Now there are a number of passages
that could easily serve to pursue the title of our message this morning,
and that title is, The Damning Sin of Self-Righteousness. Of all the things that keeps
people from coming to Christ, the greatest number, an unbelievable
number, are people who believe they are already righteous for
one reason or another, And they're willing to stand before God on
the day of judgment. That's going to be a sad day.
Reminds you of those people in Matthew 7, like verses 21 through
23, that our Lord drew a picture of who would stand before Him
on judgment day, for Christ is the judge. And they begin to
rehearse in his ears the things that they've done in his name,
and how well they've served him in this world, and they've fought
evil and the devil and this, that and the other. Fought abortions
and all other kinds of social issues that today's church is
addressing itself to, and they've forgotten who God is. That ain't a nickel's worth of
good. Not any good. Our Lord said to them after they
recited to Him all that they had done in His name, He said,
Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you. Now, if Christ doesn't know us,
we do not belong to Him, at least not yet. Thankfully, that may
change in time as it passes, And then again, it may not. If
we are hardened at a younger age to the gospel, then it may
be that we'll never, ever tolerate this message again. And therefore,
we leave Christ. Alright, it's very simple here
in Luke chapter 18. And I need to narrow these verses
down so I'll go immediately to this parable. They're like two parables back to back in
this chapter. Beginning at verse 9 is this
parable concerning the Pharisee and the publican in worship. Now publicans, though not always
the case, the publicans, most of whom seem to be tax collectors
for the Romans at this point in time in history. And so they
were incredibly, incredibly hated. because of this chosen occupation,
which seems to be the case that they could easily pad the amount
people had to pay for one thing or another to the Roman government,
and it left quite a bit of money for them. And Matthew, who wrote
Matthew's Gospel, was a publican and a tax collector. And so is
this man whom we encounter now in verses 9 through 14. Now, when you make up a story,
here it's called a parable. It is a story that teaches. It
has people in it who represent real people. So our Lord can
put in this parable anything He wants to put. And he certainly
doesn't lack in knowledge. He's the essence of knowledge.
He doesn't lack in wisdom. He's eternally wise. Cannot be
anything else but wise. And so forth. So it says that
our Lord Jesus spoke this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves
that they were righteous and despised others. This parable
is directed toward self-righteous Pharisees, a tribe, by the way,
to which we all are born into when we come into this world. Oh, preacher, that ain't fair.
Well, that's what the book says. In Adam, we all died. I do not have the time this morning
to go back over the ground as to why Adam, being our federal
head and representative, enables God to be just and still justify
and save people like you and me who are absolutely nothing
but sinners. Sinners are good things as far
as the gospel is concerned. The gospel addresses itself to
sinners, and nobody else is interested in the gospel except sinners. And they are not interested until
God begins to shake their tree, so to speak, like Christ did
the sycamore tree in Luke chapter 19 when Zacchaeus was up there
and our Lord walked to that spot and He stopped and looked up.
He said, Zacchaeus, come down. I'm going to your house today.
And before the day is over, the man is converted and a follower
of our Lord Jesus Christ. All right, let me see if I can
get this. I ain't even going to get read. And he spoke this parable
unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous. So
how come a preacher can say, you know, there's no such critter
as being righteous? simply because there aren't any,
and the only people who are sinners in their own sight are people
whom God has saved by His grace in Christ. And not only that
they were righteous, but that they despised others. And here
we have a prime example of that. 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. Now let's look carefully at what
he prayed. He didn't ask God for anything. He told God what he had been
doing for him, and he was so proud of it. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself. God, I thank you I'm 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 that's the end of his prayer.
He doesn't need anything. He's already earned everything,
and he's on his way to heaven. He thinks. He thinks. And the publican. When I see this statement standing
afar off, I think the Pharisee went all the way down to the
front, you know, like Baptists do to a, they call this an altar,
but it ain't one. But we used to flock to them,
didn't we? Boo-hooing and crying and everything
else. That is totally false. Totally
false. It's a false gospel and a false
God. This publican stood afar off. He would not lift up so much
as his eyes unto heaven. Now, how do we know these words
are right in describing these two men? Because they are the
words of Him who is the absolute truth and nothing but the truth,
so help me God. Would not so much as lift up
his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God,
be merciful to me, a sinner. And several writers that I've
read on that statement say that a sinner is not a good translation. It is, I am the sinner of all
sinners, would be more closely aligned to what is actually meant
in the original language, at least the best I can tell. God
be merciful to me, the sinner who has no other hope except
God's mercy in Christ. And now our Lord gives an assessment
of his parable. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified, declared righteous in God's sight, justified
rather than the other. For every one that exalts himself
shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be
exalted." Now God is in the humbling business. And if he isn't, if
he wasn't, we would have no hope whatsoever. So there we have
it. Now the first thing I want to
do, I've got more notes than I wish I had, but I've got to
cover this page. That's all there are to it. So
the damning sin of self-righteousness. All of Adam's race by nature
are self-righteous. We're born in this condition.
