I invite you this morning to
turn back with me to Luke 18, verses 9-14. We have a parable
given by the Son of God concerning how men and women are to come
to the living God. How does a man come to the living
God? What kind of an attitude and
spirit must he have? What must be on his mind and
in his understanding when he comes to the living God? Well, there are two things that
men and women must learn. This is a must. I use that word
must. It's necessary. Two things that
men and women must learn if they would come to God and expect
to go away blessed as did the publican. Now both of these men
came, and both men went home. But one man went home blessed.
One man communicated with God. The other man communicated with
himself. He prayed thus with himself. There's two things that will
change this man's concepts of God and his concepts of man and
change the way he thinks about salvation and religion in general. Two things that he must learn,
sin and grace. Sin and grace. No part of the gospel of Jesus
Christ will make any sense to you Nor will it yield any comfort
or peace to you until the Holy Spirit of God gives you some
understanding of these two terms, sin and grace. When the pastor or the teacher
begins to open the Bible, and I'll just give you an example
and teach you something about the election of God, you begin
to think in yourself, oh, election, that's not fair. How can that
be fair? How can God sit back and choose
from among thousands of people in all kinds of circumstances,
and in all these conditions that they're in, and choose some to
salvation and pass others by? How can God do such a thing?
And that's how the natural man thinks until he learns that he's
a sinner. When the man learns that he's
a sinner, Then election is not the unfair closed door nor the
choice of a tyrant anymore. Now it becomes an open door because
I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. I no longer see
myself having rights before God. But I see myself with all my
rights provoked. You see what I'm saying? No part
of the gospel. I don't care what it is you want.
You want to talk about particular redemption. You try to reason
with a natural man about particular redemption, that Christ actually
died for those chosen of the Father, that He gave His life
for certain individuals. And they'll argue and fight because
they think they have some right to that atonement until they
learn they're sinners. This gospel of Jesus Christ won't
make any sense to you, and it won't yield any comfort or peace
to you until the Holy Spirit of God gives you some understanding
of your sin, the totality of it, the depth of it, and the
result of it, and some understanding of the free, eternal, and unconditional
grace of God. This morning we are looking here
at a parable. What is that? What is a parable? Well, turn with me to Matthew
13. Let's see if we can find some information on this. What is a parable? Well, a parable
is a story designed to illustrate and teach doctrinal truth. It's
just a story. It's just a made-up story. Nothing
in it is actually factual. There wasn't two men who came
up to worship the Lord. This was a parable. This was
a story about them. And they were representative
of not just one man, but a whole group of men and women who are
going to come up before the Lord. And the Lord singles out in this
story, and He makes representative this publican and this Pharisee.
There are stories in which the All these characters and events
are not necessarily true, but they're given to illustrate the
mysteries of the Gospel. Look here in Matthew 13, verse
34. All these things spake Jesus
unto the multitude in parables, and without a parable spake He
not unto them. But it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables. I will utter things which have
been kept secret from the foundation of the world. And now He is going
to teach them. And He is going to teach them
in parables. And He tells us in verse 9 of
our text, back over in Luke chapter 18, what this parable is all
about. He spake this parable unto certain
which trusted in themselves that they were righteous. This is
what prompted him to give this story. This is what this story
is all about. He spoke this parable to certain
which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and any
man who believes that, any man who can see himself in any way
as self-righteous, This statement will follow that in every case
and despise others. Now, at that time, there were
certain people who trusted in themselves. And in particular
here, he's talking about the Pharisees. He's talking about
those who believed in a salvation by works. They trusted in their
abilities. They trusted in themselves. In
themselves. They trusted in their abilities
to discern between right and wrong. Do you believe you have
the ability to discern between right and wrong? These fellas
did. These fellas did. I thought I did when I've grown
up, didn't you? I know right from wrong. Turned
out I didn't. But these men trusted in themselves
that they did. They trusted in themselves to
be able to discern between good and evil, to tell the difference
between the truth and a lie. They trusted not only in their
ability, but also in the way that they had been taught. They
did trust in themselves, but they also trusted in the traditions
that they received of their fathers. The traditional understanding
they received was from an unquestionable source. It was from their fathers.
This was from their own blood relatives. This was from their
kinfolk. This was from a priesthood that dated back thousands of
years. This came from men who wore the titles of men recognized
in the scriptures. It came from longstanding religion. It was from their fathers and
mothers and sisters and brothers. It was from a source approved
of by men and women everywhere. everywhere. After all, if the multitude approves
of it, it must be right. You know that three times, three
times in the history of Israel, they voted on things and went
with the multitude. And every time they were cursed
of God. Every time. Cursed of God. So he's talking about people
here who trusted in their abilities to discern truth. They trusted
in the source of that truth they believed, and they trusted in
their good intentions. They trusted in their good intentions.
