The only reason you're not doing
it is because you all won't go do it. You get together and do
it. Ain't that right? Just do it. You know, back here in Luke chapter
18, And Dylor started out in this
chapter, and the first thing he's teaching here is about prayer.
He says in verse 1, he spake a parable unto them to this end
that men ought always to pray and not to think. But he also
uses the kind of prayers that are acceptable and those that
aren't. Those that really acknowledge God and those that don't. And there in verse 9 he says
this, and he's faked this parable unto certain which trusted in
themselves that they were righteous and despised others. I want to
bring a message today on the most deadly, the most dangerous,
and the most damning sin that there are in the human heart. And if God don't save a man from
it, he's in trouble. And that's where he says there,
trusted in themselves that they were righteous. Trusted in themselves that they
were righteous. Trusted in themselves. That's
the most deadly sin that they are. Trusting in yourselves that
you're righteous. And if words mean anything at
all, There is no reason at all for us to misunderstand the parable
of our Lord Jesus Christ. When God draws back his bow,
he always has a definite target for that arrow to hit. And this arrow is aimed at men
who trusted in themselves that they were good, that they were
righteous, that they had merit in themselves. And it says here
that they justified themselves in their own minds. Look there
in verse 10. Two men went up into the temple to pray, and then that Pharisee stood and
prayed thus with himself. A Pharisee and a publican. In
verse 11, that Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,
and he justified himself in his own mind. He said, I thank thee
that I am not as other men. Justified himself in his own
mind. I thank you that I am not as other men. And then there
are those who even justify themselves before God. I thank thee, O God,
that I'm not as other men. I thank you. I thank you that
I'm not. And they compare themselves with
others and justify themselves even before men. Ain't that what
he says in the last part of that verse? That I'm not as other
men, even as this publican. Not only are they trusting themselves
that they're righteous, but he looked at that publican and compares
himself with others and justifies himself that he's a better man
than that other one. A better person than another.
I'm not like this publican. Now let me show you something
over here in 2 Corinthians 10. And I tell you, beloved, I know
something about this self-righteousness. It terrifies me, it burdens me,
it grieves me. I catch myself full of pride
and envy. Why don't the Lord do this? Why
don't the Lord do that? Because in all my... But Paul
here, he says this in verse 12 of 2 Corinthians 10. For we dare
not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some
that commend themselves. You see, there's a number of
people, a group of people. And he says, we're not going
to make ourselves of that number, of that group of people, or compare
ourselves with some that commend themselves. There are some that
says, well, you know, I'm okay. I'm fine, look at all that I've
done, look at what I've accomplished. So he begins to commend himself.
Begins to commend his ministry, begins to commend his life, his
prayers and all those things like that Pharisee did. I'm not
like him, I don't extort or pay tithes. He began to commend himself.
But they measure themselves by themselves. I'm my own measurement.
I know what measurement is, I know what measurement God requires,
and they measure themselves by themselves. Well, we're not qualified
to measure ourselves, and certainly not qualified to measure ourselves
by ourselves. Are we? But people do it. And then they compare themselves
among themselves. Well, look at that fellow. Look
at that fellow. I'm better than that fellow. I'm doing better than
this guy and that guy there. Well, that fellow there may be, you
know, I like him because he does this and he does that and he
does that other thing. And they say, this ain't wise. He said,
that's not wise. And you know, you can't turn
your hand. You can't turn your hand for the difference in human
beings on the topside of God's earth. And the reason that women in
this congregation is not out selling their sales is God made
the difference. The reason men are not out on
skid row, drinking wine and begging money and begging for something
to eat is God made you the difference. That's the truth, if God's ever
said that's the truth. And so we go back over here to
our text. So here they compare themselves
with others and justify themselves. I'm not like this publican. And
you know that was Cain's problem. He despised his brothers. See,
they despised people. Ain't that what our Lord says?
