Opposites with No Name

[0:00] All right, let's go ahead and take your Bibles this morning to Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18 this morning is where we're going to kick off here. We're going to be looking at more than a name.

[0:12] And we've been looking at unnamed people in Scripture who left an impact in eternity and then left those things. This morning is going to be a little different because we're going to talk about two people that we don't have a name, but we're going to talk about some opposites with no name.

[0:29] But this is one of the few that is an actual parable. But I think oftentimes Jesus, when he spoke in parables, was looking at things that actually had happened or things that had actually taken place.

[0:44] And I think that as we're going to look here this morning at these two individuals with no name and the impact and the things we can learn from it here. So Luke chapter 18, let's look here in verse 9 here this morning.

[0:57] And it tells us this, it says, He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.

[1:09] You know, I think we can all agree that that happens sometimes. You know, sometimes there's people who think they're righteous and despise other people. And so let's look here, it says in verse 10, And two men went up into the temple to pray, and one a Pharisee and the other a publican.

[1:27] And the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

[1:39] I fast twice in a week. I give tithes of all I possess. And the publican standing far off would not lift up so much his eyes into heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

[1:57] I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalted himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.

[2:10] Let's pray. Heavenly Fathers, we just take a few moments here as we look at the two people represented in this passage this morning, Lord, of just the impact that they even have for us today.

[2:25] Lord, to have the right understanding and the right mindset towards you. And Lord, we pray that you just would stir our hearts and minds towards you even here this morning.

[2:37] And so let's give you all the praise and thanks and glory in Jesus' name. Amen. You know, the interesting thing is there's only one of you. Now, some of you might think that's a good thing.

[2:50] But God has made each of us unique. He's created us different. We look different. Our personalities are different. Our abilities are different. Our capacities are different.

[3:01] You know, even identical twins are really different in many ways. There's things and traits about them that are unique to them as an individual. And so each of us is very unique.

[3:14] And in this account here, Jesus tells about two unnamed men who were very different. You know? We could say that they were opposites. They were opposites in their approach to God.

[3:28] And as a result, their spiritual states were also opposite. Where they stood before God were total opposite because of how they came and presented themselves to Him.

[3:41] So we find first here this morning the contrasting motive. You know? The motives were different. You know? The contrasting motive. On the surface, this story begins.

[3:53] And we cannot judge the motives of the two men. They're just two unnamed men. And they were going to do the same thing. They were going down to the temple. They were headed there to do the same thing.

[4:05] And that's to pray. But while, you know, those watching that day would have known they were not the same occupation or religious stripe or indeed different, no one would be able to judge their motive initially.

[4:22] You know, think about what it says there. Look at verse 10 in our text. It says, Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. You know?

[4:33] The reality is, as these two men entered the temple that day, they might have had outward appearances slightly different. But considering this, was there any way of knowing their motive?

[4:46] You know? It's just like this morning. There's people who come to church this morning. And, you know, people come for all sorts of different reasons. They can come in with a smile on their face.

[4:58] But you know what? The one thing we can't is understand the motive of a heart. Why does somebody do something? People do things for a lot of different reasons.

[5:09] You know, God's Word talks a lot about that. You know, how God looks upon the heart of an individual. God knows who you are inside. We can look on the outside. We can take some guesses.

[5:21] But you never truly understand the motive of a person. But God does. God looks upon the heart of an individual. Jesus here is revealing, not the outward.

[5:36] He's telling us that they're different. But this text that Jesus, this parable Jesus gives us, talks about two men. And he looks at not the outward.

[5:46] He looks at the motive. He looks behind the why. Why were they doing what they did? Because they were opposite in many ways.

[5:57] You know, one, there was a religious display that went on when they came. You know? The Pharisees of Jesus' day were known for their outward display of spirituality. So when it talks about the Pharisee coming in, everybody would have known who the Pharisee was.

[6:13] He would have had the right attire on. He would have been dressed looking the way that everybody expected. Everybody looked at him. And I guarantee you, when people judged on the outside, they said, there's a guy who has it all together before God.

[6:28] Looking on the outside, they thought everything was together. But the reality is, is that Jesus points out the inward deadness of the individual.

[6:41] Jesus calls them hypocrites. You know, take a look over in the Matthew for a moment. Look over to Matthew chapter 23. Matthew 23, look down at verse 25. Jesus looks at the Pharisees and he says this, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

[7:05] Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like unto white sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones and of uncleanness.

[7:24] Even so, ye also outward appearance, appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

[7:37] You know, think about the reality of what Jesus is describing. He's basically describing something that is just hollow and empty. You know, there's nothing there.

[7:49] They look good, but when closely examined is not what it appears. You know, I remember a few years ago, I went to look at a vehicle, and you know, the thing about Nebraska and the Midwest, you know, you can go look at a vehicle and you start looking around on it and it looks pretty good.

[8:09] You know, especially, like, you can have a paint that looks really good. Have you ever went to look at a used vehicle and it looks really good, then you start poking on it? The paint looks good and then the paint goes in.

