Scripture referenced 5 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Matthew 6:9-13 read aloud as the Lord's Prayer before congregational singing
9 Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
10 Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
13 Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse
Luke 18:9-14
the announced sermon text, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector
9 He spoke also this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others.
10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortionists, unrighteous, 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 away, wouldn’t 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 he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Colossians 2:14
cited to show God canceled the record of charges against us by nailing it to the cross
14 wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;
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1 John 1:9
quoted to show that confessing sin leads to God's forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
1 Peter 5:6-7
quoted as a closing exhortation to humble yourselves under God's mighty hand and cast anxiety on Him
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;
7 casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
The pastor opened with a parable Jesus told specifically to people who trusted in their own righteousness and looked down on others. The sermon worked through that parable carefully and personally, landing on a simple point: humility before God is not optional, it is the condition for justification.
What was said
Before getting to the text, the pastor talked about coming back from a wedding in Georgia and about the weight he feels every time he returns to preaching. He told a story about a friend from high school who said, without her pastor, she would have harmed herself. That stopped him cold, because in his missionary days he had been fairly convinced he was God's man for the job, writing support letters and feeling something like rock-star status in church circles. His wife told him he was getting too big for his britches, and the first two weeks on the mission field were the hardest of his life. That personal story set up everything that followed: religious pride is insidious and it can sneak in from many directions.
Luke 18 says Jesus told this parable to people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt. The pastor paused on that framing and noted that something like 70 to 80 percent of Americans believe in heaven and nearly all of them expect to go there. That instinct, trusting in your own rightness and looking at the other side with contempt, is exactly who Jesus is addressing.
The Pharisee in the parable goes to the temple and prays entirely about himself. He never asks God for anything. He uses the word "I" immediately and catalogs his own achievements: not a swindler, not an adulterer, fasting twice a week when only one fast per year was required, tithing on everything rather than just his income. He has all he needs. He is trusting entirely in his own righteousness.
The tax collector stands at a distance, unwilling even to raise his eyes toward heaven, beating his chest in what was in that culture a gesture associated with women in grief, not with dignity or strength. With a bloody sacrifice visible right in front of him, he is thinking there is no way the blood of that lamb covers what he has done. He asks for one thing: "God, be merciful to me, the sinner." Not "a sinner." The sinner.
Jesus then says "I tell you" - and the pastor pointed out that claiming the authority to declare who is justified before God is itself a claim to divinity, whatever the history channel might say. The tax collector went home justified. The Pharisee did not. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble, and neither man deserved it on his own merits. But only one asked.
The pastor drew out the justification image: like aligning text in a word document, God clicks a button and places you all the way over, a new creation in Christ, and he does it for the asking. The mercy of God is available to those humble enough to ask for it. He also pressed on the uncomfortable self-examination: it is easy to beat up on Pharisees because they are always the villain in the New Testament. But you do not have to be a religious person to have a Pharisee's heart. You can be proud of being irreligious. You can have contempt from either side of any divide.
The sermon closed with the warning from Jesus that everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and First Peter's instruction to humble yourselves under God's mighty hand so that he may lift you up in due time. Humbling yourself before God is not just a virtue the pastor recommends; he named it as the requirement for justification. The blood of the Lamb of God covers what the blood of a temple lamb could not, and that covering is an open invitation to anyone willing to say, with the tax collector, God be merciful to me.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- The pastor opened with the statistic that 70 to 80 percent of Americans believe they are going to heaven. What do you think drives that kind of confidence, and how does trusting in your own righteousness show up in everyday life?
- The Pharisee's prayer contains no requests at all. What does it tell us about a person's view of God when they come to Him with nothing to ask for?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 6,125 words
Like a an invitation. All right. Good morning, everybody. How are we?
Good to see you. Good to see you. Would you stand? We'll sing together. And as you're standing here from from Matthew six, this is Jesus.
He says, this then is how we should pray. Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Shall we start by singing it? A new song, but you'll catch on right away.
