So take your Bibles out and remain standing for the reading of God's Word this morning and turn to Luke 18. We're taking a break from Romans 9 this morning. We'll go back to Romans 9 next Lord's Day. This is the second parable I preached on the first one in Luke 18 last Lord's Day in the evening that we met for worship. And so we're going to look at the second parable this morning. Luke 18 beginning in verse 9. This is the holy and errant word of God. Give it now your full attention as it is read. He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee standing by himself prayed thus, God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up 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, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. Thus far God's holy word. You may be seated. Let us pray. Lord, thank you as we look at your teaching and parables in the gospels, we thank you for all of these parables by which Lord you are revealing the truth about yourself, the truth about us, the truth about salvation and your kingdom. And we thank you, Lord, as we consider this particular parable this morning. We thank you, O Spirit of God, that you saw to it that this parable was recorded for our benefit. We thank you that it is indeed inspired by your very breath. And we pray, Lord, now that even as the spirit indwells us and illumines our minds that we would come to understand what the Lord Jesus is teaching us here and that we would take it to heart, that we would apply it faithfully each and every day and that you would be pleased to work in us those things that change us more and more into the likeness of Christ our Savior and enable us to serve him in this world all for your glory. Amen. Luke 18 begins with Jesus telling two parables about prayer. Now the last line of verse 8 in this first parable ties both of these parables back into the discussion that Jesus was having with the Pharisees regarding God's kingdom in chapter 17. The Pharisees in that discussion, we see that they assumed the kingdom of God was future, meaning entirely future, that it had not come yet. So they asked Jesus his opinion about its arrival. When it will come, what do you think? And his answer was that the kingdom of God was already in their midst, that it in fact had arrived to a degree, but that it would eventually appear in its fullness. So there will be a greater and a final consummation and revelation of God's eternal kingdom on earth. And so indirectly there, cryptically, Jesus was telling them that God's kingdom arrives and is manifested, it's made known by the presence of the king. So the kingdom arrives, the kingdom is present when the king is present. And of course this was his way of confronting them with the truth of his identity, namely that he is the king. He is the divine king who had arrived, who was in their midst, yet they failed to recognize his divinity and his royalty. And then, after that short exchange, Jesus proceeds to instruct his disciples about living as kingdom citizens during this time between his first arrival and his final return in the fullness of his kingdom. We often say between the already and the not yet. So it's interesting that Elder Brack led us in prayer regarding kingdom living. right now as Christ taught in the earlier part of Matthew's gospel. Christ has already come and established his kingdom and he's populating it right now by the proclamation of the gospel. But he is coming again to consummate his kingdom. That is to complete it in its full final and we could say it's heavenly glory which will then continue for eternity. And as his disciples we await that certain consummation which is not yet present. And as we anticipate Christ's return and the full manifestation of his glory as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We are to live right now as kingdom citizens. We are to be engaged in kingdom work and service. As J. Vernon McGee, the old Bible radio teacher, used to say to the church today, standing on the promises does not mean sitting on the premises. We're to be actively engaged in the work, in the kingdom work of Christ. And so the Lord instructs us, he equips us to be about his business, the work of his heavenly kingdom, right now in this fallen and cursed world, this earthly kingdom, which is passing away. And part of our kingdom work, part of our kingdom service, is prayer. And so Jesus gives us two parables then, following this discussion on his kingdom, he gives us two parables on prayer. The first one there in verses 1-8 of chapter 18, the second in verses 9-14. And in the first parable, which we looked at a couple weeks ago, the emphasis, you remember, is on perseverance in prayer. that we are to be persistent in our prayer. We are to pray and not lose heart, not to become weary, but we should pray continually with an expectant and a hopeful attitude. And we can do so because our heavenly father is generous and merciful. And he delights, it gives him pleasure to pour out his good gifts on his beloved children. He knows exactly what is best for us and not only what we need, but precisely when we need it. God will provide for us according to his perfect agenda and his exact timing. which we talked about, of course, requires our patience and our confidence in his holy and sovereign good will for us. And such patience and trust is manifest in our faithful, frequent intercession, supplication, and adoration in our prayer. Now, the second parable on prayer exposes a different problem. Not our lack of perseverance, but our tendency to be prideful and pretentious. A lack of true piety and humility. Now although this parable concerns a Pharisee, Luke tells us To some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt is who Jesus is