We turn back to Luke chapter
18. I have a certain fear. Coming into this message for
both myself and for you. I fear. Agreeing. With the doctrine of this passage
of scripture. And not praying. God be merciful
to me, the sinner. I've entitled this message, A Definitive Parable. A Definitive Parable. This parable can be used as a
summary of the entire message of the Bible. A definitive parable. Now this book we call the Bible
claims inspiration. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. God breathed. Each word said exactly as God
would have it said. Now in this book, God tells us
who he is and what he is like. That's the purpose of the scriptures
to tell us who he is and what he is like. And let me say this.
There is nobody and nothing like him. He is utterly unique. I want to read you a passage
from Isaiah chapter 45. This is God speaking. And he
says, I am the Lord and there is none else. There is no God
beside me. I go to thee though thou has
not known me. That they may know from the rising
of the sun and from the West, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord and there is none
else. I form the light. I create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. He says in Isaiah chapter 46
verse 9, remember the former things of old for I am God and
there is none else. I am God and there is none like
me. There are some things we can
know about God without the Bible. Creation. tells us that someone all-powerful
made all of this. Every effect must have a cause. Someone made all this, and no
one made him. There's a law of physics, Every effect must have a cause.
An illustration, if a ball is moving, there was some power
exerted on that ball to create that motion. And if something
is at rest and starts moving, some kind of power had to begin
that. This is only sense. Somebody made all of this. And no one made him. But there are things about God
we could not possibly know without this written revelation. For instance, is God just? Will God forgive sin? There are many things with regard
to the character of God we cannot know without this written revelation. Now the Bible is not a science
book, although one of these days science will catch up. But the Bible does give us his
character and there is nothing that spells out his character
more clearly than verse 13 of our text. or rather verse 14, the Lord's
conclusion. I tell you, the Lord spake with authority.
I love it when he says, I tell you. This is not some mere man
giving his opinion. This is he who created the universe,
who cannot lie. He says, I tell you, this man
who by his own confession was a sinner, This man went down
to his house, justified. You know what that
means? He went down to his house, having
never sinned. That's what justification means.
By his own confession, he was a sinner. And yet he went down
to his house having never sinned. That's what the Lord said regarding
this man. How can that be? How can God
be just and justify someone who is intrinsically and inherently
unjust? How can God do that? Do you know
every attribute of God is revealed in how he can be just and justify
somebody like this poor, self-condemned publican? How can God be just
and justify a man like this? Short answer, the cross. The cross. Every attribute of God is displayed
in the cross. God created the universe for
the cross. And the cross is the most God-like
thing God ever did. And I say that with fear, but
believe in it. When the Lord said this man went
down to his house justified, He gives us no comment as to
how that could take place. I mean, by his own admission,
he was a sinner. And yet the Lord says he went
down to his house justified. He gives us no comment as to
how that took place. And he uses the entire Bible
to answer that question. This truly is a definitive parable. What I think is interesting is
this question. How can God be just and justify
somebody like this, this wicked man? He was a publican. He was
a tax collector, a Jew employed by the Roman government to collect
taxes, and he would add on to the bill and make himself rich
at the expense of his brethren. He was a wicked man. He was an
unjust man. He was a sinful man. Yet, Jesus
Christ says with regard to this man, he went down to his house
justified, having never sinned. How? You know, I think this is
interesting. You know, people talk about the
world's religions, comparative religions. There's even classes
in college, comparative religions. You can't compare the gospel
with some other religion because they don't even deal with this
question. How can God be just and justify
somebody like me? Muslims don't deal with that.
Hindus don't deal with that. Any other religion doesn't deal
with that. Only the gospel. Now this parable gives us two
representative men. Look 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. These men both had some awareness
of their need to pray. their need of God. Two men went
up into the temple to pray. Now, these two men represent
the two different kinds of men that are walking on the face
of this earth right now. The two different kinds of men
that are in this room right now. There's only two. One is someone
who trusts in himself that he is righteous. The other man is the man who
trusts Christ as his only righteousness. Two men. Self-righteousness. This is the
grand delusion. This is the grand deception.
