Are You Faithful Or Contemptible? - [Luke 18:9-14]

You ever thought about what is the cause of sin? Why do why does anyone sin? Why do we sin? And I'm almost waiting for a hand because this almost feels like Sunday school. Why do we sin. We know why unbelievers sin, right?

That's a little bit easier. Why do unbelievers sin because They're in believers. And what does Scripture say Hebrews chapter 11 Verse six, I think without faith it is Impossible to please God. So if it's impossible to please God then anything that you do is Sin, right?

The Cause of Sin and the Need for Faith

So unbelievers sin because they're unbelievers and believers do what they do. But why do we sin? Do you ever ask yourself that why is it that I know God? I know God died for me that all my sins are forgiven yet.

I still sin. Why is that? I like to posit one Answer to you this morning, and I think it's a pretty good one and then we'll get into our text. Why do we sin? Because we don't believe enough. You say well, how can you prove that?

I don't know if I really necessarily can this morning. I don't have the time to do that. But let me put it positively how is it that Jesus never sinned. How is it that Jesus was always obedient you say?

Well, that's easy because he's God. Yes, but what else does Hebrews tell us? That he was just like us in every way. He was tempted and tried in every way and yet without sin. He was in fact fully human and fully divine.

So how is that Jesus never sinned and I'm going to say to you that I think It's reasonable to conclude that he never sinned because His faith never wavered. He never doubted. He never as I like to somewhat irreverently say he never sent the Holy Spirit on vacation.

Right how to believers sin because they're just like I'm going to ignore this alarm going off my head. I'm gonna ignore everything that I know and I'm gonna do what I want to do. Jesus never did that when you think about it again if we just think about the fact that we know God that he is.

You know the author the finisher of our faith the one who died for us and all these things, but not only that He is the creator of us. He's the sustainer of us right he gives us life and we say well Thank you God, but I'm going to rebel against you anyway.

How wonderful is God to set his affection on us even though that's how we treat him. Jesus never sinned because his faith never wavered as I said the full presence of the Holy Spirit always Attended him.

Why? Because it came upon him and it never left him. He never left him. I'm at the presence never left him. The Holy Spirit never left him. The focus of Jesus was always on Doing the Father's will always keeping his commandments.

He never doubted never wavered never moved off. That truth we do and Here just give you a little spoiler. Why do we need that? Righteousness. We need that because we are in and of ourselves on our best day.

Contemptible Despicable. We are not Adorable we are Actually enemies of God. Let's turn to Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18. And just a brief text this morning. Just a few verses just a few words. So this would be a really short message.

You're not laughing. I have two sermons, that's right. So this is part one part two will be Shortly thereafter. Thank you for that Pauline. Luke chapter 18 verses 9 to 14. He being Jesus he also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.

Two men went up into the temple to pray. One a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee standing by himself prayed thus God. I thank you that I am NOT like other men. Extortioners unjust Adulterers or even like this tax collector.

I Fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector standing far off Would not even lift his eyes to heaven But beat his breasts 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 who exalts himself will be humbled. But the one who humbles himself will be exalted. Now as you ought to know by now, I hope there are four Gospels Matthew Mark Luke and John. Matthew Focuses on Jesus as King.

Talks about his lineage and why he's qualified to be the king. Mark Speaks about Jesus the servant how he came to serve others. John as we've been studying for many weeks. Portrays Jesus or really emphasizes Jesus as God emphasizes his deity.

Luke the physician emphasizes Jesus Christ. Human being the man Christ Jesus we might say. So as we look at it this morning, we'll be looking at the gospel of Luke and I want to just to give a brief explanation of why we have parables.

Jesus used the parables to explain The kingdom of God what the kingdom of God was like so that and he did it in such a way so that believers would understand and that unbelievers wouldn't and To just kind of support that I'm gonna read from Matthew 13 verses 13 to 17.

