Two Men
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Who do you depend on?
Who do you depend on?
Intro:
Prayer
Scripture:
English Standard Version Chapter 18
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 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. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 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.”
While Jesus was probably speaking to the pharisees in the audience Luke tells us this parable is directed to “some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.” That sounds like the proud pharisee, but could easily be said of any of us at times.
Lets read what Jesus says about the Pharisees in Luke 16:14-15
Jesus describes the Pharisees for us just two chapters before this in
English Standard Version Chapter 16
14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. 15 And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
The pharisees had become ruled by their money and the appearance of being Holy. They were proud of their place.
Have you ever thought, those people are beyond
As we go through life our achievements can become what is truly important to us. we become proud and we look at our finances, our house, our car, our family and spouse, and we say something like “I couldn’t live without those.” But is that really true?
So my question to you is: What do you depend on?
Point1: Why does the Pharisee even need God?
The Pharisee feels confident as he is walking up to the temple. He takes the position of prayer as close to the holy place as he can get, and lifts his eyes and his hands toward heaven and yet... No prayer comes out.
The pharisee has come to tell God how good he is. He has done more than the law required of him and he isn’t as bad as the other men around him. In fact he gives what is called “the five I statements”
He says: (I) am thankful that (I) am not like other men. He is telling God look at how righteous I am.
Point1: Why does the Pharisee even need God?
He goes on: (I) fast twice a week, (I) give tithes of all that (I) get.
See the Mosaic law only required fasting once a year, and that only the certain incomes need be tithed on. But here the pharisee is telling God to look at how righteous he is. After all he doing more than he needs too.
The pharisee is basically saying “I can do this myself. I am righteous, I am better than others, and I am keeping the law.”
We can hear the pride in the Pharisees voice as he speaks to God, congratulating himself on a job well done. The arrogance seeps through the texts even today.
See the Pharisee doesn’t see himself as truly needing God. He sees himself as holy without God. He has become proud of himself and arrogant in his prayers. He even had the audacity to tell God how much better he is than other men.
He plainly sees the sins of other men and is blind to his own failings.
We see that the Pharisee no longer depends on God, but on his accomplishments to save him.
Point2: Why a Tax Collector?
But by contrast we see this tax collector. This sinner and unclean in the eyes of this religious man, the bottom of Jewish society and despised by all his people for corruption and selling out to Rome.
The Pharisee walking up to the temple probably felt excited to tell God all he had done. But the tax collector going to confess his sin, his feet probably felt heavy. Every step getting harder and harder. The voice in his head telling him to turn around.
Have you ever felt this? Have you ever had that feeling of dread as you go to confess something. You start sweating, that voice in your head telling you that you could get away with this if you just be quiet, the heaviness of your feet wanting you to turn around before it’s too late?
But walking
Walking to where your wife is to
By the way my wife is a better shot with pistols than me so I would never do that. That moment of dread as you try to form something like “I am an idiot” on your lips, preparing It would be easier to turn around and pretend things are ok.
Like that teenager who backed into that pole and has to tell his parents, or that husband who has to confess a lie to his wife, or that man who first comes to believe in Christ confessing his sins.
Nobody was around, we had all been at the church all morning so he could have gotten away with it. There would have been no proof he did it. The damage was all on my car, and so why should he risk it? But he walked over and put that note on the window with his information to call him anyway. He could have turned away and gone about his day pretending nothing happened but he didn’t. In spite of the potential consequences he had to make it right.
Nobody was around we had all been at the church all morning so he could have gotten away with it. There would have been no proof he did it. The damage was light and why should he risk it. But he walked over and put that note on the window with his information to call him anyway. I was very appreciative of that man for stepping up and doing the right thing even though there could have been consequences.
The tax collector, we can sympathize with.
Have we not felt the pain he is feeling? The weight of our sin before a holy God, and the only thing we dare ask for is mercy.
It wasn’t about his money or his tithe or his accomplishments, but about his relationship with the God of mercy and grace that mattered. He had only one thing to offer God... a humble and penitent heart.
When he went to pray he knew the only thing that mattered was God, and that he had no right to stand before God in his fallen position.
He doesn’t lift his head or his hands, instead he beats his breast in traditional form of expressing sorrow and says all he can say, “GOD, BE MERCIFUL TO ME, A SINNER.!” You can picture this broken man crying out for forgiveness...
Then Jesus tells this group something that would have been unbelievable to hear at this time. The tax collector goes down from the temple justified before God, not the pharisee.
Point3: By Grace alone
I remember feeling the exact way this tax collector did.
The night I came to know Jesus Christ as my savior I dared not get off my knees, I dared not lift my eyes to a Holy God, I dared not ask for anything but forgiveness, and I knew God was fully justified in leaving me in my sin. I knelt there with tears in my eyes knowing the weight of my sin and begging for forgiveness.
I want you to know something. Our God is a God of mercy and instead of leaving me there to perish in my sin he changed my life. It wasn’t because of anything I did, but strictly because of the love of God that I stand here now. I have nothing to proud of. My education, my calling, my purpose in life are all because of God. I owe all to Him.
