WEBVTT
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Well, let me say it's a pleasure to be back here with you again. It's been a while.
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And so let's look at these two parables here.
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And the two parables that we're going to look at here are interesting for a number of reasons.
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But the first thing that I noticed was that Luke, being led by the Holy Spirit,
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leads us in no doubt what they are about.
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In fact, the first verse of each parable states exactly why Jesus is telling this story to his listeners.
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In verse 1 of chapter 18, Luke writes,
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Jesus told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
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Then in verse 9, we see that the second of these parables was told by Jesus for those who trusted in themselves
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that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.
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So there we have the why Jesus is telling the parable.
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So let's have a quick look at the context in which he tells them.
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And to look at the context, we need to just move our fingers back a few verses into chapter 17,
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which I hope you probably won't even have to turn the page back to see.
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But from verses 20 to 37, Jesus has been talking about his second coming.
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In verse 22, we see that he's been addressing his followers and telling them the fact that the Son of Man is going to come again.
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Then in verse 24, he says he's going to come in a way that is visible to everyone.
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And the whole world will see him like lightning that flashes from one end of the sky to the other.
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Verses 26 to 28, he says that he's also going to come in horrific judgment, as it was in the days of Noah and the days of Lot.
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And in this verses 34 and 35, he says he is going to come in a way that brings separation.
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It's going to split families and marriages, friends, work colleagues.
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One is taken and the other is left.
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So we come now to verse 1 of chapter 18, and you'll notice that there's no change of scene.
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There's no change of audience.
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There's no change in his train of thought.
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Jesus is still speaking to his disciples.
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And we're told that he now tells them a parable in the context of the second coming that they are always to pray and not lose heart.
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So in the context of the second coming, Jesus tells his followers they should keep praying.
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They should remain hopeful.
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And that's the key to understanding the story.
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Jesus knew that in terms of human understanding, this period of time between his ascension and his second coming was going to be a very long time.
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In fact, I'm sure it was even seen long to some of those people in the first century.
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First, he wasn't there for a few years.
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Then it became decades.
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Then it became centuries.
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And now it has been a couple of millennia.
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And since his ascension, it's never been hard to see that Christ is not honored in the world.
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He's not appreciated or offered his rightful place.
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The word of God is unappreciated.
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It's often under attack.
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You only have to pick up the paper or turn on the television to see the work of Satan all around us.
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And Jesus, when he's telling this parable, knew this was going to happen.
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And he knew that we would find it hard to remain hopeful and expect it for his coming.
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So what he is saying to these people here and to us is that no matter what the circumstances are, good or bad, hopeful, hopeless,
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regardless of the event, the season or the era, until he comes, we are to pray and not lose heart.
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So let's look at the illustration here of the first parable.
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And as we said, this parable is to illustrate the importance of prayer.
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And he tells this story about a widow who is persistent with a certain wicked judge that she was eventually able to secure justice for herself.
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And notice how the wicked judge is self-described there in verse 4 as someone who has absolutely no reverence for God and no interest in people.
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See, there is simply no way to penetrate this man's wickedness, either from the law of God or from the needs of men,
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which means he has no interest in the first commandment to love God.
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He has no interest in the second commandment to love his neighbor as himself.
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He is simply a wicked man.
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And not only is he wicked, but he seems to be absolutely fine with it.
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He says of himself there in verse 4,
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I neither fear God nor respect man.
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This is his own description of himself.
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He is a self-confessed wretch.
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Still, the woman will not be pushed away.
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And we meet her in verse 3.
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There was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying,
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Give me justice against my adversary.
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It appears someone has defrauded her, and it's serious.
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And she's powerless.
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She has no other way to receive justice other than through this wicked judge.
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And she pesters him relentlessly.
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Finally, through her persistence, the wicked judge caves into her demand.
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In verse 4 he says,
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For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself,
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Though I neither fear God nor respect man,
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yet because this widow keeps bothering me,
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I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.
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In other words, she's saying,
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This is killing me.
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All day long, every day she won't leave me alone.
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Every morning on the way to work she meets me on the pavement.
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Nagging me all the way to work she meets me at lunchtime.
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She follows me home in the evening and pleads her case through the open window at my house.
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And although he has no concern for God or man,
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What we see is that he has regard for himself and he wants his life back.
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So in order to rid himself of her, he gives her justice.
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Now, not only is the meaning of the parable explained to us before Jesus starts the story,
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but now he spells out the application to us in verses 6 and 7.
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He says to his disciples,
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In other words, if such a wicked man can offer justice in this situation,
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how much more can be obtained through earnest, persistent prayer from our judge in heaven,
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our Father in heaven?
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And you see, the subject here, as we said, is prayer.
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And this is an important subject for all Christians.
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Prayer is right at the center of our faith.
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It's been said that prayer is the ultimate expression of our faith.
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See, our prayer life is the place where true religion starts.
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It's the place where our faith flourishes.
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But your prayer life is also the place where your faith can stagnate.
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It's a place where it can go to seed if you neglect it.
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And this is why Jesus exhorts us here always to pray.
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It's far easier to start a habit of praying than it is to keep it up.
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I mean, there are many things that might make us start to pray.
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Loss of a loved one.
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Fear.
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Unhappiness.
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Thankfulness.
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Feelings of guilt.
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Embarrassment.
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Excitement.
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Sorrow.
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So many things can start us off to pray.
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But to go on praying and continue to pray, that takes faith.
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There are always times when Satan will strike the believer in our prayer life.
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We find we may be growing tired.
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We might be restless.
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We might even start to think, why on earth am I praying?
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My prayers seem to be so seldom answered anyway.
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Well, see, these situations, these thoughts are attacks from Satan.
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And when they happen, we must keep at the very forefront of our minds this parable.
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We must remember the Lord's words here.
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Always to pray and not lose heart.
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I mean, do you ever feel that hidden desire to shorten your prayers or maybe to put them off until later?
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I mean, maybe to even not pray at all sometimes.
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Or are you able to openly admit there are times when you lack a prayer life?
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Well, see, we're supposed to remember at those times that these are attacks from Satan.
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Satan is trying to sap your faith and undermine your spiritual lifeline to God.
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And believe me, for a Christian, prayer is a spiritual lifeline.
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And at these times, Satan is trying to attack the very citadel of your soul.
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So we must always remember that Satan's ultimate goal is to see you cast into hell.
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Now, verse 7 shows us something about the Lord's people.
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His followers that Jesus refers to here as the elect.
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The doctrine of election tells us that God chose his people.
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He chose the elect out of his own pleasure without reference to men or women.
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Salvation is all about God.
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It's about God's sovereignty and his grace.
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But what are the marks of the people that he has chosen?
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I mean, how might a man or woman know that they are part of God's elect?
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Well, in this passage, the Lord Jesus shows us that at least one of the marks of the elect is that they are a praying people.
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They are a praying people who pray without losing heart, who persevere in faith that God will fulfill his promise to return.
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And note how Jesus even asks the question here in verse 7.
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Will not God give justice to his elect?
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Those who cry out to him day and night?
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And then he answers it for us in verse 8.
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He says, I tell you, he will.
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Now, it may take some time before the event of the second coming happens.
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But when it happens, it's going to take place speedily, as it says there in verse 8.
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In fact, we're told in 1 Corinthians that it's going to take place in the twinkling of an eye.
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We're also told that the Lord's judgment is going to be swift and mighty.
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You see, the Lord will do what he has promised to do because his word is at stake and he is faithful always to his word.
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And he's always faithful to his people.
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And if we, as his people, are able to understand the fate of those who do not believe on the day that he returns,
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and beside that we're able to understand what he is saving us from,
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then that should always bring to mind a first reason that we can always pray.
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We can give thanks for our salvation.
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We should thank him for our salvation over and over again and often.
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Because remember, he chose us, not us, him.
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So, note these words here of the Lord Jesus.
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And let's make a note to resist the temptations to shortchange our prayer life.
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Let's resolve to obey him and pray always with persistence and with patience.
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Now, having used the parable of the widow to show them how they should pray,
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Jesus asked them a question there at the end of verse 8.
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When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?
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In other words, Jesus is asking, will he actually find when he does return?
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Will he find his people praying with faith and persistence?
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Will there be those who have stayed praying?
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Or will it be like the days of Noah, the days of Lot, when there were only just a handful?
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You see, for those who believe, we have been given a fantastic promise.
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We've also been told how the whole of history is actually going to end someday.
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But still, there will be times when the world around us seems to be hopeless.
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Times when Satan's reign just seems absolutely rampant.
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And at those times, we might actually ask,
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Why? Why is he waiting to return?
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Why does he come now and sort all of this out?
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Well, the Bible tells us that he waits in part so that men and women might come to repentance.
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You see, he does it in part because if he brought justice today or tonight,
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it would certainly answer the deepest questions of all our hearts.
