believing? 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:10.000 Who are you resting yourself upon? 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:14.000 Because the next parable will say that you've got a choice. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:19.000 You can rest upon what you have done for God. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:22.000 You can rest upon what you have achieved. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:26.000 You can also rest upon what you haven't done. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:32.000 Or you can rest upon God and what he has done for you. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:36.000 So parable number one highlights this issue of faith. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:42.000 Parable number two brings before our attention this theme of righteousness. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:48.000 Because Jesus begins the parable in verse nine, he says he also told this parable to some 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:53.000 who trusted in themselves that they were righteous. 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:56.000 Now righteousness is a key concept. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:00.000 It characterizes who God is and what God is like. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:07.000 And if you think of righteousness as a rule or a straight edge, God is perfectly straight. 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:09.000 He is not crooked. 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:11.000 There is no deviation. 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:14.000 There's nothing uneven about God. 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:18.000 And God expects you and I to be completely straight. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:27.000 No crookedness, nothing that is out of keeping with his nature and with his character. 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:29.000 Righteous. 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:32.000 If you think again, this is an illustration before many of your times, 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:39.000 but the American president Richard Nixon embroiled in Watergate, went on national television. 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:43.000 And he tried to convince the nation he said, I am not a crook. 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:50.000 So if you want to understand what righteousness isn't, righteousness isn't being crooked or being a crook. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:54.000 Righteousness is the opposite of crooked. It's straight. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:09:02.000 Now we're told here that some considered themselves or trusted in themselves that they were righteous. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:05.000 So these people are exercising faith. 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:09.000 Unfortunately, they are exercising faith in themselves. 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:14.000 Because Jesus tells them that these are people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:17.000 and treated others with contempt. 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:21.000 Look how good I am and look how bad they are. 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:28.000 Two men, Jesus said, went up to the temple to pray one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:32.000 So if you think of the parable of the widow and the judge, two very different people, 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:35.000 we have two very different people before us. 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:38.000 We have one who's good and one who's bad. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:43.000 One who has status and standing and one who is despised. 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:48.000 The Pharisee is a religious person. The tax collector is a religious outcast. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:50.000 And yet there they are. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:56.000 They're at the same place, at the same time, and they're doing the same thing. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:00.000 They go to the temple and they go there to pray. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:03.000 Prayer number one, the Pharisee does this. 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:06.000 He says, he prayed thus, 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:10.000 God, I thank you that I am not like other men. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:14.000 Extortioners, unjust, adulterers, even like this tax collector. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:20.000 I fast twice a week and I give ties of all I get. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:22.000 So here is someone who has faith. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:25.000 Here is someone who is exercising trust. 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:28.000 But he is trusting in the things that he does. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:31.000 He's trusting in the things that he doesn't do. 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:34.000 And he is presenting his righteousness to God. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.000 And he's saying, God, here I am. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:39.000 And God, here is what I've done. 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:43.000 And God, well, just leaves it there, doesn't he? 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:45.000 What is absent from his prayer? 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:48.000 There's no confession, no confession of sin. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:51.000 There's no request. He's not asking for anything. 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:53.000 He's just giving God a bit of information. 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:56.000 If God hadn't noticed the life that he lived, 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:59.000 if God hadn't noticed the things that he hadn't done, 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:03.000 and by contrast, if God would like to see an obvious contrast, 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:06.000 you have the tax collector over here to my right. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:08.000 And if you want to see what unrighteousness looks like, 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:11.000 you can look at him. 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:15.000 But the tax collector standing far off 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:17.000 would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:23.000 but beat his breath saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:27.000 Now, here's somebody with a completely different approach. 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:31.000 He's speaking to God, but he's not speaking about himself. 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:35.000 Only insofar as he's identifying that he is a sinner 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:37.000 and that he needs mercy. 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:39.000 He is offering God nothing, 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:43.000 and he is asking from God everything. 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:47.000 So you have two men, same place, doing the same thing, 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:52.000 but doing that thing prayer in a completely different way. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:54.000 One is offering himself to God, 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:56.000 offering the good things that he's done to God. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:58.000 One is drawing the obvious comparison. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:02.000 God, look at me and God, look at him, and you can see the difference. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:05.000 And the other is unconcerned about whoever else might be there. 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:10.000 He simply says, God, be merciful to me a sinner. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:14.000 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:17.000 rather than the other. 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:19.000 Now, in our English translations, unfortunately, 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:24.000 this word in verse 14 justified doesn't really look like the word 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:27.000 in verse 9 righteous. 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:30.000 But these words are very similar. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:33.000 The same root, the same idea. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:37.000 That to be righteous is to be right in God's sight, 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:43.000 and this word justified is to be declared righteous. 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:45.000 And the contrast is obvious. 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:48.000 Prayer number one, the Pharisee, 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:51.000 declares himself righteous to God. 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:54.000 Prayer number two, the tax collector, 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:58.000 is declared righteous by God. 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:00.000 It's a startling contrast. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:03.000 The good man says, look how good I am. 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:06.000 And the bad man says, look how bad I am. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:09.000 And the bad man, the tax collector, 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:13.000 is the one that God says is righteous. 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:15.000 So you put these two parables together. 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:17.000 You have a parable of faith, 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:21.000 and you have a parable of justification of being made righteous, 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:24.000 being declared righteous in God's sight. 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:27.000 And you bring these two truths together. 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:29.000 Using the language of Martin Luther, 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:32.000 we have the great statement of the Reformation. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:35.000 He said, we are justified by faith alone, 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.000 but not by a faith that is alone. 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:43.000 That justification and faith are inextricably linked. 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:44.000 There must be faith. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:46.000 There must be trust. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:50.000 And when the faith and trust are placing their hope and confidence, 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:55.000 when you are placing your hope and confidence on God and God alone, 00:13:55.000 --> 00:14:02.000 then what God says is that you and I are now righteous in God's sight. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:05.000 So the contrast that we have in the passage 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:07.000 and the contrast that we have in history, 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:10.000 and maybe the contrast that we have here today, 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:14.000 is how do you see yourself in the sight of God? 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:17.000 Is God impressed by what you do? 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:19.000 Is God impressed by what you've done? 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:23.000 Is God interested in the things that you haven't done? 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:26.000 And by contrast, does God look upon you with favor 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:29.000 and look upon others with contempt 00:14:29.000 --> 00:14:31.000 because you've done certain things they haven't 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:34.000 and you haven't done certain things they have? 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:37.000 Or does God look upon you with favor 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:39.000 because you have trusted in him, 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:41.000 you have believed in his son, 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:44.000 and you have received a righteousness 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:50.000 or a justification that is outside of yourself? 