Introduction / Pharisee's Prayer

The Fundamental Religious Question and its Confusion

0:05 This is a portion of God's Word found in the 16th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke, Luke chapter 18, and I shall read verses 9 through 14. Luke 18, verses 9 through 14, and the Lord willing, this passage will be the focus of our interest and study tonight, next Lord's Day evening, and I have a sneaking suspicion, probably a third. I doubt we'll get through it in the two evenings.

0:45 Speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ, Luke tells us, And he spake also this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and set all others at naught.

0:59 Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I get, but the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying,

1:41 God, be thou merciful to me, a sinner as the margin has it, the article is in the original. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. I say unto you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled, but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

2:10 Amen.

2:13 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

2:13 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

2:14 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

2:14 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

2:14 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

2:16 Amen. Amen. The religious question that any man or woman can ever ask is this question, how can a sinful man be right with God? Or to rephrase the question, how can a sinful man find acceptance and favor with a holy God?

2:40 I say there is no more fundamental religious question than that. How can sinful man find acceptance and favor with a holy God?

2:54 And the heart of the gospel of Christ is God's answer to that question. In the gospel, this question is answered. But because it is so vital a question, and the answer of God is so vital an issue, we should not be surprised that there has always been, and is in the present hour, tremendous confusion as to the proper answer to that question. If we accept the biblical revelation as an authoritative and final revelation from God, then we believe in a personal devil, who, with all of his cohorts, is committed to the task, among other things,

3:36 of deceiving men in the area of the most fundamental issues of life. Of time and of eternity. The apostle Paul says, The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. And so if we accept the biblical testimony concerning the work of the devil in blinding men's minds to the heart of the truth of the gospel, then we should not be surprised to find that there is great confusion concerning this question, and the answer of God's word.

4:13 How can sinful man find acceptance and favor with God? The gospel answers that question. The enemy of our souls confuses it, and seeks to blur the distinct lines of the biblical answer. Now in the light of this, since there is no more vital a question which you can ask, and since the answer of the gospel is the most necessary thing in your life, then any passage in the word of God, which addresses itself to this question explicitly, clearly, definitively, ought to be familiar ground and precious ground for every biblical Christian.

4:54 I think you follow that line of reasoning. Hence, as we come to this passage, we should come to it, not with a mere curiosity as to what I may have to say upon it, for that isn't worth a hill of beans. We should not come to it merely with a desire to build up our stock of biblical knowledge. Rather, we should come to this question as a man dying of thirst comes to a fountain of water, as a man dying of hunger comes to a well-spread meal.

Occasion and General Overview of the Parable

5:26 For this passage in which our Lord Jesus Christ gives to us this parable of the Pharisee and the publican is one of the clearest, most vivid treatments in all of the word of God concerning this most fundamental religious subject, how shall sinful man find acceptance with a holy God? Now, as we think our way through the parable over these next few Lord's Day evenings, we'll follow the following pattern. Number one, we'll consider tonight the occasion which provoked the parable. Then, secondly, we'll look at a general overview of the parable, seek to catch its overriding emphasis and thrust, and then we shall begin tonight, in the third place,

6:10 a detailed study of the Pharisee and his prayer, then, next week, God willing, a detailed study of the publican and his prayer, and then, last of all, the concluding statement of the parable given to us in verse 14. First of all, then, what was the occasion which provoked this parable by our Lord? Well, if you look at verse 9, you see that Luke is very careful to give us that occasion. And he spake also this parable, unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and set all others at naught.

6:49 As with most of our Lord's parables, there is a distinct historical setting out of which they emerge. And failure to recognize this has been the mother of all kinds of ridiculous interpretation of the parables. People find all kinds of weird things suggested in the parables, because they look upon them as sort of a catch-all of any kind of religious idea that they wish to find in Scripture, and then they run to a parable and they find it. No, the way to treat a parable is to remember that there is one central thrust usually indicated in the immediate context.

7:30 You remember the well-known parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son in the 15th chapter of Luke's Gospel? Well, those parables were provoked by a specific historical situation, and it's delineated in Luke 15, verses 1 and 2, in which we read that the Pharisees saw Jesus receiving publicans and sinners, and they got all uptight about this, and Jesus then said, I'm going to teach you something about the mission which I've come to accomplish. And the main thrust, then, of those three parables is not to find some hidden occult meaning in the change that is left by the man who takes care of the...

8:12 I'm sorry, to find some hidden meaning in the husks of the prodigal that he eats and all of the other. It's to remember that Jesus is teaching. He has come to receive sinners, and everything else is incidental to that one tremendous lesson. Now then, what was the historical occasion of this parable without which we cannot hope to arrive at a proper understanding of our Lord's meaning in it?