Oh, let your kingdom come. Father, let your will be done on earth as in heaven right here in my heart. Let's sing that again. Oh, father, let your kingdom come. Father, let your will be done on earth as in heaven, right here in my heart.
Give us give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us. Forgive us as we forgive the ones who sin against us. Forgive them and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Your kingdom come.
Let's again, father. Father, let your come. Father, let your will be done on earth as in heaven, right here in my heart. Oh, father, let your kingdom come. Father, let your will be done on earth as in heaven, right here in my heart.
Give us this day. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us. Forgive us as we forgive the ones who sin against us. Forgive them and beat us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Let your kingdom come. It's yours, his kingdom. It's yours. It's yours. All yours forever and ever.
The kingdom is yours again. It's yours, it's yours, all yours, all yours, forever. The kingdom is yours. Oh, father, let your kingdom come. Father, let your will be done.
Under a thousand given, right here in my heart. Oh, father, let your kingdom come. Father, let your will be done. Under thousand heaven right here in my heart. Under a thousand heaven right here in my heart
Amen. Y'all can have a seat. Oh, coming unplugged here. Hold your ears. Here we go.
Hey, is happening again. For the last few, like three weeks, we've been playing up at the Hootenanny at Dornan's in Moose, right there at the park. So if you would like to, come out and hear. Everybody else is going be singing too. It's the hootenanny.
They're not just letting us play, alright? It's a good time. But you might hear everything from Appalachian murder ballads all the way through gospel, alright? It's it's a normal event, yodeling, all kinds of stuff. They do it every Monday night and we, instead of being the come and see show here, we're going to do the go and tell and be there.
So, I'm looking forward to it. I hope you all will come on out. 05:30 at Dorning's is when it starts. Bill Briggs always leads off and then we'll go from there. Awana.
Wow. You want to do this one,
Carl? Sure.
Awana is coming up. And so September 11 is a volunteer meeting. If you are planning on being a volunteer, please plan on coming to this, and the first club meeting is the next week on that Monday. But we decided to put our energy and our efforts into Awana on Monday night. So we will not have Monday nights as we know them with the meal and the music and the message.
We're gonna sink our energies into Awana. I get to be the secretary this year and greet people at the door, and I'm very, very excited about it.
Thank you. Thank you, Nick, for the light on that too. First BBQ is happening this morning. If you walk past this and didn't notice, it's out there. It's happening between services, 10:00 ish.
We're going to be out there hanging out, eating together good, games, food, fellowship, feel free. Come on out. Old Bills season is upon us. We're in the middle of the giving season, August 11 through September 15. We'll have a tent set up at Old Bills on the day of.
You all know what it is, right? I'm looking at this crowd. You all look like you know what it is. Old Bills is a way of amplifying giving. So if you wanted to give, say, to First Baptist Benevolence Fund, you could give $1 into the Community Foundation Old Bills, and by the time it gets to us, it will be 1 point dollars $5 That's the way to amplify your giving.
If you want to give to the Benevolence Fund or to Good Samaritan Mission or to Cross Compass. I do it every time. Thank you very much. Compass. Compass.
Thank you. Carolyn Warzyniak is the director of Compass Women's Care. So if you want to give that way, you can give through old bills and it helps out a lot. Precept Bible study is started back up. Isaiah part two starting September 14, 9AM.
Bring your sharp colored pencils and come on. You can contact Heidi, (307) 203-0764. That's Heidi Groesch, I think. So, if you would, that's good. Women's fellowship, fall study, book of Daniel.
Y'all can tell I'm reading this, right? I just got back into town. And thank you for that. This is an announcement. I got to go to Georgia along with Tanya and Paschal, our goddaughter, who has been out here and sung at this church and has been a part of church here for five summers in her teenage years.
She started coming when she was 14 and she kept coming up until COVID. For the whole summer, she's worked with half of y'all. She's always had a job the whole time. She's out here three or four jobs at a time. And she got married and we love her and her husband is fantastic.
So thank you for allowing me that privilege to be there and do that for them. I also preached at my own church last week because that's what they asked me to do. Would you stand? I don't even know what's next. There's a there's a Bible study happening.