And everybody and his brother is lining our paths as we begin
our journey in this world to help this alone. They tell the
little children, before they're out of diapers, say, I love Jesus. That's downright criminal. They
have no clue what they're saying. But if we can get them to swallow
some of these religious phrases and statements, they'll come
out better on the other end. Yeah, they'll come out Pharisees.
If that's what you want, that's what we're going to get. They're
going to be Pharisees anyway if God doesn't prevent it. You
understand? We don't come to grace just by
accident. Oh, there's some things going
on a long time before we ever know what's going on. The Lord Jesus condemns this
prayer of the Pharisee, and here's why. You can find that covered
in verses 11 and 12, but we don't have time to go back and read
that again. I can't read as fast as most folks because I've got
to say something about what I'm reading. But here's what the
Lord Jesus condemns this man for, just one thing. It wasn't
how he was dressed. It wasn't where he was in the
temple. It wasn't how loud or how soft he prayed. None of those
things had anything to do with it. It is simply because this
man had no sense of sin, nor of needing a Savior. He's content
to trust himself and his own works and doings. And in the whole of the Old Testament,
there ain't another group anywhere that can measure up to the despicableness
and awfulness of this people called Pharisees. But the problem
is there's a lot of people in that same tribe that, you know,
somehow they escape notice and that's how we are. We're born
Pharisees. The third thing about this prayer
on the part of the publican, in contrast to the Pharisee,
now you have this in verses 13 and 14. The first thing is, this
is a genuine, real petition. This old bird is not playing
games. He's not trying to impress that
Pharisee down yonder front. He won't even lift up so much
as lift up his eyes to heaven. This man makes a direct, personal
prayer to God. He's not praying for men to hear,
but he's praying to God. And he ain't bragging. He's begging. And we're beggars. And the only
people God lets in His door are beggars. The only people invited
to the wedding feast are people who need Christ. and righteousness
and a robe of righteousness. This man's not bragging, he's
begging. The third thing is that this
is an humble prayer, a word that many people use and may consider
themselves to be, but it ain't so until God saves your soul.
We're as proud as a peacock. And we get worse the older we
get. This man's prayer put him in
the dust before God. He confessed himself a sinner, and these things that are in
his prayer are the ABCs of true religion. This is how people
talk when God saves them. They are not seeking the glory,
they are giving it all to him. Now what is the overriding one
word that describes this publican in the temple? It is the word mercy. Mercy. How did he put it? God, be merciful
to me, the center of all sinners. He wanted mercy. He didn't want
justice. Now, if you go to a court of
law in America, especially in North Carolina, and more especially
in Harnett County, don't go expecting justice too much. You're going
to be disappointed. We've got the crookedest legal
system this world has ever witnessed. The truth is not welcome in most
places. This man begged God to have mercy
on himself. And according to our Lord's own
statement, these words came from this man's
heart. And our Lord said, you know,
how did he put it in verse 15? I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified, just as if he had never been a sinner. For now he's a saint, because
he's in Christ. And that's how it is with ourselves. This man's prayer came from his
heart. Now there's one other thing for
this particular moment. Don't get too excited, I'm not
finished by any means. But I cannot say enough about
what this statement and others like it in our Bibles have to
say about humility. Humility is one of the most difficult
things to define. The very moment a man says, I'm
humble, he's already lost his humility. Does that make any
sense to you? Humility is as scarce as hen's
teeth. You just don't find it anywhere.
It's of God's own making and of God's own giving. And that
making and that giving is in our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's
read this 14th verse again. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other, for every one
that exalts himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself
shall be exalted." Now, that's as plain as words
can say it. If you're past the first grade,
you understand that. Some of you before then, I imagine.