They trusted in themselves that they were righteous, in verse
9, and despised others. They despise people who are not
as good as they are. Yes. You never met a self-righteous
person who was not critical, critical of other people's lives,
the way they live, the way they conduct themselves, the conversation
they have. You see, they enjoy, they enjoy
pointing out the weaknesses of others. A self-righteous person
will always point out the weakness of another. The lie can find
fault with others because that makes them look good. Oh, there's nobody, nobody as
quick, no man is as quick to judge, condemn, or criticize
others unless he has a very high opinion of himself. Ain't that
right? Oh Lord, save me from pride,
that awful sin. that swells the heart of sinful
men, that lifts up the tongue and the head and the eyes, that
often takes me by surprise. Now, beloved, I don't want to
be guilty by God's grace. I don't want to be guilty of
cataloging sins. I don't want to catalog sins.
One sin, one, two, three, four, five. I don't want to do that.
Rating one sin above another sin. Because sin is an evil, evil
principle in a man's heart. It's his nature. Sin is something
in a man's heart. It's in his nature. It makes
him do what he does. He does what he does because
he is what he is. And this nature, this evil principle
in nature, is contrary to God's holiness and God's righteousness
and God's truth. They'll argue with God. But of
all the traps and snares that Satan uses,
And he has a bunch of them. But of all the traps and snares
that Satan uses to oppose the Lord Jesus Christ, to keep men
from the salvation that's in Christ, to defeat the gospel,
a true gospel, and give a false hope to a man or a woman, to
give false comfort and assurance and a refuge, self-righteousness,
self-righteousness is the most successful. The most successful
weapon he has. That's the most successful weapon
he has. It's the most successful, it's
the most deadly, and it's the most widespread. That's why Paul
said, we're not ignorant of his devices. He said, brethren, my
heart's desire and prayer for Israel is that they might be
saved. I bear witness that their zeal is for God. But they're ignorant of God's
righteousness. How do you know they're ignorant
of God's righteousness? They've not submitted themselves
to the righteousness of God which is in Christ. And they go about
to establish their own righteousness. They went about to make themselves
righteous, appear righteous to everybody else. I don't need
God's righteousness. I've got the law. I don't need
God's righteousness. I've got my works. I don't need God's righteousness.
I'm as good as anybody else. Well, ain't nobody good. You
being better than anybody else don't mean nothing. When God
said He went looking for a good man, and there was none good,
no, not one. He said, I went looking to see
if there was anybody that understood. What do you understand? My holiness,
my truth, my righteousness, my justice, my grace, my love, my
mercy. I went to look to see if anybody
understood. He said, I didn't find anybody
that understood. He said, I went looking for somebody that was
righteous. I went looking, I looked all
over this world. I looked from high and low, and
I looked at every man. I went looking for somebody righteous.
You know what I found? None, no, not one. But the devil got folks convinced
that they're righteous enough to be accepted of God in their
own person, without God. And boy, of all the sins encountered
by our Lord Jesus Christ during His days on the earth when He
was in the flesh, self-righteousness brought the sharpest rebukes.
His harshest words were not for publicans and harlots and sinners.
No. But for the religious Pharisees.
He said, Oh, you fellows, you won't go in and you won't let
nobody else go in. He says, you love to make pretense
of long prayers, but you're within, you're full of wickedness and
dead men's bones. He said, you like to make everybody
look at your works and tell them what to do, but you yourself
won't do them. Everybody knows what it takes
to be a Christian, but how many people understand what it is
to cease with self, to be done with self. And that's what self-righteousness
is. You're not done with self. And oh my, this is the most dangerous,
dendible, and deadly sin. And the refuge that people have,
and the eternal hope they have, is this business of their own
righteousness. Their own righteousness. I'll
never forget, as long as I live, and when I was up at Bruce's,
there used to be a couple that lived right across the corner
from him. And they just lived right up the street. Now I could
tell you their names, and I was asking Bruce about them. I remember
that they came over when Steve and Janet used to live in that
house where Bruce is now, and we'd have meetings up there. And we'd
preach in the evenings and sit up and talk all night. Well,
these folks, they was holiness people. They was what you call
holiness people. You know, she wore long sleeves,
she had to dress, you know, real, real modest and no makeup. You
know, and had to wear dark clothes and all that kind of stuff. You
just, I mean, you just no jewelry or anything like that. You couldn't
even have glasses like this. You had to have them in black,
you know. They couldn't be shiny. And so,
you know, there's over. He come to a service or two,
and I began to talk to this woman. Oh, she sat there, you know,
with her hair all done up and all that. I began to talk to
her, and I began to tell her about what Christ did. What Christ
accomplished. And that salvation was by the
grace of God. That nothing that she ever said,
nothing she ever thought, nothing she ever did, never would do,
would amount to nothing in the sight of God if God in Christ
did not do something for her. And that God provided a way,
and that Christ died for all your sins, past, present, and
future. Christ, if you had Him, you had
His righteousness. And you had no sin, and God accepted
you, and always would accept you, and nothing you ever done
would make you unacceptable. I sat and preached the gospel
to her, talked about God's electing love and grace. She sat there
and listened to that, very touched, very moved. And she says, that's
just too good to be true. It could not be that way. It
just could not possibly be that. It's just too good to be true.
