All right, well, continuing our series about more than a name, and today we're going to look at a couple of people that are named, not named, but that are mentioned in a parable, a very familiar parable, excuse me, get my brain going here, Luke chapter 18. Jeremiah 17, 9 says, and it's a very discouraging verse, but the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it? And I mention this from time to time because this is the time of year when people watch Hallmark movies. Hallmark movies are notorious for saying, follow your heart. But we know from scripture we shouldn't do that. We should follow the Lord. Well, in Luke chapter 18, the parable is given, verses 9 through 14. Let me go ahead and read those. And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a publican. Not a republican, okay. Could have been though. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, and even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess, and the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Jesus said this, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. The parables of Jesus are filled with imaginary people who didn't actually have a name. That's how we know they're a parable because parables never have a name. But in this lesson, there's some great applications for our lives. And of course, we know that parables are an earthly message that have a heavenly heavenly message that have an earthly, did I get it right the first time? Okay. All right. Y'all forgive me. Okay. You know what I'm trying to say? Okay. There are an earthly message that has a heavenly application. Okay. And did I still get it wrong? Y'all looking at me like, I don't know what you're saying. Okay. God gives a message using a thing that we can relate to. I'll just say it like that. How's that? Okay. Jesus had probably had specific people in mind. In fact, at the beginning of this he says, he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves. So he was thinking about somebody whenever he gave this parable. The human tendencies we see clearly are in this passage. We are prone to compare ourselves with people around us rather than Christ and his word. That's the easiest thing for us to do. You know, when you compare yourself to somebody else, usually it results in making you feel better. You can always find somebody that's a little bit worse than you are. Rarely do we look at somebody and say, oh, they're doing really good. We usually say, oh, they need to do something different. They're not doing what they ought to do. So we compare ourselves to other people. We should always compare ourselves, always compare ourselves to God's word. His word is the absolute standard. And it's so easy to put on a front or a show, just like this Pharisee did, and to make himself, you know, he's, we'll get into this in a few minutes, but who's he praying to? Who are you supposed to be praying to? He's praying to somebody that knows, the one that knows everything about him. But yet he's telling God all these things about himself. Some things that we need to learn from this lesson today are, first of all, that God is fully aware of our motives. He sees everything. Wow. And we, we act like sometimes that God doesn't know a whole lot by the way we, by the way we live our lives. We need to realize that our relationship with God does not begin with the outward, but rather our devotion to him and our heart. And we've touched on some of this in previous lessons. Number three, refuse the temptation to compare ourselves to others. Because when we do that, we're trying to maybe determine our own spiritual growth and maturity. But if you'll think about that, our own spiritual growth and maturity is determined by our own growth and spiritual maturity, not comparing ourselves to someone else. Number four, be alert to pride that can creep into our lives and steal from us the basic requirement of humility that is necessary in each area of our walk with God. Pride is something we all deal with. And if you think you don't deal with it, it's because you've got pride. It's just that simple. Number five, understand that a humble spirit in life will result in an exalted recognition by God in heaven. In the Bible, the way up is the way down. When you exalt yourself, you're going down. If you humble yourself, you're going up. You know, there is only one you. You. Every one of you are special. And I say that because we should never ever compare ourselves to someone else. God didn't make you to be somebody else. He made you to be you. We all want to, for whatever reason, we all want to look like somebody else. Have what somebody else has. And all those things, you know, may be good for them, but that's not what God designed for you. Even identical twins, I'm married to one, are different. I pick on them all the time. They're mirror twins. Rhonda is right-handed. Sondra is left-handed. Rhonda is left-brained and Sondra is right-brained. Some of y'all know what all that means. And I pick on them a lot sometimes. I tell Sondra that Well, they both got half a brain sometimes. But Rhonda got the biggest half. And Sondra doesn't like that. In this story that Jesus tells, we find two men who are very different. And it wouldn't even be wrong to say they were opposites. They were opposite in this respect. They were opposite in their approach to God. And as a result, God's analysis of their spiritual state was likewise opposite. So, a contrasting motive is point number one. Do you have the notes for this brother? Okay, I wasn't sure if you even had them, sorry. But we weren't supposed to be on this lesson today. We were supposed to be on something Brother Jimmy was going to speak on. I think he was going to be back in Peter. So on the surface, as this story begins, we cannot judge the motives of these two unnamed men, because they were both doing the same thing, going to the temple, and both were headed there to do the same thing. They were going to be praying. And if you just started with that, you don't really know what's going on. So in verse 10 we see, two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. But Jesus did see their hearts. He knew the reason they were there. And that's the reason he told this story. And he spoke this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous. So we see that the people that Jesus is talking to needed to hear this story. Their motives known to God were indeed opposite. Letter A, a religious display. The Pharisees of Jesus' day were known for their outward display of spirituality. They were not bashful in bragging on themselves. I'll just say it like that. And Jesus called them hypocrites