Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Luke chapter 18. Luke 18. While you're turning there, I'm
going to begin reading in verse 9. But I was just thinking as
Brother Pat was reading and leading us in prayer. There's coming
a day when all men are going to stand before God. The day of judgment. Everybody's going to be there.
Everybody that's ever lived is going to be there. We'll all
be at the judgment seat of Christ. In that day, how many and the Lord only knows,
shall say, Oh my, if I had but one more time to
hear the gospel, if today wasn't today, I pray God have mercy
today. Luke chapter 18, beginning in
verse 9 through verse 14. 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. And the Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, 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 man went down
to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone
that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted." the scripture says, went to the
temple to pray and to set forth in their minds their only acceptance
before God. One of them was set forth as
declaring his own merit and his own self-righteousness The other
one pleaded no merit in himself and sought acceptance before
God totally according to God's mercy. Now, this parable, which we've
heard many times, the Lord was preaching. And as I looked at
this parable, I thought, You know, how much better could it
be for me, a preacher, than to take the Lord's outline? This was His message. This is
the message He preached. And I would do well. I would
do well to preach it. We'd all do well to hear it.
He preached in parables. That's why he told his apostles
when they asked him, why? Why do you do that? Why do you
preach in these parables and proverbs? He said, because it's
given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. And unto
them, it's not given. Not given to them. Well, here's
a parable that our Lord preached. And I want us to look at it for
just a few minutes. I want us to look at who He spoke
to. Verse 9 says, He spake this parable
unto certain that trusted in themselves that they were righteous
and despised others. And the Lord knew it. He knew
their hearts. He knew exactly what they were
thinking. They trusted in themselves and
they hated others that weren't like them. I want us to look
at the characteristic of those that trust in themselves. First
of all, according to our Lord's message, they justify themselves
in their own mind. The scripture says, He spake
this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves, that they
were righteous and despised others. The Pharisees stood as they went
up to pray, and he prayed thus with himself, And here's his characteristic.
Here's the first characteristic of one that trusts and obsesses.
I thank thee that I am not as other men. You'll notice the
word are there if you have it in italics. It's italicized.
It's not there. The are doesn't take it away,
but what he's saying is, I'm thankful that I'm not as other
men. Well, how are other men? How
are they? Well, turn over with me to Romans
chapter 3. Romans 3. Let's just find out
how other men are. How are they? I'm thankful that
I'm not, I am not as other men. Romans 3.10. Here's other men. As it is written,
There's none righteous. No, not one. There's none that
understandeth. There's none that seeketh after
God. They're all gone out of the way. They are together become
unprofitable. There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. Their throat is an open grave. It's an open sepulcher. With
their tongues, They have used deceit, deception. They are liars. The poison of asp is under their
lips. Their mouth is full of cursing
and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways. And the way of peace, the Lord
Jesus, they have not known. And there is no fear of God.
