Okay, now this morning we'll
be looking at Luke chapter 16. Luke chapter 16, verse 14 down
through verse 18. Luke 16, 14 through 18. And I'm taking the title for
the message from the word the Lord speaks
in verse 15. And verse 15 is kind of the main
text in this message. Let's look at verse 15. Luke
16, 15, you are they which justify yourselves before men. Now he's
addressing himself to those self-righteous Pharisees. But God knows your
heart, for that which is highly esteemed among men is nothing
but wickedness, abomination, sinful wickedness in the sight
of God. Now you think about that. All
the things that's highly esteemed among men, especially religious
men, God said it's just nothing but filthy rags in my sight. The title of the message I'm
going to give this is God Knows Your Heart. God knows your heart,
your thoughts, what you're thinking, your emotions, everything about
you. Now this is a comforting truth
to every believer as it was to Peter. You remember the Lord
asked him repeatedly, Peter do you love me? Yes Lord. Well,
feed my sheep. Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord,
I do. Well, feed my sheep. And then
the Lord asked him a third time, Peter, do you love me? And he
said, yes, Lord. Lord, you know all things. You
know that I love you. See, that was comforting to Peter.
The Lord does know our hearts. We know, and we know our blessed
Lord looks upon the heart of the sinner. Remember what the
Lord said to Samuel when he picked out the older son, the older
son of Jesse, David's older brother. And God said, I rejected him.
Sammy was looking on the outward countenance. He said, God said,
I look on the heart. I look on the heart. He knows
our thoughts. about him, that is, the Lord
knows all of our thoughts about him, how we think about him,
if we think about him. He knows if our faith is genuine
or not, or phony, if it's the faith of God's elect, or if it's
just phony, false faith. The all-knowing Savior we worship
knows us much better than we know ourselves. Now think about
that. Now it's comforting to me. The Lord knows that I love Him. The Lord knows that I believe
Him. The psalmist put it this way
in Psalm 139, O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down sittings,
my uprisings. Thou understandest my thought
to far off. Thou compass my path and my lying
down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not
a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it all together."
He knows everything. who choose to play the game of
religious hypocrisy and self-righteousness, this all-knowing of the Lord,
it must strike terror and dread in their heart where it comforts
the believers. To those who play the religious
game, it must strike terror and dread in their heart. The Lord
does know every man. All about every man. Everything
I've ever done and everything that I've thought and what I
am before God. There is no need to act and play
before God. All things are in stark reality
before Him. Remember the Scriptures, all
things are naked and open before Him with whom we have to do.
And that's from Hebrews chapter 4 verse 13. Neither is there
any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things
are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Look back at verse 13 for just
a moment to set the table for this message. The Lord declares
in this parable of the unjust servant, and remember the Pharisees
were listening in on this message the Lord brought and the Lord
declares in summation of that parable that no servant, no man
can serve two masters, For either he will hate the one and love
the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and trust
in something else. You cannot serve God and trust
in your righteousness or your riches. The Lord declared that
it is impossible to serve him with a divided heart, with divided
interest and with divided love. God demands all your heart, all
your thoughts. There can only be one Lord of
our life, one Lord in our faith, one Lord in our salvation. That is, there is salvation in
no other but the Lord Jesus Christ. There's one Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one way, one gospel, one righteousness, saving faith,
has only one object of worship, one object of worship, and that
is looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the author and
finisher of our faith. To the believer, the Lord Jesus
Christ is all and in all. He's everything in our salvation.
To the believer, Christ is our head, Our federal head, our husband,
we're married to him in that covenant of grace. He's our surety. He's the surety of the everlasting
covenant. He is our savior who has put
away our sin. He is our righteousness that
justifies us before God. He is our redemption that has
put away our sin. You see, the point is, of his
fullness have we all received grace for grace. We are complete
in him. Lacking nothing. Now, that's
good news, is it not? But look what the Pharisees say
in verse 14. The Pharisees also, now remember
who these Pharisees were. They were the religious uppity
up in their day. They were the religious uppity
up in their day. The Jews had an old saying, if
any man went to heaven it would be a Pharisee and a scribe. The Pharisees also who were covetous
heard all these things and they openly mocked him that were derided. They openly mocked him and made
fun of him and they scorned him as they would to shame. The Pharisees
were also listening in to the words of the Lord, not to learn
anything, not to learn the truth, but rather to have grounds to
criticize and to condemn, to sneer. That word derived means
to sneer outrightly at him. This is always the attitude.
of the self-righteous crowd, when the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is declared, always finding fault with everybody but themselves. You remember back in Luke 15
verse 1, Then drew near unto him all publicans and sinners,
for to hear him, verse 2, the Pharisees and scribes murmured,
saying, Oh, this man receives sinners and he eats with them. Oh, that's good news for me because
I'm a sinner. I find my place right among them
who are sinners. The Lord describes these very
arrogant, self-righteous, lost men as full of greed. He says they were covetous. How
did he know that? The Lord looks on the heart.
