Luke 18, the justified publican,
verse 9 through verse 17, the Lord 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
Pharisees stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee
that I am not as other men, or 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."
That will be a wonderful thing. And since Jesus said in verse
14, I tell you, this man, This man, the publican, and not the
Pharisee, went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For every one that exalts himself
shall be abased, he that humbles himself shall be exalted." Now
look at verse 13 again, "...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."
Of all the parables which our Lord spoke during His ministry,
each one of them had a specific and a particular design and a
message. Each one of the parables emphasizes
a particular idea. In every parable there is one
central thought around which all of the rest of the parable
is gathered. A parable is intended to set
something forth that is relevant to those that he has spoken to. For example, those that heard
the parable of the vineyard in Matthew chapter 21, verse 33
through verse 44, that's the parable of the vineyard of the householder and of the
husbandman. And when our Lord told of the
treatment of the servants, then of the treatment of the only
son of the householder, then in verse 45 of that passage,
when the chief priest and the Pharisees heard this parable
of the Lord, they perceived that he had spoken it against them. They perceived. that they were
in that parable. They could see themselves in
the mirror that our Lord held up before them when he gave this
parable. Now, there's an amazing thing
that is recorded in Matthew 13, verses 34 and 35 with regard
unto parables. Here in the midst of those seven
kingdom of heaven parables, we read these words. All these things
spoke Jesus in parables, and without a parable he did not
speak unto them. Watch, that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the prophet who said, I will open my mouth
in parables, and I will utter things kept secret from the foundation
of the world." Our Lord fulfilled a prophecy as he spoke unto men
in parable. This is not exactly a verbatim
quotation, that is word for word, and the reference obviously there
in Matthew 13 is to the 78th Psalm and the second verse. This does not mean now that Christ
spoke only in parables as he dealt with people out in public. So often our Lord spoke openly,
clearly, and plainly concerning the things of God. He spoke without
figures or without simile. Though in Matthew 13, those parables
that are there, they gushed out of the holy mouth of our blessed
Lord and Teacher. The object of the parable now,
which we have read this morning, is to show the spiritual danger
of self-righteousness. Our Lord here will speak about
those who viewed themselves righteous apart from a saving internal
work of God. Notice that he spoke this parable
Not just to, but against. He spoke this parable against
those that did trust in themselves that they were righteous. That
means that they were relying upon themselves to have a righteousness
acceptable and pleasing unto God. They were confident, fully
confident, too confident in themselves that they were righteous. Now,
this class of persons, as the margin had it, viewed themselves
as being righteous. Linsky said here, the tense is
such as this. They have been trusting in themselves
that they are righteous. They go on trusting in themselves
that they are righteous. Notice the ground of their trust
themselves. They trusted in themselves that
they were righteous. The substance of their trust
was that they were righteous in the sight of God. And such
persons, therefore, are confident that God also counts them, or
views them as righteous, and that they think themselves to
be in the favor of the Almighty God. But that was only half of
their sin. The other half of their sin being
that they held others in contempt. They despised others. As we sometimes
say, they looked down their noses at others, not just the publican,
but all other men beside themselves. Then in the words in the parable,
the Lord illustrates two things. Number one, that self-righteous
persons are ignorant of the true method of righteousness set out
in the Scripture and in Christ. It tells us a second thing in
how blessed that is, and that is that great sinner. may be
justified as they are." And notice the word, as they are. I mean, without going home and
cleaning up, without reforming their lives, they may be justified
exactly as they are, without keeping the law, without getting
any better, justified as they stand as a sinner in the sight