8:38 Well, it's obvious that our Lord detected in some of His followers a spirit of self-righteousness. He spake this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and set all others at naught. He began to detect this spirit of self-confidence, this spirit of self-trust with reference to the basis upon which a sinner finds acceptance with God. And so detecting this spirit of self-righteousness, which in turn gave birth to a spirit of censoriousness, notice,

9:21 and set all others at naught, our Lord opens up this parable. Now it is obvious that He was not seeking to speak to Pharisees in this context. You don't show a Pharisee the terrible nature of his Phariseic spirit by describing what is a virtue in his eyes. In other words, our Lord is speaking to people who would immediately see in the prayer of the Pharisee that which would cause them to recoil in horror, and then recoiling in horror, they would discover it in their own hearts.

9:59 Much like Nathan's parable when he came to indict David for the sin of taking Bathsheba and of murdering Uriah. Remember, he gave the parable about the rich man who had many sheep, and this poor man who had but one ewe, and how the rich man came and took the poor man's ewe, and David was stirred within him, and he said, Why, that's a terrible thing. Take the man and kill him. And then Nathan said, Thou art the man.

10:26 Nathan never would have gotten to David's conscience if he had come and said, There's a certain king who has many wives, and his name is David. And there was another man who had one wife, and his name was Uriah. Immediately he would have steeled himself against any conviction. And so what Nathan did was hold up an example that would stir up the remaining sense of righteousness in David, and then seeing the issue, then Nathan would take that circumstance and as it were lay it upon David and say, David, that's you.

10:55 Now that's what our Lord does here. He holds out this Pharisee so that these followers of his who begin to manifest this spirit of self-trust with regard to this fundamental question will recoil in horror and then say, Ah, but that's the spirit that is in me. Therefore, I must humble myself, acknowledge that I must stand as did the publican if I would go down to my house justified. So then, the historical occasion is clear, and I trust we'll keep it in mind as we continue through the parable.

Similarities and Profound Differences Between the Two Men

11:32 Now then, in the second place, let's take a general overview of the parable. Everything in the parable, you will notice I read it, focuses upon two men and God. The actors, as it were, upon this stage, as our Lord describes it, are three. A Pharisee, a publican, and the God whom they are apparently addressing in prayer.

11:59 But our Lord is not just giving us a nice little tidbit of information about a certain Pharisee who may have lived at one point in history and a certain publican. These two men are specimen men. They are reflective of every person who is concerned about the answer to this question, How can a sinful man find acceptance with God? In other words, every one of us is to be found here as publican or as Pharisee.

12:34 Now look in the first place at the things that these two men had in common. And I see at least three things. First of all, they were both concerned about being right with God or being accepted with God. The Pharisee talks about the grounds of what he thinks his acceptance will be.

12:54 I am not his others, I do this. But though his understanding of the grounds of a man's acceptance was totally wrong, there is some indication that he is concerned about his relationship to God, the same way with the publican. The second thing they have in common is that they are both found in a place appointed for worship. Two men went up to the temple to pray and it was probably at the appointed seasons of prayer.

13:22 These two men found themselves perhaps walking into the temple at the same time. So if you were standing on the sidewalk and you saw them go by, you'd say these two men are going to an appointed place of worship. At the appointed hour. So they are concerned about this matter of their relationship to God.

13:40 Secondly, they are going to a place appointed for worship. And thirdly, they are both engaged in the religious exercise of approaching God. In both instances, you have prayer made to God. Verse 11, God, I thank Thee.

13:58 Verse 13, God, be Thou merciful to me, the sinner. Now, if you were to see three men obviously concerned about their relationship to God, going up to a place appointed for worship at the proper hour, both engaged in religious exercises of approach to God, if you were the average person in our day, at this present hour, you'd say, isn't that wonderful? Isn't that a wonderful thing? Great! The Pharisee,

14:27 this really religious fellow who takes his religion seriously, who carries it with him into his home, into his place of business. He's always concerned about washings and ceremonial cleansings and wearing the proper garb and all the rest. That's great. He goes up to the temple and he walks in the same temple with this other guy who's religious just once a week.

14:47 He goes up to pray, but he's a publican. He's known to be a little crooked in his business dealings. But that's all right. He's got religion as a part of his life and he goes up and he comes a little different.