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But it would also remove every possibility that your child or your wife or your friend or your father
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would ever have the opportunity to be saved.
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You see, it would be the end of opportunity, it would be the end of the world.
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It would mean the books had finally been opened and settled.
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But it also means the door of salvation would also be closed.
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So for now, God is patiently waiting for sons and daughters to stop their rebellion.
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He's waiting for wives to come to him.
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And he's waiting for people to lay down their pride and their arrogance and trust in the Lord Jesus.
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So what he's saying to his followers here is,
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The time before my return is going to be hard.
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And it's going to seem like a very long time.
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So I'm going to tell you this story so that you will not give up and you will continue to pray.
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And all this talk about the kingdom raises a very basic question.
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How does one get into the kingdom?
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A question for all of us.
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How is it that God will let me into his eternal kingdom?
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Well, here in this parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector,
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Jesus answers this ultimate question with amazing simplicity.
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He says in verse 9 that Jesus told this parable to those who were confident in their own righteousness and looked down on others.
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He tells it because he's surrounded by people who are absolutely convinced that they're fine.
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Absolutely certain that their religious behavior and their religious practices
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have set them on a higher plane and they have no sense of need.
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And what makes it so simple to understand is that Jesus explains to us here that all religions fall into one of two categories.
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Category 1.
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Your religion says that you, through your own efforts, are able to make yourself right before God.
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Category 2.
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Your religion tells you that you cannot, by your own efforts, make yourself right before God.
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In other words, you believe that you're able to achieve the righteousness that God requires on your own merit, or you're not.
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And if the parable of the persistent widow teaches us to be persistent in our prayer,
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then the parable here of the Pharisee and the tax collector shows us the spirit in which we should pray.
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Now, we're all naturally self-righteous.
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I don't think that will come to a surprise to anyone.
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And it expresses itself here in the Pharisee's feeling of moral superiority with respect to other people.
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And moral superiority is not a sin that is just limited to unbelievers.
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I mean, any time we believe that we are holding the moral high ground,
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whether it be politics or theology or something as temporal as fashion, even, for example,
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we are exercising our moral self-righteousness.
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A good example is when we look around and we see society openly committing or encouraging flagrant sins
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like sexual immorality or avarice or abortion,
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or even in those cases when we can look down on people,
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we can actually say, we don't commit those specific, obvious flagrant sins they're committing.
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Those who seem to have no control over themselves when it comes to those issues.
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Even at those times, we sort of secretly flatter ourselves that we're not as bad as others.
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And therefore, we feel like we may have something to recommend us into the favor of God.
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However, we should never forget, the Bible does tell us that,
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for we all stumble in many ways.
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Ecclesiastes says, surely there is not one righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
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So I think there is a warning here.
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Do not assess your spiritual life by comparing it to others.
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I mean, even though this type of assessment is strong amongst us,
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it's hard to recognize and it's one of the great obstacles that stand between us and God.
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So you see, we have these two men who come to the temple to pray.
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One was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
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Now, immediately we have a problem because when we think Pharisee, we think of a bad man, don't we?
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However, in the minds of all the listeners there, the Pharisee was the church man.
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He was the religious guy.
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A Pharisee to these listeners was scrupulous when he came to the law of God.
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And so when he says that he tithes, in verse 12, that means he is generous to the poor.
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And when he says, I don't commit adultery, in verse 11, it means he is a faithful husband.
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So you see, the Pharisee is offering his evidence that he is actually a good man.
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And to the Pharisee, in his prayer there in verse 11, he says,
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God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
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or even like this tax selector standing next to me.
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I fast twice a week.
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I give tithes of all that I get.
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But there's one obvious problem with this prayer.
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I mean, after one says, God, I thank you, should not the things that follow be about the things that God has done for him.
00:18:22.360 --> 00:18:26.240
However, after he says, God, I thank you, this is the last we hear about God.
00:18:27.140 --> 00:18:35.720
His prayer contains no sense of sin or need, no confession, no acknowledging of his guilt, or even his own helplessness.
00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:39.140
There's no crying out for mercy or grace.
00:18:39.140 --> 00:18:42.980
And notice how he says there in verses 11 and 12,
00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:47.980
I thank, I am not, I fast, I give, I get.
00:18:48.980 --> 00:18:51.660
It's simply a recital of self-worship.
00:18:52.900 --> 00:18:57.900
And the Lord Jesus is showing us here that under the shroud of it being about God,
00:18:58.680 --> 00:19:03.000
this man's prayer is actually about adoration of self.
00:19:03.840 --> 00:19:07.820
You see, he's expressing not only his sort of self-proclaimed goodness,
00:19:07.819 --> 00:19:12.519
but also view that in some way, maybe his goodness should be acknowledged.
00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:16.700
And we come to the second man, the tax collector.
00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:20.059
He was a crook, a scoundrel, he was a traitor to his people.
00:19:20.639 --> 00:19:26.839
In the culture at the time, you were not required to keep any promise that you made to a thief, a murderer, or a tax collector.
00:19:27.900 --> 00:19:32.299
And if you were to ever watch one of these World War II movies, I'm sure you've seen them,
00:19:32.359 --> 00:19:35.119
where the mayor of a little town in Holland or France,
00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:38.739
it kind of welcomes the Nazis when they come as a result.
00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:43.419
And all during the war, he's living a great life and he's socializing and making lots of money.
00:19:43.579 --> 00:19:47.279
Well, that is who this man is, the tax collector.
00:19:47.399 --> 00:19:48.799
He was a friend of the enemy.
00:19:49.479 --> 00:19:54.639
He was a traitor who was enriching himself on the occupation of the Romans being in their country.
00:19:54.640 --> 00:20:00.000
So what you have in these two men are the extremes of society.
00:20:00.900 --> 00:20:06.820
One represents the ultimate religious man, and the other represents the height of sin and wickedness.
00:20:08.320 --> 00:20:14.280
And then Jesus pronounces that the good man, the Pharisee in the story, is lost.
00:20:15.320 --> 00:20:18.640
And the bad man, the traitor, is saved.
00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:26.759
What Jesus is saying to us here is he's trying to show us that if you try to be your own master, your own savior,
00:20:27.700 --> 00:20:30.880
then what you're actually doing is rejecting God as your savior.
00:20:31.580 --> 00:20:36.200
I mean, how can God be the master of your life if you're holding on to that position yourself?
00:20:37.660 --> 00:20:41.400
Starting with the fall of Adam and the Garden of Eden when Satan said to Eve,
00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:46.660
For God knows that when you eat it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God.
00:20:46.660 --> 00:20:53.560
Ever since that moment, we've all seen men and women trying to be their own masters, their own gods.
00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:58.040
And although these two men seem to be polar opposites,
00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:01.300
they are both in exactly the same place.
00:21:02.420 --> 00:21:05.980
You see, there are two ways that you can attempt to be your own savior.
00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:11.440
Either by keeping all of God's laws so that you can feel like you've earned something and you may be owed,
00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:16.920
or by simply breaking all of God's laws and rejecting him outright like the tax collector.
00:21:17.700 --> 00:21:24.220
Two seemingly opposite approaches, but both get you to exactly the same place.
00:21:26.019 --> 00:21:30.860
Jesus is not saying that it's okay to be a tax collector and that it's not okay to be a religious man.
00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:37.660
No, what Jesus is saying is that both good people and bad people in their fallen natural state
00:21:37.660 --> 00:21:41.160
are being good and bad for exactly the same reason.
00:21:41.560 --> 00:21:46.360
To control their own life, to be their own master, to be their own savior.
00:21:48.080 --> 00:21:49.720
And notice here how the Pharisee says,
00:21:50.380 --> 00:21:52.460
I am not like other men.
00:21:53.340 --> 00:21:56.160
I am not an extortioner or adulterer.
00:21:57.080 --> 00:22:01.140
You see, I can think of all kinds of things that I am not or that I don't do.
00:22:01.140 --> 00:22:04.700
But all that does is just put up a smoke screen.
00:22:04.860 --> 00:22:08.060
It sort of hides all the sins that I have done.
00:22:08.820 --> 00:22:10.980
He says, I tithe, I fast.
00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:16.620
It's the Pharisee himself here who is now deciding what it is to worship God.
00:22:17.120 --> 00:22:18.860
He says, I tithe of everything.
00:22:19.900 --> 00:22:24.200
The Bible only requires that he actually tithe 10% of certain things.
00:22:25.120 --> 00:22:27.220
He says, I fast twice a week.
00:22:27.220 --> 00:22:31.100
The Bible only requires him to fast once a year at Yom Kippur.
00:22:32.019 --> 00:22:34.440
So he's picking out the things that he finds easy to do,
00:22:34.519 --> 00:22:35.960
that he can do on his own.
