← Back to sermon library

welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our God for our call to worship I'll read from the prophet Isaiah chapter 66 just the first two verses Isaiah 66 beginning in verse 1 thus says the Lord heaven is my throne and Earth is my foot stol where is the house that you will build me and where is the place of my rest for all those things my hand has made and all those things exist says the Lord but on this one will I look on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at my word amen well please turn to Psalm 20 Psalm 20 be as in bravo we'll stand as we sing together 20 [Music] be his you all your heart all you your Sal your PR s and anoint his right Andes [Music] stand while andless oh and the king and may he [Music] answer well let us pray our gracious and Heavenly Father we thank you for this opportunity this glad hour to enter in again to public worship we bless you for your handiwork in the created order we thank you for Providence and we know that in both these things we see your wisdom and your power and your goodness so clearly displayed as well we bless you and praise you for your work of redemption certainly that goodness is there we see it even more fine-tuned with reference to your grace and your mercy and your loving kindness to us as Sinners we thank you for the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ his mission on uh from the father to come to this world to take on our Humanity to live for us and to die for us and to be raised again the third day for us men and for our Salvation we thank you for that wondrous and glorious Gospel of our Salvation we thank you for this ordinance the sacrament that you've given to the church so that we can remember his broken body and his shed blood on our behalf and God as we worship tonight may you receive glory and praise and honor and adoration and may you frame our hearts a right may we indeed approach you with that reverence and that fear which is consistent with such a holy God but may it always be mingled with that joy and that gratitude that that we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ Our Lord we confess at the outset our remaining corruption we know that we have an advocate with the father even Jesus Christ the righteous so we confess those things God in heaven and we pray for more of the power and the influence of the holy spirit that we may be Sanctified each and every day more and and more conformed to the image of our beloved Lord and help us to pursue those things that are pleasing in your sight as well father for any who've come here tonight that are dead in their trespasses and sins we pray that you would awaken them you would show them that sin and that you would show them that there is a remedy there is Mercy to be had in the Lord Jesus Christ and may they by Grace flee to him in faith and know the joy of being found in him not having their own righteousness which is from the law but that righteous which is from you and received by faith alone we ask for your blessing upon us spiritually that you would give us Grace and and the ability God to persevere we know there's no shortage of of Temptations and and trials that beset us we have the World the Flesh and the devil seeking to devour and yet we know that greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world so may we find great encouragement from the gospel may we find great encouragement from the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit and as what well God we pray for the temporal needs in our local body we know there are many and several that are struggling with physical challenges and hardships and and difficulties and we commend them to you and to the word of your grace as well God we live in an increasingly secular age we live in a day and age that is very similar to what Isaiah countered when he lived even the day when men call good evil and evil good we see all manner of lawlessness and wretchedness and wickedness and that condoned not only amongst individuals but at the family and corporate level in terms of civil politics we just pray God in your mercy or in your wrath remember mercy be gracious to your churches be gracious to your people help us in the midst of these things to be faithful unto you and truly to shine his lights in this crooked and perverse generation God we pray for boldness and for courage we know we don't always speak up as we ought so God loose our tongues and give us that that Grace to speak the truth of God in love to those who we encounter as well we pray for your blessing upon our church plants we thank you for the church in Su the church in Armstrong the church plant in in dren we just pray for the brothers that are leading there that they would be faithful men Spirit-filled men men that handle accurately the word in and Doctrine and God as well we pray for the churches in Honduras and in Elder at Kenya we thank you for the good news today concerning the Orange Grove and Peter and Pastor Whitney and and Myanmar God this still continu to be an ongoing struggle and we pray for peace in that land we pray for a ceasefire we pray for your continued surrounding of your people in that Orange Grove and that you would be merciful and gracious to them just help them God to fight the good fight to know that you are with them even to the end of the age and may this encourage them each and every day we pray for the persecuted Church throughout the Earth we know there are Saints of Christ that meet and are threatened and imprisoned and often times executed for for the cause of God and Truth our hearts go out to them and yet father we are encouraged the gospel is going forth and that it is a threat to civil government that it is a threat to false religion and father we pray that these these Idols of men would topple the way deeon did before the the Ark of the Covenant we know that Christ must Reign till he makes all of his enemies his foot stol and we thank you that we get to see uh get to see evidence of this and witness your your Victory your Triumph even in in this present evil age we ask God that you would just continue to to bless the Saints all over the Earth we pray father that they would be encouraged with the gospel that they would be faithful to the word of God as well father we pray that you would look with favor upon churches nearer to us here in our community we thank you for the fact that we're not alone we pray for pastor cman and Pastor champ we pray for pastor Schuman and for Brent Smith Pastor Smith and Langley we thank you for these brothers we pray for their continued faithfulness and usefulness in your cause and in your kingdom and that you would just watch over them and Grant them help and bless the congregations they minister to may they progress in the things of the Lord and may they know the The Nearness of God as their good so Lord please continue with us now and we give all praise and glory unto you as we come to the father through the son in the spirit and we pray in Jesus name amen will you can turn with me again in your hym books to 421 421 we'll stand as we sing [Music] together [Music] Ser our K Christ over and sea [Music] will he will surely from pre for aree in his holy CHR [Music] shall Anda shall [Music] his and [Music] for for shall be blessed and All [Music] Nations and his [Music] godor doing ever bless his glorious name his eternal glory through the Earth CHR [Music] shall [Music] and [Music] Bibles to the Gospel of Luke for our meditation