I did choose thee. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. I want to read a parable that
the Lord gave in Luke chapter 18, beginning in verse nine.
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 Thee that I am not as other men
are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast
twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. 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." I tell you, this is the Lord's
comment upon this, not some preacher. not some religious organization,
I tell you, the words of sovereign authority. I tell you, this man,
this self-condemned publican, this man went down to his house
justified. Justified. Rather than the other,
For everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted." I've entitled this message, A
Parable to the Self-Righteous. And he spake this parable unto
certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous. They had a self-righteousness,
and consequently they despised others. Question, am I exempt from this? Are you exempt from this? Would this describe me and you? Would we be included in that
certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous? Someone may think, well, I may
be a lot of things, but I'm not self-righteous. Really? Really? Now I can make this statement
very confidently. If you're an unbeliever, the
greatest problem you have is self-righteousness. And I can say this with equal
confidence. If you're a believer, the greatest
problem you have is self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is the oldest
sin. It's the sin that the devil used
when he tried to tempt Eve in the garden. If you eat this fruit,
this will make you like God. It'll put you up on a higher
plane. You'll be more righteous. You'll know the difference between
good and evil, and you'll choose the good over the evil. You'll
be more righteous. What is the first thing that
Adam and Eve did after the fall? They made a self-righteous covering
of fig leaves to cover their sin. What did Adam say to God
when he confronted Him with sin? The woman you gave me. I'm not
the problem. I'm still righteous. You're the
problem. The woman you gave me, she gave me of the fruit and
I did eat. If you wouldn't have given me
that woman, this would have never taken place. What's behind all
this? Self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is the most
deadly sin. Now listen to this very carefully.
Your sin will not keep you from Christ. Your sins will not keep
you from Christ. It's your righteousness that
will keep you from Christ. That's why self-righteousness
is the most deadly sin. It's the most difficult sin to
stamp out. You think you press it down in
one place and it pops out in another. It's a multi-faced sin. I've even heard people say, well,
at least I know I'm a sinner. As if that's a righteous thing?
Well, at least I know I'm a serial killer. Does that make it okay?
It's the most difficult sin to stamp out, and it's the most
deceitful sin. John said, if we say we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves. We've told ourselves a lie and
made ourselves believe it. How deceitful is the sin of self-righteousness? And it's the most disrespectful
sin toward God and men. You know, John also said, if
we say we've not sinned, present tense, active voice with regard
to whatever we've done, if we say we've not sinned, we make
him a liar. And His Word is not in us. How disrespectful to God is this
thing of self-righteousness. And it's self-righteousness that
makes us look down our nose at other people and treat them wrong.
Self-righteousness is the sin that objects to the gospel. You
see, when the gospel declares that we're sinners, self-righteousness
doesn't believe that. Self-righteousness sees no need
of the grace of God. It sees no need of God electing
a people and Christ actually paying, completely paying for
the sins of everybody he died for. The elect and God, the Holy
Spirit coming invincibly and irresistibly and giving life
and causing them to persevere. The self-righteous spirit sees
no need of that. You know, the sin of self-righteousness
is behind our sins against our fellow man. That one who trusted
in himself that he was righteous, he despised others. He looked
down upon others. They were not as good as him.
Therefore, he could treat them in such contemptible ways. Self-righteousness is behind
prejudice and jealousy and envy and mistreatment of others. The self-righteous man always
despises others and God hates self-righteousness. These six
things doth God hate, yea, the seventh is an abomination to
him, and the first thing he mentioned is a proud look, the child of
self-righteousness. In Isaiah chapter 65 verse 3,
God described these people who say, stand by yourself, come
not near me, I am holier than thou. That's the only time the
word holier is found in the Bible. You know, people talk about,
well, I'm getting holier and holier and less sinful and less
sinful. You won't find that kind of language in scripture. The
only time somebody uses the word holier is when this person says,
I am holier than thou. And God says, these are a smoke
in my nose. They stink to God. The greatest oxymoron, the greatest
contradiction in terms that there is, is self-righteousness. Myself? Self? Sinful self? And putting righteousness
in the same breath? Self-righteousness? What? Hypocrisy. And every son of Adam
is included in this certain that the Lord spake to. He spake to
certain which trusted in themselves. that they were righteous. Now, he gives them this parable. Two men, verse 10. Two men. You know, the Bible always speaks
in terms of two men. There are two kinds of men. There
are the righteous and there are the wicked. Cain, Abel. The one thief on the cross and
the other thief on the cross, Jacob and Esau. Two men went
up into the temple to pray. There are only two kinds of men,
the righteous and the wicked. Either righteous before God,
we're talking about what God sees, not what men see, but what
God sees. Righteous or wicked. The wicked all believe themselves
to be righteous, or at least have the potential to be righteous. And the righteous all believe
themselves to be wicked. This is exemplified in these
two men that went to the temple to pray. Two men went up into
the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. Now here we have the two representative
men and we're going to hear their two prayers. We're going to find
out about the religion of the Pharisee and the religion of
the publican. But the Pharisee, what's a Pharisee? The word means separated one. They believed that there was
something they did that separated them from other men and made
them better. It was the strictest sect that
came out of Judaism. I mean, we're talking about men
who attempted meticulously to keep the law, who stood on the
street corners praying so everyone could hear them pray and hear
of their spirituality. the Pharisee, and the Publican. Now, the Publican was the most
despised man in that time. He was a Jew who was employed
by the Roman government to collect taxes for Rome. And you know
that the Jewish people hated that. But not only did he collect
taxes for Rome, he padded his own pocket with the extra money
that he would charge and take from them, and he had the backing
of the Roman government to protect him. He was a mafia-like figure
who, if you didn't pay your taxes and lie in his pockets, he could
make sure it was taken from you. He was the Bernie Madoff of his
day, robbing people and taking their money, taking their retirement.
