Good morning. Hey, there's an office here. If you're visiting, I'm not the regular guy, just so you know. All right, let's open the word. Father, we thank you for this time. Turn to your word. We pray, Father, that you take the truth of your word today, point out things in our lives that need to be changed, and be a work in our hearts. Amen. Jesus, amen. So we're gonna talk this morning about the Pharisee and the Publican. We're gonna turn to the book of Luke, we'll do that, chapter 18. I have to confess that the book of Luke is probably my favorite, it is my favorite gospel. It's probably my most favorite book in the whole Bible, has to do with the way Luke writes, the way he puts things together. What we're going to be looking at today is we're going to summarize sort of the way the contrasts are between Pharisees and the publicans, and also between righteousness and self-righteousness, and those differences and how we find contrast. I think you're going to find some of this, at least I find it pretty interesting, as I do with everything in the Scripture, right? There's always some new thing that God seems to have every time we open this book. I don't know what it is with the first two rows here, but there's not one person in the first two rows, so. A little odd from up here, it's a little strange. So anyhow, excuse me. Luke 18, beginning in verse nine. So we read from nine to 14. And he told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt. Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. Pharisee stood and was praying to himself, God, I thank you that I am not like other people, swindlers, unjust, vultures, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I pay tithes of all that I give. But this tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. So the first thing we want to look at is what's the greater context here? So what is Jesus explaining this parable? What's his point? What's he trying to do? Well, he's responding to the Pharisees' question. If you look back in chapter 17, just a page back in verse 20, says this, it says, now he, Jesus, was questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming. And he answered them and said, the kingdom of God is not coming with signs that can be observed. So that's the question Jesus is responding to now in these upcoming verses. So Jesus responds to the question by telling the Pharisees that the kingdom is spiritual, this context right here. He rules in the hearts of men today. In other words, he's telling them that they can't see it right now. The king himself was right in front of them, that their hardened hearts refuse to see it. Greek word rendered observed here is actually translated careful observation. You can stare at Jesus all day long and look all around him for his kingdom, but you'll never see it. It's in the hearts of men can see its results and how it manifests itself in the lives of those who belong to him. You can see it in their changed lives. That's where the kingdom is visible. A physical eternal kingdom will come along after the 1000 year kingdom the New Heavens and the New Earth are established with the New Jerusalem, its capital, redeemed of all the ages, be part of that eternal, visual kingdom, physical kingdom. So if the physical kingdom will follow the spiritual kingdom, which is what Jesus is saying here. And it becomes obvious that one must enter the spiritual kingdom to be first before he can be part of that physical kingdom that comes. Now he does this. Now, how does one enter this spiritual kingdom? Back to the question from the Pharisees, they knew the kingdom was coming. They wanted to be part of it. They thought they had a way in. So they asked Jesus this question, when is the king coming? So you can see it, if you can't see it, rather, by careful observation, then how does one enter it? So if you could see it, just like him, just be in the kingdom. Or maybe perform some ritual to get in. Maybe do some works of righteousness. Maybe it's St. Peter at the Gates, a bunch of questions you had to answer. You get them right, you get in. That's not the case at all. So in chapter 17, Jesus goes on to tell them, so in verses, that they were not to go after those who tried to mislead him. mislead them by saying the kingdom was coming, see the kingdom coming. He says that he has to suffer these things, and he must be rejected, that powerful events will occur prior to his return where he would establish his physical eternal kingdom. So this is pretty weighty stuff, as Jesus starts this, leading up to two parables about prayer, right? Why would he talk about these things? Well, now Jesus begins in chapter 18 to tell them how to get into the kingdom. Dreher becomes the top, the white prayer. We told him at the end of chapter 17 how difficult it was at times, the times would be before he would come back to earth again, before he would return. 