They trusted that they had a good heart, and a sound mind, and
a willing spirit. All right? What did they commit
to this trust? What was this trust all about?
What was this thing all about, this trust that they had in themselves? They trusted that they were righteous. Righteous. Maybe not perfectly,
but more righteous than others. What does that word righteous,
what does that mean? It means without sin. without sin, to be righteous
is to meet the standards of what is right and just, whatever those
standards are. And all self-righteousness is
by the standards of men. The self-righteous man, he doesn't
consider himself righteous by the standards of God, but by
the standards of men. They trusted in themselves that
they were righteous. Paul preached on Mars Hill, and
he said, God has set apart a day in which He'll judge all men.
He's going to judge all men by that man whom He hath ordained. Here's the standard of true righteousness,
the Lord Jesus Christ. To be righteous is to be guiltless.
To be righteous is to be as good as God. And this parable is designed
to expose the damning error of men and women who trust in themselves,
look to themselves, depend on themselves to produce a righteousness
acceptable to God. And I say again that this is
a damning error that will one day deliver you into hell, this
error of self-righteousness. Paul prayed for his kinsmen in
the flesh that they might be saved over in Romans chapter
10. He prayed for them. Well, what
did they do to warrant God's wrath? Why would Paul pray for his kinsmen?
They went to church every time the door was open. They read
the Scriptures daily. They tithed of all they possessed.
They fasted twice in the week. They taught their children the
law of God. They come from sea and earth
to make converts. Why would you need to pray for
anybody like that? I dare say you know some men
like that, men who are zealous. He said, they're zealous. He
said, I'll give them that. They're zealous. You know some
men who are zealous. They go everywhere. They're always
preaching. They're always somewhere. Always
going to church. Always going to revival. Why would you pray for such a
one like this? Romans 10, verse 3. 4. They being ignorant of God's
righteousness. That's why you pray for them.
Ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Believers do not
trust in themselves that their righteous lost men do. Believers
do not look to themselves, trust in themselves, or even attempt
to themselves to produce a righteousness before God. Why not? Because God has convinced them
that they are sinners. Sinners. Without that knowledge.
Now, I'm telling you the truth. You're going to learn these two
things. Sin and grace. If you come to God, you will.
If you go home blessed, you will, you'll learn something about
this thing of sin and grace. God convinces His elect that
they're sinners. The Pharisee approached God on
the basis of His righteousness, of His obedience to the law,
of His affection toward God, of His own motives and good intentions. The public can approach God confessing
his sins, confessing himself to be the sinner. Not looking
to be rewarded for his good works, but seeking the sovereign mercy
of God. God ever convinced you of sin? Huh? God ever convinced you of
sin? What is sin? The Scripture said
that sin is the transgression of the law. That's one of its
meanings. You're driving down the road
and the sign says 45 miles an hour. If you go 46, you transgress
the law. The sign says stop. If you just kind
of slow up and roll through it, you transgress the law. The law
says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not bear false witness,
thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery, go on and
on. You transgress that law in motive,
thought, or deed. You're a sinner. You're a transgressor
of the law. But that's not all sin is. Why
would any man or woman, transgress a law that was given for their
good. This is not just sin against
law anymore. Now it is sin against love. This
law was given for your good. Why would any man transgress
a law that was given for their good? God is holy. He is just and good. He is righteous
beyond our comprehension. So then why would any man, woman,
boy, or girl transgress His law? Because sin is a nature. That's why. Sin is a nature. It's not just what you do, but
it's why you do it. And when God looks on men, He
doesn't look only on their outward appearance, He looks on the heart. Our Lord said to those Self-righteous
Pharisees. Here's another part of their
righteousness. They had the same thing they
have today. They got a geographical righteousness. And what I mean by that is if
you live down south, they used to be opposed to what they called
mixed bathing. That is just men and women at
a public swimming pool. They were opposed to that. In
the north, it was common. That's geographical righteousness.
It just depends on where you're at. Catholicism here is not what
Catholicism is in Mexico. You go down to Mexico and now
you're going back to the days of the conquistadors. And they
still march with statues and all of that stuff from city to
city and they still do all of those things. That's geographic.
You go from one place to another and they have a different standard.
