Sunday
Morning Bible Study
November
13, 2016
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Regular: 2900
words Communion: 2500 words Video=75wpm
Luke was a doctor and a traveling
companion of the apostle Paul.
He wrote this book while Paul was
in prison.
In writing this book about Jesus,
Luke made use of other older documents like the Gospel of Mark, as well as
extensive eyewitness accounts.
Jesus’ ministry is well under way, and the people have been amazed not just
at the things He’s been teaching, but the things He’s been doing.
(Luke 18:9–14 NKJV) —9 Also He
spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous,
and despised others: 10 “Two men
went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank
You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this tax collector. 12 I fast
twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise
his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me
a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man
went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who
exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Last week we looked at a parable
designed to teach men that they needed to be always praying. Now Jesus will talk about how to pray,
the attitude we ought to have while in prayer.
18:9-14 The Pharisee and the Sinner
:9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they
were righteous, and despised others:
:9 He spoke this parable
Again, a parable is a story that is
meant to teach a lesson.
When you look at a parable, look
for the bigger picture, the overall lesson.
Be careful not to get caught up
looking for symbolism in each and every detail.
:9 who trusted in themselves
which trusted – peitho
– be persuaded; to trust, have confidence
Jesus is speaking to people who had
confidence that they were “righteous” before God.
They are persuaded that they are
“good enough”.
:9 and despised others
despised – exoutheneo – to
make of no account, despise utterly
It’s to consider someone else a “nobody”.
They are convinced that their little group is the only group that is right,
and everyone else on the planet is wrong.
In contemplating where Jesus is going with this story, I couldn’t help but
think of what we’ve seen in our nation over the last few months when it comes
to politics.
I think that some of us have a sense of “self-righteousness” when it comes
to our political views.
Some of us can tend to think that anyone that disagrees with our opinions
must be an idiot. We learn to “despise”
those who disagree with us.
Because we may believe strongly in
some of the things that our political party supports, we think that everyone in
the other party is an idiot.
Suppose you are a person who is
concerned about racial equality in America.
What party would
you probably belong to? Democrat.
Do you really
believe that everyone who is Republican is a racist?
Suppose you are a person who is
concerned that the poor, that the little guy is not ignored in our country?
What party would
you probably belong to? Democrat.
Do you really
believe that a Republican never cares about the poor?
Suppose you are a person who
believes it’s important that we protect the rights of unborn children, that
they have a right to live.
What party would
you probably belong to? Republican.
Do you really
believe that everyone in the Democratic party believes in the killing of unborn
children?
Suppose you are a person who
believes it’s important that we hold to God’s definition of marriage, being
between one man and one woman.
What party would
you probably belong to? Republican.
Do you believe
that everyone in the Democratic party doesn’t care what God thinks about
marriage?
My point is not to argue politics.
My point is that we too can fall
into the trap of “despising” people a little too quickly.
:9 trusted in themselves that they were righteous
righteous – dikaios
– righteous, observing divine laws; in a wide sense, upright, righteous,
virtuous, keeping the commands of God; of those who seem to themselves to be
righteous, who pride themselves to be righteous, who pride themselves in their
virtues, whether real or imagined
others – loipoy
– remaining, the rest; the rest of any number or class under consideration;
with a certain distinction and contrast, the rest, who are not of a specific
class or number; the rest of the things that remain
They despise all the rest of the
world. Only their little group is
special.
Lesson
Not Good Enough
When it comes to meeting God’s standards for righteousness, no single human
being is good enough.
(Isaiah 64:6 NKJV) But we are
all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade
as a leaf, And our
iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.
(Romans 3:23 NKJV) for all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
When it comes to being a human and being able to stand as “righteous” in
the presence of God, no human can do it.
When Isaiah had a vision and found himself before God, he said,
(Isaiah 6:5 NKJV) “Woe is
me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell
in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”
The consequences of my sin is separation from God.
(Romans 6:23 NKJV) For the
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
As horrible as our sin is, there is an answer to our sin.
Jesus is God’s gift to us.
When Jesus died on the cross, He was acting as a sacrifice
to pay for our sins.
:10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a
tax collector.
went up – anabaino
– ascend; to go up; to rise, mount, be borne up, spring up. The temple was on a hill, you “went up” to
it.
the temple – hieron
– a sacred place, temple; used of the temple at Jerusalem
to pray – proseuchomai
– to offer prayers, to pray
:10 a Pharisee
In Jesus’ day, there were several “sects” or “denominations” within
Judaism.