1726, he likens those days to the time of Noah, when only eight people on the whole earth were saved. Perilous times were coming. That was an understatement. So as we'll see, these parables are really about salvation. As usual, Jesus talks about what he wants to talk about. He answers the Pharisees' question, but with the answer that they need to hear, not necessarily what they expect to hear. He starts it out and says, now he was telling them a parable to show that at all times, one ought to pray and not become discouraged. So in 18.1, he illustrates his point with a parable of the unjust judge. Now we're not taking time to look at that closely today, but this unjust judge. But it's one of those misunderstood parables. It's a parable of contrasts, not a parable of comparisons. God is good and gracious, not like the judge we have in that parable. And we're not like the widow who just pesters a judge until he gives us what he wants. God is the opposite. We are his chosen sons and daughters. God can't be coerced into answering prayers. Look back at 18.1. The parable shows us, and it says his disciples, then we should pray regularly, not give up. We want sincerity in our prayers, not repetition, formulas. So back to the Pharisees' question, when is the kingdom coming? Well, Jesus says that they were looking with their eyes to see something, a way to enter that kingdom in a physical sense. Jesus says that one needs to enter the spiritual kingdom to become part of the kingdom that they were seeking. So that one is where God is king and all unrighteousness is removed. It's important, what Jesus is gonna talk about soon. So he says that there are times that will be increasingly difficult, and they will need to pray, but be promised the eternal kingdom is coming. If they wanna be part of it, their works righteousness won't take them in. I'll talk a little bit about the Pharisees and who they were. Some of you don't have an idea how the Pharisees were. They kind of would go, boom, if you had a chance, it's that way on the Pharisees. And by the way, I have a tendency to go fast in time, so Olga's here, my wife is here, and she didn't, So, and I said that this morning, I wasn't here for the early service, Trudy was, and Trudy said, no, she goes. I started rambling a little quick. I can look at the clock, especially that clock, it says 10 minutes to one. So we're already over time. So anyhow, so much for that. Now if I run over, it's my own fault, because I just went through whatever. So who were the Pharisees? They were not political like the Sadducees and Zealots. They weren't mystics like the Essenes. They weren't priests either, and they weren't really either wealthy or Jews. They were mostly laymen and well-respected by the populace in the first century. Jewish historian Josephus records there's about 6,000 of these guys. during the reign of Herod the Great. So there was quite a few of them around who were pretty obvious. Pharisees knew that God is holy and people are not. It's all throughout the Old Testament. They were students of the Old Testament. Psalm 143.2 says, for no person living is righteous in your sight. You think it's 1144? For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy because I am holy. They needed consecration because they were unrighteous before God, sinful. So the Pharisees saw it as strictly from the external standpoint. They lived apart from the rest of the Jewish culture at the time. They were a strict religious sect that came out after the exile. The exiles returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. They separated themselves from paganism and adhered to Old Testament law. So by anyone's standards, the Pharisees were successful in showing these outward signs of holiness. Pretty good at it. God commanded all men to be holy, perfectly holy, all the time. God had a standard that no one can live up to perfectly. Now, we know that because we've been listening to Andy Goetz in chapter 20 in Exodus, and we know God has a perfect standard nobody can live up to. But if he commands something to be done, he says, be holy for I am holy, then he's gotta provide a way for us to be holy. Genesis 15.6 is kind of where it began, but that's where we can see it plainly. It's recorded about Abraham. It says, then he believed the Lord, and it was credited in his righteousness. So the word credited here can also be translated as imputed. In other words, Abraham was justified by this faith. His faith would be the vehicle God used to impute by his perfect righteousness to him. So the Pharisees could only recognize the externals and holiness they couldn't see what was really behind it. They embodied the visual of walking. But they missed the real idea of holiness. So then what is true biblical holiness, righteousness? How does one obtain it? So even the Pharisees knew that men would fail to keep the law. They needed a means to atone for their sin. The wrath of God on sin was coming, and lest he provided a pathway for righteousness and forgiveness, there's no way to get it. But Pharisees knew the Scriptures about the coming Messiah, too. Isaiah 53 11 says, My servant will justify many, for he will bear their wrongdoings. They knew the Messiah would be the sin bearer, lest they could read it and see it. For the Messiah