The Lord knows our heart. He calls these people being full
of greed. He says, you're covetous. You're
covetous. They were lovers of money, lovers
of self, lover of their works, serving everything but God. Serving everything but the true
and living God, trusting themselves for salvation, serving their
own self-interest, not the glory of God. They were lovers of self,
lovers of their money. You remember they devoured widows'
houses. Why did they do that? To enrich
themselves. Remember our Lord says this in
1 Timothy 6, verse 10. And we often hear this verse
quoted this way, It's quoted this way, money is the root of
all evil. You know, that's not what it
says. That's not what it says. It says, the love of money is
the root of all evil, which while some have coveted after, they
have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with
many sorrows. Colossians 3 verse 5 says about
covetous being covetous. He says which is idolatry Colossians
3 5 now look at verse 15 and Here is a very very powerful
verse You are they he said unto them now catch this who he's
addressing here. He's addressing these Pharisees
I Want to be found. I don't want to be found among
the Pharisees. I He said to them, you or they would justify yourselves
before men. You ever done that? Justify yourself
before men? Sure, we all do that. That's
part of our sinful nature. But he says, God knows your hearts
for that which is highly esteemed among men is nothing but an abomination,
an abomination. Now, it might not be in the sight
of men an abomination. That which is highly esteemed
among men is highly esteemed among men. But that which is
highly esteemed among men is an abomination. It's wickedness.
Wickedness in the sight of God. The Lord addresses these Pharisees
directly and He dresses them down, doesn't He? He confronts
them and condemns them on the ground that they choose to stand,
which was the doing of the law. He said, you are they which justify
yourselves before men. That is, these Pharisees thought
they were just before God because they had outwardly done things
according to the law of God. Remember we read in Matthew 23,
they did these things to be seen of men. That's why they did these
things. They loved to take that uppermost
seat in the synagogue and act as if they were Moses in the
synagogue. They did these things to be seen
of men. They thought they were just before
God because they had outwardly done things according to the
law of God. They were like Saul of Tarsus
who said before he was converted, he said before the law, I was
blameless. Remember he was a Pharisee as
well, Saul of Tarsus. This is his testimony. In Philippians
3 verse 6, he said, concerning zeal, persecuting the church,
touching the righteousness which is in the law, he said, I was
blameless. What? Oh, but he said later in
Romans 7, when the commandment came and revealed unto me that
I'm a sinner, it condemned me and put me in the dust. You see,
these Pharisees were always going about to establish a righteousness
of their own rather than submitting to the Lord who is our righteousness. They were looking at Christ who
is our righteousness dead in the face and wanted nothing to
do with Him, mocked Him, railed on Him. They called Him a winebibber,
a gluttonous man. They called Him all kind of wicked
names. Beelzebub. The Lord blows up
and destroys their ground of salvation, destroys it completely
to pieces, destroys their refuge of life, and exposes them as
hypocrites and phonies. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees! You make outward that cup look
nice and clean, and it's full of excess and extortion and wickedness. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees! You make that outside like that
whited gravestone, but within you're full of dead man's bones. That which is highly esteemed
among them and among men is nothing but abomination, idolatry in
the sight of God. All the work we could possibly
muster together and stack up before God is no more than a
pile of manure in the sight of God. Now, I love to put manure
on my garden. I had a pile of manure brought
to me just recently and I spread it all over my garden and I hope
to have some nice fruits and vegetables out of my garden.
But manure will not do you any good in the day of judgment.
And the Apostle Paul described all our works of so-called righteousness
as nothing but manure in the sight of God. Now, would you
pile up all your religious works before God and say, God, look
at that. Accept me because of that. He said, away with me. You're nothing but workers of
iniquity. That's how serious this is. All
the work we could muster up before God and stack up before God are
no more than a pile of waste, manure. Man in his best state,
This is Psalm 39, man in his best state is altogether, altogether
vanity. All our sinners before God and
all a sinner can do. All a sinner can do before God
is what? Sin. That's all a sinner can
do before God is sin. And we've all sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Now you've often heard that statement,
come not near to me for I'm holier than thou. You ever heard that
statement? You say of that man, you know,
he's one of those holier than thou. He looked down his nose
at everybody and said, oh. You know where that comes from?