Rooted. It's happening. There's a lot going on. I'm sorry. I'm I'm sorry.
It's beautiful. If you want to know more about it, you can get our Emails. I should have read my Email. Thank you, Carl.
Into your word, into your word, we're digging deep to know our father's heart. And to the world, we're reaching out to show them who you are. Can we sing that verse again? That is so true. And to your word, we're digging deep.
To know our father's heart. And to the word, we're reaching out to show them who you are. So living water, It's a living water flowing through. God, we thirst from born of you. Fill our hearts and flood our souls One desire to know you make it up.
Just you know you went to make it know. Lift your name on high.
Lord, we have sung it, but can we just say it out loud too? God, you've you've made us more for just an ordinary life, but to know you and to make you known. You are the living water. You are the bread of life. God, may we come to you hungry and thirsty this morning because true life is found in you and you alone.
Amen.
I hear the savior say, high strength indeed is small. Child of weakness, watch and pray, finding me thy arm. Jesus paid. Jesus paid me go. All to him I hand.
Not left to crimson stain, he washed it white as snow. I'll freeze the one. I won't praise the one who paid my debts and raised his life up from the Hyundai. Oh, praise the one who paid my Jesus paid him go. Go to him I am.
And sin had left him crimson stain. He washed the waters.
And I pray again. Lord, as we have sung that song, I just felt so impressed upon you that you did not come to make bad people good, but dead people alive. And that is why we're here, truly, boasting in your work on that cross. In Colossians, it says, you canceled the record of the charges against us, and you took it away. How?
By nailing it to the cross. Thank you, Lord. That is how we're right with you. That's how we're made clean and pure. It's not of our own work.
It's not of our own doing. It's here. We're one beggar telling another where bread could be found. And, God, you are the bread of life. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Amen.
Me. I was lost when he brought me. And know his love for me. Oh, his love I'm a child of God. I am.
Free at last. He has ransomed me. His grace runs deep. While I was a slave to send Jesus thy. Yes.
He dined for me. I'm a child of God. Yes. I am chosen not forsaken. I am not forsaken.
I am chosen who you say I am. You are for me not against me. I am who you say I am chosen not me. I am who you say I am. I am who you say I am.
Whom the sun sets free, low is free indeed. I'm a child of God. Yes. I am. I'm a child of God.
Yes. I am in my father's house. In my father's house, there's a place for me. I'm a child of God. Yes.
I am.
Can I pray again? I know I've asked a lot, but I I I would love to. Lord, thank you that you have adopted us, sons and daughters of the most high, and simply by faith, and you take us into your family. And who you say we are, that's who we are. God, may we listen for your voice and hear that message today, chosen, not forsaken.
In Jesus' name. Amen. You can have a seat for a a moment here. This is a worship through giving part of the the service, and we're gonna sing. Speak, oh Lord.
And before we do, Ray, could you just pray in a blessing and for the for the offering?
Lord God almighty, thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. Lord, I thank you that you are speaking through your word, through our friends, through the circumstances of our life, Lord. You are you're always speaking. God, may we have ears to hear. May we have eyes to see.
And Lord, when we see and when we hear, may we have a will that is a submitted will, submitted to yours, that we would just simply, simply obey. Lord, that we go forward. I pray that you'd impress upon us right now what you would have us to do, what you would have us to say, what you would have us to give and how you would have us to live. And may we never forget that all of that is a gift, a gracious gift by a loving Father and King. In Jesus' name, I pray that we would be a part of doing your kingdom work, that we'd be obedient and humble servants before you in in Jesus name, in his path.
Amen.
Speak oh Lord as we come to you to receive the food of your holy word. And take your truth, plant it deep in us, shape and fashion us truth in your life. Christ may be seen today in our acts full of love and our deeds of faith. Speak, oh Lord, and fulfill in us all your purposes for your glory. As we go, Lord, and renew our minds, Help us grasp the heights of your plans for us.
