Luke chapter 18, and our text
is going to be verses 9 to 14. Let's read those again. 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 Republican. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus within himself, God, I thank thee that
I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterous, 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." Verse 9 says, He spake this parable
unto certain which trusted themselves. The Lord wrote this unto certain
who believed that they were doers of good. They trusted in themselves
that they were righteous. They believed that they were
doers of good, doers of right, and that their doing good and
living right would earn them a place in heaven. That's who
he was talking to. It says, he spake this parable
unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous
and despised others. I hope the Lord will bless us.
I hope the Lord will send His Spirit. Without Christ and His
love, I can do nothing. I can't preach. We can't hear. And we need Him. They despised others. They didn't
love others. If a person is honest, every
one of us is familiar with self-righteousness, pride. And it's sad because the
only thing that that produces is despising others. I do it
right and you do it wrong. And I can do it better when I
can't. I can't. He spake this parable
unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous
and despised others." Verse 10 says, "...two men went up into
the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican." Now
I want to read something to you. Every now and then I'll look
up words in the back of my Bible. There's a dictionary in the back
of the Bible. And in the back it says, Pharisees, a religious
party among the Jews. The name denotes separatist. They prided themselves on their
strict observance of the law and on the care which with they
avoided contact with the Gentiles. Their belief included the doctrine
of immortality and resurrection of the body. in the existence
of angels and spirits, they upheld the authority of oral tradition
as of equal value with the written law. The tendency of their teaching
was to reduce religion to the observance of a multiplicity
of ceremonial rules and to encourage self-sufficiency and spiritual
pride." Those were the Pharisees. I believe that covers every religion
I know. Some are separatists. Some this,
some that. They all encourage self-sufficiency
and spiritual pride. Now, the publicans, it says,
they were men who bought or farmed the taxes under the Roman government. They were called publicani. The
name is also used to describe those who actually collected
the money. Both classes were detested by
the Jews. Detested. Any Jew who undertook
the work was excommunicated. The tax gatherers in Galilee
would be many of them in the service of Herod and not of Rome. Neither one of these men were
any good. The publican was not a good man. One of them was nothing but a
proud, arrogant, self-righteous hypocrite. And the other one
was a traitor. He was considered an outcast
traitor. A heathen, a stranger. So verse 11 says, the Pharisee stood. The Pharisee walked right up
into the temple and stood. Oh, the arrogance. The arrogance. You're going to stand before
God? The world has no idea that even
though men and women stand, and walk, and eat, and drink, and
work, and live, they're actually spiritually dead. They're dead
men. Spiritually dead in sin. Man
thinks he has a right to stand before God. He does not know
he's dead. Verse 11 says, the Pharisee stood and prayed thus
within himself, God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men
are. They're extortioners, I'm not.
They're unjust, and I'm not. They're adulterers and I'm not.
Or even as this publican right here. He thinks he is something when
he's nothing. Man thinks he's something when
he's nothing. What he's saying is, I'm a good
man. I'm a good man. I thank you that I'm a good man. And I'm not a sinner like this
publican. I'm not a sinner. I'm so thankful
I'm not a sinner. Here's what the Pharisee doesn't
realize. The Lord did not come to call the righteous. He didn't
come to save the righteous. He came to save sinners. Turn
over to Matthew chapter 9. Matthew chapter 9 and verse 10
says, It came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold,
many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Him and His
disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto His disciples,
Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard
that, He said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician."
They that be whole need not a physician. but they that are sick. Go ye
and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance." He said, go and learn what this
means. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. Cain and Abel
Both brought a sacrifice. Both of them did. But the point
of that sacrifice was to show God's mercy. It wasn't for them
to bring their sacrifice. Cain brought his works. He said,
I'll have mercy. I'm not going to accept your
sacrifice. Hold your place right here in
Matthew 9 and look back at our text. I love this. He said, I'm not as other men
are, even this publican. Verse 12, he said, I fast twice
in the week. And I'm so proud of myself for
that. Now go back to Matthew 9. Look at verse 14. Then came to him the disciples
of John saying, why do we and the Pharisees fast often? But thy disciples fast not. So
proud of themselves for fasting. He said, none of the Lord's disciples
fast. And Jesus said unto them, Can
the children of the bride chamber mourn as long as the bridegroom
is with them?" There's no need to fast. Back in our text, verse 12 says,
I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. What he's saying is, I keep the
law. I'm a good person and I keep the law. Look down at verse 18. It says,
A certain ruler asked our Lord, saying, Good Master, what shall
I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why
callest thou me good? None is good save one, that is
God. Thou knowest the commandments.