The Pharisees were the strictest sect, living a rigid life composed of
fastings, prayers, and works of charity.
They believed in the miraculous, they believed in angels, they believed in
life after death, and they believed the entire Old Testament was the Word of
God.
Nobody worked harder at being “righteous” than a Pharisee did.
Pharisaios – A sect
that seems to have started after the Jewish exile. In addition to OT books the
Pharisees recognised in oral tradition a standard of belief and life. They
sought for distinction and praise by outward observance of external rites and
by outward forms of piety, and such as ceremonial washings, fastings, prayers,
and alms giving; and, comparatively negligent of genuine piety, they prided
themselves on their fancied good works. They held strenuously to a belief in
the existence of good and evil angels, and to the expectation of a Messiah; and
they cherished the hope that the dead, after a preliminary experience either of
reward or of penalty in Hades, would be recalled to life by him, and be
requited each according to his individual deeds. In opposition to the usurped
dominion of the Herods and the rule of the Romans, they stoutly upheld the
theocracy and their country’s cause, and possessed great influence with the
common people. According to Josephus they numbered more than 6000. They were
bitter enemies of Jesus and his cause; and were in turn severely rebuked by him
for their avarice, ambition, hollow reliance on outward works, and affection of
piety in order to gain popularity.
:10 a tax collector
The tax collectors were Jewish men employed by the Romans to collect taxes
from the Jews for Rome.
They were allowed by Rome not only
to collect the minimum tax from each person, but they were given permission to
collect as much as they could from each person.
Most publicans collected more than the minimum and had become quite
wealthy.
They were hated by the normal Jews because they were considered traitors. To the normal Jew, they were the worst of
all sinners.
They had sold their countrymen out to the Evil Emperor, the “dark side”.
– telones – a renter or farmer of taxes; a tax gatherer, collector of
taxes or tolls, one employed by a publican or farmer general in the collection
of taxes. The tax collectors were as a class, detested not only by the Jews,
but by other nations also, both on account of their employment and of the
harshness, greed, and deception, with which they did their job.
:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that
I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax
collector.
:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed
stood – histemi – to cause or
make to stand, to place, put, set; to stand.
Aorist participle.
The problem isn’t in standing.
Standing is an acceptable position for prayer. The publican will also be standing.
But while the publican is standing in the back so he won’t draw attention
to himself, the Pharisee is apparently standing in a place so others can see
him.
Jesus said,
(Matthew 6:5 NKJV) “And when
you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing
in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by
men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
:11 and prayed thus with himself
prayed – proseuchomai
– to offer prayers, to pray
with – pros
– to, towards, with
I like the NAS translation here:
(Luke 18:11 NASB95)
“The
Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself…
When my heart is filled with pride, my prayers don’t get very far. I too am really just talking to myself
instead of talking with God.
In first century Judaism, people offered prayers to God for one of three
things:
Confession of sin
Thanks for some blessing they’ve received
Petitions for self or for others.
But if you pay attention, this Pharisee’s prayer doesn’t fit any of those
descriptions of prayer.
He’s just trying to make himself look better.
He’s praying to himself.
Lesson
Who are you talking to?
Suppose we were going to carry on a
conversation, but whenever I talked to you, I held up a mirror to myself and
talked to my own reflection in the mirror.
Would you feel like we were having a “meaningful conversation”?
I think that sometimes we have to
purposely take down the mirror and remind ourselves who we are talking to.
People in the Scripture often began
their prayers in a way to remind themselves just WHO they were talking to.
When Jehoshaphat was faced with an
overwhelming enemy, he gathered the people and prayed. Notice how he started his prayer:
(2 Chronicles 20:5–7 NKJV) —5 Then
Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, 6 and said: “O Lord
God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not
rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not
power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? 7 Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this
land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your
friend forever?
When the early church began to
suffer persecution, they got together and prayed, notice how their prayer
starts:
(Acts 4:24 NKJV) So when they heard
that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are
God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,
True prayer starts with a sense of
God’s presence.