Truths unchanged from the dawn on your promises. And by faith, we'll walk as you walk with us. Speak over, Lord,
Amen. It's time for children's church downstairs. Carla, I appreciate the music. I appreciate, I appreciate the utter dependence in the prayer too. Lord God, would you be with these kids as they go downstairs that that the the word would speak, that you would speak, that they would know that they're loved not just by the parents or just by these other folks in this church, but they're loved by you.
And I pray that that love would form a foundation, Lord, from which they can just go and do confidently knowing that you're with them. Amen. Luke eighteen nine through 14 is what we're up to. Before we get to that, do you might know what this means? There's one guy that knows.
Anybody else? Really? Really? That's cool. I'm not telling you.
No, I'm kidding. I am going to say it. That's the firing order for V eight engines, for most V eight engines, one-eight-four-three-five-six, six-five-seven-two. That's the normal firing order. And if you know that, what's a firing order?
I know, that's why I said I'm not going to tell you. If you know that, like I have got since I've been here, I've had I've been a mechanic a lot longer than I've been a pastor. I like working on stuff. I like tinkering on stuff. I have to do it for therapy.
But, if you know more about stuff, it helps, right? And so I've gotten a couple of vehicles that people have said, hey, got another car because mine's no good. And I just, can you haul it off for me? Can you whatever? I said, yeah, what's wrong with yours?
And I'll try to fix it. If they call me ahead of time, I try to help them through it. But I've gotten two of them since I've been here where the only thing wrong with it was somebody didn't know that. And that's simple. Two spark plugs, the wires work like this.
So that means it's not running right. It just doesn't run right. And it's not going to run right. And I did literally this and I had a car that ran right. It helps.
There are certain things that when you know them, it really helps. And I know some of you all are stonemasons and doctors, and you've got all kinds of things that you know more about than other people. And people pay you to do those things, right? And I have ended up in this job. And I tell you, every time I come back from being somewhere else and doing something else and being here, I get so nervous.
Because there's a lot of weight, right? There's a lot of weight to getting that call. I mean, spark plugs, that's one thing. But when your life is falling apart and you call somebody and I'm the guy, that's weighty. It's really weighty.
And so last week I went home and I saw a friend from high school that I haven't seen in many, many years. And when we were leaving to go to the mission field, I saw her and she said, ought to come to my church. And I said, Oh, okay. How's your pastor feel about that? Know, just inviting somebody in.
Does he I'll need to talk to him, suppose. And, you know, he's the authority and he's the one I need to talk to. And he and he would but talk ask him and whatever. And I said, is he a good guy? And she said, I'm quoting, if without him, I'd slit my wrist.
Now that was a like, I've been in church my whole life. I've never thought that. At that point, I've never thought that, not ever. I love my pastor. He was great.
He's wonderful. I think the world of him. I don't have any kind of disdain or ugliness or anything, but I'd never thought that without him I would be tempted that way. And I was moving to the mission field, and I was pretty honestly thought I was God's man. Partially because I went on a one week mission trip, and when I was down there, they had cars that needed fixing, and I fixed them.
They had tractors that needed to get across the border, and I got the tractors across the border because I spoke more Spanish than anybody else there. And I had this idea from that experience that I was God's man for this job, doggone it. And I wrote support letters, you know, and I went around to churches. Now I was a terrible speaker, not even close to good. Scared to death, more nervous than I am right now.
In fact, I would start and I would say, My wife is going tell you about the rest of this, and I would sit down and she would do the presentation. That's the truth. But I felt pretty good about being the guy that was going. I did. I felt really good about it actually.
And before long I have a wonderful wife and I love her dearly. And before we were to leave, she started noticing some things. We had twenty seven nights in a row that we were with somebody doing something before we left. And that's including the days that we packed. We had suppers with people or meetings with people in the morning, you know, three meals a day, breakfast meeting, a lunch meeting, and then a supper meeting before we were going, and people were so excited, and you achieved sort of a rock star status when you are a missionary.
Just can't help it. Around church people are like, Oh, man. That must be awesome. And it is kind of awesome to be God's man, you know, my wife and I, of course. And she very gently said, You're getting a little big for your britches.