You don't have to turn there. Just listen. Matthew 13 verses 13 to 17. This is why I speak to them meaning the crowds and parables. Because seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear nor do they understand.

In other words, the purpose was so that unbelievers would not understand indeed in their case. The prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says you will indeed hear but never understand and you will indeed see but never perceive.

For this people's heart has grown dull and with their ears. They can barely hear and their eyes they have closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and Turn and I would heal them.

In other words, there's a judicial hardening against the people of Israel because they have not believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 16, but blessed are your eyes talking to the disciples to the believers for they see and Your ears for they hear for truly I say to you many prophets and righteous people Long to see what you see and did not see it and to hear what you hear and did not hear it.

Now this morning we're going to look at this parable the parable of the I want to call it the The Pharisee and the publican or what have you but this is the Pharisee and the tax collector in the ESV. So that's what we're gonna be looking at.

It shows us the difference between those who presume they are good enough that they are faithful enough to enter into the kingdom of heaven and Those who know that nothing good dwells in them. They are saved by faith alone.

Not with anything any amount of good works. There's nothing good in them that would commend them to God. And we could also put it this way it shows the difference between those who are trying to be faithful enough and Those who know themselves to be contemptible.

So again when I ask faithful or contemptible. Really the answer is I Think contemptible now. I don't want anybody to think. Oh, that's good. I could just do whatever I want. I can be contemptible. I'm proud of my contemptibility.

That's a good word. But the difference between heaven and hell is knowing that you need the works of another. That you in and of yourself can never merit heaven. You cannot be faithful enough to enter into the kingdom of God.

Now why am I teaching this parable this morning? Well personally, there's a flow to the Gospel of John as I mentioned last week I kind of lightly went over a few verses because what I want to do is there's a series of kind of questions from the disciples first Peter Then Thomas then Philip and I want to deal with those right in a row.

And I also wanted to preach this because my hope is you know as I've been Laying this out for myself. My hope is that this will be my long delayed Book and we'll talk about that more but at some point We'll wrap this into a book.

Now this parable its meaning is not a mystery, but I believe it applies in more ways than we typically think of it. I Think there are implications in this text and I'm going to talk about some of them and that's really going to be the the heart of the Of the project I hope to put together.

Now who is this parable for let's go back to Luke. Who's this parable for? Well, really it's for all of us. If you look at verse 9 My outline is not so Sweet this morning. Basically I have Four points and the first one is this one, you know, who's it for it's for all of us this parables for all of us.

He also told us this parable. Or he also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt. Now that word some Indicates that this parable wasn't just targeting, you know.

He didn't say it doesn't say here that he told us he told this parable to some Pharisees. He told this to a small group of people. The sum is kind of. Not really a defined group. It's not a particular group of people.

But to all who generally fit into this category. In other words, not just to those people Who were listening but to anyone who might? Trust in themselves that they were righteous and believe it or not.

I'm gonna make the argument that from time to time. All of us fall into that camp. That we think we're righteous. You think well, I don't ever do that. Okay. These are different. Kind of of a different category, but do you ever to say to yourself?

That person is a terrible writer. That person is a terrible driver. I do that all the time it's because. You know why. Well because I think I'm better than they are. That person is a terrible preacher.

You ever say that. Why do we say things like that? Because we think that we're Better than they are. If you ever say to yourself, you know what I've done enough. I've got a church enough. There's enough of this in my life.

I there's enough righteousness. This might be an issue for you. You ever think to yourself? I read the Bible enough. I know enough about Scripture. I know enough about God Salvation Jesus. I know enough about all that.

Do you ever look down on someone else because of their poverty? Because of their perceived lack of intelligence. Because their skin color. Because of their clothing. If you answered no to all those questions that you've never looked down on anyone for anything.

Then I say good and I'm gonna call on you to repent by the end of the message. Maybe we'll have an altar call here. There's something that I I've just been mulling this over and I and I think there's something that I would like to call an Undercover Pharisee in other words not somebody that you'd look at and go that person's a Pharisee or whatever, but I think that undercover Pharisee resides in each of us.