tonight before the supper Luke chapter 18 our text is verses 9 to14 a text we have looked at before one that I think Bears often revisits Luke 18 verses 9-4 I'll begin reading in verse 9 also he spoke this Parable to some who trusted themselves that they were righteous and despised others two men went up to the temple to pray one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector the Pharisees stood and prayed thus with himself God I thank you that I am not like other men extortioners unjust adulterers or even as this tax collector I fast twice a week I give tithes of all that I possess and the tax collector standing AAR off would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven but beat 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 who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted amen well let us pray Our Father we thank you for your written word we thank you for this wonderful Parable and what it teaches us concerning the truth of self-righteousness or condemnation of it the corollary of despising others and a judgmental attitude as well we thank you for the fact that you are indeed merciful and that even publicans can find Mercy and Grace to be had in the Lord Jesus Christ we know that his blood is precious and that it avails even to the foulest sinner so God give us ears to hear and hearts to receive these things and guide us by the Holy Spirit forgive us now for all sin and all unrighteousness and we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen well on Wednesday night we looked at chapter 21 in our confession of Faith Christian Liberty and Liberty of conscience and one of the things we noted is that the doctrine of justification by faith alone is sort of foundational to that principle in other words those Justified freely by God's grace are to have that Liberty secured for us by Jesus in The Gospel of our salvation but then we are protected from the minations or the judgments of men it specifies there that God Alone is Lord of the conscience and therefore we are not to be subject to civil or ecclesiastical tyranny in so far as the civil government teaches us something contrary to the word of God or the ecclesiastical realm teaches us something other than the word of God then we need to resist that and the foundation as I said is justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ well that's not all necessarily taught here but you certainly see a connection between self-righteousness self- Vindication and despising others the things just seem to go hand in hand this Pharisee is proud he's arrogant he's self-sufficient and therefore he despises this Publican he despises this tax collector as well I think this sermon fits in well with what we heard this morning in our study in the second London Confession uh p uh brother cam did a a wonderful job there in chapter 11 uh theological or confessional treatment of the doctrine of justification by faith alone so hopefully this will add to that or or at least complement that for our edification as we come to the supper well as we look specifically at the passage I want to look first at the reason for the parable in verse 9 secondly the men in the parable in verses 10 to13 and then finally the point of the parable in verse 14 but notice first the reason for the parable there's a context and if you notice in chapter 18 at verse one then he spoke a parable to them that men always ought to pray and not lose heart saying so he speaks that Parable to endorse to commend and to encourage constancy in prayer and then dropping down to our text we see that the context probably one still somewhat connected to an attitude that is necessary in prayer Visa humility but the particular occasion is that he spoke quot this Parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others and so there are two sins condemned by our Lord here and as I said they're typically inextricably connected you usually don't have one without the other and of course the first sin is the sin of self-righteousness he trusted or rather to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous not that they were the necessarily most holy people on the face of the Earth but before God they were righteous before God they were acceptable before God they were in his favor they thought that by virtue of their status as Jews they thought that by virtue of their status as circumcised they thought that by virtue of their status as being religious leaders perhaps they thought that because of who they were they were therefore accepted by God the Lord so they trusted in themselves that they were righteous they trusted in their pedigree they trusted usted in their Heritage they trusted in their Works they trusted in everything else other than our Lord Jesus Christ you get a bit of a window to this in the book of Philippians Philippians chapter 3 the Apostle there is condemning what he calls or what we call judaizing and judaizing was basically trying to make Gentile Believers in Christ Jews in other words the judaizers would come along and say it's good that you believe that Jesus is Israel's Messiah that's commendable that's awesome that's great but you also have to be circumcised you Al also have to follow the Jewish calendar you also have to take on the ceremonies of Moses so part of Paul's pmic in that particular section in Philippians 3 which by the way Philippians isn't a polemic letter like Galatians but rather in that particular section he is pmic he says beware of dogs Beware of the mutilation beware of those who are trying to add to the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ so Paul gets autobiographical there in Philippians chapter 3 in fact why don't we turn to Philippians chapter 3 as I said it's a good window into or explanation of what Jesus is condemning in the present passage so notice in Philippians chapter 3 specifically at verse one finally my brethren rejoice in the Lord for me to write the same things to you is not tedious but for you it is safe beware of dogs beware of evil workers Beware of the mutilation dogs there are not canines dogs there are not your neighbor pitbull dogs there are Jew judaizers it was very common place for the Jews to look down upon the Gentiles or the as being dogs so in a turn of play or turn of words or turn of phrase the Apostle says it's the judaizers who are the dogs that you ought to be on the lookout for so beware of dogs beware of evil workers and then Beware of the mutilation he calls them that because of their emphasis upon and their insistence that Gentile Believers get circumcised this is something looming in the background of the New Testament documents you see it in full display in Acts chapter 15 at the Jerusalem Council the Jews of that generation couldn't couldn't quite profit or or or or uh process the realization that Gentiles are coming to Israel's God through Israel's Messiah and so when they insist upon circumcision the Apostle refers to them as mutilation and then notice in verse three for we are the circumcision what's he telling us there it's not an external right that God is looking for it's the internal heart condition circumcision by God's grace of the heart regeneration the New Birth the reality that one now looks to Jesus Christ in faith so for uh we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh now here's where he gets autobiographical though I also might have confidence confidence in the flesh he at one time trusted in himself that he was righteous and this