Do not commit adultery. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do
not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother.
And the man said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now,
when Jesus heard these things, He said unto him, Yet lackest
thou one thing. Sell all that thou hast, and
distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. And his sentence is not over.
There's a colon right there. That all leads up to this. And
come follow me. This is the thing you're missing.
This is the thing you're lacking. You've done all these things,
but you're not following Me. You're not following Me. What
must I do to be saved? I must follow Him. I must follow
Him. I must love Him. I must bow down
and kiss the Son lest He be angry. Turn over to Matthew chapter
7. We began the Bible study with
Mark 16, where the Lord said, these are going to be the signs
that they'll see. These will be the things that
you'll do and they'll believe. And let me read them for you
again. He said, go and preach the gospel
to all the world. He said, in my name they'll cast
out devils. They'll speak with new tongues.
They'll take up serpents. They'll lay hands on the sick.
They'll do all these things. Matthew 7 verse 21 says, Not
everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not gone to all the world and preached
the gospel? We've prophesied in your name. In thy name we
cast out the devils that you told us to cast out. In thy name
we did many wonderful works, all those things that you said
to do. We did exactly what you told us to do. And then while
I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye
that work iniquity." That's sin. Why? Because they knew exactly
what they had done. They were counting those works.
They were stacking up those works. Keeping track, keeping record.
Now turn to Matthew 25. Matthew 25, look at verse 31. When the Son of Man shall come
in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall he
sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered
all nations, and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd
divided his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then shall the king
say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. For I was in hunger, and you gave me meat. I was thirsty,
and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took
me in. Naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited
me. I was in prison, and you came unto me. Then shall the
righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee a hunger?"
I don't remember that. and fed thee, were thirsty and
gave thee drink. When saw we thee a stranger and
took thee in, or naked and closed thee? When saw we thee sick or
in prison and came unto me?" When did we do that? They don't remember that, but
they did it. They were not stacking up these
works to build a righteousness of their own. That's the difference. God looks on the heart. That's
the point. God looks on the heart. Well, back in Luke 18, this Pharisee
who said, I have done all these things. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess.
This Pharisee prayed to God and he said the word, I, five times. Now, he said, I thank thee. But he did it with the wrong
heart. He said, 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 that's five times too many.
Five times too many. Well, verse 13, the publican,
was standing afar off. He did not walk straight up into
the temple and stand before God. He was standing afar off. He
dared not enter into the presence of God. He knew what he was. Verse 13 says, he would not lift
up so much as his eyes unto heaven. There is no room for pride here. There is no room for pride here. It's nothing but shame. It's
nothing but shame. The longer we go, the more that
our Lord teaches us, the more shamed we feel. Pride I base. Verse 13 says, but he smote upon
his breast. That's all he could do. He stood
afar off, he couldn't look up to heaven, but he smote upon
his breast. Turn over to Luke chapter 23. Luke 23, this is our Lord hanging
on the cross. Verse 46 says, When Jesus had
cried with a loud voice, He said, Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. And having said thus, He gave
up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what
was done, he glorified God, saying, certainly, this was a righteous
man. I thought I was a righteous man. But when he saw our Lord, all
those standing around, watching our Lord for a few hours, and
his body changed, and his visage was marred more than any man, And they watched our Lord solemnly, royally, willingly
give up His ghost. I have never seen a person take
their last breath. I've never witnessed it. My father
saw my mother take her last breath. That's a solemn moment. That's
a solemn moment when the Spirit leaves the body and it goes back
unto God who gave it, into His hands to do with as
He pleases. They're watching our Lord, and
our Lord gives up His ghost. And when they saw Jesus Christ
and Him crucified, Verse 48 says, all the people that came together
to that site, beholding the things which were done, just started
smiting their breasts. That's what a sinner will do
if he ever sees the righteous man. If he ever quits looking here
and he sees that is a righteous man. Just, woe is me. Woe is me. Isaiah said, when I saw the Lord
high and lifted up, oh, and I saw the seraphims and they were crying,
holy, holy, holy, and the post shook at His voice, and I saw
that is a righteous man. I just said, woe is me. Woe is
me. His righteousness exposes our
sin. Well, back in our text, Luke
18, it says in verse 13, 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. The Pharisee's prayer was two
verses long. He was known for his much speaking,
and his words were useless words. This publican's prayer is only
seven words long. He said, God. The Pharisee started
his prayer by saying God, but it was a different heart, a different
attitude. This publican says, Oh my God.
