And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted of themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a Republican. Not Republican, Republican. I don't know what's wrong with me today. Anyway, the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I'm not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, indulters, or 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. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalted himself shall be abased, and he that humbled himself shall be exalted. Let's pray again. Our Father, how thankful we are for your word. It's our blessing in many ways. It's showed us the truth of our salvation, showed us our sin, revealed to us Christ, gave us understanding. of truth and light. And I pray that today your Word again would help us. We would understand your ways, the need of salvation, what it is, and we would, Lord, experience again the work that you do in our hearts through your Word. Those that need to be saved, that they would be saved today. And your people, that we might be encouraged and strengthened with your truth today. We pray in Jesus' Amen. I want to read that last verse, 14. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalted himself shall be abased, and he that humbled himself shall be exalted. We do not know exact times in some of the Scriptures as to when certain things happened In the book of John, we have oftentimes an order of time by the feasts that are part of the life of the Israelite people. Oftentimes, the Feast of Passover is mentioned in the book of John. In fact, we see there are four of them in Jesus' ministry. In the book of Luke, though, we know that this is a time near the end of the Lord's and that it's before the last Passover. And that's important because it puts us in a time frame near and close to another feast that was called the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles was a time when the nation would gather, people would come from their hometowns to Jerusalem, and they would celebrate a time of remembering when they were in the wilderness and they lived in tents and they would build what would be called booths and they would have a time of celebration for a period of a week. And I can imagine the children in that time, it's like going camping, you know, and a trip and special feasts and lots of things to do, an exciting time. It was in the fall. It would be their seventh month. Our seventh month is July, but their seventh month was in the fall, and sometimes the last of September, sometimes the first of October, our time. It was a special time. It had been a time soon after a harvest, and it was, I'm sure, a great celebration for the nation. On that seventh month, the first day, there was a trumpet sounded, and it was a call for people to prepare for these things coming. On the 10th day of that month would be a day what they called the Day of Atonement, and then on the 15th would be the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles. The Day of Atonement was a special time, one day only, and what followed it in the Feast of Tabernacles would be a great celebration, but the Day of Atonement was not a time of celebration. It still is observed by many Jewish people today. And it is not a time to celebrate, but it's a time to reflect. And I'd like to give you some of the events that was a part of that. The day before the 10th, when the sun was about to set, before the day was finished, the people were to gather. They were no longer to, they would begin a fast, not able to eat. and they would reflect upon themselves, upon their life, and it was a very special reflection. They would begin to humble themselves, or as the scriptures tell us, they would begin to afflict themselves. Sometimes when I think of afflicting myself, I might think of somebody that takes a whip, maybe whips themselves, and that's not what it's talking about. But it was a time of affliction in that they were to humble themselves. I think it's a very difficult thing for a human to humble himself. God is very clear in the 16th chapter of Leviticus that this was a time to be taken very seriously. One time out of the year, the Day of Atonement, and they were to humble themselves. And there were some things that were to occur on that tenth day. They would begin on the ninth day in the late afternoon to reflect upon themselves and humble themselves. The next day on the tenth was to be a time of sacrifice. There was a bullock that was to be offered as an offering, but there was two goats that were to be taken. And they're young goats, and we would call them kids. If you know anything about goats, they're called kids. That's not our kids, but baby goats, young goats. They were to take one, and they were to kill it and take its blood and sprinkle it around. I'll tell you more about that in a moment. And they were to take the second one and they were both, in both cases, they were to lay their hands on the goat, that is the priest. The second goat was to be taken into the wilderness and to be let go. The first goat was to be slain. They would cast lots as to see which goat would be done to, which one was to be slain and which one was to be let go. That doesn't mean a great deal to us today unless we are taught it and understood and understand it. The reflection of their life that was the humbling of themselves was to be a time when they would look at their sins in their and in reflecting upon those sins they were to be humbled. What they had done against God. A year had passed since the last time, and I'm sure there's many things that they had failed in in that year. Many times in church we realize by the reading of the Word and the preaching of the Word and the teaching of the