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Gospel Picture #2:

The Pharisee and the Tax
Collector
Part 1 – The Pharisee
Luke 18:9-14
August 15, 2004

Introduction

Have you ever stopped to ponder for a few moments

what you really think about yourself? I think for me
personally, when I stop to ponder this, I come away guilt-
ridden from the amount of self-righteousness that exists
in my heart. As I told you two weeks ago, it is truly the
plague of mankind.

If you were to stop and ponder what you really think

about yourself, you would find that more often than not,
what you really think about yourself is measured against
what you think about others. Believe it or not, our self-
conception comes from how we conceive others. We
construct a proper and improper behavioral standard in
our hearts and minds and then we proceed to walk
through life condemning or affirming others based on
our behavioral standard. You can usually pick up on this
if you are observing others’ conversations closely. They
usually say things like:

• Well, our family doesn’t…

• I make it a point not to…
• I’m glad I don’t…
• How can they say they are a Christian and…
• Well, at least I don’t…
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The list of introductory phrases could go on and on. But
what I want you to ponder for yourself is whether or not
you talk like this. And if you’re quick to answer “no”
then ask yourself whether or not you at least think like
this. If you still answer “no” then I would challenge you
that you are really self-deceived” and you above all
people need the sermon this morning.

But if you answer to yourself “yes” that you do talk and

think like this, then you too need this sermon this
morning. You need to hear about the righteousness of
God and what it looks like in real life. You need to hear
about it because God’s standard, not ours, is what we
will all be condemned or affirmed by one day soon.

Proposition

There are two goals I am desiring to accomplish in the

next two sermons, beginning this morning. The first has
to do with you personally. I want to challenge you
personally to examine your own heart and life to see
whether or not you measure yourself and your family
and your church by what others are saying, what other
families are doing, or what other churches are doing.
This is extremely important because if you continue to
measure your own righteousness by others rather than
by God’s, you are in for a heap of trouble in this life and
in the next. But if you measure your self, your family
and your church and everything else that is important to
you, by the only standard in life which is God’s
righteousness, then you are in good shape for the rest of
this life and the next.

The second goal I want to accomplish this morning has

to do with us corporately. I want to challenge us as a
body of believers with the application of God’s
righteousness to us. You see, if we all establish God’s
righteousness in our hearts and minds as the only
standard by which we condemn or affirm others’ actions
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and words, then we will experience deeper fellowship
between ourselves. There will be an immensely deep
fellowship because we will judge each other by the
standard of righteousness which holds the atonement
and forgiveness of God in Jesus Christ as of primary
importance. When we judge each other by each other,
we will kill this church. But when we judge each other
by God’s standard in Christ Jesus we will constantly
breathe new and fresh air into this little body which will
cause it to explode both in depth and in numbers.

I want to accomplish both goals over the next two

sermons by looking at another “Gospel Picture” as I
called it two weeks ago. The last time I was with you we
attempted to illustrate our biblical understanding of the
righteousness of God with the life of the apostle Paul in
Philippians 3. There we discovered that Paul’s main
ambition in life was to count everything that was
important from a human perspective as amounting to
rubbish or dung. Who he was and what he accomplished
in his life amounted to nothing more than handful of
cigarette butts.

Paul knew this well which is why he stated in verse 9

that he wanted nothing more than to be found having
the righteousness of Jesus Christ rather than his own
supposed righteousness. Paul knew that who he was
and what he had accomplished amounted to nothing in
the sight of God. The only thing God truly cares about is
whether or not a person has His righteousness in the
person of Jesus Christ. If a person offers his own
righteousness to God, the result is eternal
condemnation. But if a person offers nothing to God but
His own Son, Jesus Christ, then the result is eternal life.

Well, there is another “Gospel Picture” in Luke 18 that I

want to paint for you this morning and next Lord’s Day.
While many of us may never be able to relate to a model
Christian like the apostle Paul, many of us will be able to
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relate clearly to the two characters we will see in this
passage – the Pharisee and the tax collector. I can
guarantee all of you this morning that each of you will
see yourself in the Pharisee and hopefully all of you will
see yourself more so in the tax collector. This morning
we will spend our time examining the life of the
Pharisee. Next Lord’s Day, we will spend our time
examining the life of the tax-collector. Both are
important figures in the parable here, so I wanted to give
a week to each figure to make sure we have time to
properly examine ourselves in light of each one.

