Justification According to Jesus
Luke 18:9-14
April 26, 2020
As you know, Jesus has been preaching in Luke’s gospel
Most recently regarding His coming kingdom.
It all began in 17:20 when Jesus was “questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming”
It was certainly a sarcastic and mocking question,
Not much different than those Peter spoke when people mock and ask
“Where is this Second Coming you speak of?”
But despite their mocking Jesus told them straight that
The Kingdom they should concern themselves with
Was the spiritual kingdom which was already in their midst.
These men simply needed to repent
And submit to the King of this present spiritual kingdom.
Of course you and I know that they were absolutely unwilling to do this.
From there Jesus did address His disciples regarding the future physical kingdom that would one day come and we discussed that.
• A Coming Departure – Christ was leaving and we would long for Him
• A Coming Deception – Evil men would deceive in the world
• A Coming Death – the unexpected necessary atonement
• A Coming Destruction – the judgment of the wicked at His 2nd Coming.
Then last week we jumped into chapter 18, but as we pointed out, the scene has not changed.
THERE WAS A DILEMMA IN WHAT JESUS HAD SAID.
If Jesus was going to leave, and deception and persecution where going to rise, how where His followers supposed to deal with that?
THE ANSWER.
Luke 18:1 “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart,”
The answer was to pray.
And not just pray in general, but prayer to God for justice.
• And to illustrate that Jesus gave us the story of a widow woman who would not quit crying out to an unrighteous judge for vindication.
• Because she literally was beating him up on the inside, he finally granted her request
• And Jesus said that our good Heavenly Father will do the same.
• He will bring about justice.
The only reason we don’t see it right now
• Is because He is currently exercising patience toward all of His elect and will not judge the world until they are all in.
• But when all the wheat are gathered in the barn you can know for certain that He will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire.
In short, God will vindicate His own.
So don’t lose heart in your suffering…pray.
In light of Jesus’ promise to return and judge the wicked,
A believer living in a sinful world should not lose heart,
But should continually pray to God for justice.
That is how a believer lives in light of the second coming.
BUT IF YOU’LL REMEMBER,
Believers weren’t the only people who asked about the coming kingdom.
In fact, Jesus was first asked about it by non-believers;
He was asked by the Pharisees.
And Jesus has a parable for them as well.
Now you may also remember that when Jesus was explaining the destruction that would come with His return He gave A VERY SOLEMN WARNING.
Luke 17:31-33 “On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. “Remember Lot’s wife. “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”
That was hardly the first time Jesus gave that warning.
Namely that “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”
Matthew 16:24-27 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”
What Jesus referred to was the necessity of denying self.
Often times when that concept is spoken about it is spoken of primarily in a PHYSICAL CONTEXT.
• We reference Peter and Andrew leaving their nets.
• We reference James and John leaving their father.
• We reference Matthew leaving his tax booth.
• We reference the R.Y.R. unwilling to leave his wealth.
And so often times the APPLICATION is made
To having to leave the things of this world in order to follow Christ.
And certainly that is true.
You can’t follow Christ and the world.
But even in that WE RECOGNIZE that in a physical context this looks different for almost everyone.
For example:
• Jesus told the R.Y.R. to sell all that he possessed and give it to the poor.
• Later Zaccheus will only volunteer half of his possessions.
• The disciples were called to leave their families and follow Jesus.
• But the Gadarene Demoniac was told to go back to his family.
The point is that while there is certainly a physical cost
There is not one universal standard
Of what “deny self” in that sense looks like.
Even at the end of John’s gospel
As Jesus told Peter that he would be bound and led where he did not want to go and killed, Peter asked Jesus “What about him?” (talking about John)
John 21:22 “Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”
The coming road was going to be different for those two men.
And so you see that in a physical context,
“Deny self” can look different for different people.
HOWEVER:
IN A SPIRITUAL CONTEXT, “deny self” is exactly the same for every single person.
I would also say that when Jesus mentions the necessity of denying self,
It is the spiritual context which has the first application.
What “deny self” means more than any other thing
Is that in order to follow Jesus you must deny yourself
As having any ability of earning your own salvation.
That is to say you must deny
• Self-Help
• Self-Righteousness
• Personal Accomplishments
• Your spiritual resume
Anything and everything you have ever done
By which you think that you have acquired credit and favor toward God
MUST BE DISCARDED.
You must (as Isaiah said) see all your righteous deeds as “filthy rags”.
Everything you have done that you might be tempted to “take pride” in
Or to stand on as that which makes you a good person
MUST BE TOTALLY AND PERMANENTLY DISCARDED.
Want some examples?
TURN TO: Philippians 3:1-11
Paul here actually warns about those whom he calls spiritual “dogs” and “evil workers” and “false circumcision”.
Their main problem?
They put confidence in the flesh.