Word, we realize our shortcomings, what we've done wrong. And oftentimes, church services are a time of humbling. They should be. We have maybe a culture today that wants to pat on the back everyone in church, but God had this for a strong and important reason, for them to reflect upon their sins. and then to have a sacrifice made for those sins. Those that would do this in a proper way would greatly benefit from it. But in the days of the Lord Jesus, especially those that were closest to the tabernacle or temple of God there, where the sacrifice would take place, those that lived in Jerusalem, or maybe the surrounding countryside of Judea, would think of them as being a superior people from others, even superior to other Jews that lived in other parts of what we would call the Holy Land today, and especially superior to Jews that were dispersed among the Gentiles. There was this arrogancy. thinking of themselves as being very righteous and good. I do not know how they would do this Day of Atonement properly, because what they should be doing is reflecting upon their sin. It is in this time period that this story is told. Not necessarily right on this day of atonement, nor before it, immediately, or right after it, but sometime in that time, Jesus tells a story. And he tells us about two men that go up into the temple. One is a publican and the other is a Pharisee. And they both go to the temple that is a temple of prayer. a house of prayer. In this temple is the recognition of the presence of God. When the temple was first built in Solomon's day, the glory of God came and filled the temple. When the first tabernacle was built, which was not a permanent building, glory of God came and filled the tabernacle. And it is the place where sacrifices were taken. when they wanted to offer something to God. This was the place where God dwelt in their hearts and minds. And it is this place that these two men pray. Now you here in this room are represented in this story. You're one or the other. You're either the person that has pretended to have a right relationship with God and in that pretense covering your sin, not reflecting upon it, not dealing with it, not having a grief over it or godly sorrow, but knowing it's there yet overcoming it or covering it by the good things you do. The Pharisee prayed in the temple and he said, God, I thank thee that I'm not as other men are. You know, people have done a lot of wrong, but I didn't. I can see they're wrong, but I haven't done as much as they have. I can see how wrong they've acted toward me, but, you know, I'm not an extortioner. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not unjust. I'm not even like this publican. Now I have to say in the context of the time where there's a day of atonement when men are to be serious about their own sin, not others, about their own and reflect on it and deal with it. I think Jesus is being very pointed in revealing what this Pharisee prayed. I think it speaks to a lot of church members. I'm not telling you that it speaks to you, the Pharisee, but I'm not telling you that it doesn't either. This may be, if we're to find somebody like the Pharisee, we'll usually find them in church. God, I thank you that I don't live like other people live. And I fast and I give my tithes. I'm supportive of God's work and I take it seriously. but it's not true. It's not true. Jesus, in reflecting on these two men, he tells us who truly has become right with God. And he says, everyone that exalts himself shall be abased. Everybody that thinks highly of themselves shall be abased. He that humbled himself shall be exalted. And those words, humble yourself, is exactly what God is talking about in the day of atonement, that they were not to eat, and they were to reflect upon their own sins, and they were to humble themselves in that. And somehow I think that this is what is happening in this day, a time of possibly the festivities, if not soon to come, if not soon after it happened. This publican was a man that was a great sinner. I think he's described by the Pharisee as somebody unjust and an extortioner. I think those were two things we know for sure that the publican was guilty of. The adulterer, we're not sure, but probably in that way too. When a man's appetite for wealth controls his actions, his appetites control him. But somehow the Pharisee, not the Pharisee, the publican begins to abase himself. Oh, how this is needed. every person in this room that's been saved. You didn't get in that condition until you saw the terrible condition of your life, the sinfulness of your life. Oh, it's easy, isn't it, to see the sinfulness of the guy next to you. We can pick that up real fast. We can see the wrong of family members. and we can excuse our own attitudes and actions by what we see in their wrong. That is such a normal process of our lives. On the job, we can see the faults of others and how they fail, or how they try to climb the ladder over us. We see the selfishness and so on, but so rarely do we really see what we are, what we've done. That was the reason for the Day of Atonement. Even if a person was already saved, they need a time to reflect on what they have done, their own failings. And that's what is happening here. A man has begun to see he has realized what he is, and he is in trouble. He won't look up. How do we do it? When we reflect upon somebody else's wrong, how do we look at them? In arrogance and pride, at least in our heart, or humbly. It's very hard when we see other people's faults, but it's very difficult to be proud and hold our head up. when we truly see our own sin. I'm not talking about people that are lost either. I'm talking about us as Christians. If my people which are called