They have a different idea, a different concept. And then righteousness
is also, it has to do with, there's a dietary righteousness. You
can't eat this. You can't eat that. You can't
drink this. You can't do this. You can't do that. But over here,
you can. Go over to France, you can drink
wine. Go up north somewhere and, oh, you drink wine? Don't want
anything. Over there, it's common. It's
like drinking water. Geographical righteousness. Our Lord said this to them. He
said, whatever goes in the mouth, cast out in the drop. It's purified,
it's cleansed, it goes out. You drink a whole bottle of whiskey
and you're going to be sick and have a hangover, but it's got
nothing in it to defile you. What defiles you, our Lord said,
is what comes out of your heart. That's where the sin is. Sin
is a nature. It's in us. And when the Holy
Spirit convicts us of sin, He shows us that we are the problem. The sin is a nature. It's what
we are inside. We're eat up with it. Out of
the heart, He said, come evil thoughts and murders and adulteries
and fornication. All of these things come forth
from the heart and defile the man. But what he eats doesn't
defile. And if he eats in a dirty plate,
he might have some bacteria there and get sick, but it ain't going
to defile him. What defiles him comes out here. And this righteousness has to
do with what's here. Paul, listen to what Paul says
here in Romans 7, verses 14 through 18. I'll just sum it up for you.
He said, and we know that the law is spiritual. Do we? Do we know that? But I'm carnal, sold unto sin. Paul said, I know that in me,
that is, in this flesh dwelleth no good thing. Well, how is this
flesh in which dwelleth no good thing, how am I going to How
am I going to work out a righteousness? How am I going to produce a righteousness?
I'm a carnal soul to understand this law of spiritual. It demands
from me what I can't give. We were, he said, he wrote to
the Ephesians, when God found us, before God saved us, by nature
the children of wrath, even as others. We have a mind, but it's
a carnal mind. It's enmity against God. It's
not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can be. And we,
by the fall of our father Adam, are all under sin, under the
curse of it, the condemnation of it, the experience of it. By one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners. And being under sin, we have
no ability to discern truth no ability to produce a righteousness,
no ability to claw our way out of this nature. Give a sinner
a Bible, and he'll use it to make a religion that will be
an abomination to God. I'm telling you the truth. Antichrist religion, every one
of them carries a Bible. You ask them what they believe,
and they'll turn in here and tell you what they believe. Now,
they may take it out of context, but what I'm saying to you is
this. A man that is under sin, he tells us over there in Romans
chapter 2 and Romans chapter 3, what advantage then had the
Jew? Oh, they had much advantage.
They had the prophets. They had the Holy Scriptures.
Well, why didn't it do them any good? He said, because I before
proved that they're all under sin. That's why. That's why. Giving them a book ain't going
to do anything. It won't do anything. It takes a change of nature.
It takes a change of heart. It takes an intervention of God
to change this sinner. And there's none righteous. You give this man some rules
and regulations and a Bible, and he'll accomplish seeing land
to make one prophet like unto himself. And when he's made him,
he'll be twofold more the child of hell than the man who made
him. Sin is a nature. It's an ungodly, unholy, unsubmissive
nature, non-righteous, none that understandeth and none that seeketh
after God. All gone out of the way. Together
become unprofitable. None that doeth good. Hearts
full of deceit. Mouths full of cursing and bitterness.
Hearts ready to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in
their way. No fear of God before their eyes. It's a nature. And the sinner, he'll stand before
a holy God and lie through his teeth. Just lie through his teeth. Ananias and Sapphira stood before
a holy God and lied to the Holy Ghost. The sinner will exalt his family
above God and take their word over his. The sinner will look
into the face of perfect light and choose darkness rather than
light. You can show Him undeniable miracles. You can send the greatest of
the preachers and prophets. You can expound to Him every
doctrine of the Scripture. And yet, He'll continue on in
the darkness of His nature until He wakes up in hell or God intervenes. One or the other. I'm telling you, the religion
of this day is a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. It's just play. It's play in
church. That's all they're doing. Play
in church. Going through the motions. Salvation takes an act
of God. The Spirit of God must come and
enter into a man and overcome that strong man and take him
down and abide within. Create that
man anew. Write his laws on his mind and
in his heart and become his God and you become his people. He
will cause that man to stand by the door and have his ear
bored and have the ring put in it. David said in Psalm 51, I acknowledge
my transgression and my sin. My sin. What's that? That's that
nature. My sin, he said, is ever before
me. And I confess these things because
you demand truth in the inward parts. And I confess these things
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and clear
when thou judgest. A sinner, when convinced of his
sins by the Holy Ghost, has nothing to offer, nothing to contribute,
nothing to recommend him to God. He can't even look up into heaven.