would bear the sin of the believer, make them just, and for all who did not. However, by the time Jesus comes on the scene, the religious people had forgotten what the sacrificial system was all about. God expects perfect holiness for one to see his kingdom. They have a right relationship with him. Again, they all kept seeing the externals, going through the motions. The sacrificial system only covered their sin. It didn't remove them. That would have to take place in order for them to enter into a relationship and become acceptable to God. So how can a sinful person overcome such a barrier? How can anyone be holy? How can a sinful person at all overcome such a barrier? So what the Old Testament predicted Messiah, he would be able to participate in that earthly kingdom. Who could do that? Who qualifies? And man, you guys ask great questions. Because I'm used to teaching Sunday school, and usually people are asking questions, so I'm just asking the question. And so anyway, so at that point, as Andy often says, that's the introduction. So you kind of know where we're going. So take a look now at chapter 18, verse 9. So Jesus begins this parable on how a man can be righteous before God, what justification is all about. He does that by using this illustration of two men coming up to pray, into the temple. So in 18.9 it says, now he also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed contempt. So he says, he also told this parable, also obviously means there's another parable here, so we can't go on to ignore that. So this is connected to the parable on prayer that Jesus had just told. You can see that in the Unrighteous Judge. It's pre-deceiving us in chapter 18. This story, a parable on the surface, is about prayer also. But that's all we see, and we'll miss what the Lord was teaching them while answering that question again from chapter 17, assuming the coming kingdom, because that's what he's talking about. But who is he speaking to here? He said, some people who trusted in themselves the unrighteous. That was the self-righteous crowd. That's who he's addressing. And he also, he says that he viewed others with contempt. Now keep in mind that he's speaking directly to the self-righteous crowd. Remember who asked that question back in 1720, right? The Pharisees. He's directing this right directly at them, the self-righteous guys. It's really a very pointed sermon illustration. He's really being confrontational. And that's really what the gospel is all about. It attacks the sinner at its core, right to the main issue. Who do you trust for your salvation or your justification? Who are you trusting? So what is self-righteousness then? Those who justify themselves as being right with God, they made the decision they're right with God. Luke 16, 14, and 15. It should look clearer. Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, listening to all these things and were ridiculing Him, Jesus, and He said to them, You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of people. But God knows your hearts, because that which is highly esteemed among people is detestable in the sight of God. So one writer I read describes this as the early version of the self-esteem movement. People see them there as living this kind of life that pleases God, based on what they do, not on who they are. However, God sees us, who we are. I don't just know that. Jesus told them that God knew their hearts, He knows ours. What does Jesus say about their high view of themselves? He says it is the testament site of God. In 1890 he goes on to say that they trusted in themselves their measurement for spirituality and ultimately the relationship of God with God. was based on how they saw themselves, not how God saw them. Remember that these guys were the ones that the religious Jews of the day thought to be really spiritually elite. These were the top guys, the clergy, if you will. So why would self-righteousness, self-righteous people view others with contempt? Why would that be the case? Well, the verb contempt there means to despise someone because they see you as having no value. The only other place that's used in the Gospels is in Luke 23, 11. And Herod, together with his soldiers, treated him, Jesus, with contempt, mocked him, dressing him in a brightly shiny robe, and sent him back to Pilate. So they saw Jesus as being worthless. That's what people are self-righteous to, to see others who have been known value. It's really the inevitable outcome of self-righteousness. If someone doesn't live up to your standard of righteousness that you think you've attained, then you will see them being inferior, and you'll view them content. I guess you could see this same as a set of pride. And views other people as spiritual amateurs, beneath you to possess all the right qualities you see in yourself, that a righteous God is not saved, because it's not you. 1810 says that two men went up to the temple during one affair, seeing that the tax collected. So he starts these two guys off on an equal footing. They both had the same intention. What's that? Went up to the