We can all manifest it at times and it's that pride That enables us to sin. Even when we know we shouldn't even we know that it's the wrong thing to do and sometimes it's even In us and we don't even see it.

We're not even aware of it. And as I said, of course this applies to every unbeliever everyone who does not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is thinking you know what? If there is a God I'm good enough I'm likable enough and you know, I've even heard people talk like this.

He's just gonna have to learn to like me. I don't. There's not much you could say about that. They have their own understanding of God's standard and I think on that day there are gonna be many people who just The they're not gonna get to argue their case, but they're also gonna realize, you know in horror the depth of their error so Why this parable those are the reasons why now the first Genuine point here is going to be we're gonna look at the faithful man this man from the outside we would go that is the the pinnacle of faithfulness he is the religious elite he is Bound for heaven at least that's what everybody would have thought then.

Now when someone says Pharisee today we don't think oh wow what a he's a good guy. He's a good brother in Christ. That guy's a really he's a strong Pharisee. We don't think about it that way. What do we think Pharisee equals?

Legalist. Someone who you know has a wrong idea about salvation, but more or less they just have a system of rules. Well, why is that? Because. That's who they were. But sometimes I think our definition of legalism really goes Astray it's not legalism for example if somebody says We ought not to forsake the assembling together of the Saints right that is not legalism.

What is that? Scripture you know if somebody says You ought not to get drunk. That's not legalism. Scripture. Legalism is going beyond What scripture says not only that but then trying to impose that on other people.

That's what legalism is. So Let's talk about the Pharisees. Pharisees were commendable in many ways. They would look at scripture, and they would say you know what I? Believe in the literal interpretation of scripture.

They would do that then that's commendable. They wouldn't memorize scripture. That's commendable. I mean how many of us I dare say if we were to get into a scriptural You know a wanna battle with the the Pharisees.

You know just trying to go verse for verse with them. We'd lose at least in the Old Testament. They knew the Word of God they memorized it. They weren't on their foreheads. I mean can you imagine that jewelry you know?

I mean instead of like a little cross around your neck Passages scripture just kind of like in this leather thing just stuck on your forehead. Very attractive it's gonna be all the rage. But scripture was really the center of their lives right and there was just one problem.

And I'd invite you to turn to Matthew 23, and we'll see that problem one problem for the Pharisees. Just a little easy-peasy problem. They didn't understand the God of scripture other than that they were doing pretty good.

Matthew 23. I did say you know last week that This is your homework but Matthew 23, I don't want to show of hands because you'll just have to repent later. Matthew 23. Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples.

The Scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses seat. So do and observe whatever they tell you but not the works they do for they preach, but do not practice. Now listen you know you see that seat of Moses, and you think well it must have been a place where they would sit.

You know in town and kind of like yeah, I'm sitting in the seat of Moses. That's not the point He says when he's talking about the seat of Moses. He means that they assumed for themselves the authority of Interpreting the words of Moses that they were the authoritative source for how we should understand scripture in other words.

And that's what it meant when he says that but then it notice. He says so do and observe whatever they tell you but not the works they do. Well why not why follow their teaching, but don't follow their lifestyle.

Because they were hypocrites. Look at verse 3 it says for they preach. But do not practice. They preach, but do not practice. They know these things, but they don't do them. Where they do instead continuing on the text they tie up heavy burdens.

Hard to bear and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. In other words they'll put a boulder on your back, but they won't lift a finger to Move it.

What does he mean they didn't literally put burden burdens heavy burdens on people's backs. He's talking about Beyond scripture going beyond the Word of God to with regulations. Why would they do these things?

Why would they devise these rules? Well, it's meant to show Obedience to God right to explain the things for example, you know, and I've given this illustration before but in terms of keeping the Sabbath.