before their eyes. They don't respect God. Back
in Luke 18, this Pharisee says, I thank you God that I'm not
like other men. I'm not like they are. I'm not an extortioner. I don't take anything from anybody
unjustly. Not even their character. I'm not unjust. I'm fair. I'm not a thief. I'm fair and
I'm faithful. Not an adulterer. I'll tell you
this, I'm not a Romans 3 sinner. I'm not one. every believer I know is. But
he's not. Secondly, they justify themselves
compared to other men. They justify themselves in their
own mind, and they compare themselves to other men. I'm not, verse
11, as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican Those that trust in themselves
that they're righteous, they take the lowest form of humanity
in their mind that they can find, and then they find fault with
that lowest form to them, and say, I'll tell you what, I'm
glad I'm not like that. You don't catch me taking drugs. You're not going to catch me
doing all that stuff. But for the grace of God, there
is no depth to what any of us would think. There is no depth. You say, I'll tell you what,
I've never committed adultery. Maybe not outwardly. I'm not unjust. Maybe just hadn't
been caught. But I can tell you for a fact,
there's nobody in this room or in any other room today that's
not guilty. I'm not like that. I'm not like
that publican right there. Turn to 2 Corinthians 10. 2 Corinthians 10 verse 12. 2
Corinthians 10 verse 12. 2 Corinthians 10, verse 12, the
Apostle Paul says this, For we dare not make ourselves of the
number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves,
but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing
themselves among themselves, are not wise. A man that trusts in himself
that he's righteous, he compares himself to himself. Man, I measure
up pretty good. I haven't really found myself
doing anything wrong, to be honest with you. Third characteristic is that
they call upon the Lord. In their heart, they call upon
the Lord to bear witness to their self-righteousness. Again, back
in Luke 18, verse 11. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are. They will stand with respect
to themselves, measuring themselves by themselves, and then will
arrogantly approach God in their so-called prayer to bear witness
to the fact that they are right. In that foolish, dead heart,
they think that Almighty God is pleased with them. An unbeliever. One that trusts
in himself that he's righteous. Trusts in his works. He is convinced
in his heart that he's right before God. And he called God
to give a test to it. That the Lord would agree with
him. God, I thank You. I thank You that I'm not as other
men are. And I thank You, Lord, that You
agree with me. I thank you that I've settled this thing with
you. Fourthly, they trust all of their righteousness to be
summed up with the external. Back in verse 11. Boy, I tell
you, that verse 11, he said a whole lot exposing himself. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank You that I'm not
as other men are. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not
unjust. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not
like this publican right here. And I'll tell you what I do. I fast twice in the week. I deprive myself to make myself
to be submissive, to prove my submissiveness unto you. I fast
twice in the week and I give tithes of all that I possess. But you know the problem is that
a man doesn't see his heart. Fasting. I fast twice in the
week. Turn to Matthew 6, verse 16. Matthew 6.16. The Scripture sets forth. Matthew
6.16. Moreover, when you fast, when you deprive yourself, be not as the hypocrites of a
sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear
unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. Oh, I'm sorry if I don't look
too well this morning. I'm fasting. I'm honoring the Lord. Back in Luke 18, not only do
they fast twice in the week, but they give tithes of all they
possess. Again, in Matthew. Chapter 6,
I should have just told you to hold your finger there. Matthew
6, look at verse 1 to 4. Matthew 6, 1, take heed that
you do not your arms before men, to be seen of them. Otherwise
you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore,
when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and the streets, that they may
have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. When thou doest alms, let not
thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." Boy, that's secretive,
isn't it? that thine arms may be in secret,
that thy father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee
openly." When you do whatever you do, don't let the one on
your left hand know what your right hand is doing. It's secret. It's secret. I don't want to know, and you
don't need to know either. I know this. God's people are
faithful people. They're giving people. They give. They give faithfully, cheerfully.
They give in proportion to God's blessing. But they do it with
discretion. Don't be as the Pharisees. I'm
so glad that I'm not like this publican. I fast. I give. I'm not an extortioner. I'm fair. I'm faithful. The problem is that man that
trusts in himself does not know his heart. Matthew 23. Matthew
23, verse 25. Matthew 23, 25. Well, until you
scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, For you make clean the outside
of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion
and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse
first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside
of them may be clean also. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you are like unto whited sepulchers, which
indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's
bones and of all uncleanness. Even so, ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and
iniquity." Self-righteous Pharisees. Those
that trust themselves. The scripture says back in Luke
18, Here's the last characteristic of our Lord's message. The scripture
says, they despised others. They despised
others. They trusted in themselves that
they were righteous and gave all of their credentials and
all of their characteristics and all that they did. And here's
the last point about them. They hate all that's not like
themselves. You know who they hate? They
hate true sinners. They hate sinners. They hate
those that they say they are not like. They despise other
self-righteous Pharisees. They look down upon and have
a contemptible attitude toward all who in their mind are not
like them. sinners, do you know the most comfortable
thing that I can hear someone say? Is to admit what they really
are in themselves. I know what I am. I know what I am. I in myself, as Paul the Apostle
said, in my flesh, There dwells no good thing. Those that trust
in themselves as being righteous are in their own mind so far
above the filth of common humanity. And they have this attitude according
to Isaiah 65, 5, Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am
holier than thou. Do you want to know why God's
people are hated by the world? It's because the world says,
I'm not like you. I'm not like you. I'm not a sinner. That's one that trusted himself.
