Scripture Reading: Luke 18:9–14
Luke chapter 18, I'll read verses 9 to 14. Also, he spoke this parable to some who trusted in 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 Pharisee 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 afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God be merciful to me, the 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. Let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our Father, we thank You for the written Word, and we thank You for the fact that You have not left us alone in this world. You've given us Scripture, You've given us the Holy Spirit. We pray that tonight, as we gather for worship, as we gather to consider this parable, we would ask that Your Holy Spirit would be at work in our minds and in our hearts. and as well that the Holy Spirit would be at work in the ordinance, and that Christ would be present with us by the power of the Holy Spirit, and that we would glorify and magnify and exalt the triune God, even Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We pray that You would forgive us for all of our sins and our transgressions.
We pray that You would cleanse us in the blood of the Lamb. And how we praise You, God most high, for that blood. How we praise You, we live in those days prophesied by Zechariah, when there is a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. How we thank You, God, for cleansing through His blood, the redemption that we have through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
And we would pray tonight that You would just remind us of these things and cause us to rejoice in the God of mercy, the God of grace, the God of loving kindness and goodness. And we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
When you see in our particular text, our Lord Jesus speaks specifically concerning those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. This follows a parable concerning prayer. If you look at verse 1 in chapter 18, then he spoke a parable to them that man always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying, So, he used these specific occasions to bring truth to bear upon his hearers. And I want to look at chapter 18, verses 9 to 14 under three considerations.
First, the occasion of the parable in verse 9, the two men in the parable, verses 10 to 13, and then thirdly and finally the summary of the parable in verse 14. But note specifically the things that he speaks to or he addresses. He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. I think those two go hand in hand.
This whole idea of self-righteousness or self-justification typically leads to a despising of others. It does in this particular instance, and the Lord Jesus does not take it lightly. He condemns this attitude. He condemns this mindset. where persons have a lofty view of themselves and that then promotes a despising of others.
The self-righteousness or the sin of self-righteousness in this particular passage most likely has to do with the fact that they think themselves accepted by God. They trusted in themselves that they were righteous. In other words, they trusted in themselves that they had satisfied the just requirements of God. They trusted in themselves that they were on their way to heaven.
They trusted in themselves that they were right before a holy God. Certainly, this does indicate a low view of God's law. Because God doesn't say, try the best you can, do the utmost to commend yourself to God. Our confession, I think, summarizes the biblical teaching on what is required by God in terms of law-keeping.
It says, by which He, God, bound him, Adam, and all his posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience. So, for a man to claim a righteousness before God because of his own strength, because of his own ability, is to minimize that requirement. Because there's not a man among us who can confess that we have kept the law personally, entirely, exactly, and with perpetualness. there is not that sort of obedience that does indeed exist among men. So he speaks these parables, or this parable, to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.
Now, he's obviously speaking to the Pharisees. He uses the Pharisees as one of the participants in the particular parable. This is a damning delusion that men will endure, or men will entertain. the idea that they, in and of their own strength, can in fact commend themselves to God. So, self-righteousness, and then this despising of others.
It means to despise, to treat with contempt, to despise someone or something on the basis that it is worthless or of no value. Now, certainly there is an evangelistic thrust to this particular parable. It teaches us something about the doctrine of justification by faith alone, which we'll illustrate as we move along. But it speaks to all of us in the church of the Lord Jesus, because it is something that we all struggle with, or perhaps we all struggle with, this idea that we are somehow better than others.
We're not going to heaven because we're better than others. We're not going to heaven because we trust in ourselves that we are righteous. We're going to heaven because God Most High, in His mercy and in His grace, reached down and saved us by the power of the Christian gospel, or through the power of the Christian gospel. These things are intertwined.
If you have a high view of self, it will most likely lead to a low view of others. And you meet this in the church today, not always in the category of justification, but certainly in sanctification. People do something, or they have habits, or they have preferences, and if other people don't meet those preferences, or don't do them themselves, then we despise them, and we look down upon them, or we hold them in contempt. And that is absolutely wicked, and that's certainly condemned in this particular parable.
We might even say, wow, we're not like those Pharisees, and thus become like the Pharisee in our very parable. So Jesus speaks in the context of particular sin. I love that about our Savior. He doesn't shrink back.
He doesn't dance around. He doesn't say, well, you know, this is the prevailing sin of this particular people, but I'm not going to touch it. I don't want to offend. I don't want to hurt them.