Transition

But before I get to the passage I want to tell you why I

chose this particular passage. There are two reasons.

1. I chose the passage because of the connection of

Greek words. If you’ll recall the previous sermon
on the apostle Paul I made mention to you of a
little Greek word in Philippians 3:3 – kaukaomai.
There we saw Paul explaining what he could boast
or brag about if human righteousness were all that
really mattered. He used the word kaukaomai
there to express the concept that he would rather
delight in, rejoice in, and brag about the
righteousness of God in the person of Christ above
all else.

We saw last time that the word itself was used in

classical Greek to refer to pluming oneself, much
like a peacock would strut its plume. It was further
used in this time period to refer to one who would
vaunt himself against someone else or treat them
in a derogatory or contemptuous manner.

I chose Luke 18:9 and following as my passage this

morning because of what we find Luke writing in
verse 9. He writes about a parable Jesus told
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regarding “some who trusted in themselves that
they were righteous and treated others with
contempt.” This parable that follows, then,
becomes a virtual word picture of kaukaomai…the
kind of confidence in the flesh that Paul counted as
loss and rubbish. The Pharisee becomes a picture
of how the apostle Paul would have acted before
conversion. The Pharisee trusted in his own
righteousness, as did Paul before conversion, and
he also treated others with contempt. That’s the
first reason I chose this passage.

2. The second reason I chose the passage is because

Jesus expressly told the parable in order to
illustrate what true righteousness was. And that’s
what I’m after in these two “Gospel Pictures.” I
simply want to illustrate for you what false
righteousness looks like and what true
righteousness looks like. I’m doing this in order
that you may measure your Christian experience
by these real life images and come up with some
solid conclusive answer regarding your own
relationship with God.

The outline I offer you this morning is based on an

exposition of the text so I trust you’ll follow along in the
notes I’ve provided for you. I’m only going to provide
two main points for you to consider this morning.
Measure yourself – your life, your words, your
conversations, your thoughts, your attitude, etc. – by
these two points.

1. You have not embraced the gospel if you exalt

in yourself. The Pharisee – vv. 11, 12

Let’s begin with verse 9, where Luke records the

purpose of the parable. He writes there that the
parable was written because there were those who
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were trusting in their own righteousness and who
were holding others in contempt. Then Jesus goes on
to speak of a Pharisee, which obviously means that
the Pharisees were an example, and a prima facie
example at that, of those who trusted in themselves
and held others in contempt. Let’s examine two
important words in verse 9 and then examine some
detail about why Jesus chose a Pharisee as a
representative of self-righteousness and condemning
spirit.

a. Do you trust in your own righteousness?

i. The word “trust” here is the perfect tense form

of the Greek word peitho, which simply means
“to be persuaded of, to seek favor or approval
from, to reassure, to rely on, have confidence
in, to be confident or sure.” One dictionary
defines as “to be induced to believe” (Thayer).

Key cross references are found back in

Philippians 3:3,4 which we covered last time. In
those two verses this word, peitho, is used
twice. First in verse 3, Paul says, “we should
put no confidence in the flesh.” This is what the
Judaizers did and what Paul rebuked. This is
what the Pharisee in Luke 18 is doing. We see
him putting confidence in who he is and what
he has accomplished.

This same form of the Greek word in Luke 18:9

is also used in Philippians 1:25 where it means
to be convinced of something. In Acts 5:39
another form (the aorist) of this word is used to
mean “taking advice from.” In Acts 13:43
another form (the imperfect) is translated as
“urge” and again in 27:11 it is translated as
“listen.” The present tense form of peitho is
translated in Rom. 2:8 (see also Gal. 5:7) as
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refusing to obey the truth. This is especially
fitting since Jews are subject.

Now plug these into the statement, “who

trusted in themselves that they were righteous”
as Luke writes in 18:9. In short, there were
many, the chief of whom were Pharisees, who
were convinced of their own righteousness
before God. They listened to themselves and to
their fellow Pharisees, men of their own
“stripe”, who affirmed them. They were fully
convinced and persuaded that they were okay
with God. This is what is so sad. It is
impossible to change the mind of someone who
only listens to themselves or to those with
whom they agree.

ii. Luke goes on to write that they “trusted in

themselves that they were righteous…” The
Greek word for “righteous” is the word dikaios.
It means conforming to the standard, will or
character of God; upright, good, just, innocent,
faultless, guiltless, to be in a right relationship
with God. To be approved or acceptable to
God. Being in accordance with what God
requires.