is the reason why notice in verse four he goes on to say if anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh I more so circumcised The Eighth Day of the stock of Israel of The Tribe of Benjamin a Hebrew of the Hebrews concerning the law a Pharisee concerning Zeal persecuting the church concerning the righteousness which is in the law blameless so on paper Paul looked like that righteous man on paper Paul looked like a man that was accepted by God on paper everything was jot and T down the line for the Apostle but as he is refuting this idea of judaizing he then launches into this declaration of justification by faith alone verse 7 but what things were gained to me all that stuff he's just piled up in terms of his religious resume I have counted loss for Christ yet indeed I also count all things lost for the Excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him not having my own righteousness which is from the law but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness which is from God by faith that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead I think that provides for us a good lens by which to interpret these persons in Luke 18:9 also he spoke this Parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous as far as they were concerned everything was okay but as I mentioned earlier note the corollary that often times accompanies that self-righteous uh self-righteous it says and despised others now Jesus point in the parable toward the end is that statement he uses on other occasions he uses it in Matthew 23 he uses it in Luke 14:11 we see it in Mary's Prayer in Luke 1 51 and 52 for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted so he is portraying for us this man who's filled with pride he is portraying for us this man who's filled with pride that leads him to trust in his own righteousness that leads him then to despise others because they don't quite measure up they don't meet the grave they are just saeri they're they're not as good as he is and so that's the particular context and the sin or rather the the meaning of despising to show by one's attitude or manner of treatment that an entity has no merit or Worth or disdain that person you get that in the parable the these two men are praying there the Pharisee is is congratulating himself and all the while he is despising the publiced who can't even look up into heaven but he beats his breast and says God be merciful to me The Sinner so that's the reason the broader context probably the idea of humility in prayer coupled with constancy In Prayer in Luke 181 to8 but then bring that brings us to the men in the parable we've already got it Pharisee the hero now not t us I me just make sure I make that qualification when I say Pharisee if I was doing a word association with you and don't worry we're not going to do that but if I did you probably wouldn't think hero you would think ratch you would think legalist you would think self-righteous you would think a despiser of others you you already know the story you already know the overarching flow of the New Testament and its indictment of the Pharisees but in terms terms of the original context in terms of the original audience in terms not only of those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous but any others that happen to be within earshot of Our Lord as far as the rank and file of Israel in the first century they looked at these men as being heroic they looked at these men as the leadership they looked at these men as the ones that they are uh that set the pattern or example for others to follow so the Pharisee in the story is the hero the Publican is the is the hated one now when we get to Publican it's simply Tax Collectors now remember in the New Testament documents in the gospels of our Lord Jesus we learn that tax collectors collaborated with Gentiles they handled currency with Pagan inscriptions and iconography they took money from fellow Jews they were often greedy and corrupt they are linked with Sinners they are linked with Heathen they are linked with Gentiles harlots extortioners unjust and adulterers that's what this Parable sets forth so again original audience we know he's not the hero in the story Jesus is the hero in the story but as far as it's concerning us we think of that man as the good one he went home Justified but again original context that he hear Pharisee they would think hero they would hear Publican they would think hated one nobody like a tax collector there's nothing different in the first century from the 21st century if CRA knocks on your front door do you welcome him in make him a cup of coffee or tea no you keep him on your porch no matter how cold it is and maybe shimmy him out so he's not under the overhang so that he can get snowed on or rained on we don't like Tax Collectors do we they're not our friends all they represent are takers of our money so they're not the kinds of people that you would invite over for a ice cup of T so the two men in the parable secondly there similarities notice that both of these men went to the temple to pray which I think indicates that going to the temple to pray is no sure indicator of Saving Grace in the heart just because you do the right things doesn't necessarily mean you have the right heart so in terms of these men the Pharisee was as far from God as a man could possibly be even though he trusted in himself that he was was righteous even though he prayed in great flowery Pros about what a great fellow he was he was nevertheless a stranger to the grace of God most high so never get the idea that well I I go to church I I tithe I I I show up once in a while I I carry my Bible I I engage in these sorts of things those are evidences true of a lively Faith but they're not necessarily the case there is the case where all that good litters Is Not Gold and with this Pharisee that is one of the things so they both went to the temple they both prayed neither of which are sure indicators of Saving Grace in the heart of a man now let's look thirdly at their differences note first the Pharisee in verses 11 and 12 and his Manner and his prayer his Manner and his prayer notice in verse 11 it's interesting the way Jesus phrases this verse 11 the Pharisees stood and prayed th us with himself right I know that we pray by ourselves and obviously in the presence of ourselves but our hope is is that that prayer transcends ourselves and finds its way to God most high perhaps the Lord Jesus is telling us that whatever this man is doing he's not praying to God Almighty whatever this man thinks he's doing by way of religious observance whatever pism he is exercising it's Hollow it's a sham it's fake it's not the real deal he prayed thus with himself this was his audience this was his sort of uh pep rally this was his sort of a time to shine as a great specimen of religious observance and then notice his prayer first of all he thanks God for what he was not I'm not necessarily against that in all instances it's good to thank God that you're not Joseph Stalin it's good to thank God that you're not Paul pot it's good to thank God that you're not something a whole lot worse than you could be practically but that's not the spirit of his prayer remember this is a man who trusted in himself this is a man who thought that his righteousness was Secure this was a man who who banked on his acceptance with God via his own works and Via his own doings so notice what he says specifically in verse 11 the Pharisees