I didn't take that under advisement at all. And then, the first two weeks on the mission field were the hardest two weeks of my life. I just heard from my friend that without her spiritual counselor and guide that that was that was it was it was her life would have been horrible. She's doing very well, by the way. I love her.
And it was this, the heart of the whole matter comes down to this. And I mention it a lot from up here. Whenever pride and humility come up, and they come up all the time, I mention it, but I mention it because I know it to be true. And I don't want I don't ever wanna start believing my own press. Right?
Oh, he's a good guy. You ought to meet that guy. I am nothing, absolutely nothing without Christ. And I don't want to get confused about it, and I don't want you all to be confused about it. And it's really simple.
Really, really simple. Right? That is so simple. And pride and humility is just that simple, but it is pride is insidious. It is insidious.
And it'll get in, and it'll sneak in. And it can sneak in from a lot of different ways, but religious pride is awful. It's just awful. Well, I went to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. We went to Tuesday visitation, and we always did all the things.
Yep. Yep. Where is your heart? How is your heart? Dating app profiles, this is all over the place.
You might be tempted to paint a picture on those, right? College entrance essays, scholarship applications. Tell us all the wonderful things that you have done. Resumes, CVs, Missionary Endeavor Support Letters. Add that to the list.
All of those things are things where people are begging you to tell them how great you are. And if they're not, and it feels like they don't care, you want to tell them anyway. And and I think that we do that with God. And so I usually give super context like context, context, context. This for context is right after the persistent widow that's pleading with the unrighteous judge, and he gives her what she asked for.
Okay? This is the next thing. Now, he also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt. Blake is trying to get rid of that little ring up there. It's all right.
Who did he tell this to? To some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt. Let's slow down. Those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous. 80% somewhere, it's going down a little bit, 70% to 80% of Americans believe that there is a heaven.
How many do you think they're going there? 70% to 80%. Like almost all of them. Almost all. Not all of them, but almost all.
There are all kinds of reasons why, but Jesus told this parable to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt. My goodness. We can get so into our thing, whatever that is, our opinion or our hobbies or whatever it is that we do, and we nowadays can find a willing bunch that will just spur us on in that direction. We can get further and further and further and further apart If one of us is leaning to the right or one of us is leaning to the left or one of us believes in the sovereignty of God and the other believes in the responsibility of man, and you can have all of those theological things and practical things in life, and you can get further and further apart because you trust that you're right and you view the other side with contempt. It's an us and them situation.
So Jesus told this parable to some people who trusted themselves that they're righteous and viewed others with contempt. It's a parable. Two men went up into the temple to pray. One a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. There were twice a day people went up to the temple to pray.
This one probably from context, as best I can tell, is probably the second time in the day about 03:00, walking uphill at 02:45 to get to the temple. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. No surprise that the Pharisee would be going up. There's no surprise whatsoever. But this story already has a twist with Jesus telling it to his original audience because what was the tax collector doing going up to the temple to pray?
Now the pharisee stood, which is the normal posture for prayer. He stood and he began praying this in regard to himself. God, I thank you that I am not like other people. I am an exceptional man. God, I thank you that I am not like other people.
He just started. He's already said I twice. Okay? I thank you. I'm not like other people.
Those think I the case. That's People had to pay taxes, death and taxes. You all know you gotta pay your taxes. But the people who collected them were from the people that they were over. Okay?
So this is a Jewish man who was for the other side as far as the Pharisee was concerned. And the role was to take the tax, but the way he made his living is anything he could get above the tax. And so he found lots of creative ways to add to the tax burden. He had to pay the taxes to the Roman government, but whatever he could make on top of that, he did. So swindlers and crooked would be the two first.
Extortioners and unrighteous would be the first two that the Pharisee would probably use to describe the tax collector. And also whenever you see the word tax collector in Luke, it is either accompanied with tax collectors and sinners because it's a special class of sinner or tax collectors and prostitutes. They always put those two terms together. God, thank you that I'm not like other people. That's contempt for other people.