[8:22] Why is that? Because it may look good on the outside, but what's happened on the inside? The rust has gotten in there and decayed it from the inside going out. It still looks good on the outside, but there's no substance or nothing on the inside.

[8:38] You know, Jesus is giving that same illustration. You can have things that look good, but it doesn't mean they are. And tell it when we begin to examine. Because today, many work hard to try to cover up what's going on on the inside.

[8:54] You know, there's a lot of people who work hard to look good on the outside. Just as this Pharisee wanted, spent a lot of time trying to look good. Trying to make sure he measured up to all the things that were expected.

[9:06] But the reality is, is that Jeremiah the prophet described it this way. He says, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? There's a religious display from one that happened.

[9:22] And then we have the opposite. We have a repentant desire of the other individual. You know, whenever we find the word publican in Scripture, it's almost always linked with the word sinner.

[9:34] You know, it's one of those words that is always tied together in that. You know, publicans were the tax collectors. You know, everybody's favorite. You know? It's funny how certain things pass the test of time.

[9:47] Whenever you hear somebody, I'm a tax collector, no matter what they are, nobody seems to like them. You know? It's kind of like, you have a job that people don't like. You know?

[9:59] Because you're the person you don't want to see. You know? Today we have a fancy thing. We call them assessors, you know? But really what they're doing is assessing things so they can collect money, you know? And you get that little slip in the mail every year of somebody where somebody's come around, you know?

[10:13] And so we all have that same thought when it comes to tax collectors, don't we? You know? Even today, because, but even in Jesus' day, they were known for their deception and their thievery.

[10:26] They generally, many of them would cheat the people to pad their own pocket. In other words, they would overtax to be able to get their own pockets lined. They were there. They were despised and hated by the people.

[10:39] They were considered the worst of the worst. And now we find this unnamed publican was not going to the temple to show off his religious zeal. You know, his only possible motive would have been to repent of his wickedness.

[10:54] You know, we see these two that walked in that day, these two unnamed individuals, totally different, don't we? Their purpose and their reasoning for being there were two totally opposite ends of the spectrum.

[11:08] It's not what people perceived them being there, but it's what God saw when they were there. Because this unnamed publican, this unnamed tax collector, was not there in the temple trying to impress somebody.

[11:25] You know, the Pharisee came with all the right religious garb, all the right language, all the right things. He was there to let everybody know, I'm religious.

[11:37] But this publican, this unnamed publican, this unnamed tax collector came that day. He wasn't concerned with what other people saw. Matter of fact, most people probably avoided him as he walked in.

[11:49] You know the routine. It's like, okay, there they are. I'm going to go this way. We find this individual came, his motive was there because he was there to confess who he was before God who already knew.

[12:06] You know, he wasn't trying to cover up his faults or make himself look better, but he knew that he needed forgiveness. You know, another unnamed person in Scripture was one that was a rich young ruler who came to Jesus in Mark chapter 10.

[12:21] It says this in verse 17 of Mark 10. It says, And when he had gone forth into the way, there came one running and kneeled down and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

[12:33] You know, this young man wanted to go to heaven. He wanted to add some religion to his life. He ended up, however, walking away sad and grieved in his heart because he was unwilling to turn from himself to the Lord.

[12:51] He said, I want this, but I want it on my terms. Motive makes a difference because I want you to understand that Christianity is not just a religion of regimen or rules.

[13:07] It's a relationship with the Savior. You know, the inside of an individual makes a difference in what's taking place. You know, look over to Romans chapter 8 for a moment because when you get saved, there's something that takes place in an individual.

[13:22] The Bible tells us that the Spirit of God comes and dwells within us. Romans 8, verse 15 says, For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption where we cry, Abba, Father.

[13:39] The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, and we are the children of God and if children then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. You know, that's a whole different dynamic, isn't it?

[13:52] And we see that being played out. We see the comparison mistake. We have that contrasting motive but also a comparison mistake because as we see the Pharisee comes and compares himself to the publican.

[14:06] You know, it's not hard to see ourselves, our own tendency to compare ourselves with others, is it? You know, Peter also struggled with comparing himself with others after Jesus told him that if he loved him he'd be willing to commit his life to serving him.

[14:23] It would cost Peter's suffering. It would cost him something in his life. You know, John 21, verse 19 says this, And he spake, he signifying by what death he should glorify God and when he had spoken this he said unto him follow me.

[14:41] Then Peter turned about seeing the disciple whom Jesus loved following which also leaned on his breast at supper and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? And Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, what shall this man do?

[14:56] You know, here Peter is, he's not concerned with where he is. He's worried about what John's going to be, happened to John too. You know, he's comparing, you know, is mine going to be better than his? You know, we're easy to get caught up in comparison of these things and we find here that Peter makes no argument and seems to understand and agree with Jesus that he is willing to die for the Lord and you know, history records that he did, but immediately upon hearing Christ's word predicting his martyrdom he falls to the temptation and comparison.