My creator, my maker, my owner, my controller. The one that I've
sinned against. Be merciful. David said, pardon my iniquities,
they are great. They're great. Psalm 51. That's the attitude
of this publican. I acknowledge my transgressions.
My sin is ever before me. Blot out my transgressions. God,
be merciful to me. I love the song, Even Me. Whilst thou art calling, O call
me. You know, we pray that the Lord
would bless His Word and bless His people. Lord, bless me. I'm
here to worship too. Bless me. If you don't show mercy to me,
I have no hope." He said, I'm a sinner. That's
it. This man is not known for his
much speaking and vain jangling. The prayer he prayed though was
an effectual, fervent prayer. The Lord said it will avail much.
Honest in the heart. Verse 14, He 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. Why did this prayer avail much?
It's because he prayed exactly like the Lord told us to pray.
Turn over to Matthew 6. Matthew 6, verse 5, the Lord
said, When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites
are, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues." That is an amazing statement.
Don't be as the hypocrites are who love to stand up in church
and pray. Isn't that something? I asked Brother John to pray
for us before the Bible study. And this time I just asked him
would he pray. Last time I said, mine praying, or would you like
to pray?" And his answer was, no, I would not like to pray,
but I will. They love to stand up and pray
in the synagogues. And in the corners of the streets,
that they may be seen of men, verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. That thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray
to thy Father which is in secret. And thy Father which seeth in
secret shall reward thee openly. But when you pray, use not vain
repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall
be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto
them, for your Father knoweth what things you have need of
before you ask him. After this manner, therefore,
pray ye, Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done in earth. as it is in heaven." That publican
said, God, God our Father, God which art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name, the holy God, holy, holy, holy. Thy kingdom come. It's your kingdom. Thy will be
done in earth as it is in heaven. That is God. I acknowledge you
are God. The Lord told us to pray in verse
11. Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. The publican
prayed, be merciful to me. Give us this day our daily bread.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but every word. Lord, would you
open this word to us? Open this word to us. And forgive
us. Be merciful to us. Speak to us
and forgive us. Be merciful to me. Verse 13,
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For
Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen. The publican said, I'm a sinner. Lord, let me not fall into the
temptation I'm so prone to. I'm a sinner. Deliver me from the evil of my
own doing. I'm a sinner. Deliver me from
myself. Deliver me from the evil one.
I'm a sinner. Leave captivity captive. I'm
just a sinner. It's your kingdom. It's your
power. It's your glory forever. And I'm just a sinner. Amen. Well, back in our text, Luke chapter 18, verse 13, 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. That is exactly what the Pharisee
did. He exalted himself. And he was not justified. Not
justified. Let us be wise. Let us be wise. Let us have ears to hear. Lord,
teach us to humble ourselves. Teach us to humble ourselves.
Actively humble ourselves. Because he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted. Paul said, I am crucified with
Christ so happily, so gladly, so willingly. Nevertheless, I
live. He that humbleth himself shall
be exalted. I love the song, Not have I gotten,
but what I received. Grace hath bestowed it, and I
have believed. Boasting excluded in pride I
base, I'm only a sinner, but I'm saved by grace. May the Lord
bless that.