Most, if not all of us, are familiar with the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. Now, what I would like you to do is to resist the temptation of saying, well, I already know that. And listen to this as if it's the first time you've ever heard what the Lord is saying in this parable.

I've entitled this message, a parable to the self-righteous. That's who he's speaking to. As a matter of fact, the only parable I can find where he identifies his listening audience at the very time, at the very first of the parable, is this one. He tells us who this parable is to. In verse nine, he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous. And what always goes along with that, they despised others. He gives a specific and a certain demographic, the parable is directed to.

Now, of course, all of his parables are directed to somebody, but at the outset, he tells us who his target audience is. A parable to the self righteous. What's the population of this demographic? Well, I asked Siri, when I was preparing this message, what the population of the world is. And Siri said 8,100,000,000. So that is the target audience of this passage.

Notice this description, and he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous. Now, there's not anybody in this room or outside of this room that has not been guilty of this sin. And if you wanna understand what self-righteousness is, it's defined in this very statement. They trusted in themselves that they were righteous. If I believe that I have any righteousness before God that comes from myself, what is that? Self-righteousness.

Self-righteousness contradicts the scripture. The scripture says there is none righteous, no, not one. Self-righteousness is the original sin. It's what Adam and Eve were seeking, to be like God, to be as gods, to be on the same plane with Him. It's the original sin. Even after he ate of the fruit, he still had a self-righteousness. God, this is your fault, not mine. If you wouldn't have given me this fruit, this wouldn't have taken place. Blaming God, I still have some form of righteousness. It's the most difficult sin to stamp out. You push it down here, it pops up there.

Let me give you some examples of what I'm saying. I don't feel saved. How come? I feel so sinful. I've had such a bad day. I've lost my temper. I've done things I'm ashamed of. I've said things I'm ashamed of. I don't feel saved. If you hadn't have done those things, would you feel saved? It's called self-righteousness. Maybe the next day, I feel saved. I've had a good day. I've been able to pray, read the scriptures. I've had a tolerably good day as far as the way I've felt. I feel saved. Do you? Why? You see, those instances are self-righteousness. That is all they are. You feel saved because of your behavior, because of how you've been.

Somebody else says, well, at least I know I'm a sinner. We even make a righteousness out of knowing we're sinners. That's how self-righteous we are. At least I know. It is the most difficult sin to stamp out, and it is the most deadly sin. Here's why. Listen to me real carefully. Your sin will not keep you from Christ. It'll drive you to Him. It's your righteousness that'll keep you from Christ.

And this always goes along with it, He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, they despised. They looked down their nose upon others. You see, it was a religion of personal comparison. I can always compare myself with somebody else and think I'm a little bit better than they are. There might be some that are better than me, but I'm better than most. And he despised, he looked down upon others. And this sin of self-righteousness is that which God hates.

Six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination to him, a proud look, a haughty spirit. God resists the proud. God giveth grace to the humble.

I wanna read you a passage of scripture from Isaiah chapter 65. We read in verse four, which remain among the graves and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh and broth of abominable things, is in their vessels, which say, stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou. You've heard a holier than thou attitude, it came from right here. I am holier than thou. You know, when we make a statement like that, we prove we don't even know what holiness is in the first place. We wouldn't say that. There's not degrees of holiness. I am holier than thou.

Now look what the Lord says about these people. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. That's how offensive the Lord finds this.

You know, self-righteousness Hates grace because grace doesn't give it any room to operate. It refuses. Hates election because my righteousness can't be involved in that. Hates Christ's effectual atonement because it throws out my righteousness. Hates God's invincible grace because my righteousness doesn't even count. Self-righteousness hates the grace of God

Self-righteousness says the work of Christ was not necessary for my salvation. Paul said if righteousness came by the law, then Christ died in vain. It was a waste of time. If you could be saved by your own righteousness. It's only when I have no righteousness that I can trust his righteousness. If I have any of my own, any, I will not trust his righteousness.

Now let's look at this parable and try to put yourself in the place of the people who heard him speak this parable. They had no understanding of the gospel. They'd never heard of justification by faith. They'd never heard of the righteousness of Christ being imputed. They'd never heard of any things and this no doubt seemed scandalous to them when they heard what was being said. So let's listen to this as if we never heard anything.