I thank – eucharisteo
– to be grateful, feel thankful; give thanks
as – hosper
– just as, even as
other – loipoy
– remaining, the rest; the rest of any number or class under consideration;
with a certain distinction and contrast, the rest, who are not of a specific
class or number; the rest of the things that remain
Not just any other, but all
others.
extortioners – harpax
– rapacious, ravenous; a extortioner, a robber
unjust – adikos
– descriptive of one who violates or has violated justice; unjust;
unrighteous, sinful; of one who deals fraudulently with others, deceitful
adulterers – moichos
– an adulterer; metaph. one who is faithless toward God, ungodly
this
publican – telones
– a renter or farmer of taxes; a tax gatherer, collector of taxes or tolls,
one employed by a publican or farmer general in the collection of taxes. The
tax collectors were as a class, detested not only by the Jews, but by other
nations also, both on account of their employment and of the harshness, greed,
and deception, with which they did their job.
:11 I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust…
Lesson
Dangerous Comparisons
When we compare ourselves with others we are likely to draw the wrong
conclusions.
Some people tend to compare themselves with others they think are better
than they are.
Their conclusion is that they are worthless and not able to be used by God.
Sometimes as a pastor, I compare myself to other pastors who have larger
churches, or more wide-ranging ministries, or who speak at large conferences,
or a myriad of ways that pastors compare themselves with each other.
The result is that I usually get quite depressed and feel
like a failure.
Some people will compare themselves with others that they think are worse
than they are.
Look at the list of people the Pharisee compares himself to.
He picks the bottom of the barrel.
“At least I’m not as bad as that guy!”
There are times as a pastor I will make myself feel better by comparing
myself to a pastor of a smaller church, or a pastor who has fallen in sin, or a
pastor who obviously doesn’t speak as well as I do or who doesn’t do Powerpoint
as awesomely as I do.
That will make me feel good, for awhile.
Illustration
David N. Dinkins, then the mayor of New York , was riding through the city
in his limousine with his wife, Joyce.
Looking out the window, they recognized a man doing manual labor on the
roadside as “John,” a former suitor of Mrs Dinkins’. Seeing him, the mayor smiled a bit smugly at
his wife.
“You must be so glad,” he said, “to be married to the powerful mayor in the
limo rather than to poor John shoveling alongside the road.”
His wife smiled. “If I’d married
John, he’d be with me in the mayor’s limo.”
-- Donna Britt, Pseudo-Equality, Santa Barbara News
Press, April, 1994, p. A13.
In Isaiah’s day, there were a group
of people who though they were better than others.
To make it worse, they were people
who might have appeared religious, but who didn’t actually know God.
(Isaiah 65:5 NKJV) Who say,
‘Keep to yourself, Do not
come near me, For I am holier than
you!’ These are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day.
The Old King James
has them saying, “I am holier than thou”
These are people
who make God sick, like smoke in His face.
Jesus told a parable about a man who entrusted his money to his servants
while he took a business trip. (Mat. 25:14-23)
(Matthew 25:14–23 NKJV) —14 “For the
kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who
called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another
one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a
journey. 16 Then he who had
received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five
talents. 17 And likewise he who had
received two gained two more also. 18 But he who
had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled
accounts with them. 20 “So he who
had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord,
you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides
them.’ 21 His lord said to him,
‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few
things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your
lord.’ 22 He also who had
received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents;
look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful
servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over
many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
He gave one servant five bags of money, another two, and another one.
When the man returned, he rewarded each man based on what they had done
with the bags of money he had been entrusted with.
The servants weren’t judged by comparing what the other ones had done, but
judged based on what they had done with what they had been given.
If we’re going to judge ourselves correctly, we need to look at what we’ve
done with what we’ve been given, not what someone else has been given.
Paul wrote,
(1 Corinthians 4:3–5 NLT) —3 As for me,
it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human
authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. 4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is
the Lord himself who will examine me and decide. 5 So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the
Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal
our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.
In the end, it’s
what God thinks of us that really counts.
:12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’
:12 I fast twice a week
I fast – nesteuo
– to abstain as a religious exercise from food and drink: either entirely,
if the fast lasted but a single day, or from customary and choice nourishment,
if it continued several days
a week – sabbaton – the
seventh day of each week which was a sacred festival on which the Israelites
were required to abstain from all work; seven days, a week
The Law of Moses required Jews to fast once each year at Yom Kippur, the
Day of Atonement (Lev. 16).
The Pharisees took it well beyond that.
They fasted twice every week.
They fasted on Mondays and
Thursdays, which were the market days.