by my name shall, what's the first thing? Humble themselves and pray. Every one of us that have been in church very much have heard this story and we are glad for this publican that he sees what he is that he understands the wrong of his life. For we realize that is the answer, a beginning at least of an answer for his life. But we are cringe at the Pharisee. But aren't you glad the Pharisee was not an extortioner? Aren't you glad that he did tithe? But we don't hold him up, do we? And it doesn't matter how much he does. because we see that he is in a wrong direction and he will not find the grace and help of God in that condition. It is that humility that God will respond to, not a put on humility, not an invented one that he tries to make in himself, but a true humility seeing his own life It's a painful matter, but it is a most necessary thing. Jesus said, I did not come to save the righteous. Those that have an opinion of themselves as being upstanding and right, he said, I didn't come to save them. I came to save the lost. I came to save the lost. Do you know what that means? The lost that sees themselves lost. The lost that sees their own sin and says, woe is me, I am undone. The lost that would say, I have done the wrong to God and I do not know how that I could ever be forgiven. I cannot look up to heaven. I'm not worthy to pray. I cannot come into the inner part of the temple where God is. I do not deserve his presence in my life. We know, you that are church members heard this story, you know this man is in a wonderful position, not of his making, but to receive the grace of God when he's honest about his own life. Honesty about yourself. is most needed. Oh, you're not doing yourself any good when you can blame everybody else for your problems and you have no blame on your own shoulders. You are not doing yourself any good when you can give all the excuses for all your wrongdoing and not take credit for it and responsibility. When we see the whole story, none of us disagree. Even a lost person would not agree that the Pharisee is in good shape. Even somebody that has heard this story for the first time would agree that the one that's humbled is in a better condition. And it's not his condition of goodness that he's made. It's simply a recognition of his condition of evil. Oh, my. Well, we've heard the Pharisees' prayer. Now let's hear the publicans' prayer. Lord, he says, God be merciful to me, a sinner. He doesn't flower it up. He doesn't give excuse. He doesn't say, well, you know, if I had a family member acting better, I'd be better. If I'd have lived in a good home growing up, I would have done better. No excuses here. God be merciful to me, a sinner. Oh, and I say to you, that's a wonderful prayer, but saying those words isn't going to save you. It's when a person sees themselves in such a light that they recognize that they've wronged God and are not worthy of God, that there's a solution. I do not know the man's needs, I'm sorry, the man's thinking as far as what that solution could be. But we know that he has some wonder what it is, for what he's saying is very directly related to the Day of Atonement. The word atonement and the word propitiation and the word mercy all have to do with a matter of God granting forgiveness where that instead of being opposed now to him or him to us, now we're at one, we've been restored to God. And the word here that is what he says, He's really saying, and I'll use a word that is also in the Bible that is translated in another way in other parts, but he's saying, Lord, be perpetuous to me, a sinner. Now that doesn't necessarily clear the meaning up, because you may not know the word perpetuous, but I've put that in there and made us realize that this is the word he's using, because he's using a word to say there has to be some way God does something that causes me then to be right with him. Listen, when I reflect upon my sin on the day of atonement, let's just suppose I'm there, then if I'm really reflecting in the right way, I have offended a holy God far more than I can gain forgiveness by my own doing. I deal with men over the years as I've preached at the rescue mission. that have often told me they prayed the sinner's prayer, because some preacher told them to. But when I began to ask them what they mean, what they really have meant is, God, I'm in trouble, get me out of trouble, with no regard to their sin. They've heard that God is merciful and therefore, if they're in a trouble that they're dying in, they're asking God to get them out of that trouble. So what I've done over the years is help them to reflect upon their life. Not just say, yes, you've sinned and everybody else has, but tell them things, how God looks at their life. By the scriptures we can give that information. And what I have said over years is that God is just. You may not know this, but your sin is so wicked in God's eyes that it's worse than if you had killed somebody's children. We hear in the news so often somebody murdered a child And we think how can they hold their head up? How can they think of themselves in any way but as being so wicked? But I have to say to you that when you talk to people that have done dastardly things like that, many of them have no regard for the wickedness of their life. If I can see that God looks at me in a far, far more wicked way as he sees my wickedness, he looks at it in a stronger way than a judge would look at a mass murderer. If I could reflect upon my sin as God would see it, I'm gonna say to you, I'd be humbled. And you say, how does God see my sin? I'll tell you this. God is just and God looks at your sin in such a way that he says your judgment is forever in hell. Now you can excuse yourself