of God. And unfolding the truths that
are here, we see that the Lord Jesus is pleased to contrast
two individuals. He speaks here of two men. And he says that those two men
went up to the temple. And he says that those two men
went up to the temple to pray. Perhaps it was the hour of prayer,
as we read in Acts chapter 3 and verse 1. And the Lord uses these
two men, the one a Pharisee, the other as a publican. Now, as you remember, the Pharisees,
we'll look at him first, the Pharisees were the largest sect,
S-E-C-T, in all of Judaism. They were also the most influential
as regard to having oversight of Judaism in that day. They
were also the most political of all of the Jewish sects that
existed at that time. They had the most control over
the synagogue of any of the other sects. Their name, Pharisee,
meant literally a separated one. When we talk about a Pharisee,
it is a separated one as to its meaning. They were the separatists,
if we may say so, of their day. They practiced their Phariseeism
with great outward pomp and great outward show, but were full of
hypocrisy and sin and evil according to our Lord. On the other hand,
the other man was a publican. Now, publicans were those Jews
who had contracted with the Roman government to go out into the
provinces and collect taxes from the people. So the real designation
of a publican is tax collector or tax gatherer. Matthew was
one of those when the Lord called him. In fact, When the Lord called
him, he was sitting even then at the receipt of custom. He was in the tax office or the
toll booth, Matthew 9 and verse 9. Zacchaeus was also chief among
the publicans And when the Lord called him, he was immediately
convicted of having exacted overmuch taxes from the people and would
give it back. Luke 19, 1 through 9. The publicans had a very poor
reputation among their fellow Jews. They looked upon the publicans
as if they were Judas goats or traders or turncoats, for they
collected overmuch taxes, more than was due, and kept the surplus
for themselves and enriched themselves. And you may notice in reading
the New Testament something that will give you an idea of the
reputation and character of those that are called publicans in
the Scripture, as Matthew 18 and 17, those that they are associated
with. Jesus said there, let him be
as a heathen man and a publican, putting them both in the same
class, side by side. Publicans and sinners sat down
at meat with our Lord in Matthew 9 and 10. Matthew 21, 31, they
are grouped with harlots, publicans and harlots, so that they are
grouped with that sort of people. Matthew 3, 12 and 13 confirms
that they were tax crooks and that it was common knowledge
among their fellow Jews and citizens. Yet in the parable that is our
text this morning, there stands, oh my, is that surprising? A
publican yonder near the temple, and he is about to pray unto
God. And yet the Lord speaks of two
men, that went up to the temple, as I remind you, they went up
to pray. One a Pharisee, the other a publican. No doubt others were there. Quite
a great number may have been there. But the Lord speaks of
these two men to paint the picture and to give them the understanding. The Lord speaks first. of the
Pharisee, and you see that in verse 11 and verse 12. Have you ever really considered
the words that we have here in verse 11? Have you looked at
those words and said, He prayed thus with himself? Look at those words and let's
try to open them up. There is a fault here in this
man in the very beginning. For his praying is, as Linsky
called it, quote, in favor of himself, unquote. He prays favorable
to himself. And as the new NIV translated,
he prayed about himself. His prayer was encircled and
wrapped up in himself. His prayer was, as we might say,
self-friendly. His prayer was to his good. The
whole prayer of this man, this Pharisee, is a boasting about
himself and what he has done. Now, there are parts of his prayer
that might at first sight seem legitimate until we view it all
and then look at it in its context. For first, he invokes the name
of God. First thing he said as he stands
there, positions himself to pray, is God. God, the name of God,
since God is the only one to be prayed to, not Mary, not the
angel, and not the saint. Secondly, He expresses thanks. I thank Thee, God, I thank Thee,
for thanksgiving is a central part of our praying unto the
Lord our God, for even the Lord did pray Father, I thank Thee
from the mouth of our Lord." We could even understand in a
proper context his next words, I thank you that I am not as
other men are. Though his was self-righteousness,
there might be an occasion when this prayer might be suitable.