:12 I give tithes of all that I possess
I give tithes – apodekatoo
– to give, pay a tithe of anything
I possess – ktaomai
– to acquire, get, or procure a thing for one’s self, to possess
They gave God 1/10 of everything they owned.
(Matthew 23:23
NKJV) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe
of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters
of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without
leaving the others undone.
They would go through their spice garden and carefully count each leaf and
be sure to give God one tenth.
Jesus’ rebuke in Mat. 23 was not for tithing, but for skipping things that
were more important.
I hope you don’t feel “righteous” because of your giving to the church.
Giving ought to be done out of gratitude to God, not because we are trying
to earn brownie points with Him.
Lesson
Motives
Paul wrote,
(1 Corinthians
13:1–3 NKJV) —1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not
love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I
have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all
knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but
have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and
though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
If I don’t do the things I do out of love for God, I’m
wasting my time.
Frankly, God isn’t really all that impressed at the things
I do.
Does God really need your tithe when He owns the cattle on
a thousand hills? (Ps. 50:10)
(Psalm 50:10 NKJV) For
every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills.
What counts to God is the motive for why I do what I do.
Illustration
Years ago I was in
my office working on some music.
One of my sons
came in to sing some of the songs I was playing with me. Then he wanted to get up on my lap and play
the only song he knew how to play on the piano.
Was I impressed,
thinking he was the world’s greatest ten-year-old piano player? No. I
was just blessed because it was my son trying to play the piano.
Paul was writing to the Corinthians and telling them about the amazing
Macedonians and the way they had learned to give.
(2 Corinthians 8:5
NKJV) And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves
to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.
Keep in mind, the Macedonian church was a poor
church. It was the Corinthians that were
well off financially.
It wasn’t the size of the Macedonian gift that Paul (and
God) was impressed with, but the heart behind it.
The beauty wasn’t in the child banging on the keys, but the cuteness of her
playing for daddy. It’s what dad added
that made it beautiful.
Are fasting and giving bad things?
No. They have great benefit to us
as we learn to do them.
What’s most important is our motive for doing it.
:13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his
eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’
:13 would not so much as raise his
eyes to heaven
He was not willing, he had no
desire to even raise his eyes toward heaven when he prayed.
afar off – makrothen
– from afar, afar
standing – histemi
– to cause or make to stand, to place, put, set; to stand. Perfect participle.
would – thelo
– to will, have in mind, intend; to be resolved or determined, to purpose;
to desire, to wish; to love; to like to do a thing, be fond of doing; to take
delight in, have pleasure
He didn’t even have a desire to
lift up his eyes
lift up – epairo
– to lift up, raise up, raise on high; metaph. to be lifted up with pride,
to exalt one’s self
beat – tupto
– to strike, beat, smite; of mourners, to smite their breast
breast – stethos
– the breast
:13 God, be merciful to me a sinner!
a
sinner – hamartolos
– devoted to sin, a sinner; not free from sin; pre-eminently sinful,
especially wicked
There is a “definite article” with
this word. It shouldn’t be translated “a
sinner”, but “THE sinner”
be merciful – hilaskomai –
to appease; to be propitious, be gracious, be merciful
It’s a word that has built into it the idea of sacrifice, of blood being
spilt to pay for sins, or “propitiation”.
A related word is the one used to describe the lid of the Ark of the
Covenant, which was called the “mercy seat”, or “propitiatory”.
(Hebrews 9:5 NKJV) …above it
were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat…
mercy seat – hilasterion
– a means of appeasing or expiating, a propitiation; used of the cover of
the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies
Once a year the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies in the
Tabernacle and sprinkle blood on top of the “mercy seat” asking for God’s mercy
for Israel’s sins.
Another related word is used to describe what Jesus has done for us:
(1 John 4:10 NKJV) In this is
love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be
the propitiation for our sins.
John tells us:
(1 John 2:1–2 NKJV) —1 My little
children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone
sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours
only but also for the whole world.
propitiation – hilasmos
– an appeasing, propitiating
Lesson
The Mercy Place
There is a place of mercy and forgiveness for the sinner.
It’s through the blood of Jesus that we are forgiven. It’s not by our own good deeds that we are
forgiven, but through the work that Jesus did for us on the cross.
(Romans 3:23–25
NLT) —23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious
standard. 24 Yet God
freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through
Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God
presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when
they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood…
We need to be careful when we are overwhelmed with condemnation that we
don’t fall into the trap of thinking that it’s up to us to get out of the
mess. Yes, we need to repent and turn
from our sins, but our forgiveness isn’t based upon what we do. It’s based on putting our faith in what Jesus
did.