He was a wicked man, a publican. Now these two men are polarized.
the Pharisee, the religious, moral man, the man you felt intimidated
by, the man you felt judged by, you felt like you were so far
beneath him. And then we have the publican,
the sinful, despised man. Two men went up into the temple
to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a Now, let's listen to the prayer
of the Pharisee. Verse 11. The Pharisee stood. Oh, he was confident. He stood
up. I have no doubt that he wanted
everybody to see him at this time as well. He stood, so as
to be seen, so as to be heard. Oh, he had a very high opinion
of himself. He stood. And there was a familiarity
with which he spoke to God that was unclean. He had so much confidence. God, I can hear the way he says
this. God, I thank thee. But notice what the Lord tells
us about this man. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself. He wasn't praying to God. He
thought he was. But he wasn't praying to God, he was praying
to himself. He was worshiping himself. He thought he was worshiping
God, but our Lord tells us he wasn't praying to God, he was
praying thus with himself. And listen to his language, God.
I mean the way he said it. I think of what John said, if
we say we have fellowship with him, and this Pharisee was certainly
saying that, God, I thank you that I'm not as other men are.
I'm a good guy. I'm giving you the credit, but
me and you, we're on good terms. God, I thank you. Like the man,
if we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness,
We lie and do not the truth. This man was walking in the darkness
of salvation by works of religious superstition, yet look at his
claims with regard to himself. God, I can hear him say it. I thank thee that I'm not as
other men are. Now this man was self-confident
and he believed sound doctrine. He didn't give himself the credit.
He didn't say, I thank myself that I'm not as other men are.
I don't give myself the credit for this wonderful life that
I'm living. He said, God, I thank thee. I'm
giving you the credit. I thank thee that I'm not as
other men are. But in his prayer, there is a
certain omission. He doesn't say, I thank you for
your grace. He doesn't say, I thank you for
the forgiveness of sins. He doesn't say, I thank you for
your mercy. He doesn't say, I thank you for
the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that's in him. He didn't
say, I thank you for any of his glorious attributes he didn't
thank God for. He said, I thank you that I am
not as other men are. As a matter of fact, if you go
on reading in this prayer, the word I is the biggest word in
the prayer. I thank thee that I am not as
other men are extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even as this publican.
I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. We see the star of his prayer,
I. I thank thee that I'm not as
other men are. Now, anytime your religion is
based on a comparison with others, it's gonna go bad. I thank thee
that I'm not like them. That was his confidence. I thank
thee that I'm not like them. You can always find somebody
that you think you're a little better than them. The Pharisee
certainly did. And this prayer, his confidence,
is the confidence of false religion. Look how I'm living. Look at
my life. Look at my changed life. I'm
not an extortioner. I'm not unjust. I'm not an adulterer. I don't do these things. I fast
twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess.
ground to thanking God was how God had enabled him to be such
a good person. You know, false religion, the
emphasis is what's your life say? I've even heard people say,
I'd rather see a sermon than hear one. That's such pious dribble.
The emphasis of false religion is how you're living. The way
you are assured is how good your life is. Now, let's think about
this man for a moment. He said, That fella is an extortioner,
not me. He's an adulterer, not me. He's
unjust, not me. I fast twice in the week. I give
tithes of all that I possess. Now, if what that man said was
true, that would be commendable. But the fact of the matter is,
everything he said was a lie. Now, let me back that up with
the Scripture. Romans 2, verse 1, Paul said,
"...therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that
judgest another, for thou that judgest doest the same things."