They would say well you have to keep the Sabbath and they had a bunch of Sabbath rules and one of them You can still see in Jerusalem because they've got all along the power lines in the city. They've got these markers and you're not allowed to walk past these markers.

You're technically not supposed to otherwise you're in sin. You can walk so far on the Sabbath and then anything after that is work. Remember all the times that they would confront Jesus about the things that he did on the Sabbath and say that he had violated them.

Well, there was no real regulation other than their own rules. Leon Morris says that that is to say they so interpreted the law of Moses that the people who heeded them found themselves required to perform some very burdensome duties in the service of God and He notes by contrast.

What did Jesus say? My burden is Easy. My yoke is easy. My burden is a light one Morris goes on to say but the Pharisees themselves had no will no desire to engage in such arduous activities. In other words, they would command things that they didn't want to do themselves.

Verse 5 Matthew 23, they do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries and that's what it is when you tie it on your forehead the Word of God, you know in this thing. It's a phylactery.

They make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long on their garments and they love The place of honor at feasts and the best seats at the synagogues and greetings in the marketplace and being called Rabbi by other or by others.

In other words their whole life revolved around Reputation and being honored and being seen as the religious elite. They liked having the respect and even the fear of others. They had the power remember to put people out of the synagogue.

They had the power to wreck your life if you were a Jew. Going a little further in the chapter down to verse 13. Jesus doesn't mince any words when it comes to their hypocrisy. Matthew 23 verse 13. But woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites.

For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte and when he becomes a proselyte a Convert you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

Woe to you blind guides who say if anyone swears by the temple it is nothing. But if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by an oath. In other words straining just trying to find the most Minute details so that a Pharisee could say well I swear by the temple all that didn't necessarily bind him unless he said I swear by the gold of the temple.

Then he's bound by his oath. Verse 17 you fools for which is greater the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred. In other words. The gold is nothing you value the gold, but it's God that makes the temple sacred.

And you say if anyone swears by the altar it is nothing. But if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath. You blind men for which is greater the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred.

They were hypocrites of the first order. Let's go back to Luke chapter 18. Just going to examine the prayer of this Pharisee and really the contents of what I called it the filling of his prayer. You know, it's like you've got the pie or whatever and what's inside of it what fills his prayer and it's pretty amazing.

I mean, I think we've all had some moments where we prayed if you ever done this if you pray for a long time sometimes you're like. Unless you have a list in front of you. Did I already pray for that?

What have I already prayed for did I you know? Sometimes you can just kind of get lost in what you're thinking or sometimes you pray and then you wander off into something else. You know, have I paid the electric bill?

For those of you laughing you we know that that happens right and there are times where we just think you know. What I I didn't express everything that was in my heart. I didn't say everything that I wanted to say.

I think this Pharisee though. He says everything that's on his mind. Look at verse 11. The Pharisee standing by himself prayed thus God I thank you that I am NOT like other men. Extortioners unjust adulterers or even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. First it's important to see not that he's standing because that it was a perfectly acceptable Posture a normal posture you go to the temple you would stand and pray.

They still do stand and pray well, what's interesting is how he's described as being by himself because normally that wouldn't be the case and This gives us an idea of what his prayer is all about. Why would he do that?

Why would he want to be standing all by himself? Well, we know why. Because Pharisees want to be seen by other people so he's often a prominent place of the temple by himself and you know. There's another reason I think why he's by himself.

Because if there are other people around they would all pray audibly. It would be tragic for other people not to be able to hear him pray because you know. Other people were around other men were around praying also and covering the wonderful Prayer that he was about to utter so that would be unacceptable notice.

Talking about his prayer here that he he does offer a greeting to God. But there's no sign of humility anywhere in this prayer. He doesn't even start it like Most Holy God or Almighty God or anything of that sort.

He does express thanks though look what he's thankful for he's thankful for him God. I thank you for me. His whole prayer is an exercise in self-worship. I mean if this man were alive today, and he's just a theoretical Pharisee an Exemplar of the Pharisees, but if he were alive today, I dare say this is the kind of prayer that would get him his own TV show.