They trust in what they have done.
And then Paul gives one of his great statements
On the utter worthlessness of our own human achievements
(even the highly religious ones)
Paul said (7) “whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”
• That is, anything that boosted my reputation…
• Anything that made me feel more pleasing to God…
• Anything that made me feel good about myself…
I had to toss it.
Paul said in verse 8 that counted “them but rubbish”.
That is self-denial.
TURN TO: 1 Corinthians 3:18-20
Paul here spoke to the Corinthians who certainly wanted salvation,
But they also wanted a high-standing reputation to go with it.
They wanted to be saved, but they still wanted accolade in the world.
Paul burst their bubble.
Paul taught them that foolishness precedes wisdom.
• What he meant was that in order to acquire the highest wisdom you must first discard that which is esteemed by the world.
In the circle of academia you must commit intellectual suicide.
• You must turn from the pagan philosophies and trust in Christ.
• Things like creation, substitutionary atonement, exclusivity of Christ.
It was what Paul spoke of back in chapter 2 of the same book.
(flip back to 1 Corinthians 2:1-5)
That is self-denial.
TURN TO: John 6:66-69
• We studied John 6 Easter Sunday and remember how Jesus told the crowds that in order to be saved they must eat His flesh and drink His blood.
• Jesus told that crowd that He came from heaven and was headed back there again.
• The crowd departed because it was a hard statement.
But Peter knew he had to stay.
He could get eternal life nowhere else.
Peter in effect said, “I have no other outlet; no other plan; no other means to obtaining eternal life. Apart from You I am hopeless. I’ve got nothing on my own.”
That is self-denial.
And in order for you to be saved, IT MUST HAPPEN
And I’m going to tell you this morning church,
Unfortunately I see it all the time.
Men and women who want to be saved
But still want to maintain their reputation.
Even people who instead of denying self, actually try to use Jesus and His church to glorify themselves.
• I see preachers who desperately want to be considered “scholars”
• I see those who want to be regard as “great men of God”
• I see those desiring the title of “theologian”
AND JESUS SAW IT TOO.
But turn one more place for me:
TURN TO: Matthew 23:1-12
Can you see there this problem?
• These weren’t men who outwardly rejected God.
• These were men who supposedly followed God.
• They taught about God.
• They took on the title of teacher of the things of God.
But the problem was instead of deny themselves to follow God
They were trying to use God
As a means of bolstering their own religious accomplishments.
And what you must know
Is that just because they were participants in organized religion
Did not mean they were acceptable.
They came to religion, but they still didn’t deny self.
They tried to use religion to exalt self.
AND JESUS CALLED THEM OUT.
(12) “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”
They wouldn’t deny themselves.
Well, I know that was a rather lengthy introduction
But you see now where we are headed.
The statement Jesus made in Matthew 23:12
Is the same statement Jesus will make here in Luke 18:14.
He is addressing the same problem.
Men who will not deny themselves.
And as I told you, this parable is a direct illustration
To the statement made in Luke 17:33
Regarding the necessity that in order to gain life, one must lose it.
And the life they had to lose was their life of self-exaltation.
3 points this morning.
#1 THE PREFACE
Luke 18:9
Similar to the last parable, Luke also prefaces this one.
• Only this time he doesn’t tell us the main point of the parable right off the bat.
• This time he tells who it is for.
“And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous”
Well obviously we know who that is in this crowd.
It is those same Pharisees who first approached Him and asked about His kingdom.
He knew them and He knew what made them tick.
They were described as men “who trusted in themselves”
AND THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MOMENT.
We are all aware of the unyielding
And unalterable divine requirement of God.
RIGHTEOUSNESS
God demands perfect righteousness and accepts nothing less.
Psalms 15 “O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.”
Over and over in the Old Testament we read: “You shall be holy, for I am holy”
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
It is the non-negotiable divine requirement of God.
Only holy and perfect people go to heaven to dwell with God.
At the very least this puts all men on a quest for righteousness.
• Righteousness must be the most valuable commodity to any man anywhere
since it alone is accepted for entrance into heaven.
And this parable is addressed to those people
Who when they look for righteousness they look to themselves.
“He told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous”
This parable is for people
Who when given the requirement of righteousness
They figure that they can accomplish it.
It’s the “I’m a good person” crowd.
And by the way, they are fairly easy to spot.
They have a tell-tell sign that accompanies them.
They “view others with contempt:”
“contempt” is a Greek word which means
“of no account” or “to despise utterly”
You can spot a person who thinks
They are achieving righteousness on their own because
They disdain others who haven’t done as well as they have done.
• They have no mercy.
• They have no grace.
• They have no compassion.
IN A PHYSICAL SENSE
We see people today who work hard, who earn a living, and who practice sound money management.
And we see the disdain that they will have for those who don’t work, who expect handouts, and who blow their money on frivolous things.