temple, too? Right, you have to answer it, because that's common. If you don't answer me, I'll just really run off. So anyway, we think of this expression, prayer, as a private time to commune with God. Well, the Jews at the time would have seen a dual meaning here. You have private devotion. They also see worship in a public way. In order to worship, atonement would have to take place. Sacrifice would have to occur. One would have to be right with God before worship, and then prayer could take place. For the Jews, it was twice a day, times the morning and evening offerings, the morning and evening sacrifice. Offerings would take place, sacrifice would take place, and they would go up to the temple to pray. So the Pharisees, what the spirituals say, and emphasize meticulous observance of the law. So they took the law of Moses, the written law of Moses, given by God, and then added their traditions. What people could see, they were the super-spiritual. They were respected to a certain extent. So now we have to handle on who the Pharisees are. Who were the publicans? Well, who were these tax collectors, guys? Who were they? They're a homeowner. Let's see if I can throw that in there. You probably write a check at least once a year if that person is taxable. Maybe reluctantly, but you don't see that person that you're writing the check to in a bad way. In our town, we actually write the person's name, she or he. We're only doing a job that's what we like to do. So the town that we live in likes us receiver of taxes for filing a term. We actually have to campaign for job. So campaigns mean people. Not only do you have to see who's qualified, but they also have to see your personality. Personality plays a big part. You at least have to be likable to be a tax collector, a scoundrel. Not so in the Romans. Some of you are laughing now because you're thinking about these tax collectors, these guys. The tax collectors were those who collected revenue from the Romans. They were hated by the Jews. Let's face it, nobody likes to pay taxes, especially with a regime that hates you. These tax collectors were Jews. They were seen by other Jews as being disloyal to Israel. They were known for keeping some of the taxes collected for themselves. That's how many of them became rich. Consequently, only those who were scoundrels, that's the word of the day, scoundrel, would be drawn to this particular job. Something like six times in the Gospels, tax collectors are connected to sinners, and once in Matthew 12, they're connected to prostitutes. So Jesus used this common view of tax collectors to show how to treat those who refuse church discipline. So Jesus himself even realized the view of the tax collector. Matthew 18, 17 says, If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector, right? So now the Pharisees were respected, but the tax collectors were rejected. So there was a lot of famous tax collectors. If I were to ask a couple of famous tax collectors, if I were to ask them who they were, you would name Matthew. It's akins, very good. Okay, interestingly, every time Luke mentions tax collectors, he mentions them in a positive light. Stay with me on this, but I wanna show you a couple of these places, and they're right here in the book of Luke, so you don't have to flip around or just listen. In chapter three of Luke, verse 12, these tax collectors actually seek God. So it's this, some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, Jesus, teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them, collect no more than you've been ordered to. He was collecting taxes, frankly. It was not a crime, and it wasn't even morally wrong. But to take advantage of their position to cheat people is where Jesus told them to repent. So why? He had crossed them. But they saw that. They were unbelievably baptized. Chapter 5, verse 27, he calls Matthew. Mention, follow. He says, after that, he went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting at a tax book And he said to him, follow me. And he left everything behind, and he got up and began to follow. Now what's interesting about Matthew, that you really ought to notice number two, is that Matthew knew the cost. He let this lucrative position, and he was making money, and gave up everything just to be in the sight. Chapter seven, verse 29. All the people in the tax collectors heard this, referring back to who the least in the kingdom, would be greater than John. The tax collectors heard this. They acknowledged God's justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. Notice how they're contrasted with the Pharisees in the very next verse. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God's purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John. These men rejected repentance. They knew it was wrong, but they just said, we're not doing it. They couldn't see themselves as sinners. They were not like the rabble, not like the commoners, Chapter 15, verse one says, now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near him to listen to him. Again, the contrast with the Pharisees in the next verse. Both Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. Again, the Pharisees see Jesus as being guilty by association, just like the tax collectors. They show their contempt for the Son of God. Again, now over in chapter 19, verse two, we have Zacchaeus. And there was a rich man, excuse me, there was a man called, by the name of Zacchaeus, and he was chief tax collector, and he was rich. Now he's seeking Jesus, and then Jesus calls him, just like he did with Matthew. So again, we have all this stuff where these tax collectors, who are hated by the Jews, and despised even by the Pharisees, that we have in the positive light, run over him. Now, the thing is, is that Jesus had an uncommon love Necro for tax payers. He always reached out to the Drake's Society in general, specifically to these guys. Most folks were rejected by multitudes, particularly these that were cast aside by the religious roots of Pharisees. So back to our text. In 1811, the Pharisee stood and began praying this to himself. God, I thank you that I am not like other people. swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. So it stood, it says the fair system. Well, that's nothing wrong with that, at least on the surface. Plenty of times we see people in the Bible standing and praying. So like so many other things, praying, it can get corrupt. Jesus warned against the attitude of prayer, not the physical position of prayer. He said this, he said, when you pray, You are not to be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues, on the street, in the corners, so they will be seen by people. Truly, I say to you, they have had their reward." Well, this looks fine. Well, Wiersbe puts it like this. Pharisees used prayer as a means of getting public recognition, not as a spiritual exercise to glorify God. He was deluded about himself, for he thought he could be accepted by God because of what he did and what he did not do. So again, it's purely the externals. So rule-keeping was his justification before God. So what we know about the Pharisees is likely that this guy here is standing in a place of prominence in the temple. You might get that from verse 13 in the text book. There was some distance away. goes on to say, praying in regard to himself. I mean, that's quite a statement, praying to himself. So who is Hassan Ibn Brahim? Certainly praying to himself, but to others who might have been standing around. Now it could be said that he was praying silently. People cut a little slack there. But no, no, no, not out loud. Speaking within himself, sort of like the candidate in 1 Samuel 1. But it's not likely, because he's about to use the word, I, five times, expressed in that prayer. So he goes on to say, God, I thank you that I'm not like other people, swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. So his prayer begins by addressing God. And that's a good thing, too. So he gives thanks, another good thing. But now he tells God that he appreciates that he's not like everybody else. I'm good enough. I live up to your standards. I'm not like other people. And this is where self-righteousness gets to eventually. It always does. He's telling God that he's not like the people on this list of bad guys. Those in the temple who are right here will be impressed. He even concludes this thing with a hard jab against the saddest tax collector standing there. He points out another person who is right there in the temple praying by him. Right there, he says, see that guy over there? I'm not like that guy. I'm a much better Jew than that tax collector. So, he's comparing himself. Pairing ourselves to others. I know that we don't do that much, but it does happen. Pairing ourselves to others is jealousy. We begin to see something in others that we want from ourselves. Covet they have. It's not ours, but if we had it, we'd be a better steward of it. After all, if it was in our possession, William, we'd be able to handle it a lot better. Now, My wife, Olga, has created this little tradition, our grandchildren. She started when the first one was born, a baby, she smoked them. And she started this little thing where she would say to the kids, I have a surprise for you, which is a gift, and it was a gift for like nothing, just something she could give them, bring a little joy into their lives, you know, hopefully. So, just to give a little bit more background, she's Ukrainian, and the kids call her Baba, which is, I know I mentioned that, they call her Baba, which means, So, Olga brought in a gift. Now, when you do this kind of thing, you've got to remember, this is not what you're supposed to remember when we finish the day. You say, oh, remember that? That's the trouble with sight. Stop listening. Jesus says, oh, you've been, I have a surprise for you. She hands him this. It's in a bag. It's a clock. I don't know what the clock deal is. I think somebody can tell me later. But anyway, so he gives him this bag. He opens it up, he takes a look at it, and he says, Baba, you gave me the wrong surprise. So he didn't want it at the time, but every time he came