You know, I've got to have some part in it. It just cannot be
that way. And she's still in the holiness. Satan kept her in that refuge
of self-righteousness, in that dress code, in that idea that
I can do this, you know, I need Christ, but Christ also needs
what I've got to offer. Oh, see how deadly it is? Huh? Oh, beloved. According to the Scriptures,
Now listen to me. Salvation is for sinners. According
to this blessed book, salvation is for who? Sinners. Our Lord
Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. Paul said, I'm
the children. The Son of Man has come to seek
and to save that which is lost. One of the charges that His enemies
made against Him is that this man receiveth sinners. You see, grace is only for people
that are guilty. If you're not guilty, you don't
need grace. God, when we were yet without
strength, in due time, Christ died for who? The ungodly. God commendeth His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And you know what the scripture
says, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from what? All our
sins. And if we say we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves. And if we say we have not sinned,
we make God to be alive. So the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanses us from what? All our sins. Where are some
sinners? Is there any in this building
today? Is there any in this place today? Who are the sinners that
God commended His love for and Christ died for them? It's hard
to find one. I don't encounter very many of
them. I encounter religious people.
I encounter folks who believe their Bibles. I encounter folks
who say, oh yes, one of these days I'm going to accept Jesus.
I encounter all that. But what does our Lord say in
this parable? What does he say in this parable
to those who trust in themselves that they are righteous? Well,
let's look at it. It says in verse 10, two men
went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other
a Republican. Two men went to church, just like this morning.
Let's just say two people come to service today. From all outward
appearance, there's no difference. All outward appearance, there's
no difference. It says here, both of them believed in one
God. The Pharisee said, I thank thee, O God. And the other said,
God. So they both believed in God. And they believed in one
God. Just one God. They both walked the same road,
went through the same door that went into the temple. Both took the same journey to
get to the temple and walked through the same door to get
into that temple. They're in the place. They both went into
the house of God. This is God's dwelling place.
This is the temple of God. And when they got there, both
of them engaged in a form of worship. Engaged in a form of
worship. They went there to worship. They
went there to acknowledge God. And what was they doing? They
went there to pray. We prayed this morning. And we're
going to pray again here before we leave. And some of you are
praying in your heart right now. They went to pray. And both of
these men were sons of Adam. They're related to Adam. Both
of them was dead in trespasses and sins without Christ. And
both of them were under the law. And both of them needed God.
And both of them went up there and to call on God to pray. And I want you to notice else
about these two men. These two men were different
in outward character. and in their reputation, in their
outward character and in their reputation, the one a Pharisee,
the other a publican. And it's impossible, it's impossible
to imagine a more striking or greater difference in two types
of people in the scriptures or in the eyes of a Jewish congregation
than a publican and a Pharisee. You just can't imagine it. The Pharisee was of the strictest,
most moral, most dedicated, most religious of all the Jews. Incredible. You know, there are
Jews today, when they go out with their children, they put
something over their head so they won't see anybody's sin. They do that today. They would
not think about eating a piece of pork. They would not think of passing,
you know, at 6 o'clock on Friday evening to 6 o'clock Saturday.
They ain't going to do nothing but pray and have a special meal. That's a holy day. Oh, they lived according to the
law outwardly. They didn't do anything wrong. They had a righteousness according
to the law. They observed the holy days. They read their Bibles.