Mercy is found in Jesus.
(Hebrews 4:15–16 NKJV) —15 For we do
not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in
all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who
humbles himself will be exalted.”
In the end, it wasn’t the Pharisee who was right with God, but the humble
tax collector.
went down – katabaino
– to go down, come down, descend; as from the temple at Jerusalem, from the
city of Jerusalem. You go “up” to go to
the temple, you “go down” to go home.
justified – dikaioo
– to render righteous or such he ought to be; to show, exhibit, evince, one
to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered; to declare,
pronounce, one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be. Perfect passive participle.
who exalts – hupsoo
– to lift up on high, to exalt; metaph. to raise to the very summit of
opulence and prosperity; to exalt, to raise to dignity, honour and happiness
will be humbled – tapeinoo
– to make low, bring low; to level, reduce to a plain; metaph. to bring
into a humble condition, reduce to meaner circumstances; of one’s soul bring
down one’s pride
humbles – tapeinoo
– to make low, bring low; to level, reduce to a plain; metaph. to bring
into a humble condition, reduce to meaner circumstances; of one’s soul bring
down one’s pride
will be exalted – hupsoo
– to lift up on high, to exalt; metaph. to raise to the very summit of
opulence and prosperity; to exalt, to raise to dignity, honour and happiness
:14 everyone who exalts himself will be humbled
Lesson
Pride’s Danger
It’s a dangerous thing to be proud.
The person who is proud thinks they
have it all together and they don’t need to learn or grow anymore.
Solomon wrote,
(Proverbs 16:18
NKJV) Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
When you walk in pride, you’re going to eventually fall on
your face.
This has been one of my concerns about Mr. Trump – what has seemed to be an
abundance of pride. Pray for Mr. Trump
in this.
Nebuchadnezzar was a proud
man. He had reason to be proud – he had
conquered the world and built the most awesome city every built, including a
magnificent tower.
Yet God warned Nebuchadnezzar that
if he didn’t humble himself, he would one day be humbled by God.
The day came when
Nebuchadnezzar was out walking in his royal palace admiring all that he had
done,
(Daniel 4:30 NKJV) The
king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal
dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?”
It was at that
moment that God struck him, and for a period of time he went crazy, losing his
mind, acting like a cow, and eating grass out in the field until the day that
he finally looked to up God and acknowledged that God was greater than he
was. Then his sanity returned.
When you are talented in an area, it’s not wrong to acknowledge your
talent, but to do it in a way that acknowledges that God is the one who gave
you your abilities. But sometimes you’re
not actually all that talented…
Illustration
A young woman went to her pastor and said, “Pastor, I have
a terrible sin, and I want your help. I come to church on Sunday and can’t help
thinking I’m the prettiest girl in the congregation. I know I ought not think
that, but I can’t help it. I want you to help me with it.”
The pastor replied, “Mary, don’t worry about it. In your
case it’s not a sin. It’s just a horrible mistake.”
-- Haddon Robinson,
"Good Guys, Bad Guys, and Us Guys," Preaching Today, Tape No. 80.
:14 he who humbles himself will be exalted
Lesson
Humble mercy
Are you looking for that place of mercy we talked about earlier?
You will only find it if you come to God in humility.
Illustration
There’s a story about a coal mine disaster that came out of England over a
hundred years ago.
A coal shaft caved in and trapped many miners. The shaft was completely blocked.
Those who were in the mine gathered to a spot where the last remains of air
could be breathed. There they sat and sang and prayed in the dark because the
air was unable to support even a candle.
They were in total darkness, but a gleam of hope cheered them when one of
them said he had heard that there was a connection between that pit and an old
pit which had been worked years ago. He said it was a long passage through
which a man might get by crawling all the way, lying flat upon the ground—he
would go and see if it were passable. The passage was very long, but they crept
through it, and at last they came out to light at the bottom of the other
shaft, and their lives were saved.
-- Charles Haddon
Spurgeon, The Quotable Spurgeon, (Wheaton: Harold Shaw Publishers, Inc, 1990)
Lying flat on the ground – a picture of humility. That’s where you find the place of escape.
Mercy is available for those who are willing to humble themselves.
(1 Peter 5:5b–6
NKJV) … and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives
grace to the humble.” 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He
may exalt you in due time