"The One Prayer God Always Answers" | February 6, 2022

hi i'm robert jeffress pastor of first baptist church in dallas we are so excited to have you join us on the i campus today for a time of inspiring worship and biblical teaching you are part of a vast online community gathered from all over the world we consider you a part of our first baptist church family and we hope you feel a part of what god is doing in and through first baptist dallas no matter where you are we hope and pray that this is a time you will grow in your relationship with god and others as we worship our savior together welcome to worship [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] well good morning and welcome to worship at first baptist dallas it's so good to see you we welcome our guest and i campus viewers joining across the world let's stand together we're going to teach you a new song about the great and mighty god we serve come let us worship our king come let us bow at his feet he has done great things see what our savior has done see how his love overcomes he has done great things he has done great things [Music] [Music] we dance oh jesus [Music] you'll be faithful forever you have done great things and i know you will do it again [Music] [Music] [Music] oh jesus [Music] sing hallelujah [Music] [Applause] [Music] you have done great things hallelujah [Music] [Music] and break every chain oh god you have done [Music] for jesus [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hallelujah give him praise this morning [Music] what a day of rejoicing that will be [Applause] [Music] oh we're singing about heaven this morning lift your voice seek the one dress love of jesus seek his mercy at his grace [Applause] [Music] [Music] that will be [Applause] [Music] victory [Music] we shall go [Music] [Music] when we [Applause] when the trumpet of the lord shall sound and time shall be no more and the morning breaks eternal bright and fair when the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore when the roll is caught up yonder i'll be there [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] the one who saved me [Music] [Applause] [Music] what a day [Music] is [Music] [Applause] glorious days [Music] could we give god praise this morning [Music] amen you may be seated well church let me ask you isn't it good to worship the lord this morning in god's house amen we welcome each of you to worship today here at first baptist dallas and if you're a guest joining us we welcome you here those joining us in our downtown dallas location as well as on our eye campus and guess we have a very special gift for you today it is our pastor's daughter julia jeffress sadler's great book pray big things the surprising life god has for you when you're bold enough to ask guests as you came in this morning you received a worship guide and you'll find enclosed this welcome card please take the time to fill this out and keep the card with you at the end of the service you can take it outside these main worship center doors right there you're going to find our welcome center our staff is waiting there for you we're excited to meet you and you can exchange your completed card for your book today and we'll answer any questions you might have regarding our church now if you can't make it to the welcome center we have some orange boxes on your way out you can place the card in one of those boxes we'll process the card and mail you a copy of your gift and if you're joining us on icampus just follow that link provided on your screen to access your gift as well again welcome to worship each and every one of you so many exciting events are taking place at first baptist dallas let's all take a look together now at the screen [Music] good morning and welcome to worship we want to take a moment to tell you about a few upcoming events next sunday february 13th dr jeffress begins his new series 18 minutes with jesus straight talk from the savior about the things that matter most don't miss this powerful study about seeking wisdom on the things that matter most through jesus's most famous teaching the sermon on the mount if you are a guest with us this morning we would love to invite you to sign up for first step on sunday february 20th in this class you will learn all about the beliefs ministry staff and campus of first baptist dallas on that day our new members are invited to attend a special lunch with dr jeffress following worship ladies we are excited to host our heartstrong faith conference on february 25th and 26th invite your friends to this weekend of life change featuring an incredible lineup of speakers including julia jeffrey sadler nika spalding rebecca carroll and sheila walsh we are also excited to announce that rebecca st james will be leading worship with our day one band for more information on everything happening at our church visit firstdallas.org events [Music] well let's take our bibles now and read god's word together in preparation for our pastor's message this morning this morning we're reading from luke chapter 9 verses 10 through 12 luke chapter 9 verses 10 through 12. and we're reading from the new american standard bible the words will be here on the screen for those in the worship center and they'll also be on the screens of those viewing via eye campus church could we stand together in honor of the reading of god's word luke chapter 9 beginning with verse 10 and ending with verse 14 let us read when the apostles returned they gave an account to him of all that they had done taking them with him he withdrew by himself to a city called bethsaida but the crowds were aware of this and followed him and welcoming them he began speaking to them about the kingdom of god and curing those who had need of healing now the day was ending and the twelve came and said to him send the crowd away that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat for here we are in a desolate place but he said to them you give them something to eat and they said we have no more than five loaves and two fish unless perhaps we go buy food for all these people for there were about five thousand men and he said to his disciples have them sit down to eat in groups of about 50 each may god richly bless the reading of his word well let's remain standing together as we continue in worship [Music] how great the chasm that they between us how high the mountain i could in desperation i turned to heaven and spoke your name into the night then through the darkness your loving kindness tore through the shadows of my soul the work is finished the end is written jesus christ who could imagine [Music] step down from glory to where my sins the cross has spoken i am forgiven [Music] jesus christ [Music] set me free [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music] jesus christ [Music] your buried body began to breathe and out of silence [Music] [Music] begins [Music] oh [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] their salvation jesus [Music] the one christ set me free [Music] jesus christ [Music] he's our living hope today jesus amen you may be seated and let's turn our attention to the screen the mission of the worship production ministry is to serve to create an atmosphere of worship and allow for the presentation of the gospel with a high level of excellence we do this not only for the worship experience in the worship center and day one but also for the broadcast ministries of the church the worship production ministry is vital in creating the content that is streamed live on sunday morning but also in creating content for the pathway to victory television and radio ministries that can be seen or heard in every country of the world we need volunteers to help us create the worship experience we need camera operators graphic operators camera shaders td's and directors no previous experience is needed because we have an excellent training program for every position almost everyone who is part of this ministry has come with no audio video or lighting experience but has learned a new skill to support this ministry if you want to be a part of a ministry that brings the message of christ around the world through the teaching of dr jeffress then the worship production ministry is the place for you to serve christ is calling you to serve will you answer the call [Music] yeah let's thank our worship production ministry [Music] you know in scripture james tells us to be doers of the word not just hearers of the word and one of the ways that you can apply god's word in your life is finding your place of service in this local church this body of believers here at first baptist dallas our worship production ministry is one ministry in which you can serve they handle all of the audio and lighting and video for all of our worship venues including the worship center and across the way in day one and they do it with such excellence that many times we don't even think about it as they create this amazing worship environment and that's how they like it because they want the focus to be on jesus christ but it takes an army of volunteers to make this possible and we need your help so if you're interested in serving here in the worship center across the way in our day one service we need more media volunteers or as part of this team i would encourage you to contact them or talk to someone out on the concourse as part as our volunteer fair to learn more about how you can get involved in this ministry now as you heard in the video you don't have to be an expert you just have to be willing to learn and willing to serve and they will put you to work maybe it's not the worship production ministry maybe that's not your place of service but you have a place of service here at the church you can take the volunteer card that's in the worship guide today you can fill that out and place it in the boxes or again you can go talk to somebody on the concourse today it's the last day of our volunteer fair so i hope that you'll find that