WEBVTT 00:00:07.660 --> 00:00:16.519 Chapter 18, verse 9. Praise the Lord. I say that 00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:20.100 because last night I dreamed that I got up here 00:00:20.100 --> 00:00:23.019 to preach and I could not remember a single passage 00:00:23.019 --> 00:00:26.600 in the whole Bible. I couldn't come up with nothing. 00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:29.100 I didn't know what book I was in, what chapter 00:00:29.100 --> 00:00:32.380 I was in. I couldn't find it. I couldn't think 00:00:32.380 --> 00:00:35.409 of nothing. I couldn't think of... I couldn't 00:00:35.409 --> 00:00:37.429 think of nothing. I could not think of a single 00:00:37.429 --> 00:00:40.409 word of God to just speak. And I was like, well, 00:00:40.409 --> 00:00:42.210 maybe I made a note about what I was going to 00:00:42.210 --> 00:00:44.490 preach on. I started looking, and I couldn't 00:00:44.490 --> 00:00:48.149 find a note anywhere, and it was just horrible. 00:00:48.390 --> 00:00:52.350 That dream happens a lot, and praise the Lord, 00:00:52.509 --> 00:00:55.689 it hadn't come true yet, but if it does, that's 00:00:55.689 --> 00:00:58.969 going to be a scary day. But we're going to be 00:00:58.969 --> 00:01:04.950 in Luke chapter 18, verse 9. Luke chapter 18, 00:01:05.250 --> 00:01:10.230 verse 9. I love this passage. I know I've preached 00:01:10.230 --> 00:01:13.750 on it several times throughout the years. We're 00:01:13.750 --> 00:01:16.329 going to talk about it for just a moment this 00:01:16.329 --> 00:01:19.510 morning. This is one of the parables of Jesus. 00:01:19.689 --> 00:01:22.930 Jesus told lots of parables. They were short, 00:01:22.989 --> 00:01:26.030 simple stories that usually had some spiritual 00:01:26.030 --> 00:01:29.230 connection, something that was easy for his hearers 00:01:29.230 --> 00:01:33.060 to relate to, that they could connect to. It 00:01:33.060 --> 00:01:35.939 was a way to make his hearers maybe think about 00:01:35.939 --> 00:01:39.340 things in a different way and maybe even shed 00:01:39.340 --> 00:01:43.319 light on their own sins. Now, we need that same 00:01:43.319 --> 00:01:47.659 type of thing to go on in our life because what 00:01:47.659 --> 00:01:51.439 is so easy for me, and maybe for you too, it 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:55.659 is so easy for us to see everybody else's problems. 00:01:55.980 --> 00:01:59.719 It's so easy for us to figure out how to solve 00:01:59.719 --> 00:02:02.900 everybody else's problems. And it is. Boy, we 00:02:02.900 --> 00:02:05.140 see people's problems on Facebook. We see them 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:07.079 on the news. We see other people's families. 00:02:07.319 --> 00:02:09.979 And we say, well, what they ought to do. And 00:02:09.979 --> 00:02:11.759 then we proceed to say what they ought to do. 00:02:11.780 --> 00:02:14.840 And what's going to fix it? I can fix it. But 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:16.759 yet, how many times is there problems in our 00:02:16.759 --> 00:02:21.259 own life, in our own families? And you know what? 00:02:21.780 --> 00:02:24.340 The people whose problems you can fix. Or looking 00:02:24.340 --> 00:02:26.080 at your problems and saying, I can fix his problem. 00:02:26.259 --> 00:02:28.039 What we all need to do is just get together with 00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:30.099 a cup of hot chocolate, maybe, and you can tell 00:02:30.099 --> 00:02:31.840 me how to fix my problems, and I'll tell you 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:34.819 how to fix yours, and we can all be happy. But 00:02:34.819 --> 00:02:38.939 it's not that easy. It's not that easy. And a 00:02:38.939 --> 00:02:43.000 lot of times, the real problem is this, is that 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:45.879 we have sin and we have problems in our life, 00:02:46.039 --> 00:02:50.099 and we don't see them at all. And that's what 00:02:50.099 --> 00:02:55.500 Jesus was addressing here. It represented a group 00:02:55.500 --> 00:02:59.300 of people that, in his eyes, he was doing great. 00:02:59.939 --> 00:03:02.360 He was doing great. He had nothing to worry about. 