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:53.000 Luther used this phrase, alien. 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:55.000 That's not extraterrestrials. 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.000 But he used this phrase that we have an alien righteousness, 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:02.000 a righteousness that does not come from us, 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:05.000 but a righteousness that comes from somewhere else 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:09.000 or rather from someone else. 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:13.000 And the storyteller here, Jesus, 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:17.000 is the source of your righteousness. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:20.000 If you have faith in him, if you trust in Jesus, 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:23.000 then he makes you righteous in God's sight. 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:26.000 He declares you righteous and you are accepted 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:29.000 based upon what Jesus has done, 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:31.000 not based upon what you've done. 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:36.000 Your standing in God's sight is based on him 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:38.000 because Jesus goes on to say in the parable 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:42.000 who everyone who exalts himself will be humbled. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.000 The Pharisee who lifts himself up and says, 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:46.000 God, look how great I am. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:48.000 That Pharisee will be humbled. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:50.000 But everyone who humbles himself will be exalted. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:55.000 The man who says, God, be merciful to me a sinner. 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:58.000 This is the great transformation that takes place 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:02.000 when your faith, when your trust is in God, 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:04.000 when your faith is rooted in Jesus 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:07.000 because the question here is, 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:11.000 is righteousness possible by ourselves? 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:13.000 Can we do? 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:14.000 Can we attempt? 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:16.000 Can we achieve? 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:20.000 Can we succeed to meet the standard that God requires? 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:26.000 Or is God impressed when we are slightly better than someone else, 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:29.000 when we are slightly less flawed than others? 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:33.000 What exactly is God looking for? 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:35.000 Well, quite simply, God is looking for his son. 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:39.000 God is looking for his son, Jesus, in your life. 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:41.000 He's looking for faith in Jesus. 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:44.000 He's looking for a relationship with Jesus 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:49.000 and he's looking for a righteousness that comes from Jesus. 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:52.000 Because if you compare yourself to others, 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:54.000 you will always find someone 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:58.000 that you can make a favorable comparison towards. 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:01.000 However, when you compare yourself with Jesus, 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:06.000 you will find that that comparison does not leave you with much to say. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:09.000 You cannot compare yourself with him 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:11.000 and find that you are acceptable. 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:14.000 You cannot compare what you have done with what he has done. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:17.000 You cannot compare what you haven't done with what he hasn't done 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:20.000 because his is a life that's perfect. 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:22.000 His is a life that is pure. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:24.000 His is a life that is sacrificial. 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:27.000 And that he does all that is required 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:30.000 and he willingly and gladly and deliberately lives, 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.000 dies and rises again so that you and I can have 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:38.000 a relationship with God that is dependent upon him, 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:42.000 not dependent upon ourselves. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:48.000 Now, I find it interesting that as we read through Luke chapter 18, 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:52.000 that not only does Jesus give us two stories 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:54.000 that illustrate these two truths, 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:59.000 we meet two people who fit these categories perfectly. 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:01.000 Because if you notice just a few verses down, 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:04.000 we're introduced to a rich ruler. 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:07.000 And we find this man in three gospel accounts 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:10.000 and what we find out about this man is he's rich, 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:13.000 he's a ruler, and he's young. 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:16.000 So he has youth and he has power and he has money. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:19.000 But more than that, we have an indication here 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:23.000 that here's a man who does good things. 