Thayer says, “of those who seem to themselves

to be righteous, who pride themselves on their
virtues, whether real or imaginary…
preeminently, of him whose way of thinking,
feeling, and acting is wholly conformed to the
will of God, and who therefore needs no
rectification in heart or life…”

These things are what the Pharisee believed

about himself. Let me put it into perspective
for you in terms of the Pharisees of today. This
is most noticeable in people today who call
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themselves Christians and act and think as if
they do nothing wrong. When trying to confront
them about wrongdoing, they explain it away,
rationalize it or excuse it or blameshift. They
show no sign or reflect in no way that they
actually think about what they have done
wrong or that they think at all with respect to
them doing wrong. There’s no self-
examination, no questioning of self, no
apologies, confessions, asking of forgiveness,
etc. When a standard of behavior is held up to
them, they change the standard, twist it to fit
their misbehavior, or virtually ignore it yet all
the while still clinging to the thought that they
are Christians.

Now ask yourself, “Am I thoroughly aware of and

completely convinced of my unrighteousness before
God? Or do I excuse myself when I do what is wrong?
Do I rationalize it away when I am confronted with
something I’ve done wrong? Do I look down on others
because I don’t think they are as godly as I am? Do I
think less of others because they don’t do what I think
they should do? Do I always act in completely
conformity to God’s will? Do I try to pretend like I am
always in conformity to God’s will? Do I try to hide my
failures and sins and mistakes from others so they won’t
think less of me? Am I completely honest with God
about how sinful I really am? Do I really view myself as
sinful as God does? These are hugely important
questions to ask yourself.

Transition

Now, with that in mind, let’s go a little further here and

consider why Jesus chose a Pharisee for His parable.
The reason why He chose a tax-collector are probably
already self-evident, and I will go into this later. But for
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now, let’s consider why He chose a Pharisee for His
parable. I see two reasons thus far in my studies.

b. Consider why Jesus chose a Pharisee for His

parable.

i. He chose them because of their childishness.

They busied themselves with elaborate

discussions, disputations, argumentation over the
most trivial matters. For example, one scholar on
ancient old and new testament times (Alfred
Edersheim), records that a major controversy
between the two schools of Pharisaism – the Hillel
and Shammai schools – was whether a blessing
should be said over the leaves and blossoms of a
berry or just over the berry itself (Life and Times,
Vol. 2, p. 206). They also had a controversy over
“what blessing should be used when a dish
consisted of various ingredients, some of the
product of the earth, others, like honey, derived
from the animal world.” Further, “the controversy
was long and bitter between the schools of
Shammai and Hillel, on such a point as whether
the hands were to be washed before the cup was
filled with wine, or after that, and where the towel
was to be deposited” (p. 210).

Edershiem goes on to write, “A religion which

spent its energy on such trivialities must have
lowered the moral tone. All the more that Jesus
insisted so earnestly, as the substance of His
Teaching, on that corruption of our nature which
Judaism ignored, and on that spiritual purification
which was needful for the reception of His
doctrine, would He publicly and open set aside
ordinances of man which diverted thoughts of
purity into questions of the most childish
character.”
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Going further, the three goals in life that made a

Pharisee distinct from all other Jews were (1) not to
make use nor partake of anything that had not
been tithed; (2) to observe the laws of purification;
and (3) to abstain from getting too close to all
those who were NOT Pharisees.

On this last point, Emil Schurer, another scholar in

the same field notes that just as an Israelite would
avoid as far as possible a heathen or Gentile, so a
Pharisee would avoid as much as possible a non-
Pharisee (Jewish Backgrounds, II, ii.24). That
seems to be why Nicodemus came to visit Jesus at
night in John 3. And that’s why the Pharisees
hated Jesus so much, because was found
frequenting the homes of sinners, Gentiles,
prostitutes, and publicans (Mark 2:14-17; Matt.
9:9-13; Luke 5:27-32).