I don't want to make them angry. No, there was the specific abuse going on right before our Lord's eyes, so He uses the occasion to teach the parable to condemn that particular sin. This is something preachers today ought to follow. We ought not to shrink back from proclaiming the whole counsel of God, touching the very pets and touching the very idols and the various things that our society and our churches even hold dear.
The Two Men in the Parable
Now notice, secondly, the two men in the parable, verses 10 to 13. They're identified for us. One's a hero and one is a hated one. The Pharisees obviously were held in high esteem.
They were the religious leaders. They were men that persons looked up to. They were the ones that prayed well. They were the ones that gave.
They were the ones that fasted. They were the ones that did all the things that the Pharisee says here. Jesus never says they didn't do this. but rather they are the ones that society looked up to. So I suggest that this parable probably surprised a lot of the original hearers.
When he says that the publican or the tax collector went home justified, persons probably had their jaw dropped at the thought of this, because who else besides the Pharisees could actually go to heaven? So we have the introduction of these two characters, one's a Pharisee, a religious leader, the other a publican. Publicans or tax collectors, you will note, were notorious in society. They were typically Jews working for the Roman government, collecting taxes from other Jews and presenting it to the Roman government.
When we considered Zacchaeus several weeks ago, we noted as well that they were not always upright in their business dealings. they would oftentimes skim off the top for their own benefit and for their own prosperity. So he introduces the men. Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. Notice as well, with reference to their similarities, they both go to the temple.
We ought to observe here that going to temple, going to church, doing the right things does not necessarily mean that you possess saving grace. Now when he says that the publican went home justified rather than the other, that means that the Pharisee was unjustified. That means that the Pharisee was condemned. That means that the Pharisee, had he died, would have ended up in hell.
So the fact that a person goes to temple does not mean he or she is necessarily a believer. Just because somebody is in the right place at the right time does not prove the existence of saving grace. We need to appreciate that. They both go to the temple.
No sure indicator of saving religion. As well, they both went to pray. Also, not an indicator of the presence of saving grace. Because a person prays, it does not mean that they are necessarily a believer.
In fact, in Matthew 6, our Lord cautions His disciples on how not to pray. Don't be like those who stand on the street corner and pray so that they may indeed be seen by men. No, rather, when you pray, go into your secret place, go into your closet, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. So, just because persons pray, just because persons go to church, just because persons have a Bible, just because persons take the Lord's Supper, just because they get baptized, all of those external means does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that they possess the reality.
Now, we hope and we pray and we like to try and impose some sort of scriptures upon the supper and upon baptism. We don't just invite people off the street and dunk them in the water and feed them with the supper. We like to ask them questions concerning faith and repentance, but we need to understand that because you're in the right place at the right time, that does not indicate that there is the presence of saving religion in your heart. So, their identification.
Pharisee and a tax collector, the similarities. They go to the temple, they pray.
The Pharisee's Prayer
Note then their differences. The Pharisee is highlighted in verses 11 and 12. It's intriguing how Jesus describes his prayer. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself.
You know, probably when we pray privately, it could be described that way. He prayed thus with himself. He was in a private place. He looked up to the Lord God.
But I think there's probably more going on here. He prayed thus with himself. In other words, as we listen to his prayer, as we give ear to what he says, as we hear him thank God for what he's not, and as we hear him proclaim what he does do, he's praying thus with himself. In other words, our God is not pleased when we bring our works to him.
Our God is not pleased when we come before him and say, I thank you that I'm not like all these other people. And what a wretch, he says, I thank you that I'm not like this tax collector. I mean, don't you want to give the tax collector a hug at that particular point? I mean, this poor guy comes into the temple, he's in the right place, doing the right thing, and this Pharisee tells God, thank you that I'm not like him.
This man is more self-congratulatory than he is confessing the necessity of the grace of God. So when Jesus says, he prayed thus with himself, I interpret it according to the strictness of the language. He isn't praying to God. He is praying thus with himself.
He's going through an exercise. Sometimes you meet with this in church prayer meetings. You have what I call the preaching prayer. Thankfully, I don't think we've had many of those of late, but we used to have those kinds of preaching prayers, where somebody comes to the public prayer meeting, and instead of saying, God be merciful to us, the sinners, thank you, God, that I'm not like those dirty, rotten deacons.
