Now we're turning to the parable
found in Luke 18. Luke 18, and he spake this parable
unto certain men. This message the Lord tailored
for a certain audience. Now this audience was the Pharisees
as we read about in Luke 17 verse 20. He's talking about the Pharisees. He spake this parable unto certain,
these certain self-righteous Pharisees, and the Lord says
they trusted in themselves. Now what a sad thing to do. Would you trust yourself for
righteousness and salvation? The Lord addressed with this
parable, this word of truth, they trusted in themselves that
they were righteous and that led them to despise others. And then he gives this example
of the two men who went to the temple, one a Pharisee and one
a publican. Now, the message here I hope
I can make it clear and plain. I'm entitling the message from
this parable the Lord gives the story of two men. The story of
two men. One justified himself before
God and was condemned. That's what the Pharisee did.
The other man, the publican, the sinner, the other condemned
himself before God and was justified by God. That's what we read in
verse 14. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other. Wouldn't it be
a miracle of God's grace if you could go home today justified
before God? Now everybody here is one of
these two men. Every one of us here. They're
only sinners saved by God's grace through the merits of Christ.
or sinners who are going about to establish their own righteousness
by their own wicked deeds, not submitting to the righteousness
of God revealed in the gospel. The all-knowing, sovereign Lord
declares this parable to show us how he saves sinners, and
I'm interested in that because I'm a sinner who needs salvation.
who is sovereign declares in this parable how he saves sinners
by his grace. through Christ alone, not creature
merit. Creature merit does not enter
into the picture of salvation in any way, nowhere, at any time. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us. It's God who called us and saved
us, not according to our work, but according to His own purpose
and grace. Now notice carefully verse nine,
The Lord tailored this parable and this story, and he speaks
to this audience who trusted in themselves, yet they were
righteous and despised others. Now, we know he's addressing
these Pharisees. The Pharisees who were the most
smug, self-righteous, holier than thou, That's the one the
Lord rebukes. The sharpest rebukes the Lord
pronounced upon men anywhere in His day were the Pharisees.
He said, Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees! Don't turn, let
me just read it to you because you're most familiar with it.
Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees! Hypocrites! For you may clean
the outside of the cup and the platter, but within you're full
of extortion and excess. You're blind, you're a blind
man. You're a blind man, woe unto
you scribes and Pharisees, for you're like a whited sepulcher,
which indeed appear beautiful outward, but within are full
of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so outwardly you appear
righteous unto men, but within you're full of hypocrisy and
all iniquity and evil. Now turn back just a page and
you can read this with me. You remember in Luke 16, 15.
Our Lord says that these same, same Pharisees. Luke 16, let's
begin reading at verse 13. No man can serve two masters.
For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he
will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God
and Mammon. And the Pharisees also, which
were covetous, heard all these things and derided him, and he
said to them, Oh, you or they would justify yourselves before
men, but God knows your heart. That which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination in the sight of God. The Lord had the sharpest rebukes
and pronounced judgment upon those who were going about to
establish a righteousness of their own. Who were the Pharisees? They were the strictest order
of the Jews. Stricter than the Sadducees,
they were always going about to show everybody how righteous
they were. They would always do their deed
before men. They would always pray in public
to show off how religious they were. They were the legalists
of the law who separated themselves from everybody else. The Lord
called those people in Isaiah 65, He said, those who say they
are holier than thou, He said, there's nothing but smoke, smoke
in my nose. All they do is stink. Remember
Saul of Tarsus was one of those Pharisees, you remember? Book of Philippians chapter 3,
Saul of Tarsus, before he met the Lord Jesus Christ, he was
one of those Pharisees, zealous of the tradition of the fathers,
zealous of the law. In Philippians chapter 3, though
I might also have confidence in the flesh, verse 4, Philippians
3, if any man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in
the flesh, I would have more. Circumcised the eighth day, the
stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, the Hebrew of Hebrews,
as touching the law or concerning the law of Pharisee. concerning
zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless. That's what Saul of Tarsus was
as a Pharisee, a very self-righteous man, until he met the Lord, until
he was stripped, until he was put in the dust. And then he
said, I count all those things lost, dung and ruined, that I
might win Christ and be found in Him. Now listen carefully. Self-righteousness, is the most
deadly and damning sin of all. And here's the reason why. Your
sin will never keep you from Christ, but your supposed goodness
and your supposed self-righteousness will. As long as you're going
about to establish a righteousness of your own, as long as you're
going about to justify yourself by the deeds of the law, you'll
never come to Christ as a needy, guilty sinner. You see, the Lord
Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Your sin won't keep you from
Christ, but your self-righteousness will. Your supposed goodness
will. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. We had
that on the radio this morning from Matthew 9, 13. Now what
do the Pharisees like to do? Two things are given here. They
trust in themselves that they were righteous before men and
God. You remember what the Lord said
in Jeremiah 17, Cursed be every man that trusteth in man, That's
a cursed place. What a dangerous thing to do,
to trust something that God says is a curse. They trusted themselves
that they were righteous. And in doing so, they despised
everybody else. Self-righteousness always leads
us to be judgmental of everybody else. Always despise others. Self-righteousness always causes
someone to love self and hate others, to justify yourself and
to condemn others. It always breeds contention,
not kindness. Always breeds a harsh, unforgiving
spirit rather than a loving and forgiving spirit. This is exactly
what the ministry of Saul of Tarsus was all about. You remember,
he went about persecuting Saul of Tarsus the Pharisee. He went
about persecuting those who were believers. In case you haven't
noticed, the religion of the Pharisees is alive and doing
well. We still have the self-righteous
crowd who are still going about to establish a righteousness
of their own. Works religion in our day prospers
today like no other. You see, there are just two religions
in this world, one of grace, the other of works. and the other
of sight. One of Cain, the other of Abel. One of Ishmael, the other of
Isaac. One of Esau, and the other of
Jacob. One by the law, and one of grace. One condemns, and one finds no
fault in Christ. One leads to bondage, the bondage
of the law. The other leads to freedom in
Christ. One gives death, the other gives
life. One of weakness, the other of
power. One of merit, the other of mercy. One of weakness, the
other of the power of the Spirit of God. Just two religions in
this world. Cain, Abel. Abel brought that
blood sacrifice. One of life, one of death. One
of truth, one of a lie. Now, second thing, look at verse
10. Luke 18, verse 10. Two men went
up to the temple to pray. The one, Pharisee. The other, a publican. A publican were those who were
notorious tax collectors. They were Jewish people who collected
taxes for the Romans. One was a very moral, self-righteous
Pharisee, the other a notorious sinner. The contrast is great,
is it not? Ask a Jew who was the most moral
man in his day, and he would say, well, a Pharisee or a Sadducee.
Ask him who's the most immoral and sinful man, he would say,
well, a publican like Matthew or a publican like we're going
to see in chapter 19, Zacchaeus. When the Lord did call Matthew
the publican to follow him, you know who complained the loudest?
They said to his disciples, why does your master eat with publicans
and sinners? You remember? And the Lord said,
I didn't come to call the righteous. Those who are well don't need
a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. Both men in this parable went
to the proper place of worship and prayer, the temple. Both men were in the same need
of mercy because of sin. Both were fallen sons of Adam,
and Adam all died. But these two men had different
desires, and different attitudes, and different motives, did they
not? The Pharisee went to be seen of men. They loved to stand
praying in the street corner. Well, we see that going on in
our day, don't we? One went to be seen of men, the
other went to meet God. as a mercy beggar. One went to
brag on himself and to impress God, the other went to worship
God in spirit and in truth. The Father seeketh such to worship
him in spirit and in truth. One went to condemn others, the
other went to the temple to condemn himself. One went there as a
merit bragger, the other went there as a mercy beggar. Which
one are you? Why are you here today? All those
who are truly wicked. Now you think about this. All
those who are truly wicked think themselves to be righteous by
something they have done. Stay with me now. There's not many sinners around
today. All those who are truly wicked,
they think themselves to be righteous. All those who are truly righteous
and justified in Christ know themselves to be the chief of
sinners. Now that's so, that's so. We
can say those who are truly justified in the Lord Jesus Christ by his
grace. We can say being taught of God,
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body
of death? He said, I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Now all of us here are one of
these two men. I trust we are gathered here in the name of
Christ to worship Him, to hear His Word, and to receive His
Word by faith, and to seek salvation where it's found, in our blessed
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here's the third thing.