place of service that's part of god's will for your life now as we continue our time of worship through giving today i'll remind you that you can leave your tithes and your offerings in the boxes as you exit this morning you can give online at firstdallas.org forward slash give online but right now during this time of commitment i'll invite you as you're able to kneel all over the worship center as we go to the lord in prayer together heavenly father how good it is to worship you in your house this morning with your children this family of believers here as part of this local body of christ and lord we thank you we thank you for the opportunity to approach you we know that you are holy and we're reminded that we are not lord we are only deserving of your judgment and condemnation for our sins our faults and failures but we are astounded by your incomparable your incomprehensible love for us we're reminded that even though we were dead in our sins and our trespasses even though we were rebellious against you you reached down and you redeemed us you reconciled us you gave us a relationship with you and at a great cost the cost of the blood of your only begotten son jesus christ and so we come to to you washed clean in the blood of the lamb clothed in the righteousness of christ we confess our sins before you and we thank you for loving us for calling us according to your will and even for commissioning us for your service we pray this lord in the saving name of jesus christ amen [Music] grace be my songs [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] ah [Music] jesus died for me [Music] [Applause] is [Music] my knees [Music] amazing grace and shall always be my sweet song of praise for it was grace that bought my my liberty [Music] i do not know just how christ came to love me song [Music] i shall fly [Music] just [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] my [Music] hello [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you so much fred wilmer and marvelous first dallas choir and orchestra for your music today there could not have been a more fitting song especially in consideration of today's message thank you so much for leading us in worship we welcome those of you who've just joined us in our day one worship service the multitude of you watching on pathway to victory and on our first dallas eye campus next week i'm beginning a brand new sermon series i've never done this before on the sermon on the mount and 40 years of preaching i have never done a series on the sermon on the mount and i'm calling this series 18 minutes with jesus the reason i chose that title is you can read the entire sermon on the mount in 18 minutes but don't let its brevity confuse you this sermon contains jesus most foundational teaching about subjects that matter to you and me i call it straight talk from the savior about the things that matter most in these three chapters matthew 5 6 and 7 jesus gives us some straight talk about our happiness about our money about our sex life about our eternal destiny and we're going to look and see the revolutionary teaching that jesus gives us on all of these important topics and that's going to begin next week but if i were going to mention a theme verse in the sermon on the mount it would be matthew 5 verse 6. jesus said blessed happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied you know in the bible the word righteousness is used two distinct ways sometimes the bible uses righteousness to talk about our right standing with god it's how god looks at us it's that kind of righteousness that paul had in mind in romans chapter 4 verse 5 when he said but to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly his faith is counted as righteousness the moment you trust in christ as your savior in the great courtroom of heaven god declares you as righteous you are in a right standing with him but other times when the bible talks about righteousness it's not talking about our right standing with god it's talking about our right acting before god it's an ethical kind of righteousness it is obedience to god it's that kind of righteousness that peter had in mind when in first peter 3 12 he said for the eyes of the lord are toward the righteous and his ears attend to their prayer but the face of the lord is against those who do evil if you've ever wondered why your prayers may not be answered one reason is because you are not righteous i'm not talking about being in a right relationship with god i'm talking about acting right before god the bible clearly says god listens to the prayers of the righteous those who behave properly but he does not listen to the prayers of those who do evil but whether we're talking about judicial righteousness or right standing before god or ethical righteousness right acting before god there's a prerequisite for both of those things and it is a hunger an appetite for righteousness blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied my friend and bible scholar rt kendall tells a story about when he was nine years of age and he stayed one night with his grandmother he was supposed to have a big test in school the next day and he wasn't prepared for it so when he awakened the next morning he told his grandmother that he wasn't feeling well he said she said fine go back to bed and he protested and he said well i want breakfast first and she said no she said if you have an appetite a good appetite then there's nothing much wrong with you that's a pretty good word she told him to go back and get dressed and she would prepare breakfast while he got ready for school if you have a good appetite there's not that much wrong with you you know jesus is saying the same thing he said for those of you who have an appetite a hunger for ethical righteousness to start acting obediently if that is a desire in your life to be more obedient to god then that's a pretty good indicator you're more spiritual healthy than you may think you are second peter chapter 1 verse 3 says god has already given you everything you need pertaining to life and godliness if you've got that desire then you've got everything you need for those of you today or those of you watching on television right now who may not be a christian yet but you have a desire to be forgiven by god to be clean before god to be in a right standing with god guess what the fact that you desire that means that you are on the road right now to spiritual health in fact you are only seven words away from a right standing before god and we're going to discover what those seven words are and the parable we're going to look at today if you have your bibles turn to luke chapter 18. luke chapter 18 as we look at the one prayer that god promises to always answer luke chapter 18 verse 9. jesus verse 9 says told them this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and they viewed others with contempt this is one of those parables that we don't have to wonder about we don't have to wonder what the meaning of it was luke tells us ahead of time this is a parable that jesus spoke to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous that some people were the pharisees we'll see in just a moment jesus was directing this parable to the pharisees and notice the description of them they trusted in themselves that they were righteous in the greek text it literally says they based their righteousness on themselves they measured their standing with god by their own standard by their own righteousness you know today we hear a lot about people's self-image and that how people have a poor self-image and they need to have a better self-image about themselves the truth is the problem with most of us is not that we think too little of ourselves but that we think too much of ourselves psychologist dr david myers has written a lot about what he calls the inflated self syndrome he reports that when the college board surveyed high school seniors they discovered that zero percent of high school seniors ranked themselves as below average and in fact sixty percent of themselves put themselves in the top ten percent in their ability to get along with other people dr meyers concluded that the most common error in people's self-image is not unrealistically low self-esteem but rather a self-serving pride not an inferiority complex but a superior superiority complex and that was the group that jesus was addressing this parable to to those who based their righteousness on themselves and noticed the phrase and they viewed others with contempt i mean what good is a superiority complex if you can't look down on other people right do you know people who are proud of their own humility every time i read this parable i'm reminded of the third grade sunday school class teacher who was teaching her third graders on this parable about the pharisee and at the end of her lesson she said the boys and girls let's bow our heads and thank god that we're not like the pharisees a lot of people feel that way the pharisees felt that way the fact is this parable's purpose is very clear jesus is not using this parable to teach people how to pray this parable is not about why god answers some prayers and doesn't answer other prayers this parable is about righteousness remember these pharisees were ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous that they were in a right standing before god and in this parable we're going to see two very distinct approaches to having a right standing before god for righteousness one method is based on our works our own righteousness the other is based on god's grace now notice the two players in this parable verse 10 says two men went up to the temple to pray one a pharisee and the other a tax collector it was common to go up to the temple to pray there were two times for prayer 9 a.m and 3 p.m many of us have walked up those same southern steps to the temple that any good jew would walk up to go into the courtyard to pray twice a day and the two men that we have here