And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. That always It goes together. If you think you're righteous, you're gonna find somebody that you're more righteous than, and you're gonna look down on them. Always happens.

Now, here it is. Two men went up into the temple to pray. Now, these two men could not have been more polarized. They could not have been on more opposite ends of the spectrum. A Pharisee and a tax collector.

Now the Pharisee, the word means separated one. He was the most respected, religious, moral man to that community. He was held in high esteem. He might not have been liked very much. I wouldn't have liked him, you probably wouldn't have either, but he was still held in high esteem for his morality, for his goodness, for his efforts in religion. He's the one who would stand praying on the, corners of the streets and gave tithes of everything and fasted twice a week, the Pharisee, the religious man and a tax collector.

Now, while the Pharisee was the most respected, the tax collector was the most despised. What did he do for a living? He was employed by the Roman government. He was a Jew. Employed by the Roman government to collect taxes for the Roman government And he could add on anything he wanted to bring it into his coffers. And he had the protect of the Roman government, and he had thugs working with him, kind of like a mafia-like figure. If you didn't pay your taxes, somebody says, I'm just not going to do that. You better. You're going to get beat up if you don't. I mean, this was a mafia-like figure who could, Can you imagine how you would have hated him? If he charged you, overcharged you for taxes and doubled your taxes and you were the loser by it and there wouldn't be a thing you could do about it. He was a despised man. Everybody, he was the lowest. He was lower than a prostitute. He was the bottom.

A Pharisee, a very religious, moral man and a Republican, a Roman tax collector, someone who ripped off his own people. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a Republican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. I love the way the Lord points that out. He stood and prayed thus with himself. And it's a very self-congratulatory prayer. God, I thank Thee. I can hear this man saying, looking at the public or somebody else, there go I, but for the grace of God. I thank Thee. I'm giving you the credit. I believe this man was reformed. I'm no Arminian. I thank Thee. I'm giving you the credit. I thank Thee. that I'm not as other men are. Extortioners, unjust adulterers, even as this publican. I fast twice in a week. I've got a surplus of fasting. You know, you're only commanded to fast once a year on the day of Atonement, but I do it twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess.

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven. Picture him in your mind. The other man, I think was right, they were in the temple. I think he was as close to the holy of holies as you could be without actually being in it. He felt qualified to do that. He was, he felt like I'm somebody. And this man stood far off. He felt like he didn't belong in there. He felt like he was out of place. He felt so separated from everybody else. He was all alone. He was a far off. A publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven. I can see the Pharisee with his eyes up to heaven feeling he's able to do it. Not this man. His eyes were on the ground and he was beating on his breast. He knew this was his problem. You know, a lot of folks say, well, I may do bad things, but I've got a good heart. This fellow knew better than that. He knew his heart was bad and he was beating on his heart, crying, God be merciful. God be propitious is the word. And we're going to talk about that in a few moments. God be propitious to me. And in the original it's Not a sinner, it's the sinner. The worst man to ever live. This man knew something about what was in his heart. And he believed himself to be the worst man to ever live.

Verse 14, I tell you, I love it when the Lord says that. This is the exact same thing as in the Sermon on the Mount when he says, I say of you. I know they say this, but I say, I'm the one who has all authority. Now, remember, these people had never heard of justification by faith. They'd never heard of the great doctrine of justification. They'd never heard of what, how God can be just and justify the ungodly. All they saw was this, wicked man that they did not like, this publican, and look what the Lord says about this man. I tell you, this man went down to his house, what? Justified. Why, that's scandalous. You're gonna tell me that this wicked man that has ripped off so many people and lived such a wicked life, goes down to his house justified, and this religious fellow goes down condemned? Why, that was scandalous when they heard this.

And then the Lord gives what we could call the unalterable law of the kingdom of heaven. He says, everyone that exalts himself. And that's what this Pharisee certainly was doing. Everyone without exception that exalts himself shall be abased. And he that humbles himself shall be exalted.