Notice in verse 11 and in verse 12, the Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself. Now here's the what is known
as the Pharisee's prayer, but in reality he didn't pray at
all. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God I thank
thee, I'm not as other men are. Really? I'm not an extortioner,
I'm not unjust, I'm not an adulterer, I'm not as this publican. Everything
that he says he's not, that's what he is. That's what he is. He says, I fast not once, but
twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. Now, there's no confession of
personal sin against God, is there? Not in that Pharisee's
prayer. Not one time does he say, Lord,
have mercy on me, thee sinner. There's no confession of personal
sin against God. That's how the Lord teaches us
to pray. We had it over here in Luke chapter
7, the Lord, when He taught His disciples how to pray, He said
to pray, Father, forgive us for our sins. You remember the way
David prayed in Psalm 51, Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to Thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of Thy tender
mercy, block out my sins. Against thee I acknowledge my
sin, against thee and thee only have I sinned against God." There's
no confession of sin. There's no asking for forgiveness,
is there? There's no seeking mercy before
God through Christ. In reality, he truly did not
pray at all. He only commended himself before
God. It was all about what I did or
did not do, I'm certainly, I'm certainly,
he says, I'm not as that wicked publican. I'm certainly not like
him. This man was totally ignorant
of his own sinful nature, totally ignorant of the holy character
of God, was he not? Did he pray at all? No, he just
bragged on himself. Now, notice the difference in
verse 13. And the Pharisee, standing afar
off, he would not even draw nigh, would not lift up so much his
eyes unto heaven, he would not so much look upon God who was
holy, but he smote upon his breast, he beat his heart, saying, God
be merciful to me, the sinner. Now, seven words. The publican's prayer
is seven words. God be merciful to me, the sinner. This prayer is the complete opposite
of the Pharisee. His prayer, the Pharisee, was
full of arrogance and pride. This man's prayer is full of
humility and repentance. Now the all-knowing Lord is telling
us what true prayer is all about. You remember we started Luke
18, that all men everywhere ought to pray? This prayer of this publican
is seen in what he did and what he said. He stood afar off, would
not lift up his eyes before God. He knew he was too sinful to
approach a thrice holy God. The God dwells in a light to
which no man can approach. He smote upon his breast acknowledging
the fountain and source of his sin. Remember our Lord said in
Luke 15, out of the heart proceeds what? And that's the heart of
your mind, your thinking, who you are. Out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, wickedness, all these things
come out of the heart. These are the things that defile
a man. You see, God must give us a new
heart. God must make us new creatures in Christ that we might worship
Him in spirit and in truth. Ezekiel said, God through Ezekiel
said, I'll give him a new heart and I'll put with him a new spirit.
If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are
passed away and behold, all things have become new. God gives us
in regenerating grace. a heart of love that loves Him,
a heart that believes God, a heart that bows in submission to His
sovereign will, that prays, Lord, Thy will be done. He denies them
of a broken heart, save it such as be of a contrite spirit."
That's what he did. He stood afar off, would not
lift up so much his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast. But
look what he said. He said, I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. Can you identify with that? So
I used to be a sinner. No. You are a sinner. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth's not in us. We are sinful through
and through. Through and through. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. Remember what Peter
said to the Lord. Turn back to Luke chapter 5.
When they'd been out fishing all night and caught nothing,
And the Lord told them to cast the net out to a particular spot. And the Lord, Peter, said, We've
been fishing all night. We've caught nothing. Nevertheless,
at thy word, I'll let down the net. Luke chapter 5 verse 6,
And when they had done, they enclosed a great multitude of
fishes, and the net break, and they beckoned unto their partners
which were in the other ship, that they should come and help.