Thank you, God, that I have more love in my little finger than the rest of those people in this church. God, would you please bless my brethren and make them more holy and righteous and godly. Lord God, would you... It's a preaching prayer.
He's praying thus with himself. We cannot go into the presence of a thrice-holy God and parade our wares as if somehow we've accomplished things before this thrice-holy God. This is precisely what this man does. Note the particulars of his prayer.
Thanking God for What He Is Not
He thanks God for what he was not. The Pharisee 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. In fact, he makes the tax collector sound worse. I mean, imagine you heard that.
Thank you, God, that I'm not an extortioner, an unjust man, an adulterer, or even as this Jim Butler. I mean, that's the worst on the scale of humanity. That's the tenor of the tone of the passage. But notice, this isn't always a bad thing.
There's nothing wrong with thanking God that we're not Joseph Stalin. There's nothing wrong with thanking God that we're not axe murderers. Nothing wrong with thanking God that we're not out committing the most horrific crimes that society has ever seen. But as we continue in his prayer, we realize there's something more going on here.
This man does not view things properly. He doesn't see his own sin before a holy God. He thanks God for what he's not, but he doesn't acknowledge God for what he is. I mean, even though we can claim before God we're not extortioners, we're not unjust, we're not adulterers, or we're not even as this tax collector, we have a whole host of other sins that we are guilty for, don't we?
I've read today Spurgeon said something to the effect, when somebody tells you how bad you are, don't get upset with them because you're a whole lot worse than they even know. And I think that's an accurate statement or an accurate depiction. We get upset, how dare you insult me? Well, if this person actually knew us in our sin, if they saw us the way God saw us, they would have a laundry list much longer that they would be able to proclaim concerning our wickedness and our waywardness and our wretchedness.
That is absolutely absent from this man's prayer. I thank you that I am not like other men." He doesn't acknowledge his own sin, he doesn't acknowledge his own shortcomings, and he doesn't acknowledge the fact that he is just reliable to the wrath of God. It's good that we're not Joseph Stalin. But brethren, we are still worthy of damnation and curse and judgment and punishment, just like Joseph Stalin, because we've sinned against a holy God.
We need to have a proper understanding of God's law, we need to have a proper understanding of God's demand, and we need to have a proper understanding of our own sin. And a right view of the law will help us to understand that view of sin. So he thanks God for what he is not. He doesn't ask for forgiveness, and he doesn't pray for the strength to not be like these other men.
Notice he doesn't say, thank you, God, that I'm not like that, and that because of your grace. Thank you, God, that I'm not like that, and I pray that you would continue to sustain me. Thank you, God, that I'm not like this tax collector, and I pray that you would keep me from ever plummeting to that depth of depravity." And then
Boasting in Religious Practice
notice, as well, he thanked God for what he practiced. It is here that his self-righteousness becomes apparent. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you that I'm 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. I mean, it's at this point you expect him to think that heaven's going to open up and congratulate him. The last place that you want to boast in yourself is before the throne of a holy God. Thank you, God, that I'm not this, and thank you that I do this.
Now again, there's a disposition and a manner and a posture and a way to pursue this. Thank you, God, for putting it in my heart to do this for so-and-so. We give God the glory for the good that we do. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to do according to His good pleasure.
So when you actually do a righteous act, praise God that He put it in you to do it. But that's not the tenor of this man's prayer. He is He is congratulating. He is patting himself on the back.
I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. Does he think that God's going to open up heaven and say, good for you, Pharisee. I am so proud of you and you're such an awesome guy and such a splendid specimen of a human being.
Now brethren, this is evident and obvious in the pages of Luke 18, but I think we do We do this ourselves when we parade what it is we've done. I think Facebook and Twitter are a means or a vehicle or an avenue by which men parade. Thank you, God, that today I helped Obama cross the road, or thank you, God, that today I gave this homeless person a place to live. Now, there might be a sense where we can all enter in and pray for that, but we don't need to parade our good works.
People who do what they're supposed to do don't crave attention. People who do what they're supposed to do don't crave the spotlight. People who do what they're supposed to do don't want to make sure they're congratulated. I'm sure I've shared before that whenever I do the dishes, I need to make sure my wife knows it. that my wife has seen it, that she's observed it, and that I get some points, or that she has this book that she signs off and says, Jim did a good thing tonight.