speaking to. Now, of course, for the most part, being self-righteous while looking down on others, that was obviously typical behavior for Pharisees. So Luke might have been saying, Jesus is speaking to Pharisees in this next parable. But because he doesn't say that point blank, we know that that kind of behavior was not exclusive to Pharisees. In fact, there's some good Pharisees in the New Testament that didn't act that way. But it was kind of the standard behavior and conduct of most of them, but not exclusive to Pharisees. Such arrogance and self-exaltation can beset any of us, and when it does, it poisons prayer. And Jesus warns all of us about pride's ruinous ways. Now like the first parable, This parable too is very simple and straightforward as Jesus describes a scene with two men who go into the temple that is the Israelite temple at Jerusalem to pray. A Pharisee and a tax collector. Two men on the opposite ends of a steam in Jewish society. The Pharisees were an important, highly esteemed party or group within Judaism in Jesus' day. You know, of course, the Apostle Paul was a Pharisee. Many of the rulers on the Sanhedrin were Pharisees. They were extremely zealous and scrupulous in terms of keeping the Mosaic Law. They studied and contemplated every aspect of law keeping, desiring to know exactly what obedience God commanded and expected. And then they endeavored with great zeal to do so. Their primary problem in this zeal and devotion to law keeping was that they began to focus exclusively on the law and not the law giver. And along with their man-centeredness, rather than God-centeredness, they viewed the law, they tended to view the law only externally. in terms of visible conduct or behavior rather than internally as well, governing the heart, soul, and conscience. And so in their own eyes, they could be blameless in one sense, externally perfect or righteous, Keeping every jot and tittle, all the minutiae of the law in terms of outward behavior, which we see is how this Pharisee describes himself. He's thanking God that he was so much better and obedient and so much more righteous than others. Just consider, oh God, my record, he's saying. my law-abiding life." That's how he begins, stating first that he's not like other men. He's not an extortioner. Could also be translated there, robber. He's basically saying, I'm not a thief. I don't steal or cheat others. I always obey the Eighth Commandment. And he continues that You know, Lord, you should be happy with me because I'm not unjust or evil in my dealings with others. Meaning that he never lies or cheats or defrauds anyone, but he's always, as far as he knows, honest and righteous in all of his deeds. He's probably thinking here of his compliance with the sixth and the ninth and the 10th commandments. He's never murdered anyone. He doesn't lie. He doesn't covet. And then he cites the seventh commandment clearly. I am not an adulterer, but I keep myself sexually pure and chaste. Now notice that the primary pronoun in this prayer is I. What I have accomplished and done Lord that should impress you." And even though this prayer begins with his thanking God, it seems he's thinking that really God should be thanking me. And notice as well what's missing in this prayer. There's no petition. He's not asking God for anything, which of course indicates his sense of self-sufficiency. There's no confession. There's no sin admitted because there was none really committed in his eyes. And even if he truly was externally blameless in all the ways that he lists, there's no awareness or gratitude that it was God's grace protecting and keeping him from ruin. And he appears to be clueless, really, about the realities of his own heart, mind, soul, and conscience before God. There's really, in this prayer, there's no inkling of a guilty conscience, of the sins or failures and disobedience of the heart. And so in regard to internal righteousness and obedience or holiness, he's deluded, he's self-deceived. Pride has blinded him to his true condition and status before God. Translators have disagreed on the first phrase of verse 11 that is whether it actually should be translated he was standing by himself and prayed these things or if it should be translated he was standing and prayed these things to himself or we could say about himself But either way, you see, it's clear that he's more focused on self-congratulation than God's exaltation. And rather than adoration, gratitude, supplication, confession, intercession, this prayer is really, it's his explanation It's his assertion or proof that God should be pleased to have such an exemplary subject in his service. And of course, as he's listing his superior qualities compared to others, he notices a tax collector who's also in the temple for prayer. Tax collectors, Jewish tax collectors, that's who we're talking about here, they worked for the Romans. And because of that, they were considered traitors. And they were treated for the most part with utmost contempt. And no doubt the Pharisee would have been offended that such scum would even dare to come into the temple to pray. One who is clearly in violation of God's law. In fact, the mere sight of the tax collector, it seems to have prompted the Pharisee to remind the Lord that not only was his law keeping record spotless, but in a number of areas, he went beyond the law. in his model behavior. In verse 12, he states that, Lord, I fast twice a week. The law actually required only one day a year, the day of atonement. So he said, look at this, Lord. I'm way ahead of the game on fasting. And then he talks about his tithing on all that he receives. Remember, Jesus talked about you tithe down to how many grains of various seasonings you put on your