He Heard Me Too

“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.” (Lu 18:13 AV)

 What a prayer!  And what a response!  Praise the LORD God hears the humble cry of the penitent sinner!  It is too sad for the Pharisee who could only bring himself to extol his self-righteous virtues while maligning the character of another.  As far as I can tell, the Bible says we are all condemned.  This sinner made no pretense.  He did not go to God in prayer having faith in the sincerity of his prayer.  He merely cried out as one who was lost and in need of mercy for the only One who could grant it.  This simple prayer exhibits the relationship between a condemned sinner and a gracious God.  All I can say is praise the LORD He heard this poor sinner’s prayer a bit more than forty years ago.

It never ceases to amaze me when a sinner comes to repentance.  I have had three children and being present when someone is born again is a far greater thrill!  To be part of the process of salvation in that we share the good news of the gospel, and the sinner comes to Christ, is greater than the miracle of physical birth.  Just the other day, my soul-winning partner and I had the awesome experience of explaining in detail the gospel of Jesus Christ to someone genuinely interested.  He had several great questions.  We did our best to answer them and pressed him to receive Jesus before it was eternally too late.  He never did bow his head that night, but I am confident he will.  This young man reminded me of the scribe who came to Jesus and stated it is better to love and trust God than a multitude of sacrifices.  The word of God says, “And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him [any question].” (Mr 12:34 AV)  I pray for him every day and one of these days, I expect to see him as he tells me he has been born again!  About a month ago, the LORD was good to me and used me to lead a young lady to the LORD.  He is not done yet.  Others who are affected by this young lady’s conversion will come to Christ as well.  The state fair booth yielded almost seventy decisions for Christ.  What a miracle.  Our VBS in the park this year saw fifty different children and their parents come out where they heard the gospel preached.  Some for the very first time.  No doubt, there will be fruit from this labor.

The point is, there isn’t enough praise to express how grateful those of us who have trusted Jesus are.  The fact that God listens to the prayers of those who are His sworn enemies, to me, is astounding.  Why He would have any mercy on any of us at all I do not understand.  But He does.  The cry of the sinner above was repeated about forty years ago, at an altar at First Bible Baptist in Rochester, NY.  Just like the sinner above, this sinner got up from his knees, justified.  I walked out of that building knowing God had forgiven me of all my sin.  Even the sin I had yet to commit.  What a wonder!  What glory!  What speechless and matchless joy!  That God should love a sinner such as I; how wonderful is love like this!