That comes from Isaiah 65 verse 5. And here's what the verse
says, which say, and stand by thyself, stand by thyself, come
not near to me for I'm holier than thou. That self-righteous
attitude, you know what the Lord says? Listen to the rest of the
verse. These are smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all the
day long. Nothing but stink. That's all
our sin is. That's all our righteousness
is before God. Stink. Now here's another verse,
Isaiah 64, 6. But we're always an unclean thing.
All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags And we all do fade
as a leaf, our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. Sin, the law only condemns, it
never justifies us. You see, there are just two kinds
of people in this world. Now think with me. There are
just two kinds of people in this world. Saved and lost. There's just two kinds of people
in this world. Those who are dead and those who are alive.
There's just two kinds of people in this world. Those who justify
themselves by the deeds of the law, by their deeds, by their
good works, and their religious efforts at keeping the law. Those
who justify themselves or those who are truly and perfectly justified
before God in a sight of God by the grace of God in Christ
without the deeds of the law. Just two kinds of people. Those
who justify themselves before God will be condemned. Those
who condemn themselves before God will be justified. Isn't that amazing? Turn to one
page, let me show you this in Luke 18. Remember the story of
the Pharisee and the Publican? The Pharisee prayed, God I thank
you I'm not like this, I'm not like that, I'm certainly not
like that old Publican over there. I fast twice a week, I give tithes
of all that I possess. Luke 18, 13 in the Publican,
That man who was a notorious sinner, standing afar off, would
not lift up so much his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his
breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, thee sinner. Now look
at verse 14, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified
rather than the other. For everyone that exalteth himself
shall be abased. He that humbleth himself shall
be exalted. Isn't that amazing? Those who
justify themselves will be condemned. Those who condemn themselves
will be justified. God be merciful to me, the sinner. You remember from our study in
Romans 8, Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called, he justified. And whom he justified, he glorified. What shall we say to these things?
Well, if God be for us, who can be against us. Now turn to Romans
chapter 3 for just a minute and let's read this one more time.
The lesson in the book of Romans is clearly taught how God justifies
the ungodly. How God justifies sinners by
His grace. Now Romans 3, 19. Now we know that what things
whoever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law.
That every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become
guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law
is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested. The righteousness of God without
the law is manifested. Being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. Even the righteousness of God which is by the faith
of Jesus Christ. By the faith of, underscore those
three words, by the faith of Jesus Christ, not by your faithfulness,
unto all and upon all them that believe there is no different,
you are Gentile, all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. Now look at verse 24, Romans 3, 24, underscore this and read
it and think about it and rest in this promise being justified
freely by his grace. through the redemption that is
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn one page, Romans chapter
5. You see, the Lord justifies the
ungodly. You know, in our day, those who
plead innocent, in our day, and who were found to be innocent
in our day. I'm talking about the courts
of men, the courts of the law of our country. Those who plead
innocent are condemned. Those who plead
guilty are justified. When you are arraigned before
a circuit or district judge, the arraignment, when they charge
you, the arraignment always comes back. What does it come back?
What does a man always say? What does his lawyer, his counselor,
his counsel always tells him, say, well, you plead not guilty,
innocent. Whether you're guilty or not,
you plead innocent, guilty. Well, in the courts of men, the
innocent are condemned But those who plead guilty in the courts
of God are justified before God. Justified. And here's the reason
why. Romans 5. Romans 5. Verse 9. Much more then, being
now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through
him. Those who condemn themselves
and plead guilty are always justified in the courts of God's law by
faith. Look at Romans 5 verse 1. Therefore being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
You are they would justify yourself before men and you're condemned. But those who are justified by
God, turn to the book of Titus chapter 3. Titus chapter 3 verse
5, Titus 3 verse 5, Not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed
on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being
justified by his grace, justified by his blood, justified by his
grace, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Lord,
that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life. Justified, justified. Now, look
back at Luke 16. Look at verse 16, 17 and 18.
For the law and the prophets were until John. The law of Moses
and the prophets all declared the gospel of Christ. To him
give all the prophets witness. John the Baptist was the last
Old Testament prophet of God. What was his message? Remember
the message of John? Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away our sin. And since that time the kingdom
of God, and that's what the Lord Jesus Christ came preaching,
the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God is preached And every
man presses into it, verse 17, for it is easier, it is easier
for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle or one
jot of the law of God to fail. Our Lord declared that the law
of God is fully honored by the coming of the Messiah. The Lord
said, I didn't come to destroy the law, I came to honor it.