00:03:02.460 --> 00:03:04.740 He was doing so much better than the rest of 00:03:04.740 --> 00:03:07.159 the lowlifes that he just was praising God and 00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:11.180 how good he was doing. And maybe that's us sometimes. 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:14.919 Maybe we don't want to admit it if we know it. 00:03:15.139 --> 00:03:18.099 Maybe we don't know it. But that's the beauty 00:03:18.099 --> 00:03:20.620 of God's Word. That's the beauty of Jesus. And 00:03:20.620 --> 00:03:24.270 that's the beauty of these parables. We need 00:03:24.270 --> 00:03:28.090 to pause and we need to think in these stories 00:03:28.090 --> 00:03:31.150 that we see and in these parables we see, who 00:03:31.150 --> 00:03:33.530 am I in this story? We always want to be the 00:03:33.530 --> 00:03:36.610 good guy, but maybe the fact of the matter is 00:03:36.610 --> 00:03:40.090 we aren't the good guy. Maybe we're the bad guy. 00:03:40.770 --> 00:03:43.129 And when we realize we're the bad guy, it makes 00:03:43.129 --> 00:03:46.789 the good guy, Jesus, look even better. So let's 00:03:46.789 --> 00:03:48.349 read through these scriptures. We'll talk for 00:03:48.349 --> 00:03:51.270 a second and then we'll get started. We'll pray 00:03:51.270 --> 00:03:53.979 after we read through them. Luke chapter 18, 00:03:54.199 --> 00:03:59.280 verse 9. He also told this parable to some who 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:02.580 trusted in themselves, that they were righteous 00:04:02.580 --> 00:04:07.219 and looked down on everyone else. Two men went 00:04:07.219 --> 00:04:11.319 up to the temple complex to pray, one a Pharisee 00:04:11.319 --> 00:04:15.159 and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee took 00:04:15.159 --> 00:04:19.560 his stand and was praying like this, God, I thank 00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:22.899 you that I am not like other people. greedy, 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:26.540 unrighteous adulterers, or even like this tax 00:04:26.540 --> 00:04:30.779 collector. I fast twice a week. I give a tenth 00:04:30.779 --> 00:04:35.939 of everything I get. But the tax collector, standing 00:04:35.939 --> 00:04:40.360 far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven, 00:04:40.500 --> 00:04:44.860 but kept striking his chest and saying, God, 00:04:44.860 --> 00:04:50.360 turn your wrath from me, a sinner. I tell you, 00:04:50.779 --> 00:04:53.600 This one went down to his house justified rather 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:57.500 than the other. Because everyone who exalts himself 00:04:57.500 --> 00:05:00.959 will be humbled. The one who humbles himself 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:06.060 will be exalted. Let's pray. Father God, we come 00:05:06.060 --> 00:05:07.779 to you now. We thank you for your good word. 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:10.439 I pray, God, that you would just help us to pay 00:05:10.439 --> 00:05:15.100 attention to our own life. That we don't fall 00:05:15.100 --> 00:05:17.959 into this trap that this Pharisee fell into, 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:21.300 dear Lord. That we don't... Think too highly 00:05:21.300 --> 00:05:24.740 of ourselves that we just think that we have 00:05:24.740 --> 00:05:28.160 made it, dear Lord. And we are doing so good. 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:30.899 And we are so much better than others, God. We 00:05:30.899 --> 00:05:33.279 don't want to have that heart of pride within 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:38.399 us. And maybe we do. And if we do, dear Lord, 00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:41.500 I pray that you would show that to us. I pray, 00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:44.639 God, today that we would lay down our pride at 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:48.199 the foot of the cross. That we would not pretend 00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:51.629 to be something that we're not. but that we would 00:05:51.629 --> 00:05:56.069 acknowledge that we are simply sinners, unworthy 00:05:56.069 --> 00:06:00.110 of your grace, unworthy of your mercy. But dear 00:06:00.110 --> 00:06:02.930 