1087. The Publican Boasted No Righteousness

The Publican Boasted No Righteousness

"And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto Heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luk_18:13).

We supposed that had the publican desired, he might have found just as much in himself worth commendation as the Pharisee did; but he was so overwhelmed with the sense of his sins that he did not plead his goodness. The thief upon the cross did not run through his past experience and try to find some righteous deed by which he might justify himself. He simply said, "We indeed suffer justly."

What good would it have done Naaman to have paraded the fact that he was a great man with his master; that he was a mighty man of valor; that he was a successful general who had brought deliverance to the armies of Syria? All of this was true, and God acknowledged it; but God also said he was a leper. The leprosy of Naaman overshadowed everything he did, and all that he was.

When God looks at the human heart what does He find? Here is His X-ray. He says:

"There is none righteous, no, not one,

There is none that understandeth,

There is none that seeketh after God.

They are all gone out of the way,

They are together become unprofitable;

There is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Their throat is an open sepulchre,

With their tongues they have used deceit,

The poison of asps is under their lips;

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness;

Their feet are swift to shed blood;

Destruction and misery are in their ways:

The way of peace they have not known;

There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Rom_3:10-18.

How would it sound for such an one as described by the words above to stand before God and boast his righteousness? It would become him better to cry as the publican: "God be merciful to me a sinner!"

The X-ray above is the picture of every man of the race. All boasting is excluded. If you want to find favor with God, come as the woman, who was a sinner, came–come confessing your sins. Come weeping to His feet.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR