Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I'm reading this morning from
Luke chapter 18, verses 9 through 13, and I've entitled this message,
A Definitive Parable. Now, this parable that I'm getting
ready to read gives us a summary of the message of the Bible. And that's why I call this a
definitive parable. We read in Luke chapter 18, beginning
in verse 9, and he spake this parable unto certain which trusted
in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Two men went up into the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men
are extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican, I fast
twice in 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 unto heaven, but
smote upon his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other for everyone that
exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted." Now, as I've already stated, I have entitled
this parable that I just read to you, the definitive or a definitive
parable. And this parable actually can
be used to summarize the entire message of Holy Scripture. Now, this book we call the Bible
claims inspiration. Second Timothy 3.16 says, all
scripture is given by inspiration of God. God breathed. Everything is perfect. No error said exactly as God
would have it said. And God gives us this book to
tell us who he is. and what he is like. That is the purpose of the Bible. He is utterly unique. There is no one and no thing
that can even be compared to him. He said, who are you likening
to me? He is other. That's what holy means. He is
other. There's nothing in this world
that we can say, well, God's like this. No, God stands alone. Now, there's some things we can
know about God without the Bible. Creation tells us someone all
powerful made all this and nobody made him. You know, even in physics,
every effect must have a cause. Someone had to cause all of this.
For instance, if there's motion, that's the effect. Something
had to cause to bring that motion into motion. And if something
is standing still, there has to be some kind of cause on it,
some kind of power exerted on it to make it move. God is the cause. Creation tells us that somebody
made all this and nobody made Him. We can know that simply
from the light of creation, but there are things with regard
to the character of God that we could never know had not God
made it known in His Word. For instance, how can we know
that God is just? unless God makes it known in
His Word. How can we know He's righteous? How can we know that
God will forgive sin? How can we know that God will
show mercy? Except God makes it known in
His Word. We could not possibly know these
things without the written revelation of God. Now the Bible is not
a science book. Someday science will catch up
with the Bible, but the Bible is not a science book. The Bible
is given to give us His character, and there's nothing that spells
out the character of God like the 14th verse of the parable
I just read. When the Lord said regarding
this self-condemned man, He talked about these two men, one a very
religious moral man, and the other a very sinful man. And the Lord says with regard
to this man who was sinful by his own admission. He was a sinner. And Christ says with regard to
this man, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified,
rather than the other. Not merely forgiven, not merely
pardoned, not shown mercy, but justified. Not guilty, sinless,
Only the Bible tells how God can be just and justify someone
who is intrinsically and inherently unjust. Only the Bible tells
us how God can be just and justify Now, other religions don't even
deal with this. That's not dealt with in the
Muslim religion, or with Buddhist, or with Hindu. Not even an issue. When people talk about comparative
religions, no religion can compare with the gospel. Only the gospel
answers this question, how can God be just and justify someone
who is sinful? Every attribute of God is displayed
in that. Now, let me give you a short
answer. How can God be just and justify the ungodly? The cross. The cross. Cross is the most
God-like thing God ever did. On the cross, he made the way
to be absolutely just and to actually justify someone who
is ungodly. God created the universe for
the cross. And the cross is God's way of
justifying the ungodly. Now when the Lord said this man
in our text went down to his house justified rather than the
other, he doesn't tell us how that is. He just commented he
went down justified. And he uses the whole Bible to
teach us how this man who was a self-condemned sinner could
go down to his house justified. men, the two men that went to
the temple to pray. And notice it says in verse 9,
he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that
they were righteous and despised others. Now, two kinds of men. Those that trust in themselves,
that they are righteous, and those that trust Christ only
as their personal righteousness. All of the world is divided into
those two groups. Those that trust in themselves,
that they are righteous, and those who have only Christ as
their personal righteousness before God. Now, there was a
man named Blaise Pascal. in the 17th century. He was a
French mathematician and physicist. And he made this statement, which
in my opinion is perhaps the most accurate uninspired statement
I've ever heard. And when I say uninspired, I
mean not in the Bible, not in the Bible. It's what the Bible
teaches, but he wasn't inspired like the scriptural writers were
inspired to write. And he made this statement. Listen
to this very carefully. He said, there are only two kinds
of people in this world. the righteous and the wicked. All the righteous, without exception,
believe themselves to be wicked. And all of the wicked, without
exception, believe themselves to be righteous, or at least
have the potential to be righteous. Now, the Lord says, he spake
this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they
were righteous and they did what all people do who trust in themselves
that they were righteous, they despised others. They were critical
of others. They were judgmental of others. You see, they had a comparative
religion. You can always find somebody
that you feel like you're a little bit more righteous than, a little
bit more holy than, and you can look down your nose at them.
That's what the self-righteous person does. He despises others. Now, if you have any personal
righteousness in yourself, that is self-righteousness. And that is who the Lord is giving
this parable too. He says in verse 10, two men
went up into the temple to pray. Both of these men believed in
God. Both of these men believed in
prayer. Both of these men saw some necessity
in the worship of God. They both went to the temple. The one a Pharisee and the other
a publican. Now, a Pharisee was the religious,
moral man. His name means separated one. He believed himself to be separated
from the rest of humanity because of his strict religion. He was a separatist. He was a
fundamentalist. He was a strict, righteous, moral
man. The other man was a publican.
A publican was employed by the Roman government to collect taxes
from the Jews, and the Jews considered this man a traitor. He would
add to the taxes they owed in order to enrich himself, and
he was protected by the Roman government in doing it. You know,
the Lord said to the Pharisees at one point, publicans and harlots
enter kingdom of heaven before you. The publicans were classed
with the harlots as the most immoral people of all. Two men went into the temple
to pray. A very righteous, moral man,
the Pharisee, and a very sinful, despised man, the publican. Verse 11. The Pharisee stood. This was a self-confident man.
He knew who he was. He stood and he prayed thus with
himself. You know, the Lord says so much
in making that statement. He thought he was praying to
God, but he didn't have the ear of God. He didn't have the favor
of God. He prayed thus with himself. Oh, he thought it was a grand
prayer, but it didn't get any further than the ceiling. He
prayed thus with himself. This man, as religious and righteous
as he believed himself to be, did not have the favor of God.
Listen to his prayer. God, I thank Thee. I'm giving You the credit for
this. I'm far too humble to give myself the credit for my glorious
life. I thank thee that I am not as other men. I'm different. I have a changed
life. I'm giving you the credit. I
thank thee that I'm not as other men are." He could look at the
immorality and wicked lives of other men, and he could say,
I'm not like that. I'm giving God the credit. I'm
sure at times when he'd see somebody, he'd say, there go I, but for
the grace of God, I give God the credit that I'm not like
that, but he was resting in what he was like. Listen to his prayer. God, I thank Thee that I'm not
as other men are. I want you to notice how many
times I is mentioned in his prayer. I thank Thee that I am not as
other men are. Extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even as this publican, I fast twice in the week. I give tithes
of all that I possess. The prominent word in this man's
prayer is, I. I. I. That gives you the problem
with this prayer right off the bat. And he starts thanking God
for how good he was. I thank thee that I'm not as
other men are. I'm no extortioner. I don't unjustly take that which
does not belong to me. I'm not unjust. I'm not a lawbreaker.
I'm not an adulterer. I've been faithful to my wife
or my husband. I am certainly not like this
publican back here that is so pathetic. He said, I fast twice
in the week. Oh, my acts of self-denial, I
fast twice in the week. And I give tithes of all that
I possess. Oh, there's nothing that I don't
tithe. I'm sure most people would like
to have him as a church member. He's so generous in his giving.
He gives tithes of all that he possess. Oh, what a man he was. Now, nobody likes this man. And what
he says is really not true. He demonstrates that he had no
understanding of the character of God or of what sin is, or
he wouldn't have prayed this prayer. You'll notice that he
doesn't ask God for mercy in his prayer. There's no sense
of a need of grace. He doesn't ask for the forgiveness
of his sins. His prayer was all based upon
what he did and didn't do. And that is where his confidence
was. What he did not do and what he
did do. But the fact of the matter is,
he was an extortioner. He took credit where credit's
not due. He gave credit to himself. He was an unjust man. He'd broken every one of God's
laws continually. He didn't know it, but he wasn't
an unjust man. He was an adulterer. He at least
committed adultery in his heart, and he had certainly committed
spiritual adultery. All the things he said he was
not, he was. He boasted of his works. He's not somebody that God would
hear. Now, as he pats himself on the
back, let's leave him for a moment and look at this publican. Verse
13, and the publican standing afar off. Evidently the Pharisee
was up at the front of the church. The publican felt completely
unqualified to do anything like that. He stood afar off and would
not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven." Evidently, I can
see the Pharisee holding his hands up and looking up into
heaven as he prays, thinking God hears him, but he didn't.
The poor publican couldn't pray like that. He had his eyes down
and he was beating upon his breast while he was praying. He knew
his heart was the problem. He had the heart that Jeremiah
had described, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked. That means incurable. He knew
he had a heart that was desperately wicked and incurable. This man
doesn't make these bold claims with regard to himself. He said,
God be merciful to me, the sinner. Now I know it says in the King
James, a sinner, but in the original, the definite article is used.