stood and prayed thus with himself God I thank you that I am not like other men extortioners unjust adulterers or even as this tax collector real champ there isn't he great love and charity for somebody that's a miserable sinner right next to you you you don't even try to hide that what you don't even try to not look like you're despising others you you don't even try to mask your your your self-righteousness and your judgmentalism no he doesn't as far as he's concerned he's a wonderful human being because of all the things that he doesn't do he's got an external righteousness that's blameless as far as others are concerned it's certainly blameless as far as he himself is concerned notice not like other men I'm not an extortioner I'm not a unjust I'm not an adulterer and I'm certainly not like this tax collector Brethren if this is the posture the attitude of the disposition that we embe in prayer we need our hearts checked we need to come back to Luke 18 9-14 and ask that very real and pertinent question am I trusting in myself that I'm righteous or am I trusting in an alien righteousness even the Lord Jesus Christ that language of Philippians 3:9 being found in him not having my own righteousness which is from the law but that righteousness that is imputed to me and received by faith alone that's the only righteousness that Garners acceptance with God Almighty and then notice he doesn't stop for uh praising himself for what he was not but then he goes on to boast in what he was so not only am I not this kind of a wretch but I'm actually this kind of a positive specimen of a human being notice in verse 12 I I fast twice a week I I give tithes of all that I possess does he expect God to congratulate him from on high does he expect God to start clapping his Spirit hands and you know affirming him because of his greatness and because of his loyalty and because of his covenantal faithfulness is that what this man is looking for is he looking to be uh uh uh extolled by God this man is a wretch and this man is not alone turn back to the gospel of Matthew Matthew chapter 7 a similar disposition but a different context Matthew chap 7 passage that I think is often times turned right up on its head notice in Matthew 7 at verse 211 not everyone who says to me Lord Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my Father in heaven now Brethren I'm not going to spend a lot of time here but the will of the Father in heaven is first and foremost to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ John 6:40 this is the will of my father that you believe in wh him whom he sent so notice not everyone who says to me Lord Lord shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven the fact that they're saying Lord Lord means it's some some semblance of a Christian context it's not dealing with Muslims it's not dealing with Hindus he's not dealing with atheists he's dealing with persons who feel the familiarity at the Throne of judgment to address the Lord Christ as Lord Lord we might think well that's a good thing yeah but let's continue on verse 22 many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in your name cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name where is their hope where is their Foundation where is the basis upon which they hope to be accepted into the presence of God most high it's not on the lord lord it's not on doing the will of the Father which is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ it's on what they did what they accomplish what works they perform that's the specifics many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in your name cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name notice that in verse 23 Jesus does not say nope you never did that you're Liars your deceivers and for that off to the pit with you that's not what goes on here they had as far as we can tell done these things Judas was one of the Apostles Judas went out on a preaching tour Judas came back with the others and said you know we saw Satan fall from Heaven like lightning we we saw demons cast out we we saw persons come into the Kingdom so just again because you can do certain things doesn't necessarily mean there is Saving Grace in your heart notice in verse 23 and then I will declare to them I never knew you it's not like I knew you at one time and then I I I stopped knowing you no I never knew you why or or uh the disposition depart from me you who practice lawlessness they were sinners in need of faith in Jesus Christ they were sinners in need of his blood and his righteousness they did not have that they had no Foundation they had no basis they had no reason for acceptance other than their own works and that's what's being condemned here as well in Luke 8 18 again if you were the original context and you heard this man glowing in his report about himself on what he wasn't and what he had done you'd say yeah he's fit appropriate and ready to go he's obviously accepted by God he's obviously got that righteousness necessary to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven notice I fast twice a week I give tithes of all that I possess it is here that his self-righteousness becomes apparent his tone is boastful his tone is self- congratulatory his tone is indicative of the fact that he banked his standing with God on what he wasn't and what he did there is a fundamental problem with that reality our status our standing with God is based on what Christ did what Christ didn't do how Christ obeyed the law in terms of his active obedience how Christ went to the cross for us in terms of his passive obedience he is more engaged in a period or a time of self admiration than he is of worshiping and adoring and glorifying God most high Calvin says we must not swell with confidence as if we had satisfied God and next we must not look down with disdainful contempt Upon Our Brethren so these two things are L linked together he he trusted in himself that he's righteous and then he despises others and that brings us to the public same thing his Manner and his prayer note the manner in verse 13 the tax collector standing AAR off would not so much as raise his eyes to Heaven he stands far off and he doesn't raise his eyes to Heaven because he's got nothing to admire in himself there's nothing in him that deserves congratulations there is nothing in him that warrants acceptance with God in this he's correct in this he's absolutely spoton well in all of what he does he is but with reference to the to the contrast the one proud praying thus with himself thank you that I'm not this thank you that I do this God just go ahead and congratulate me now all of my fellows here give me one of these and tell me what a great guy I am the Pharisee or rather the Publican is humble the Publican is broken the Publican has the contrite heart that we read of there in the prophet Isaiah in chapter 66 the prophet Isaiah in chapter 57 speaks of the the Lord most high as being the the high and the lofty one the the the one who inhabits eternity but the one who looks upon the humble and the contrite in heart and so this man is in a a stark difference from the Pharisee notice he acknowledges in terms of his prayer now notice that he acknowledges what the Pharisee doesn't he acknowledges that he's a sinner and the tax collector standing AAR off would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven but he beat his breast saying God be merciful to me a sinner now in the new King James here it