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:25.000 We're told the ruler asked him, 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:28.000 good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:29.000 Notice the I do. 00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:34.000 Jesus, you tell me what I need to do and I will do it. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:37.000 And just to let Jesus know what he's like, 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:39.000 when Jesus tells him the commands, 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:43.000 the man replies, all these I have kept from my youth. 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:45.000 And when Jesus heard this, he said to him, 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:48.000 one thing you lack, sell all that you have 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:51.000 and distribute to the poor and you will have treasure 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:53.000 in heaven then come follow me. 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:55.000 But when he heard these things, 00:18:55.000 --> 00:19:00.000 he became very sad for he was extremely rich. 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:02.000 So here's a man who comes to Jesus 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:06.000 and here's a man who leaves Jesus unchanged. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:08.000 Apart from his emotional situation, 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:11.000 he comes with expectation, he leaves with sadness, 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:15.000 but there is no transformation in this man's life. 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:17.000 He comes to Jesus with who he is 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:19.000 and he comes to Jesus with what he has done 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:23.000 and he says, Jesus, what more do I need to do? 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:25.000 And when Jesus says, well, if you sell everything you have, 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:28.000 give to the poor, then you can come follow me. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:29.000 Well, the man had great wealth. 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:33.000 The man was unwilling to respond to this challenge 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:36.000 and the man went away sad. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:38.000 And at the very end of the chapter, 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:42.000 we're introduced to a very different character again. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:45.000 Remember the story that Jesus told 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:47.000 of the Pharisee, the religious man, 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:52.000 and the tax collector, the sinner who cries out for mercy, 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:56.000 we now read in verse 35 in chapter 18, 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:58.000 as Jesus drew near to Jericho, 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:02.000 a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:05.000 This man has nothing to offer. 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:07.000 Quite the opposite, this man needs everything, 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:09.000 everything that he requires, 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:11.000 he must get from someone else, 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:13.000 and on hearing the crowd going by, 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:15.000 he inquired what this meant. 00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:18.000 They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by, 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:21.000 and he cried out, Jesus, son of David, 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:24.000 have mercy on me. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:26.000 Have we heard those words before? 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:29.000 That was the prayer of the tax collector. 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:33.000 That was the prayer the tax collector offered in the temple, 00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:37.000 have mercy on me, a sinner. 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:41.000 This man cries out to Jesus, have mercy on me, 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:44.000 Jesus, son of David, those who were in front, 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:46.000 rebuked him and telling him to be silent. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:48.000 He cried out all the more, son of David, 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:51.000 have mercy on me, Jesus stopped, 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:53.000 commanded him to be brought to him, 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:55.000 and when he came near, he asked him, 00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:58.000 what do you want me to do for you? 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:01.000 He said, Lord, let me recover my sight. 00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:03.000 And Jesus said to him, 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:08.000 recover your sight, your faith has made you well. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:11.000 Not only do we see a demonstration of the power of Jesus, 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:15.000 not only do we see a demonstration of the compassion of Jesus, 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:20.000 but we see Jesus identifying faith in this man. 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.000 There's obviously one thing that the rich young ruler lacked. 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:26.000 He didn't lack religion. 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:28.000 He didn't lack sincerity. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:32.000 He didn't lack interest, but he obviously lacked faith. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:36.000 But what the rich young man lacked with all that he had, 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:40.000 this man who has nothing has it. 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:42.000 He has faith. 