Oh, how they read their Bibles. And they prayed and lived according
to the rules of the law. This man had the best reputation
in town. Good reputation. And they often
said if two men go to heaven, one of them will no doubt be
a Pharisee. Now here's the publican. Publicans
were especially hated by the Jews. Especially hated by them,
even though themselves sometimes were Jews. They were Jews. Matthew
was a publican. And they were generally Jews
who were employed by the Romans or the tax collectors. And just
as they said collecting taxes, they profited by making more
taxes to a fellow and got rich making more taxes and exacting
more taxes than was required. So they got rich imposing on
their brethren taxes. And so they were very hated.
In fact, our Lord Jesus Christ says, if a man sins, He said,
if you go to him and you talk to him, if he won't hear you
and he won't hear the church, count him as a heathen and a
publican. That's what God said, to count
somebody that they face sin and you talk to them and they won't
hear you and then the church, you bring them to the church
and the church won't hear the church, count them as a heathen and a publican.
He had a bad reputation. The Pharisee, good reputation.
Super religious. Publican, bad reputation. No religion at all. Not only
were they different out in character and content and reputation, but
these two men were totally different in their approach to God. Look
how they were totally and absolutely different in their approach to
God. Ain't that what it says? The Pharisee stood and prayed,
blessed with himself. And the Publican stood afar off.
Now here's this Pharisee. He made his way up to the altar.
He was familiar with the temple. He knowed his way around it very
well. He was familiar with the things
of God. He felt like he belonged there. But that publican, he stood afar
off. He didn't draw near that altar. He stood back. He was
like the Jews when Moses went up on the mountain. And that
place began to thunder and light, and they began to back up. Moses,
Moses, oh Lord, oh Lord, listen, do you let God speak? You speak
to God, let God speak to you through us. God's too holy, we
can't get near Him. And that's the way this man was. He stood afar off. He stood afar
off. And oh my, he said it felt like
he wasn't worthy. of the presence of the Lord.
Somebody said perhaps he stood far off like those Jews in Israel
did on the mountain. And no, listen how not only did
they approach, this one drew nearer. The one stood far off.
The Pharisee evidently raised his hands toward heaven as was
the custom. That's what the Jews did. They
lift up holy hands. They lift them up when they pray
sometimes. Ain't that the way a lot of congregations
do now? They lift up their hands and go to swearing and all that?
They don't stand far off. They're familiar in the presence
of God. Too familiar with God. Make a
lot of noise in the presence of God. Make a lot of jokes about
God. Show disrespect toward God. But
this man raised his hands towards heaven. But what that says in
verse 13, and that publican standing far off would not lift off so
much as his eyes. One lifted up his hands, the
other wouldn't even lift up his eyes. And he smote his breast. He smote
his breast. And look at how they prayed.
It says there in verse 11, the Pharisee stood and prayed thus
with himself. Thus with himself. And you know
what he prayed about? He prayed about the most mundane,
trivial, useless things that could be imagined. And he started off, I thank you,
that's a good thing to do. That I'm not as other men. I'm
not like others. I thank you I'm not like others.
I'm not like others. I'm not like others. Nah. I'm
not like them sinners. I'm not like them hypocrites.
I'm not like them folks that go up there. I'm not like them
people who say salvation is all of grace and feel like they can
just sin all they want to and go to heaven still. All the false
accusations they make against us. And not only that, but he says,
I'm not an extortioner. I'm not an extortioner. I don't
charge anybody any more than anything. And I'm not unjust. Oh, I'm not an unjust bone in
my body. I'm not an adulterer. I've never
ever slept with nobody but my own wife. And I'm especially, I'm especially
a lot like that publican over there. He's not even fit enough
to come into the temple. And then he says, and I fast
twice in a week. Twice a week, I deny myself. Twice a week I fast. Twice a week. And listen to this,
he didn't give just tithes of his money. If he owned a farm,
and he had corn, and he had barley, and he had wheat, and he had
sheep, and he had cattle, he gave 10% of everything he owned. If he had a crop of a hundred
calves, the priesthood was going to get ten of them. If he had
a thousand bushels of corn, they were going to take a hundred
bushels and put it in the storehouse. If he had a big crop of grapes,
they were going to give him enough grapes to make enough wine for
those priests to have some wine. Yeah. Everything he owned, he
gave ten percent of. Not just of his money. Everything. Huh? But you know what, Isaiah?