I want that. I want that validation and accreditation in my own sick, twisted way. I want recompense because I'm such a great guy. Well, we do that in the church, and we do that with our good works, and we somehow think that the God of heaven and earth is beholden to us to pay us back because we did what we're supposed to do.
We're not supposed to be unjust. We're not supposed to be adulterers. We're not supposed to be wicked derelicts in society. We're supposed to fast, and we're supposed to give.
We're supposed to come to church. We're supposed to take the supper. We're supposed to read our Bibles. We're supposed to pray.
We're supposed to encourage one another. We're not doing that so that we get payback points from God. This isn't some holy barter system. I put 15 units into my day today, and God better spit 15 back out at me and confirm all the good things that I have done.
That's a barter system and an approach to God that the gospel completely destroys. That's not the way it's supposed to be. His tone is boastful, self-congratulatory, and it indicates that he banked his standing with God upon his own works. If any of you here are tonight going to bank your standing with God upon your own good works, thank you, God, that I'm not this, and thank you, God, that I do these things.
You need to watch your heart. I suggest that the prayer is more of an occasion of self-admiration than worship and dependence upon God. Do you know what prayer is supposed to be? It's supposed to be God-admiration, not self-admiration.
We're not to stand in the presence of others and tantalize them with a view of how wonderful we are. Thank you, God, that I'm not like this and I do this. We need to take that down a notch and get rid of it. I'm not suggesting everybody who uses Facebook and Twitter does this, but there's a lot of posts that you see on those social media outlets that do indicate that we have a problem in this particular area.
Just do what you're supposed to. You don't need credit. You don't need to get bonus points. You've been washed in the blood of Jesus, and you're heaven-bound.
What more bonus points are there? What better news is there? How better can it get than that reality? This is why Jesus, in Luke 10, did not rejoice that the demons are subject to your word, but rather rejoiced that your names are written in heaven.
That's what's most important. John 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. You see how these two things go together.
Jesus illustrates it beautifully. He tells the parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. So he gives us this Pharisee. He trusts in himself and he despises others.
The Publican's Prayer
Now notice the publican. His manner. He stood afar off. It says, "...the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God be merciful to me." Literally, the sinner, not a sinner, not one among many.
But when he comes to pray, when he stands before a holy God, it's not everybody else that he's concerned about. He's not one among many. He is the sinner. He acknowledges what the Pharisee does not.
He's a sinner. You see, that's conspicuously absent. I'm always suspicious of someone who never admits the fact that they sin. I remember many years ago, we lived next door to a particular fellow, and he had, you know, a liking for Robert Schuller.
I don't know how many of you know who Robert Schuller was. I think he passed away. Did Schuller pass away? He had the Crystal Cathedral down in Southern California.
And his, you know, series on the Sermon on the Mount was called The Be Happy Attitudes. And so this next-door neighbor said, would you listen to this? And I said, would you listen to Al Martin? And so we made our trade, and he didn't know what to do with Al Martin, but I didn't know what to do with the be-happy attitudes.
I don't know how a man could preach through the be-attitudes and never mention sin. How can a man go through any teaching of our Lord Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and never acknowledge the presence and the reality of sin? And I think that's suspect, when somebody can't identify the fact that they're a sinner, when they don't admit their sinfulness. In fact, that's one of the things that the Spirit of God works in the heart of a man.
Jesus says, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. This is a good sign. The fact that this man stands afar off, the fact that he sees his own unworthiness, the fact that he can't even look up into heaven, but all he can do is beat his breast and say, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. He acknowledges something far more important than what this Pharisee does.
You see, the problem that God has with us is not so much our sin, but our wretched good works. That's John Gerstner, and I think he's absolutely right. That doesn't mean God isn't against our sin, but the Gospel answers to sin. Christ died to wash sin.
It's our good works that stand between us and God more often than not, our polish, our purity, our holiness, our alleged perfection. Those are the wretched things that we see displayed in this passage. And I suggested this morning, and I maintain it, the Lord Christ condemns self-righteousness far more in His ministry than He does the publicans and the harlots and all the derelicts of society. It's the self-righteous whom Jesus says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites." How many times did we see that, that convention used?
According to the King James Tradition, it's used eight times in Matthew 23. Seven times if you're not in that King James Tradition. That's a lot of times of a pronouncement of woes against the scribes and the Pharisees, hypocrites. Where do you find that with reference to the harlot?