translates it a sinner it's more proper to translate it as The Sinner as far as he's concerned he's the only one before God right now he's not suggesting he's the sole individual that occupies the face of the Earth but when it comes to prayer unlike the Pharisee who's praying thus with himself trying to evoke congratulations from God and an audience the Publican is just the opposite it's him and God and he knows he can't fake it he knows he can't pull a fast one he knows he can't deceive he knows that he can't enter in and plead his case he knows he can't say well I I haven't been this well you actually are a public I I have done this nope you're a Publican you take money from other people you traffic with the Gentiles you engage in those things that are that are Lawless and wretched and rebellious he knows all that he's got nothing he can't even look up into heaven all he can do is beat his breast and say God be merciful to me The Sinner Riley says the Publican did not speak for his neighbors but himself vagueness and generality are the great defects of most men's religion not so with the Publican I am a sinner Gil says this is his prayer a short but a very full one and greatly different from that of the Pharisee in which is a confession that he was a sinner a sinner in Adam who had derived a sinful nature from him being conceived and born in sin and a sinner by practice having committed many actual transgressions attended with aggravating circumstances a guilty and filthy sinner a notorious one deserving of the wrath of God and the lowest hell he speaks of himself as if he was the only sinner in the world at least as if there was none like him you just hear the opponents of Christianity read John Gil and say well that's a pretty harsh indictment of that poor fellow that poor fellow would absolutely 100% endorse that indictment and he would tell John Gil you've only scratched the surface you don't know how filthy and notorious and how Wicked and how evil I am see there's this fundamental principle in our religion if you don't see sin for what it is you'll never see the Savior for who he is if you don't understand the preach or the breach or the problem or the chasm you'll will'll never appreciate the bridge and the remedy if you have low views of sin you're going to have low views of the Savior and interestingly low views of the law also add to low views of sin and the Savior again an in inextricable link between the three so he acknowledges what the Pharisee does not he is a sinner he acknowledges secondly what the Pharisee does not he stands in need of Mercy he's not praying God be merciful to me set me on a better course help me to be a better guy to be a better me to be a more faithful Publican no no I I just need Mercy I just need Grace I just need forgiveness I just need that because I'm such a wretch because I'm such the sinner as well he acknowledges what the Pharisee does not that God is merciful the fact that he prays God be merciful to me The Sinner indicates more of a familiarity with the old test Testament than the Pharisee had remember the prophet Micah celebrates the glory of God most high who pardons iniquity remember David counts the the man blessed whose sin is not imputed to him in Psalm 32 David rejoices in the Forgiveness of God in Psalm 51 David evokes the Forgiveness of God in 2 Samuel CH uh 11 and 12 I have sinned against the Lord why does he say that because he knows there's Mercy with God the P Pharisee comes into the front door parading his own righteousness and his own accomplishments the Publican rather can't even look up into heaven he beats his breast and says God be merciful to me The Sinner he reflects more of a knowledge of theology proper in terms of the Perfections of God than does the Pharisee he casts himself upon mercy and that is the last Point by which we see the difference he acknowledges that there is Mercy for him in Christ when he says says God be merciful to me literally it's God be propitious to me you probably heard the definition of propitiation you see it in the the book of uh Romans chapter 3 you see it in Hebrews as well the idea of propitiation first John also propitiation presupposes God's Wrath God is angry with the wicked Every Day psalm 711 God hates the wicked Psalm 5:5 well when you start to figure out that your you're the wicked when you start to figure out that you're the sinner when you start to figure out that you've missed the mark well then that comes into sharp relief well then that must mean he he hates me yes that's precisely what it means but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared the Pharisee had no concept the Pharisee in his proud proud self-righteousness never saw his need for Mercy the public public however who had no self-righteousness who had nothing to congratulate who had nothing to admire has nothing other than Mercy to cast himself upon again a reason why we preach against sin not so that we can make everybody feel bad that's not the primary emphasis in preaching against sin well you know he spent 20 minutes preaching against sin and I really felt bad well you know what that's sometimes the necessary remedy to feeling good and the good is the remedy that comes as a result of God's Sovereign mercy and Grace and kindness and pardon through our Lord Jesus Christ the differences between these two men could not be more Stark this idea of propitiation to cause to be favorably inclined or dispose propitiate or consilier is targeted against the unbeliever propitiation speaks of the aversion of that wrath actually it's not just the aversion or sending it away but as we learn in he uh Romans chapter 3 Christ was the propitiation in other words he satisfied Divine Justice in his work on the cross that's why we eat this bread and we drink this cup he took the wrath of God in himself that was owing to us he satisfied that he took the punishment he received it in our place this is what the prophet says in Isaiah 53 it pleased the Lord to bruise him it pleased the Lord to crush him why because the Lord is vindictive as a father engages in Cosmic child abuse no because that's the means by which he saves his people from their sins it was orchestrated by God it was typified in the Old Testament that Ram caught in the thicket prefigured Christ on the cross we see this all throughout the Bible the the the the maximum of Hebrews 9:22 without the shedding of blood there there is no remission and so this man this Republican understands himself to be the sinner as a result of him being The Sinner he understands that he's under God's Wrath so what's his hope it's not what I am not and what I do but his hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness he would say I dare not trust the sweetest frame but I but I wholly lean on on Jesus name or to borrow from another hyw writer he'd say foul I to the Fountain fly Wash Me savior or I die he'd say nothing in my hand I bring simply to thy cross I claim that there's no hope without Christ and that's what the the Publican has here he may not know trinitarian theology to the degree of NAA he may not know all of the jots and tles about blood atonement through the Lamb of God but this much he does know God is a just God but God as well is a merciful god and he is going to throw himself upon the mercy of that God and Hope for the best and then that brings us to the point of the parable note the conclusion in the first part of the verse with reference to the Publican with reference to the