food. He's saying, I tithe, Lord, way beyond the regulations that the law sets. And no doubt he's thinking here of the tax collector as a reprehensible thief. I'm tithing every single thing I have, Lord. This guy's just a thief. And so he's touting his superior model of virtue and charity. And then in verse 13, Jesus turns to the circumstances and the content of the tax collector's prayer. He's also standing by himself in a somewhat secluded spot apparently in the temple. And he's probably doing that most likely indicating his shame to be in God's house of prayer. And because of his sense of guilt, he can't even look up toward heaven. And that's significant here because the common position that Jewish men assumed for prayer was standing with eyes and palms of hands pointing up toward heaven. This is how they normally prayed. Indicating a posture of supplication and need. And this tax collector is so convicted, he's so overwhelmed by his sin and shame that all he can do is bow his head and beat his chest, pleading, crying out, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. That's it. That is the full content of his prayer. He admits his total depravity, confessing that all he does, external and internal, is tainted by, it's polluted and contaminated by his sin. And that he is filthy in God's sight, worthy of God's justice and condemnation. He's confessing, he's admitting that in and of himself there's nothing he can say or do. There's no work, there's no merit which can right his wrongs with God. His only hope is in the mercy of God, not in any merit whatsoever from himself. And so this tax collector really is a model of self-denial, of self-demotion rather than self-promotion. Now what's missing in his prayer? There's no merit appeal to, there's no noble claims, there are no excuses, there's no pretensions, are exaggerations, just sheer shame for sin and admission of guilt. And Jesus then, that's the end of the parable, Jesus then reveals God's responses, his answers to these two men in prayer. The tax collector goes home, Jesus says, justified in God's sight. Now it's important that we understand that this is not justification in the sense of defending or arguing one's case. Rather, this is forensic legal justification. The kind of justification we talk about all the time. Justified by faith alone, in Christ alone. This is legal justification which God declares as judge. And God declares this tax collector, he declares this man righteous, acquitted, free from the condemnation his sins deserve on the basis of an atonement in his behalf. And you might be looking at this and say, it doesn't say that, David. Yes, it does. This is where you have to know Greek. We know that because in this prayer, the tax collector does not use the common word for mercy, eleison. as in the general prayer for God's benevolence. Kyrie eleison. You've heard that before, chanted. Lord have mercy. Kyrie eleison. What this sinner prays is, Theos helascomai. Oh God, make atonement for me. You see, the tax collector, he paid attention to what was going on in the temple. He looked around of what was taking place in the temple. The daily sacrifices of animal substitutes for sinners. And in deep repentance and remorse, he pleads, Oh Lord God, I need a substitute. I need one to atone for my sin so that I may be clean before you. This sinner was looking to what God alone could provide. A Passover lamb, a substitute whose blood alone could cover sin and wash it away. This tax collector was yearning in faith for Christ alone as his merciful atonement, his scapegoat, his wrath removing sacrifice, his propitiation. And he received it, God's full pardon and forgiveness. Whereas the Pharisee, did not. He remained a self-righteous deceived sinner under God's judgment and curse. This parable confirms what the Lord taught Samuel centuries earlier. The Lord sees not as a man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. And then Jesus concludes this parable the same way you may remember that he does in the wedding feast parable regarding places of honor at the table where he had already taught earlier. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. And let the reader understand, we are to understand in that statement by God. God is the one who will humble, God is the one who will exalt. Now, of course, most in Jesus's day would have chosen the Pharisee as the worthy recipient of God's blessing and the tax collector as worthy only of God's curse. But the reverse proves true. Throughout history and today, Pharisees and tax collectors are found in the church. And when we look in the mirror of God's word, we often see the reflection of a Pharisee. And when we do beloved, we need to repent of our pride. Our pride that looks with contempt on others. And we need to run to the publicans prayer, pleading for God's atoning, redeeming mercy in Christ. That that mercy would flood our hearts with true humility that pours contempt on all our pride. Amen. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you for this parable and its warnings. We thank you for its reminder that we are indeed saved by your great, amazing grace and mercy, that we bring nothing on our own but that you have done all that we needed. You've granted it to us out of your benevolent, loving heart. So help us, Lord God, to never drift, to never drift into some kind of self-righteousness or pride that looks down on others, or that would even poison our prayer as we come to you. Give us this true humility that indeed pours contempt on our pride. and desires, Lord God, to provide for those who are yet lost in sin, wonderful lives that witness to your grace and mercy. To each of us, the chief of sinners, we ask it, Lord Jesus, in your most holy name, amen.