14:57 He doesn't come all dressed out for the occasion apparently, but he stands off, as it were, in the far recesses of the temple and he beats upon his breast, but that's all right. The Pharisee prays with his head probably lifted up to heaven, prays with great, sonorous, well-learned phrases that are impressive to the ear. And the poor publican, he sort of stutters and stammers and his speech and his prayer is broken up with sobs, but each one's doing his own thing, so that's great. Let's rejoice.

15:30 That would be the advertisement. It's all right. But that's an interesting attitude in our day, as long as you're sincere and doing your own thing in religion, that's all that matters. Now there's only one thing wrong with that mentality.

15:43 It's utterly condemned by our Lord. Because our Lord says that though these two men had these three things in common, that's the only thing they had in common. In everything else and in the things that really mattered, they were as far apart as night and day, though they are both concerned about acceptance with God, both found in a place of worship, both expressing religious exercises drawing near to God in prayer, I say our Lord says they are as far apart as night and day in their understanding, in their experience, and most of all in their position

16:23 before God. For Jesus says in verse 14, one man goes down to his house justified. That is, he goes down to his house in the favor of God, accepted as righteous in the sight of God, his sins forgiven, perfectly accepted. The other man goes down to his house under the opposite of justification, which always in Scripture is condemnation. He goes down

16:53 to his house under the wrath and the frown of a holy God. There is different as night and day in that one man goes down to his house in the favor of God, accepted as righteous in the sight of God. The other man is looking within himself for the grounds of his acceptance. I thank thee I am not his other man. I do this. What is he doing? He is turning within

17:11 for the ground of his acceptance. The other man is looking totally out of himself for the ground of his acceptance. Nothing but I am the sinner. The only thing he pleads is his sinnerhood. And the only thing he asks for is mercy, that God would be propitious

17:28 to him. One is convinced that what he is, is what he is. One is convinced that what he is, is what he is. One is convinced that what he is, in and of himself, merits acceptance. The other man is convinced that what he is of

17:37 himself merits nothing but damnation. One is strutting into the presence of God, awaiting his laurels. The other is groveling into the presence of God, pleading for a few crumbs of mercy. I say whatever similarities are there are purely on the surface. Our Lord

Application: Two Ways of Seeking Acceptance

17:57 indicates in this parable that they are as different as night and day. Let me say by way of application, enforcing again that these are two specimen men. They set before us the only two possible ways of seeking acceptance before God. Now, like these men, you are here, I trust, because you are concerned about your relationship to God. You are not in a bar tonight. You are not home with your feet kicked up, watching

18:27 whatever inane thing is coming over the boob tube on a Sunday evening. Prostitution is substituting the Lord's day. You are not out somewhere in your backyard pool, dangling your feet in the water. I think the fact that you are here is indicative that there is concern about your relationship to God. Thus far, you fit the parable. In the second place,

18:47 you are here in an appointed place at the appointed hour. So were they. And in the third place, most of you, as I observed, were engaged in the acts of approaching to God. I didn't look around when you prayed. I don't do that. But I imagine that you were engaged in the

19:02 act of approaching to God, and most of you bowed your heads. And when we were led in prayer, you had your mind follow the mind of the one leading us in prayer. When we were singing psalms and hymns, your lips were articulating the words. Up to now, you see, you and I all fit the picture. But not only do we fit at that point, we fit all along the way. Like

19:23 these two men, everyone here tonight is either looking within himself for the grounds of his acceptance, or looking totally out of himself for the grounds of his acceptance. And I'm not saying that you should be looking within yourself for the grounds of his acceptance, or looking totally out of himself for the grounds of his acceptance. I'm saying that you should be looking within yourself for the grounds of his acceptance. Everyone in this building is convinced that what you are of yourself, what you've been able to make yourself in the sheer energy of your own Adamic energy and ability merits acceptance, or you're convinced that everything that you are by nature merits nothing but damnation. You have either been

19:55 found even in this place tonight, strutting into the presence of God, awaiting his laurels, or you've had a heart that has known something of a holy groveling in his presence, pleading for nothing but crumbs of his mercy. And like these two men, you will go down from this house of worship either justified or under the wrath and the condemnation of the living God. And so you see, dear people, the study of this parable is not an academic exercise. This parable, like all of the scripture as James tells us, is a mirror in which there is no boundary between the world and the world. And this parable, like all of the scriptures

20:28 that James tells us, is a mirror in which there is no boundary between the world and the world. And so you see, dear people, the study of this parable is not an academic exercise. mirror in which God would show you yourself. So much for the historical occasion of the parable. So much for this broad overview. Now let us address ourselves more particularly

The Pharisee's Position in Prayer: Ostentation

20:43 to a detailed study of the prayer of the Pharisee. And if you're a Pharisee tonight, it's going to be painful to see yourself. But oh, may I urge you, may I urge you to look at yourself mirrored in the Word with judgment day honesty. It's an amazing thing when a man begins to put a little punch on him, his hairline begins to go back a little bit. It's amazing how

21:08 he can stand and even rationalize with what he sees in the mirror. Some of you men, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I won't talk about you ladies, but some of you men. Oh, you say just that the mirror is a little distorted, or it's just because the setting of the room, all the lines run this way, it makes me look a little more squat. You know,

21:25 it really isn't quite that way.