in this story could not have been on more opposite ends of the social socio-religious spectrum first of all we have the pharisee you know if jesus were telling the story today instead of saying a pharisee and a tax collector he might say a preacher and a prostitute both went up to the temple to pray well this was the contrast you see here the pharisee now when we hear the word pharisee when we think of the character of the pharisee we think of a villain you can almost hear today the audience hiss when you say the word pharisee i was thinking this week as i was preparing this about the character the cartoon character snidely whiplash how many of you are old enough to remember snidely whiplash from the old dudley do right cartoons you know the handlebar mustache the evil laugh i mean that's what we think of when we think of pharisee but that's not how jesus audience saw the pharisees at all they were very respected esteemed revered they were known as men of righteousness who knew the old testament backwards and forwards who had an intense desire to please god the pharisees were very few a number only 3 000 of them but they were respected their problem was not that they didn't want to be godly their problem was that they based their godliness on their own ideas instead of on the grace of god now look at his prayer he stood to pray some people want to make a big deal about that oh see how proud he was he stood to pray no most jews stood to pray there's nothing wrong with that if you go today to the western wall to the wailing wall people stand to pour out their hearts to god to pray the problem with this pharisee was not his posture in his prayer but it was his attitude in his prayer notice what the next phrase is he stood to pray and he prayed to himself he wasn't talking to god he was talking to himself this was a self-congratulatory prayer that was punctuated by the word i look at verses 11 and 12 his prayer he stood and was praying this to himself god i thank you that i am not like other people swindlers unjust idolaters or even like this tax collector for i fast twice a week and i pay tithes of all that i get this pharisee had an eye problem i i i i have you noticed that today a lot of people feign you know giving glory to god but instead of a testimony it's what a friend of mine calls a bragimoni people are talking about themselves how good they are even listen to some worship music today it's based on me and my problems and my doubts and who i am and my dreams no true worship is not about me it's about god the pharisee didn't understand that he based his righteousness on himself he had this distorted sense of his own righteousness look at what he says that he did he said i fast twice a week now the old testament only required a jew to fast once a year the pharisees fasted once a week but this particular pharisee went above and beyond he fasted twice a week secondly he said i paid tithes of all i get the old testament only required tithing of income but apparently this man tithed everything that he had we would say today he tithed on the gross not the net he went above and beyond and not only that he said i'm not like everyone else i'm not a swindler an unjust adulterer at least not outwardly now this was a pretty fair evaluation i'm sure he did all of these things but what he missed was that god is just as interested no he's actually more interested in our heart condition than he is our actions you see this pharisee was more interested in style than substance our mind i'm reminded of joseph kennedy the leader of the kennedy clan he used to tell his sons remember what you appear to be is much more important than what you are and his son's lived by that motto it's what you appear to be what others think you are that is really important that was the pharisee j.c rowell notes that there's one defect in the pharisees prayer that even a child could recognize immediately there was no contrition no repentance no acknowledgement of sin no supplication for god's mercy it was just a recitation of his own righteousness now contrast him to the other character in this story the tax collector remember i said they were at opposite ends of the socio-religious spectrum i mean in jesus day a tax collector ranked right down there with used chariot salesmen and televangelists i mean people looked down on them with disdain and the reason was obvious to be a tax collector in jesus day most of them first of all were jews you may not know that but most tax collectors for the roman government were actually jews and for a certain amount of money they purchased a franchise from the roman government that allowed them to collect taxes on behalf of rome now rome had a base amount to charge for taxes and the tax collector could take that base amount and he could add any surcharge he wanted to he could inflate it to whatever he wanted and he got to keep the difference he would mail off what was do rome and keep the rest for himself and so the tax gatherers were hated for two reasons first of all they were instruments of the roman government to fund their oppression their occupation of israel but not only that they were cheating the people every day of the week and that's why they were thought of as scum now in truth the tax collector was just as guilty as the pharisee in god's judgment both were deserving of god's punishment both needed god's forgiveness the difference was the tax gatherer understood his need for forgiveness and the pharisee did not and you see that in the tax gatherers prayer look at verse 13. but the tax collector standing some distance away was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven what but was beating his breasts saying god be merciful to me the sinner did you know this is one of the shortest prayers in the bible seven words in english six words in greek and yet even though it is short it is effective because it includes the two necessary ingredients for god's forgiveness first of all he expresses sorrow for his sin in the original text it says god be merciful to me not a sinner but it's articular the sinner in other words he is saying be merciful to me i am the chief among sinners we don't know what led to this cry of desperation perhaps he had just committed some heinous sin that even he did not think he was capable of committing or maybe it was a long period of time that his life had just continually unraveled until he was at the end of his rope but he understood his true position before god he was the chief of sinners by the way speaking of position notice the bible says that this tax gatherer some distance away away from what well he was probably speaking of standing away from the altar of sacrifice in the courtyard where the sacrifices were made each day no doubt the pharisee stood as close to the altar as he could thinking he was close to god the pharisee thought everything was right between god and himself the tax gatherer took a stand apart from the altar and away from the pharisee he probably thought i don't deserve to be standing next to this pharisee this holy man this righteous man and i certainly don't deserve to stand next to god but here's the paradox by standing further geographically away from where god was he was closer to god than the pharisee was and that's true today the closer you actually come to the real god the more you recognize the distance between you and god the more you understand your own sinfulness the better you understand the holiness of god remember isaiah isaiah chapter 6 isaiah saw that vision of god in heaven on his throne and the angels flying around the throne of god and what was isaiah's reaction to that he said woe is me for i am undone i am a man of unclean lips i remember peter the apostle peter when he understood the glory of jesus christ and in luke 5 8 he fell down and he said depart from me lord for i am a sinful man or in revelation chapter 1 as john was on the island of patmos remember when he saw that vision of the glorified christ the bible says he fell down as a dead man that's what happens to anyone who comes close to god he realizes the holiness of god and the sinfulness of himself that was this tax gatherer he expressed sorrow for his sin be merciful to me the sinner but a sorrow for sin is not enough to receive god's forgiveness secondly he requested god's mercy to cover his sin god be merciful to me the sinner that word mercy the greek word is not just some general word this was a very specific word it is a form of the same greek word that is used to describe the mercy seat in the holy of holies do you remember the mercy seat the holy of holies was the most holy place in the entire temple it was the place that god was thought to dwell and in that holy of holies there was the ark of the covenant that among other things contained the two stone tablets of moses containing the ten commandments and remember on top of that ark was a golden lid it was called the mercy seat and on each end of that lib a lid was a cherub an angel and the cherubim facing one another with their wings outstretched denoted the holiness of god god was thought to dwell between the cherubim and the picture was very clear god is looking down on the law he gave to moses that has been broken by his people day after day that picture was a picture of judgment a holy god judging his broken law by his own people but once a year on yom kippur the day of atonement the high priest after making an atonement for his own sins would come in with the blood of an innocent animal and he would sprinkle that blood on the mercy seat he would cover that lid in blood and the picture was as god looked down he no longer saw the broken law by his people those transgressions were atoned for they were covered over by the blood of an innocent animal the only problem with that ritual is the high priest had to atone for his own sins he had to come in year after year after year he had to come with the blood of an innocent animal and his work was never done but all of