Transcribed by Beluga AI.
I think we’ve already had a very full service. I think we could go on and on sharing about the goodness of the Lord and sharing prayer requests. And I will keep this short.
Let’s open up to Luke 18. Luke 18:9.
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up 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, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14, ESV)
Okay, let’s pray.
Father, we thank you for meeting us and for speaking through all the brothers and sisters who testified of your goodness. We pray for Pastor Pompilio and Into His Hands Ministry and the sound of heaven worship team. We pray that you bless them. We pray that you open up doors, that they be able to worship in a building of their own. But Lord, they are. This building is not our building. It is all your building, and so everything belongs to you. So as long as they need a place to worship, they are always welcome here.
We thank you that you’ve allowed us to meet today. We thank you for the testimonies. Pray for brother Ron as he’s going through his trial. We pray that perfect love will cast out all fear, that you’re Jehovah Rapha, you’re his healer, that you will heal him in your time, in your way, whether through natural means or supernatural means. We plead the Blood of Jesus over him and all of us. Cover, cleanse, and sanctify him. Heal him by your Blood.
We pray that you open up all the right doors for insurance and everything to go smoothly. We pray. We pray also for Stephanie. Give her strength as she is in the final stage of radiation. We pray that you carry her through Monday through Thursday. She can celebrate with her sisters and testify of your goodness.
We understand the Spiritual principle of death to life. We need to die to ourselves to live to Jesus. Lord, we submit to all of the trials that you allow for us to go through to strengthen our faith. To be in the right place at the right time. To be a blessing to those around us.
We pray for Edward. We thank you for saving him recently at the ranch. Thank you for using a ranch to save people who are lost. Thank you for saving this lost brother. Now he is my brother. He is going into the Marines. But, Lord, before you send him into the military, Lord, may you enlist him in your army. May he be a soldier for Christ and consult his commanding officer always. And that you would. You would order his steps, that you protect him from harm, and you would bring him back safely as he serves this country.
Thank you, Lord, for the ways that you’re moving in our midst. Encouraging us, strengthening us. We give you this time. Speak to us now, Lord. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Sorry if I missed some prayer requests. If you’re feeling that God is far from you, if you’re feeling God is far from you, then I have a simple prayer that I want to teach you. And it’s right out of this text. Have mercy on me, a sinner. That is probably the best prayer that you can pray if you want God to be close to you.
I think like this Pharisee who looked down on the tax collector. I think we do this often, that we define a very small arena. And we say, in this arena, I am the best. And so maybe it’s in your family. And you say, I am the best in my family in such and such, because you defined it so small that maybe in a small church you say, I am the best Christian in this community.
And then you look down on others who do this. I don’t do this. They do this. I don’t do that. And if you define your circle small enough, you can always find reasons to be proud.
That a child can say, my parent doesn’t understand me. Because they’re just looking at their parent and saying, they don’t get me. I know better.
The parent does the same thing. I am the parent. I know better than the child. And we just keep defining and looking at other people and saying, they are worse than me. They don’t know as much as I do. And we elevate ourselves.
And God says in His Word in James 4 that he gives grace to the humble, but the proud, he opposes. In Psalm 138:6, he says, actually, let’s turn there. Psalm 138:6. I don’t want to misquote God’s Word. Psalm 138:6.
6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. (Psalms 138:6, ESV)
So if you’re proud, if you’re judgmental, if you look down on people, that is a sure recipe to feel like God is so distant from you because he does depart from the proud. He knows them, but from afar. He opposes the proud.
But if you’re humble and you say, I’m a sinner, I might look at other people and think I’m good. Like this Pharisee, he thought he did things that these other sinners are not doing. And so we have different ways of making ourselves proud that I’m better because I do this. I fast more than other people. I read the Bible more than other people. I’ve achieved more than other people.
Whatever criteria you’re using, there’s so many infinite number of ways that we can define our circle in such a small way. And in this small pond, I am the big fish. I think even when it comes to God’s grace, which he showed to us and he revealed things to us, even this can be something that we become proud.
It was a gift from the Lord. He revealed something. You didn’t know it, you were just a child. You asked for grace, you asked for revelation and then he gave it to you. And then somehow we think, wow, I’m special. Look, I know these things. So many people don’t know this. I can see what’s happening, current events, they don’t know this. I can see the Spiritual battle. I know Satan is after my soul. Many people don’t even believe Satan is real.
And we can take these revelations and pat ourselves on the back and say, I’m better than others. And if you become proud and judgmental, it is a sure-fire way for you to feel God is so far from me because God opposes the proud.