And they came and filled both ships, so that they began to
sink. Luke chapter 5 verse 8, And when
Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knee, saying, Depart
from me, For I am a sinful man, O Lord." Isn't that your prayer? Lord, I'm a sinful man through
and through. Does that describe you? It certainly
does me. This sinner begs for mercy based
upon the blood atonement of Christ. Look what he says there, God,
be merciful to me, the sinner. Now those two words, be merciful,
in the original it's one word, and it's only found one other
place in the Scripture. Turn over here to Hebrews chapter
2 verse 7. He's praying for mercy based
upon the sacrifice of Christ. the propitiation of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That term, God be my propitiation
for my sin. In Hebrews chapter 2, look at
verse 17, It behooved him to be made like
unto his brethren, Hebrews 2.17, that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make, and
here's the word, reconciliation. Be merciful. Be my reconciliation. Be my propitiation for my sin. For in that he himself has suffered
being tempted, he's able to succor them that are tempted. The Lord
Jesus Christ turned to 1 John 4. The Lord Jesus Christ is set
forth in Scripture as our propitiation, as our atonement for our sin.
The only reason God would show mercy to us is the fact that
the Lord Jesus Christ has made full atonement for our sin. 1
John 4. Look at verse 10. Not that we love God, but that
He loved us and that He sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sin. I want you to look at one other
place with me. Turn over here to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter
3. Our Lord is teaching us in this
prayer that this sinner begs for mercy based upon sin being
paid for by the justifying blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look
at verse 24, Romans 3. Romans 23. Romans 3 verse 23 says, "...all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified
by His grace, freely by His grace, through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, whom God sent forth..." And notice that marginal
reference, "...whom God has ordained to be a propitiation." a mercy
seat, a satisfaction, a payment for sin through faith in his
blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that
are past through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at
this time, his righteousness, Christ, that he might be just
and the justifier of them which believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's our hope. Lord, have
mercy upon me, the sinner, because Christ has paid my sin debt."
That's our hope. That's our only hope. We're to
love one another and to forgive one another even as God, for
Christ's sake, has forgiven us. God dealt with our sin in Christ
according to His strict and holy justice. Now He can freely forgive
us and show mercy to us for one reason. that He might be a just
God and Savior in Christ, that He might be the just and the
justifier, as we read a moment ago. Now, in closing, look at
verse 14, Luke 18, verse 14. Look at verse 14, I tell you.
Well, I want to be told, don't you? Over and over and over again. Christ receiveth sinful men,
even me with all my sin. He can save the sinful us. I
tell you, this man, now he's talking about this sinful publican,
this notorious, wicked, guilty man. The Lord said, this man
went home from the temple service, he went to his house, he went
home justified. Now what does it mean to be justified?
It means to be cleared of all guilt. to be just in the sight
of God with no sin. It's to be made righteous in
the sight of God in Christ. He went down to his house justified
rather than the other. The sinner is justified, cleared
of all guilt, made righteous in Christ while the Pharisee
is justly condemned rather than the other. One left the temple
that day, justly condemned in his sin. One left the temple
that day justified by His grace, cleared of all guilt. Do you
remember in Romans 8 where it says, Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who
is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God. Who
also maketh intercession for us? He that spared not his own
son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with
him also freely give us all things? That's good news, is it not?
Now, look at the last part of verse 14. For everyone that exalteth
himself, Everyone that goes about to establish a righteousness
by his doing, everyone that is puffed up with religious pride,
everyone that exalts himself shall be brought down to condemnation,
abased. And he that is humbled, he that
is humbled, it says here, humbleth himself, but we know that that
is only by the power of God, by the conviction of God the
Holy Spirit. Those who are humbled, and convicted
and brought down shall be lifted up. Lifted up before God. Those that exalt themselves shall
be condemned. Those who condemn themselves
shall be exalted. Isn't that amazing? God resists
the proud and gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves in the sight
of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." James 4.10. Now, what
is it to be humble? What is it to be humble before
God? Well, it's to take your place before God as He describes
you. It's to take your place before
God as He describes you. To take your place as a guilty
sinner. That's what it is to be humble.
It's to seek salvation where salvation is found. It's to be
stripped and laid in the dust before God, begging God to clothe
you with the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as
I said earlier, every one of us here today is one of these
two men. Every one of us here is one of
these two men. May God give us grace right now in our heart
to always look to the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified as all
our salvation. The Lord said, let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy,
find grace to help in time of need. May we too go home today,
this day, justified before God only in the blood and righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, finding all our salvation in Him. In
Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in Christ
we stand complete. Christ is all and in all. 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. Exalted and blessed in Christ.
For God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies
in Christ, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world.