He gives all of his credentials and all of his credentials are
bound up in himself. I don't do this and I do this.
I'm not like you. I don't do what you do. I'm not
made out of the same stuff you are. And Almighty God says that
you are. Well, there was another man that
was there that day back in Luke 18. Another man that the Scripture
says was a publican. This publican, outwardly speaking,
was the exact opposite of the Pharisee. He was the Pharisee
in all of his regalia. You could tell a Pharisee by
the way he dressed. You didn't have to worry about
what he belonged to or who he was. He dressed like a Pharisee.
All of his phylacteries and his prayers. And he was a publican. He was
a tax collector. He was a Jew that worked for
the Roman government to gather taxes from other Jews. And by and large, I got to thinking
about that publican. From the accounts that we've
read of the publicans, they were unjust. Now they owed the Roman
government just, you know, X amount of taxes. Here's what you've
got to pay right here. But anything over and above that,
that was their, you know, they just kind of took a little extra
for themselves. So they were unjust. They were
extortioners. They were cheaters. They were
liars. And they were considered by the
Jews to be the most worthless Of all men. Oh, what a beautiful type of
those that the Lord Jesus Christ came to save. Christ Jesus came
into this world to save publicans. Just like this man. Just like
this man. Worthless in himself. Unjust
in himself. a liar in myself. This is me. You know Matthew and Zacchaeus,
you think about those two men, you know who they were? They
were publicans. Publicans. The Lord came, there
was Matthew sitting at the table of custom there, and he had all
of his stuff, all of his records and everything, and the Lord
walked by and said to him, follow me. Follow me. And you know what Matthew did?
He got up and left his stuff right there. Almighty God, in the day of God's
power, moved on that man's heart. You know and I know. Matthew
did not get up on his own accord. God Almighty imparted to that
man power. And in the day of God's power,
Matthew did just exactly what Zacchaeus did. Zacchaeus, a short
fellow, heard that the Lord Jesus was coming through Jericho and
got up in a sycamore tree. The only reason Zacchaeus got
up in that sycamore tree, he thought, was because he couldn't
see. A publican. A publican. And he's up in that tree. And
the Lord is walking right by, right under him. And as soon as the Lord got right
under him, he stopped. And he looked up. And he said,
Zacchaeus, come down. For today, I must abide at your
house. Oh my! Can you imagine the murmuring? He's going home with that public,
that scum, that worthless, cheating, lying scum. Do you know who the
Lord said he was? He said, this is the son of Abraham
in mercy, in grace. This is one of the Lord's own.
And I'm telling you, as soon as the Lord called him in power. You know what Zacchaeus said?
He said, Lord, I've been a cheat. I've been unjust. I'm an extortioner. He said, all that I've cheated,
I'm going to give them back fourfold. I heard Brother Henry say in
a message, Carl, I think you remember this. He said, you know
what? God saves typewads, but they
don't stay that way. He said, I'll give it back. I've
cheated them. There was a publican that was
standing, and the Scripture says this is his characteristic. We
looked at the characteristics of the Pharisee. Prayed thus
for himself. I'm not unjust. I'm not like
that publican. I'm fair. I'm fair. I'm good. I'm good. And here's the characteristics
of that publican. The Scripture says in verse 13,
and the publican, he was standing afar off. Here was one that knew that his
sin had separated between him and his God. Here's the problem. In the publican's mind and heart
that God's already done something for him. Or he'd have never had
this attitude right here. Isaiah 59, 2. But your iniquities
have separated between you and your God. Your sins has hid His
face from you that He will not hear. Here's a publican standing
afar off. And this is his attitude. And
you that know him will say the same thing. I'm the prodigal. I'm the prodigal. I'm the one. I left. I'm the one with the
bad attitude. I'm the one that's not worthy.