You know what the Scriptures call what this man did here?
I mean, such mundane, trivial, foolish things he's praying about.
Isaiah said, all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Paul called
it dung. He said, everything that was
gained to me before I knew Christ, I counted dung, I counted rubbish,
I counted garbage. Now watch what the publican did.
The publican had nothing to do talking about trivial matters.
But he talked about the two all-important matters, two most important matters
that there are, sin and mercy. Sin and mercy. And watch what
happens now. That Pharisee prayed thus with
himself, but now look down in verse 13. And the public, in
standing far off, would not so much as lift his eyes unto heaven.
He went straight to God and he says, God. He didn't pray thus
with himself. He addressed God. God. God. He smote on his breast.
That's where his problem was. My problem's in my heart. He
smote up on his breast and he says, God. And he cried for mercy. God be
merciful to me. Be merciful to me. And when he
was looking down there, that merciful means be propitiated
toward me. Be my mercy seat. Christ, my
mercy seat. David said, it's against you
that I've sinned and done this evil in your sight. And he saw
that altar down there where the offerings were. And he says,
God, be propitiated. Take that blood that's on the
altar. Take that blood on that mercy seat. and let it cleanse
me from my sin. Let it speak for me. Allow me to approach you. God,
show me mercy in Christ." And he acknowledged his sin. To me,
the sinner. A sinner. Oh, he acknowledged. First of
all, he says, God, You're God. I'm the sinner. And would you
have mercy on me? Would you be propitiated towards
me? Can you find today's religion
in these two? Can you see the attitude of most
religionists today? And you're going to identify
with one or the other of them. One or the other of them you're
going to identify with. It's like an old pop lady said, he
says, could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no longer? No.
These for sin. These for sin. Could my tears
and my zeal and all, but listen, these,
it never stops that they could never for sin atone. Thou must
save and thou alone. In my hands, in my hands no price
I bring. Simply, oh Lord Jesus, to you,
you, you, you, you are clean. Huh? Oh my, which one do you
identify with? And then these two men left the
church. We're all going to leave here in a little while. Going to go home, going to go
eat, going to go take a nap, going to go visit some folks.
We're all going to leave. Well, these two men went to the
church and they left. They left after they worshipped,
after they prayed. And they left, and down in verse
14, look what our Lord says, now Christ speaking here, I tell
you, this man, what man, that publican, went down to his house
justified. Christ said he was justified.
Now to be justified means that God clears you of all guilt.
God cleaves you of all your sin. He justifies you and declares
you righteous. This man did not do anything
but acknowledge himself to be a sinner. Didn't do anything
but ask mercy. He'd never done a good work.
He went up there and he couldn't even lift up his eyes, smote
on his breast. And he left that place and God said, you're a
justified man. I declare you righteous. I acquit
you of all your sin. Oh, I don't regard you as a sinner
anymore. You're a justified man. Rather
than the other. You can say anything about him
being justified. And then watch what he says.
For everyone that exalted himself shall be exalted. You take that
Pharisee who exalted himself? Christ said, I'm going to bring
him down one of these days. He'll be brought down. Don't
you worry about it. God knows who you are, and He's
going to bring you down. You'll find out that your righteousness
and your prayers and all you did was absolutely useless. But all that publican, you see,
that publican came in poor and empty and guilty, and he departed
rich toward God, full of grace. Rich in mercy, justified before
God. That Pharisee came in rich, confident,
full of self-esteem. He departed poor, rejected, and
empty before God. And he didn't know it. He didn't
know it. That Pharisee justified himself,
but God didn't justify him. That Pharisee cleared himself,
but God didn't clear him. That publican condemned himself,
and Christ justified him. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus." You know what our Lord says?