Now these two men are the two representative men. These two men represent everybody in this room and everybody outside of this room. Like Cain and Abel, I thought maybe their names were Cain and Abel. Maybe the parents didn't know what they were doing, and they named them that, but they're just like Cain and Abel. They represent the two religions, and there are only two, grace and works. That's the only two religions there are. Weren't there many great religions? No, there are only two. Grace and works.

Works come from what you believe you can do. Grace comes from what you know you cannot do. What you can do, what you can't do. What you do or what must be done for you. Grace and works. These two men represent the two classes of people, and there are only two classes of people walking upon this planet right now, the righteous and the wicked. And I love saying this, the righteous, all without exception, believe themselves to be wicked. And the wicked, all without exception, believe themselves to be righteous. And this is so clearly illustrated in this parable, isn't it? The righteous and the wicked.

Let's look at the prayer of the Pharisee. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. This was what's called a soliloquy. He was speaking to no one but himself. He thought he was praying, but he wasn't. I love in Acts chapter nine, when the Lord tells Ananias to go to where Saul of Tarsus was to a street. And he said, with regard to Saul of Tarsus, behold, he prayeth. He never had before, but he is now. This man wasn't. He was praying thus with himself.

Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee. He's giving God the credit. I thank thee. You know, when we make the statement, I made it, you've made it, there go I, but for the grace of God. I understand why people make that statement in a limited way. It can be a good statement, I'm sure. But what you're saying is, is I'm not like that. I'm not like that. Hooray for me. I'm not like that. God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are. Now, whenever you have self-righteousness, it's always based upon comparing yourself to somebody else. Always. And I can always find somebody that I probably feel like I'm probably a better person than that person. Everybody can. That's what this man did. I thank thee that I'm not as other men are. And his ground of assurance was his behavior. Something he could see, his life, his changed life, what he did do and what he did not do. Not only did his good outweigh his bad, like I said, he had a surplus. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. Now, after he'd already put his money in the offering, somebody gave him $10, he'd get a dollar and put it back in the offering again. And so maybe he had 10 seeds and somebody gave him a seed. He'd make sure he contributes one of those seeds. I give tithes of all that I possess.

He said, I'm not an extortioner, I'm not a swindler. I'm not an unjust person. I treat people fairly. I treat them right. I pay my bills. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not like this pathetic publican." His ground of assurance was his behavior, this religion of personal comparison. You'll notice that there's no confession of sin in his prayer. If I have any awareness of the Lord's presence, I have some awareness of my sin. This man had no awareness of that because really he was ignorant of the character of God. That's why he could make these statements and he believed them. I think this man was very sincere.

Verse 13. We leave the prayer of the publican and I mean the prayer of the Pharisee and we could certainly say that this is the prayer of the wicked. And I would be remiss if I didn't say that everything he claimed was a lie. He was a swindler. He was an extortioner. He was unjust. He was an adulterer. All those claims he made of being free from were a lie.

Now let's look at the prayer of the publican. And the publican, standing afar off, what I thought of when I thought of his place, I thought of when The Lord made known to Peter who he really was. And what was Peter's response? Depart from me. I'm a sinful man, oh Lord. You don't want to have anything to do with the likes of me. Depart from me. That wasn't because he didn't want Christ's presence, but he thought, I've got no business being around him. That's the way this fellow felt.

The publican, standing afar off, would not even lift up his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast. That's my problem, my heart. There's where the problem is. I've got a bad heart. That's what makes everything I do bad. My heart. I can see him crying with David, creating me a clean heart. Oh God, my heart's filthy. That's how he felt about himself. Beating on his breast. God be propitious to me, the sinner. Do something about my sin.

Now if you ever, if I ever understand my own sinfulness, I'm going to understand I cannot do anything about it. I can't make it go away. The only one who can do something for me is God himself. And I'm asking the Lord to do something about my sin. I don't want to be left like this. I want him to do something about my sin. And that's where this word propitiation comes from. It's not just a general cry for mercy. He's saying, God be propitious to me, the sinner.

Now, what is a propitiation? That's a big word that's not used much, but it's very simple. A sin removing sacrifice. Lord, apply the atonement to me. Apply the blood of your Son to me. Remove my sin. God be propitious to me, thee, sinner. You know, the Lord said in Hebrews chapter eight, I will be propitious to their unrighteousness and their sins and iniquities. I will remember no more.