Lord, we seek you and we need those things because 00:06:02.930 --> 00:06:06.750 God, we cannot make it through life without them. 00:06:07.410 --> 00:06:10.430 So I pray today, dear Lord, if we came into this 00:06:10.430 --> 00:06:14.470 place with a proud spirit, that your Holy Spirit 00:06:14.470 --> 00:06:17.629 would speak to us through these words, that we 00:06:17.629 --> 00:06:20.509 would humble ourselves before you today. And 00:06:20.509 --> 00:06:26.209 I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. A short 00:06:26.209 --> 00:06:31.829 and simple story. Two men in this story. A Pharisee 00:06:31.829 --> 00:06:34.670 who was self -righteous and a tax collector. 00:06:34.970 --> 00:06:38.189 Now, really, Jesus is signaling out two groups 00:06:38.189 --> 00:06:40.949 of people here. He's signaling out the religious 00:06:40.949 --> 00:06:44.050 self -righteous person, the one who thinks, the 00:06:44.050 --> 00:06:49.139 one who is declared of themselves, I am... righteous. 00:06:49.240 --> 00:06:54.500 I am holy. Now, we can declare of ourselves anything 00:06:54.500 --> 00:06:57.439 we want, and people do that today. People will 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:01.079 declare that they are all kind of things, but 00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:04.279 it is what God declares us as that makes the 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:07.139 difference. And so here's one person that declares 00:07:07.139 --> 00:07:12.560 himself as a self -righteous and godly man. And 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:15.379 then we have the tax collector, and the tax collector 00:07:15.379 --> 00:07:19.430 here represents the sinners. The people who just 00:07:19.430 --> 00:07:23.209 sin so greatly that are looked down upon as the 00:07:23.209 --> 00:07:26.990 worst of the worst. Tax collectors were not well 00:07:26.990 --> 00:07:31.610 respected, not so unlike the IRS today. If you 00:07:31.610 --> 00:07:33.889 ever got a letter in the mail from the IRS, you 00:07:33.889 --> 00:07:36.529 see that envelope and your heart just sinks instantly 00:07:36.529 --> 00:07:39.990 because there's a good chance that it ain't going 00:07:39.990 --> 00:07:42.790 to be a check in there. It's going to be a piece 00:07:42.790 --> 00:07:46.629 of paper saying that they have found an error 00:07:46.629 --> 00:07:49.910 in your taxes. from five years ago, and you're 00:07:49.910 --> 00:07:51.889 going to owe some money. And I'm thinking, well, 00:07:51.930 --> 00:07:53.870 it seems like five years. If we can make it to 00:07:53.870 --> 00:07:55.589 seven, maybe you could just forget that debt. 00:07:55.769 --> 00:07:57.889 But that's the way it is. You don't like to see 00:07:57.889 --> 00:08:01.769 the tax man. Well, tax collectors were frowned 00:08:01.769 --> 00:08:05.670 upon because they oftentimes didn't do right. 00:08:05.790 --> 00:08:09.279 They oftentimes took more. than what was necessary, 00:08:09.740 --> 00:08:11.839 and they just would keep the extra. As long as 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:15.939 they paid to Rome what was due Rome, Rome didn't 00:08:15.939 --> 00:08:17.980 care how they got the money or what they did 00:08:17.980 --> 00:08:20.740 with the excess. So they would always get more 00:08:20.740 --> 00:08:23.279 than what they needed. They would give Rome what 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:25.540 was Rome, give the Caesar what was Caesar's, 00:08:25.540 --> 00:08:27.980 and the tax collectors would stuff their pockets 00:08:27.980 --> 00:08:31.360 with the rest. And so you can understand how 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:34.799 tax collectors were not... really looked on in 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:37.700 a good light in this society. But the tax collector 00:08:37.700 --> 00:08:42.980 here is symbolic of sinful people who are looked 00:08:42.980 --> 00:08:47.600 down upon because of their lifestyle. And so 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:51.019 Jesus says there's two people. There's a self 00:08:51.019 --> 00:08:54.440 -righteous, religious, and godly man, and there 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:58.840 is just this horrible, sinful man. And the scene 00:08:58.840 --> 00:09:02.320 is simple. They both are headed up to the temple. 