00:22:36.360 --> 00:22:37.940
And he just doubles up on them.
00:22:39.420 --> 00:22:43.660
The Pharisee is now apparently the one who is deciding what it is to worship and honor God.
00:22:43.779 --> 00:22:47.500
It's no longer God who is ordering the worship for the Pharisee.
00:22:48.740 --> 00:22:51.700
And notice how he says, he never says this in his prayer.
00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:52.660
He never says something like,
00:22:53.079 --> 00:22:55.079
Thank you, Lord, that I am becoming more loving.
00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:59.119
Thank you, Lord, that you are making me more humble and patient.
00:22:59.500 --> 00:23:03.339
Or thank you, Lord, that even living in the hardship of this life,
00:23:03.419 --> 00:23:06.159
I am finding joy through my relationship with you.
00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:08.699
There's nothing ever like that.
00:23:08.759 --> 00:23:10.559
You see, the problem for the Pharisee is that
00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:14.339
he is not able to see his spiritual state.
00:23:15.099 --> 00:23:16.779
He compares himself with his neighbors,
00:23:16.779 --> 00:23:20.879
and he thinks his goal is to outdo his neighbor.
00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:26.340
I think the underlying message here is that
00:23:26.340 --> 00:23:31.640
religious people can be in danger of never seeing their situation.
00:23:32.980 --> 00:23:36.220
And never is the heart of a man or woman in more danger
00:23:36.220 --> 00:23:40.660
than when they are unable to see their true spiritual condition.
00:23:42.040 --> 00:23:44.140
I mean, I think that runs throughout the Bible, doesn't it?
00:23:44.140 --> 00:23:47.560
Never is the heart of a man or woman in more danger
00:23:47.560 --> 00:23:52.780
than when they are unable to see their own sinful condition.
00:23:55.020 --> 00:23:56.380
You know, at the start of the parable,
00:23:57.340 --> 00:24:00.040
both the tax-select and the Pharisee are polar opposites
00:24:00.040 --> 00:24:02.220
in terms of how their lives look to other people.
00:24:02.220 --> 00:24:06.779
However, it was not what they were in the eyes of men that matters,
00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:08.819
but what they are in the eyes of God.
00:24:09.559 --> 00:24:10.700
Both men were lost.
00:24:11.539 --> 00:24:15.319
Both men were living lives that are unrighteous in the sight of God.
00:24:16.380 --> 00:24:19.759
But the Pharisee is not aware that he's doing it.
00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:23.100
And the danger is that even if you told him,
00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:26.079
he most likely would not believe you.
00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:29.599
And never is a man or woman in more danger
00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:33.000
than when they cannot see their own spiritual situation.
00:24:34.619 --> 00:24:37.319
So now look at the prayer of the tax collector in verse 13,
00:24:37.439 --> 00:24:38.419
which the Lord commands.
00:24:39.379 --> 00:24:41.740
But the tax collector, standing far off,
00:24:42.819 --> 00:24:45.439
would not even lift up his eyes to heaven,
00:24:45.539 --> 00:24:46.819
but he beat his breast saying,
00:24:47.199 --> 00:24:50.179
God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
00:24:51.859 --> 00:24:54.299
Now here is the answer to the big question.
00:24:54.299 --> 00:24:59.059
How does one get into the eternal kingdom of God?
00:24:59.419 --> 00:25:02.000
How is one reconciled with God?
00:25:03.539 --> 00:25:04.519
Like the tax collector,
00:25:04.740 --> 00:25:07.339
you accept your true state of sinfulness
00:25:07.339 --> 00:25:09.859
and you look to God and you ask for mercy.
00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:12.819
Now I think it's important to note here that
00:25:12.819 --> 00:25:15.579
our translation there says in verse 13,
00:25:15.919 --> 00:25:18.059
God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
00:25:18.839 --> 00:25:20.539
It's actually not quite correct.
00:25:20.539 --> 00:25:23.279
In the original, Luke uses the definite article,
00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:23.940
and it reads,
00:25:24.299 --> 00:25:26.799
God, be merciful to me, the sinner.
00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:29.279
And you see, I think that's important
00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:30.759
because by saying the sinner,
00:25:31.460 --> 00:25:33.539
he's not comparing himself to anyone else.
00:25:33.619 --> 00:25:37.139
You see, what use is it to be more moral
00:25:37.139 --> 00:25:39.259
than other men and women when in reality,
00:25:40.099 --> 00:25:42.180
all men and women are vile and imperfect
00:25:42.180 --> 00:25:43.319
in the sight of God?
00:25:43.319 --> 00:25:48.099
It is, in all of our self-examination,
00:25:48.779 --> 00:25:52.200
we must not look at ourselves in comparison with others.
00:25:52.339 --> 00:25:54.059
We must only look at ourselves
00:25:54.059 --> 00:25:57.679
in comparison to the requirements that God makes.
00:25:58.500 --> 00:25:59.700
Romans 3 says that,
00:25:59.919 --> 00:26:02.859
for we have already charged that all men are under sin.
00:26:03.700 --> 00:26:05.639
None is righteous, no, not one.
00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:07.860
No one does good, not even one.
00:26:09.300 --> 00:26:12.980
So, if we examine our sin
00:26:12.980 --> 00:26:14.960
in relation to other people's sin,
00:26:16.020 --> 00:26:19.259
there's always somebody that we're going to be able to find
00:26:19.259 --> 00:26:20.880
who has done more sin than us.
00:26:21.620 --> 00:26:22.720
And if that's the case,
00:26:23.480 --> 00:26:25.560
then we are only ever a sinner.
00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:28.919
We never see ourselves as the sinner.
00:26:30.119 --> 00:26:31.539
And you see, this is the great obstacle
00:26:31.539 --> 00:26:33.159
for the Pharisee in the story.
00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:37.240
But the tax collector is looking at himself.
00:26:37.700 --> 00:26:39.579
He's looking at his sin in a way that
00:26:39.579 --> 00:26:40.859
you must see yourself
00:26:40.859 --> 00:26:43.240
if you want to resolve your situation with God.
00:26:43.639 --> 00:26:46.200
If you want to know how to spend eternity
00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:48.039
in his kingdom with him.
00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:51.200
You see, this tax collector comes to the temple
00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:53.319
and he simply says,
00:26:53.319 --> 00:26:56.240
I am a spiritual wreck.
00:26:57.159 --> 00:26:59.159
All I know is that I'm lost.
00:26:59.939 --> 00:27:01.759
And whatever anybody else is saying
00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:02.740
or is not saying,
00:27:02.799 --> 00:27:05.220
it has no effect on the fact
00:27:05.220 --> 00:27:08.359
that my soul is totally bankrupt.
00:27:09.960 --> 00:27:10.939
And so he says,
00:27:11.119 --> 00:27:13.819
God, be merciful to me, the sinner.
00:27:15.259 --> 00:27:16.919
And as he uses that word merciful,
00:27:17.740 --> 00:27:19.639
the tax collector is using a word that means
00:27:19.639 --> 00:27:22.220
atone for my sins.
00:27:22.220 --> 00:27:24.180
In the original language,
00:27:24.339 --> 00:27:25.880
it's the word hilasterian.
00:27:26.640 --> 00:27:29.059
The word hilasterian is also used
00:27:29.059 --> 00:27:30.380
in Hebrews 2
00:27:30.380 --> 00:27:33.140
when the writer speaking of Jesus writes,
00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:34.640
For this reason,
00:27:35.339 --> 00:27:38.700
Jesus became a merciful and faithful high priest
00:27:38.700 --> 00:27:40.100
in the service to God
00:27:40.100 --> 00:27:42.059
that he might make atonement,
00:27:42.819 --> 00:27:44.500
that he might make hilasterian
00:27:44.500 --> 00:27:46.579
for the sins of the people.
00:27:46.579 --> 00:27:49.759
You see, the tax collector knows
00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:53.119
that he cannot deal with his problem himself.
00:27:54.099 --> 00:27:56.079
And he knows that if there is nothing
00:27:56.079 --> 00:27:58.419
outside of his own power,
00:27:58.779 --> 00:27:59.960
outside his own self,
00:28:00.039 --> 00:28:01.079
to deal with this problem,
00:28:01.960 --> 00:28:04.039
then he has no chance whatsoever
00:28:04.039 --> 00:28:06.839
of knowing God or spending eternity with him.
00:28:07.960 --> 00:28:09.279
Notice he's not asking God
00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:10.659
to compare him to others
00:28:10.659 --> 00:28:11.980
or to lower his standards.
00:28:11.980 --> 00:28:13.259
He's just simply saying,
00:28:13.620 --> 00:28:16.519
I need atonement for my sins.
00:28:18.660 --> 00:28:19.860
Here we have two men,
00:28:19.980 --> 00:28:20.559
two prayers,
00:28:20.700 --> 00:28:21.460
two eternities.
