Let us turn to the chapter we
were in last Thursday evening. You may recall it was in the
Gospel according to Saint Luke in chapter 18. And I read there
the first two parables. And I want us to turn to that
second parable that the Lord is speaking in this particular
chapter. I'll read then in Luke 18 at
verse 9. And he spake this parable unto
certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and
despised others. Two men went up into the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you 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. 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.
I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other for everyone that exalted himself shall be abased
and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Now last week
in the former part of the chapter we considered for our text those
opening words how we spake a parable unto them to this end that men
ought always to pray and not to faint and sought to say something
then of the necessity of prayer as God's ordinance. The parable
is that wherein the Lord speaks of the widow who asks the hard-hearted
unjust judge to avenge her of her adversary. We're told he
would not, but then by her impotunity she overcomes him. And he's so
self-centered he decides that he will attend to her petition
because she's such a trouble and such a nuisance to him. And
I remarked as we were looking at those opening words of the
chapter in verse 1 that Each of the parables really is speaking
to us of prayer, and in the second parable we see something of the
prayer of a righteous man. As we see it here then in verses
13 and 14, we're told how the publican that despised a Roman
official so despised by the Jews. Many of those publicans, gathering
taxes of course on behalf of the occupying forces of Rome,
would cheat the people and seek to gain advantage for themselves. They were so despised. But the
Lord said, The publican there in the temple 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."
I tell you that this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other. His was the prayer then of a
righteous man, that righteous man's prayer that availeth much
as we read there at the end of James chapter 5. the Lord's parabolic
teaching and how significant the parables are because the
purpose of the parable of course is that the truth be hidden from
some and revealed to others. Much of the Lord's ministry was
in parables and his ministry was always such a discriminating
ministry. in the 13th chapter of Matthew
where we have the record of the whole series of parables that
the Lord is telling. He answers the disciples when
they come and ask Him why it is that He is using this form
of teaching. There in Matthew chapter 13 and
verse Verse 10 following, the disciples
came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? And
the Lord's answer, He said, Because it is given unto you to know
the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to them it is not
given. For whosoever hath, to him shall
be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath
not, from him shall be taken away, even that he hath. Therefore
speak I to them in parables, because they seeing see not And
hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And then
he speaks of the prophecy of Isaiah when God called him to
his ministry in Isaiah 6. He says, In them is fulfilled
the prophecy of Isaiah which says, By hearing ye shall hear
and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see and shall
not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed
gross, and their ears are dull of hearing. And their eyes they
have closed, that at any time they should see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and should understand with their
heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed
are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
How discriminating is the Lord in all His ministry. through
all of the Gospels and we see it in some measure even in the
parables and how we need the Lord then to come and to open
our understanding that we might perceive those things that He
is saying in these parables. Well last time as I say we looked
at that first parable concerning the widow and the unjust judge
and sought to say something with regards to the importance of
prayer. The parable is to this end that
men ought always to pray and not to faint. We're to learn
from the impotunity of this widow woman. We're not to faint. We're not to faint. We need to
be those who have patience then when we come to pray. We're to
rest in the Lord. We're to wait patiently for Him
as the Psalmist says. And of course that true patience
is not passive, is not an inactive waiting, it's not selflessness,
it's not unbelieving, but it's waiting there in hope. All the
grace of hope should be present as well as faith and that spirit
of expectation. Paul says in Romans, we are saved
by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth,
why doth he yet hope for it? But if we hope for that we see
not, then do we with patience wait for it. We need that grace
then of hope and of patience also in our praying. Shall not God avenge his own
elect which cry day and night unto him? He loves to have us
come and cry to him and call upon him and he will answer and
he will do that in his own appointed time. We ought to be patient
in prayer but we also remarked how there is a need for us to
see the importance of purpose in prayer. And we have these
words, to this end, I know that in italics they've been introduced,
they're not words that translate original Greek words, but surely
the translators understand what the Lord is saying, and I think
it's an appropriate interpolation that we have, it's to this end.