I'm not worthy to approach God. But then by the grace of God,
that publican right there, just like that prodigal, I love this
when he says, and he came to himself. He came to himself. How did he come to himself? God
gave him a new heart. The Lord gave him a new spirit.
He gave him a new mind. Called him by his grace, he came
to himself. The characteristic of a publican,
a spiritual publican. He's standing afar off and knows
he's the cause. He's conscious of his guilt and
his shame. Verse 13 said he would not lift
up so much as his eyes unto heaven. I deserve to look in the dirt. There's a man humbled and brought
down. He was grieved. He smote upon
his breast. This old rebellious heart is
my problem. And fourthly, he did the only
thing that he could do. He cried out for mercy. He couldn't
say, I'm not unjust. He knew he was unjust in himself. He couldn't say, I'm not an extortioner.
He knows he's an extortioner. What believer in this room today
would say, I know I'm not a sinner? Well, I can tell you this then,
the Lord didn't come to save you, because He came to save
sinners. Sinners. God, before you listen to this
prayer, here's this whole prayer right here. Here's this whole
prayer. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. God the Father. Lord, You who are the electing
God. Lord, You who chose me in Christ
before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1.4. Lord, You
who elected, chose, selected, set Your affection upon me. God
the Son. You who are the redeeming God,
Lord, You that lay down Your life for the sheep. God, You
the Holy Spirit, in regenerating grace, have called me out of
darkness and sealed me by Your power and grace, robed me in
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, the only
hope that I have is if you have mercy on me. I have nothing to
offer you. I have nothing to offer you. Lord, be propitious to me. It says mercy. Be propitious. Lord, the only way that you can
show mercy to this sinner is if you have been justly satisfied. Lord, if your law has been honored
on my behalf, Lord, if I stand in Christ, and
He is my federal head, and His righteousness has been imputed
to me, not my righteousness. I don't want to talk about my
righteousness. My righteousness is His filthy rags. That's my
righteousness. That will never be accepted by
God. Lord, His righteousness to this
sinner is all of my holiness before You. Lord, have mercy
on me. And the only way that You can
have mercy upon me is if my guilt has been born in the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's 2 Corinthians 5.21. He hath made him sin for me. He who knew no sin, that hanging upon that cross,
the only way that you'd have mercy on me is if my sin has
been forever paid for. The debt has been put away in
the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, if He's paid
my debt, if He is my righteousness, that righteousness is imputed
to me, Lord, then You can justly... Lord, You who are faithful and
just to forgive sin. God, be merciful to me. This is the attitude of a believer. This is the attitude of a man,
a woman that Almighty God has called out of darkness. They
know in whom they stand. They know that there is therefore
now no condemnation to them that be in Christ Jesus. And they
know that in their flesh There dwells no good thing. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6.10,
as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. Jonathan Edwards, in closing,
I read something that he wrote. He said, when I look into my
heart and take a view, of its wickedness. It looks like an
abyss infinitely deeper than hell. A believer, a spiritual publican,
is one that knows what he is in himself. And he sees in himself that in
his flesh there is no good thing. And by the grace of God, he will
not stand before God and justify himself. He will not, by the
grace of God, trust in himself. He's got one hope. The way, the
truth, and the life. And he knows that being found
in Christ was not of my own doing. But of God are ye in Christ Jesus."
The Lord puts His people there. I don't look to my will because
my will is not free. My will is not free. My will
is bound up in trespasses and sin. I'm a sinner. And if I have any hope before
God, is that God Almighty chose to show mercy to me and did it
before the foundation of the world. That publican cried out,
God, have mercy. Have mercy upon me. And the Lord
said, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other. For everyone that exalteth himself
shall be abased, And he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Lord, for Christ's sake, have
mercy on me.