A hard working man might view them as being
“no count” or a “good for nothing”
Well, these men do that spiritually.
They figure that they worked hard for their high spiritual standing
And so they view with disdain those who have not.
Luke says this parable is for them.
That’s the preface
#2 THE PARABLE
Luke 18:10-13
Jesus begins the story with absolute POLAR OPPOSITES.
(10) “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.”
In Jewish culture you could not get two more polar opposites than this.
• One was considered the highest example of piety.
• The other was the lowest example of immorality.
• One was devout
• One was depraved
• One was a patriot in Israel
• One was a traitor to Israel
• One was a blue-collar worker
• One was a white-collar cheat
• One had seemingly turned his back on the world for the sake of God.
• One had turned his back on God for the sake of the world.
You don’t get more natural polar opposites than this.
And what is interesting here is that
If you were to stand a Pharisee beside a tax collector
And ask the crowd which one had denied self,
THERE IS NOT A DOUBT THAT EVERYONE WOULD PICK THE PHARISEE.
If you take Matthew 6 for example.
• We see Pharisees praying on the street corner
• We see Pharisees giving their money
• We see Pharisees in poor condition due to their fasting
• We don’t see tax collectors giving, we see them cheating
• We don’t see tax collectors praying, we see them partying
• We don’t see tax collectors fasting, we see them drinking and in gluttony
The natural pick here for an example of self-denial
Had to clearly be the Pharisee to the crowd.
Well let’s see.
LET’S LOOK AT THE PHARISEE.
1) HIS APPROACH (11a)
“The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself:”
Now, certainly praying while standing is not a problem.
The tax collector in a minute is going to be standing too.
The implication here is their proximity.
Whereas the tax collector won’t come near,
It is implied that the Pharisee
Has come as near to the temple veil as was allowed.
He has boldly walked right up in front of everyone.
And he is “praying this to himself”
• It either means he is just praying silently
• Or that he is literally praying to himself.
I don’t think it matters which you choose,
The point is that we now see what is going on in his heart.
Jesus is giving us a glimpse into his soul.
We see here his belief system.
2) HIS ANNOUNCEMENT (11b)
“God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.”
Here is the contempt that Luke spoke of in verse 9.
The only confusing part is the Pharisee even included the words
“God, I thank You” because it is clear that God is receiving no credit here.
Perhaps more accurately the Pharisee should have prayed,
“God, You should thank me that I am not like them.”
It is clear that his chest is puffed out
And he’s feeling real good about his accomplishments.
• He took inventory of his life…
• He filled out his application to go to heaven…
• And then he borrowed God’s stamp and stamped his own application, “approved”
If it wasn’t clear to everyone else, it certainly was to him;
He was the cream of the crop.
He was so much better than other people.
• He worked harder…
• He studied harder…
• He prayed harder…
• And he stayed away from all those fleshly vices that had plagued so many other people.
Look at how much better I am than them.
That is his announcement.
• There is no request here.
• There is no repentance here.
He just took time out of his busy schedule
To go and show God how good he was doing.
3) HIS ASSURANCE (12)
“I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.”
If you were to ask him why he was so sure that he was so acceptable.
His abstinence from fleshly sins was only part of the equation.
Certainly he had not done any of those wicked things,
But on top of that, he had done some very good things.
He was a regular faster.
• Jewish Law only required fasting once a year before The Day of Atonement.
• But this man did it “twice a week” (God must surely be impressed)
He was a meticulous giver.
• While tax collectors were busy hoarding money this man was paying “tithes” of everything.
He basically stood before God
As the supreme model of one who had denied self.
Now, before we just swallow everything he is selling
It is important to listen to the preaching of our Lord.
He bragged on not being an adulterer, but perhaps we should listen to Jesus.
Matthew 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
He bragged about fasting, but Jesus said:
Matthew 6:16 “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”
He bragged about tithing, but Jesus said:
Matthew 23:23-24 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”
And I remind you of those passages because
It is important for you to see that
Everything this man based his righteousness on was a faulty hope.
He had assurance, but it was false assurance.
He was best illustrated by Jesus as the man who built his house on the sand.
• He certainly thought it was strong, but there was no way that house could withstand the coming judgment.
All his goodness wasn’t nearly good enough.
Now that was the Pharisee.
Let’s look at THE TAX COLLECTOR
(13) “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’”
1) HIS APPROACH (13a)
“But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast,”
There is a stark contrast.
• He’s not running up to the temple doors.
• He’s not getting out in front of everyone.
• He’s far too terrified to try and get close to God.
• He was likely afraid that God would strike him dead for coming too close.
He was as far away as he could get and still cry out to God.
And he wouldn’t even look up to God, he was not that bold.
He just stood there beating his breast.
It was a sign of Jewish horror and even self-loathing.