00:28:23.480 --> 00:28:24.360
Have you ever asked God
00:28:24.360 --> 00:28:25.299
to pardon you
00:28:25.299 --> 00:28:26.799
the way the tax man did?
00:28:27.799 --> 00:28:28.500
Have you ever asked God
00:28:28.500 --> 00:28:29.180
to pardon you
00:28:29.180 --> 00:28:30.519
through the atoning sacrifice
00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:31.620
of the Lord Jesus
00:28:31.620 --> 00:28:33.140
on the cross?
00:28:33.140 --> 00:28:35.880
I mean, maybe you are
00:28:35.880 --> 00:28:37.060
seeking a righteousness
00:28:37.060 --> 00:28:38.400
that's built on your own
00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:39.640
religious reputation
00:28:39.640 --> 00:28:41.820
or on your own moral achievement
00:28:41.820 --> 00:28:44.220
or maybe you're hoping
00:28:44.220 --> 00:28:45.800
that God will simply find you
00:28:45.800 --> 00:28:47.500
righteous enough.
00:28:49.100 --> 00:28:49.560
In other words,
00:28:49.620 --> 00:28:50.380
the real question is,
00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:51.560
what is it that you are
00:28:51.560 --> 00:28:54.300
staking your eternity on?
00:28:56.060 --> 00:28:57.860
But note how the parable ends here
00:28:57.860 --> 00:29:00.700
with Jesus saying in verse 14
00:29:00.700 --> 00:29:01.680
that the tax collector
00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:03.040
went down to his house
00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:03.680
justified.
00:29:04.399 --> 00:29:05.059
And then he adds,
00:29:05.740 --> 00:29:07.339
for the one who humbles himself
00:29:07.339 --> 00:29:08.960
will be exalted.
00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:11.539
The tax collector
00:29:11.539 --> 00:29:12.879
was righteous
00:29:12.879 --> 00:29:13.879
in the eyes of God.
00:29:13.980 --> 00:29:14.559
He was acquitted.
00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:16.399
He was set free
00:29:16.399 --> 00:29:17.940
from the bondage of sin
00:29:17.940 --> 00:29:18.980
and accepted
00:29:18.980 --> 00:29:20.319
to spend eternity
00:29:20.319 --> 00:29:21.960
with God.
00:29:23.659 --> 00:29:24.059
And you see,
00:29:24.139 --> 00:29:24.980
it was the tax collector,
00:29:25.099 --> 00:29:26.099
not the Pharisee,
00:29:26.599 --> 00:29:28.000
who accepted his sin
00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:28.680
outright.
00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:30.539
He recognized
00:29:30.539 --> 00:29:31.399
this helplessness
00:29:31.399 --> 00:29:32.000
to do anything
00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:32.859
about it himself.
00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:34.619
He just dropped
00:29:34.619 --> 00:29:35.839
his sword of rebellion
00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:37.579
and he humbled himself
00:29:37.579 --> 00:29:38.359
to the mercy
00:29:38.359 --> 00:29:39.139
and the love
00:29:39.139 --> 00:29:39.960
of the Lord Jesus.
00:29:41.539 --> 00:29:42.379
The tax collector
00:29:42.379 --> 00:29:43.480
was able to find
00:29:43.480 --> 00:29:45.039
a humility
00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:45.519
that,
00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:46.480
for which he can
00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:47.279
honestly say,
00:29:47.819 --> 00:29:49.480
there is nothing
00:29:49.480 --> 00:29:50.619
in me to respect.
00:29:51.619 --> 00:29:52.579
Deep down
00:29:52.579 --> 00:29:54.740
in my heart of hearts,
00:29:54.740 --> 00:29:56.500
I am wretched.
00:29:56.500 --> 00:29:58.819
I have nothing else
00:29:58.819 --> 00:29:59.579
that I can say.
00:30:01.579 --> 00:30:02.079
You know,
00:30:02.120 --> 00:30:03.240
we sing a song
00:30:03.240 --> 00:30:04.140
quite often
00:30:04.140 --> 00:30:05.059
that I love a lot
00:30:05.059 --> 00:30:05.359
actually.
00:30:06.140 --> 00:30:06.859
In America,
00:30:06.940 --> 00:30:07.400
we call it
00:30:07.400 --> 00:30:08.420
It Is Well With My Soul.
00:30:08.539 --> 00:30:09.160
I think over here
00:30:09.160 --> 00:30:09.740
you call it
00:30:09.740 --> 00:30:11.359
When Peace Like a River.
00:30:13.120 --> 00:30:13.859
Have you ever thought
00:30:13.859 --> 00:30:14.299
about that?
00:30:14.299 --> 00:30:15.559
when we sing
00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:16.619
that verse,
00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:18.460
My sin,
00:30:18.539 --> 00:30:19.159
O the bliss,
00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:20.639
such glorious thought,
00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:21.359
my sin,
00:30:21.460 --> 00:30:22.039
not in part
00:30:22.039 --> 00:30:22.700
but in whole,
00:30:23.299 --> 00:30:25.200
is nailed to the cross
00:30:25.200 --> 00:30:27.319
and I bear it no more.
00:30:28.259 --> 00:30:29.440
Praise the Lord,
00:30:29.539 --> 00:30:30.240
O my soul.
00:30:31.720 --> 00:30:32.259
Have you ever thought
00:30:32.259 --> 00:30:33.120
about what we're saying
00:30:33.120 --> 00:30:33.960
when we sing that?
00:30:34.900 --> 00:30:36.140
We're saying that
00:30:36.140 --> 00:30:37.620
the gospel
00:30:37.620 --> 00:30:40.360
is all outside of us.
00:30:40.880 --> 00:30:41.860
It has nothing to do
00:30:41.860 --> 00:30:42.580
with our feelings.
00:30:43.500 --> 00:30:44.880
It has everything to do
00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:46.100
with what has been done
00:30:46.100 --> 00:30:47.160
for us.
00:30:48.420 --> 00:30:49.880
It's about the fact
00:30:49.880 --> 00:30:51.000
that Jesus became
00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:52.160
the sinner.
00:30:52.680 --> 00:30:54.220
He became the ultimate sinner
00:30:54.220 --> 00:30:56.039
and He died on the cross
00:30:56.039 --> 00:30:57.000
for us.
00:30:58.380 --> 00:30:59.400
And as He hung there,
00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:01.660
He was looking at you
00:31:01.660 --> 00:31:02.720
and He was looking at me.
00:31:03.299 --> 00:31:04.360
He knew my name.
00:31:04.740 --> 00:31:05.660
He knew your name.
00:31:06.299 --> 00:31:07.339
He knew my sins.
00:31:07.460 --> 00:31:08.519
He knew your sins.
00:31:08.940 --> 00:31:09.680
And still,
00:31:10.600 --> 00:31:12.019
He loved us so much
00:31:12.019 --> 00:31:12.880
that He made
00:31:12.880 --> 00:31:15.640
atonement for us.
00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:19.259
Now, we noted earlier
00:31:19.259 --> 00:31:20.180
that in part
00:31:20.180 --> 00:31:20.920
the second coming
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of the Lord Jesus
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is being held back
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so that men and women
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still might have time
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to come to Christ
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to receive the saving mercy.
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Is it possible
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if there's someone
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sitting here today
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who is one of those
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he's waiting on?
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Maybe this is your time
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to simply stop the rebellion,
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to drop your sword,
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to lose your pride
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and your self-righteousness
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and pray
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as the tax man did.
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Lord Jesus,
00:31:48.759 --> 00:31:49.460
I need you.
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I am helpless without you.
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Forgive me.
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Show me mercy.
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Save me.
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Live in me.
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Come take me as your own.
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Because that
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is how you will find yourself
00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:03.899
reconciled to God.
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So let me pray for us.
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Well, let me say it's a pleasure to be back here with you again. It's been a while.
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And so let's look at these two parables here.
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And the two parables that we're going to look at here are interesting for a number of reasons.
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But the first thing that I noticed was that Luke, being led by the Holy Spirit,
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leads us in no doubt what they are about.
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In fact, the first verse of each parable states exactly why Jesus is telling this story to his listeners.
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In verse 1 of chapter 18, Luke writes,
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Jesus told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
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Then in verse 9, we see that the second of these parables was told by Jesus for those who trusted in themselves
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that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.
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So there we have the why Jesus is telling the parable.
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So let's have a quick look at the context in which he tells them.
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And to look at the context, we need to just move our fingers back a few verses into chapter 17,
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which I hope you probably won't even have to turn the page back to see.
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But from verses 20 to 37, Jesus has been talking about his second coming.
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In verse 22, we see that he's been addressing his followers and telling them the fact that the Son of Man is going to come again.
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Then in verse 24, he says he's going to come in a way that is visible to everyone.