all the words of the Lord Jesus are to a certain, to a particular
end. There's purpose. The Lord doesn't speak any idle
words, because he tells us that we must give account for every
idle word in the day of judgment. Nothing aimless then, in the
words that our Lord Jesus is speaking in the Gospel. And there
should be nothing aimless in our prayers. We know that God
Himself has a purpose in view with regards to prayer. He will
be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it, for them He
will do it. He will accomplish His purpose,
but He has also appointed the means whereby He will attain
that blessed end. All were to be purposeful then
in our prayer. And by prayer, of course, we
see how the Lord God In a sense he's marking out those who are
his true people, the election of grace. We read in verse 7
of his own elect which cry day and night unto him. The elect
cry and they cry day and night. Here is a mark then. What do
we know of prayer? But let us turn to the other
parable and the words that we have here then in verses 13 and
14, 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. And Christ says, I tell you,
this man went down to his house justified rather than the other,
the self-righteous. Man was not really the righteous
man. The righteous man, of course,
is the man who is justified. who is clothed with that robe
of righteousness, the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus. So, what we have here really
is the prayer of a righteous man. And what do we learn with
regards to this particular character? Well, surely this publican has
some sense of what he is. He knows what he is. He's a sensible
sinner. He felt it. And we see it very
much in the prayer, this short prayer that he utters at the
end of verse 13, God be merciful to me, a sinner. And the definite
article is really there at the end of that petition. He literally says, God be merciful
to me, the sinner. The sinner, as if he feels himself
to be the greatest of sinners. he is really the only sinner
there's no sinner worse than he is and of course Paul was
brought to feel something of that when we read those faithful
and true sayings that we find in the pastoral epistles and
the first of them all there in 1 Timothy 1.15 this is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. And Paul says, of whom I am chief. He is the chief of the sinners.
He felt that. You make a list of sinners and
that name Saul of Tarsus, who became the Apostle Paul, that
name will stand at the head of all the sinners. And as he is
the chief of sinners. So, writing to the Ephesians,
remember, are we also there in Ephesians 3, 8, speaks of himself
as less than the least of all saints. And that's certainly
a piece of tautology. You can't get below the least. And yet he calls himself less
than the least, the leaster. In a sense, I suppose he's coining
a word. He's the leaster of all saints. He'd make a list of the saints,
of God, those who are the true people of God. But his name won't
be at the top of that list, it'll be at the bottom of that list. And that man, Paul, who was Saul, of course, he had
been very much the the self-righteous Pharisee who spoken of him in
the parable of the Lord that was a life that he had lived
and he was full of himself as touching the righteousness which
is of the law he could say to the Philippians that he was blameless
he lived the life of a Pharisee he was the son of a Pharisee
he was called at the Feet of Gamaliel, one of the great Jewish
rabbis and he really did keep the Lord of
God, so he thought externally, there was no adultery, there
was no thief there was no murderer, he kept
the letter of the Lord of God really And in many ways, he was
just like the man of whom the Lord is speaking here in the
parable. In verse 11, we're told how 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 public, and I fast twice in the week, and I give
tithes of all that I possess. Oh, this is the Pharisee. The
self-righteous man loves to make a display of all his religion. Remember how in the Sermon on
the Mount the Lord Jesus speaks of these characters. When they
are praised He says they shall not be as the hypocrites. How
He loves to praise standing in the synagogue or standing on
the street corners to be seen of men. They want to make a display. They want others to see them,
to notice them. and to consider them to be the
most pious and holy of all people. And it's not just in the Sermon
on the Mount when the Lord comes to denounce those terrible woes
upon the scribes and the Pharisees in the 23rd chapter of Matthew.
Again, see how the Lord speaks of their religion, these scribes
and these Pharisees. It's all outward display and
nothing but that. There in verse 5 of Matthew 23,
all their works they do for to be seen of men. They make broad
their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments.
You know those little leather boxes where they would have tiny
little writings of the commandments of God and they bind them about
their their temples so that they could have them before their
eyes, as it were. They'd bind them on their wrists also. God had said when they went about
their business, His law was to be before their eyes. His law
was to be at their right hand. And they took that very literally.