21:29 Even a mirror, unlike a retouched photograph that can really do wonders for you, we even try to rationalize what the mirror says. Well, not too much is lost if we do that with reference to our hairline or our waistline. But oh God, help us if we do that with regard to the Scriptures and what it says of us. Because it's God's mercy that sets before us the mirror and says, this is what you are, even as it was the mercy of Christ that exposed this spirit, in his followers. He wasn't out to hurt them. When detecting this spirit of self-righteousness,

22:06 he began to expose it with such keen and perceptive and penetrating power and authority. And so I have labored in the preparation of the exposition to the end that in love, if we find ourselves in the place, the Pharisee will not say, mirror, mirror on the wall, you are lying to me, but say, thank you God, you've shown me what I am. That I might find another ground of acceptance before you. All right then, a detailed study of the prayer of the Pharisee. The first thing we notice

22:39 in the Scripture is the position in which he prayed. Two men went up to the temple to pray. The one a Pharisee, the other a Republican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself.

22:57 Now there's a problem in understanding the relationship of some of the words in the original text. The word himself could linguistically either refer to his standing, and you could translate it this way. The Pharisee stood thus with himself and prayed. Or, as you have it in our 1901 translation, and I prefer this, and most of the Greek scholars that I've checked, because this is what I have to do, and when there's a contested passage, agree, that it should be rendered as we have it here. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus, literally, towards himself. Now,

23:38 what was the position in which he prayed? It was a position in which he stood, and the emphasis is not upon standing as opposed to sitting, for standing was a legitimate posture of prayer. And there are many examples in the Old Testament of men of God standing and praying. But it's the emphasis of this verb which could be rendered.

24:00 The Pharisee took a stand and prayed. The intimation is that he found a place of importance and prominence, probably very close to the court where only the priests could enter. You remember in the temple there was the court of the Gentiles, then there was the court where any Jew was free to move and come with his offerings and his sacrifices, and then there was the court where only the priests could move, and then there was the Holy Spirit. The holiest of all where only the high priest could go, and that only once a year. And so when it says

24:37 he took a stand, comparing this with the later part in which it says of the publican that he stood afar off, there seems to be the contrast. And I believe we are warranted to take this inference and build something upon it, that this position assumed by the Pharisee was one in which he so placed himself. He thought that every other worshiper who came into the temple, and remember the worshiper's eyes were always upon the priests to whom they brought the offering, who then presented it unto God, he would be seen and he would be heard. He was careful to live up to his

25:16 Pharisaic reputation, for Jesus said in Matthew 6 and verse 5, they loved to stand and pray in the synagogues that they may be seen of men. So at the very outset it begins to be revealed that this Pharisee's mind was not occupied with the majesty of the God to whom he was coming in the temple. His mind was not occupied with the magnitude of the sin within his own heart that needed to be dealt with if he could be accepted with that God. No, no. Everything was incidental to this fundamental principle that even in his religious

25:59 exercises he should receive. He should receive the praise of men because he believes there is something praiseworthy in him. And so the very position in which he prayed is an eloquent testimony of the condition of his heart. Oh, let me press this question upon your conscience as you sit here in the presence of God tonight.

26:22 Are your approaches to God approaches in which you stand in the conspicuous place to be seen of men? Are you more concerned that your peers know that you are praying than that you are coming to God? What about you men? Are you more concerned that your wife think you are a man of God because you keep up some semblance of going into a room to quote, have your devotions?

26:47 Are you content that you keep up some kind of semblance of regularity and not really be concerned whether or not you are meeting God when you have shut the door? You as a wife. Are you more concerned that your children and your husbands will see God in the eye of the sick? By God.