Where do you find that with reference to the tax collector? Where do you see woes pronounced upon the dregs of society? You don't. That's absolutely absent, but you see it with reference to these self-righteous.
So this man acknowledges what the Pharisee does not. He is a sinner. God be merciful to me, the sinner. Royal says, the publican did not speak for his neighbors, but himself.
Vagueness and generality are the great defects of most men's religion. He says, be merciful to me, the sinner. John Gill comments on this passage. This is his prayer, a short but a very full one, isn't it?
I mean, there's more in God be merciful to me, a sinner. then there is a whole host of prayers that are offered up, probably in the church today, and certainly by this man who stood and prayed thus with himself, God be merciful to me, the sinner. There is a mouthful of theology in that, and this man makes this prayer. Gil says, it's 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 in 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." Paul does this, doesn't he?
A faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of whom I am one among many? No, of whom I am the chief. You see, when God starts His work in the hearts of men, they don't try and rationalize.
They don't try and justify. They don't try and present their works. They don't try and hide behind what they are not. When God through the Spirit shines the light of the truth upon a sinner's heart, this is His response.
God, be merciful to me, the sinner. I have nothing to bring. I have nothing to present. I have nothing to purchase your goodness to me.
I have nothing. I am nothing. As well,
Acknowledging Need for Mercy
he acknowledges what the Pharisee does not. He stands in need of mercy. I don't care how long you and I have been converted. I don't care how many years you've traversed this world in a state of grace.
You need mercy. It can never be the case that when you pray, you pray thus with yourself. Thank you that I'm not like those wretches, and look at what I do. Yippee for me.
You cannot do that. You stand dependent upon the grace of God. Do you realize that every moment, every single day, we are debtors to grace? We are those who stand in need of mercy?
We don't stand in our own strength. We don't stand in our own ability. And this man acknowledges what the Pharisee does not. He stands in need of mercy.
As well, he knows theology proper, better than the Pharisee. He acknowledges what the Pharisee does not. God is merciful. You see, a man will never say to the living and true God, God be merciful to me, the sinner, unless he believes that God is merciful.
You see, there are times when sinners say something like, well, I don't know, I can't come to God because I'm this, that, or the other. Well, maybe it's that you have a wrong view of God. You have a wrong understanding of God. I remember talking to a man who wasn't far from his death, and he had this view of God, that he was just this austere and this harsh taskmaster, and he wasn't full of mercy, and he wasn't full of compassion, and he wasn't full of goodness and kindness and love.
If that is your conception of God, go to the parable of the prodigal son. See that father running down the street. See that father falling upon his prodigal. See that father kissing him on the neck.
See that father putting a ring on his finger and a robe on his back. See that father and understand that Jesus is teaching us something there concerning the nature and the character and the being of God. He is good. He is kind.
He is gracious. He is merciful. We must believe that God is, Hebrews 11, 6, and that He is a rewarder of them that seek Him. This is the God of heaven and earth.
He is a God of mercy. He is the God described in Ephesians 1, 3 to 14. He is that God who has orchestrated so great a salvation. So this publican recognized and acknowledged theology proper much better than the Pharisee.
And then as well, acknowledging that reality, that God is merciful,
Casting Himself on God's Mercy
he casts himself upon the mercy of God. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Now, again, those who have come to Christ realize that when we, by God's grace, cast ourselves on the mercy of God, what did we find? Lo and behold, we found mercy.
Lo and behold, we found forgiveness. Lo and behold, we found kindness and goodness. We found that fountain that is open for sin and uncleanness. We found the washing away of our iniquity.
We found the gift of righteousness that commends us with God, that which is imputed to us and received by faith alone. So I say to anyone here tonight that has not come to Christ, go to, confess your sin, cast yourself upon the mercy of God, and see what happens. I can tell you what will happen. If you cast yourself upon the mercy of God, if you look to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith, He will receive you.
He will take you home. He will catch you, as it were. It's a blessed reality. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me, I will in no wise cast out.
It's not the case that any sinner ever came to Jesus believing and Jesus said, no, get away. That just won't happen. You look to Christ in faith, and by God's grace, you will be saved. Literally, the language is, God be propitious to me.
Be propitious. That word propitiation speaks of the aversion of God's wrath, or rather the averting of God's wrath. He understood God's holiness, His own sinfulness, and the rightness of God's wrath upon Him. So what does He do?