We can be thankful that God has not left us homeless out on the
street or under the bridge, or that God has restrained us from
becoming a dope addict. to where we cannot have a family,
a life, or a job. We can be thankful that God has
not allowed us to become a bleary-eyed, old drunk. or that he has not
withheld from us the understanding of the gospel. Thankful that
God has not left us unto his own way. But this is not the
direction that the Pharisee's prayer is taking. This Pharisee
erred greatly. for he thought he had made himself
to differ. He thought it was himself that
had caused him to differ from the publican and from other men. He attributed it to his own personal
goodness and wit and skill, and he was very conceited. He was full of pride, full of
arrogance, and he contrasted himself not just with the publican,
but with all others." The rest of men is the phrase that he
uses, such as, he will name a few, extortioners, that is, robbers
or rapacious. He was not excessively greedy,
he said. Second, he was not unjust. Third, that he was not an adulterer. Four, or like this tax collector. In all of these things, O God,
I give thanks unto you." Now, as the Lord tells us, the Pharisees
were great hypocrites. They only made clean the outside. of the platter, Matthew 23, verse
25. And Paul tells us that they,
being ignorant of the righteousness of God, have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God, but going about to establish
their own righteousness. Romans chapter 10 and verse 3. And the Lord Jesus warned in
the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5 and 20, except your righteousness
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you
will in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." My, these
were the most religious men of the day. and of the nation. Remember what Jesus said about
some in verse 9. Number one, that they trusted
in themselves that they were righteous. Number two, they despised
others. Thinking themselves righteous,
they naturally looked down upon others. We see two things here
that are prominently displayed in the elder brother of the prodigal
that we read about in Luke, in that he said, that is, the elder
brother, I never at any time transgressed your commandment,
and this your son has been whoremongering. We see him saying, I have done
what's right, and this man has greatly sinned. I'm not like
him. is the claim of the elder brother. We see that the Pharisee, in
the Lord's parable, prayed with no sense of unworthiness whatsoever. He had absolutely no sense of
being a vile, unworthy sinner in the sight of God. We notice
something else. He made not the slightest, not
the first confession of sin. And he gives no thanks. for the
past mercies and goodnesses of God. He asked not for grace to
help him in time of need. He did not see himself as needing
the help of God. J. C. Ryle, I read him, he said
of this prayer, quote, It is a mere boasting recital of fancied
merits a proud, high-minded profession, destitute of penitence, humility,
and charity." This man filled all of that. He dragged his own
putrid self and his own putrid righteousness so as to present
it before the just and the holy God. For he had not learned Isaiah
64 and verse 6. We are all as an unclean thing. We're all as a leaf, and the
wind has taken us away, and we all are as an unclean, and our
righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of God. The Lord
told of another man who also went up at the same time to the
temple to pray, except this man was not a Pharisee or a Sadducee. This man was a publican. not a Republican, but a publican,
a tax collector. He was of that despised, hated
fraternity that was despised and avoided by the Jews, of whom
no piety was expected from a publican. No self-respecting Jew wanted
to be in the presence, in the company of such a man. And the old Pharisee might cross
the street to avoid having to pass by a publican in the way. But as with Saul, now behold,
he prayed. We are told of his position and
of his posture. Number one, as to his position,
he stood afar off. I have no doubt that the Pharisee
crowded right up close, close as he could. The Pharisee drew
nigh up close under the sanctuary, but not the publican. The wretched
publican felt unworthy to draw any nearer to that blessed sanctuary. I have known a few men in my
ministry who considered themselves so filthy, so vulgar, so vile,
and so sinful that they did not belong in the company of the
children of God. And I have seen them set off
in a corner by themselves in the congregation. This publican
felt that he was unworthy. Secondly, we notice then his
posture. He would not so much as lift