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:44.000 He cries out to Jesus for help. 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:47.000 And he is not offering anything to Jesus, 00:21:47.000 --> 00:21:52.000 but he is asking everything from Jesus. 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:54.000 That is the contrast here. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:58.000 Is your relationship with God based on what you have done, 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:02.000 what you are doing, or what you will do in the future? 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:04.000 Because in that situation, in the parable, 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:06.000 you're like the Pharisee, 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:08.000 or in these two stories of encounters with Jesus, 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:10.000 you're like the rich young ruler, 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:12.000 or on the other hand, 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:16.000 are you recognizing that you have nothing that you can give to Jesus, 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:18.000 nothing that you can present to God, 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:21.000 that if you are going to be made right in God's sight, 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:23.000 he needs to do it. 00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:25.000 And he needs to do all of it. 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:27.000 That you're not offering something to him. 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:29.000 You're not offering to work with him. 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:31.000 You're not offering a partnership. 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:33.000 You're saying, God, I need you. 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:35.000 I need your mercy. 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:37.000 I need your grace. 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.000 And we're told in verse 43, 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:42.000 immediately he recovered his sight, followed him, 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:44.000 glorifying God, 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:48.000 and all the people when they saw it gave praise to God. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:51.000 So what is God looking for tonight? 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:53.000 What is Jesus looking for? 00:22:53.000 --> 00:22:57.000 Is he looking for songs that are well sung, 00:22:57.000 --> 00:22:59.000 perfect pitch and harmony? 00:22:59.000 --> 00:23:03.000 Is he looking for you and I to look the part, 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:06.000 the right clothes, the right actions, the right behaviors? 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:09.000 What exactly is Jesus looking for tonight? 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:12.000 Well, he's looking for boys, girls, men, women. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:14.000 He's looking for you and for me. 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:17.000 And he wants to see faith in our hearts. 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:20.000 He wants to see a relationship with him. 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:23.000 He wants to see that we have nothing that we can offer, 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:28.000 and all that we are and all that we have must come from God. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:31.000 And when we have that recognition, 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:33.000 when we have that realization, 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:35.000 when we have that kind of faith, 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:38.000 when we have the realization that we are then justified 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:41.000 by faith alone in Christ alone, 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:43.000 our lives are never the same again. 00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:47.000 Because the great criticism is that if you emphasize 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:50.000 faith alone, then people will just believe. 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:53.000 And they'll just live the same way they want to live. 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:55.000 Well, that's never the case. 00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:57.000 Let me give you a great example. 00:23:57.000 --> 00:24:01.000 Have you ever been to our church, the free church down in London? 00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:03.000 It's in the city of London, 00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:08.440 the Museum of London and very close to this place called Aldersgate Street. 00:24:08.440 --> 00:24:11.160 Our church is called St. Balthoff's without Aldersgate, but 00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:13.119 it's right in the Aldersgate region. 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:16.359 It's very close to a meeting place and 00:24:16.359 --> 00:24:21.319 200 years after Martin Luther was converted. 00:24:21.319 --> 00:24:27.680 Another young man was very unwillingly taken to a prayer meeting. 00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:30.240 He recorded this in his diary. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:35.359 In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:39.839 where one was reading Luther's preface to the epistle to the Romans. 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:43.559 Remember Corey was speaking about Romans 1 verses 16 to 17? 00:24:43.559 --> 00:24:46.319 Well, Luther wrote a commentary on Romans and 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:49.319 then wrote an introduction to that commentary. 00:24:49.319 --> 00:24:55.240 And this gathering, the preface to that commentary was being read. 00:24:55.240 --> 00:24:57.920 And we're told that this young man said about a quarter before nine, 00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:02.960 while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:07.800 Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. 00:25:07.800 --> 00:25:13.000 There's a monument that captures this moment in history in Aldersgate Street. 