00:09:02.830 --> 00:09:05.710 To pray. Praying is a good thing. Praying is 00:09:05.710 --> 00:09:09.490 something that everyone should do. But what we 00:09:09.490 --> 00:09:13.850 need to make sure we do is pray with the right 00:09:13.850 --> 00:09:16.669 heart. And that's what we're going to see in 00:09:16.669 --> 00:09:19.470 this story. That's what we just read. One of 00:09:19.470 --> 00:09:22.230 these men prayed with the right heart. The other 00:09:22.230 --> 00:09:25.009 one did not pray with the right heart. So the 00:09:25.009 --> 00:09:28.590 godly man who declared himself righteous goes 00:09:28.590 --> 00:09:32.970 into the temple as big as you please. He seems 00:09:32.970 --> 00:09:35.190 to be the type who would just strut right to 00:09:35.190 --> 00:09:38.029 the front row. He seems to be the type that would 00:09:38.029 --> 00:09:41.169 say long prayers just for show. He seems to be 00:09:41.169 --> 00:09:43.750 the type that would love for you to see him in 00:09:43.750 --> 00:09:47.149 the marketplace and say, oh, brother so -and 00:09:47.149 --> 00:09:50.450 -so, you are so godly. And the New Testament 00:09:50.450 --> 00:09:53.269 talks about these very people. Those who like 00:09:53.269 --> 00:09:55.970 the big greetings. Those who like to sit on the 00:09:55.970 --> 00:09:58.529 front for everybody to see. The kind that would 00:09:58.529 --> 00:10:00.889 come up here and he'd sit right here beside me 00:10:00.889 --> 00:10:02.710 so y 'all could see him while I was preaching 00:10:02.710 --> 00:10:05.490 because he is so holy. And boy, he would look 00:10:05.490 --> 00:10:08.049 good and he would long for me to call on him 00:10:08.049 --> 00:10:10.610 to pray and he would pray for 15 minutes and 00:10:10.610 --> 00:10:12.269 y 'all would be saying, he needs to hurry up, 00:10:12.309 --> 00:10:15.370 I'm ready to go. But he would think he was so 00:10:15.370 --> 00:10:17.590 old, boy, he'd get all into it. I bet he'd be 00:10:17.590 --> 00:10:20.590 raising his hands. And he would just be, he would 00:10:20.590 --> 00:10:25.230 think he was really something special. And this 00:10:25.230 --> 00:10:27.409 man, he comes strutting up into the temple and 00:10:27.409 --> 00:10:30.330 he does not even think twice. And he begins to 00:10:30.330 --> 00:10:34.710 pray to God. And he says, God, I thank you that 00:10:34.710 --> 00:10:39.610 I am so good. That I am not like sinful people. 00:10:40.120 --> 00:10:43.679 that I'm not greedy, that I'm not an adulterer. 00:10:43.740 --> 00:10:48.740 God, I am so good. And I am so good, God, I thank 00:10:48.740 --> 00:10:50.840 you, that I ain't like the rest of these sinners. 00:10:51.179 --> 00:10:54.080 That's what he said. He said, God, and I thank 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:57.620 you that I am so good that I ain't like this 00:10:57.620 --> 00:11:01.159 old tax collector who is a rotten and dirty and 00:11:01.159 --> 00:11:05.860 thieving scoundrel. God, I thank you that I am 00:11:05.860 --> 00:11:09.000 so good and so much better than everybody else. 00:11:10.830 --> 00:11:15.009 Now, do we ever pray that way in our life? Maybe 00:11:15.009 --> 00:11:19.570 not quite so boldly, but maybe there are hints 00:11:19.570 --> 00:11:22.450 of that kind of heart and that kind of pride 00:11:22.450 --> 00:11:27.470 in our prayer life. Maybe not. Maybe we show 00:11:27.470 --> 00:11:29.230 our disgust with people in a little different 00:11:29.230 --> 00:11:33.690 way. Maybe we don't pray that way, but maybe 00:11:33.690 --> 00:11:35.549 we're still a little passive -aggressive toward 00:11:35.549 --> 00:11:38.990 people. Maybe we don't say these words to God. 00:11:39.070 --> 00:11:41.049 Maybe we just post them on Facebook. That's what 00:11:41.049 --> 00:11:43.210 people do, right? You'll see that on Facebook. 