because they were one thing on the outside and something just the opposite on the inside. And again, we've talked about some of these things in past lessons. The outside should reflect the inside. So that's what we should focus on is the inside. And then the outside will take care of itself. Pastor talks about this all the time. It's easy to, you know, get things right in front of everybody. But the most important thing is our relationship with the Lord. In Matthew 23, verses 25 to 28, Jesus says, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees. hypocrites, for you may clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisees, cleanse first that which is within the cup and the platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. Even so, ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. The Queen Mary, many of you remember that large ship. It was the largest across the ocean when it launched in 1936. Through four decades and a world war, she served until she was retired as a floating hotel in a museum in Long Beach, California. Anybody ever been out there, seen that? Okay. I didn't know this. During the conversion into the hotel, her three massive smoke stacks were taken off. They were going to scrape them down and repaint it. When they scraped them down, there was nothing there. They had rusted from the inside out. Literally, it was just layers. I think they said the three quarter inch steel, All that remained were the 30 coats of paint that had been applied over the years. That was all that was holding together. My dad, who used to work for Orkin, used to joke about termites. He said, the only thing holding this house together is the termites holding hands. The only thing holding that smokestack together was the paint. It's still rusted away, but it looked good from the outside. It's easy to do that, isn't it? Look good from the outside. Don't shake your head and say, oh, I don't do that. We all do. At some level, we all do. That's the easiest thing for us to do. Many of us try to cover the sinfulness of our human condition. And that's the reason people don't get saved, because they think they are good. You have to come to the realization you are a sinner in order to get saved. You have to know you're drowning in order to need somebody to rescue you. Jeremiah 17, 9, already quoted this verse, the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it? So we saw a religious display by the Pharisee there. A repentant desire is the next thing we're going to look at. Whenever we find the word publican in scripture, it is almost always linked with the word sinners. The Pharisee was a religious leader, the publican was a despised tax collector. Somebody that people didn't like. Publicans were the tax collectors of the day and they were known for their deception and thievery. They always try to take a little bit and put it in their pocket. It might not have been a little bit. It might have been a lot. Who knows? They were considered the worst of the worst. They were despised and hated by the people. So this unnamed publican was not going to the temple to show off his religious zeal. He knew he was a sinner. His only possible motive would have been to repent of his wickedness. Only God can bring a sinner to a place of genuine repentance. The convicting power of the Holy Spirit Man naturally tries to cover himself and make himself look better, but God convicts. And if we listen to that, then we will repent. Another unnamed person in scripture, the rich young ruler, came to Jesus in Mark chapter 10. And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running and kneeled to him and asked, Good master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And we know the story. The rich young man wanted to go to heaven. He wanted to add some religion to his life. Of course, he ended up walking away and grieved and sad in his heart because he was unwilling to turn from his self-sufficiency and his selfish lifestyle. There was no desire to repent and to do what Jesus told him to do. Christianity is not a religious regimen or a set of rigorous rules. What is it? It is a relationship with Jesus Christ. People say, I got religion. Well, Christianity in the definition is a religion, okay? But practically speaking, it's not something you add to your life. It's a person. working in your life and a relationship you have with the Lord. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, this is Romans chapter eight, but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Relationship, he is our father. The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, and heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Number two, first of all we saw a contrasting motive between the Pharisee and the publican and now we see a comparison mistake. As we see the Pharisee compare himself to the publican, it's not hard to see ourselves, our own tendency to compare ourselves to others. Peter also struggled with this and he told Jesus, after Jesus told him that if he truly loved him and was willing to commit his life to serving him it would cost Peter his life. In John chapter 21 this spake he signifying what death he should glorify God and when he had spoken this he saith unto him follow me then Peter turning about seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following which also leaned on his breast at supper and said Lord I Which is he that betrayeth thee? This is Peter talking about, talking to Jesus. Peter seeth, seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Peter was, you know, he was always the one to open his mouth first. And in this situation, he was kind of, well, I'm better. I'm not going to betray you. And he was asking, well, who's going to betray you? Well, we know what happened to Peter after that. He actually went on and denied Christ three times. But eventually, Peter did die for the Lord. He died as a martyr. But he was looking at John. He was focusing on somebody else during this time. And he asked, well, what's this man going to do? And Jesus' response is classic and well-heeded by us today. In essence, he said, quit comparing, Peter. Just follow my will for your life. And we see that in John 21 verse 22, Jesus said unto him, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is it that to thee? Follow thou me. Keep your eyes on, it doesn't really matter, Peter, just keep your eyes on me. Follow me. So with the Pharisee, we see a self-centered prayer. And we are really I'm going to have to wind this thing down here shortly. In verse 11 we see, the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. That's an interesting wording. Of course