I knelt there with tears in my eyes knowing the weight of my sin and begging for forgiveness. Our God is a God of mercy and instead of leaving me there to perish in my sin he changed my life. It wasn’t because of anything I did, but strictly because of the love of God that I stand here now. I have nothing to proud of. Before I put my faith in God I made so many poor decisions that only lead to misery and worse decisions. It is because of Christ that I can stand here today, it is because of God’s grace that I can ever live the life I have now. Why should I be proud when I owe it all to Him. He calls sinners out of this world to Himself every day. Lives are changed by God every day. Once we accept the simple fact that it is grace alone through faith in Christ that has saved us, it is much easier to be humble in the presence of God and others.
Before I put my faith in God I made so many poor decisions that only lead to misery and worse decisions. It is because of Christ that I can stand here today, it is because of God’s grace that I can ever live the life I have now. Why should I be proud when I owe it all to Him.
He calls sinners out of this world to Himself every day. Lives are changed by God every day. Once we accept the simple fact that it is grace alone through faith in Christ that has saved us, it is much easier to be humble in the presence of God and others.
Application:
Teen Challenge is a great ministry, and if you are looking for a local ministry doing good work to support may I be so bold as to ask you to look at them.
They take adults and teenagers (only men right now in our area) who are addicted to drugs and alcohol and they spend a whole year with them getting them clean and teaching them about Jesus Christ. This ministry is changing lives right here at home and bringing those society gave up on to Christ.
Recently Teen Challenge came and spoke and shared their testimonies at my home church.
Teen Challenge is a great ministry, and if you are looking for a local ministry doing good work to support may I be so bold as to ask you to look at them.
They take adults and teenagers (only men right now in our area) who are addicted to drugs and alcohol and they spend a whole year with them getting them clean and teaching them about Jesus Christ. This ministry is changing lives right here at home and bringing those society gave up on to Christ.
These are men who destroyed relationships and their lives through addiction and the drive to fulfill the needs of their addictions.
I ask that you please pray for their ministry as it grows and helps more and more people both locally and on the national level.
But these young men came to share testimonies of how God was changing their lives.
They had some of the most heartbreaking stories you ever heard. They had children die or their families destroyed, most had been homeless and in prison. Most people looked down upon them and thought they were lost causes, that the only thing that could be done with them is to throw them in prison and forget about them. But aren’t you thankful Jesus isn’t like people? Our God is a God of lost causes. There was another option for these men. At Teen Challenge these men are now turning their lives around with the only thing that can recover the years stolen by addiction, and that one thing is Jesus Christ. Day by day they are getting clean and learning more about a gracious and loving God. Most of these men had never even felt loved before and now they are hearing that word used to describe them for the first time.
They had some of the most heartbreaking stories you ever heard. They had children die or their families destroyed, most had been homeless and in prison.
Most people looked down upon them and thought they were lost causes, that the only thing that could be done with them is to throw them in prison and forget about them.
But aren’t you thankful Jesus isn’t like people? Our God is a God of lost causes. There was another option for these men.
There was another option for these men. At Teen Challenge these men are now turning their lives around with the only thing that can recover the years stolen by addiction, and that one thing is Jesus Christ. Day by day they are getting clean and learning more about a gracious and loving God. Most of these men had never even felt loved before and now they are hearing that word used to describe them for the first time.
At Teen Challenge these men are now turning their lives around with the only thing that can recover the years stolen by addiction, and that one thing is Jesus Christ.
Day by day they are getting clean and learning more about a gracious and loving God.
It’s so easy for those who never dealt with those issues to look down on them. We can become that Pharisee standing there looking down on our neighbor. Proud of who we are and all we have done and that we are not like the other sinners.
But, here in this parable, Jesus shows us the way. We can look at this tax collector and remember We are all sinners saved by grace through faith.
Proud of who we are and all we have done and that we are not like the other sinners. But, here in this parable, Jesus shows us the way. We can look at this tax collector and remember We are all sinners saved by grace through faith. Salvation cannot be earned and we cannot boast before a Holy God. There is nothing wrong with rejoicing in our salvation, and we should be praising God for our salvation, but we need to remember that it was Jesus Christ and his life, death, and resurrection that has saved us. The Pharisee’s actions were not wrong, but they were done for the wrong reasons. He had been charitable with his tithe, he had fasted, he had followed the law, but that was only so he could say he had done it, not out of love for God. His heart was not in the right place. But, the tax collector had nothing. He had no good works to boast of. He was a sinner and he knew it, but because he had come with a broken heart longing for God he walks away righteous. Remember “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died-more than that, who was raised-who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
Salvation cannot be earned and we cannot boast before a Holy God.
There is nothing wrong with rejoicing in our salvation, and we should be praising God for our salvation, but we need to remember that it was Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection that has saved us.
The Pharisee’s actions were not wrong, but they were done for the wrong reasons.
He had been charitable with his tithe, he had fasted, he had followed the law, but his heart was not in the right place.
But, the tax collector had nothing. He had no good works to boast of. He was a sinner and he knew it, but because he had come with a broken heart longing for God he walks away righteous.
Summary:
Saved By Grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ.
Nothing we do saves us. It is not Grace+works… It is simply Grace.
Lay down your pride and come to Christ as the tax collector did.
If you are a believer evaluate your prayer. Does your prayer remind you of the Pharisee or the tax collector?
Seek that loving
Let Us Pray.
The parable starts in verse 10.