27:04 think you're a spiritual Christian because you have your devotions with some degree of regularity? Or are you really concerned with drawing near to God and having dealings with God? The Pharisee's position was one of ostentation, one that reflected that his mind and his heart were not occupied with the only issues that should occupy a sinful man in the presence of a holy God. No God within us or God about us who permeates the wood and the trees and the birds and their song and some kind of pantheism. No, no. We pray to the God of heaven, the maker

The Terminal Point of the Pharisee's Prayer: Self-Congratulation

27:48 of heaven and earth, the sovereign Lord of the universe. St. Paul says in Ephesians 1, for this cause I bow my knees unto the Father. So the terminal point of all true prayer is the living and the true God, Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

28:05 Holy Spirit. Now this does not mean that God and Christ are merely in the vocabulary of our prayers. No, no. They must be the object of our prayers in our hearts. For you remember Jesus

28:18 said again of these Pharisees, this people draw near to me with their what? Their lips.

28:27 Not so far from me in vain do they worship me. God says I don't care how many times your lips are engaged, how often they're engaged, how firmly they're engaged, how firmly they're engaged, how fervently they're engaged, unless the heart is engaged, it's vain worship. Vain worship. And so the terminal point of this Pharisee's prayer was not the living God. No, no. He was

28:53 caught up in the exercise of self-congratulation, which can only cause God to be disgusted with such that passes in the name of prayer. Now again, may I press by application the question, what is the purpose of this prayer? What is the purpose of this prayer? What is the question to your conscience. Are your prayers, if you do pray, the mouthings of well-learned

29:20 phrases which become a form of self-congratulation or self-pacification? Conscience says you better pray, so you pray enough until conscience says, all right, you've done it now, go your way, and I'll leave you alone. Is that what your praying is? And your exercise in self-pacification or self-congratulation? Are you the terminal point of your prayers, or is God? If God is,

29:50 then you feel you've never prayed until you know that you've engaged God, and you've had dealings with God. And if that be true, I fear there's precious little praying in what goes on in the name. So we have not only the position in which he prayed, the terminal point of his prayer, but now we come to the heart of our Lord's. The exposure of the wrong grounds of seeking acceptance with God, the ingredients of his actual prayer. Look at verse 11. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I

Ingredient 1: Self-Congratulation on Character

30:30 thank thee. Now that looks like a good beginning. I thank thee. All prayer should be mingled with praise. We studied a few weeks ago the direction of the Apostle Paul in his epistle

30:41 to the Philippians. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication be anxious for nothing. With thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. This looks like a good biblically framed prayer. He starts off with praise. God, I thank thee. Well, thankfulness is the

30:59 language of grace. When you thank somebody for something you're acknowledging, you don't deserve it. You don't have it of yourself. It's come from a source external to you. God

31:10 has given. I'm the unworthy recipient. God is gracious. I am the one who has received of the fullness of his grace. But you see, this was only the language of grace. There

31:24 was no spirit of grace. There was no understanding of grace. It is all on the surface. There's no brokenness, no contrition, no real faith. How do we know it? Well, just follow on the

31:36 prayer. What does he thank God for? He says, I thank thee first of all that I am not as other men. And then he delineates them. He's not

31:47 content with the general. I'm not as the rest of men, that is, extortioners, those that will take money from people by unjust means. Unjust, a general word for a person indifferent to the law. Adulterers, a specific description of a man who rejects the moral standards of God. Or, he says, even as this publican. Now, do you see what he's saying?

32:13 He says, I thank thee, God, I'm not as other men. They're characters. They're characters. May be defiled by such sins as extortion and adultery and deeds of injustice. And the

32:27 law may stand over them in condemnation. The law which says thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal. But that law does not condemn me. I stand before you, God, as one who is clear before the demands of the law. My character is such that I commend myself

32:47 to you on the basis of it. Thank thee, God, I'm not as other men. My character is above these moral blemishes. Or, now notice this jive, even as this publican. And I rather

33:05 believe that in the picture our Lord is giving, as they went up to the temple simultaneously, they probably engaged in their religious approach to God simultaneously. He probably could see and hear this publican. He probably could see and hear this publican. He probably could see and hear this publican. And as he's droning on his self-congratulation, he sees that publican

33:25 off, as it were, just inside the court where he was allowed to come. And there he is, not so much, it says, as lifting up his eyes to heaven. It's a picture of a man so dejected that he won't even lift his eyes. I've seen people with their chins down, their heads down, but when you address them kindly and warmly, they at least had enough courage to lift their eyes up.