Publican I tell you this man went down to his house Justified rather than the other now Justified here means to justify to declare it righteous it's a perfect tense which looks at the completed State it's the state of having been declared to be right it's also called a theological passive that means he didn't justify himself it wasn't his what he wasn't and it wasn't his what he did but it was rather the righteousness of another and so when he is stay when it said of Jesus I tell you this man went down to his house Justified rather than the other that's what's in view he now has acceptance with God that's legal and forensic he not automatically transformed here transformation comes moral character development comes in sanctification Jesus is talking about the doctrine of justification he is regarded as uh not having sin not because he didn't sin but because of the the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ this man knew experientially what the divines at Westminster would pan in their Shorter Catechism what is justification justification is an act of God's free Grace wherein he pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to him received by faith so again this man didn't know Westminster Shorter Catechism 33 because it hadn't been written but he certainly knew it in his own heart the fact that he went to his house Justified he found acceptance with God not based on his works not based on what he wasn't but based on the works and what he wasn't of this of the other the Lord Jesus Christ and then I would suggest before we leave the Publican he would have surprised those people remember if the Pharisee was the hero in the story and the Publican was the hated one for Jesus to say what Jesus says in 14a you probably would have seen a lot of jawdropping huh what H that would not fly in the original context they would not say oh I knew that's where the story was going I I knew it and I was rooting for him this would have scandalized them just like the cross scandalizes the Jews it's foolishness to the Greeks Paul says this in First Corinthians chapter 1 why because Jews want signs Greeks want wisdom but we preach Christ and him crucified it's a stumbling block or a scandal or a scandling block to the Jews it is something that is offensive to self-righteous Pharisees who think that based on what they are not and based on what they do they have acceptance with God it's always offensive to self-righteousness when it's confronted with the fact that it's not that righteous have you ever had to rebuke anybody or reprove anybody and they're sin how does that usually go yeah you're right God be merciful to me The Sinner usually we get defensive and I'm not saying you know I I know this I wish I didn't but experientially I I know this you know honey H what do you mean I'm great I'm you know I don't do this and I always do that is that way we well I'm not as bad as you know the other guys in church I I don't usually I don't think I ever say that because I don't think that I think I am better than the other guys in church not better but better there's that defensive reflex there's that offense that comes that Scandal when you're told that you're not great you're not righteous and that's one of the difficulties in preaching the gospel to Sinners I want to tell you about Jesus you you you come to him and you'll have heaven and and eternal life great sign me up well we first have to talk about this problem that you have what problem I'm I'm good I'm great no you're filthy again how does that usually go thank you I'm so glad for your assessment of my spiritual being before the most high it's usually not how Sinners respond Sinners don't like that it's why the gospel is an offense it's why the gospel does divide that's why the gospel sends people screaming away because they want what they want but they want it on their terms Lord Lord did we not what happens in that sort of an arrangement there's self- conratulations but the gospel is designed to strip out the self- conratulations what does Paul say in Romans 4 does Abraham have cause to boast not before God he was justified by faith not by his works not something to be congratulated for so when we move to the Pharisee we know that he was not justified as Jesus tells us I tell you this man went down to his house Justified rather than the other he goes back back to his house condemned we saw or we learned this morning the opposite of justification is condemnation that's why Paul says in Romans chapter 8 therefore or there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus justification is the the the the Forgiveness of sins and the imputation of righteousness and thus no condemnation condemnation is when we don't have that justification condemnation is our just liability to the Wrath and fury and Judgment of God and so the Pharisee goes home under condemnation as well he was rejected and he received the wrath of God not because of what he wasn't or not because of what he did but because he was indeed a sinner that's the final point it's all about absolute obedience to the law of God or the absolute Obedience of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone in fact fiser says that he says so that if you desire to be justified before God you must either bring to him now listen there's only one of two ways Mormonism wrong Jehovah's Witness wrong Hinduism wrong Islam wrong Roman Doctrine a Roman Catholic doctrine of justification wrong you you bigots you Prejudice you you haters brethren in light of John 146 we disavow our Lord when we don't adopt that attitude of exclusivity relative to acceptance with God we're not supposed to do it as arrogant people we're not supposed to do it in a vindictive manner we're not supposed to be the sorts of judgmental people that we're reading about in this particular passage but to try and tell a sinner or to tell a sinner that there's a couple of different ways to to make it to Heaven no I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me it is just that that that simple so so back to fiser it's either you obey perpetually perfectly exactly entirely the law of God or you look to the one who did that so that if you desire to be justified before God you must either bring to him a perfect righteousness of your own and wholly renounce Christ or else you must bring the perfect righteousness of Christ and wholly renounce your own Christ Jesus will either be a whole savior or no savior he will either save you alone or not not save you at all you say well Fisher that seems to be a bit overboard turn to the book of Galatians a passage that we did look at this morning in our study in the confession Galatians Chapter 2 the Apostle waxes eloquent concerning the doctrine of justification by faith alone you'll see that very specifically in verse 16 knowing then or knowing that a man is not justified by The Works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by The Works of the law for by The Works of the law no flesh shall be justified could he make it any plainer could he condemn the approach that seems to want to mingle works and Faith No Paul is as clear as Paul can be notice his statement verse 20 he says I have been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me I think we take that out of its context and put it into the category of sanctification I think Paul's still dealing with justification here it's a true thing in terms of sanctification Christ lives in me the spirit indwells me I seek by God's