Now, when the Lord is propitious toward my sin, it's removed so much by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ that God looks at me and says, what sin? There is no sin. When he says I'll remember no more, it's not because it's still there. The only reason he can forget something, because there's nothing there to remember. There are sins and there are iniquities. I will remember no more. I'd like you to turn for a moment to Romans chapter three. God be propitious to me, the sinner. Now here's what that means.

Verse 21, The righteousness of God without the law is manifested. Being witnessed by the law and the prophets is what the Old Testament scriptures have always taught. Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, not faith in Jesus Christ, faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. for there's no difference for all sin, and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation, a sin removing sacrifice, through faith in His blood. Now don't miss that. Do you have faith in His blood?

Here we have this publican, God be merciful to me. Oh, I love the way, you know, a Pharisee's always concerned about other folks' sin. He was concerned about his own sin. God be propitious to me, the sinner. Well, What's this thing of propitiation? It's a sin-removing sacrifice, and that's what the Lord did. He was manifested to take away our sins. In Him is no sin. If I'm in Him, I have no sin. I stand before God without sin if I'm in Him.

But I love this phrase, whom God hath set forth or ordained or purposed. This is God's eternal purpose. to be a propitiation through faith in His blood. Do I have faith in His blood? Do I? Do I believe that by His own blood, He entered once into the holy place, having obtained Eternal redemption? That's what the Bible says. Do I believe it? Do you believe by one offering? That's his blood. That's his perpetuatory sacrifice. By one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.

Do you believe when He had by Himself, with no help from you, no help from His Father, no help from angels, no help from His people, when He had by Himself purged, made purification for, made it to where I'm pure before God by what He did. When He by Himself purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Do you believe that He made peace by the blood of His cross? Do you believe in whom we have redemption through His blood? Even the forgiveness of sins? Do you believe that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us? From all sin, do you have faith in his blood?

Do you believe his blood was the theme of eternity past, as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world? The theme of eternity future, worthy is the lamb that was slain. And it's our theme right now. God be propitious to me, the sinner.

Now, back to our text, Luke 18. This is what the Lord did about his sin. He was asking in that prayer, God be propitious to me, the sinner. He was asking the Lord to do something about his sin. And the Lord did something about his sin. And we read what it is. Verse 14, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified. I'm sure that that was scandalous at the time. Nobody knew what he was talking about. He didn't give an explanation for it. He simply made the statement, I tell you, with the authority of God, I tell you, this man, this self-condemned man, this man, who saw himself as the sinner, this man who needed propitiation, this man who could not save himself. He went down to his house justified, standing before God as one who has never sinned.

Do you have faith in his blood? I'm not asking you. If you think you're saved, I'm asking you if you have faith in his blood, then this would be said of you. You've gone down to your house justified rather than the other. How's that possible? 2 Corinthians 5.21, for he hath made him sin for us. who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.

And I really believe that it could be argued that this is the parable that God uses the whole Bible to expound. He doesn't really tell what this means. He just states the fact. And it takes Genesis to Revelation to tell how that can be so. This man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.

And then he gives this, what we could call the unalterable law of the kingdom of heaven. He that exalts himself. Now that's what self-righteousness is. It's the exaltation of self. And what does the Lord say? He that exalts himself shall be abased. And that's by God. And he that humbles himself. Now the Pharisee exalted himself. And we see how he went down to his house. This publican humbled himself before God.

Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He might exalt you in due time. And He will. This is the promise. Everyone that humbles themselves like this, publican did. Don't think, well, I've grown past this prayer. No, you haven't. I know I haven't. God be propitious to me, the sinner. He's humbling himself before God, and look how Christ exalts him. He went down to his house justified rather than the other. What a parable.

May the Lord enable every one of us self-righteous sinners, and that's what we are. self-righteous sinners, to humble ourselves, to look to Christ only and to rest in Him. And when we're taking the Lord's table now, what a blessing that is to partake of the Lord's table. When we take the Lord's table, we're remembering that because of his broken body and his shed blood, that now I stand before God having never sinned, without guilt, pure as the whitest snow before God.

I hope the Lord enables us to celebrate his life, death and resurrection as we partake of the Lord's table. If you all pass it out now.