up his eyes unto heaven. And he thinks I see that old
Pharisee yonder spreading his hands as if he were pious and
looking up as if he were God's best friend. and his proud eyes
open and his vain lips uttering that self-righteous prayer. Not
so, however, the old publican. He considered himself unworthy. He considered himself too wretched
to draw near or to look up unto God. So vile in his own eyes
was this man that he would not do so. I want us to consider
a passage taken from Ezra chapter 9, verse 5 through 7, which I
have taken down. Now, it was after the return
from Babylon And they saw the sad, sad state of the nation
and of the city when they returned. And looking upon that, Ezra writes
these words, quote, I am ashamed and blushed to lift
up my face to Thee, my God, for our iniquities are increased
over our head, and our trespasses is grown up into the heaven. Since the days of our fathers
have we been in great trespass until this day, and our iniquities
have we delivered into the hands of the king of the land." There's
another one of much the same spirit. A shame to lift up our
face unto thee because of our unworthiness. Neither they nor
the prodigal would lift their face or their eyes unto God. Third thing we notice about him
is that he smote upon his breast. Rather than lift up his head,
he lowered it. Rather than beat upon his breast,
he did the same. Gil takes this expression to
be the abhorrence of himself, the abhorrence that he felt of
himself at that moment, at that time. the unworthiness in himself. As indignation and as revenge,
Gil said, he beat upon his breast as if to stir up the faculties
that were within his soul. So he felt the guilt of his sin. He felt his unworthiness to be
in that place in the presence of an Almighty God. Now, before
we consider the short, the very effective prayer, let us acknowledge
that this is an humbled and a broken soul in our parable. His sin is heavy upon his soul
at this particular time. He has come, as it were, to the
end of himself. Where else can he go? He now
has a sense. of the sinful life that he had
been living. Or as one put it, he now sees
himself as a guilty and a filthy sinner, one deserving of the
wrath of God and undeserving of the goodness or the grace
of God, one for whom there is reserved a place in the lowest
hell. And yet, he is of a mind to pray. Feeling unworthy, he is of a
mind to pray. Such a man would pray. What would his prayer be? We
don't expect these kind of men to be uttering public prayer. Has he any virtues to plead? Has he anything to drag before
God that might work as his acceptance? Can he boast like the Pharisee
of the good things that he has done? Can he boast of the people
that he has helped, not when he has robbed them How many good
deeds he had done? Could he argue that before God? Will he downplay his faults by
comparing himself with someone else who is even worse than he
is? Many folks do that. Many folks
are often heard to say, well, I'm not as bad as some folks
that I know. Be that as it may, his prayer,
it is short, less than a dozen words. make up this prayer of
this man on this occasion. It is this, God be merciful to
me, a sinner. And here I think it gets very
interesting. And we'll have to sharpen our
focus and our attention a bit that we might get the full impact
of all that we can glean out of this. Now, the poor man does
not ask for justice. We've heard a few smart addicts
say, I just want what's coming to me. This man does not pray
for justice, but for mercy. He seeks not to justify his sins,
but that God in His great mercy would pardon them or forgive
them. His only hope For him, as a sinner,
was that God would show him mercy. His sins were great, so he prays,
God be merciful. His sins weigh heavy upon his
heart and upon his conscience, so he asks for mercy. He does not speak of justice,
of love, or of judgment, but of mercy. The thing that he's
interested in now is one and one thing only, and that is the
mercy of God. Now, as we look at his prayer,
there are two things in his prayer that might not be quite so clear
when they're translated over into English. And the first word
that I would have you to look at is the word mercy. Now, there are many good expositors
have caught this, that our English word does not fully set forth
the good meaning. That the word translated mercy,
and I'm going to try to say it, he'll ask, how may he? I'll bet
I butchered that up, did I or not? This word is only a couple
of times in our New Testament. The other time is Hebrews 2 and
verse 17, where it is translated in our English, to make reconciliation,
or literally atonement. And these two words are one and