He looks upon the haughty from afar.
But if you’re humble, there’s grace for you. Draw near to God. James 4: He will draw near to you. Only the humble says, have mercy on me, a sinner. Have mercy on me, a sinner.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:8, ESV)
So if God is far from you, if you feel like he’s so far, perhaps it’s been a while since you’ve said, Lord, I’m a sinner. I don’t need to focus on my spouse’s sin, my child’s sin, my parent’s sin, my church member’s sin, society’s sin. I don’t have to focus on other people’s sin.
I have God’s Word. In James 1, it is a mirror. If I just stare at God’s perfect law, I will understand that I’m a sinner. And if we define ourselves and we look for an audience of people, we will always find people that we are better than and feel proud against this person. So not only do we have God’s Word, which is a perfect mirror that you stare into and you say, oh, I’ve fallen short here. Oh, I’ve broken God’s law here. I don’t want to forget this. I want to put it into practice. I want to repent of this.
Not only do we do this, but also in Hebrews 12, we fix our eyes upon Jesus.
He is the sinless one. He is perfect in all of his ways. And when we measure ourselves before each other, of course we can find people we’re better than. But if you focus on the audience of Jesus, just one person, and you measure your life upon his perfect standard, we all know we’ve fallen short of the glory of God. Jesus is perfect in patience. He’s perfect in love. He has no fear. He’s perfect in confidence that he is a beloved child, child of God. He’s perfect in all of his ways.
The fruit of the Spirit is Jesus’s fruit, just pouring forth all the time. And if I measure myself upon the life of Jesus, I will always say, as Peter said with the miraculous catch of fish, away from me, Lord, I am a sinner. If you draw close to Jesus, as all of us, as followers of Christ, ought to do regularly, if you fix your gaze upon his perfection, you will often realize, wow, I’ve fallen short. And may we pray this prayer? God have mercy on me, a sinner. There’s grace for that kind of a prayer.
Not the prayer of looking down, not. Not the prayer of I’m better, not. Not puffing yourself up. Not saying, I am the best in this small little arena, but to say I focus on Jesus, his perfection, and this perfect law. Every time you read Scripture, I bet you’ll find a verse that shows you why I didn’t do this today. So ask the Holy Spirit at the end of your day, review your day, and open up God’s Scripture and say, how did I fall short today? Wow, I’m a sinner.
I went through my day. I thought I was fine, but I now look back with the help of the Holy Spirit. I look at God’s perfect law. I’m falling short left and right. I’m not. I didn’t realize it, Lord. And we focus on Jesus, his perfection as we draw near. You can’t draw near to him unless you confess your sins.
We can’t go with our pride and think, I’m buddy buddy with Jesus. No. As we draw close to him in his perfection, we say, away from me, Lord, I can’t approach you. I need to deal with this sin first. And so the best prayer, if you feel like God is far from you, is, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I encourage you to pray this often.
Okay, let’s pray.
Father, we thank you so much for your grace and your mercy. Often we don’t realize how far we’ve fallen short. And we go through life looking down on people, thinking we’re better than others. And you draw yourself far from us in our pride and our judgment. But as we humble ourselves and we draw near to you, you draw near to us.
As we confess our sins, there is a fellowship and an intimacy that is restored. Holy Spirit, we pray that you would search our hearts. Is there any offensive way in us? Every time we study Scripture, it is a perfect law. It’s a mirror. And we look at ourselves in the mirror and we see the ketchup stain. We see the oil stains, we see the blemishes from the dirt as we look in a physical mirror. And your word is a mirror to us. And we see, we fall short.
We don’t have to focus on other people’s sin, how far they’ve fallen short. That is not our place. We focus only on ourselves. You are the only judge. We don’t look at other people. We have a sober judgment with ourselves. Holy Spirit, help us.
Show us where we’re blind. Show us how we’re proud. Show us how we look down on others. You were so gracious enough to give us revelation that many in the body of Christ don’t have. But Lord, we’ve taken that gift and we become proud. Forgive us, Lord, all the things that we do for you. We take pride because other people are not doing it. Forgive us, Lord.
We thank you for dying on a cross for our sin. Thank you for Your Body that was broken for us. We pray that you minister to us as you close out this service and partake in the Lord’s Supper. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
After you spend some time examining your heart, if the Lord allows you, we’d love for you to partake in the Lord’s Supper as long as you’re a believer. And this is our way of saying that we’re all united in the finished work of Christ. Okay, let’s pray.