grace to be more and more conformed to His Image Paul is dealing with justification and what is the very Foundation of that justification it is verse 20 I have been crucified with Christ this is the language of of Romans 6 1:4 before Paul gets to s ification and five and following he begins with justification pictured by the baptistry you died you were buried you've been raised again that's the foundation of your acceptance with God that's what he's celebrating in verse 20 I have been crucified with Christ is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me now if you thought Fisher was overboard listen to Paul in Galatians 2:21 I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness comes to the law then Christ died in vain so this attempt to mingle Faith plus Works means neither it's either all of you in terms of actual obedience 100% to God's revealed law or it's all of Christ in terms of 100% obedience to all of God's law that's what Paul says that's what the emphasis is in justification by faith alone and dare I say it's a great emphasis Brethren do you hear what's being emphasized it's not you plus it's the Plus or or it's not uh it's not rather Christ plus it's it's Christ Alone justification is by faith alone that means it's not up to us now again sanctification necessary category follows consequentially on justification the spirit's work in US based on Christ's work for us in justification so when it comes to this reality justification by faith alone is the only ground of comfort it's the only ground of stability it's the only ground of Peace again a passage that can pointed us to Romans 51 after discoursing on the nature of justification by faith he starts 51 by saying therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God if you're justified by faith plus your works that peace is going to go like this contingent it upon your own Works you've had a bad day no peace for you you've had a good day peace for you but if you've had a good day and you derive peace from that guess who gets the credit you and your good day the glory of the Gospel is that Christ came to save us from our sins he'll either by a be a whole savior or no savior ma comments on Galatians 2:21 he says this verse is the key verse to theep of the epistle to the Galatians now Ma died I think it was January 31st whatever the year was 30s 40s something like that in a motel room in bismar North Dakota I can't possibly think of anything more miserable than that but that's just how it went and he sent a telegram I think it was to Ned Stonehouse one of his biographers you know what the telegram sent so thankful for the active Obedience of Jesus Christ no hope without it those are some fine last words Brethren those are some fine last words my hope is built on nothing less than jesus' blood and righteousness so make an understood something about the Beauty and the Excellency and the glory of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ received by faith alone that's not negating that he didn't rejoice in the blood atonement and the Forgiveness of sins but he says this verse is the key verse the epistle to the Galatians it expresses the central thought of the epistle the judaizers attempted to supplement the saving work of Christ by the Merit of their own obedience to the law that says Paul is impossible Christ Christ will do everything or nothing earn your salvation if your obedience to the law is perfect or else trust holy to Christ's completed work you cannot do both you cannot combine Merit and Grace if justification even in the slightest measure is through human Merit then Christ died in vain that is what Paul says in Galatians 2:21 I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness comes to the law then Christ died in vain Calvin says if we do not re renounce all other their hopes and embrace Christ Alone we reject the grace of God Luther says for whoever seeks righteousness apart from faith in Christ whether it be through works or satisfactions or afflictions or the law of God is nullifying the grace of God and despising the death of Christ even though he may speak otherwise with his mouth the proof is in the pudding you try to mingle your works with Christ finished work you've entered into the galatian heresy you've entered into that that construct that Rome has set for forth where you uh remove the the distinction between justification and sanctification and make it one big glob it's not only up to Christ but it's up to you and if you have a good day you congratulate yourself that that's the way we treat the supper sometimes I've had a good week it's been a pretty good two weeks read my Bible I'm all caught up on mcshain that Leap Day leap year day helped me there was no 29th this year so perhaps you're a day ahead unless you took a day off she should be a day ahead you know I I've checked all my boxes I'm right up on my Bible reading I I've had some good prayer okay I'll I'll take tonight Brethren this isn't a reward for good behavior this is a means of grace in which we remember the doing and the dying and the rising of the Savior don't be the Pharisee don't trust in yourself don't look to your accomplishments don't look to your achievements don't look to what you're not I was being somewhat cheeky earlier thank God that I'm not Joseph Stalin again there is a degree of Truth to that but when it comes to this idea of acceptance with God it's by grace alone through faith alone In Christ Alone one more quote from John Murray that I think sets forth the distinction well he says justification by works always Finds Its ground in that which the person is and does thank you Lord that I'm not like other men thank you Lord that I engage in all these wonderful ful things justification by works always Finds Its ground in that which the person is and does it is always oriented to consider a consideration of virtue attaching to the person Justified the specific quality of faith is trust and commitment to another it is essentially extrospective I love that word introspective is when we look in ourselves that's what the self-righteous does extrospective means we look out we look up we look to the Redeemer of Sinners and it in that and in that respect is the diametric opposite of Works faith is self- renouncing works are self- congratulatory Faith looks to what God does Works have respect to what we are it is this antithesis of principle that enables the Apostle to base the complete exclusion of Works upon the principle of faith and that's his commentary on Romans 3:27 to 31 a very wonderful passage of Holy Scripture that shows these things in great and Vivid detail where we learn that God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus in gal uh Romans chapter 4 God justifies the ungodly so again this is not a reward for good behavior this is not a time for self- conratulations or self- admiration this is a time to Rejoice that when by Grace you saw your sin you beat your breast and you said God be merciful to me The Sinner and you went home to your house Justified that's why we eat this bread that's why we drink this cup that's why collectively corporately we proclaim the Lord's death till he comes because that is the ground of our acceptance with God it is Faith in Jesus Christ well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for this Parable though brief it does teach us so many things and God I pray that you would cause us to reflect upon these things reflect upon the the the manner and the prayer