the same. To make reconciliation for the
sins of the people, where there the idea is making a sacrifice
that atones, that puts away sin, and is the only ground upon which
God forgives the sin of sinners. So, except God be placated, except
His wrath be appeased, except there be a proper propitiation
made and given to Him in our behalf for our sin, there can
be no expiation of our sin without it. There can be no covering,
there can be no anointing, there can be no remission, there can
be no forgiveness, unless our Lord had given a proper propitiation
unto God. So when the publican uses the
word merciful here, be merciful, he is saying, be propitious to
me, we might think. How knoweth this man?" These
theological things and terms, having been such a great sinner
for such a while. Let me share with you a point
which Thomas Goodwin made concerning the words of the wretched publican. really thought about it before. Goodwin spoke of him as having
a, listen, quote, Jewish heart, unquote. He spoke of this man
as having a Jewish heart. This man was of a Jewish mindset
as he came there unto the temple. That because of the word he used. He says the word used by the
man is a verb answering the noun, mercy seat, as in Hebrews 9 and
verse 5, which in the Jewish heart and the Jewish mind was
a place where propitiation occurred for the sins of the people. And these two men stand there
before the temple, albeit the publican, at some distance off. And remember, brothers and sisters,
inside that temple, inside that sanctuary, yonder behind that
hanging veil, was the mercy seat belonging to the old covenant. it was overlaid with pure gold
and was containing the Ark of the Covenant. And there from
between the two cherubim, it was that the blood of atonement
was applied or sprinkled by the high priest when he came in.
It was also the mercy seat where God put his typical presence
in the tabernacle in the wilderness. You can see that in Exodus chapter
25, that when the tabernacle was erected, was ready for service,
then God put his presence there above the mercy seat between
the two cherubim. And he said to Moses, I will
commune with thee here between the two cherubim. So the publican
set his distance as only the high priest could approach there
under the mercy seat. He came to the temple to pray,
knowing that though God's essential presence was yonder in heaven,
Yet did God put glory upon the mercy seat in the old economy. There he met, there he communed
with Moses and the high priest. Here he came to pray, here the
publican came to plead, plead before or near the mercy seat
where sacrifice was put and blood was sprinkled. Now, I think we
can see this and agree with Goodwin's observation of a Jewish heart. We can see this in the mind of
a pious Jew when we look at 2 Kings chapter 19 and verse 15. Old Hezekiah directed his prayer
this way. Listen to it very carefully.
When Hezekiah prayed or directed his prayer, quote, O Lord God
of Israel, which dwells between the cherubims." That was the
Old Testament economy. And so he did. God dwelled between
the cherubim, Exodus 25 and 22, Psalms chapter 28, and the second
verse. Hear the voice of my supplication
when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle,"
the psalmist wrote. The margin of King James has
it, the oracle of the sanctuary. The NIV has it, as I lift up
my hands toward your most holy place. And sinful though he had
been, yet he understood this, the publican did, And now the
second thing, which is also weaker in the English than it is in
the Greek, had to do with the description of himself. God be
merciful, our propitiant, to whom? To me, a sinner, as we
have it in our English. Me, a sinner. There are some
that say, J.C. Ryle is one of them, that it
should be the sinner with the article. That is me, the great
sinner. Be merciful to me, the great,
great sinner. Remember, Paul called himself
the chief of sinners, 1 Corinthians 1 and 15. So let's make a point
of application, which is this, that none will be saved None
will even cry out for God's mercy until they are brought to see
themselves as guilty, wretched, lost sinners in the sight of
God. See the Pharisee who is representative
of such as trust in themselves that they are righteous and need
no repentance. Luke 15 and verse 7, For they
are of the mind of the Pharisee in our first act, that they are
righteous and need no repentance. We never forget Christ came into
the world to save sinners. That was His mission and purpose. And while on earth He received
sinners, he ate with them, he forgave their sins as he met
with them, evidence of his deity that he forgives sin. Who can
forgive sin but God only? On the other hand, he scolded