“Our Lord shows how Pharisaism, as regarded the

outer, was connected with the opposite tendency
as regarded the inner man; outward purification
with ignorance of the need of that inward purity,
which consisted in God-consecration, and with the
neglect of it; strictness of outward tithing with
ignorance and neglect of principle which underlay
it, viz., the acknowledgement of God’s right over
mind and heart…while, lastly, the Pharisaic
pretence of separation and consequent claim to
distinction, issued only in pride and self-assertion.
Thus, tried by its own tests, Pharisaism terribly
failed. It was hypocrisy...the concealment of what
it was, and the pretension to what it was not. And
the Pharisaism which pretended to the highest
purity, was, really, the greatest impurity – the
defilement of graves, only covered up, not to be
seen of men!” (Edersheim, p. 212).
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Does this sound like you? Are you one to quarrel with
others over petty things? There is no end to the number
of church splits which have occurred in church history
over the most trivial and petty things. There is no end to
the number of relationships that have been severed
among Christians over petty things. Are you one of
these Christians who gets caught up in pettiness and
childishness when it comes to your relationship with God
and others?

ii. He chose them because of their hypocrisy.

Schurer also made this statement: “they had the

greatest influence upon the congregations, so that
all acts of public worship, prayers, sacrifices were
performed according to their injunctions.”

He goes on to point out that, “This great influence

actually exercised by the Pharisees is but the
reverse side of the exclusive position which they
took up. It was just because their requirements
stretched so far, and because they only recognized
as true Israelites those who observed them in their
full strictness, that they had so imposing an effect
on the multitude, who recognized in these
exemplary saints their own ideal and their
legitimate leaders” (p. 28).

What he means is this. The Pharisees were

especially good at stretching requirements very,
very far by elevating all commandments, no
matter great or small, to the same level and they
further expected everyone to obey them. In
reality, however, what they were accomplishing
was an elaborate construction of hypocrisy, for
their system allowed them to focus everyone’s
attention on smaller matters of God’s law while
neglecting the weightier matters.
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Remember the man with the withered hand whom
Jesus healed on the Sabbath. That was a perfect
example of their hypocrisy. They taught that
everyone should honor the Sabbath day and keep
it holy. Then they made up additional rules and
regulations that people ought to follow to make
sure they don’t break the Sabbath command. And
in their little contrived system, healing anyone was
forbidden because it meant a breaking of the
Sabbath day. But Jesus goes on to teach that
mercy and love and acts of kindness and
assistance on the Sabbath are not at all acts which
violate the Sabbath command. Love is the
supreme guide governing all the commands. So to
neglect to love someone just so you can keep your
own understanding of one of God’s commands is
hypocrisy. It claims to be godly when in fact it
largely ignores much of what God has said.

This is what made Pharisees hypocrites, then:

enforcing the Law of God but neglecting the parts
of it they didn’t like so much. This is why it was to
a Pharisee that Jesus said those famous words,
“you must be born again” (John 3:3). Nicodemus,
like all the other Pharisees, were so wrapped up in
following the smaller, lighter matters of life that
they missed the big picture called love. That’s
why Jesus picked a Pharisee to illustrate His main
point in this parable.

And as far as you are concerned, what does your meter

read on the hypocrisy scale? Do you get on to others
when you do the same things (Rom. 2)? Do you
condemn others in your heart for things they do when
you do things that are just as bad, if not far worse? How
often do you stop and consider your own sinfulness
before pointing out the sinfulness of others? Do you
take the telephone pole out of your own eye before
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trying to help your friend take the speck of sawdust out
of his eye (Matt. 7)?

Transition

Let’s look at little closer at this Pharisee fellow. The

prayer life of a Pharisee really is one of the most
remarkable things – remarkably arrogant that is. Listen
to a couple of Pharisee prayers I found in my sermon
preparation. They date from around the time of Jesus,
and they show that the prayer we read by the Pharisee
in Luke 18 was really nothing out of the ordinary.

• “I thank thee, Jehovah my God, that thou hast

assigned my lot with those who sit in the house of
learning, and not with those who sit at street
corners. For I rise early and they rise early: I rise
early to study the words of the Torah, and they
rise early to attend to things of no importance. I
weary myself and they weary themselves: I weary
myself and gain thereby, while they weary
themselves without gaining anything. I run and
they run: I run toward the life of the age to come,
while they run toward the pit of destruction”
(Hendrickson, Luke, p. 820).

• “I thank Thee, O Lord my God and God of my

fathers, that Thou hast cast my lot among those
who frequent the schools and synagogues, and not
among those who attend the theatre and the
circus. For, both I and they work and watch – I to
inherit eternal life, they for their destruction”
(Edersheim, Sketches, p. 32).

Given this evidence as to the nature of their normal

prayer life, let’s look more closely at the Pharisee in Luke
18 whom Jesus uses as one of the two key figures in His
parable.
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iii. Where He Stands When Praying.