That publican didn't so much as turn his eyes to heaven. He finds that his mouth has been
shut, his excuses taken away, and himself guilty before God. And Paul said, therefore, by
the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his
sight, because the law only reveals the sinner as the sinner. That's what the law tells you. The law convicts him of his lack
of love. It convicts him of his lack of
generosity. It convicts him of his evil desires. It convicts him of his ungodly
motives. It convicts him of his evil thoughts.
It convicts him of this. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. My friend, the sinner is not
looking for anything but mercy. How do I know if God doesn't
work in me? You'll quit looking for this
self-righteousness and these evidences of self-righteousness
in you, and you'll start looking for mercy. Mercy. This publican didn't come to
God with excuses or alibis. He didn't come to bargain or
exercise his free will. He didn't come to add something
to the Lord or make the Lord's work effectual. He came in truth
and sincerity. He came seeking mercy. He prayed
a seven-word prayer. God be merciful to me, the sinner. Now let me tell you something. There's hope for the sinner. And no hope for the self-righteous.
And no hope for them. But there's hope for a sinner. If you come on any other ground,
you'll find yourself praying with yourself. But God heard
and answered the prayer of this sinner. And the Bible has a lot
to say about sinners. Do you know that? It has a lot
to say about sinners. In Luke 15, verse 7, it said
that there's joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more
than 99 just persons. When the Holy Ghost makes clear
how God saves sinners, then that sinner can teach transgressors
the way, David said in Psalm 51. Matthew 9.13 says, I come
not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Matthew
11.19 says that our Lord is a friend of publicans and sinners. In
Romans 5, verse 8, God commendeth His love toward us in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And Paul said this is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. So the first thing God teaches
a chosen sinner is who he is. He's the sinner. He's the sinner. He's guilty. He's without ability. He doesn't have any hope. He's
without God in the world. God must intervene. And then
in the wake of his sinnerhood, in the darkness of his depravity
and sin, then God manifests his grace to him in Christ. It's an utter impossibility for
a self-righteous man to see the grace of God in Christ. He's
got no need of it, John. He's got no need of it. He doesn't
need mercy. He's able to save himself. What's
he need with mercy? He doesn't need to be taught.
He has the ability to learn. A fellow I worked with one time
said, I'm going to go home. And he said, over the weekend.
And he said, I'm going to read that book. Then he said, I'll tell you what
it says and what it don't say. He doesn't need taught. He don't
need to be drawn. He can come. He can exercise
his free will. He don't need to be brought.
He doesn't need grace. He's got his own works, his own
will, his own glory, his own pride. Grace and mercy are shown
only to sinners. All the rest call for justice. All the rest speak about their
rewards in heaven. Seeking my reward. One of the
greatest Armenian evangelists of all time, his name was Billy
Sunday. They closed the bars when this
man come to town. And Billy Sunday's most famous
message was payday someday. They seeking their reward. They are going to enter into
heaven's glory in a deceived heart looking for justice. My friend, there is only one
place where mercy and grace can be found, and where it can come
to the sinner from a holy God, and that is through the person
of Jesus Christ. I want you to listen to these
words. This is Scripture. These are not things I am making
up. In Romans chapter 3, I believe it's verse 24, he said, being
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that's
in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth. When did He do that? Back yonder in that tabernacle.
He set Him forth as the propitiation, as the mercy seat. The mercy
seat upon which the blood was poured out. The mercy seat which
enabled God to be merciful to that ungodly people. Justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. Whom God set forth as the propitiation for our sin
to declare His righteousness in our justification. Oh my soul. Christ was set forth of God in
that old ceremonial law as the mercy seat, covering the broken
law, guaranteeing the covenant promises, preserving life and
the heavenly bread. And then He tells us how this
comes, through faith in His blood. Substitutionary blood, sacrificial
blood, the blood of the sin offering. Mercy and grace come to the sinner
through Jesus Christ of propitiation, and it comes by faith. Trusting
in Christ alone. Receiving it by grace alone. And the man who can do that,
he can go home like the publican justified. He can go home blessed. Blessed of God. How will you pray this morning? How will you come to God? Looking to and trusting in yourselves,
or confessing your sin and asking for mercy. That's how to come
to God. One man prayed and went home. The other man prayed and
went home blessed. He went home blessed. One prayed
with himself. The other one communicated with
God.