that was a foreshadowing of what jesus christ the perfect high priest who had no sin to atone for would do for us when he came with not the blood of an animal but his own blood and he entered into not a man-made temple but god's temple into the presence of god himself and he made a once for all sacrifice for our sins and the moment we trust in christ as our savior our sin is covered over the writer of hebrews made that parallel in hebrews 9 verses 11 and 12 when he said but when christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come he entered through the greater the more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is not of this creation and not through the blood of goats and calves but through his own blood he entered the holy place once for all having obtained eternal redemption now when this tax collector said lord be merciful what he was praying for was for a covering an atonement for his sins james montgomery boyce notices even the sentence structure is important of this seven word prayer the prayer starts with god it ends with himself and in the middle linking god and this tax collector was mercy god be merciful to me the sinner that is a prayer that god always answers in this parable you have two men with two different lifestyles but more importantly two different approaches to having a relationship with god one based on works one based on grace now here's what's interesting had jesus stopped right here and said okay pop quiz one question you've heard the story of these two men who went to the temple to pray they each prayed now which one did god forgive it wouldn't have even been a contest jesus audience would say well that's easy it was the pharisee the pharisee is the one who was forgiven after all look at all of the good things he has done and look at that filthy tax gatherer does he think seven words is enough to forgive him of his sin a little simple prayer haven't you heard that today how do you think that a little prayer is somehow going to wipe away all of your sins that's why jesus turned their expectations upside down in verse 14 when he said i tell you this man this man the tax collector went to his house justified rather than the other you know i imagine when the pharisee finished his prayer he left the temple mount that day feeling pretty good about himself nothing like some quality time with the lord in prayer i imagine also the tax collector may have left the temple mount feeling just as miserable as he did when he approached god but thank god our righteousness doesn't depend on how we feel it depends on what god thinks of us it's not how we feel about our relationship with god it's about how god feels about his relationship with us and jesus said i tell you this man went to his house justified in a right relationship with god and then jesus adds this phrase for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted anyone who exalts himself who refuses to bow his knees confesses sin and throw himself on the mercy of jesus christ anyone who exalts himself will one day be humbled as he stands before the throne of god and hears the shocking words depart from me i never knew you those who practice unrighteousness everybody who exalts himself will be humbled but the one who humbles himself the one who acknowledges his sin and his need for a savior will one day be exalted he will be welcomed into the presence of a holy god two people two approaches to god z.w tozier said in yourselves nothing but in christ everything blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied let's bow together in a word of prayer this morning i'm talking to a very particular group of people it's to those of you who may not yet be christians but you desire to be clean you desire to be forgiven you desire that right relationship with god it's no accident that you're here in day one it's no accident that you've tuned into this broadcast god offers you the gift of forgiveness if you'll simply express sorrow for your sin and put your faith in jesus christ the bible says all of us have sinned all of us have fallen short of the glory of god but hear me today it doesn't matter what you've done how long you've done it if you're ready to trust in what jesus did for you believing that when he died on that cross he paid the penalty for your sin and mine the moment you say that and you mean that you can be forgiven and have that gift of eternal life today if you'd like to receive god's gift of forgiveness i want to invite you wherever you are to pray this prayer in your heart as i prayed out loud knowing that god is listening to you right now would you pray this with me dear god thank you for loving me i know that i have failed you in so many ways and i'm truly sorry for the sins in my life but i believe what i've heard today that you love me so much you sent your son jesus to die on the cross for my sins to take the punishment that i deserve to take and right now i'm trusting in what jesus did for me not in my good works but in what jesus did for me to save me from my sins thank you for forgiving me and help me to live the rest of my life for you in jesus name amen now for those of you watching online if you prayed that prayer with me and you meant it with all of your heart i want to encourage you to go to the top of your screen click on the link that says i prayed the prayer to trust in christ the moment you do that i'll be notified of your decision and i have some free material i want to send you this week about what it means to live your life as a christian so don't wait another moment go to the top of the screen right now and click on that link for those of you in day one or here in our worship center let me encourage you to take out the response card in your bulletin today and if you prayed that prayer as well i want to encourage you to check the third box i prayed the prayer to trust in christ we'll send you that same free material on what it means to live as a christian maybe you're a guest today would like you to check that first box maybe you want more information about our church maybe you'd like to join i saw a whole list of people who are planning to join today first baptist dallas it's so simple all you have to do is check that final box now if you check the box as a guest or as a new member today you'll be invited to our dinner with the pastor this thursday night seven o'clock maggiano's at north park it's a complimentary dinner i'll be there to answer your questions and tell you more about our ministry at first baptist dallas now once you've finished filling out this card if you'll drop it off at the welcome center you'll receive a copy of my daughter julia's best-selling book pray big things that's what we're giving today as a way of saying thank you for coming and if you don't want to drop it off at the welcome center you can put it in one of the many receptacles on the way out and we'll get your book to you thank you so much for being here today don't forget this is the last day of our volunteer fair we've had over 300 people volunteer for new places of ministry over these last several weeks and if you'd like to work in worship arts and be a part of this great ministry or any ministry in our church stop off at one of the booths or drop off the volunteer card in one of the boxes well don't forget tonight is discipleship university we'll see you at 5 30 and then next week hope you'll be back everything will be thawed out next week boy that's dangerous predicting the weather isn't that but i'm confident everything's going to be thought out next week as we begin our new series on the sermon on the mount 18 minutes with jesus we'll look forward to seeing you then let's stand together now as tyler comes to lead us in our final song thank you pastor we've had a great morning of worship let's go out singing his praise this is my story this is [Music] this is my story this is [Applause] [Music] have a blessed day church well thank you so much for joining us for worship today on the first dallas i campus it's our honor and privilege to worship chat and pray with you throughout the service if you are local to dfw let me encourage you to come on down we'd love to have you visit us in person we'd love to greet you and show you a great spot in the worship center for you to sit it would be our honor to worship with you in person in the heart of downtown dallas right here at first baptist dallas also if you are new here to the icampus or have been watching for a while and want to get plugged in let me encourage you to sign up for a free gift we'd love to provide that to you directly in your inbox and then sign you up for pastors daily devotional it's straight from the pen of dr jeffress and you will be encouraged with that great resource each and every day simply visit the link that's provided on your screen and lastly stay connected with us each and every day with our facebook global group there we encourage one another through scripture and graphics but also pray for one another so head on over to facebook and join our icampus global facebook group thank you again for joining us today for worship we look forward to seeing you next week on the first dallas i campus hi i'm robert jeffress pastor of first baptist church in dallas we are so excited to have you join us on the i campus today for a time of inspiring worship and biblical teaching you are part of a vast online community gathered from all over the world we consider you a part of our first baptist church family and we hope you feel a part of what god is doing and improve first baptist dallas no matter where you are we hope and pray that this is a time you will grow in your relationship with god and others as we worship our savior together welcome to worship [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] well good morning and welcome to worship at first baptist dallas so good to see you welcome to our guest hi campus viewers joining across the world church let's stand together we're going to teach you a new song about the great and mighty god we serve come let us [Music] see what our savior has done see how his love he has done great things [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for your promises [Music] [Music] you're [Music] [Music] oh sing hallelujah [Music] hallelujah [Applause] [Music] of hallelujah you conquer the grave you free every captive and break every chain oh god [Music] jesus [Music] oh god you do great things [Music] hallelujah bless his name this morning darren lead us when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be [Music] the way we are see jesus we'll sing and shout the pictory [Music] oh we're singing about heaven this morning lift your voice see the one dress love of jesus seek his mercy and his grace [Music] [Music] victory [Music] he will be soon [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] when victory trumpet of the lord shall sound in time shall we no more and the morning breaks eternal bright and fair when the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore when the roll is caught up yonder i'll be there [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] shall see [Music] gloria [Music] oh [Music] could we give god praise in this house this morning incredible worship church you may be seated and let's turn our attention this morning to the baptistery thank you tyler good morning church we have won for baptism this morning this is this is uh scott hale scott received christ when he was about 14 years old and today he's here to follow the lord in believer's baptism scott because you have trusted christ in an obedience to the lord's command i now baptize you my brother in christ in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit [Music] buried with christ in the likeness of his death race to walk and in the way of life so good to see each and every one of you for worship this morning at first baptist dallas and if you're a guest joining us we welcome you here both in our downtown dallas location as well as on our eye campus i guess we have a very special gift for you today it's our pastor's daughter julia jeffress sadler's great book entitled pray big things the surprising life god has for you when you're bold enough to ask and guest as you came in this morning you received a worship guide you'll find enclosed this welcome card please take the time to fill this out and keep the card with you at the conclusion of the service take it outside these main worship center doors right there you're going to find our welcome center our staff is waiting there for you to exchange your completed card for your gift today and answer any questions you might have regarding our church we look forward to meeting you now if you can't make it to the welcome center we have some orange boxes on your way out you can slip the card in one of those and we'll mail you a copy of your gift and if you're joining us on icampus just follow that link provided on your screen to access your gift as well again it's great to see each of you for worship this morning and we are also delighted to welcome to our worship service this morning a very special guest george p bush land commissioner for the state of texas commissioner bush it's great to have you with us in our service this morning and we're grateful for all that you're doing to serve this great state of texas church let's welcome george p bush [Applause] well there are so many exciting events taking place here in the life of our church at first baptist dallas let's all take a moment now and look at the screen good morning and welcome to worship we want to take a moment to tell you about a few upcoming events next sunday february 13th dr jeffress begins his new series 18 minutes with jesus straight talk from the savior about the things that matter most don't miss this powerful study about seeking wisdom on the things that matter most through jesus's most famous teaching the sermon on the mount if you are a guest with us this morning we would love to invite you to sign up for first step on sunday february 20th in this class you will learn all about the beliefs ministry staff and campus of first baptist dallas on that day our new members are invited to attend a special lunch with dr jeffress following worship ladies we are excited to host our heartstrong faith conference on february 25th and 26th invite your friends to this weekend of life change featuring an incredible lineup of speakers including julia jeffrey sadler nika spalding rebecca carroll and sheila walsh we are also excited to announce that rebecca st james will be leading worship with our day one band for more information on everything happening in our church visit firstallis.org events what a privilege it is to read god's word together and we're going to do that right now so let's take our bibles in preparation for the reading of god's word and in preparation for our pastor's message this morning we're reading from luke chapter 9 verses 10 through 14. the words will be here on the screen for those in the worship center and on the screens of those viewing via eye campus and we're reading this morning from the new american standard version so could we stand this morning church in honor of the reading of god's word luke chapter 9 beginning with verse 10 and ending with verse 14. let's read together when the apostles returned they gave an account to him of all that they had done taking them with him he withdrew himself to a city called bethsaida but the crowds were aware of this and followed him and welcoming them he began speaking to them about the kingdom of god and curing those who had need of healing now the day was ending and the twelve came and said to him send the crowd away that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat for here we are in a desolate place but he said to them you give them something to eat and they said we have no more than five loaves and two fish unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people for there were about 5 000 men and he said to his disciples have them sit down to eat in groups of about 50 each may god richly bless the reading of his word let's all remain standing together now as we continue in worship [Music] let's sing together how great the chasm that lay between us how high the mountain i could not die in desperation i turned to heaven and spoke your name into the night then through the darkness your loving kindness torn through the shadows of my soul [Music] jesus christ who could imagine [Music] stepped out from glory to wear [Music] i am [Music] jesus christ [Music] set me free [Music] [Applause] [Music] then came the morning that sealed the promise your very body began [Music] has no clay hallelujah [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] jesus christ [Music] is [Music] jesus christ [Music] is [Music] jesus christ [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus our living hope today amen you may be seated and let's turn our attention to the screen the mission of the worship production ministry is to serve to create an atmosphere of worship and allow for the presentation of the gospel with a high level of excellence we do this not only for the worship experience in the worship center and day one but also for the broadcast ministries of the church the worship production ministry is vital in creating the content that is streamed live on sunday morning but also in creating content for the pathway to victory television and radio ministries that can be seen or heard in every country of the world we need volunteers to help us create the worship experience we need camera operators graphic operators camera shaders td's and directors no previous experience is needed because we have an excellent training program for every position almost everyone who is part of this ministry has come with no audio video or lighting experience but has learned a new skill to support this ministry if you want to be a part of a ministry that brings the message of christ around the world through the teaching of dr jeffress then the worship production ministry is the place for you to serve christ is calling you to serve will you answer the call [Music] let's give our worship production ministry a hand thank them for all they do you know in god's word james writes that we are to be doers of the word not just hearers of the word and one way that you can apply god's word in your life is by finding your place of service in the local church in the body of christ in this body of believers that is first baptist dallas we want that for you one ministry in which you can serve is our worship production ministry and as you heard our worship production team handles all of the audio and the video and the lighting they create this worship experience both here in the worship center over in our day one service and they help broadly cast the truth of god's word through the i campus and through the ministry of pathway to victory literally all over the world now many times this worship production team goes unseen you may not even realize they're there but that's how they like it because they want the focus to be on jesus christ now if that is something that is interesting to you as you heard in the video you don't have to have expertise or experience in worship production already we will train you and we will put you to work but baby maybe that ministry is not the perfect place of service for you there is a perfect place of service for you here in this church and we want you to find that place of service today is the last day of our volunteer fair so whether it's the worship production ministry or another ministry i hope you'll take the card that's in your worship guide today or just stop by one of the tables on the concourse and talk to our staff and our volunteers who are there to tell you more about a place of service that is part of god's plan for you and we want you to feel god fulfill god's calling on your life now as we continue our time of worship through giving