This is the greatest oxymoron in the world. Self-righteousness. Blaise Pascal, the 17th century
French mathematician and physicist, made this observation. There
are two kinds of people in this world. You've heard me quote
this many times. Maybe for the first time you'll
hear it. There are two kinds of people in this world, the
righteous and the wicked. All of the righteous without
exception believe themselves to be wicked and all of the wicked
without exception. believe themselves to be righteous,
or at least have the potential to be righteous. These two men are described in
our text. Verse nine, and he spake this
parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were
righteous and despised others. Now this is a message to all
men, me and you. No one is excluded from this
demographic. This is the religion of all of
us by nature, the religion of the Pharisee. The Pharisee is
very alive and well today, and he is in this room. the religion of the Pharisee. This is my and your natural religion. If you have any personal righteousness
in yourself, that's self-righteousness. And do you know self-righteousness
will keep you out of heaven? Hear that? Self-righteousness. is what will keep you out of
heaven. And what always attends self-righteousness,
being judgmental and critical of others. It goes along with
it. If I am self-righteous, you know
what? I'm going to be critical of you.
I'm going to judge you. I'm going to see all the problems
that you have. I can always find someone that
I can believe myself to be better than, superior to. Self-righteousness. Believing yourself to be a cut
above somebody else. Verse 10. Two men. went up into the temple
to pray. They both saw their need of God. They both saw their need to pray. Two men went up into the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee. The word Pharisee means separated
one. They believed that something
that they did separated them from other men. One a Pharisee,
the other a publican. I don't need to go into detail
about what a Pharisee and what a publican was. A Pharisee was
a very moral, very religious man. The publican was a tax collector
for the Roman government and he would add to the tax to make
himself rich. Remember, Zacchaeus was very
rich, the scripture said. And he was rich at the expense
of the other Jews. A publican was a dishonest, sinful,
immoral, hated man. The Pharisee and the publican. Verse 11, the Pharisee stood and prayed, here's our Lord's comment on
his prayer, thus with himself. You know, there's so much in
the scriptures. It's so awesome. And the Lord says so much when
he says regarding this Pharisee, he prayed thus with himself.
You know what that means? He didn't have God's ear. He
thought he did, but he did not have the ear of God, not by way
of favor. Oh, the Lord heard exactly what
he said, but he didn't have God's ear. He didn't have God's favor. I want us to notice how many
times he uses the word I. Here's his religion. 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. Do you see how many times I is
mentioned in his prayer? He stood He was a confident man. He stood. God, I thank thee. You know,
this man was reformed. He wasn't going to give his flesh
the credit. He was far too humble to do that.
I'm giving God the credit for my wonderful, glorious life.
Far be it for me to try to give myself the credit for this wonderful
life that I'm living. God, I thank thee. He gave God
the credit. He was one of those people who
would see somebody and he'd say, there go I, but for the grace
of God. But I'm different. I thank thee that I am not as
other men are. Now I want you to notice what
he did not mention. I thank thee for your grace. I thank you for mercy. I thank
you for the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that's in Him. We have no confession of sin
here, but a celebration of His life as was compared to other
men. You'll find His assurance was
found in what He did. and did not do. Now let me ask you a question. Is your assurance found because
of what you do or because of what you do not do? Ask yourself that question. That
is a works-based assurance. That is the assurance of this
Pharisee. God, I thank Thee that I'm not
as other men are. I'm not an extortioner claiming
for myself that which really does not belong to me and making
it mine. I'm not that. I'm not unjust. I'm not a lawbreaker. I'm certainly
not an adulterer. I've remained faithful to my
spouse and I'm certainly not like this pathetic publican back
in the back of the temple. I fast twice in the week. I deny
myself. I pay tithes of all that I possess.