He pleads for mercy. That's what we need. We don't want God to deal with us according to justice. Doesn't the psalmist address this in Psalm 130?
He says, If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? He's right. If the Lord should mark iniquities, who could stand? Who among us could stand before a thrice holy God if that God marked every single iniquity?
The psalmist is absolutely correct. If thou shouldst mark iniquities, who could stand? But what happens is mercy and forgiveness and kindness and grace. He says, there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.
And this publican understood the mercy of God and he cast himself upon it.
Summary of the Parable
Now, notice, finally, the summary of the parable. The disposition is indicated. Notice in verse 14a, the publican, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified. He was justified by God.
He was declared righteous by God. It was a forensic or a declarative statement. It wasn't transformative. Notice that the publican didn't have good works.
The publican didn't have the ability to say, well, I'm not like publicans, because he was a publican. He had nothing to offer to God. So the fact that he goes to his house justified indicates that something else is going on. It wasn't by his works.
It wasn't by his lawfulness. It wasn't due to his merit. It was due to the mercy of God. And that mercy of God is grounded upon, founded upon, and finds its way through the dying and the rising of our Lord Jesus.
He was justified. He had acceptance with God because of what Christ had done. He knew experientially what the divines at Westminster would incorporate in the shorter catechism. 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 us and received by faith alone.
This publican at the assembly would have heartily amen that statement, wouldn't it? That was me! That's what happened to me! I showed up in the temple on that day, I heard this Pharisee thank God that he wasn't me, and then I cried out to God for mercy, and I went home justified!
His hope, his ground, his basis was in the blood of Jesus Christ. He could sing with Edward Mote, My hope is found in nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. The Pharisee couldn't say that.
The Pharisee says, my hope is I'm not like other men. The Pharisee said, my hope is that I fast twice a week and I tithe all that I possess. You see the difference of approach there? I hope you do.
Paul expounds this very vividly in chapters 3 and 4 of Romans, and I'll quote from there in just a moment. But this man was justified by God. He had acceptance with God, which was declarative and forensic. He knew experientially what the divines at Westminster would include in their shorter catechism, and he found his acceptance with God, not on the basis of his works, but on the basis of the active and passive obedience of our Lord Jesus.
And I suspect that this parable, in the ears of the original audience, would have surprised a great deal, a great many of those people. They would expect Jesus' statement to be, and the Pharisee went home as a noble character, as a justified man, as one who is accepted with God, and that, you know, tax collector got hit by a bus on the way home and went off to hell. That would have been the expectation, but that's not the gospel. And I suspect that that's the case today.
When you hear of somebody that gets converted, you think, that guy? You ever had that response? Has that ever welled up in your head? Him?
He's saved? He's in church? What is that indicating? We think somebody's too bad and too far beyond the scope of the power of the gospel.
We can't actually confess with Paul, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, that as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Have you ever been surprised at the salvation of another? Have you ever raised your eyebrow concerning somebody who confesses faith in Jesus Christ?
That can't be true. I mean, he's a really bad guy. We're really bad guys, every single one of us. We deserve God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come.
We ought not to be surprised at the reality that God gets glory in the saving of really notorious sinners. I'm sure that when Paul, well I know that when Paul was converted, Acts chapter 9 and 10, what happens? When Paul comes to the church, what do the people do? Hey, there he is, that wonderful trophy of God's grace.
They're afraid of him. Why? Because previously he was taking men and women, binding them, and taking them to prison. Barnabas had to grease the wheels.
He had to come along and say, no, this man's really been converted. It's surprising. It's amazing grace. It's an actual thing.
And this is what we find in Scripture. So the publican is justified, the publican goes home justified. Note what happens with the Pharisee. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.
He was not justified. He was rejected and unless he repented subsequent to this, of course it's a parable so we can't believe that he actually did that, he would go to hell. He's an unjustified man. This man who looks good before others, this man who's not like other men, this man who does these religiously motivated works, this man was not justified, he would indeed reap the judgment of God Almighty.
I quoted Fisher, I think last week, the marrow of modern divinity. He says, 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 save you at all.
So no doubt if we had a microphone and we came up to this Pharisee after the parable and we said, hey, what do you think about, you know, Jesus? Well, yeah, he seems like a pretty good man, but he was trusting not just in Jesus to suppose that he was, for a moment he's a Judaizer, he's trusting in his works as well. He thinks that he's going to be in heaven because of what he didn't do and what he did. And then the principle, undergirding the whole, Jesus lays forth.