He was saying, that man's an extortioner, I'm not. Yes, he
was. He was an adulterer in his heart. He was an unjust person.
I'll guarantee you when he fasted, he disfigured his face so you
could see him doing it. If you couldn't see that, then
he'd tell you he's fasting. He did what he did to be seen
of men. He talked about how generous he was. The Lord said, don't
let your right hand know what your left hand given. He had
it in the paper, how generous he was. He wanted to make sure
everybody saw how good he was. He said, I thank you that I'm
not as other men are. And you know, when he walked
into the temple, he heard that publican and his pathetic prayer.
He said, I'm sure thankful I'm not like him. And I have no doubt
that the public had heard his prayer, and I'm sure he was intimidated
by it. He stood back in the back of
the church. Let's look at this publican in closing. Verse 13,
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, the sinner. He's so different. from this
publican. I mean, his posture, standing
afar off, not even lifting up his eyes to heaven, feeling sinful
and inadequate and isolated and unworthy, beating on his breast
because he knew his heart was the problem. He believed what
Jeremiah said when he said, the heart is desperately wicked and
deceitful above all things. Who can know it? That's why he
was beating upon his breast. And his prayer consisted of seven
words. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I guarantee you he used the Lord's
name differently than the Pharisee did. He didn't have that presumption
when he used the Lord's name. God, be merciful to me. He obviously had a different
attitude about himself. The Pharisee was congratulating
himself for how good he was. The publican said, oh, I need
mercy. If you give me what I deserve,
I'll go to hell. I need your mercy. God be merciful
to me, the sinner. In the original, the definite
article is used. This man believed himself to
be the most sinful man alive. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And that word merciful in the
original means be propitious. Be propitious. What's that word
mean? It means be a sin-removing sacrifice. I can't do anything about my
sin. I can't make it go away. I can't please you by my works. I'm ashamed of myself in every
respect. God, be propitious. Remove my
sin through the blood of your Son. I have no other plea. God,
be propitious to me, the sinner." If you're a sinner, you know
that all you do is sin because you did it. You cannot not sin
because it's you doing it. And your sin is all your fault.
You can't blame God. You can't blame your circumstances.
You can't blame the way you were raised. Your sin is all your
fault. You can't look down in judgment upon any son of Adam. You know that you're the chief
of sinners. And you know if God passed you by, he'd be right
and just in doing it. That's what a sinner is. But
listen to this. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom Paul said, I am the chief. Now, Here is prayer. God be merciful to me, the sinner. Now look what Christ says in
verse 14. I tell you, here's the Lord's
assessment of this man. And what he says is the only
thing that counts. What I say doesn't count, what
you say doesn't count. What the Pharisee said didn't
count, but what he said counts. I tell you, this man went down
to his house not forgiven, not shown mercy, not given grace. He went down to his house justified. Now, if you're justified, that
means you didn't do anything wrong. You've never sinned. You stand before God without
guilt. Now, how can that be? Because
Jesus Christ bore his sins and put them away. And he gave this
man his righteousness. So his righteousness became this
man's personal righteousness. And he stood just before God,
one who has never sinned. That's Christ's assessment. I
tell you, this man went down to his house justified. He was
delivered for our offenses, speaking of Christ on the cross, and raised
again for our justification. This man went down to his house
justified. being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation. There's that word again, a sin-removing
sacrifice through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness
for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God, to declare, I say at this time, His righteousness,
that He might be just and justify him which believeth in Jesus.
Christ declared this man to be just rather than that Pharisee,
that religious man. He went down to his house in
his sins and would spend eternity in hell, suffering the wrath
of God. And then the Lord makes this
last statement, and this is the unalterable law of the kingdom
of heaven. For everyone that exalteth himself
like this Pharisee did. Oh, how he commended himself.
I'm not an extortioner. I'm not unjust. I'm no adulterer.
I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess.
He was exalting himself. Everyone that exalts himself
shall be abased. Nebuchadnezzar said to him that
no walking pride he knoweth how to abase. And everyone that humbles
himself takes the lowest seat. His mouth is stopped. God, be
merciful to me, the sinner. He has no other plea. He humbles
himself before God and takes his place as the chief of sinners. Everyone, without exception,
that humbles itself shall be exalted, shall be saved on Judgment
Day, justified by Christ. To receive a copy of the sermon
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