Pharisee and Tax Collector (2005)

In this part of the sermon: Jesus spoke this parable to those who trusted in themselves for righteousness and despised others. Martin highlights Jesus' deliberate, loving, and pointed preaching aimed at…

This example illustrates the meaning of 'set at naught' (treating contemptuously) by referencing Herod's treatment of Jesus, connecting it to the Pharisee's disposition towards others.

and the the it was a high rank and a humble family which was their standard of what they thought would give others acceptance with god Where Herod and his soldiers set Jesus at naught and mocked him. They treated him contemptuously. They treated him like the scum of the earth. It's the very word used in Acts 4.11.

8:25 - 9:01 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Jesus spoke this parable to those who trusted in themselves for righteousness and despised others. Martin highlights Jesus' deliberate, loving, and pointed preaching aimed at…

This analogy further explains 'set at naught' by comparing it to a builder discarding stones while searching for a cornerstone, highlighting the contemptuous rejection of Jesus.

The stone which the builders rejected. Here's the picture of a builder picking out stones and looking for one that would be a suitable cornerstone. And he throws this one away and that one away and this one away while looking for the appropriate stone. And it is said this is what they did to Jesus, God's chief cornerstone.

9:01 - 9:21 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not resist pointed, applicatory preaching that aims arrows at your heart, but welcome it as God's loving means of conviction.

This anecdote serves as a precedent for close, pointed, applicatory preaching, showing how Jesus, like Nathan, aimed his parable directly at the consciences of his hearers.

And he goes after them directly. Just as Nathan told his parable to David. And there was no congregation but David himself. But he went after David's conscience with a parable.

10:43 - 10:59 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section details the Pharisee's prominent position, his self-congratulatory prayer, his true lost condition, and his fundamental problem of unmortified pride and…

Martin quotes a self-help group's affirmation ('I am a ten') to vividly illustrate the Pharisee's self-exaltation and deluded sense of worth before God, showing its ludicrousness in a spiritual context.

As though God would not. His prayer is one in which he sets before God what he is in himself as the ground of his acceptance. And if there are any deficiencies in what he is in himself, he offers what he does to make up the balance and the difference. I came across this statement that some people in a self-help support group seeking to deal with the problems of gluttony, were taught to memorize and say to themselves and to one another when they gathered for their mutual encouragement.

20:39 - 21:20 Read in full sermon

The point: Young people, beware of being 'perfect little Pharisees' who compare themselves favorably to others, failing to see their own inherent sinfulness.

Martin uses the example of 'pot smoking, foul mouth, cursing kids on the block' to challenge young people in the audience who might be 'perfect little Pharisees,' thanking God they are not like others, rather than recognizing their own inherent sinfulness.

You kids. Wonderfully preserved. From a lot of the grosser sins that you see. In the kids down the street.

43:46 - 43:54 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Both believed in God, but their understanding of Him differed. The Pharisee saw a God impressed by trivialities, while the tax collector understood a holy God who could only be…

Martin quotes an entire hymn to beautifully capture and expand upon the essence of the tax collector's cry for mercy, emphasizing his desperate dependence on God alone.

And in him alone. There is salvation. One hymn writer has captured the essence of his cry.

53:26 - 53:34 Read in full sermon

The point: Look into the parable as a mirror and determine whether your face fits the Pharisee or the publican.

Martin transforms the parable's portraits into mirrors, challenging listeners to see their own face reflected in either the Pharisee or the tax collector, forcing personal application.

There is the self deprecating publican. Now suppose. By some kind of alchemy. I could change the portrait.

56:26 - 56:35 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin concludes by challenging listeners to identify with either the deluded Pharisee or the self-deprecating tax collector, reiterating that justification comes through humbling…

Martin quotes a commentary's summary of the parable to reinforce the core lesson: one man went home justified as a gift, the other condemned despite his achievements, highlighting the principle of righteousness by faith.

And God in Jesus Christ. Has promised his mercy. I close by quoting the concluding paragraph. In one of the popular commentaries on Luke.

57:55 - 58:07 Read in full sermon