The principle that we find often repeated in scripture. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. We ought to take that into deep consideration. Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
That is the principle that this text does present to us.
Theological Implications
Well, in terms of the theology, I think it's beneficial to us to realize that this parable is helpful with reference to the law of God. Unless you can go before God and say, I've engaged in personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience, be very careful about opening your mouth. Unless you can say, I always love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and I always love my neighbor as myself, do not present your works as a means by which God should accept you. As well, this parable is helpful with reference to the doctrine of justification.
When I see these two men go to pray, I see a Roman Catholic and I see a Protestant. I'm sorry, but I do. I hate to, you know, read that sort of reformed idea or that Protestant Reformation idea. They call this anachronism.
When you take something later in history and read it back into the text of Scripture, but it's really hard not to. I mean, isn't this the papist? I thank you, God, that I'm not like these men, like these Protestants. I do this and I do that.
They're not justified. It's the Protestant who can't raise his eyes to heaven, but he beats his breast and says, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And it's not just Romanism represented in the Pharisee. It's the new perspective on Paul.
Well, I start by grace, but I stay in by my faithfulness. No. then you have grounds for boasting or you will present those things to God vis-a-vis your covenantal faithfulness. Brethren, God's not going to accept us into the kingdom of heaven on that final day because of our covenantal faithfulness. We are entering into the kingdom of heaven because of the covenantal faithfulness of Jesus Christ alone.
That's where we need to rejoice and find our happiness and our blessedness. So, it's not only the New Perspective, the Covenantal Nomist, the Federal Visionist, any other approach by which the justified includes what he isn't and what he does is herein condemned along with the Book of Galatian. Galatians with reference to the Judaizing heresy. And I think in terms of theology behind the parable, it's helpful to promote to us or to indicate to us or to teach us that God is indeed merciful.
I mean, this publican didn't wake up that morning thinking he would be justified, but he was. The grace of God is powerful, it's glorious, and it's wonderful.
Practical Applications
In terms of the practical benefit of the parable, first, the parable should aid the believer in their approach to others. Matthew 7 is helpful in this regard as well. We're not supposed to judge one another. That doesn't mean if somebody says, hey, I was looking at porn for, you know, 15 hours last night.
Oh, well, you know, Butler said I can't judge you. or somebody shows up and says, hey, you want to smoke crack with me? I love it. It gets me through the day. That's not what I mean.
It's the judgmentalism. It's that idea wherein we think they're worse than us because we're us, and we do all these wonderful things, and we don't ever sin against God, and we're not like the rest of the wretches that we associate with in church. The parable should aid the believer in their approach to others. J.C.
Ryle makes this perceptive comment. We're all naturally self-righteous. It is the family disease of all the children of Adam. It's easy to see it in this Pharisee, isn't it?
Oh, look at that self-righteous man. Oh, look at him, boasting of what he's not and boasting of what he does. How come we don't always see it in us? How come it escapes us?
How come we miss it when it's being practiced by us? Riles says, it is the family disease of all the children of Adam. From the highest to the lowest, we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to do. We secretly flatter ourselves that we are not so bad as some, and that we have something to recommend us to the favor of God.
Ouch! He's right, isn't he? We secretly flatter ourselves that we are not so bad as some, and that we have something to recommend us to the favor of God. Well, God wouldn't send me to hell, because I'm mean, and I fast, and I tithe, and I'm not like publicans.
Anything we put our hope in, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, will take us speedily into the pit of hell. Secondly, the parable ought to underscore the necessity of humility in the Christian life. What does Jesus say? And he who humbles himself will be exalted.
We ought to pursue humility, and the best way to pursue humility is by killing pride. I'm sure I've shared with you before, when we pursue humility, we want to tell everybody about it. And then we're not pursuing humility. I'm really working on humility.
Wow, that's humble. Can you tell people proudly that you're working on humility? You're not working on humility. So, work on humility by killing pride.
I love Owen's statement concerning sin. Not Owen my grandson, but John Owen, the Puritan divine. Be killing sin or it will be killing you. Kill pride.
Destroy pride. If the judgmentalism rises up in your hearts, destroy it. Don't let it grow. Don't start thinking about how bad so-and-so is because they do things differently than you do.
