Sermon Notes 10.1.17

Stories Jesus Told
Part 1: Great Mistakes  
“Self-Righteous Foolishness”

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Luke 18:9-14
9 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: 10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! 12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Let’s take a look at the Pharisee…

1.  He was convinced that his “righteousness” was complete.  He failed however to see his own sin.  Why?  We tend to judge others because they “sin differently than we do.”
2. However, what is the truth?  Everyone needs  the Savior (Romans 3:23 – “All have sinned and fallen short of God’s standard.”)
3. It appears by this passage the Pharisee was into comparisons.  His “self-righteousness” compared to the tax collector’s obvious sins justified himself before God.
4. The Pharisee’s inability to see his pride, made him oblivious to his own sins.  We all need humility – when we possess self-righteousness like the Pharisee, we exalt ourselves and we tend to ignore our own sin.
5. How do we know the Pharisee’s sin was pride and self-righteousness?

Matthew 6:1-7 - “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.  2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.  5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 

Let’s look at the tax collector…

1. He was a perfect example of humility.  And because of that humility, he was justified before God and only the humble will be justified before God.
2. The tax collector was in agony because of his sin and recognized his unworthiness to even stand before God.

Let’s look at you…

1. Do you understand that you are a sinner?

1 John 1:5-10 - This is the message we heard from Jesus[c] and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.  8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

1. When you sin, does it affect you?  Do just put it out of your mind or do you deal with it.
2. Do you consider your sin simply drives another nail into the hands and feet of your Savior?
3. Do you hate your sin enough?
4. Are you willing to deal with your pride?
5. Access God today forgiveness today – with humility.

Steve Gladwell, from Longfeet Baptist Church in the United Kingdom gives us an interesting perspective on humility and repentance:  Think of a husband and wife in a car, the wife tells her husband to turn right at the next junction and by mistake, he turns left. When he realizes what he has done, he says to his wife “I’m sorry love, I went the wrong way.” But if that is all he does, it isn’t enough. His saying sorry isn’t getting them any closer to where they want to be; it isn’t even stopping them getting further away. To get where they want to be, he needs to stop the car, turn it around and go back on to the correct road that his wife told him to take in the first place.
That is humility, that is repentance.