He said, He that heareth the voice of him that sent me, he
that believeth on him that sent me, John 5.24, hath everlasting
life, and should not perish. Oh my, the poor Lord, our Lord,
plainly declares here that mercy and grace is for the guilty.
It's for the guilty. Guilty. I'll never forget when I first
got guilty. I didn't get guilty. God got me guilty. You know,
when He convinces, that's what the word convince means. It means
to convict you. Convict you. Our Lord plainly declares that
mercy and grace is for the guilty. It's for sinners. And oh my, why wouldn't somebody be guilty?
You know, I had something happen this week and I wasn't guilty
of it. I got stopped last week on my way up to Bruce's. I was
not guilty of this crime. I had an expired license plate,
but it wasn't my fault. I was not guilty of that crime.
I didn't even know it until the police gave me a ticket. Wasn't guilty of it. I was guilty
of the other thing, but he let me go for that. I was guilty
for speeding, but he let me go. Because he figured, man, he couldn't
stand two tickets. But he let me go. And I was guilty of one. I told him
I was. I said, but I'm guilty. And I
know the dignity of the law is no excuse. I said, I didn't see
no signs, nothing. Ignorance of the law is no excuse,
so you know I take my punishment. But he came back and said, I
wasn't guilty of that. So I went up to the courthouse,
and sure enough, they had changed the expiration date, never sent
me nothing, and I'd been on expired license for almost two years.
License plates. They made the mistake. But beloved, what I am guilty
of, I'll acknowledge in a minute. Are you guilty? Are you guilty
before God? I'll tell you another story,
and I will hush. There's this man, and I know
his daddy's a preacher, solid preacher, good preacher, blessed
preacher, been pastor of the church for years and years and
years. God saved this man, revealed Christ to him, opened his heart, and he was
very dedicated, very committed. Well, his wife, after a while,
she just didn't like it, didn't like it at all, didn't like the
grace of God, didn't like him after he got converted. Several
months went by and she says, I'm leaving. I don't want you.
I don't want your religion. I don't want your God. I don't
want your grace. I'm leaving. Well, she left. He moved into an apartment and
he got to thinking about that and got to thinking about that
and got to thinking about that. And he went and got him a gun.
And he went to his wife's house. She came outside and he shot
her. Shot her dead. Shot her dead. And he sat down
and called the police and said, I just shot my wife. Come and
get me. They came and got him. He wouldn't
take a trial. He said, I don't need no trial.
I'm guilty. I've done that. He says, the devil deceived me.
The devil just put it in my mind. And they put him in jail and
they gave him so many years. And he don't want out. He don't
want to be put no special treatment or nothing. He said, I'm here
because of the evil I've done, the wickedness I've done. And
I'm here justly so. I don't want no special treatment. I don't want to be put no special
sales. I don't want anything. He's been
beat up so many times and never raised a hand yet. And you know that's the thing.
He said, are you going to go up for parole? He said, you've
been such a good model prisoner, they'll let you out. He says,
no, I'm not asking for nothing. I'm staying here and I ought
to be here the rest of my life for what I've done. I'm guilty
of the crime that I've committed. And when we do that before God,
God will justify you that quick. Because we ain't pulled the trigger
a lot of times, but we have surely, surely, Heard a lot of people
with our tongues and with our thoughts and in our hearts. The Scripture said, who covers
his sins shall not prosper, but who confesses and forsaketh his
sins shall find mercy. Our Father, in the precious name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, bless this word to our heart, bless
this word to our understanding, bless this word to the salvation
of sinners. Oh Lord, tear down every stronghold,
every vain imagination, every thought that exalts itself against
the very knowledge of God, tear it down, tear it down. God be merciful. Oh, Lord, be
merciful to that sinner today. Lord, they'll never know they're
guilty until you make them guilty. They'll never smite their breasts.
They'll not ever be brought to the place where they can lift
up their eyes and look unto you unless you give them grace. And
Lord, let somebody here today leave down, leave from here justified. Justified because you said they
are. Lord, bring glory and honor to Yourself in saving sinners
in this place, we ask in Christ's name. Amen. Let's sing in our
chorus books, Oh, How Merciful. Stand with me while we sing this.