33:50 Jesus says here, he would not so much as lift up even his eyes. His head was cast down, his shoulders were bent, and he's beating upon his breast. He's taking the place of a sinner, pure, unadulterated sinner. God be merciful to me, this sinner, sinner in my deeds, sinner in my nature, sinner in my thoughts. I plead one thing, mercy. And this

34:19 publican, this Pharisee has the nerve to say, and God, not only do I thank you, I'm not a wicked man, like those people who live out in the world are indifferent to your worship. I thank thee that I'm not even like this religious publican, who when he comes to worship, he has nothing to bring you. He has nothing to commend to you. All he can do is stand off in a corner and beat his breast and talk about being a sinner. Oh God, I thank you, I'm not like that. I've got something to commend to

34:44 you. He stands in a place where he has nothing to commend himself. He's got to throw himself a hundred percent on mercy. And grace. But I need no such refuge. And oh, I'm so thankful for that, God, because

34:57 you see, if I had to do that, that would humble me. For me to say that all of my endeavors as a Pharisee, all of my religious zeal, all of my vows, all of my tithing, all of my prayers can do nothing to give me acceptance. Oh God, that would humble me to the quick. It would cut me to the core. I find thee, I don't have to be like the publican. You say, you really

35:20 believe that's the thrust of it? Yes, I know it is, because look at the conclusion in verse 14. What is the conclusion? Everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled, but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

35:35 That's the whole thrust of it. And so the ingredient of this man's prayer was first of all one of self-congratulation, thanking God that his character was unblemished like other sinners, and thanking God that when he approached God, unlike the publican, he did have some things to commend himself to God. And oh, I press the question to your conscience again, because I'm not dealing in academic issues tonight, dear ones. We're dealing with the heart of eternal issues. What is the language of your heart when you

36:11 pray? I'm not asking you what is the language of your lips. What is the language of your heart? Particularly, now listen, particularly when you hear someone make a frank, honest, genuine confession of his sinfulness and his wretchedness in the presence of God. What's

36:33 your reaction to that? How do you react inwardly when in a prayer meeting, or one of the brethren who leads us in prayer in one of our stated meetings of worship, and someone prays something like this, O God, as we come before you, we have nothing to bring. We confess to you the sin of our hearts, the sin of our minds, the sin even in our worship. We worship you with distraction of mind. We worship you with distraction of mind. We worship you with distraction of

36:56 mind and dullness of spirit. Do you find your heart, as it were, flowing right in with that man's words? Your spirit mingling with his spirit? Do you find yourself saying, well, you may be that bad buster, but don't speak for me? The heart of a Pharisee is the heart

37:16 that is most clearly revealed in the presence of the prayer of a publican. Oh, thank thee, I'm not like the publican. Let me illustrate this from my own experience. Some years ago when we lived in Pennsylvania, we had the unhappy.

Application: The Heart's Reaction to Confession

37:32 It was the occasion of having someone come to our door to proselytize us in that heretical sect that Jehovah's Witnesses, and that's all it is, is ancient Aryan heresy and many other heresies resurrected. And I've long since given up trying to talk with these people from the scriptures because they flip from passage to passage. They talk about the Greek like they knew it, and they don't know a thing about it, the average one. And you try to take out your Greek testament and demonstrate in John 1 that the very structure of the Greek language demands that Jesus Christ is called God, and I've given up that. But I realize

38:11 the basic problem, the reason they're content with a Savior who's less than God is they've never seen their sin. You get a sight of your sin and you want a Savior who's nothing less than God. And so I said to this particular woman, she wanted to engage me in discussion and I finally said, I said, ma'am, I want to ask you one question, one question. Now will you listen to me? Just be quiet for a moment. I want to ask you one question, one

38:32 question. I said, have you ever taken the place of a guilty, helpless, hell-deserving sinner in the presence of a holy God pleading for nothing but mercy? And she looked at me and the fire came into her eyes. She says, where do you get these words? Guilty, depraved,

38:52 hell-deserving. I said, I get them from that very Bible that you keep misquoting to me. And I began to open the scriptures and she grabbed her partner and says, come on, let's get out of here. You see what her problem was? Her problem was not that the Bible was

39:05 a testimony to the divinity and deity of Christ is not clear. The problem was she's a Pharisee at heart, feeling that what she is can commend her to God. And she's thankful that she was not like this publican who could only say, God be merciful to me. Someone said, and the longer I live and the more I have to deal with men and women and with my own heart, the more I'm convinced it was a choice gem of spiritual wisdom. He said, I think

39:33 the most telling exercise for me is to be a Christian. And I said, I think the most telling exercise for a person to know where he stands before God is this. Can he read through the 51st Psalm on his face before God and enter into the spirit of David's confession? He says, the man can do that. That's a good sign that God has changed the

39:58 Pharisee into the publican. Can you enter into the 51st Psalm when we sang it earlier tonight? And that's why I chose it. I wanted a little lever upon your conscience halfway through the message.

