THERE is one thought in this passage of the greatest moment, which I desire, by the Spirit of God, to press home on your heart, dear reader. There are four men brought before you in the chapter; two of them knew the thing I am about to press on you and two did not; two failed to see it and missed the blessing.
The Lord Jesus said when on earth, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Blessed word! and yet if I had only that word I might think that I had something to bring to God, but Hebrews says, “The less is blessed of the better.” If you have something to bring to God, who will get the more blessed place of giving? You! But who is to get the more blessed place? You or God? No! no! you and I must take the place of having nothing to bring, and must therefore be receivers.
The Holy Ghost shows us here, that though there is to be blessing for man, it is only on this ground, that he takes the place of the receiver.
The first man that we have before us in our passage takes the place of a righteous man, and where is there a righteous person? The Holy Ghost says, “There is none righteous, no, not one!” Grace may justify you, but you could not justify yourself.
The Lord brings out these two characters, because they give us a picture of the heart of a man who does not know what he is as a sinner, and the heart of one who does.
“The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself: God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican: I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”
What is the burden of this man’s prayer? I, I, I, nothing but I. He is a thorough egotist, but it is what every one is till God opens his eyes and shows him what he is in himself. He is the picture of self-complacency; he does not want blessing, he has no consciousness of need in his soul. He was a sinner all the time, but thoroughly self-righteous.
Are you thinking you are not as other men, my reader? I find Scripture says, “As in water face answers to face, so the heart of man to man.” It is perfectly possible some may not have gone the lengths of others, but the Lord says, “There is none righteous, no, not one!” and I must own, if I am honest, that there are in me principles of evil that would carry me to the lengths that any one has gone, if it were not for the restraining grace of Christ, and for the circumstances by which He has surrounded me.
Do you think that you are better than your neighbors? When a man gets to learn what he is before God., he can only say what the poor publican says here, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” He stood afar off, for he knew he had no right to draw near to God; and when he caught a glimpse of heaven’s light, he could not lift up his eyes, for he knew that light could only convict—could only condemn him; he could “not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.” This man is intensely individual; he says, “to me a sinner,” not as people say, “We are all sinners.” He is conscious of his guilt, and not seeking to cover it up; with an overwhelming sense of sin on his conscience, he can only put up this prayer, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”
He knew that righteousness could only condemn him, truth must condemn him; and therefore he says, It is mercy I want, mercy I need.
The Pharisee wanted nothing. He did everything himself, gave everything, gave tithes, fasted, and yet all the time was on the very brink of hell, a sinner in his sins; and if you are like him, another day may find you in it; and then, what will you find out? That you are exactly like other men!
God will always condemn a man who justifies himself, and justify the man who condemn s himself. Are you a man who has any need in your soul, who desires to hear words whereby you may be saved? If you are going to have blessing, you must have it on this principle, that you are going to humble yourself and let the Lord exalt you. If you condemn yourself, He will justify you. If you are going to be in the kingdom of God, what must you be? A little child! In the camp of Israel, the smallest child was nearest to the manna and could most easily reach it. The principle is, you must go down. It is the confidence of a child that is the most attractive to you, and the Lord says you must be as a little child.
“Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein;” and even though you do get the kingdom of God, how do you get it? As a receiver, not as a giver of anything for it.
Now we have another man presented to us. A certain ruler asked him saying, “Good master, what shall I DO to inherit eternal life?”
Christ talks about receiving; and here comes this man all bustle and fuss and says, “What shall I do?” He comes to the Lord and calls him “Good master.” Earnest he was, and a remarkable man too, for when Jesus beheld him He loved him, so Mark 10 tells us. There was something about this man that moved the heart of the Lord.
This man has for the moment waked up in his soul the thought that there is something beyond time. I ask you, have you no thought of where you will be when this scene that occupies you so now will have passed away?
Christ always takes up people on the ground they come on; He says, “Why callest thou me good? None is good save one, that is God.” The Lord gave the ruler here the opportunity of saying to him, “But you are God.” But he missed seeing the Divine Person of this one whom he recognized as a teacher; yes, he lacked one thing, Christ had not been received, Christ had not been believed in.
The Lord says to him, “Sell all that thou hast and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come follow me.” Why did the Lord tell him to do this? Because he took up the ground of loving his neighbor as himself, and he was very rich yet. Had he loved his neighbor as himself he could not have been, for the law claimed that he should divide it with his neighbor. To love my neighbor as myself is to divide what I have with my neighbor till I have nothing left to divide.
Do you think the Lord wanted him to infer by this, that he was going to get eternal life by selling all that he had? Not at all; but He tested him by this, tested his heart to see if he were thoroughly in earnest. If he had been thoroughly earnest he would have said, “Let it all go, I would rob myself of every earthly possession to get this wonderful prize, eternal life.”
For a moment he put the things in the balance. In the one scale all his wealth, in the other scale poverty, and Christ’s company, and discipleship; the pondrous weight of his earthly treasure weighs down the scale, he is sorrowful for a moment, and then he turns his back on Christ and eternal life and goes away, and we never hear of his returning again.
Look at the contrast in Bartimeus. What said the ruler, “What shall I do?” What says Christ to this poor blind beggar? “What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?” “Lord, that I may receive my sight,” he replies. Ah! Bartimeus, you are in the right way. The rich man goes away sorrowful, and gets nothing; the poor, blind beggar gets all he needs, and follows Jesus in the way. You must receive, God must be the Giver, and you must be the receiver if you are to have eternal life; Christ Jesus Himself is eternal life, who has loved us and died for us, and is now at the right hand of God in heaven.
Have you owned your ruined state as a sinner and bowed to the Lord Jesus Christ yet? Have you received Him yet—Christ for yourself, Christ for your Saviour? wants to bless you, wants to save you, will not you let Him have His own way? “To as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” To believe on His name is to receive Him. He has died on earth to put your sins away; He is in heaven now, bow down to Him, He is waiting for you to come to Him, waiting for you to confess His name.
If you have never received Him before, receive Him now; if you have never confessed Him before, confess Him now, let Him have the joy of hearing you own Him; by and bye He will own you before His Father and before the holy angels. “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” are his own words.
W. T. P. W.