to the house in the ensuing years, you know, he might have, he's 23, I don't think he's ever come this time. But he would come to the house for years on end and play with it every time he comes. Now our youngest, ten-year-old grandson, plays with this thing, and the four girls in between, they all play with it as well. So he didn't think it was the right surprise at first, but it turned out once he used it, it was a pretty good surprise after all. Anyways, isn't that really what we're like? Are we really any different? We're telling God that he didn't give us the right gift. maybe the right talents. You want something more useful for him, something more special, something that gets a little more attention. Well, what's the cure for that? Basically, that's jealousy, right? What's the cure for that? It's contentment. Paul gives us an idea in Philippians of his personal solution to that contentment. He says, not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble beings. I also know how to live in prosperity. Now you'll never get to a point of contentment that you're only asking for. So if you buy your things and say, I'm going to be content today, well, contentment is a gift from God. There's no way you can do that. You realize that only when you're totally, you're totally healed to God's purposes in your life. You're doing what God wants you to do, you will be content. Pairing ourselves to ourselves, excuse me, comparing ourselves to others is the jealousy, and also gives way to pride, and feeling superiority. Paul also addresses this problem as well. He says, not that I have already obtained it, I've already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that which I was laid hold of, Christ Jesus. So there's three quick ways right here on solving that problem. First, he says he's not become perfect. He hasn't arrived yet, he hasn't gotten a little better. Secondly, he was working on his own life where he needed to change. He would press on and make every opportunity he could take, obedient to the Lord. Thirdly, Jesus laid hold of him, grabbed a hold of him, and would use him as long as his life was yielded to his will. So another danger in comparing ourselves with others is the idea that our salvation is determined by how worthy we are. We have reason to see ourselves as more worthy of God's favor than someone else? Now, we might not come around and say it like that. We can fall into the trap of thinking we're somehow more useful to God because of our abilities or our talents. Warning, James Gibson, James 2, verse 1, is, my brothers, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. God's chosen us, but it has nothing to do with anything that you have to offer. Self-esteem, right off the bat. Nothing special in yourself. Your identity is in what Christ has done for you, not what you've done for Him. It's 5-8, but God demonstrates His own love toward us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, very good. So He did it all. We were all of no account. worthless, useless, and he gave his life to the demons. The trap of comparisons is comparing ourselves to ourselves. Now, there's times that's not a bad idea. Touch on it, too. But you don't want to get into a mode where you say, well, I'm doing better than I was when I got started. Back when I first became a Christian, I did this or that. At least I don't do that anymore. Well, I think we'd all agree that's a pretty good point. So, where is the growth? Where is the growth? What are you doing with the challenges that you face today? And if you don't think the challenges are greater today, they were when you first came to Christ, yourself to see. Temptations get greater the longer you follow. So, is there a time to compare yourself with yourself? Well, again, Apostle Paul emphasizes that. It's like the book of Philippians. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude, and if anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that to you also. However, let us keep living by the same standard to which we have attained. So Paul says this, it's all about attitude. We are to give careful consideration to what's being said. Then he says, we're to keep living up to the standard that we have already attained. In other words, he gives the reader a warning here. Reach the point in your spiritual life God has empowered you, Tim. Remember where you've come from and be encouraged by their growth, but don't rest on your laurels. This is no time to stop. Paul exhorts the Philippians, right in the prior verse, I press on toward the goal of the prize of the up and fall of God in Christ Jesus. He says to press on or continue faithfully. Stephen Cole put it like this, he said, Paul had a holy dissatisfaction where he was at. So he kept pressing on. Yesterday's blessings and experiences won't do for today. He walked daily with the Lord, always wanting more, always learning, always growing, never turning a corner or coasting. So remember, it's not all your doing. It's not all God's doing. It's neither, it's not either or. It's both and. Spirit of God empowers you to act. God