But it's just a wonderful truth. It is wonderful indeed. Now let's take, since we've got
a little bit of time, well, I've got more time than I thought,
but I'll make you a deal. If I get through, I ain't going
to drag on and on just to make it to 12 o'clock. The last time
I checked, I wasn't getting paid by the hour anyway. So how about
let's turn into the book of Matthew, and let's work on this. sin of
self-righteousness. And I called it the damning sin
of self-righteousness. You can't be too poor in spiritual
things, but you can be too rich. In Matthew chapter 23, we have a very good representation of
what this sin of self-righteousness is. Matthew 23, we read verses
5 through 12, and there's plenty more that
we could read, and we will turn to some, but not nearly all of
them. But all their works, our Lord is giving here the marks
of a Pharisee. All their works they do to be
seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries. These are little religious symbols
and signs and short statements out of the scripture that these
people decorated their outer garments with. Some people even
wore them right in the middle of their forehead. And, you know,
shucks, if they had a tattoo in it, there ain't no telling,
you know, what kind of advertisement they would make going down the
street. All their works they do to be
seen of men. 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 market. Oh, Reverend, how are you doing
today? And to be called of men, Rabbi,
Rabbi. Be not you called Rabbi, for
one is your master, even Christ. and all you are brethren. And
call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your father
who is in heaven. Neither be you called masters,
for one is your master, even Christ. But he that is greatest
among you shall be your servant, and whosoever shall exalt himself
shall be a base. And he that shall humble himself
shall be exalted. So this sin of self-righteousness
has everything to do with being righteous in God's sight through
the precious blood and life and death of our Lord Jesus. Let's
take another scripture, please. I'm going to Philippians. You
don't have to turn if you don't want to. I'm going to Philippians
chapter 3. Philippians 3. Now you could interview in the
Bible, at least a few times, not frequently by any means,
you could interview this man that we are now fixing to read
his words in Philippians chapter 3. He is now called the Apostle
Paul. But prior to this, and prominently
in view in Acts chapter 7, he is the supervisor of those that
stoned Stephen to death. And he left there that day as
proud as a peacock and he says, man, I've won it. Let me go get
some more Christians and throw them in prison and kill them
if I get the chance. But that man from that moment
on was a walking dead man. And he's on the road to Damascus,
going to arrest more believers. And the Lord Jesus Christ unhorses
him, and he's falling in that desert sand, crying, Lord, Lord, what would you have me to do?
He's already given up. He's already surrendered. He heard more gospel when Stephen
preached in Acts 7, probably than he's ever heard his whole
life before that. And what a changed man he is,
indeed. All right, let's read this man's
account. Paul. We'll call him Paul now,
if it's all right with you. Philippians 3. Finally, my brethren,
rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you,
he's writing to the church at Philippi, to write the same things
to you, to me is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware
of dogs. And that ain't collies and whatever
breed of dog that is your favorite or your worst enemy, whichever
it is. He's not talking about literal
dogs. He's talking about religious
dogs. And they come in all breeds and
sizes and kinds. Some of them are Baptist, and
some of them Methodist, and some Presbyterian, and some Catholic,
and some this and that and the other. Beware of dogs, beware of evil
workers, beware of the concision. referring to those Jews that
were demanding that Gentile converts to Christ had to be circumcised,
which is certainly not the case. And it's a big issue with Paul
and Peter when they were at Antioch in Pisidia, I believe it is,
in Acts chapter 16, something like that. For we are the circumcision,
verse 3, who worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ
Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might
also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man think that he
has whereof he might trust in the flesh, referring to his days
as a Pharisee, I more circumcise the eighth day, that's when God
commanded Abraham for that to begin. Circumcised the eighth
day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe
of Benjamin and Hebrew of the Hebrews. as touching the law of Pharisee
concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness
which is in the law, blameless, without fault, perfect. But what things? I wish I could
enlarge that but, B-U-T, about a dozen times, because it needs
to jump out at us. But what things were gained to
me? The things that I prided myself
on. The things that put me to the
top of my class in my old religion. What things were gained to me?