When we compare where Jesus says the Pharisee

is standing with where the tax collector is standing
in verse 13, Jesus may be indicating that the
Pharisee is standing as close as possible to actual
sanctuary, with its Holy Place and the Holy of
Holies (Hendrickson, Luke, p. 819). If this is so,
then what arrogance he possesses! When Isaiah
was in the very presence of God he feared for his
life (Isa. 6). But not this Pharisee. He marches
right up to temple, getting as close to the Holy of
Holies that he can get and proceeds to pray
without any inhibitions of his own sinfulness like
Isaiah had.

Now, while this is good conjecture about the

meaning of the verse, I think there is a more
probable reading of the Greek in verse 11. It has
not so much to do with where the Pharisee was
standing as much as how he was praying.

iv. Whom He Addresses When Praying.

The text reads that he prayed “by himself.” This is

from the Greek pros eauton which normally means
to or about onself. These two Greek words when
used together can never mean “by himself” in the
sense of “alone.” The imperfect tense of the
Greek verb for “praying” when used with the
phrase pros eauton gives one of two nuances here,
both of which highlight in different ways the
principal point Jesus is making about the
arrogance of the religious leader here.

First, it could mean that he “prayed to himself,”

but not necessarily silently. Or second, it could
mean that he “prayed about himself,” with the
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connotation that he prayed out loud, for all to
hear. Since his prayer is really a review of his
moral resume, directed both at advertising his own
righteousness and exposing the perversion of the
tax collector, whom he actually mentions in his
prayer, the latter option seems preferable. If this
is the case, then the Pharisee’s mention of God is
really nothing more than a formality (from The
NET Bible, p. 1861, n. 16).

One pastor went on to point out that, “outwardly

he addresses God, for he says, ‘O God.’ But
inwardly and actually the man is talking about
himself to himself…Moreover, having mentioned
God once, he never refers to him again.
Throughout his prayer the Pharisee is
congratulating himself.” (Hendrickson, p. 819). His
prayer starts out as thankgiving to God, but the
prayer ends up not being about God but about
himself. This leads me to the next point.

v. What He Doesn’t Say in His Prayer.

If you’ll notice, there’s no confession of sin

anywhere. There is no mention that he has done
anything wrong. There is no asking of forgiveness.
There is no sense of guilt. “Now if he had any
sense of the divine presence, would he not also
have had a sense of guilt? See Isa. 6:1-5; Luke
5:8” (Hendrickson, p. 819). This is the surest sign
of a Pharisee in my book. Anyone who does not
acknowledge that they are a sinner or that they sin
is self-deceived, as John taught in 1 John 1.

vi. Who He Compares Himself To.

Moving further, you’ll notice that the Pharisee

compares himself not to other godly Jewish leaders
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like Samuel or Simeon in Luke 2:25-32. Rather, he
compares himself with those of a bad reputation.

It is easy to think well of yourself because there is

always someone who behaves worse than you do.
But is this really the standard of judgment? The
mark of a Christ-righteous person is one who
compares himself to God first and then to other
Christians, always thinking of himself as lower than
they, and acting like it also. Pharisee ends up
looking over while praying and probably spotting
the publican, which is why he probably ends his
prayer naming tax-collectors and talking about
money.

vii.What He Says in His Prayer.

In verse 12 you’ll notice that the Pharisee

congratulates himself on his fastidious and strict
ceremonial lifestyle with regard to fasting and
giving.

Now, it seems the two facets of life with which

Pharisees held to such rigorous rituals was eating
and tithing. They treated every single meal they
ate as an official ceremonial ritual feast. So it is
not surprising to find Jesus addressing these two
issues in His parable.

• His fasting – the normal fast was refraining from

food and drink for 24 hours, from sundown to
sundown. It was often accompanied by
refraining from sex and from wearing leather
shoes. (Dictionary of Judaism, Neusner,
“fasting” on p. 224). Jews only required to fast
once a year according to Leviticus 16:29. He
fasts twice a week. Probably on a Monday and
Thursday.
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• His giving – Jews required to tithe only certain
kinds of income. He tithed from all of his
income. – See Deut. 14:22,23; Luke 11:42.
Hastings (Dictionary of Christ and Gospels,
2:356), says, “In Luke 18:12 He illustrates how
compliance with external requirements,
especially when these are exceeded, as in the
case of the Pharisees, and dissociated from the
corresponding state of heart, breeds a culpable
and overwhelming self-righteousness.”