and he rebuked The Pharisee Jews like none other that our Lord
came in contact with in His ministry. He scolded them. He called them
everything under the sun. At this point, two men went up
to the temple. The two men prayed. The two men
left the temple. And then hear this, the conclusion
of the Lord's parable in verse 14. I tell you, this man, the
publican, went down to his house justified rather than the other,
meaning the Pharisee. The Pharisee rested his hope
upon his own good works. He trusted in himself that he
was righteous. He hung his justification upon
his do's and upon his don'ts. And may I tell you, Christendom
is full of this sort, thinking of themselves as good, thinking
that they deserve heaven as they are, But of the two, the best
man went home lost, and the worst man went down to his house justified,
for he cast his sinful soul upon the mercy of God." Do you remember
the two sons that we read about? Matthew 21, 28 through verse
32, which the Lord summed up by telling them, the publicans
and the harlots. Go into the kingdom of God before
you. He said to the Pharisees, those
self-righteous Pharisees and scribes, I'm going to tell you
something, the publicans and the harlots are saved sooner
than you. We must not lose sight of the
fact in all of this that the man is also a model for a certain
class of people. That would be the ungodly. And
the sinner, those that are dead in sin, the irreligious, the
profane, the unbeliever, the man was justified without one
good work brought before the holy God, just as those rebels
in Numbers chapter 21 were healed by looking upon the serpent of
brass, not by doing anything. Not by fighting serpents, but
by looking upon the brazen serpent. They did not need to rub it.
They did not need to kiss it. They did not need to pray to
it. They just needed to look upon that which God had said. By His mercy exhibited in Christ
Jesus our Lord, the faith in Him does justify the ungodly. Romans 4 and 5, to him that works
not, but believes on him that justifies the ungodly, faith
is reckoned for righteousness. That's the case of Abraham. Now,
in closing our subject this morning, let us say two things, as it
were, about the mercy of God in the saving of sinners. Great sinners. The worst of sinners. Like this old publican. Number
one, this saving mercy is manifested only in and through Jesus Christ,
God's Son. Jude verse 1, the mercy of our
Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. God is the Father of mercy. 2 Corinthians 1. Paul, as wicked
as he was, obtained mercy, 2 Corinthians 1 and verse 16, through Jesus
Christ. Those things we mentioned earlier
in connection with the temple in Jerusalem were typical, and
the mercy seat typified the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the very
image and likeness of God, God who is rich in His mercy towards
His elect. His mercy is inexhaustible. His mercy is everlasting. It is infinite. It hath no measure. It can fill the oceans and beyond. God's mercy is through Jesus
Christ. The second thing and the closing
thing that I would like to say is that the mercy of God dispensed
unto salvation by and through Jesus Christ is sovereign mercy. He declares, I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. Exodus 33, 19 quoted by Paul
in Romans 9 and verse 15. It is God's free and sovereign
choice to show mercy, to have mercy to His good pleasure. His
mercy is unmerited. It is His sovereign prerogative
to dispense it as He would. Still, by an inward work, he
can put the words and the will of God into the heart of a sinner
and in the mouth of that sinner. He can cause the vilest one to
cry out, God be merciful to me, the sinner. I do not think this
is the sentiment of a natural man. God had worked in this man's
heart to some degree. God had made him ready. He was
ripe, as we might say. And God causes him to cry out
and abandon any hope of his own goodness and cry out, God, God,
be merciful to me, a sinner. I think of old blind Bartimaeus,
younger, sitting by the roadside, hearing that Jesus was coming.
Would not be stifled, would not be quiet. Cried out, Jesus, son
of David, Have mercy upon me, have mercy upon me, thou son
of David. Yes, our hope is mercy, that
he will be merciful, that God will show us the mercy of God
through Jesus Christ as under this publican. And we don't need
to clean ourselves up. We don't need to go out and get
better for two years and then come back. I've heard people
say, well, I've got a lot of things I've got to get rid of.
I've got to stop a lot of things before I can become a Christian. This man became a Christian standing
where he was as he was. The mercy of God was very great
unto him.