Those I counted lost for Christ. What does he mean? He can't keep his rank as a Pharisee
and be accepted of them and have anything to do with the Lord
Jesus. It's all Christ, or it ain't no Christ at all. Let's go to verse 7 again. But
what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Now there the word count is in
the past tense. But the next statement about
it is in the present tense. Yea, doubtless, I not only did
count everything lost for the excellency, I count all
things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. for whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, and do count them but dung, manure, that I
may win Christ." Now, this ain't no lottery winning Christ. That
is, that he might gain Him, that Christ might truly be His. Verse 9, "...and be found in
Him not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that righteousness which
is of the law, no longer having that righteousness, but rather
a righteousness in the last phrase of verse 9,
but that which is through the faith of Christ. Now, there are statements in
our Bible that talk about faith in Christ, but this ain't one
of them. This is the faith of Christ. If we have even an ounce
of faith, we got it from our Lord Jesus Christ. He's our benefactor. the righteousness which is of
God by faith. What a statement! Now, I want to go to the book
of Romans just briefly, if you can believe that. Romans 10. Romans 10, verses 3 and 4. For they, Paul is referring now
to his zeal for the Jews that they might become believers in
Christ, and here he describes them, and certainly this man
How many years when Romans was written, probably twenty-some
years after he was delivered from being the chief member of
the Pharisees in the Jewish tribe, now he is talking about their
need for Christ and how this gospel is designed to save people
just like himself. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going
about to establish their own righteousness. Now that statement
is universally true to this hour, no matter who it is. If it's
my children are yours, my mom and dad are yours, my brothers
and sisters are yours. This is a universal statement. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness. Look what they do. Look what
we did. Or look what we're still doing.
But have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. These people, if it costs them
their life, their livelihood, their everything, They would
not own the Lord Jesus to be their King, their Sovereign,
their God. But I promise you one thing,
you will or you'll perish, and so will I. If Christ ain't everything,
He's not anything. Have not submitted themselves
to the righteousness of God. Now, the only righteousness of
God to which we can submit ourselves is gospel righteousness in our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's read just a little
bit more. One more verse. For Christ is the end. Preachers debate that word. Well,
what does this mean? Well, you dummy, it means exactly
what it says. It means end. This is the end
of the road, the end of the search. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believes. No exceptions
whatsoever. No exceptions. Alright, one more. If I don't change my mind, just
one more text. John chapter 16. And John chapter 16, the Lord
Jesus is informing his disciples, the apostles, that he was getting
ready to leave them and to leave this world and go back to glory. But he's promising to send them
God the Holy Spirit. to take his place and to manifest
himself to these men and to give them the power and wisdom and
fortitude and pure old guts to preach the gospel no matter who's
listening. Let's start at verse 8, and we'll
read 8, 9, 10, and 11. Now, you've heard this before,
but I've got to say it again. Nevertheless, I tell you the
truth, it is expedient for you that I go away. It's good for
you if I go back to heaven and send the Holy Spirit in my place. will not come unto you, but if
I depart, I will send him unto you." So sending God the Holy
Spirit into this world is the business and work of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and He promises His disciples that He will send
Him. Now verse 8, and when He has come, when the Holy Spirit
has come, whether then or now, He will reprove the world of
three things. Number one is sin. Sin. You remember the Pharisee's prayer? He didn't mention a single sin.
He had no need for forgiveness. He's already perfect. He's righteous
in his own sight. He'll reprove the world of sin.
and of righteousness and of judgment. Now, let's look at these three
words, sin, righteousness, and judgment. The first one is what? Sin. We all know what that's about,
don't we? We're all sinners. Now, you may not agree with me,
and you've probably got plenty of support from others not to
believe me, but I take this statement in verse 9, which says, of sin,
because they believe not on me. I think the Lord Jesus is putting
a premium on the sin of unbelief. And I do know this, if you're
still an unbeliever on judgment day, it's too late. I personally believe that unbelief
is the sin for which there is no remedy when persisted in and
going to the end of one's life or to the end of the world, whichever
turns out to be first. The Lord Jesus is not here now. He sent the Holy Spirit. So the
first thing the Holy Spirit is to convince and convict this
world of is of what sin is, and the primary example of that is
not believing and trusting Christ. Oh, preacher, I'll get around
to it when I get old. You may not get old. And we ought to know by now,
especially those that are here right this minute, we ought to
know that Christ is our righteousness. He's the only righteousness there
is. We've covered that ground, I know, this morning. But he
says it is of righteousness because I go to my Father. Do you know why? The Holy Spirit
has to come and deal with the subject of righteousness. because
the only righteous man ever to wear human flesh is in glory. We loved him so well when he
was down here, we crucified him. Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father and you no longer have my example, you see me no
more. Verse 11, the third word is judgment. Because the prince of this world,
now do you know who that is? It's the devil, it's Lucifer,
it's Satan, whatever you want to call him. Same person. Because
the devil is judged. When was he judged? At Calvary. My, my, my. Now let's go back to our course
books again.