What is it in your Christian life that you value so dearly?

Is it how much you give? Is it how you pray? Is it what
you pray? Is it the way you parent your children? Is it
the version of the Bible you use? Is it your schooling
preferences? Is it your denomination? Is it your
denominational distinctives? Is it your theological
system?

The bottom line here is that the Pharisee’s prayer was all
about himself. As I said before it was nothing but a
congratulatory speech on what he loved most about
himself. And while we may not go around talking or
praying like this, we do think like this, don’t we? We do
congratulate ourselves on who we are and what we have
accomplished in life. We thank God for the blessings He
has given us and then we thank Him that we are not like
“so and so” who does this and that.

His prayer acknowledged no sinfulness. It shows no

understanding whatsoever of the fact that he does sin.
If he did it would surely be with the terms “mistake” or
“accident” or the like. But never would he view his sin
with the utmost wretchedness as God views it. And we
are no different, are we? How many of us truly feels the
brunt of guilt as we should for the sins we commit? I
admit that many times I have been oppressed by the
guilt of my sin so much so that I grow depressed or
discouraged. But I know this well – I know for a fact that
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I do NOT know the heinousness and wickedness of my
sin the way God does. Yet that is what I must seek as a
Christian – to know the sinfulness of my sin.

His prayer knew nothing about God. The Pharisee knew

nothing of love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, atonement
because he had never experienced any of these things.
He knew nothing of guilt because he had never
experienced it as he should. He knew nothing of either
because he knew nothing of God. To know God is to
know sinfulness and forgiveness alike. It is to feel the
weight of he depths sinfulness and to know the joys of
the heights of forgiveness. The Pharisee evidences no
knowledge of either. Do you?

Conclusion

Look at verse 9 once more. Notice there that the

Pharisee is Jesus’ prime example of those who not only
trust in themselves, in their own righteousness, but also
treat others with contempt. This Greek word is
exoutheneo which means to treat as nothing; to despise
and count something as of no value or worthless; to
reject or cast aside.

Is this how you view others, beloved? Is this how you

treat your spouse? Your children? Your neighbors? Your
co-workers? Your employees? Do you compare yourself
to others and then think little of them because they do
not believe what you believe, go to church where you
do, read the kind of books you read, spend their money
the way you think a person should, drive the kind of cars
you think they ought, live in the kind of houses you think
Christians ought to live in, discipline their children the
same way you do, etc.?

It is so easy to allow our opinions and estimations of

others be lessened and lowered bit by bit because they
don’t “measure” up to the way we do things? It is easy
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to look down on others, not thinking of them as spiritual
as ourselves. This is the number one cause of church
splits and fights – it is all about judging one another. We
see the Pharisee doing it in Luke 18, we’ve seen it
happen here in recent weeks, and we will continue to
see it unless we kill the Pharisee within us. We must put
to death the hypocrisy, childishness, pettiness, and self-
righteousness and look only to Jesus Christ and the
righteousness He offers.

How do you know if you are acting like this Pharisee?

You’ll know it when you talk or think just like he does in
verse 11. You’ll know you’re acting like a Pharisee or
perhaps are a Pharisee when you say or think, “I’m glad
I’m not like other men.” This is the manifestation of
contempt for others. When you say to yourself that
you’re glad you’re not like them for whatever reason,
you are acting like a Pharisee.

In closing, perhaps you’ve even said throughout this

sermon, I’m glad I’m not like that Pharisee in Luke 18! If
so, then you are that Pharisee! The challenge to you is
simply this: examine your life to see whether or not you
have truly met the Lord Jesus Christ because if you have,
you would talk more like the tax-collector than the
Pharisee. Which one are you at this very moment?

Since all of us act like the Pharisee from time to time,

perhaps your resolution this morning is to put him to
death within your heart – resolving only to think of
yourselves and others as sinners saved by grace, as
saying “there, but for the grace of God, would I have
gone.”

But perhaps some of you act like the Pharisee all the
time. Perhaps you are so self-deceived that you take no
thought for your own sinfulness and self-righteousness.
The warning for you this very moment is to beware of
God’s judgment. The Bible clearly teaches that
 20
destruction comes the swiftest and the hardest on the
prideful. Repent from your self-righteous pride this
morning and ask God to help you see yourself for who
you really are. Ask Him to help you see yourself as He
sees you. Let’s stand together and prayer towards these
ends.