The Pharisee and the Publican

Well, let's take a few more minutes and read together in Luke's Gospel, please. Luke's Gospel, and this is found in Luke's Gospel chapter 18, is our reading tonight, and verse number 9. Luke chapter 18 and verse number 9. And he, the Lord Jesus, baked this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican.

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner.

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone that exalted himself shall be abased, and he that humbled himself shall be exalted. This is a classic story that is often used in the message of the gospel, and one of the values of this particular parable is that it targets a stumbling block that keeps many individuals from finding salvation, and that is a sense of self-righteousness.

And it stands out in all of its stark character here on the part of this Pharisee. Notice what he does. The fallacy that he makes, the conclusion, the failure that he makes, is he compares himself with other men.

And you remember the scripture says that they that compare themselves by themselves are not wise. So he compares himself with other men. Really what he ought to do, and what every individual who wants to get saved needs to do, is actually to lose sight of all other men, and to actually compare or contrast themselves with God's standard.

It's like the famous little anecdote of the little boy that comes running into his mom and says, Mom, I'm actually 10 feet tall. I just measured myself. And the mom says, how do you know that you're 10 feet tall? How could that be possible? And he shows her his little shrunk ruler by which he has measured his height.

And he's come up with the conclusion, I'm 10 feet tall. And that's what many people do. They are measuring themselves, but according to the wrong standard.

And so in the message of the gospel, what you need to do is not see how you stack up or how you measure yourself in comparison to other people, but you need to stack up yourself alongside of God's standard, alongside of God's particular person, and therefore you will understand somewhat of your sinfulness. It's impossible for you to come to a sense of your own repentance, of your own guilt, and your own sinfulness, if you have not first of all come to understand your sin in the sight of a holy God. So therefore we have this particular man, and he makes this comparison.

I thought that was interesting, because there is examples of men who compare themselves with others, and they actually come up with an appropriate conclusion. You remember that the Apostle Paul said, this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. So what's he doing? He's comparing himself with all others.

And he comes up with the conclusion, and he says, I'm worse than all others. I am the worst. I am the first, of whom I am chief.

Of all the others, I am the worst. And thank God, because he adopted that posture, and because he accepted without reserve that perspective, it was actually a true perspective. And as a result, as a repentant sinner, he came into the good of that wonderful declaration in the gospel, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Have you ever come to that particular standstill, where you've actually come to understand something of your sinfulness, and of your guiltiness before God? One of the things that happened just a couple of weeks ago, my sister came up to me and said, I'd like you to meet this young woman. And so I met this young woman, and she told me her name, and she told me that she was from the country of Kenya, and that just in January of this year, she had come to the city of Sarnia, and she had enrolled there as a student at Lambton College. And customary to what they do in the assembly at Sarnia, they have a welcome night, where they provide a meal, and give a welcome, and an introduction, and try to help foreign students with accommodating themselves to the Canadian culture, and understanding some of the ins and outs of life, and helping these people with all different practical things.

But in the process, establishing a rapport, and a relationship. And so what do you think happened? Well, it just so happened, that as a result of that, there was someone that invited her to a gospel meeting. And she says, you know, in Kenya, I was in a church, and I was with my mom, and we were serving in the church, and the pastor very carefully monitored all of our salaries, and he made sure that each of us was giving a certain proportion and percentage to the church, to the pastor, and that that was actually part of our condition, that was required if we hope to land in heaven.

But she says, I was somewhat dissatisfied with everything, and she says, I knew that there was an emptiness, and there was something missing in my life, but I couldn't put my finger on it, and I couldn't identify it, or put a label on it, to say what it was that was missing. And she says, I look back over the trip, and it's a long trip from Kenya to Canada, and she said, I had different options, and she said, you know, I considered going to Australia, and then she said, I came to the United States, but nothing worked out there, and she said, then I was considering Canada, and she said, I had multiple options about different places to go, and she says, I finally landed at the city of Sarnia. She says, I didn't know it then, but looking back now, she says, it was God that brought me to Sarnia.

You know, it's an interesting thing, because there was a gospel series that was going on, and she came to the one gospel meeting, and she says, even though I've got exams, and it's a hectic, a heavy load that I've got right now with my college responsibilities, I don't care. I am going to go to every single meeting. Wow.