If they are not breaking the law of God, if they have not transgressed the law of God, leave them alone. Why would we get so bent out of shape about what another brother or sister does if it's not a violation of God's law? Are we holier than God? Are we more righteous than God?
Do we possess the same prerogative as God, as lawgiver? If they're not violating God's law, leave them alone. It's a wonderful thing, leaving people alone. It's also nice to be left alone if you're not violating the law of God.
Thirdly, the parable should remind believers of the close connection between self-righteousness and judgmentalism. That was the occasion upon which our Lord spoke. He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. You may be the sole exception to this rule.
You may be trusting in yourself and be self-righteous and not actually despise others, but there is a close connection our Lord recognizes and our Lord speaks to. Typically, when we have a Pharisee that is praising himself, that is congratulating himself, that's patting himself on the back, he's also looking down upon others at the same time. So we need to be reminded of that close connection between self-righteousness and judgmentalism. If you're always judging somebody else, if you're a nitpicking, fault-finding, fastidious, pharisaical type, most likely you've got problems with self-righteousness.
Most likely. I'm not God, I can't pronounce the sins of your heart, but if you are just a constant fault-finder with everybody and everything about everything, you may have some issues. Fourthly, the parable should remind the believer of the foundation upon which he stands. It is not that we're not.
It's not that we do. It is that God is merciful and justification by faith is a reality. This parable ought to remind us that when Jesus says, this man went down to his house justified, we rejoice in the reality that we're justified freely by his grace. As well, the parable should remind the believer of the stark difference between justification by words of the law and justification by faith alone in Christ.
I hope you see, you know, the anachronism may be an anachronism, but I think it's right. I think it's accurate. The Pharisee is trusting in something other than Christ. John Murray says, justification by works always finds its ground in that which the person is and does.
Isn't that what we see in the Pharisee? Let me just repeat that. Justification by works always finds its ground in that which the person is and does. I thank you God that I'm not, I thank you God that I, or not even I thank you, I do do this.
He says it is always oriented to that consideration of virtue attaching to the person justified. Let's just suppose for a moment that this Pharisee enters into heaven. When we ask him the question, why are you in heaven? What's he going to respond?
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness? No. He's going to say it's because I wasn't a dirty, rotten tax collector, and it's because I fasted twice a week, and I gave tithes of all that I possess. That was the basis of his supposed acceptance with God.
It's always oriented to that consideration of virtue attaching to the person justified. You're not going to go to heaven because you're not as bad as everybody else. That's never an answer. Why should I let you into heaven?
Because I'm not Charles Manson? because I'm not Joseph Stalin, because I'm not Paul Pott, because I'm not Mao, because I'm not a Muslim that runs into a place full of soft targets and blows them up shouting, you know, Allahu Akbar. No, you're not going to heaven because you're not that. He goes on, the specific quality of faith is trust and commitment to another. It is essentially extraspective.
We know that word introspective, that means to look at oneself. Introspective means to navel-gaze. Extraspective means to look out, to look to another. And he says that justification by faith, or it, faith, is essentially extraspective, and in that respect, it is the diametric opposite of words.
He says, faith is self-renouncing. Isn't that what the publican is? God be merciful to me, the sinner. Works are self-congratulatory.
Isn't that what the Pharisee does? Thank you, God, that I'm such a great guy. 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. That's his commentary on Romans 3, 27 to 31. That's absolutely perceptive and it's accurate concerning the situation. Well, brethren, I hope that this is an encouragement to all of us to rehearse the gospel once again, to realize the publican did not go home justified because he was a great guy, but because he has a great Savior.
None of us come to the table tonight because we're great guys. We come to the table because we have a great Savior. If we're not coming to the table tonight because we have not believed the gospel, listen to the publican and hear his lesson. God be merciful to me, the sinner.
He found that to be the case. He found that to be the truth. He found that, that that God does indeed receive sinners unto himself. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for your word and for this brief parable that teaches us so much concerning justification, concerning our lives as Christians and how we ought not to be judgmental toward others. God, help us to receive these things and may it encourage our hearts to reflect again on the fact that it's because of Christ that we have entrance into heaven. It's because of Christ that we enjoy this supper tonight. It's because of Christ that we have salvation, full and free.
We ask that this gospel would be proclaimed throughout the earth, that your word would run swiftly, that it would be glorified, and that a great multitude would turn from their idols to the true and living God, crying out, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And we pray this through Christ our Lord. Amen.