Swindlers, crooked adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I fast twice a week. I pay tithes of all that I get, not just his income. He's talking about everything.
There were rules about what you had to tithe on. He's saying everything. I go above and beyond. I fast twice a week. You know that it was not required to fast twice a week.
There's one day, the day of atonement you're supposed to fast. He's gonna do it twice a week to be on top of everything. Twice a week, Monday and Thursday. No food. I fast twice a week because I'm super holy, pay tithes of all that I get but the tax collector.
And this is where the story turns. And this is not a long story. It's only from verse nine to verse 14, but the tax collector standing some distance away. So this guy approaches, here I am. Thank you, God, that I'm not like these plebes.
Right up front. And then the tax collector standing some distance away. He was unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, which is the normal posture of prayer at the time. And actually, the reason I say I think this is the 02:45, 03:00 afternoon service is because just before the time of private devotion and prayer is when they slaughter the animals. So there's a bloody sacrifice right there in front of them.
And so I'm sure the Pharisees come along. He's seen the sacrifices and says, thank you, God, that I'm not a bad guy at all. And then this guy comes in and he's thinking, there is no way. There is no way that the blood of that lamb is gonna cover this. Oh, I'm so ashamed.
That's what he's thinking. I'm so ashamed. He's unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but he was beating his chest, which is not a manly thing to do. We still we think of it as, act like a man. We think of it like that, but that's not the thing.
In the ancient Near East, in any other writings, pretty much the only time we see somebody beating their chest, it's women who are grieving and they're beating their chest. And so this guy is standing at some distance, standing still, posture prayer, but not looking heavenward and beating his chest, which also, like I said, would be shameful. And he was saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. He's not even just saying a sinner.
He feels like, as Paul said, the chief of sinners. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Now, we sang the Lord's Prayer, And there is there's a lot of asking in the Lord's Prayer. There's a lot of stuff we're asking for in the Lord's Prayer. And it's all stuff that Jesus said we should be asking for.
Let's back up here and look at the Pharisee again. The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself. Luke is a brilliant writer. God, I thank you that I'm not like other people. Swindlers, crooked adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week. I pay tithes of all that I get if you didn't notice God. Does he ask him for anything? Nothing. He's got all he needs.
He's trusting in his own righteousness. I'm a good guy. I'm a right guy. I'm a man for this. I'm glad they're coming to me to ask for the answers because I've got them.
But this tax collector standing at some distance away was even unwilling to raise his rise toward heaven, but he was beating his chest and he was saying, God be merciful to me, the sinner. Please, I know better than to think that blood of that lamb. Just, God, help me however you can. Help me. Be merciful to me.
I need you. I don't bring anything. I don't I don't have anything to boast about or brag about. Help me. Now Jesus says, I tell you.
And this is interesting. People talk about Jesus. No. Jesus never claimed deity. You watch the history channel or any thing else, learn what who knows what.
All of the channels and televisions, Jesus never claimed them. To say, I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one, that's a claim to divinity. Does that make sense? I tell you authoritatively. I'm telling you that, yeah, that guy, pharisee, trusting in himself, looking down on other people, that's not something that justifies.
God opposes the proud, and he gives grace to the humble. Neither one of these guys deserved it, but the Pharisee definitely didn't get it, and the guy who was asking for mercy did. I tell you. This man went down to his house from the Temple Mount. He goes up on the temple, and as he's going down to his house, he has been justified by God.
And justification, these days, what I think is the best illustration of justification is on your computer when you're doing a word document and you want it to be either justified on this side or justified on this side or justified in the center. All you have to do is click this little button, and it puts you all the way here, all the way here, all the way here. When God justifies, he makes a new creation in Christ. He makes a new creation in Christ, and he does so when we ask him to. He does so for the asking.
The mercy of God is available for those who are humble enough to ask for it. I tell you, this man went to the house justified rather than the other one. And it's really easy to beat up Pharisees. It's really, really easy to beat up Pharisees. Because they're always a bad guy in the New Testament.