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And the whole world will see him like lightning that flashes from one end of the sky to the other.
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Verses 26 to 28, he says that he's also going to come in horrific judgment, as it was in the days of Noah and the days of Lot.
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And in this verses 34 and 35, he says he is going to come in a way that brings separation.
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It's going to split families and marriages, friends, work colleagues.
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One is taken and the other is left.
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So we come now to verse 1 of chapter 18, and you'll notice that there's no change of scene.
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There's no change of audience.
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There's no change in his train of thought.
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Jesus is still speaking to his disciples.
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And we're told that he now tells them a parable in the context of the second coming that they are always to pray and not lose heart.
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So in the context of the second coming, Jesus tells his followers they should keep praying.
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They should remain hopeful.
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And that's the key to understanding the story.
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Jesus knew that in terms of human understanding, this period of time between his ascension and his second coming was going to be a very long time.
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In fact, I'm sure it was even seen long to some of those people in the first century.
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First, he wasn't there for a few years.
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Then it became decades.
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Then it became centuries.
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And now it has been a couple of millennia.
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And since his ascension, it's never been hard to see that Christ is not honored in the world.
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He's not appreciated or offered his rightful place.
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The word of God is unappreciated.
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It's often under attack.
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You only have to pick up the paper or turn on the television to see the work of Satan all around us.
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And Jesus, when he's telling this parable, knew this was going to happen.
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And he knew that we would find it hard to remain hopeful and expect it for his coming.
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So what he is saying to these people here and to us is that no matter what the circumstances are, good or bad, hopeful, hopeless,
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regardless of the event, the season or the era, until he comes, we are to pray and not lose heart.
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So let's look at the illustration here of the first parable.
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And as we said, this parable is to illustrate the importance of prayer.
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And he tells this story about a widow who is persistent with a certain wicked judge that she was eventually able to secure justice for herself.
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And notice how the wicked judge is self-described there in verse 4 as someone who has absolutely no reverence for God and no interest in people.
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See, there is simply no way to penetrate this man's wickedness, either from the law of God or from the needs of men,
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which means he has no interest in the first commandment to love God.
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He has no interest in the second commandment to love his neighbor as himself.
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He is simply a wicked man.
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And not only is he wicked, but he seems to be absolutely fine with it.
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He says of himself there in verse 4,
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I neither fear God nor respect man.
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This is his own description of himself.
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He is a self-confessed wretch.
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Still, the woman will not be pushed away.
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And we meet her in verse 3.
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There was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying,
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Give me justice against my adversary.
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It appears someone has defrauded her, and it's serious.
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And she's powerless.
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She has no other way to receive justice other than through this wicked judge.
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And she pesters him relentlessly.
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Finally, through her persistence, the wicked judge caves into her demand.
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In verse 4 he says,
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For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself,
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Though I neither fear God nor respect man,
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yet because this widow keeps bothering me,
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I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.
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In other words, she's saying,
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This is killing me.
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All day long, every day she won't leave me alone.
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Every morning on the way to work she meets me on the pavement.
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Nagging me all the way to work she meets me at lunchtime.
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She follows me home in the evening and pleads her case through the open window at my house.
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And although he has no concern for God or man,
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What we see is that he has regard for himself and he wants his life back.
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So in order to rid himself of her, he gives her justice.
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Now, not only is the meaning of the parable explained to us before Jesus starts the story,
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but now he spells out the application to us in verses 6 and 7.
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He says to his disciples,
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In other words, if such a wicked man can offer justice in this situation,
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how much more can be obtained through earnest, persistent prayer from our judge in heaven,
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our Father in heaven?
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And you see, the subject here, as we said, is prayer.
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And this is an important subject for all Christians.
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Prayer is right at the center of our faith.
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It's been said that prayer is the ultimate expression of our faith.
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See, our prayer life is the place where true religion starts.
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It's the place where our faith flourishes.
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But your prayer life is also the place where your faith can stagnate.
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It's a place where it can go to seed if you neglect it.
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And this is why Jesus exhorts us here always to pray.
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It's far easier to start a habit of praying than it is to keep it up.
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I mean, there are many things that might make us start to pray.
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Loss of a loved one.
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Fear.
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Unhappiness.
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Thankfulness.
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Feelings of guilt.
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Embarrassment.
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Excitement.
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Sorrow.
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So many things can start us off to pray.
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But to go on praying and continue to pray, that takes faith.
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There are always times when Satan will strike the believer in our prayer life.
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We find we may be growing tired.
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We might be restless.
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We might even start to think, why on earth am I praying?
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My prayers seem to be so seldom answered anyway.
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Well, see, these situations, these thoughts are attacks from Satan.
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And when they happen, we must keep at the very forefront of our minds this parable.
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We must remember the Lord's words here.
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Always to pray and not lose heart.
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I mean, do you ever feel that hidden desire to shorten your prayers or maybe to put them off until later?
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I mean, maybe to even not pray at all sometimes.
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Or are you able to openly admit there are times when you lack a prayer life?
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Well, see, we're supposed to remember at those times that these are attacks from Satan.
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Satan is trying to sap your faith and undermine your spiritual lifeline to God.
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And believe me, for a Christian, prayer is a spiritual lifeline.
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And at these times, Satan is trying to attack the very citadel of your soul.
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So we must always remember that Satan's ultimate goal is to see you cast into hell.
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Now, verse 7 shows us something about the Lord's people.
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His followers that Jesus refers to here as the elect.
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The doctrine of election tells us that God chose his people.
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He chose the elect out of his own pleasure without reference to men or women.
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Salvation is all about God.
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It's about God's sovereignty and his grace.
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But what are the marks of the people that he has chosen?
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I mean, how might a man or woman know that they are part of God's elect?
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Well, in this passage, the Lord Jesus shows us that at least one of the marks of the elect is that they are a praying people.
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They are a praying people who pray without losing heart, who persevere in faith that God will fulfill his promise to return.
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And note how Jesus even asks the question here in verse 7.
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Will not God give justice to his elect?
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Those who cry out to him day and night?
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And then he answers it for us in verse 8.
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He says, I tell you, he will.
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Now, it may take some time before the event of the second coming happens.
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But when it happens, it's going to take place speedily, as it says there in verse 8.
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In fact, we're told in 1 Corinthians that it's going to take place in the twinkling of an eye.
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We're also told that the Lord's judgment is going to be swift and mighty.
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You see, the Lord will do what he has promised to do because his word is at stake and he is faithful always to his word.
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And he's always faithful to his people.
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And if we, as his people, are able to understand the fate of those who do not believe on the day that he returns,
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and beside that we're able to understand what he is saving us from,
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then that should always bring to mind a first reason that we can always pray.
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We can give thanks for our salvation.
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We should thank him for our salvation over and over again and often.
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Because remember, he chose us, not us, him.
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So, note these words here of the Lord Jesus.
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And let's make a note to resist the temptations to shortchange our prayer life.
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Let's resolve to obey him and pray always with persistence and with patience.
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Now, having used the parable of the widow to show them how they should pray,
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Jesus asked them a question there at the end of verse 8.
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When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?
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In other words, Jesus is asking, will he actually find when he does return?
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Will he find his people praying with faith and persistence?
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Will there be those who have stayed praying?
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Or will it be like the days of Noah, the days of Lot, when there were only just a handful?
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You see, for those who believe, we have been given a fantastic promise.
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We've also been told how the whole of history is actually going to end someday.
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But still, there will be times when the world around us seems to be hopeless.
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Times when Satan's reign just seems absolutely rampant.
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And at those times, we might actually ask,
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Why? Why is he waiting to return?
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Why does he come now and sort all of this out?
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Well, the Bible tells us that he waits in part so that men and women might come to repentance.
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You see, he does it in part because if he brought justice today or tonight,
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it would certainly answer the deepest questions of all our hearts.
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But it would also remove every possibility that your child or your wife or your friend or your father
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would ever have the opportunity to be saved.
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You see, it would be the end of opportunity, it would be the end of the world.
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It would mean the books had finally been opened and settled.
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But it also means the door of salvation would also be closed.
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So for now, God is patiently waiting for sons and daughters to stop their rebellion.
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He's waiting for wives to come to him.
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And he's waiting for people to lay down their pride and their arrogance and trust in the Lord Jesus.
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So what he's saying to his followers here is,
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The time before my return is going to be hard.
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And it's going to seem like a very long time.
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So I'm going to tell you this story so that you will not give up and you will continue to pray.
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And all this talk about the kingdom raises a very basic question.
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How does one get into the kingdom?
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A question for all of us.
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How is it that God will let me into his eternal kingdom?
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Well, here in this parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector,
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Jesus answers this ultimate question with amazing simplicity.
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He says in verse 9 that Jesus told this parable to those who were confident in their own righteousness and looked down on others.