this morning you'll of course have the opportunity to leave your ties and your offerings in the boxes as you exit the worship center this morning or you can give online at firstdallas.org forward slash give online but during this time of commitment i'll invite you as you're able to kneel all over the worship center as we go to the lord in prayer together heavenly father it is good to worship you in your house this morning alongside our brothers and sisters in christ your children who you have called out to be a part of your family to be a part of your kingdom those you have redeemed through our lord and savior jesus christ and lord as we recognize your holiness your mightiness we come humbly before you we confess our sins before you lord we acknowledge that we are only deserving of your judgment because we have fallen so short of that perfect standard but we are so grateful for your love your word tells us that your love reaches to the heavens it is incomparable it is incomprehensible and we know that you have reached down through your son jesus christ you have redeemed us you have restored us you have given us a relationship with you and so we come to you lord clothed in the righteousness of christ wash clean in the blood of the lamb and we confess our love for you we thank you for our salvation and it is in that spirit of gratefulness that we give to you our tithes and our offerings we commit to you our lives we thank you for calling us to serve us and we pray this in jesus name amen [Music] grace shall always be my songs [Music] roll [Music] is [Music] to you jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] my [Music] amazing grace [Music] shall always be song of praise for it was grace that bought my my liberty [Music] i'll never know just why christ came to love me so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] my [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Applause] jesus see this [Music] [Applause] [Music] uh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you so much fred wilmer and marvelous first dallas choir and orchestra for your music today hasn't this been fantastic there couldn't have been a more appropriate song for the message today we welcome the hundreds of thousands of you who are watching on our first dallas eye campus and the literally millions who watch or listen to this broadcast on pathway to victory and i want to join with tyler in welcoming a special guest we have here today our land commissioner george p bush commissioner bush were happy to have you and we want to thank you and your family for your legacy of faithful service to our great state and to our nation thank you so much for being here with us today [Applause] next sunday i am beginning something i have never done before i'm going to begin a series on jesus sermon on the mount i'm calling it 18 minutes with jesus the reason i'm calling it 18 minutes with jesus is you can read the sermon on the mount in about 18 minutes but don't allow its brevity to fool you this contains jesus most foundational teachings on the things we care about and what he has to say is revolutionary it's going to be called a straight talk from our savior about the things that matter most jesus addresses the things we care about he gives a straight talk about our happiness about our relationship with others about our relationships about our sex life about our eternal destiny and i hope you won't miss one of these messages beginning next week and if i were going to take one verse of that entire sermon matthew 5 6 and 7 that is really the thing verse it would be matthew 5 verse 6 that says blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied what does that mean what kind of righteousness is he talking about you know in the bible god uses the term righteousness in two distinct ways sometimes when the bible talks about righteousness it's talking about a judicial righteousness our standing before god to be righteous is to be in a right relationship a right standing with god paul said in romans 4 verse 5 but to the one who does not work but instead believes in him who justifies the ungodly his faith is counted as righteousness the moment you trust in jesus christ for the forgiveness of your sins in the great courtroom of heaven god pronounces you forgiven righteous you are in a right standing with himself but other times the word righteousness in the bible refers to right acting before god it's our conduct our obedience it's an ethical not a judicial but an ethical kind of righteousness for example in first peter 3 12 peter says for the eyes of the lord are toward the righteous and his ears attend to their prayer but the face of the lord is against those who do evil one reason we don't get our prayers answered sometime is we're not acting righteously we may be in a right relationship with god we may be forgiven of our sins but if we don't act righteously god doesn't hear our prayers judicial righteousness ethical righteousness but jesus said the prerequisite for both of them both a right standing with god and a right acting before god is to want it it's to hunger for it blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness my friend and bible scholar rt kendall tells about a time that he was nine years old and he was staying one night with his grandmother and the next day he had a uh test at school that he wasn't prepared for so when he awakened the next the next morning he told his grandmother that he wasn't feeling well and didn't feel like going to school she said okay we'll go back to bed and he protested and said well i would like breakfast first she said if you have an appetite that means there isn't much wrong with you so you go get dressed for school and i'll prepare breakfast well you know jesus is saying the same thing here your appetite is a pretty good indication of your spiritual health if you're a christian this morning and you have a hunger you have a thirst for being more obedient to god then you're in pretty good spiritual shape you may not feel like it but you're on the road to spiritual health in fact ii peter 1 verse 3 says you have everything you need for life and godliness if you hunger for an ethical righteousness obedience to god you're on your way to spiritual health but if you're not a christian this morning if you're just here by accident perhaps you tuned into this broadcast by accident but you have a desire a hunger to be clean to be forgiven to be in a right relationship with god it's a good indication that you are also on your road to spiritual health in fact if that's true of you this morning you are only seven words away from a right relationship with god and today we're going to discover what those seven words are in a familiar parable turn to your bibles into luke chapter 18 beginning with verse 9 as we look at the one prayer god always promises to answer luke chapter 18. now this is one of those parables jesus told that's very easy to interpret because luke gives us the right interpretation at the beginning of the parable he tells us the reason jesus told it look at verse 9 and jesus also told them this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt this parable is directed toward a group of people specifically the pharisees who trusted in themselves literally in the greek text it says who based on themselves thought they were righteous they thought god looked on them with favor that they had a judicial righteousness they were not guilty before god they also were ethically righteous they did all the right things but the reason they believed that was a standard that was based on themselves you know today there's a lot of talk about having self-esteem and that people suffer from a bad self-image but the truth is the problem with most of us is not that we think too little of ourselves but that we think too much of ourselves dr david myers is a psychologist who has written a lot about what he calls the inflated self syndrome in america he reports that when the college board surveyed high school seniors they found that amazingly zero percent of high school seniors thought that they were below average compared to other students 60 percent believe they were in the top 10 percent in their ability to get along with others and he concluded that the most common error in people's self-image is not unrealistically low self-esteem but rather self-serving pride it was not an inferiority complex but a superiority complex that was the group that jesus was talking to those who thought they were righteous and notice the second phrase he uses and they viewed others with contempt i mean that's the byproduct of feeling superior what's the good of being superior if you can't look down on other people right and there are actually some people who are proud of their own humility whenever i read this parable that jesus told about the pharisees i'm reminded of the third grade sunday school teacher who after teaching this lesson to the children said now children let's bow our heads in prayer and thank god that we're not like the pharisees or people who feel that way the purpose of this parable that jesus told is very clear in verse 9. this parable is not a parable that teaches us how to pray it's not a parable that answers the question why god answers some prayers and doesn't answer other prayers this parable is about how to be righteous how to be in a right standing with god and in this parable we find two very different approaches to god one that is based on our goodness our own works and one that is based on god's grace now let's look at the two characters the two players in this parable verse 10 jesus said two men went up to the temple to pray one a pharisee and the other a tax collector now a good jew would walk up the southern steps of the temple just as many of us have done before to go to the temple mount area in order to pray they prayed twice a day 9 a.m and 3 p.m so on this particular day two people went up to the temple to pray one was a pharisee the