00:11:43.990 --> 00:11:45.809 You'll see somebody. They'll get that phone out. 00:11:46.169 --> 00:11:47.830 And they know that the whole world is going to 00:11:47.830 --> 00:11:50.309 see this. And they'll start. They'll say, I am 00:11:50.309 --> 00:11:54.509 so glad I am not like some people who stab you 00:11:54.509 --> 00:11:58.129 in the back and do you wrong and talk about you. 00:11:58.269 --> 00:12:02.570 I am so glad that I'm not like them people. Y 00:12:02.570 --> 00:12:05.610 'all need to pray for people like that. And you 00:12:05.610 --> 00:12:08.169 know what people that type that want you to do. 00:12:08.889 --> 00:12:14.090 They want you to say, oh, what happened? See, 00:12:14.129 --> 00:12:17.570 you can say, oh, I'm just glad I'm not liking 00:12:17.570 --> 00:12:22.009 people. And they're saying that. They're saying 00:12:22.009 --> 00:12:23.889 that because what they're saying is somebody 00:12:23.889 --> 00:12:26.330 has done me wrong and I'm better than them and 00:12:26.330 --> 00:12:28.029 I want everybody to know, but I ain't going to 00:12:28.029 --> 00:12:30.309 say no names because y 'all all know who I'm 00:12:30.309 --> 00:12:33.779 talking about anyway. but it's going to be okay 00:12:33.779 --> 00:12:35.320 because at the end I said we need to pray for 00:12:35.320 --> 00:12:39.639 them. So that makes it okay. And so what I want 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:42.580 to respond when I see that is, I am so glad I'm 00:12:42.580 --> 00:12:44.740 not like people who air their dirty laundry on 00:12:44.740 --> 00:12:48.580 Facebook just to get attention. That's what I 00:12:48.580 --> 00:12:52.220 want to say. And so maybe in some way we do that 00:12:52.220 --> 00:12:55.659 in our lives in a passive -aggressive way, maybe 00:12:55.659 --> 00:12:58.570 not in our prayer lives. But maybe we have a 00:12:58.570 --> 00:13:00.669 way of calling out other people who have done 00:13:00.669 --> 00:13:03.809 us wrong when maybe, just maybe, we're not as 00:13:03.809 --> 00:13:07.570 good as we think we are. Maybe we've done somebody 00:13:07.570 --> 00:13:10.289 else wrong, and maybe they can get on Facebook 00:13:10.289 --> 00:13:14.509 and post the same thing about us. Maybe we pretend. 00:13:14.570 --> 00:13:17.029 Boy, we post our picture on Facebook. We're in 00:13:17.029 --> 00:13:18.850 front of the church with our whole family, and 00:13:18.850 --> 00:13:20.830 we're thanking God about how good he is. And 00:13:20.830 --> 00:13:23.230 all the while, behind closed doors, behind that 00:13:23.230 --> 00:13:25.409 picture, there are things that are going on in 00:13:25.409 --> 00:13:27.470 our house and our lives that are rotten as can 00:13:27.470 --> 00:13:31.250 be. But boy, we look good on the outside for 00:13:31.250 --> 00:13:34.950 everybody to see. And that's where this guy was 00:13:34.950 --> 00:13:38.679 at. Boy, he looked good on the outside. If you 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:40.820 had had to pick him out of the lineup and they 00:13:40.820 --> 00:13:42.919 said, can you pick out the righteous person from 00:13:42.919 --> 00:13:45.279 this lineup? You'd have looked at this guy and 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:48.059 you'd have said, that's him right there. I can 00:13:48.059 --> 00:13:49.879 see the way he's standing. I can see the way 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:51.659 he's talking. I can tell that's the righteous 00:13:51.659 --> 00:13:55.620 person. And he had declared himself righteous 00:13:55.620 --> 00:13:58.000 and so much so that he declared it before God 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:00.460 how good he was. God, I thank you that I am so 00:14:00.460 --> 00:14:06.139 good and I am not like this guy. And that is 00:14:06.139 --> 00:14:12.889 not how you pray. That is not how you pray. God, 00:14:13.009 --> 00:14:15.570 I pray for so -and -so that you'd help them. 00:14:16.509 --> 00:14:18.570 That ain't wrong to pray for people. Y 'all ever 00:14:18.570 --> 00:14:21.509 heard a sermon before? And you say, boy, I hope 00:14:21.509 --> 00:14:24.289 so -and -so's listening to that today. So -and 00:14:24.289 --> 00:14:26.529 -so needs to hear that. Well, maybe they do. 00:14:26.629 --> 00:14:28.009 You know who else might need to hear it? You. 00:14:29.730 --> 00:14:32.830 We spend a lot of time sometimes, we'll take 00:14:32.830 --> 00:14:34.710 a sermon that's coming in at us and we're shoveling 00:14:34.710 --> 00:14:36.049 it over. Oh, I'm going to shovel over to him. 00:14:36.090 --> 00:14:38.009 I'm going to shovel that over to him. The preacher 00:14:38.009 --> 00:14:39.610 says something, you look over at your wife or 00:14:39.610 --> 00:14:42.669 your husband and you say, no. But maybe instead 00:14:42.669 --> 00:14:44.669 of shoveling everything that God's sending our 00:14:44.669 --> 00:14:46.730 way, maybe we need to start raking through some 00:14:46.730 --> 00:14:49.429 of it and seeing what God's got in his word for 00:14:49.429 --> 00:14:51.750 us that we can grow from, that we can learn from, 00:14:51.850 --> 00:14:57.389 that God can speak to us from. But we become 00:14:57.389 --> 00:15:02.529 so proud. We don't see how God's word applies 00:15:02.529 --> 00:15:08.070 to us. How it affects us. Because, oh God, we're 00:15:08.070 --> 00:15:12.169 doing so good. And we're praying for how God's 00:15:12.169 --> 00:15:13.789 word can affect other people. And we need to 00:15:13.789 --> 00:15:15.389 be praying about, God, how can your word affect 00:15:15.389 --> 00:15:20.889 me? That's not how to pray. We pray for other 00:15:20.889 --> 00:15:22.730 people. Praise God. We're supposed to pray for 00:15:22.730 --> 00:15:25.669 other people. You know what Jesus says? He says, 00:15:25.690 --> 00:15:27.750 take the log out of your own eye before you try 00:15:27.750 --> 00:15:30.389 to take the speck out of your brother's. By all 00:15:30.389 --> 00:15:32.350 means, help your brother out. You see flaws in 00:15:32.350 --> 00:15:34.929 his life. Praise God that you can see that and 00:15:34.929 --> 00:15:37.610 you can notice that. And in love, you can try 00:15:37.610 --> 00:15:41.190 to help that brother or sister out. But don't 00:15:41.190 --> 00:15:43.610 fail to get the log out of your own eye. Don't 00:15:43.610 --> 00:15:45.549 fail to check your own heart and your own life 00:15:45.549 --> 00:15:48.669 before you try to restore a brother or sister 00:15:48.669 --> 00:15:52.590 in Christ. But this man didn't care about any 00:15:52.590 --> 00:15:55.629 of that. This man didn't care about God. He would 00:15:55.629 --> 00:15:57.549 have said he did. But he didn't care nothing 00:15:57.549 --> 00:16:01.029 about God. At least not in the way that God wanted 00:16:01.029 --> 00:16:04.309 him to. He gets up there. He's got his chest 00:16:04.309 --> 00:16:06.909 out. He's praying. Probably loud where everybody 00:16:06.909 --> 00:16:08.730 can hear him. He's saying, God, I'm glad that 00:16:08.730 --> 00:16:11.330 I'm so good and I'm not so bad like this guy. 00:16:12.690 --> 00:16:17.669 And that is not how to pray. And then you have 00:16:17.669 --> 00:16:23.210 the old sinner. We need to pay attention to the 00:16:23.210 --> 00:16:27.990 old sinner because that's us. If you came in 00:16:27.990 --> 00:16:31.620 today, Is that self -declared a righteous person? 00:16:31.700 --> 00:16:35.200 Then you need to check yourself right now. You 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:37.200 need to repent and you need to pay attention 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:41.879 to the old sinner. Because the old sinner knew 00:16:41.879 --> 00:16:45.500 who he was. He knew that he was an old rotten 00:16:45.500 --> 00:16:48.659 tax collector. He knew that he had done great 00:16:48.659 --> 00:16:52.960 sins. He knew that he just was not worth anything 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:57.309 on his own. He knew that God was good. He also 00:16:57.309 --> 00:17:00.669 knew that God was a just God, so much so that 00:17:00.669 --> 00:17:05.009 he feared God. He wouldn't even come close. The 00:17:05.009 --> 00:17:09.150 tax collector, I mean, the Pharisee was standing 00:17:09.150 --> 00:17:11.589 front and center and the tax collector said he 00:17:11.589 --> 00:17:13.789 wouldn't even come close. He was keeping his 00:17:13.789 --> 00:17:17.990 distance. And where one man was poking his chest 00:17:17.990 --> 00:17:20.849 out before God, the other man was pounding his 00:17:20.849 --> 00:17:24.890 chest. And he came before God saying, God, I 00:17:24.890 --> 00:17:29.250 am so rotten. I have done things that I don't 00:17:29.250 --> 00:17:31.549 want to do. I've said things that I don't want 00:17:31.549 --> 00:17:33.910 to say. I've acted in a way that I don't want 00:17:33.910 --> 00:17:37.230 to act. God, I know you are good. I know you 00:17:37.230 --> 00:17:40.470 are just. And God, I am afraid to even stand 00:17:40.470 --> 00:17:44.750 in your presence now. God, I desire your mercy. 