Jesus said this about the Pharisee. God never showed up to this prayer meeting. He prayed with himself, to himself. In other words, we always say it like this, the prayer never got past the ceiling. Too often our prayers are with ourselves. We try to make ourselves feel better as we attempt to convince God of how spiritual we are. We remind God of all of our hard work and sacrifice. We let him know that we're unappreciated and taken advantage of and we make him aware of how tired we are and exhausted in our labor for him. We're praying thus with ourselves. God isn't anywhere near when we're praying like that. He knows everything. And sometimes we think, I've got to remind the Lord of this. We don't have to remind God of anything. He knows our heart. Many times, through our pride and self-righteousness, we don't admit who we are in front of him. In Revelation chapter 3, we see the church of Laodicea was rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing. But Christ was outside the door of the church. They wouldn't even let him in. Letter B, a supreme positioning. Tell you what, let me go ahead and give you the rest of the outline, and I just want to hit a few high points, okay? Is there a tissue up here? Oh, there you are. Thank you. Sorry, guys. Letter C is a soothing portrayal. He's going to put these on the screen so you can see them as well. A contrite man is number three. Under that, a component of humility. Letter B, the cry for help. And then the last point, number four, a clear measurement. And letter A under that is a justification pronounced by Christ. Letter B, a jarring paradox to consider. Okay, I'm just going to give just a few things that stuck out to me for the remainder of this lesson, and then we'll wind it down here. Most of you all know I do construction. So I work with tools that, you know, measure and level and plumb. Plumb is this way, level is this way. Back in the day, in fact, all the way back in the book of Amos, a plumb bob is mentioned. So we know it's been around for a long, long time. The analogy here is many times we like to compare ourselves to others and of course we've already talked about that. The only thing that's absolute though is God's word and the illustration is the plumb bob. Most of you know how this works and if you don't I'll explain it real quick. It's a string with a weight on the end of it, very simply, and you hold that string at a point and you're trying to line up with something on the ground. If you're building a building maybe you've got a footing or a foundation and you want to know where the top of that building is going to be so you're trying to get the foundation in place above that footing. Today we don't use the plumb bob because we have other tools like laser levels and all those kind of things or just a regular level. But the plumb bob would give you that string with the weight on the end of it would give you an absolutely perfectly vertical straight line. In Amos chapter 7 verse 8 it says, And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb line. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more. God has given us a plumb line. His word. It is perfect. It is absolute. We would do well to First of all, just read this and study this because that'll keep our eyes on the Lord and not looking at other people. It's very dangerous when we start comparing ourselves to other people. It's never gonna change. It's forever settled in heaven. It's not gonna bend. You know, the world is constantly changing. God's word, go back to it, God's word never changes. His rules, his instructions, everything about what he has to say is never gonna change. And that keeps us focused on the main thing, the main thing. Pastor reminds us of that all the time, the main thing. The main thing is bringing others to Christ. If we get focused on all these other things, then we miss the main thing. We get focused, when we're looking at other people, really we're looking, it draws attention to ourself because we're comparing ourselves to someone else. The third point, a contrite man talks about humility. And I've already just touched on that briefly. If we are trying to serve the Lord and we have pride, that's gonna get in the way. If we're humble, then the Lord can use us. By pride comes contention. A person that is humble is a person that recognizes that they owe everything to someone else. We realize that we're not anything within ourselves. And of course, with our salvation, the Lord is the only way to be saved. We recognize that. But then beyond that, going through our life, if we have true humility, then we are grateful to other people. It helps us with our attitude towards them. And it helps us keep focused on what's most important. It keeps our eyes focused on Jesus. Just a couple more things here. Man tries to climb the ladder of success and often steps on anything or anybody that gets in his way to the top. teaches us to search out the bottom rung on the ladder. It may not happen immediately but when we choose the lowest rung on the ladder God at some point will turn the ladder around. I've never heard it said exactly like that. The Pharisee exalted himself and the publican humbled himself. Two thousand years afterwards as we read this parable we see the publican exalted through his self humbling and we see the Pharisee humbled through his self-promotion. So don't get caught up in your own self-conceit or in sinful comparison. See yourself as God sees you. The way we see ourselves as God sees us is through the mirror of his word. The mirror helps you see yourself. And scripture talks about looking at the word and walking away and not changing. That's the mirror. See yourself as God sees you, humbly submit to him and then thank him as he uses you in ways to glorify himself through your life. Two unnamed men, two opposites, one that put himself up, the other that recognized who he really was and humbled himself before the Lord. I pray that we'll all follow the example of that publican. He was a sinner and he knew it and he knew he needed a savior. Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for the incredible examples you give us in your word and help us to draw from these things, Lord, to become more like you. You humbled yourself. You were the perfect example for us, and we just thank you and praise you. And Lord, help us to be more like you each and every day. Bless the remainder of the services today with our pastor as he preaches, Lord, just give him power as he delivers your word. and help our heart, Lord, to continue to be open to what you have for us today. And we thank you and praise you in Jesus' name, amen.