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:19.120 And it's a metal monument in the shape of a flame with these very words written on it. 00:25:19.120 --> 00:25:23.920 I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation. 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:27.640 And an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, 00:25:27.640 --> 00:25:31.320 even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:35.520 This young man was named John Wesley. 00:25:35.520 --> 00:25:40.480 And Wesley went on from there to preach more than 40,000 times. 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:44.680 He covered more than 250,000 miles on horseback. 00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:50.240 And he continually preached this same message that you must be born again. 00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:53.480 That we must have faith in Jesus and Jesus alone. 00:25:53.480 --> 00:25:59.319 And his warmed heart transformed his life from being cold and 00:25:59.319 --> 00:26:03.400 heavy to being warm and excited by the gospel. 00:26:05.319 --> 00:26:12.360 When we look at the church, there are some truths that we can differ over. 00:26:12.360 --> 00:26:17.240 There are some issues that we can disagree about and honestly disagree. 00:26:17.240 --> 00:26:21.960 But this truth that we are justified by faith alone in Jesus is what was 00:26:21.960 --> 00:26:27.400 described as an article of the standing or falling of the church. 00:26:27.400 --> 00:26:31.759 If this article stands, Martin Luther said, the church stands. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:34.519 If it falls, the church falls. 00:26:34.519 --> 00:26:38.840 So for tonight, for example, in this room, there may be different ideas 00:26:38.840 --> 00:26:41.319 about how a church should be governed. 00:26:41.319 --> 00:26:45.400 There might be different ideas about how the sacraments of the church should be 00:26:45.400 --> 00:26:46.960 administered. 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:48.360 There may be different ideas or 00:26:48.359 --> 00:26:52.679 misunderstandings about how the Lord Jesus, what the events that will 00:26:52.679 --> 00:26:55.879 accompany the return of the Lord Jesus will look like. 00:26:55.879 --> 00:26:57.159 And we can honestly disagree. 00:26:57.159 --> 00:26:59.559 We can agree to disagree. 00:26:59.559 --> 00:27:03.079 But this is a matter that we cannot disagree about. 00:27:03.079 --> 00:27:07.839 Because if you take this out of the equation, whatever you're left with is not 00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:11.039 Christianity, is not the gospel. 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:12.919 And Martin Luther was willing to live and 00:27:12.919 --> 00:27:15.519 willing to die to defend this truth. 00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:19.200 And John Wesley was willing to travel here, there, and everywhere to preach 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:22.000 this truth because it was that important. 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:25.079 Let me give you an example. 00:27:25.079 --> 00:27:29.079 If you were to say to me, Bob, I'd like to take you out for a meal. 00:27:29.079 --> 00:27:30.799 What kind of food would you like? 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:32.039 Well, I would say it's quite an easy answer. 00:27:32.039 --> 00:27:34.799 For me, I would say I'd love a steak dinner. 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:36.079 Take me to a steakhouse. 00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:37.119 I would be delighted. 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:38.079 My birth is a few days. 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:42.799 So if you want to take me out, that's the kind of food I would like. 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:45.440 Now, if I went to this steakhouse, the waiter comes, takes my order. 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:46.400 I would say I'd like a steak. 00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:48.160 I'll tell him how I'd like it cooked. 00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:49.279 And I'd like it with onion rings. 00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:50.480 I'd like it with french fries. 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:52.840 I'd like it with mushrooms. 00:27:52.840 --> 00:27:55.880 If the waiter comes back and says, sir, I'm afraid we don't have mushrooms. 00:27:55.880 --> 00:27:57.240 Said, no matter. 00:27:57.240 --> 00:27:58.360 I'll have something else. 00:27:58.360 --> 00:27:59.680 That's okay. 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:03.200 But if the waiter comes back and says, sir, I'm afraid we don't have any steak. 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:05.559 I would say, well, what are we doing here? 00:28:05.559 --> 00:28:07.360 This is a steak restaurant. 00:28:07.360 --> 00:28:09.120 This is what you're about. 00:28:09.120 --> 00:28:12.279 How can you call yourself a steakhouse and not serve steak? 00:28:12.279 --> 00:28:14.240 That's why I'm here. 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:21.240 So we can't call ourselves a church of Jesus Christ if we don't clearly understand what 00:28:21.240 --> 00:28:27.839 faith is, what justification is, and this relationship between faith and justification 00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:32.039 because this is the foundation stone upon which we stand. 00:28:32.039 --> 00:28:34.559 This is our relationship with God. 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:36.000 This is a matter of life and death. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:39.079 This is a matter of eternal life and eternal death. 00:28:39.079 --> 00:28:43.640 And Martin Luther rediscovered this great truth. 00:28:43.640 --> 00:28:48.160 Now we're told that Wesley was listening to the preface to the epistle to the Romans. 00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:52.240 I'm just going to give you a few phrases from that preface. 00:28:52.240 --> 00:28:57.360 We're not sure which part of the preface caused this warming of his heart, but listen 00:28:57.360 --> 00:28:59.680 to what Luther is saying. 00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:07.360 Faith is a work of God in us which changes us and brings us to birth anew from God. 00:29:07.360 --> 00:29:11.600 It kills the old Adam, makes us completely different people in heart, mind, senses, 00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:16.480 and our all our powers, and brings the Holy Spirit with it. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:21.839 What a living, creative, active, and powerful thing faith is. 00:29:21.839 --> 00:29:25.679 It is impossible that faith ever stopped doing good. 00:29:25.679 --> 00:29:30.399 Faith doesn't ask whether good works are to be done, but before it is asked it has done 00:29:30.399 --> 00:29:31.399 them. 00:29:31.399 --> 00:29:34.079 It is always active. 00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:40.439 Faith is an unshakable confidence in God's grace. 00:29:40.440 --> 00:29:45.960 For this young man who was dejected and despondent unwillingly goes to this prayer meeting, hears 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:50.559 these words, his heart was changed, his life was transformed, he had a living faith and 00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:55.759 a living God through a living Savior Jesus, and tonight you are presented with that same 00:29:55.759 --> 00:29:58.559 message, with that same gospel. 00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:04.480 Is this the foundation upon which you stand before God, what Jesus has done? 00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:10.480 Or do you attempt to persuade God that you have done enough, or tried enough, or attempted 00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:12.640 enough, or achieved enough? 00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:15.319 That is the contrast here tonight. 00:30:15.319 --> 00:30:21.640 The Pharisee went to the temple to pray, and he left the same way he arrived. 00:30:21.640 --> 00:30:29.480 It's possible for you to be here tonight and to come and to go unchanged, but it's possible 00:30:29.480 --> 00:30:35.960 that you come here tonight, unconvinced, unconverted, unpersuaded, but it's possible tonight for 00:30:35.960 --> 00:30:43.279 you to come to a living faith in a living God through faith in his living Son, Jesus. 00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:49.480 That is what is being presented to you in story, in action, in real life. 00:30:49.480 --> 00:30:54.319 Jesus speaks with the authority of God because he is God. 00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:56.480 What he offers, he provides. 00:30:56.480 --> 00:31:00.920 What he invites or commands you to do, he expects you to respond. 00:31:00.920 --> 00:31:02.839 He's looking for faith. 00:31:02.839 --> 00:31:04.120 Does he see it? 00:31:04.120 --> 00:31:06.400 He is willing to justify. 00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:12.960 Will you accept his work on your behalf, or will you continue to persuade God that somehow 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:16.759 your work on his behalf is sufficient? 00:31:16.759 --> 00:31:22.920 We are justified by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. 00:31:22.920 --> 00:31:27.519 So if you have a testimony of an event in your life where you came to know God, but 00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:32.480 your life is still the same, still the same attitude, still the same action, still the 00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:39.320 same heart, still the same mind, you have to ask yourself whether there has been a transformation 00:31:39.320 --> 00:31:47.759 of grace, because this relationship called faith and this reality called justification 00:31:47.759 --> 00:31:57.440 are always accompanied by another, our regeneration, new heart, new life transformed. 00:31:57.440 --> 00:32:01.839 Ask the blind man who delighted in this encounter. 00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:07.400 He met the risen, he met the living Lord Jesus Christ, he received his sight and he followed 00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:09.799 him glorifying God. 00:32:09.799 --> 00:32:11.680 How do you know that you have this life? 00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:14.099 How do you know that you have this relationship? 00:32:14.099 --> 00:32:18.359 Your heart and your life are never the same again. 00:32:18.359 --> 00:32:27.159 Active living faith in an active and living God produces active and living Christians. 00:32:27.159 --> 00:32:30.359 Jesus is looking for faith and he gives that gift. 00:32:30.359 --> 00:32:36.719 Jesus is looking to justify and he will justify not the righteous, they do not need justification, 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:45.279 but tonight Jesus Christ can justify the ungodly through faith and faith alone in Christ and 00:32:45.279 --> 00:32:46.279 in Christ alone. 00:32:46.279 --> 00:32:48.279 Let us pray. 00:32:48.279 --> 00:32:53.680 Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for the stories that Jesus told, 00:32:53.680 --> 00:33:00.279 the way in which we can understand these deep heavenly truths through these simple stories. 00:33:00.279 --> 00:33:06.120 We thank you for the people that Jesus met, real people, real life, and we ask Lord that 00:33:06.119 --> 00:33:11.159 he would continue to meet real people here tonight, that we would come to him openly 00:33:11.159 --> 00:33:16.000 and honestly, that we would not seek to persuade him that we are good enough, but rather we 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:21.719 would trust him that Jesus is good enough and that in trusting Jesus we would have life 00:33:21.719 --> 00:33:23.559 and life abundant. 00:33:23.559 --> 00:33:28.799 So Lord, it's our prayer that you would hear us as we pray, not because of our asking, 00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:34.479 not because even of our persistence, but that we come to you in faith in your son Jesus, 00:33:34.480 --> 00:33:41.000 we come to you on his behalf, we come to you in his name, we plead his merits, and we ask, 00:33:41.000 --> 00:33:45.599 oh Lord, that as you would hear him, that you would hear us, as you would respond to 00:33:45.599 --> 00:33:51.839 him, that you would respond to us, that we have this righteousness that comes from him 00:33:51.839 --> 00:33:57.279 and this new standing that comes from him and this new life that comes from him. 00:33:57.279 --> 00:34:03.000 So we pray Lord, and we do not give up, we have faith and we have trust and we have hope, 00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:06.200 and that faith, trust and hope is rooted in Jesus. 00:34:06.200 --> 00:34:12.280 So I pray for each of us here that we could testify, that we indeed trust, that we indeed 00:34:12.280 --> 00:34:18.679 believe, and that we in turn have been made declared righteous in God's sight, we have 00:34:18.679 --> 00:34:24.320 been given new hearts and new lives, and the rest of our lives will be lives of glory, 00:34:24.320 --> 00:34:30.280 of worship, of celebration, recognizing your greatness, your goodness, your love, your mercy 00:34:30.280 --> 00:34:31.280 through Jesus. 00:34:31.280 --> 00:34:33.280 Amen.