Because he's good enough. He's likable enough. I am good, and I do good look what he says. I thank you that I'm not like other men. I am good. He says and then notice he basically lays out the the worst characters in all of Society.

Extortioners unjust adulterers and Tax collectors, and we'll talk more about tax collectors in a minute. But he's not only good because he's better than them right. God grades on a curve. And he is the pinnacle of the curve.

Everyone else looks up to him. And then you know it kind of goes down, and then we get down to these people here. But not only is he good in and of himself, but he does good look I fast twice a week. This is way more than is commanded, and I give tithes of all that I get 10 of everything.

Now can you imagine praying like that you know at home? You know you're alone you have a few minutes you want to pray to the Lord you just say you know I I? Thank you for all that I do. I mean I might expect a child to pray like that.

But certainly not a grown adult who has any concept of God. So we've seen why this parable. Secondly we've seen the quote-unquote faithful man the Pharisee and now the contemptible man the man for whom this Pharisee has nothing but contempt and Jesus specifically I think wants the hearers to think yep that is someone for whom I would have contempt.

Look again at verse 10. Two men went up to the temple to pray. That's what you did you walked up The hill up the mountain into the temple to pray one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector now. We've talked about Pharisees and how they were viewed and what they did.

And I don't know if it's possible to overstate how much outright hatred there is for the tax collectors in Israel at this time if you thought of them as IRS agents you're really doing a disservice to the IRS.

That's way too good for them. No matter what your experience is with the IRS. That's way too good for him if you think of them as kind of a combination of Loan shark mob enforcer and IRS, but I repeat myself no no.

Just That would be Much closer, you know, this is these are the guys that would come and break your legs, you know that kind of thing. This is this the sort of thing that we're we're talking about and they were not only just basically criminals of the lowest form as seen by the Jews.

But they were also agents of Rome. So they were seen as national traitors. They weren't just crooks, but they were traitors they were. Traitors against the nation of Israel. They had to pay for these licenses to to collect taxes.

So let's say, you know, like you would pay for a taxi medallion in Boston. They had to pay for this license. Let's say it was I'll just make up a number $5 ,000 a year. Anything that they collected over that they got to keep so they would pay, you know, Rome $5 ,000 and then they got to keep everything that they got over that.

Well, do you think that that would then lend itself to some? Extraordinary methods of collecting money and the answer is yes, and it you know very much did. So they were about as low as you could go. They were seen as ceremonially unclean.

You basically in in Jewish society you could not go lower than to be a tax collector. Now, let's examine the filling of his prayer. In other words what goes into his prayer, but the tax collector standing far off would not even lift his eyes to heaven but beat his breast saying God be merciful to me a sinner now.

We can tell from this that the tax collector was not in a place of prominence. He probably would have been just barely inside the temple grounds and the out outward courtyard courtyard. In some place that really nobody would be paying any attention to him because he didn't want to be seen as soon as he was.

Seen people would be like why is this tax collector here? He doesn't belong here. Let's alert the temple guard and get him out of here. He's not clean. He's pictured not only as being humble, but also understanding the great offense that his sins were to God.

He understood where he where he was. He knew that he was guilty in the sight of God and did great sin and he had no sense of self-worth. He would not even dare to look at heaven. Let alone compare himself to others.

We don't hear him say I thank you that I'm not like so-and-so He too addresses God, but there's a sorrow in it we can almost see the tears on his face as He contemplates praying to a thrice. Holy God.

That he sinned against he knows he's guilty. He feels the weight of his sin and he knows that nothing he is doing has done or is going to do is acceptable to God. So he throws himself as it were on the mercy of the courts.

He says be merciful to me a sinner. So we come to the conclusion of this parable what I call the glories of being contemptible. Now the first one is justification justification. Look at verse 14 I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled.