other a tax collector jesus could not have selected two people at more opposite ends of the socio-religious spectrum than these two characters if jesus were telling the story today he might say two people went into the church to pray a preacher and a prostitute that's the contrast jesus is trying to give us here the pharisee let's look at him first of all now today and this is so important to understand we think of the pharisees as the villain as soon as i mention the word i can almost hear the s coming out of the congregation we think of pharisees the way we think of do you remember the character snidely whiplash how many of you are old enough to remember snidely whiplash the cartoon character and the dudley do right commissioner bush you don't have an idea what i'm talking about but there was a cartoon character back in ancient times snidely whiplash uh in the dudley do right cartoon he had the handlebar mustache that he would twirl and he would you know have an evil laugh i mean he was the ultimate in villains that's how we think of pharisees that's not how jesus audience thought about pharisees at all in fact when they said pharisees they said oh a pharisee they were highly revered respected men they knew the old testament backwards and forwards and not only that they were thought to be truly godly people they had a desire to be godly their problem was they had the wrong idea of godliness they thought that godliness was based on themselves and not the grace of god now notice his prayer the bible says jesus said this pharisee when he went to pray he stood to pray now a lot of people make a big deal out of that oh look how proud he is he stood there's nothing wrong with standing to pray in fact a good jew would stand to pray today if you go to the western wall the wailing wall people stand there and pray and pour out their hearts to god the problem with this man's prayer was not his posture it was his attitude and you see that in the second phrase he stood and he prayed to himself isn't that a funny phrase he prayed to himself now he probably didn't think he was praying to himself but you look at the prayer here it was a prayer of self-congratulations about all he had done look at verses 11 and 12. the pharisees stood praying this to himself god i thank you that i am not like other people swindlers unjust adulterers or even like this tax collector over here standing next to me i fast twice a week i pay tithes of all that i get this pharisee's problem was he had an eye problem i i i he was focused on himself have you ever noticed people today who try to give a testimony but they can't help but make themselves the hero of the story their testimonies are what one friend of mine called bragamonies it's about me me me me me we see that sometimes in our worship music some of the worship music not in our church but in other churches you see it's about me and my struggles and my doubts and my unhappiness and my blah blah blah blah instead of focused on god true worship is always focused on god not on me but that the pharisee didn't understand that he had a distorted sense of his own righteousness notice what he says that he did he said i fast twice a week now the jews were only required to fast once a year pharisees only fasted once a week but this pharisee fasted twice a week he said i pay tithes of all of i get i get he gave 10 not just on his income but even on passive income and assets he gives a tithe of everything we might say today he tithed on the gross and not the net he was good about his giving and not only that he said i'm not like everybody else i'm not a swindler an adulterer and certainly not like this tax gatherer now that was a fair evaluation he was telling the truth about himself what he missed was that god is as interested if not more interested in our heart than he is in the actions that flow out of our heart the pharisees problem is he was more interested in style rather than substance i remember reading about joseph kennedy the head of the kennedy clan he used to tell his boys what you are is not nearly as important as what you appear to be that's the motto the kennedy's lived by it's not what you are it's what you appear to be that was the pharisee as long as he appeared to be righteous that's all that mattered commentator j.c rile says even a child recognizes what was missing in this pharisee's prayer there's no confession of sin no expression of need for god no supplication for god's mercy contrast him to the other character in this story the tax collector the tax collector at the other end of the socio-religious spectrum in jewish life was the tax collector he was down on the bottom rung right down there with used chariot salesmen and televangelists that's what people thought of tax collectors they were absolute scum and the reason people looked down on tax collectors really two reasons most tax collectors were jews but they worked for the roman government they had purchased a franchise from the roman government that gave them the right to collect taxes and there was a base amount that the roman government required from people but the tax collector could add whatever surcharges he wanted under that base amount and he would mail off the required tax of an individual to rome and keep the difference for himself and so the jewish people hated tax collectors for two reasons first of all they were helping fund the oppressive roman government that was occupying their land but not only that they were cheating people taking more than they were supposed to take and so this tax collector went up to pray as well don't miss the point that this tax collector was just as much under god's judgment as the pharisee was they both went to the temple to pray but notice his prayer in contrast to the pharisees the tax collector standing some distance away was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven but instead was beating his breasts saying god be merciful to me the sinner this is one of the shortest prayers in the bible seven words in the english language six words in the greek text and yet this prayer reveals the two essentials for righteousness for a right standing with god for god's salvation first of all he expresses sorrow for his sin you hear that in the prayer be merciful to me the sinner is what it actually says in greek it's articular there's an article before the word sinner it's not be merciful to be a sinner just like everybody else in the world no be merciful to me the sinner i am the chief center of all what led him to say that perhaps he went up to the temple after committing a heinous sin that even he himself thought he was incapable of committing he went out of desperation or maybe his life had slowly unraveled over a period of time and he was at the end of the rope whatever it was he expressed his need for god's forgiveness by the way notice his position he stood some distance away away from what well probably away from the altar of sacrifice representing the presence of god but he even stood away from the pharisee oh i can't be near a holy man i can't be near to him and i certainly can't stand near to god but here's the paradox by standing far away from god he was closer to god than the pharisee here's one thing you understand the more you understand the true holiness of god the more you understand how sinful you and i really are a real encounter with the genuine god leads you to understand your own unholiness isaiah's expressed that remember in isaiah 6 when he had the vision of god on his throne and the angels flying around the throne what was isaiah's response he fell down and he said woe to me for i am undone i am a man of unclean lips i remember when the apostle peter saw the glorified lord in luke 5 8 he said depart from me lord for i am a sinful man i remember the apostle john in the book of revelation there on the island of patmos when he saw the vision of the glorified christ in the state he'll be when he returns one day what did he do the bible says he fell down as a dead man that's what happens to any sinner who confronts a holy god you're aware of your need but an expression of sorrow for your sin isn't enough to be forgiven it's not enough for salvation there's a second ingredient you see in this brief prayer and that is he requested god's mercy to cover his sin he requested god's mercy to cover his sin he said god be merciful to me the sinner now that word greek word translated merciful is not just any word for mercy it's a very special word it's a word that is a form of the word that was used to describe the mercy seat in the temple remember in the temple the holiest place of all was the holy of holies it was behind the veil and only one person could enter into the holy of holi once a year that was the high priest remember in the holy of holies behind the veil there was the ark of the covenant and that ark among other things contained the two tablets moses tablets with the ten commandments on top of the ark which was more like a box there was a lid covered in gold it was called the mercy seat and on each end of the murchie mercy seat was the replication of a of an angel a cherub and the cherub on each end had outstretched wings they were thought to protect the holiness of god and it was believed that the spirit of god dwelt between the cherubim on that ark of the covenant and the picture was very clear it's a picture of god's judgment god a holy god is looking down on the law his law which he gave his people a law which the israelites broke every day of every year it was a picture of the judgment that god's people deserved for the law they had broken but once a year on yom kippur the day of atonement the high priest after making an atonement for his own sins would take the blood of an innocent animal and he would come into the holy of holies in the presence of god and he would take that blood and he would sprinkle it on the mercy seat that covered the broken law and the picture was as god looked down he no longer saw the law