And they thought, oh, if they did that, they're keeping the
commandment of God. This is how they perverted God's
Word, really. or they liked people to notice
they were wearing God's law as it were they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge
the borders of their garments and love the uppermost room at
feast and the chief seats in the synagogues and greetings
in the markets and to be called of men rabbi, rabbi oh what self-righteousness very
much the mark of those scribes and those Pharisees. And here
we read of this Pharisee and the public, and each of them
going to the house of God at the time of prayer. The temple
of the Lord, of course, and under the Old Testament dispensation,
that was certainly holy ground. It was where God was. He said
he would appear in the midst of Israel, in the tabernacle,
in the Holy of Holies. He would sit there upon the mercy
seat. And in his prayer of dedication,
when Solomon built the Temple of the Lord, he prays concerning
those who, wherever they are, whatever circumstances they're
in, if they would but look towards Jerusalem, look to the Temple.
and call upon the name of the Lord. Well, these men are going
to that very place to pray, each of them. But what a difference
there is in the prayers of these men. We said just then with regards
to the Pharisee, it's all outward. It's all a performance, something
to be seen of men that they might recognize them as godly. But
what do we read concerning the other man, the publican? He stands afar off. 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. I remember reading a sermon by
an old Dutch minister, Theodore van der Groot, and he says of
this man, His limbs and his faculties are those of a regenerated man. His limbs and his faculties are
those of a man born again. A man who is truly a child of
God, a man who is a righteous man really. What are we told
with regards to his limbs and his faculties? Well, he certainly
has penitential feet. He's in that holy place, the
temple of the Lord, but he feels he cannot really venture close. He's so unfit to be in such a
place. His stands are far off. His stands
are far off. And as with his feet, so also
with his eyes, he would pray to God in heaven, but he cannot
lift up his eyes. His eyes are cast down to the
ground. He looks to the earth. He feels
himself to belong there in the very dust of the earth. The psalmist
says my soul cleaveth unto the dust. So I'm worthy to be in
the presence of the Holy One of Israel. So he would hide himself
there in the dust. He's a worm, really. He's no
man at all. Who is he to come and appear
before the Lord? But then, also, what do we read
with regards to his hands? Well, we're told how he smote
upon his breast. So we see that he has penitential
hands, but he also has a penitential heart. He would smite his breast. He knows what's there. the heart,
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know
it? Oh, remember how in Genesis chapter
6, just a few chapters into the Bible, we read of the dreadful
state of men after the fall. In chapter 3 we have the record
of the fall of Adam and Eve, and within such a short period
really, it might be a few hundred years, when we read the various
genealogies. But it's very soon in our Bibles,
chapter 6 of Genesis. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of the
thought of his heart was evil continually. Every imagination
of the thought of his heart, we're told it's a Hebraism. But
it certainly indicates what the hearts of men are about. The Lord said, Out of the heart
of man proceed all evil things, all evil things. And there is
this man and he takes his hand and he smites his breast. He
would destroy that wicked heart that's within him. He has penitential
feet, penitential eyes, penitential hands, penitential heart, and
then his lips also. Well, what is his prayer, God?
He says, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. It's a short prayer. A very short
prayer. Just seven words, isn't it? Isn't
that evidence, though, that this is a man who knows the grace
of God, that new covenant blessing he knows? It doesn't utter many
words. that great 16th chapter of Ezekiel
long chapter which opens of course with that babe that's cast out
in the day of its birth and the Lord has mercy but when we come
to the end of that long chapter the last two verses 62 and 63
we read of the covenant God says to Israel I will establish my
covenant with thee and thou shalt know that I am the Lord this
is that language of the covenant I will says God and thou shalt
I will establish my covenant with thee and thou shalt know
that I am the Lord that thou mayest remember and be confounded
and never open thy mouth anymore because of thy shame when I am
pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done says the
Lord God Where is the consequence where God comes and establishes,
reveals his covenant? We remember we are confounded
and we can't open our mouths. What can we say? What can we
say before such a God as this? Keep thy foot when thou goest
to the house of God, says the preacher. Be more ready to hear
than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they consider not
what they do. Be not rash with thy mouth. Let
not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God, for God
is in heaven, thou upon earth. Therefore let thy words be few. I know the Lord says we are to
take with us words, but how often words fail us. And sometimes,
of course, the minister has to stand before the congregation,
who knows something of that, and be the mouthpiece, as it