The only other time we see it occurring in the gospels is:
Luke 23:47-48 “Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.” And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts.”
After the crowd saw Christ die there was a recognition among them
That they had condemned and murdered an innocent man.
And in horror, and certain fear of their own judgment,
THEY BEGAN TO BEAT THEIR BREASTS.
That is this tax collector.
Nothing in him sees himself as a good person.
2) HIS ANNOUNCEMENT (13c)
Notice what he calls himself, “the sinner!”
Not simply A sinner, but THE sinner.
That is, I’m the worst sinner in here.
Whereas the Pharisee thanked God that he was the best person,
This tax collector cursed himself for being the worst.
It reminds of Paul’s self-assessment.
1 Timothy 1:15 “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.”
• There are no excuses…
• There is no attempt to pass the blame…
• There is no one worse to stand next to in order to look better…
I’m the worst. I’m the lowest.
3) HIS ASSURANCE (13b)
“God, be merciful to me”
• The hope of the Pharisee rested in his own goodness.
• The hope of this tax collector rested only in God’s mercy.
His only hope, his only assurance,
His only confidence for even approaching God at all
Was in the fact that God is a merciful God.
He had no right…
He had no merit…
He had no good deeds…
He could only come pleading for mercy.
“God, be merciful to me, the sinner!”
And by the way, this is the only reference in the Bible that you will find to “The Sinner’s Prayer”
This evangelistic gimmick that has grown so popular where evangelists lead people to “repeat after me” this so-called pre-scripted “sinner’s prayer” has no Biblical basis whatsoever.
But if you’re looking for the real sinner’s prayer, this is it.
“God, be merciful to me the sinner!”
I also like to remind Rebecca that this can also be called
“The Tax Collector’s Prayer”
But the reality is that this every person’s prayer.
At least it should be.
• It is all any sinner can ask for.
• It is all any sinner can hope for.
By the way the word “merciful” here.
Is the Greek word HILASKOMAI
It literally means “propitiate”
Hebrews 2:17 “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”
What that means is that this tax collector
Is not just asking God to overlook his sin, but to atone for it.
• He is asking for the placation of God’s wrath.
• He is asking for the appeasement of God’s judgment.
• He is asking for his sin debt to be covered and paid for.
HE IS A SINFUL MAN, BUT A SINFUL MAN WHO UNDERSTANDS
That mercy does not come at the expense of God’s righteousness.
God is holy and God will judge.
He has no right to simply ask God not to judge his sin.
That is how the world wants to ask God to forgive.
“God, would You just get over it, and decide to let me off the hook. Would You just forget what I did and let it go and decide not to punish me.”
That is how the world often expects mercy.
Mercy doesn’t come like that.
Mercy comes through appeasement, through propitiation;
Through an atoning sacrifice.
NAMELY THE SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST
That is what the tax collector asks for.
God would you please pay for my sin.
That’s the parable.
#3 THE POINT
Luke 18:14
And here is a statement that will certainly cause the crowd to gasp.
THEY PICKED WRONG AT THE BEGINNING.
This is God made flesh giving you His Soteriology (doctrine of salvation)
“I tell you, this man when to his house justified rather than the other”
It wasn’t the religious man who was saved it was the sinner.
WHY?
“for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
God isn’t looking for good people, (because there is none good)
He is looking for humble people.
It is the poor in spirit, who mourn over their sin,
And who hunger and thirst for righteousness who are saved.
It is sinners who come to God pleading for mercy
And trusting in God’s propitiatory payment
Who are justified in God’s sight.
This is justification according to Jesus.
Now take that truth back and plug it in to the sermon He just gave.
Luke 17:33 “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”
Now look at those two men.
Which of the two was really trying to keep his life? (the Pharisee)
• He wanted his reputation…
• He wanted the accolade…
• He loved the respect he was getting…
The tax collector let it all go.
He had nothing to offer and he knew it.
And that is the point church.
As we seek to be ready for the return of the Lord
And the judgment that will follow
Might I remind you that if you are trusting in anything you have done for salvation then you have a false assurance.
• If you are proud of your spiritual accomplishments…
• If it is important to you that other people see how devout you are…
• If you easily look down on less spiritual people than yourself…
You had better
• Beat your breast, deny yourself,
• Throw all your righteous deeds in the trash where they belong and run to Jesus begging Him to pay for your sin.
• Fling off your filthy robe so that you can put on His
• Because there will be no justification for those who trust in their own works for salvation.
AND IF YOU KNOW YOU ARE SINFUL
THEN RUN TO CHRIST FOR MERCY AND ATONEMENT.
Let go of your pride and let go of your fear and run to Jesus.
Cry out to Him.
“God, be merciful to me the sinner!”
Jesus says that man is justified.
That man will be the one who is saved when the Lord returns.