that had been broken but he saw the covering the atoning of that innocent animal and of course all of that was a picture of what jesus christ our perfect high priest would do one day the high priest for hundreds of years would have to come in year after year after year he would have to first of all make an atonement for his own sins he would come with the blood of an animal and he had to do it repeatedly but jesus christ is our perfect high priest and he's entered not a man-made temple but the true temple the presence of god and he approached the temple of god and the throne of god not wood the blood of an animal that was worthless but with his own blood and he obtained what eternal redemption that's what the writer of hebrews said in hebrews chapter 9 verses 11 to 12 but when christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come he entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is not to say of this creation and not through the blood of goats and calves but through his own blood he entered the holy place once for all having obtained eternal redemption why do i mention this because when this tax collector said lord be merciful to me he was asking for a blood atonement a covering that would wipe away his sins he understood he was powerless to forgive himself he needed the forgiveness that was based on the sacrifice of the true high priest jesus christ you see that even in the way he prayed james montgomery boyce points out the simple sentence structure of this prayer it's a prayer that starts with god and ends with the sinner but has mercy in the middle it is god's mercy it is god's grace that connects sinful man to a holy god god be merciful to me the sinner two men with two very different ways to approach god one who tries to approach god based on his own righteousness and one who approaches god based on god's grace now if jesus had stopped right here with the prayer and said now i'm going to give you a pop quiz audience you've heard the story which man walked away from the mountain justified in a right relationship with god the audience without a doubt would have said why the pharisee of course the pharisee is the one who ended up righteous i mean look at all of the things he's done he's tithed he's fasted he's not like these adulterers and murderers he's righteous why would that tax collector think a little seven word prayer suddenly makes everything all right with god haven't you heard that before how can people think that praying a prayer of salvation erases all of the bad that they've ever done before they would have picked the pharisee for sure and that's why jesus turns their expectations upside down in verse 14. he says no i tell you this man the tax collector went to his house justified rather than the other you know what's interesting to me i'm sure when the pharisee finished his self-congratulatory prayer i'm sure he felt great i'm sure he left the temple mouth that day saying you know nothing like some good quality prayer time with the lord and i imagine that the tax collector probably left just as miserable as he went feeling bad and terrible about his sin but guess what your relationship with god isn't based on how you feel about your relationship with god it's how god views you how he sees you how he feels about you and jesus said i'm telling you regardless of this tax collector's feelings he left the mountain that day justified declared not guilty because his prayer wasn't based on his righteousness it was based on my mercy and then jesus adds this word these familiar words for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled but he who humbles himself will be exalted the person who refuses to bow before god and admit his need for forgiveness will one day be humbled one day he will be shocked to hear from the lord he thought he served utter these words depart from me you worker of iniquity for i never knew you on the other hand the person who bows before god and says god i am a sinner i am the sinner and i have no hope except jesus christ the person who humbles himself will one day be exalted and will be welcomed into god's kingdom as a.w tozer said in ourselves nothing in christ everything blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied let's bow together in a word of prayer i know there are many christians who watch this broadcast who may be here in our service today but this message is directed toward a very special group who are here or watching maybe you have a desire to be clean before god to be forgiven pastor you don't know what i've done how long i've done it doesn't matter god's forgiveness encompasses not some of our unrighteousness but all of our unrighteousness it's no accident you're here today or you've tuned into this broadcast god is offering you a right relationship with himself he said i'm willing to forgive your sins forget them forever if you will humble yourself and ask my forgiveness we can't forgive ourselves other people no priest or pastor can forgive you only god can do that and that's what the gospel message is when jesus came and died on the cross in a sense he experienced hell so we can experience heaven in some inexplicable way he took the punishment the wrath the anger of god that you and i deserve and when we trust in him we no longer have to fear his anger his judgment today if you'd like to receive that unconditional gift of forgiveness in your life i want to invite you wherever you are to pray this prayer in your heart as i prayed out loud knowing that god is listening to you right now would you pray this with me dear god thank you for loving me i know i have failed you in so many ways and i'm truly sorry for the sins in my life but i believe what i've heard today you love me so much you sent your son jesus to die on the cross for me to take the punishment i deserve for my sins and right now i'm trusting in what jesus did for me not in my good works but in what jesus did for me to save me for my sins thank you for forgiving me and help me to live the rest of my life for you in jesus name amen now for those of you watching online if you prayed that prayer with me and you really meant it i want to invite you to go to the top of your screen and click on the link that says i prayed the prayer to trust in christ the moment you do that i'll be notified of your decision i have some free material i want to send you this week about what it means now to live your life as a christian so again if you're watching don't wait another moment go to the top of the screen and click on that link for those of you in our service today i'd like to encourage you to take out this card response card that is in your bulletin and if you prayed that prayer with me check that third box i prayed the prayer to trust in christ today and when you do that and return this to us i'll send you the same material we're sending our online friends i know we have many guests today if you're a guest check that first box if you want more information about the church you can check that box if you'd like to join first baptist dallas today as so many did in our first service check that final box and we'll be in touch with you now when you finished this card you can take it to the welcome center and exchange it for a free copy of my daughter julia's book pray big things or you can drop this off in one of the receptacles and we'll process the card and get the book to you this week thank you so much for doing that by the way everybody who registers as a guest today and or a new member you'll be invited to dinner with the pastor this thursday night seven o'clock maggiano's at north park it's a free dinner i'll be there to tell you more and answer your questions about the ministry of first baptist dallas don't forget to go out and check out all of the ministry opportunities on the sky bridge so many ministries at our church we've had now over 300 people in the last few weeks sign up for a place of ministry in our church and whether it's worship arts choir first impressions students children whatever area you're interested in there's a place of ministry for you thank you so much for doing that well we're glad you're here today don't forget discipleship university tonight at 5 30. we'll look forward to seeing you next sunday for the beginning of our new series 18 minutes with jesus let's stand together now as tyler comes to lead us in our final song thank you pastor an incredible morning of worship let's go out singing his praise this is my story this is my song praising my savior [Music] [Applause] [Music] have a blessed day church well thank you so much for joining us for worship today on the first dallas i campus it's our honor and privilege to worship chat and pray with you throughout the service if you are local to dfw let me encourage you to come on down we'd love to have you visit us in person we'd love to greet you and show you a great spot in the worship center for you to sit it would be our honor to worship with you in person in the heart of downtown dallas right here at first baptist dallas also if you are new here to the eye campus or have been watching for a while and want to get plugged in let me encourage you to sign up for a free gift we'd love to provide that to you directly in your inbox and then sign you up for pastors daily devotional it's straight from the pen of dr jeffress and you will be encouraged with that great resource each and every day simply visit the link that's provided on your screen and lastly stay connected with us each and every day with our facebook global group there we encourage one another through scripture and graphics but also pray for one another so head on over to facebook and join our icampus global facebook group thank you again for joining us today for worship we look forward to seeing you next week on the first dallas i campus you

Channel: First Baptist Dallas

Views: 8,849

Keywords:

Id: t7Z31_xwiYE

Length: 178min 15sec (10695 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 06 2022