Isaiah 42, 21, the Lord is well pleased for His righteousness
sake, He will magnify the law and make it honorable. That the
law of God has to be honored. God's not going to save us at
the expense of His holiness. God's not going to save us and
just ignore His law. He's going to satisfy His law
and then justify us by Christ and Him crucified. We read in
Romans 10, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. John the Baptist came declaring,
behold, the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Mosaic
Law pictured the way of salvation by the priest bringing the sacrificial
Lamb, the blood of the Lamb. God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. Christ crucified actually accomplished
what the Law of God pictured. The law of God pictured substitution
and satisfaction by a blood offering. The Lord Jesus Christ satisfied
that with His own blood. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. The blood
atonement of Christ is so complete and eternal and powerful that
God said their sin and their iniquity will I remember no more. Since Christ the Lord Jesus came,
fulfilled the holy law of God in every jot and tittle for his
people, believers are no longer under the curse of that law. Now don't ever say in your heart,
I'm seeking salvation by the deeds of the law. I'm seeking
salvation by keeping the Ten Commandments. All you have done
in saying that is putting yourself under the curse. Cursed is everyone
that continues not in all things what are written in the book
of the law to do them. But the good news of the gospel is Galatians
3.13 declares, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us. Believers are no longer living
under the dominion and curse of the law to condemn us. The
law now justifies us as it's honored in Christ. Romans 6,
verse 14, "...for sin shall not have dominion over you, if you
are not under the law, but under grace, were to stand fast in
liberty, wherewith Christ hath set us free." Now we preach salvation
to the Kingdom of God. Salvation completely accomplished
by Christ who satisfied the demands of the law of God for us. He
said, Finished! He said it's not started, it's
finished! That's what he said upon Calvary's
tree. Now we preach not ourselves,
as Paul said, we preach Christ and Him crucified. Determined
to know nothing among you, but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Verse 16 again, the Law and the
Prophets were until John. Since that time the Kingdom of
God is preached, and watch this, and every sinner, is pressed
into this kingdom." Now what's he saying here? Every sinner
that is chosen by God in that eternal covenant of grace, for
whom the Lord Jesus Christ put away their sin, that word pressed
means forced or seized into the kingdom of God. You see, Thy
people shall be willing in the day of His power. Believers take
it by force. Let me show you that. That is
their force to take it, willingly, lovingly. Turn over here to Matthew
chapter 11. You remember this verse? That
phrase there that's used there presses into it. It's only used
one other place in Scripture. It's found right here in Matthew
11 verse 12. And from the days of John the
Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence,
and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the
law prophesied until John, unto the coming of John. What's he
saying here? Believers take this kingdom of
God by force. Believers must have Christ at
all costs. They're pressed into Christ. Every sinner is put into Christ
by the Lord's doing, which the psalmist said is marvelous in
our eyes. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30 says this,
1 Corinthians 1 verse 30, But of him are you in Christ? whom God has made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Now look, Luke
16 verse 17, And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass
away than one jot or tittle of that law. He said, heaven and
earth are going to pass away, but my word will not pass away.
The holy law of God, every precept, every penalty, every promise
is fulfilled in Christ. Every word given of God is certain
and sure and can be totally relied upon in Christ. The fulfillment
of the law in all the precepts, promises, types, figures, prophecies,
They all had their accomplishment in the person, miracles, obedience,
suffering, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. His gospel, His word, His truth
will never be out of date, never need an upgrade. The Lord said,
I am the Lord who never changes, I am the Lord I change not, therefore
you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Hebrews 13 verse 8 said, The
Lord Jesus Christ the same today, yesterday, and forever. Hebrews
13 verse 8. His words never change, His gospel
will never change, what He has decreed from eternity is still
and will forever be unchangeable. He said, I've spoken it, I'll
bring it to pass, I've purposed it, I will do it. Now, that brings me down to verse
18. And this almost seems out of
place. when you read this here. But
remember, he's talking to the Pharisees. Remember, he's exposing
their self-righteousness. He's exposing the ground upon
which they rested. They said, we're not guilty. The Lord pulls out this one law
and says, you're guilty. You're guilty. Whosoever put
away his wife, And marries another, commits adultery, and whosoever
marrieth her that is put away from her husband commits adultery. This is what the strictness of
the law of God says. Now, having said that, let me
say this. There are reasons for divorce
and separation. There are reasons for that. One
is adultery that is mentioned here. The other is abuse or abandonment. Those things are legitimate reasons
to have a separation. But let's not get sidetracked.