were. Lord's Day by Lord's Day. Prayer is a significant part
of our worship and you have to pray. Often one just feels how
hypocritical it all is. You make wrong prayers. But what
do you really know of prayer? It's a great trial. I think in
many ways the praying is the most difficult part of every
aspect of that work of the ministry really. to be a mouthpiece and
to speak and to speak words that are real and true and sincere. Keep thy foot when thou goest
to the house of God. And we need to be kept, kept
from ourselves. Oh how this man prays and what
a prayer it is. What a prayer this man prays
as he comes before his God. And all he does is beg, beg of
God for mercy. he pleads for mercy but observe
more particularly the contrast here between these two men the
one speaks of merit doesn't he really the Pharisee he comes
and he tells God everything that he has done as if God is in some
way indebted to him I thank you that I am not as
other men are extortioners, unjust, adulterers or even a republican
and then I fast twice in the week I give tithes of all I possess
I perform my religious duties and I'm regular in all those
duties and he seems to imagine that the works he has performed
are meritorious God owes him something he speaks of merit
And in contrast, what does the publican do? He simply pleads
for the mercy of God. The former, the Pharisee, sets
himself apart. He reckons he's better than other
people are. He's not as other men and he's
certainly not like this publican. Stand by thyself, come not nigh
me, I am holier than thou. That's the attitude of this self-righteous
pharisee. And the purpose of the parable,
as we have it there in that ninth verse, the Lord spoke this parable
unto certain which trusted in themselves, that they were righteous
and despised others. All his trust is in himself.
He prayed thus with himself. I know, in a sense, that obviously
seems to indicate that he's praying inwardly, he's not speaking aloud,
he's praying in his heart, as it were. But is there not a sense
also in which his prayer really goes no further than himself?
It all centers in himself. It never really enters into the
ears of the Lord God of Sabaoth. He has no sense at all of his
unworthiness, this man, as he comes before the thrice-holy
Jehovah. All he wants to do is to congratulate
himself and to speak of those things that he imagines commend
him to God in some way. But how different the publican.
He all the time is pleading for mercy and really the word that
we have of course is the word propitious literally it says
Lord be propitious to me and that is the most interesting
word it's a biblical word we have it don't we in in other
parts of scripture John uses it twice in his first general
epistle here in his love not that we love God but that he
loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. He says there in chapter 4 at
verse 10, and previous to that in the second chapter. He is
the propitiation for our sins, the Lord Jesus. He is the propitiation
for our sins in chapter 2 and verse 2. Also Paul in Romans 3.25 whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. It's a biblical word but it is
a technical theological word and it reminds us of the fact
that God is a holy God and a just God and a righteous God. It's
the Godward aspect really of the work of the Lord Jesus. He
can by no means clear the guilt of it. His justice must be satisfied
because He is the Holy One of Israel. And what is this man
doing? Well, he wants God to turn away
his wrath from him. He deserves the wrath of God.
God is angry with the wicked every day. But He wants that
wrath to be turned away. God be merciful. Oh God be propitious
to me, a sinner. He's coming then before God himself. He's there in the temple, the
very place where God would have been in the Old Testament. That
was the dwelling place of God and here he is, he's at the mercy
seat and he's suing is suing for mercy and the Lord says this
is the man who goes down to his house justified of these two
men it's the Pharisee who's not really the righteous man he's
full of self-righteousness but no the justified person here
is the sinner the justified sinner the publican who comes to to
acknowledge his sin, to confess his sin. And the effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Where is this man's righteousness? Why this man's righteousness
is really in heaven. His righteousness is in the Lord
Jesus Christ who is there in heaven. And so as he comes before
God, oh, he knows that he will find acceptance. Even there in
the high courts of heaven, that holy place where God dwells,
because there He has a righteousness. And through the Lord Jesus Christ,
His prayers are sure to be heard, sure to be answered. They're
not always to pray. We're not to faint. We're to
be patient in prayer. We're We are to be particular in prayer,
we are to come with specific requests, we can come in that
fashion, but we come only looking to the Lord Jesus Christ and
confessing Him as the Lord, our righteousness. Well these words in verse 14,
Christ as He concludes the parable, I tell you this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone
that exalted himself shall be abased. and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted. May the Lord bless his word. Let us, before we pray, sing
our second praise in the hymn 111, the tune is Irish, 160. Thine are the hopes the sons of men on
their own works have built, their hearts by nature all unclean
and all their actions guilt. We sing the hymn 111, the tune
160.