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He tells it because he's surrounded by people who are absolutely convinced that they're fine.
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Absolutely certain that their religious behavior and their religious practices
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have set them on a higher plane and they have no sense of need.
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And what makes it so simple to understand is that Jesus explains to us here that all religions fall into one of two categories.
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Category 1.
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Your religion says that you, through your own efforts, are able to make yourself right before God.
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Category 2.
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Your religion tells you that you cannot, by your own efforts, make yourself right before God.
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In other words, you believe that you're able to achieve the righteousness that God requires on your own merit, or you're not.
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And if the parable of the persistent widow teaches us to be persistent in our prayer,
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then the parable here of the Pharisee and the tax collector shows us the spirit in which we should pray.
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Now, we're all naturally self-righteous.
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I don't think that will come to a surprise to anyone.
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And it expresses itself here in the Pharisee's feeling of moral superiority with respect to other people.
00:15:33.620 --> 00:15:36.960
And moral superiority is not a sin that is just limited to unbelievers.
00:15:38.279 --> 00:15:41.960
I mean, any time we believe that we are holding the moral high ground,
00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:48.460
whether it be politics or theology or something as temporal as fashion, even, for example,
00:15:48.460 --> 00:15:53.460
we are exercising our moral self-righteousness.
00:15:54.340 --> 00:16:00.200
A good example is when we look around and we see society openly committing or encouraging flagrant sins
00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:03.780
like sexual immorality or avarice or abortion,
00:16:04.019 --> 00:16:07.700
or even in those cases when we can look down on people,
00:16:07.780 --> 00:16:12.400
we can actually say, we don't commit those specific, obvious flagrant sins they're committing.
00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:17.939
Those who seem to have no control over themselves when it comes to those issues.
00:16:19.019 --> 00:16:24.639
Even at those times, we sort of secretly flatter ourselves that we're not as bad as others.
00:16:25.740 --> 00:16:30.199
And therefore, we feel like we may have something to recommend us into the favor of God.
00:16:31.179 --> 00:16:34.480
However, we should never forget, the Bible does tell us that,
00:16:35.299 --> 00:16:37.120
for we all stumble in many ways.
00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:44.580
Ecclesiastes says, surely there is not one righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:47.539
So I think there is a warning here.
00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:54.560
Do not assess your spiritual life by comparing it to others.
00:16:55.940 --> 00:17:00.200
I mean, even though this type of assessment is strong amongst us,
00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:05.519
it's hard to recognize and it's one of the great obstacles that stand between us and God.
00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:10.139
So you see, we have these two men who come to the temple to pray.
00:17:11.059 --> 00:17:13.400
One was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
00:17:14.440 --> 00:17:19.480
Now, immediately we have a problem because when we think Pharisee, we think of a bad man, don't we?
00:17:20.119 --> 00:17:24.180
However, in the minds of all the listeners there, the Pharisee was the church man.
00:17:24.359 --> 00:17:25.680
He was the religious guy.
00:17:26.379 --> 00:17:31.079
A Pharisee to these listeners was scrupulous when he came to the law of God.
00:17:31.079 --> 00:17:38.460
And so when he says that he tithes, in verse 12, that means he is generous to the poor.
00:17:39.500 --> 00:17:44.099
And when he says, I don't commit adultery, in verse 11, it means he is a faithful husband.
00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:50.519
So you see, the Pharisee is offering his evidence that he is actually a good man.
00:17:50.519 --> 00:17:54.539
And to the Pharisee, in his prayer there in verse 11, he says,
00:17:54.680 --> 00:18:01.559
God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
00:18:01.779 --> 00:18:05.160
or even like this tax selector standing next to me.
00:18:06.099 --> 00:18:07.759
I fast twice a week.
00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:10.039
I give tithes of all that I get.
00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:13.480
But there's one obvious problem with this prayer.
00:18:13.480 --> 00:18:20.819
I mean, after one says, God, I thank you, should not the things that follow be about the things that God has done for him.
00:18:22.360 --> 00:18:26.240
However, after he says, God, I thank you, this is the last we hear about God.
00:18:27.140 --> 00:18:35.720
His prayer contains no sense of sin or need, no confession, no acknowledging of his guilt, or even his own helplessness.
00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:39.140
There's no crying out for mercy or grace.
00:18:39.140 --> 00:18:42.980
And notice how he says there in verses 11 and 12,
00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:47.980
I thank, I am not, I fast, I give, I get.
00:18:48.980 --> 00:18:51.660
It's simply a recital of self-worship.
00:18:52.900 --> 00:18:57.900
And the Lord Jesus is showing us here that under the shroud of it being about God,
00:18:58.680 --> 00:19:03.000
this man's prayer is actually about adoration of self.
00:19:03.840 --> 00:19:07.820
You see, he's expressing not only his sort of self-proclaimed goodness,
00:19:07.819 --> 00:19:12.519
but also view that in some way, maybe his goodness should be acknowledged.
00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:16.700
And we come to the second man, the tax collector.
00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:20.059
He was a crook, a scoundrel, he was a traitor to his people.
00:19:20.639 --> 00:19:26.839
In the culture at the time, you were not required to keep any promise that you made to a thief, a murderer, or a tax collector.
00:19:27.900 --> 00:19:32.299
And if you were to ever watch one of these World War II movies, I'm sure you've seen them,
00:19:32.359 --> 00:19:35.119
where the mayor of a little town in Holland or France,
00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:38.739
it kind of welcomes the Nazis when they come as a result.
00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:43.419
And all during the war, he's living a great life and he's socializing and making lots of money.
00:19:43.579 --> 00:19:47.279
Well, that is who this man is, the tax collector.
00:19:47.399 --> 00:19:48.799
He was a friend of the enemy.
00:19:49.479 --> 00:19:54.639
He was a traitor who was enriching himself on the occupation of the Romans being in their country.
00:19:54.640 --> 00:20:00.000
So what you have in these two men are the extremes of society.
00:20:00.900 --> 00:20:06.820
One represents the ultimate religious man, and the other represents the height of sin and wickedness.
00:20:08.320 --> 00:20:14.280
And then Jesus pronounces that the good man, the Pharisee in the story, is lost.
00:20:15.320 --> 00:20:18.640
And the bad man, the traitor, is saved.
00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:26.759
What Jesus is saying to us here is he's trying to show us that if you try to be your own master, your own savior,
00:20:27.700 --> 00:20:30.880
then what you're actually doing is rejecting God as your savior.
00:20:31.580 --> 00:20:36.200
I mean, how can God be the master of your life if you're holding on to that position yourself?
00:20:37.660 --> 00:20:41.400
Starting with the fall of Adam and the Garden of Eden when Satan said to Eve,
00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:46.660
For God knows that when you eat it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God.
00:20:46.660 --> 00:20:53.560
Ever since that moment, we've all seen men and women trying to be their own masters, their own gods.
00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:58.040
And although these two men seem to be polar opposites,
00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:01.300
they are both in exactly the same place.
00:21:02.420 --> 00:21:05.980
You see, there are two ways that you can attempt to be your own savior.
00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:11.440
Either by keeping all of God's laws so that you can feel like you've earned something and you may be owed,
00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:16.920
or by simply breaking all of God's laws and rejecting him outright like the tax collector.
00:21:17.700 --> 00:21:24.220
Two seemingly opposite approaches, but both get you to exactly the same place.
00:21:26.019 --> 00:21:30.860
Jesus is not saying that it's okay to be a tax collector and that it's not okay to be a religious man.
00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:37.660
No, what Jesus is saying is that both good people and bad people in their fallen natural state
00:21:37.660 --> 00:21:41.160
are being good and bad for exactly the same reason.
00:21:41.560 --> 00:21:46.360
To control their own life, to be their own master, to be their own savior.
00:21:48.080 --> 00:21:49.720
And notice here how the Pharisee says,
00:21:50.380 --> 00:21:52.460
I am not like other men.
00:21:53.340 --> 00:21:56.160
I am not an extortioner or adulterer.
00:21:57.080 --> 00:22:01.140
You see, I can think of all kinds of things that I am not or that I don't do.
00:22:01.140 --> 00:22:04.700
But all that does is just put up a smoke screen.
00:22:04.860 --> 00:22:08.060
It sort of hides all the sins that I have done.
00:22:08.820 --> 00:22:10.980
He says, I tithe, I fast.
00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:16.620
It's the Pharisee himself here who is now deciding what it is to worship God.
00:22:17.120 --> 00:22:18.860
He says, I tithe of everything.
00:22:19.900 --> 00:22:24.200
The Bible only requires that he actually tithe 10% of certain things.
00:22:25.120 --> 00:22:27.220
He says, I fast twice a week.
00:22:27.220 --> 00:22:31.100
The Bible only requires him to fast once a year at Yom Kippur.