And Brody Thibodeau and Dan Schutt were in the middle of a gospel series, and she went every night for the first week, and she went every night for the second week, and she said, on the Wednesday night, she says, I was sitting there in the gospel meeting, and she says, they took up the story of the publican and the Pharisee in the temple, and she says, they got down to that verse, God be merciful to me the sinner. God have compassion on me the sinner, and she says, right there, I felt so bad about my sin. She said, I felt so bad about my sin.

She says, I actually doubted whether God himself would even forgive me for what I had done. And I listened to that, and I just thought in my head, wow, talk about a person being convicted of their sin. Talk about a person that is coming to terms with this ugly reality of sin in their life.

I don't know what she has done, and I didn't need her to tell me what she had done. But God was working, and through the medium of the Word of God, you know what happened? Her conscience became disturbed. Her conscience became awakened, and her heart was troubled, and there was a heavy load of sin and guilt that was upon her.

She said, I went home that night, and I went up to my bedroom, and she says, I got down on my knees, and she said, I was crying, and I said to God what the publican said to God in the temple, God be merciful to me a sinner. And she says, right there, she says, I got peace. And you know how I got peace? She says, I understood that because Christ had died for my sins, God could have mercy on me the sinner.

You know, it's not complicated theology. It's not rocket science. That's why some that we have heard even tonight got saved when they were children.

It's so simple that even a child can take it in. In fact, many times a child will fast-track into salvation far quicker than an adult will. It's a wonderful thing to be saved.

You know, it's a difficult thing to get saved. You know, it was not likely an easy day for this poor publican. The Pharisee was quite full of braggadocio, and he was bright.

He was quite brave, and he was quite bold, and he is quite shameless, and he is very proud of himself, and he's very self-confident. You know, it's always funny to listen to someone that's proud, and someone that's overconfident, and someone that's bragging on themselves. Because sooner or later, they're gonna put their foot in it.

They're gonna step, they're gonna trip up. And you know what this man does? By his absolutely confused conclusion, where he says to God, I thank thee, as if he's gonna commence a psalm of praise and thanksgiving. But it's no psalm of praise and thanksgiving.

He's not acknowledging anything about God. He's gonna talk to God about himself, and you know what's interesting? He says, I thank God that I am not as other men are, and he goes through the list, or even as this publican. You know what? What he didn't know was, he was exactly right.

In his mind, this publican is privy, and part of the very worst profession in Israel. And so he assumes that on the basis of that man's career choice, that this is just a completely corrupt man. And I'm thankful that I'm not like this man.

What he didn't realize, was he was a hundred percent right. He was not like that other man. How was that other man? Well, putting aside the sin question, putting aside any acts of sin, just listen to his attitude, and his awareness of his sinfulness.

He says, God be merciful to me, a sinner. You know what happened? That man is acknowledging that I'm in serious problems, because my sin is against God. So he directs his prayer to God.

And you know what he's doing? He's exhibiting humility. The other man is showcasing conceit. You're right, buddy.

You are not like this guy at all. You are so stuck full of yourself. You know what? You need to go home.

You need to look in the mirror. You need to take a hike. You need to take a pill.

You are completely messed up in your thinking. You are sure, absolutely on target. You are absolutely spot-on.

You are not like this man. This man is a man that actually is providing you an example right in front of your face, right within earshot, right within your eyesight. And you're blind to your own blindness.

You know, it's an amazing thing how dark the human mind can be. How corrupt is our sinful nature, and how blind is our hearts. So here's a man, and the publican, I want you to notice, it's a difficult day for him, because he wasn't invited to the temple, so he comes uninvited.

He's not only uninvited, probably because of trappings of his career, not only in the eyes of this Pharisee, but in the eyes of other people around the temple precincts. He's likely unwelcome. He's likely unwanted.

He dare not. He's going to overcome the hostility of the audience, the hostility of the crowd, the hostility of the culture, the whole ambience, the whole surroundings, the whole circumstance, the whole situation. You know what? He is uninvited, and he is unwelcome, and he is unwanted.