God be merciful to me, the sinner. Now what is a sinner? This man
said, that's what he is, the sinner, not just a sinner, but
the sinner. What is a sinner? Well, sinners
are the one who commits the sins. I don't know how many times I've
heard preachers say, God loves the sinner, but he hates his
sins. Now, God doesn't put sins into hell.
God puts the person who committed those sins into hell. The sinner is the one who willfully
commits the sins. Now, if we would have an interview
with this man, and we would say to Mr. Publican, what are you?
He'd say with broken heart, I'm a sinner. All I do is sin. If I did it, it's sin. I don't
care if it seemed good on the outside. If I did it, it's sin. And I cannot not sin. That's my nature. Everything
I do is sin. I can't go ten seconds with a
holy mind. I cannot not sin. My sin is my
fault. I can't blame it on God the way
Adam did. I can't shift the blame. The
woman that you gave me, she gave me the fruit and I didn't even
know all my sin is all my fault. And I can't sit and judge on
anybody. I can't look at anybody, I don't
care who it is, I don't care what they're doing, I can't look
down at them and say, I'm not as bad as you. I'm the chief
of sinners, and anything they would do, I'd be worse, and I
am worse. I can't judge anybody, and I
have no claims on God. If he sent me to hell and did
not give me mercy, just and holy is his name. I am a sinner. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Don't give me what I deserve. If you give me what I deserve,
I will be sent to hell right now. God, be merciful to me,
the sinner. And in the original, that word
merciful is propitious. It's taken from the word propitiation,
which means our sin-removing sacrifice. This publican understood
that the only thing that could be done for him is if God Himself
removed his sin by the propitiatory sacrifice. He knew there was
nothing he could do about his sin. This is a summary of everything
David said in Psalm 51 in his great Psalm of repentance. Lord, do something about my sin. Be propitious toward my sin. Remove it. Cause it to not be. Now, if I'm a sinner, like this
man was, my only hope is for God to do something about my
sin, which is what the gospel is all about. 2 Corinthians 5.21
says, have made Him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him." That's what God does. Salvation is what God does
for the sinner. Now, listen to the Lord's words. I tell you, here's divine authority. I tell you, this is the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ with regard to these two men. I tell
you, this man, this Man condemning himself, crying, God be merciful
to me, the sinner. This man went down to his house
justified. Not merely forgiven, not merely
pardoned, not shown mercy, all those things are true. But he
went down to his house justified. That means sinless. not guilty, having never committed
a sin. Now this thing of justification,
how can this be? This man was a sinner by his
own admission. How could he go down to his house
justified? This is the great mystery of the gospel. God can
take somebody like this sinner and make him to be without sin. Every attribute of God is magnified
in this. It was all accomplished on the
cross. The wisdom of God made the way for him to be just. The
justice of God is exemplified and magnified in the cross and
God punishing sin and making that sin not to be. The love
of God in giving his son the power of God and putting away
the sin. The sovereignty of God, the two
men, one was saved, one was not. Oh, all of God's attributes are
revealed in him being just and justifying the ungodly. Now this
thing of justification, It's an act of God. God doesn't offer
you justification. If you're justified, he declares
you to be just. It's justification by grace. It's a gracious act of God. It's
justification by blood, being justified by his blood. It was
the blood of Jesus Christ that answered all the demands of God's
law, paid the sin debt, made the sinner without sin by what
he did. Justification is by faith. How
do I know God's justified me? I'm relying on Jesus Christ only
as my justification before God. This is the great mystery of
the gospel. This is what the Bible is all
about, how God can be just and justify someone who is unjust. Now, the Lord ends this with
the unalterable law of the kingdom of heaven. He says, for everyone,
that exalteth himself, like the Pharisee did, shall be abased. He knows how to abase them, but
walk in pride, the scripture says. And everyone that humbleth
himself, like the publican did, God be merciful to me, thee,
sinner, shall be exalted. Now, listen carefully, please. God will meet you on the ground
you want to come. If you come like the Pharisee
did, trusting your own works, God will meet you there. And
let me tell you, my friend, it won't be good. You don't realize
the sinfulness of your own works. But if you want to come like
this publican did, God be merciful to me, the sinner, God will meet
you right there. And he'll have mercy on you,
and he'll justify you, and he'll exalt you. Now, that is the unalterable
law of the kingdom. heaven. To receive a copy of
the sermon you have just heard send a request to todd.nyvern
at gmail.com or you may write or call the church at the information
provided on the screen.