40:09 Could you enter in and say, God be merciful to me? On thy grace I rest my plea. Plenteous in compassion thou blot out my transgression. Now I am evil, full of sin. Thou desirest

40:29 truth within. Could you really sing those words from the heart? Or are you like the drunkards? Like those lecherous people who throw off the sacred ties of marital fidelity. Wife's

40:48 wobble. I thank God I'm not like that. I don't break the seventh commandment. Thank God I'm not this. I'm not that. And above all, I'm thankful I don't need to talk like top lady.

41:00 Foul I to the fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die. Nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. I thank thee, God.

41:12 You're like those publicans that have to plead only for mercy. I ask you tonight, what is your prayer? The first ingredient of this Pharisee's prayer was self-congratulation with reference to what he was. I am not his other man, even the publican. But then the

Ingredient 2: Self-Congratulation on Works

41:29 second element was this. Look, I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. What's he saying here? Well, I think this is what he's saying. He's saying, now God,

41:44 in case there are a few little holes in the hull of my own righteousness, I'll patch them up with what I do. Now, my hull's in pretty good shape, and I think I'll float. And I'll go floating right on into your presence. I'm not afraid when the great billows of judgment begin to rise. I think I'll float right in there. But just in case I've got a few little

42:03 breaks in my hull, I'll patch it up with what I do. And he says, God, to make sure that it'll really be a big enough patch, I'll go beyond even what you require. What did God's law require of a judgmental man? He said, I'll go beyond even what you require of a judgmental Jew with regard to fasting. Well, if you check the Levitical law, you'll find that the Jew

42:19 was to fast only once a year. In reference, I believe it was to the annual Day of Atonement. Only once. He says, I fast. I'll go beyond even what you require in your law. And then

42:36 in the law, God required tithes of all their basic stable increase. They were to give a tenth of all of their increase, the first fruits. But God didn't require a tithe of everything. But the Pharisee, remember Jesus said, tithed right down to his little bits of spices. Somebody's

42:55 walking down the street and says, hey, Henry, I've got an extra plant or two of some mint in my backyard. Here's a little handful. He's careful to lay it out and figure exactly what one-tenth of it will be. Next day, he goes up to the temple and he brings it. Everything.

43:08 Mint and anise and cumin. Careful. God never required that. He went beyond it. And he's

43:13 saying to God, in essence, whatever may be lacking in the basis of my acceptance of the law, I'll make it up with my character. I'll make it up with my works. Works that even go beyond the requirement of your holy law. Fast twice in the week. Give tithes of all

43:31 that I possess. To change the imagery, he stands before God and says, now God, you can examine me and I believe I look pretty good. But in case I've got a few cuts in my moral skin, I'll put the band-aid of my own works upon it and then I'll appear presentable in your presence. And isn't it interesting that none, according to this parable, are more scrupulous about religious works than the self-righteous. They go beyond what God requires. And they hold

44:04 up before him what they've done beyond his requirement as of merit and of worth. While like the Pharisees, they can omit many things that God does require. And oh, even if basically we're publicans, the Pharisee is yet with us. We're brothers and sisters in Christ. And do you not find it in your own heart to be

Application: What Will You Plead on Judgment Day?

44:28 a Pharisee and to think that you can commend yourself to God because of something that you have done? What do you plead when you stand before God? Do you, as it were, lying on your bed at night or other times, I find then is a helpful time for me. Do you try to bring near in your mind the day of judgment and what it will be like to stand before the great God of the universe? Do you ever do this?

44:54 Do you, as it were, let your mind run ahead to that day to which we're moving with such rapid pace, and we shall stand in the presence of the God whose eyes are as a flame of fire, before whom all things are naked and opened? And as you let your mind run down to that awesome day, and you ask yourself, what shall I plead in that great day? What is the answer of your heart of hearts in the quietness and in the honesty of your heart? Do you, as it were, let your mind run ahead to that day to which we're moving with such rapid pace, and you ask yourself, what shall I plead in that day to which we're moving with such rapid pace, and you ask yourself, what shall I plead in that day to which we're moving with such rapid pace? Let's say then this, why am I seeking 번째? Do you need to is

45:29 that. Once in thatsein to believe your God and to welcome Him as God and, perhaps, a one and only할udere. Back to the glory of this olive woodmaps, say with humility,polynimatinsonaseswinbl �. Wow!