But he is undeterred. You know why? Because he's laboring, and there's something that is compelling him, something that is goading him, and you know what it is? It's a troubled heart where there's no rest, and there is no peace, and there is no respite, and there is no comfort. And here's a man, and he understands his sinfulness, and it's bothering him like the plague, and it's caused a great disturbance.

It's an earthquake. It's a thing that has shook up his entire experience, and this man is so unsettled that he cannot wait another day despite all of the barriers, and despite all of the reasons his mind could likely come up with, just tell him not to come today. He cannot come tomorrow, and he comes today to the temple.

You know the kind of people that get saved? The people that get saved are the people that want to get saved right now. The people that don't want to put it off another day. They don't want to put it off another minute.

They want to get saved before the meeting is over. I remember in my own case, child and silly, like I couldn't fulfill it, I remember making the pledge to myself, you know, stealing my jaw, determining in my mind, I am NOT going to sleep tonight until I find salvation. Of course, I'm panic-stricken because I'm on the road to hell, and if I die in my sleep that night, I'm gonna wake in hell.

And so I want to stave off, and I want to stall the slumber, and put it in its place, and keep it in its place, and make one determined, focused effort towards the salvation of my soul. Here's a man, and he's in the presence of God. Notice his confession.

His confession bespeaks to me his concern. He stands afar off. This is not just being, you know, he's not just a social introvert.

He's not just someone that's shy in a crowd. He's actually a man that feels that he is unacceptable in the presence of God. I can't even come close to the presence of God.

He's a man that is not lifting up his eyes. He is not only, he's sensing that he is not entitled. He is unentitled to be here.

He is unworthy to be here. He's unsure of himself in the presence of this holy God. And at the base of it all, he is unsettled, and he's unsatisfied, and he is as miserable as sin can make him.

And he doesn't have Christ. And he's got no one else to talk to. But I want you to think not only of his confession, not only of his coming, but I want you to notice his call.

And his call is directed towards the right person. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And he comes to this point and he's going to call upon God, and he's going to lift up his voice, and he's going to beat upon his breasts in a sign of contrition, in a sign of brokenness, in a sign of a person completely conscious and convinced of their sinfulness in the presence of God.

And this man, who has not attended one gospel meeting, is providing a lesson for our gospel meeting tonight, for the benefit of everyone here. And he says, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. You know, what I like about the fact that he made this call is that he does so with an eyeshot, with an eyesight, of the sacrifice.

And he must have some awareness of spiritual truths, because the word he uses for mercy is not the normal word for mercy. It's actually the word that belongs to a family of words that relate to a sacrifice that is made, that is acceptable before God, that corresponds and is the counterpart, is the corollary towards the seriousness of sin as God sees it. It is a sacrifice that actually gives priority to the God that sin has been against, the God who has been offended by sin.

This sacrifice is then one that is offered, and the fire is burning, and the wood is smoldering, and the smoke is ascending, and the animal has died, and the blood has been shed. And the man, as he looks upon the sacrifice, he says, God, look upon that sacrifice and be propitious to me, the sinner. Look favorably upon me as a result of what you see and are receiving by means of the sacrifice.

And if tonight you are a person, and you have been troubled by your sin, and you are burdened by your guilt, and you're wondering in your despair and panic of what to do, we can tell you tonight that there is a God that loves you. Listen to the motive. The motive of propitiation here in his love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son in relation to propitiation for our sins.

So that's the motive of it. God loves you. And the God that's been offended is the God that has actually contrived and actually come up with this very plan of how he himself, his throne of justice, could be propitiated and receive something that is actually satisfactory and is actually sufficient to cancel the sentence of judgment over your head and to deal with the question of your sinfulness.

Not only is there the motive of this propitiation, but there is actually the magnitude and the measure of it. Because this is the one, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world. And there's nobody here that believes in limited atonement, do they? You can't read that verse and think that there's some kind of a limited atonement.

There is enough in the work of Christ to save an infinite number of human races. We're an infinite number of human races to ever exist. And so here is a sufficiency in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ at the cross.

And I think that it has abiding validity and veracity. And thank God for its potency this very night. You know why? The verse doesn't say, and he was the propitiation for our sins.