They're always arguing with Jesus. They're always the super self righteous ones. But you don't have to be a religious Pharisee. You can be a licentious Pharisee that says, I can do whatever I want. And those crack pots over there, yeah, there's a reason the Bible gets some of them all the time.
You can be proud of either side. You can be proud of anything, any endeavor you get into. I tell you, humility is the difference in being justified and not being justified. I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled. It is better to humble yourself than to be humbled, right?
You could even translate be humiliated. Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled can also be translated humiliated. For everyone who exalts himself will be humble, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. Amen. God help us.
God help us. Help us to live in a place where we recognize that without you, we are nothing. That nothing in our hands we bring simply to the cross we cling. What do we have, Lord, that you have not given us? The grace of God.
The sun rises and the rain falls on the just and unjust, Lord. You give. Your common grace is all around us all the time, but to recognize that and sincerely be thankful for it. The I I believe that the Pharisee was sincerely thankful for it, Lord. He was thankful that he was not like those other people.
But, God, he didn't recognize that you are the one who gave that to him, and it was not by his own effort. Lord God, may we not trust in our merits, but trust in the merits of Christ on the cross. Follow humbly the spirits leading just like you did. In complete submission to the father's will, come what may, would you allow us, Lord, to know you and, as we said earlier, make you known. May people see in us a real humble servant of God.
Amen. Everyone who exalts himself will be humble, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. Amen. I've got a couple more. So humbling oneself isn't actually just possible.
It's not just possible. It's a requirement for justification. It is the requirement for justification. Humility before God, accepting the sacrifice that he made. And I said a couple times that guy had to feel that the blood of that lamb, there's no way that would cover him.
But the blood of the lamb of God will. It can. He's a man who's tempted in all the ways just like we're tempted, yet he was without sin. He had a perfect record. He willingly gave up his right to that perfect record.
That is humility. Willingly gave it up, And he said that he did that for to ransom all who would believe. It is an open invitation. So self examination time. I think you've already done this.
Jesus told this parable to whom? Some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt. If we're honest with ourself, self examination time, practically and sincerely, which one of these two guys are you really more like? That's the whole point of Jesus' message. And this week week hit me really, really hard that if I'm not careful, I'll tend towards that Pharisee.
You know? If I'm not careful to keep in mind that the main thing, the whole heart of the matter comes down to pride and humility, and God be merciful to me, a sinner. If we confess our sins, first John says, if we confess our sins, homo logeo. If we say the same thing as God is saying about our sins, he is faithful and he's just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What a promise that is.
Agreeing with God about our sin, and he gives us his righteousness. I think that's it. Would you stand with me? And we're going sing Rock of Ages. And pay attention to the words of this.
It is so good. The altar is always open if you wanna come forward and pray. I'm always available if you wanna come talk to me about it. I lay the base down and turn my microphone off. It's an open invitation towards humility.
The song expresses it well.
Breath and make me pure. And not
Alright, we've got another song too and normally, just do the benediction right now but we're going to sing this one. You know why? Because that prayer that y'all just prayed rock of ages, when you say nothing in my hand I bring and you ask him, you confess your sin. Nothing in my I don't I don't have any claim to this at all. He cleanses you from that sin and all unrighteousness.
And so when you go forward, you don't don't go forward as a religious jerk. You go forward as someone who loves not just other Christians, but everybody. You're you're righteous. Yes. You're righteous, but it's not in yourself.
You're righteous in God's righteousness. You're under his umbrella. And you can love instead of have contempt for all others. So let's do this.
And all praise to the father from whom all thanks come and all praise to Christ Jesus his only son and all praise to the spirit
First Peter five six and seven says this, now humble yourselves. That's possible. It is possible. Okay? Humble yourselves therefore under God's mighty hand.
It requires recognizing that he is above you. Humble yourselves under God's mighty hand so that he may lift you up in due time and cast all of your anxiety on him because he cares for you. It's that simple. That verse goes, it goes on to verse 11. Read it when you get home.
It's amazing. It's something to stand on. Thank you lord for your promises of cleanse and forgiveness and for your glory and our eventual good. Amen.
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