45:36 Do you find any tendency to commend yourself on the bases of what you are or what you've done? Do you bring to God your devotional exercises, your deeds of kindness and mercy, your giving of your substance faithfully here in this church or some other church for years? Do you bring to him your prayers, your devotions. Do you bring him any of this? Or can you say

45:56 we must speak with in that day. Oh God, even in my most fervent times of devotion, there has been sin. Enough sin in my prayers to damn me. Enough sin in my devotions to consign me to the pit forever.

46:15 Enough sin in my holiest moments. Oh God, I plead nothing but the work of your Son and the perfection of His character. Do you? My friend, if you have any other resting place, you're in for an undoing, undoing surprise in the day of judgment.

46:37 One glance of the holy eye of God and that whole enormous fabric that you think you've been weaving of your own efforts that will somehow clothe you in that day, one glance in His eye will consume it and bring it. Stand naked. No place to flee.

47:05 The ingredients of the Pharisee's prayer, self-congratulation, which when summarized comes down to this, and I hope you've caught this. If you haven't, I want to lay it out for you very carefully. He says, God, two things are the ground of my acceptance before you. What I am by my own effort and secondly, what I've done by my own strength.

47:31 What I am, what I've done, or even if we allow that there was some little measure of genuine thanks in it, He was still deceived. Even if we say, well, my character in terms of being better than other men is the result of God's grace. And my works the result of God's grace. If you rest upon your character and your works as the ground of your acceptance, even if you confess they've come from God, you're still a Pharisee.

48:02 You're resting your acceptance on what has been done by you, and by, on what you are. When the teaching of the word of God from beginning to end is that the only ground of the sinner's acceptance is who Christ is and what He has done on behalf of sinners. Well, my time has gone. I had hoped to go into what I was going to call the reasons for the Pharisee's prayer, but I'll leave that for next week.

Reasons for the Pharisee's Prayer and its Result

48:31 I'll only tell you what I hope to do and hope that it'll whet your appetite to come back. I want to demonstrate, I want to demonstrate that the thing that lay behind the Pharisee's prayer was basically one, spiritual ignorance. He was ignorant of his involvement in the sin of Adam, the fall of humanity in which we're all leveled. He was ignorant, secondly, of the spiritual requirements of the law, and he was ignorant of the biblical method of justification.

49:04 And if he's ever to find acceptance and go down to his house justified, he first of all has to have what God said to St. Paul, to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light.

49:18 And then the result of that man's prayer, you read the sequel, absolutely nothing. It says, The publican went down to his house justified rather than the other man. He went down as he came up, under the condemnation of Almighty God, his sins yet unforgiven. And oh, may God grant that if you've come into this place tonight and as you've looked at this passage, you've said, that's me.

Call to Repentance and Flee to Christ

49:44 The mirror has shown me myself. What must I do? My friend, the thing you must do is turn from everything that characterizes you as a Pharisee. All thought that what you are in your character and what you've done in your works can be the basis of your acceptance with God and you need intelligently and heartily to repudiate them as anything to rest upon.

50:10 And flee to Jesus Christ, the one who in the perfection of his obedience could have the Father say of him, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. This is my Son. Hear him. And what does he say?

50:27 He says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. He says, him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. But he says, this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. And so I urge you to repent of your dead works, of your self-righteous self-congratulation and throw yourself upon the mercy of God.

50:55 Oh, how subtle is the spirit of self-justification that men could be in the very presence of Jesus and still have this thing begin to spring up and he detects it and speaks a parable to those that would justify themselves and set others at naught. Oh, may God help you to flee to Christ and Christ alone. And if as a believer you know that God has brought you to that place where you've abandoned all hope in your own character, in your own performance, isn't it amazing how quickly we go back down the road of the Pharisee and begin to think, well, I must be able to come now.

51:38 I've got this and I've done this, my friend. You have no more basis in yourself to approach God this next ten seconds as we pray than you did when you came defiled and undone twenty years ago.

51:52 Our only plea in the presence of God is Jesus and his righteousness. Jesus, thy blood in righteousness, my beauty are my glorious dress. Midst framing worlds in these arrayed with joy shall I lift up my head bold, shall I stand in thy great day, for who ought to my charge shall lay. Fully absolved from these I am from sin and fear and death and shame.

52:20 That's our plea. May God grant that we shall give him that sacrifice of praise. The fruit of our lips responding to that revelation, saying with the public, can God be merciful to me, the sinner. And as we shall see in our subsequent study, we fix our gaze upon God's altar who is Christ.

52:41 Even as he fixed, his eye upon that altar of sacrifice in the temple and with our eye fixed upon Christ, we plead mercy that God pours out in his own beloved son. Let us pray.