00:17:44.829 --> 00:17:50.750 Would you be merciful to me, God? And that is 00:17:50.750 --> 00:17:54.210 how we pray. We talked just a couple of weeks 00:17:54.210 --> 00:17:57.630 ago about Paul. Paul was one of those self -declared 00:17:57.630 --> 00:18:00.349 righteous men of God. And then what happened? 00:18:00.710 --> 00:18:04.109 He encountered Jesus Christ. And then what did 00:18:04.109 --> 00:18:07.569 Paul say later in his life? He said, Jesus Christ 00:18:07.569 --> 00:18:11.430 came to save sinners of whom I am the worst, 00:18:11.710 --> 00:18:16.809 of whom I am the chief. That is the heart of 00:18:16.809 --> 00:18:20.339 a humble man. That is the heart of a humble man. 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:25.960 Jesus Christ, a humble Savior. Jesus Christ was 00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:31.940 born in a manger. Jesus Christ lived a normal 00:18:31.940 --> 00:18:36.119 and simple life. Jesus Christ was a humble man. 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:40.380 Followers of Jesus Christ are to be humble people. 00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:47.259 So who are we today? Are we the one who is aware 00:18:47.259 --> 00:18:51.059 of our sin and aware of how much we need Jesus 00:18:51.059 --> 00:18:53.920 Christ, aware of how much we need the grace of 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:56.259 God even though we don't deserve the grace of 00:18:56.259 --> 00:18:58.839 God? Are we those today who come in here with 00:18:58.839 --> 00:19:02.700 a heart that is desperate to repent of our sin 00:19:02.700 --> 00:19:05.380 and to seek God? Or do we come in here and say, 00:19:05.460 --> 00:19:07.039 hey, I'm doing pretty good. I've been to church 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:10.059 every day for the last month. I say long prayers. 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:13.329 I'm not like him or I'm not like her. Praise 00:19:13.329 --> 00:19:15.769 God I'm not like them. I give plenty of money 00:19:15.769 --> 00:19:18.210 so therefore I'm alright. There are a lot of 00:19:18.210 --> 00:19:19.950 people that have that attitude. This man was 00:19:19.950 --> 00:19:23.130 one of them. But that's not the attitude that 00:19:23.130 --> 00:19:24.970 a Christian should have. And that's not the attitude 00:19:24.970 --> 00:19:27.829 that's going to save our soul. Because it's that 00:19:27.829 --> 00:19:32.690 attitude that is full of pride. And pride comes 00:19:32.690 --> 00:19:38.109 before a fall. But Jesus tells us in this parable 00:19:38.109 --> 00:19:42.130 that there is a better way. And it is the way. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:46.599 of humility. And Jesus says, after telling this 00:19:46.599 --> 00:19:50.619 story, he says, only one of these men went away 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:55.059 righteous. Only one of these men were justified. 00:19:56.119 --> 00:20:00.480 And Jesus says, it was the sinner. It was the 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:03.460 sinner who came humbly pounding his chest, repenting 00:20:03.460 --> 00:20:06.660 of his sins, crying out to God. It was the sinner. 00:20:07.529 --> 00:20:10.009 Who left justified. You know what justified means? 00:20:10.289 --> 00:20:15.190 It means declared righteous by God. The Pharisee 00:20:15.190 --> 00:20:18.309 declared himself righteous. That ain't worth 00:20:18.309 --> 00:20:21.549 anything. You can declare yourself righteous 00:20:21.549 --> 00:20:23.650 all day. I can declare you righteous all day. 00:20:23.730 --> 00:20:28.470 But that don't count for nothing. Only if we 00:20:28.470 --> 00:20:31.559 have been declared righteous by God. God, only 00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:33.160 if we have been declared righteous because we 00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:34.900 are covered with the precious blood of Jesus 00:20:34.900 --> 00:20:40.119 Christ, only then are we righteous. Jesus said, 00:20:40.279 --> 00:20:45.019 one man went away justified, and it was the one 00:20:45.019 --> 00:20:49.500 who humbled himself before God. Which one are 00:20:49.500 --> 00:20:53.039 you today? Have you been living in the pride 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:57.460 of your sin? Maybe today is the day that you 00:20:57.460 --> 00:21:01.940 need to repent. That you need to seek Jesus Christ. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:06.539 That you need to lay down your pride. And you 00:21:06.539 --> 00:21:12.019 need to humbly ask God to forgive you. Fear of 00:21:12.019 --> 00:21:15.220 the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This man 00:21:15.220 --> 00:21:17.519 feared the Lord and humbled himself before him. 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:25.839 What about you today? Let's pray. God, we thank 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:29.019 you for your good word. I pray, God, that you 00:21:29.019 --> 00:21:30.680 would help us not to be those with a heart of 00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:34.720 pride, that we don't declare ourselves righteous, 00:21:34.859 --> 00:21:38.839 dear Lord, that we don't boast in ourselves. 00:21:39.059 --> 00:21:42.140 God, we do thank you. We do thank you for being 00:21:42.140 --> 00:21:44.420 good. We do thank you for blessing us, dear Lord. 00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:48.920 We do pray for others who struggle with sin, 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:51.680 dear Lord. Those things in and of themselves 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:53.960 are not bad, dear Lord. We do want to pray to 00:21:53.960 --> 00:21:55.920 you. We do want to praise you. We do want to 00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:59.740 give back to you what is yours. But God, we never 00:21:59.740 --> 00:22:01.579 want to be guilty of doing that with a heart 00:22:01.579 --> 00:22:06.279 of pride. So God, I pray that if we have any 00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:10.519 of that pride in our life today, that you would 00:22:10.519 --> 00:22:14.240 help us to repent of that. God, I pray that if 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:17.920 we have any struggles or difficulties with other 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:20.930 people in the world, That we wouldn't air our 00:22:20.930 --> 00:22:23.769 dirty laundry in such a way that tries to make 00:22:23.769 --> 00:22:26.529 us look better and get other people down, dear 00:22:26.529 --> 00:22:29.609 Lord. God, I pray that if there are broken relationships, 00:22:29.750 --> 00:22:32.230 that by your help and by your guidance, dear 00:22:32.230 --> 00:22:34.250 Lord, we would approach those people that we 00:22:34.250 --> 00:22:36.890 struggle with, that you would restore those relationships. 00:22:39.230 --> 00:22:41.829 But God, the real relationship that we need to 00:22:41.829 --> 00:22:44.130 make sure that is restored today is our relationship 00:22:44.130 --> 00:22:47.900 with you, God. That we can't come before you 00:22:47.900 --> 00:22:51.140 today, dear Lord, thinking that we are able to 00:22:51.140 --> 00:22:54.920 do anything of our own. But God, we have to humble 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:56.799 ourselves today knowing that there is nothing 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:00.700 we can do to earn your grace but to trust in 00:23:00.700 --> 00:23:04.599 the fact that Jesus Christ gave it freely. So 00:23:04.599 --> 00:23:06.680 God, I pray that if there is sin and that there 00:23:06.680 --> 00:23:09.880 is pride, whatever it may be in our heart, that 00:23:09.880 --> 00:23:12.509 we would just repent of that today. That whatever 00:23:12.509 --> 00:23:14.549 we brought into this place, that we would humble 00:23:14.549 --> 00:23:18.589 ourselves before you this morning. That we would 00:23:18.589 --> 00:23:20.849 be those who call out to you just like this old 00:23:20.849 --> 00:23:23.609 sinner in the story, dear Lord. This is a room 00:23:23.609 --> 00:23:26.789 full of sinners right here in need of your grace. 00:23:26.869 --> 00:23:28.569 And I pray, God, that we would humble ourselves 00:23:28.569 --> 00:23:32.049 before you today. And I ask these things in Jesus' 00:23:32.210 --> 00:23:33.410 name. Amen.