It says he is. And he is the living embodiment and the eternal assurance for us of the abiding eternal value of that great propitiatory sacrifice that he made at the cross of Calvary once for all on our behalf and on yours. Such that to any individual of this fair world today, we can take the word of God in hand and tell them that there's enough in the work of Christ to save you.

And that what the Lord Jesus did at the cross, and because of his eternal resurrected person, he was and is and ever shall be the propitiation. God asks nothing more. God wants nothing further.

Nothing more could improve it and nothing is necessary to add to it. Christ will never need to return to complete or embellish it. And there's nothing you could ever do, nor I, to add to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ at the cross.

And when a person gets saved, now I know the scripture doesn't tell you as we've been taught to trust the finished work of Christ. You know what it tells you to do? It tells you to trust the Christ to finish the work. But what is nice is that it's not to trust Christ independent of the work.

So a person that gets saved trusts Christ in a contextualized sense. What is the context? Well, it's not the context of his birth as a baby in Bethlehem. It's not the context of him growing up as a young boy and teenager in Nazareth, working in his father's carpentry shop.

Nor is it when he's called to do ministry and labor for God and do the miracles and manifest abundantly. The undeniable credentials of his authentic messiahship. You know what it is? It's like the man in our parable.

He's looking at the sacrifice and he's lifting his eyes. No, he's not. He's bowing his head and he's saying, God be merciful to me a sin.

God, look at that sacrifice and pardon me. And the person that gets saved looks to Christ, but looks to Christ upon the cross. Because as the poet has said, see if I can remember it, a Christless, a crossless Christ, my savior could not be.

A crossless Christ, my refuge could not be, but oh, Christ crucified, I rest in thee. And we look there and in the timeless words, sublime and yet ever so simple of the apostle Paul, we say that son of God loved me and gave himself for me. You know, this man had made some conclusions and assumptions about his sinfulness.

He had some assumptions and understanding about God and he had some awareness of the sacrifice and he understood that he had no right to be in the presence of God. And the only thing to which he was entitled was the judgment of God. Hence the logic of his petition.

God be merciful. Don't pour upon me the judgment that I so fully deserve. Withhold the judgment and have mercy upon me, the sinner.

But what are we talking about? We're talking about another conclusion the man made and he made it without words. And the only reason we know it is by his actions. This man who was so driven, this man who was so desperate, this man who was so pleading with God to be merciful to him, the sinner.

Does he go home and stop asking God to be merciful to him, the sinner, because he figured God wouldn't hear or because he concluded God did hear and did heed his call for mercy and did bless him with a happy forgiveness of all his sins. A God that had been propitious to him has had mercy upon him because of a greater sacrifice than the one in the temple. It would be another sacrifice not far from the temple.

It would be the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that sacrifice not only had a motive, here in his love, first John 4 and verse number 10, it not only had a measure and a magnitude that could actually encompass every lost sinner, from Adam to the last mortal that'll ever live on the face of this earth. And yet there are going to be people who go to hell unnecessarily because there's enough in the death of Christ to save them.

It's sufficient, but it's not efficient for them because they never repented and they never came to this juncture in their journey that this man came to in eternal jeopardy, under great concern and alarm because of their great dilemma where they've turned to the Christ who died on Calvary. And this is the one that God has set forth as a propitiation. And your faith in that work that God has manifested to set forth as a defense of his own righteousness in dealing with your sin, you can come into the benefit of it through repentance, as our man manifests here, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

This man had enough confidence that his plea had been heard, that he not only didn't stay there to continue repeating it, because you don't keep looking for something if you already found it. And the man came looking, and the man came longing, and the man came lisping out this plea of great confession, abject helplessness, and the man left that day. He came with a burden of sin and he went home to his house justified with the blessing of salvation.

What are you going to do tonight? I trust that his example will be the template that you will follow as you pursue this great quest. The single most important matter you will ever consider that has to do with the salvation eternally of your soul or the damnation eternally of your soul. With such weighty matters in the balances, may God help you not to trivialize or minimize this great important matter, but that you might look away to the sacrifice and look away to the Savior, and that God will be merciful to you, a sinner, even tonight.

Shall God bless his word.