00:22:32.019 --> 00:22:34.440
So he's picking out the things that he finds easy to do,
00:22:34.519 --> 00:22:35.960
that he can do on his own.
00:22:36.360 --> 00:22:37.940
And he just doubles up on them.
00:22:39.420 --> 00:22:43.660
The Pharisee is now apparently the one who is deciding what it is to worship and honor God.
00:22:43.779 --> 00:22:47.500
It's no longer God who is ordering the worship for the Pharisee.
00:22:48.740 --> 00:22:51.700
And notice how he says, he never says this in his prayer.
00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:52.660
He never says something like,
00:22:53.079 --> 00:22:55.079
Thank you, Lord, that I am becoming more loving.
00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:59.119
Thank you, Lord, that you are making me more humble and patient.
00:22:59.500 --> 00:23:03.339
Or thank you, Lord, that even living in the hardship of this life,
00:23:03.419 --> 00:23:06.159
I am finding joy through my relationship with you.
00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:08.699
There's nothing ever like that.
00:23:08.759 --> 00:23:10.559
You see, the problem for the Pharisee is that
00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:14.339
he is not able to see his spiritual state.
00:23:15.099 --> 00:23:16.779
He compares himself with his neighbors,
00:23:16.779 --> 00:23:20.879
and he thinks his goal is to outdo his neighbor.
00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:26.340
I think the underlying message here is that
00:23:26.340 --> 00:23:31.640
religious people can be in danger of never seeing their situation.
00:23:32.980 --> 00:23:36.220
And never is the heart of a man or woman in more danger
00:23:36.220 --> 00:23:40.660
than when they are unable to see their true spiritual condition.
00:23:42.040 --> 00:23:44.140
I mean, I think that runs throughout the Bible, doesn't it?
00:23:44.140 --> 00:23:47.560
Never is the heart of a man or woman in more danger
00:23:47.560 --> 00:23:52.780
than when they are unable to see their own sinful condition.
00:23:55.020 --> 00:23:56.380
You know, at the start of the parable,
00:23:57.340 --> 00:24:00.040
both the tax-select and the Pharisee are polar opposites
00:24:00.040 --> 00:24:02.220
in terms of how their lives look to other people.
00:24:02.220 --> 00:24:06.779
However, it was not what they were in the eyes of men that matters,
00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:08.819
but what they are in the eyes of God.
00:24:09.559 --> 00:24:10.700
Both men were lost.
00:24:11.539 --> 00:24:15.319
Both men were living lives that are unrighteous in the sight of God.
00:24:16.380 --> 00:24:19.759
But the Pharisee is not aware that he's doing it.
00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:23.100
And the danger is that even if you told him,
00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:26.079
he most likely would not believe you.
00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:29.599
And never is a man or woman in more danger
00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:33.000
than when they cannot see their own spiritual situation.
00:24:34.619 --> 00:24:37.319
So now look at the prayer of the tax collector in verse 13,
00:24:37.439 --> 00:24:38.419
which the Lord commands.
00:24:39.379 --> 00:24:41.740
But the tax collector, standing far off,
00:24:42.819 --> 00:24:45.439
would not even lift up his eyes to heaven,
00:24:45.539 --> 00:24:46.819
but he beat his breast saying,
00:24:47.199 --> 00:24:50.179
God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
00:24:51.859 --> 00:24:54.299
Now here is the answer to the big question.
00:24:54.299 --> 00:24:59.059
How does one get into the eternal kingdom of God?
00:24:59.419 --> 00:25:02.000
How is one reconciled with God?
00:25:03.539 --> 00:25:04.519
Like the tax collector,
00:25:04.740 --> 00:25:07.339
you accept your true state of sinfulness
00:25:07.339 --> 00:25:09.859
and you look to God and you ask for mercy.
00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:12.819
Now I think it's important to note here that
00:25:12.819 --> 00:25:15.579
our translation there says in verse 13,
00:25:15.919 --> 00:25:18.059
God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
00:25:18.839 --> 00:25:20.539
It's actually not quite correct.
00:25:20.539 --> 00:25:23.279
In the original, Luke uses the definite article,
00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:23.940
and it reads,
00:25:24.299 --> 00:25:26.799
God, be merciful to me, the sinner.
00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:29.279
And you see, I think that's important
00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:30.759
because by saying the sinner,
00:25:31.460 --> 00:25:33.539
he's not comparing himself to anyone else.
00:25:33.619 --> 00:25:37.139
You see, what use is it to be more moral
00:25:37.139 --> 00:25:39.259
than other men and women when in reality,
00:25:40.099 --> 00:25:42.180
all men and women are vile and imperfect
00:25:42.180 --> 00:25:43.319
in the sight of God?
00:25:43.319 --> 00:25:48.099
It is, in all of our self-examination,
00:25:48.779 --> 00:25:52.200
we must not look at ourselves in comparison with others.
00:25:52.339 --> 00:25:54.059
We must only look at ourselves
00:25:54.059 --> 00:25:57.679
in comparison to the requirements that God makes.
00:25:58.500 --> 00:25:59.700
Romans 3 says that,
00:25:59.919 --> 00:26:02.859
for we have already charged that all men are under sin.
00:26:03.700 --> 00:26:05.639
None is righteous, no, not one.
00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:07.860
No one does good, not even one.
00:26:09.300 --> 00:26:12.980
So, if we examine our sin
00:26:12.980 --> 00:26:14.960
in relation to other people's sin,
00:26:16.020 --> 00:26:19.259
there's always somebody that we're going to be able to find
00:26:19.259 --> 00:26:20.880
who has done more sin than us.
00:26:21.620 --> 00:26:22.720
And if that's the case,
00:26:23.480 --> 00:26:25.560
then we are only ever a sinner.
00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:28.919
We never see ourselves as the sinner.
00:26:30.119 --> 00:26:31.539
And you see, this is the great obstacle
00:26:31.539 --> 00:26:33.159
for the Pharisee in the story.
00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:37.240
But the tax collector is looking at himself.
00:26:37.700 --> 00:26:39.579
He's looking at his sin in a way that
00:26:39.579 --> 00:26:40.859
you must see yourself
00:26:40.859 --> 00:26:43.240
if you want to resolve your situation with God.
00:26:43.639 --> 00:26:46.200
If you want to know how to spend eternity
00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:48.039
in his kingdom with him.
00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:51.200
You see, this tax collector comes to the temple
00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:53.319
and he simply says,
00:26:53.319 --> 00:26:56.240
I am a spiritual wreck.
00:26:57.159 --> 00:26:59.159
All I know is that I'm lost.
00:26:59.939 --> 00:27:01.759
And whatever anybody else is saying
00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:02.740
or is not saying,
00:27:02.799 --> 00:27:05.220
it has no effect on the fact
00:27:05.220 --> 00:27:08.359
that my soul is totally bankrupt.
00:27:09.960 --> 00:27:10.939
And so he says,
00:27:11.119 --> 00:27:13.819
God, be merciful to me, the sinner.
00:27:15.259 --> 00:27:16.919
And as he uses that word merciful,
00:27:17.740 --> 00:27:19.639
the tax collector is using a word that means
00:27:19.639 --> 00:27:22.220
atone for my sins.
00:27:22.220 --> 00:27:24.180
In the original language,
00:27:24.339 --> 00:27:25.880
it's the word hilasterian.
00:27:26.640 --> 00:27:29.059
The word hilasterian is also used
00:27:29.059 --> 00:27:30.380
in Hebrews 2
00:27:30.380 --> 00:27:33.140
when the writer speaking of Jesus writes,
00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:34.640
For this reason,
00:27:35.339 --> 00:27:38.700
Jesus became a merciful and faithful high priest
00:27:38.700 --> 00:27:40.100
in the service to God
00:27:40.100 --> 00:27:42.059
that he might make atonement,
00:27:42.819 --> 00:27:44.500
that he might make hilasterian
00:27:44.500 --> 00:27:46.579
for the sins of the people.
00:27:46.579 --> 00:27:49.759
You see, the tax collector knows
00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:53.119
that he cannot deal with his problem himself.
00:27:54.099 --> 00:27:56.079
And he knows that if there is nothing
00:27:56.079 --> 00:27:58.419
outside of his own power,
00:27:58.779 --> 00:27:59.960
outside his own self,
00:28:00.039 --> 00:28:01.079
to deal with this problem,
00:28:01.960 --> 00:28:04.039
then he has no chance whatsoever
00:28:04.039 --> 00:28:06.839
of knowing God or spending eternity with him.
00:28:07.960 --> 00:28:09.279
Notice he's not asking God
00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:10.659
to compare him to others
00:28:10.659 --> 00:28:11.980
or to lower his standards.
00:28:11.980 --> 00:28:13.259
He's just simply saying,
00:28:13.620 --> 00:28:16.519
I need atonement for my sins.