I bet a lot of churches like to have this guy as a church
member. Wow, what a resume! Nobody likes this man but himself. This man has no true understanding
of sin. If he did, he wouldn't say these
things. He'd say, I am unjust. I am an
extortioner. I am an adulterer. but he pats
himself on the back. God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are. You know, when you're around
him, you can feel him sizing you up, can't you? I thank you
that I'm not as other men are. Well, let's leave this man for
a moment. You know who he is, don't you? You know who he is. He's very close to you, isn't
he? Yes, he's a hypocrite. Yes, he's me and you. The Pharisee. The Pharisee. Everybody I'm looking
at, beginning right here with myself this morning, this is
our natural bent. This is our natural religion.
That of the Pharisee. You don't have to look at the
person beside you and think, but they're Pharisees. Me and
you are the Pharisees. Verse 13 and the publican notice his posture. standing afar off. Unlike the Pharisee, who I have
no doubt was up in the front of the temple, he stood afar
off. He believed himself to be utterly
unfit, utterly unqualified, utterly inadequate. I think of Peter when the Lord
made himself known to Peter. What was Peter's cry? Depart
from me, Lord. You don't want to be around anyone
like me. I am a sinful, full of sin. I am a sinful man. Evidently, the Pharisee had lifted
up his eyes to heaven. God, I thank thee. The publican
wouldn't do that. He would not, verse 13, lift
up so much as his eyes unto heaven. But he smote upon his breast. He knew where his problem was,
his heart. The heart, Jeremiah says, is
desperately wicked, deceitful above all things. That word desperate
means incurable. Incurable. You've got a heart. I've got a heart. The publican
had a heart. that was essentially bad. He's got a good heart. No, he
doesn't. No, he doesn't. My mom's got a good heart. No,
she doesn't. My grandma's got a good heart. No, she doesn't.
No, she doesn't. There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. And God saw the wickedness of
man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the
thought of his heart was only evil continually. That's what
this publican believed with regard to himself. His prayer is so different than
that of the Pharisee. God be merciful. To me, now in our King James,
it says a sinner, but do you know in the original, the definite
article is used. God be merciful to me, the sinner. Not just a sinner, but the sinner. Now, before we go on, what is
meant by being a sinner? Well, the sinner is the one who
commits the sins. That seems easy enough, but I
want to remind you, God doesn't put sins into hell. He puts the
ones who committed those sins into hell. The sinner is the
one who commits the sins. If you would interview this man
about his condition, he would say, I am a sinner. And he wouldn't be saying that
by way of compliment or way of simple, well, in everybody. He would say, I am the sinner. If I would say I have no sin,
it would be an act of deception. I have a nature that's always
sinful all the time. Everything I do is the commission
of sin. I've not kept one commandment
one time. Let me repeat that. Take the 10 commandments. I've
not kept one commandment one time. Everything I do is the commission
of sin because I did it. If we say we've not sinned with
regard to anything, 1 John 1, 10, if we say we've not sinned,
we make him a liar. He says we have. Let me tell you something else
about my sin. When we interview this man, He says, I can't, I'm
not like Adam. I can't blame God for my sin.
The woman that you gave me, she gave me the fruit and I did eat.
If you hadn't given me that woman, it wouldn't have taken place.
No, I can't be like Adam and shift the blame. My sin is all
my fault. And because of my sin, what I
am, the sinner, I genuinely cannot sit in judgment on any human
being with regard to any thing. I've got no claims on God because
of my sin. If God sent me to hell, if God
gave me no mercy, if God cut me off and let me burn in hell
forever, I got no claims on God. He's just, he's righteous. He's holy. I want us to notice what this
man asks for. It's interesting. The Pharisee, he didn't really
ask for anything. He just thanked God for how good
he was. I'm far too humble to give myself
the credit, but look what this man asked God for. The publican, verse 13, 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, thee sinner. Be merciful to me. Do not give
me what I deserve, because if you give me what I deserve, I
will be cut off. Show me mercy. But do you know in the original,
that word mercy, God be merciful to me, is actually God be propitious
to me. The sinner. You know what he's
asking? God do something about my sin. I can't do anything about my
sin. I can't make it go away. I can't
make it be gone. I'm asking you to do something
about my sin. Be propitious. Now that word
is taken from the word propitiation. It means a sin removing sacrifice. That is what the Lord Jesus Christ
is. He is a sin removing sacrifice. He was manifested to take away
our sins. In Him is no sin. The only way I can be without
sin is if I'm in Him. Lord, do something about my sin. Take it away through the propitiation
of Christ, through His propitiatory sacrifice. I believe that His
sacrifice is all that's needed to make me clean before You.