of the Pharisee and to guard our hearts against that kind of a mindset perhaps it even Wells up in us now to judge him say Well I'm I'm not that guy Lord I pray that we would be faithful that we would be upright that we would be holy that we would be uh governed by the power of the Holy Spirit Lord help us never to bank our acceptance with you on those things but to always see that it's Christ alone it's his righteousness it's his blood by which we stand and in this we Rejoice we give glory and praise and honor to you and we trust that in the proclamation of the Gospel Sinners all over this Earth can come to you through the son confessing him as Lord and Savior and we pray in Jesus name amen well you can turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 26 as we move now to the supper Matthew's gospel chapter 26 just a couple of reminders as we're turning there uh remember that the supper is for believers only if you're not a Believer we would just ask that you do not participate in this the supper that's not to be a an attack on anyone but rather your first priority and first issue ought to be faith in the Lord Jesus Christ so once you believe by God's grace then the supper is yours the supper is open to you so it's for believers only as well we learn in 1 Corinthians 11 that it's for believers who are by God's grace seeking to deal with their sin they're not dealing with their sin perfectly they're not dealing with their sin in the sense that it's no more but they are examp in themselves they are looking inwardly they're seeking to maintain a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men we never be perfect on this side of Glory but if you're living in known Rebellion known sin you've got a whatever the issue is you're unwilling to deal with it then it's best not to take because you could Heap up judgment or chastisement from the Lord as well the ordinance is a means of Grace but we need to remember that the bread Remains the bread and the wine Remains the wine they don't become something other Visa Rome and transubstantiation or Lutheranism and consubstantiation ultimately both those approaches have a christological problem they divinize the humanity of Jesus and say that he's physically present in the elements or around the elements or by the elements we affirm the real presence of Jesus in our midst he is here by his Spirit he is encouraging us he is building us up he is in the midst of his gathered church and then of course the ordinance or the supper points us or should point us to Jesus again John Murray made the observation it is the Lord we are remembering so frequently Believers become so introspective that preoccupation with themselves excludes preoccupation with Christ so be preoccupied with Christ in the receiving of the bread and of the wine well we'll go ahead and sing A Hymn while the brothers pass out the bread we'll read the section in Matthew's gospel at chapter 26 verse 26 after they have passed out the bread we'll pray and then we'll take the bread together but while they're passing out the bread please remain seated and we'll sing Psalm 130a Psalm 130a as in Alpha [Music] to you heart to and to my voice my for Mery you our with you that you make my soul the Lord my hope is his word yes and for my soul PR the the for with great will is [Music] all [Music] in verse 26 we read and we read and as they were eating Jesus Took bread blessed and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body well let us pray our gracious God and Father as we consider the scriptures as we consider your divine initiative and the sending of the son of your love we stand in awe we thank you that Jesus took our place on that cross the punishment that we deserved he took we thank you for that broken body we thank you for that shed blood we know that some would think that this prayer is odd but those who've been saved and conquered by Sovereign Grace rejoice in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ may you encourage us may you cause us always to live in light of these truths may we find great help in our sanctification from this doctrine of justification the fact that we are accepted in the Beloved the fact that we have Redemption through his blood the Forgiveness of sins according to the riches of God's grace be glorified now we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen we'll take together or you can turn in your hym books to 275 as the brothers pass out the wine remember if you want juice it's in the outer ring and the wine is in the center part of the plate wine in the center juice in the outer ring we'll sing 275 again please remain seated As we sing praise to God my soul sh in my the the my my [Music] his Liv for to inter his alling his prous to is for is for our Cal for PR for me for all for for for is hising voice I he I with I dra and father [Music] father continuing in verse 27 then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink from it all of you for this is my blood of the New Covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins but I say to you I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's Kingdom and when they had sung A Hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives well let us pray oh God we know the old Covenant was ratified in blood we know that the new C Covenant is ratified in blood the old did not atone for sin but pointed forward to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world we thank you for his Precious Blood we thank you for the Forgiveness of sins we thank you that we have Acceptance in the Beloved and we give all praise and glory to you we know we didn't seek you we were not looking for you we didn't have works or merits or law or anything that would commend us to you but God in the gospel has been gracious and stooped down to save us from our sin you have saved us from the sting of death you've saved us from the the the the rule of the devil you've saved us even in this evil world and we just praise you and glorify you for these mercies and for these benefits thank you that you are indeed a god of great Mercy a god of pardoning Grace and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen we'll take together well we'll stand and sing Psalm 116a as in Alpha the first four stanas Psalm 116a is in alpha stanas 1 to4 we'll stand together [Music] he has heard my voice he heard my for mercy and for gra to my [Music] shall of the gra teror help me [Music] his name my soul my God I pray and gra is Lord Our God PR his Mery tender in his he [Music] will I was L and [Music] my soul bless you for youe my soul you my be [Music] rest oh Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is Mercy and with him is abundant Redemption and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities our gracious God we thank you for this wonderful promise we thank you that it's fulfilled in and through our Lord Jesus Christ the one in whom all the promises of God are yay and amen we rejoice in the gospel of our Salvation we rejoice in the Lord who is the way the truth and the life and that we can come to the father through him and we praise you for that we pray for the ministry of the holy spirit in our daily lives help us God to glorify you each and every day be pleased to watch over us to keep us to know cause us to know your peace and to just cause us to press on by God's grace go with us now we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well please be seated for a brief time of meditation