But the one who humbles himself will be exalted. So these two men are both going to leave the temple. They're both going to go home. But Jesus who will one day judge all of mankind. Gives the surprising conclusion of this story the lowly tax collector Is justified and not the religious Pharisee and he also tells us why.

Those who exalt themselves are going to be humbled and those who are humbled will be exalted. Says the man who the the tax collector went down to his house justified. What is Justification. And I'm going to tell you I think it's the greatest word in the Bible.

It would be enough. That if it meant just not guilty that God just declares you not guilty. Or as some say just as if I'd never sinned, that'd be good. But the better news is that it goes beyond that.

It means that you're declared righteous. Declared righteous is not just as if you'd never sinned. It's not just innocent it is Righteous, and why do I call that the good news? Because it's not enough and I have this picture firmly fixed in my head because somebody I Won't even mention but somebody came up with this picture.

Where the death of Jesus Christ gets us to neutral with God and then it's up to us To earn the righteousness that gets us to heaven. In other words G or we will be declared righteous down the works of Jesus, but basically on our own Works.

John Calvin said this he says it is entirely by the intervention of Christ's righteousness. That we obtain justification before God. This is equivalent to saying that man is not just in himself. But that the righteousness of Christ is communicated to him by imputation.

While he is strictly deserving of punishment. We deserve the wrath of God and instead We're granted eternity with Christ. 2nd Corinthians 521 says for our sake he made him. God made him who knew no sin or made him to be sinned Jesus to be sin.

So that in him we might become the righteousness of God we need that righteousness. Psalm 149 for says that God adorns the humble with salvation. Luke 9 23 talks about Jesus says if anyone would Follow me.

He must deny himself. What does it mean to deny himself? It means not to look back on your good works and to think how good you are not to compare yourself with other people but to say God be merciful to me the sinner.

I Need that mercy. That person that I am that person that I was has nothing good in and of himself. I need the righteousness of Christ. I need the forgiveness of God. I need the cross. Now let's talk for a few minutes about applications.

The Dangers of Faithfulness: Pride, Gossip, and Legalism

What I'm calling the the dangers of faithfulness. The first one is pride. And we see that in the Pharisee. We see that pride we see. You know if you think you're so faithful if you're consumed with your own good doing not that there's anything wrong with that.

But if you think that somehow you can earn the favor of God. There is a pride that comes with it and I think the tree of pride I would put it this way the tree of pride has fruit and it's not good fruit.

Here's some of the things that I think come out of pride gossip. And you say well, how does gossip come out of pride? Well again think about what he says. What does he do? He starts comparing himself to other people this first he does why?

Because he knows in and of it. He knows that he's better than they are. Why do people want to gossip about other people? My theory is my thesis is because we think that we're better we would never do that.

We can't believe that other people would do that look at them. They're the sinner. What is gossip? People have said it this way, and I think this is right. Let me make my case a little bit. If you're not part of the part if you're not part of the problem or part of the solution.

That you're gossiping well, why is that right if you are part of the problem. Then there's probably some forgiveness or some confrontation that needs to go on if you're part of the solution. Maybe you're just a witness to some sin that's gone on then.

What do you do. Matthew 18 tells us what to do tells us to go to our brother and reprove him in private. Let me ask you this. What's more loving to go confront somebody in sin? Or to go find somebody to whisper that sin to to tell somebody about.

I think the heart of gossip is pride. It's born of the belief that you are in some way better than the person you're gossiping about. If that were not the case you would obey the Bible and either Build them up that is to say words that are edifying about them, or you would confront them.

That's what love is. That's what love does. Pride says. I Can talk about other people because they're not as good as I am. Second fruit of the tree of pride a lack of forgiveness, and you know how much.

This bothers me. Why do we sometimes fail to forgive and I think the answer is pride. We're not like the tax collector. We forget how utterly unworthy we are. We're not standing there beating our breasts tears screaming down our face and thinking about all the sins that we've committed about God.