00:28:18.660 --> 00:28:19.860
Here we have two men,
00:28:19.980 --> 00:28:20.559
two prayers,
00:28:20.700 --> 00:28:21.460
two eternities.
00:28:23.480 --> 00:28:24.360
Have you ever asked God
00:28:24.360 --> 00:28:25.299
to pardon you
00:28:25.299 --> 00:28:26.799
the way the tax man did?
00:28:27.799 --> 00:28:28.500
Have you ever asked God
00:28:28.500 --> 00:28:29.180
to pardon you
00:28:29.180 --> 00:28:30.519
through the atoning sacrifice
00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:31.620
of the Lord Jesus
00:28:31.620 --> 00:28:33.140
on the cross?
00:28:33.140 --> 00:28:35.880
I mean, maybe you are
00:28:35.880 --> 00:28:37.060
seeking a righteousness
00:28:37.060 --> 00:28:38.400
that's built on your own
00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:39.640
religious reputation
00:28:39.640 --> 00:28:41.820
or on your own moral achievement
00:28:41.820 --> 00:28:44.220
or maybe you're hoping
00:28:44.220 --> 00:28:45.800
that God will simply find you
00:28:45.800 --> 00:28:47.500
righteous enough.
00:28:49.100 --> 00:28:49.560
In other words,
00:28:49.620 --> 00:28:50.380
the real question is,
00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:51.560
what is it that you are
00:28:51.560 --> 00:28:54.300
staking your eternity on?
00:28:56.060 --> 00:28:57.860
But note how the parable ends here
00:28:57.860 --> 00:29:00.700
with Jesus saying in verse 14
00:29:00.700 --> 00:29:01.680
that the tax collector
00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:03.040
went down to his house
00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:03.680
justified.
00:29:04.399 --> 00:29:05.059
And then he adds,
00:29:05.740 --> 00:29:07.339
for the one who humbles himself
00:29:07.339 --> 00:29:08.960
will be exalted.
00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:11.539
The tax collector
00:29:11.539 --> 00:29:12.879
was righteous
00:29:12.879 --> 00:29:13.879
in the eyes of God.
00:29:13.980 --> 00:29:14.559
He was acquitted.
00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:16.399
He was set free
00:29:16.399 --> 00:29:17.940
from the bondage of sin
00:29:17.940 --> 00:29:18.980
and accepted
00:29:18.980 --> 00:29:20.319
to spend eternity
00:29:20.319 --> 00:29:21.960
with God.
00:29:23.659 --> 00:29:24.059
And you see,
00:29:24.139 --> 00:29:24.980
it was the tax collector,
00:29:25.099 --> 00:29:26.099
not the Pharisee,
00:29:26.599 --> 00:29:28.000
who accepted his sin
00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:28.680
outright.
00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:30.539
He recognized
00:29:30.539 --> 00:29:31.399
this helplessness
00:29:31.399 --> 00:29:32.000
to do anything
00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:32.859
about it himself.
00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:34.619
He just dropped
00:29:34.619 --> 00:29:35.839
his sword of rebellion
00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:37.579
and he humbled himself
00:29:37.579 --> 00:29:38.359
to the mercy
00:29:38.359 --> 00:29:39.139
and the love
00:29:39.139 --> 00:29:39.960
of the Lord Jesus.
00:29:41.539 --> 00:29:42.379
The tax collector
00:29:42.379 --> 00:29:43.480
was able to find
00:29:43.480 --> 00:29:45.039
a humility
00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:45.519
that,
00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:46.480
for which he can
00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:47.279
honestly say,
00:29:47.819 --> 00:29:49.480
there is nothing
00:29:49.480 --> 00:29:50.619
in me to respect.
00:29:51.619 --> 00:29:52.579
Deep down
00:29:52.579 --> 00:29:54.740
in my heart of hearts,
00:29:54.740 --> 00:29:56.500
I am wretched.
00:29:56.500 --> 00:29:58.819
I have nothing else
00:29:58.819 --> 00:29:59.579
that I can say.
00:30:01.579 --> 00:30:02.079
You know,
00:30:02.120 --> 00:30:03.240
we sing a song
00:30:03.240 --> 00:30:04.140
quite often
00:30:04.140 --> 00:30:05.059
that I love a lot
00:30:05.059 --> 00:30:05.359
actually.
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In America,
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we call it
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It Is Well With My Soul.
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I think over here
00:30:09.160 --> 00:30:09.740
you call it
00:30:09.740 --> 00:30:11.359
When Peace Like a River.
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Have you ever thought
00:30:13.859 --> 00:30:14.299
about that?
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when we sing
00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:16.619
that verse,
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My sin,
00:30:18.539 --> 00:30:19.159
O the bliss,
00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:20.639
such glorious thought,
00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:21.359
my sin,
00:30:21.460 --> 00:30:22.039
not in part
00:30:22.039 --> 00:30:22.700
but in whole,
00:30:23.299 --> 00:30:25.200
is nailed to the cross
00:30:25.200 --> 00:30:27.319
and I bear it no more.
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Praise the Lord,
00:30:29.539 --> 00:30:30.240
O my soul.
00:30:31.720 --> 00:30:32.259
Have you ever thought
00:30:32.259 --> 00:30:33.120
about what we're saying
00:30:33.120 --> 00:30:33.960
when we sing that?
00:30:34.900 --> 00:30:36.140
We're saying that
00:30:36.140 --> 00:30:37.620
the gospel
00:30:37.620 --> 00:30:40.360
is all outside of us.
00:30:40.880 --> 00:30:41.860
It has nothing to do
00:30:41.860 --> 00:30:42.580
with our feelings.
00:30:43.500 --> 00:30:44.880
It has everything to do
00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:46.100
with what has been done
00:30:46.100 --> 00:30:47.160
for us.
00:30:48.420 --> 00:30:49.880
It's about the fact
00:30:49.880 --> 00:30:51.000
that Jesus became
00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:52.160
the sinner.
00:30:52.680 --> 00:30:54.220
He became the ultimate sinner
00:30:54.220 --> 00:30:56.039
and He died on the cross
00:30:56.039 --> 00:30:57.000
for us.
00:30:58.380 --> 00:30:59.400
And as He hung there,
00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:01.660
He was looking at you
00:31:01.660 --> 00:31:02.720
and He was looking at me.
00:31:03.299 --> 00:31:04.360
He knew my name.
00:31:04.740 --> 00:31:05.660
He knew your name.
00:31:06.299 --> 00:31:07.339
He knew my sins.
00:31:07.460 --> 00:31:08.519
He knew your sins.
00:31:08.940 --> 00:31:09.680
And still,
00:31:10.600 --> 00:31:12.019
He loved us so much
00:31:12.019 --> 00:31:12.880
that He made
00:31:12.880 --> 00:31:15.640
atonement for us.
00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:19.259
Now, we noted earlier
00:31:19.259 --> 00:31:20.180
that in part
00:31:20.180 --> 00:31:20.920
the second coming
00:31:20.920 --> 00:31:21.600
of the Lord Jesus
00:31:21.600 --> 00:31:23.319
is being held back
00:31:23.319 --> 00:31:24.200
so that men and women
00:31:24.200 --> 00:31:25.360
still might have time
00:31:25.360 --> 00:31:26.319
to come to Christ
00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:27.680
to receive the saving mercy.
00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:30.259
Is it possible
00:31:30.259 --> 00:31:30.920
if there's someone
00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:32.420
sitting here today
00:31:32.420 --> 00:31:34.100
who is one of those
00:31:34.100 --> 00:31:34.799
he's waiting on?
00:31:36.299 --> 00:31:38.100
Maybe this is your time
00:31:38.100 --> 00:31:40.460
to simply stop the rebellion,
00:31:40.600 --> 00:31:41.700
to drop your sword,
00:31:41.940 --> 00:31:43.860
to lose your pride
00:31:43.860 --> 00:31:45.460
and your self-righteousness
00:31:45.460 --> 00:31:46.180
and pray
00:31:46.180 --> 00:31:47.960
as the tax man did.
00:31:48.019 --> 00:31:48.580
Lord Jesus,
00:31:48.759 --> 00:31:49.460
I need you.
00:31:50.319 --> 00:31:51.819
I am helpless without you.
00:31:51.940 --> 00:31:52.559
Forgive me.
00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:53.519
Show me mercy.
00:31:54.519 --> 00:31:55.099
Save me.
00:31:55.259 --> 00:31:55.779
Live in me.
00:31:55.879 --> 00:31:57.099
Come take me as your own.
00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:00.899
Because that
00:32:00.899 --> 00:32:02.799
is how you will find yourself
00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:03.899
reconciled to God.
00:32:05.019 --> 00:32:06.079
So let me pray for us.
00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:06.519
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