Oh, do something about my sin. Now, if I'm a sinner, like this
man was, I know that my only hope is for God himself to do
something about my sin. For he, God, here's what he did. For he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. God be propitious to me the sinner. Now we have the word of divine
authority. I tell you. This is the word of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is not man-made doctrine. This is the word of
the Lord Jesus Christ. I tell you. Oh, he spake as one
having authority, not like the scribes. I tell you. That this man, this self condemned
man went down to his house, not forgiven, not pardoned, not having been
shown mercy. Although all those things were
true concerning this man, weren't they? But that's not the word
the Lord used. This man went down to his house
justified. And let me tell you exactly what
that means. That means he went down to his house having never
sinned without guilt. Having never seen
justified. Now, how can this be by his own
admission? He was a sinner. And this is
not what somebody else said about him, but what he said about himself,
God be merciful to me, the sinner. And Christ says he went down
to his house, justified having never seen. And that describes
every believer. You see, if God saves you, you
know what you've been given a new history. And that history is
being one who has never seen. That's what justification is.
He said, behold, I make all things new. How can God be just and justify
the ungodly is a declaration of God's attributes. Remember
how I said this is the, or a definitive parable, a definitive parable. Well, all God is, is seen in
how he has found the way to be absolutely just and declare somebody
like this miserable publican justified, sinless. His wisdom,
God's wisdom in making a way to do this, his justice in punishing
all sin and yet his justice declares I must be accepted. His power
to put away my sin. His sovereignty. We have these
two men, one man, God saved the other man and he passed by. You
can't ignore that. Two men. His love, his mercy, his grace,
his love to sinners. Don't you love the way the Lord
is called the friend of publicans and sinners. You see the gospel
we believe is the sinner's religion. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. Now, let me tell you this about
justification. It's an act of God. It's not
something you accept. It's something God declares you
to be. He doesn't say, it's up to you. Do you want to be accepted
or condemned? Make your choice. No, no, it doesn't work that
way at all, does it? It's a declaration of God. Who is he that condemneth? It
is God that justifieth. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's an act of His grace. You
know that if you're justified, being justified freely by His
grace. Justification comes for this
one reason, the blood. the shed blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, Romans 5, 9, being justified by his blood. Justification by faith. Therefore
being justified by faith. By reliance on who he is and
what he did as our righteousness before God. Remember the two
kinds of men. Men who believe themselves to be righteous and
men who believe that Jesus Christ is their only righteousness before
God. Which one are you? You can answer that question
right now. Which one are you? And the Lord closes this glorious
parable with what we could call the unalterable law of the kingdom
of heaven. Here it is. Four. Now this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other. That religious
man who had such a high opinion of himself, he went down to his
house unjustified, condemned in his sins. He's going to spend
eternity under the condemnation of God. And he ends with this statement,
everyone, there are no exceptions to this. Everyone that exalts
himself. And that's what this Pharisee
was doing, exalting himself. I love that scripture. Them that
walk in pride, he knoweth how to abase. Everyone that exalts
himself shall be abased. And God's the one that's gonna
be doing the abasing. And he that humbleth himself Like this publican, he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted. He's going to spend eternity
perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Now in this
blessed parable, we're really given the message of the entire
Bible, aren't we? a definitive parable. Let's pray. Lord, will you give each one
of us the grace to take our place with the publican Crying God be propitious. Do something about my sin. Take
it away through the blood of the sun. So I stand before you
without guilt. Give every one of us the grace
even now by your grace to take our place with this man. Crying
God be propitious to me the center. And Lord, let us hear the words
of your sovereign authority, what you said regarding this
man. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified,
rather than the other. Lord, deliver us from exalting
ourselves, but give us the grace to humble ourselves under thy
mighty hand, looking to thy son alone. In his name we pray. Amen. Dwayne,
come listen, I'm closing in.