He's not really actually talking about marriage. He's not showing
us the sanctity of marriage even though that is so. What he's
doing here and what we must remember, and I've never seen this before
until I've studied this, It's always so important when you
read Scripture, just not take a verse out of its context and
try to make it walk on four legs. It always has to be considered
in the light of what the Lord is saying here. So here, stay
with me now. At first glance, this seems to
be a random statement. It seems as though it does not
fit in what the Lord is talking about. Remember, he's showing
the Pharisees who chose to stand upon the ground of justification
by their works, by doing of the law, and here he exposes them
as guilty men. They were very violating the
law they said they were keeping. The all-knowing Lord points right
at them, their heart, knowing their heart, sticks His finger
in their swelling heart of pride, remember the Lord knows the heart,
and He says, and here's the whole point of what He's saying here,
you're guilty. You're guilty. You're guilty
of breaking the law. Remember, the law of God demands
absolute perfection. We cannot produce that. And when
the Lord interpreted that law, remember He said, the man who
looks upon a woman with unlawful thoughts, he's already guilty.
You're already guilty of adultery. I don't know if you remember,
you who are old remember Jimmy Carter, President Jimmy Carter. who was a religious Pharisee
in my opinion. They asked him one time about
that and he answered it honestly. And the fake news media, they
just pounded and pounded and pounded old brother Jimmy. He's
an adulterer. We are guilty before God. That's the point. That's the
point the Lord is making here. The law demands perfection and
we are guilty before God. You say, well, I never murdered
a man. I've never taken a gun and... The Lord says to think
about a brother with anger and malice in your heart, you've
already killed him. We're all murderers. We're all adulterers. We're all guilty before God. To offend in one point of the
law is to be guilty of all the law of God. You're looking at
a man here that's guilty. I violated every one of God's
800 Commandments. They're not just 10. There's
800 of those precepts. We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. We've all sinned against God. You walk up to your work fellow,
in the morning when you go to work and ask him if he's guilty
of violating and breaking the law of God. And just see what
he says. Well, I'm not as good as I should
be. Have you broken the law of God?
Well, well, you're guilty, so am I, and as every other man.
There's not one of us here this morning that are not guilty of
breaking every law of God in thought, motive, and deed. Remember from our study in Romans
3 where it says, we've all sinned, We have before both proved Jew
and Gentile that they're all under sin. There is none righteous. No, not one. There is none that
seeketh after God. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that are going the right way. No, not one. Not one. Not you, not anybody
else. Now, is there hope for a sinner like
me? I mean, you're looking at a guilty. sinner who can do nothing
but sin, who has violated the law of God in every jot and tittle. I violated, I guilty, I confess
it. Is there any hope for a sinner
like me? Now most people would say, why don't you just stop
your sinning? Try it. Try it. Try it. Well I've not
robbed any banks. You ever thought about it? Well, I have. We say, preacher, you're a bank
robber. In mind I am. Now let's just
be honest. As one old preacher said, honest
folks don't wind up in hell. It's those who are dishonest.
You see, the point I'm trying to make in a rather vivid way,
the Lord came to save guilty violators of the law of God. Don't justify yourselves. Don't
say, well, I'm, you know, that guy over there, he's a drunk,
doesn't pay his bills, he's vile, he's wretched, he's just a disgrace.
That's you, and that's me in the sight of God. This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that the Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief one. Knowing,
Galatians 2.16 said, Knowing that a man is not justified by
the deeds of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even
we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by
faith of Christ, not by the works of the law. For by the works
of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. Your
righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees. Your righteousness must be an
exceeding righteousness that would justify you before God.
Where can I find such a justifying righteousness? In Christ. In the Lord Jesus
Christ. Listen to Scripture, Matthew
5.20. For I say unto you, Except your
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of
heaven." Now you must have a righteousness and it must exceed that of being
an outward righteousness. Tell me where is such a righteousness
found? In the Lord Jesus Christ, He
is called the Lord Our righteousness. That's why Paul said, I count
all things lost, dung, and ruined, that I might win Christ and be
found in Him. On the radio this morning we
had a message from Romans 4, 6. Blessed is the man to whom
the Lord imputes righteousness without works. God made him to
be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made to righteousness
of God in him." Everything God requires of us is found in Christ. Everything God requires of us
is not found in you, it's found in Him. In Him. My God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory through the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh may God give us grace to come
to Him as guilty, empty-handed, naked beggars seeking mercy. All those who come that way,
all those who are brought that way, find salvation in Christ
Jesus. God help us to do so, to come
boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, find
grace to help in time of need.