gives you the power, but you have to take that power and put it to use. not using the strength to grow and the knowledge of him to obey. But we have to put that power into our spiritual life. Spiritual growth, like anything else that's worth anything in life, is hard work. But the rewards are far greater than anything you can imagine. So the Pharisee goes on, moves on to what he's not like, to what he is like, and now reminds God of what a godly person he is. Not only is he moral, he said, it's what I'm religious to, he said, I fast twice a week, paid tithes. Again, there's nothing wrong with being a fasting for tithing. What's wrong here? Well, the context of how the Pharisees partnered to pride self-righteousness wasn't uncommon for Jews to fast twice a week, usually Monday and Thursday. That wasn't coincidental. Those are the days of Mark, it's Jerusalem. So those who wanted to display their piety would show up looking disheveled, so others would see it and know that they were fasting. So Jesus took note of this, addressed the practice of Matthew chapter 6 verse 17. He says, but as for you, you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting will not be noticed in you, but your father who knows the secret, and your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. If you lose some fasting, I'm sure you'd wash your face and all that kind of stuff before you go out. But you tell everybody you know, hey, by the way, I'm fasting. Kind of the same thing. So tithing also was a given expression of faith as well as fasting. And the Jews actually gave around 30% total. And God owns the tithes. The first 10% belongs to Him. But I consider using that part of one's income for anything other than Him. It's theft. It says in Malachi 2.8, if anyone robbed God, yet you are robbing me, a Jew-seeker. Well, if he robbed you, he robbed me in tithes and offerings. It's his money. So, of course, the Pharisees took it to the full extent. They even tithed their own food, spices. They wanted them to see that they were going farther than God required to prove their worthiness to God. So Jesus addressed their heart's attitude in tithing, as you recall, Matthew 23, 23, woe to you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites, for you tithe dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law, justice, mercy, faithfulness. But these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others, so Jesus didn't tell them about the tithe. He didn't tell them, he didn't tell them, there you see the emphasis was on the more important part. provisions of the law about doing right, even-handed application of law, justice, and the hard issues of mercy and faithfulness. So now for our tax collector, team 13. But, great transition right there. But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but beating his chest, saying, God be merciful to me, sinner. What was the big difference? The way the tax collector approached God? Both went up to pray, Pharisee was all about self, right? It's all about the Pharisee, all about himself. Tax collector, it's all about God, God's mercy. He has nothing, self, realizes that. All the Pharisee's flowery prayers to impress God and others, but the tax collector realizes who he is, his standing for God. So for those of you who say, I've heard time and time, there's no sinner's prayer, that's not it. There it is right there. That would be the sinner's prayer. And I kind of wish someone had made that clear to me when I first became a Christian. Because, you know, you don't want to... There's nothing wrong with a form of a prayer to help someone along, especially if you're dealing with children. Nothing wrong with a form of a prayer to help them along, give them an idea. But when we teach people and we disciple them for years and say, look back at that prayer, that's where you can look at that, that's where your salvation hangs. That's when we do them a disservice, especially if someone's having doubts. So don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with, you know, helping someone along with a prayer to help them get the idea of what it means to how to confess their sinfulness before the Savior. But when we enforce that, helping them pay, by helping them understand, pay the price for their sin. They have a sin nature. The only remnant is Christ. Jesus paid him all, all the enemy. Very minutes, very minimum, what we can do, response to that is obedience to God. So most likely, that's not the time for us theological explanation, how the spirit, powering to do those things. But repentance is part, from the old life, is part of it. Don't change life, do salvation. That's where true assurance of salvation can be seen and felt by the believer. So, God doing the work, change your life. It's true, you do it. So let's take a look at the text quite a bit. It says he was unwilling to raise his eyes to what happened. Unwilling. He doesn't compare himself to others that compares to him. Instead he compares himself to God's own stand. Can't even look up toward heaven. Remember how Peter reacted when Jesus told him to put his nets down? Again, after fishing all night, catching nothing in Luke 5. Pulled all this fish in. Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, go away from me, Lord, for I am sick. It's all for you to prepare yourself. Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame Quasimodo means Esmeralda. It sees your beauty and realizes its own holiness. It's only the stark contrast that causes him to see the truth. The more we understand the holiness of God, the more we see ourselves as the righteous sinners. It says he was beating his chest, saying, God be merciful to me, the sinner. He knew who he was. He knew that he had no righteousness of his own, All he could do was throw himself at the mercy of God. He was hitting his own heart symbolically to show how corrupt he really was. The heart is the seat of the emotions and the intentions of a man. Jesus said, for out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murders, acts of adultery, other immoral sexual acts, thefts, false testaments, and slanderous statements. These things are the things that defile a person. So he pleads for God's mercy. Why? Because he knows he's a sinner. It's the only time he uses me, unlike the Pharisee who kept saying, I, I, I, over and over again. Pre-care for merciful is really interesting. It means to expiate or make propitiation for one, or to atone for one's sin. He's asking God to provide a way for him to become righteous in his sight, and he knows he needs a sacrifice. God will have it for him. 1814, it says, I tell you, Jesus says, this man went to his house justifying, rather than the other way, where everyone who exalts himself will be humbled. And I tell you, this man went to this house justified, rather than the other way. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled. Well, everyone who humbles himself will be exalted. So I tell you, Jesus exerts his authority on what he's about to say. Then he reverses things, what he did from 1810. There's a text collected first this time. So he gets to the real issue here, which is justification. Remember, this parable is about the kingdom and who gets in. People who are hearing this, we saw back in verse nine, those who trusted in themselves, So Jesus now tells them who's righteous. This happens instantaneously. No works or performance needed. Only the humble, contrite sinner pleads for mercy, pleads for God's mercy. He sees it fully, right then, at the moment. For everyone who absolves himself will be humble. Those who trust in him who works will be humble. Self-exaltation leads to destruction. Who is the one who is righteous in God's view? He says, the one who humbles himself will be exalted. The humble will receive God's gracious forgiveness and be eternally glorified. He started all this by saying there's a parallel about prayer and how it gives us the key to eternal life. So how does one enter the eternal kingdom? It's the come. The light of what we just looked at, how does Jesus teach us to enter the kingdom? God justifies, provides atonement for sinful men, for mercy, based on one's acceptance of the race. Humbleness. True humbleness comes by recognizing the truth, who we are, comparing ourselves to. To others, to ourselves, right? Isaiah 57, 15 says, for this is what the high and exalted one lives forever, whose name is holy. It says, I dwell in a high and holy place. I also dwell with a contrite heart. lowly of spirit, in order to revive the spirit of lowly and revive the heart of the contrary. So Isaiah says there that God, yes, dwells in a high and holy place far from us, but he also dwells in the humble and the contrary. So it turns out that our parable's secondary purpose is prayer. It's primarily about righteousness, true righteousness, not self-righteousness. Righteousness that is imputed to us by the work of God's generation. God saves his Holy Spirit wells and those who don't exalt themselves come to him, humble and contrite. Jesus is the perfect example. Philippians 2.7 says he emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant, being made a likeness of him. So Jesus is the absolute epitome of humility. He was worshipped by angels, lived in heaven, all eternity past, God in control of everything, his creation, everything that has ever gone on. Worship constantly. King of kings was born to a young woman in a stable, a virgin, born in a little small town of Bethlehem. You'll see that come up by the Christmas season. It's a little tiny, insignificant town. He would be raised in a modest home, son of a carpenter, be mobbed and spit upon, and not rail against anyone. True humility is right there in the cynicism. So what's your response to that parable this morning? Now, I'll bet it's certainly not Pharisees. Thank you, God, I'm not like that tax colleague. But is it thank you, God, that I'm not like the Pharisee? Father, we thank you today for the truths of your word. We thank you, Father, that you showed us what real, true humility is. And as we press on following you diligently, leading to you, that we will learn to be as we should be. In Jesus' name.