if you want and say, well God's just been terribly cruel, but the truth is we've been terribly evil. And when this man sees it, he doesn't say, Lord, I could do something and make up for it. I'll pray a nice prayer to you and maybe you'll listen to me. No, he says, I don't know what to do. God, you're gonna have to provide a way. You're gonna have to provide an atonement for me. I have no way to atoning for what I'd done. I have no way to make myself right in your court. And I've told dozens of men, if you think that you can make up for what you've done, it would be like after you killed somebody's children, you'd mow their lawn for the rest of their life trying to make up for what you did, and they would be angry if you tried. Many a church person has bargained with God to do something good to make up for their wrong. And that's the life of the Pharisee, the life of that one that's truly saved. Oh, get this, it may be painful for you, You may be a member of this church, and it's very painful maybe for you, but if you've tried to make up for your wrongdoing by being faithful to church or by doing good things, you're not as the publican, you're as the Pharisee. But to reflect upon your sin and to see it like the publican, then you're seeking God. whatever he could do for you because you cannot make it up yourself. And I say to those people, when you stand before a judge, he doesn't want you to tell him how good you are. Or if you stand before the parents that you had taken their children's lives, they would not want you to tell them how many good things you've done. They would want to hear from you the words, I am so wicked. and there's nothing I can do to make up for this. Let me tell you this, are you listening? I want you to understand this, that when you see this, you will understand the needs of others around you and you'll be far less critical and far less condemning of their lives when you get saved because you will see the goodness of God, not your own. and you realize how good God has been to provide a way of sacrifice. Go back to the day of Toman. Here's a goat. The hands are laid on him. His throat is slit. The blood spills out. They take the blood, and they take it into the mercy seat. Once a year, it's done, and they sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat. Do you know what he prayed? Mercy seat, the word for it is the same word that he used. It's the way of propitiation. It is the mercy seat. That's what he was asking for. Somehow through this wonderful plan of God to pay the judgment for my sin, Lord provide a mercy seat for me. And when he found that truth and understanding, He relied not upon his own goodness, but only upon the goodness and the work of God. Now Christ had not been crucified, but here's a picture just like the picture of baptism. It pictures his burial and resurrection. The picture of the day of atonement was here's a goat that's being killed in my place. That's what I deserve. This is what is done so that I might be forgiven. And here's the other goat, the sins of my sins were confessed over him and the other goat took it out and away from me. And as far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed my transgressions from me. He bore the sin away. He paid the judgment of God for me. And I say to you, if that doesn't ring a bell in your, ring a bell in your heart, to say, oh, that's what happened to me. I didn't deserve it, and look, he showed me my sin, and then I saw Christ as my propitiation, as my mercy seat. He did it for me. If that's not what you think, when a sermon is preached like this, oh God, I know, I remember when you did that for me, I remember when I was broken, I remember when my sin was great, I remember my sin overbearing and I knew I could not be right with you by anything I could do and then I saw the cross. I ask you to provide a way, there's the way of Christ dying for me. And I say that man that humbled himself and saw his sin and cried out for a way for God to forgive him, Jesus said he went home right with God. He was exalted. I tell you, I cannot preach this sermon without wanting to tell you the day that happened to me. I'm not going to do it. But I'm going to tell you something, God brings a person to a place of salvation, and he, his own life, is not something he looks at favorably. And I grew up in church. I would have made a good Pharisee, and some of you are in that way, but if God shows you your If a day, so to speak, of atonement where you afflict yourself, where you say, look at me, my sin is great, that's humbling yourself in the sight of God. Then you'll see you need a Savior. Church going, I'm going to make a statement, I hope you hear this. Church attendance either makes you a Pharisee or it makes you a publican. You can know a lot, like the Pharisee, and be proud of your knowledge and be proud of your good life. But if you do not see your sin, you'll never come to the place of the public, where you cry out for the mercy of God. And I say to you, that mercy of God comes through an old rugged cross. Look at him. There's nothing of beauty there. The most horrible way of physical death, but even the judgment that we had of being separated from God, his father turned his back. And I say to you, that is the place, only place. where we can have a mercy of God. Some of you are proud of what you know, but we have nothing to be proud of. God sees our sin. Those of you that are saved, isn't it a good thing once in a while, in fact quite often, to reflect upon our own failings even after he saved us. And can you not say that's a great failing after he's done so much for us that we would still do something against him? That should humble us, shouldn't it? God help us. God help us.