[15:26] Well, if I'm going to have this happen, what's going to happen to them? You know, we need to understand, we need to know where we are with God. The response of Jesus here is classic and well-heeded for us today.

[15:41] You know, we need to quit comparing, you know. John 21 verse 22 says this, and it said, Jesus answered Peter this way, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?

[15:55] Follow thou me. In other words, he says, what I'm doing in their life is between me and them. What's it to you with what's going on? It's not your decision.

[16:07] It's not your impact. It's who are you between you and me? You know, we find here that the first comes up, you know, the Pharisee has a very self-centered prayer.

[16:19] You know? Now notice something, and look back in our text, look in chapter 18, look at verse 11. Because I think this is important as you read the scripture, this is there with them little phrases that I think are important.

[16:33] Because sometimes we can get to reading and just kind of flow through. It says, the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with who? Himself.

[16:43] He's in the temple. He's all dressed up looking religious, trying to sell everybody how close he is to God. Remember, Jesus looks at the motive. Jesus gives us an insight.

[16:54] He gives us a snapshot of what's inside of this unnamed individual. He said he prayed thus with himself. You know, here's this man saying a prayer, but God hasn't showed up.

[17:07] He's in the place that God's there, God's available. Everything is there, but it says he prayed himself. You know, sometimes we have to be careful that we're not just praying with ourselves. You know, when we try to make ourselves feel better as we attempt to convince God who we are.

[17:23] You know, sometimes we can think about what we've accomplished or what we've sacrificed. You know, when we let him know that we're unappreciative and take advantage of things, or how tired and exhausted you are laboring for him.

[17:36] You know, that happens oftentimes. We get so focused on ourselves, we have to be careful. And he gives us this picture, we're praying thus with ourselves. God isn't anywhere near our prayers.

[17:49] Because I want you to understand, prayer is not getting God to do what we want. You know, oftentimes people look at prayer saying, I can use prayer to manipulate God. I want you to understand, your prayers don't manipulate God.

[18:01] Prayer isn't us trying to get God to do what we want. It's getting God to become, it's getting us to become like him and doing what he wants. Because the reality is, it's his will, not our will.

[18:13] You know, part of the problem with prayer sometimes is what do I want? What makes me comfortable? What's going to benefit me? You know, you think about when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, when they asked him to pray, you couldn't get a greater contrast in the Pharisees' prayer and how Jesus taught his disciples to pray.

[18:31] Because the prayer was all about who God is, what God has done, and what God is going to do. The right focus. You know, we can easily be caught up in the things of this life and miss what Christ has for us.

[18:48] To be focused upon what he desires. You know, we had that self-centered prayer of the publican. He stood and prayed thus with himself.

[19:00] Let's look quick at his prayer just so we understand what he says. He says, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are. Extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

[19:11] You know? And then he starts listing the things that he did. You know, I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all I possess. You know, all the things that, Lord, Lord, you better take note of me.

[19:24] Lord, you know I do a lot. You know, one of the things that gets us in trouble when we get our eyes on ourselves, because sometimes we get our eyes on ourselves and we get our own pity party going.

[19:37] Well, I didn't get what I want. You know, the reality is as a believer in what Christ has done for you, it says we're to be a living sacrifice. And that means if you're going to sacrifice something, that means you're giving voluntarily something that you may possess, that you may control, but you're saying, Lord, you use it how you see fit.

[19:58] The problem with that oftentimes with us, that makes us uncomfortable. That makes us anxious because we want what we want instead of what God wants. You know, today oftentimes when we get so caught up in ourselves is when you start having the pity party, isn't it?

[20:13] A pity party is no different than what the Pharisees praying. It's me, me, me, me, me, me, me, Lord, look at me. It's empty. He stood there with this supreme positioning, lording over, you know.

[20:25] Think about that. It says, he stood there and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are. He had a supreme mindset to say, you know, I get to make the decisions when we compare our life with our neighbors and those at work or the average person on the street.

[20:41] You know, we may appear to be doing great, but it's God who is the standard. We need to hold our life up next to him. You know, I want you to understand the Bible tells us that we're not going to measure up.

[20:55] Matter of fact, totally the opposite. You know, Romans tells us that there is none righteous, no, not one. This man says, Lord, look at me, I'm righteous. And God looks back at him and says, no, you're not.

[21:06] You know, if you use the wrong measuring stick, you'll get the wrong length every time. I'll give you a good example. You know, it's like we compare a lot of things, especially like in track and field.

[21:16] They have two different standards that go because you have a time for yards that are run and time for meters that are run. You know what? There's a difference between a yard and a meter.

[21:27] It might not be much, but you know what? When you start multiplying, it makes a big difference on the outcome. You know, if you grabbed a, I remember they used to make meter sticks. You know, I'm old enough to remember when all that was starting to come out. I don't see them around much anymore.

[21:39] You know, those have kind of faded away. But you know, the problem with that, the 39 and a half inches tall was a problem when you thought it was 36. Why is that? Because you're measuring with the wrong assumption. This man was measuring with the wrong assumption.

[21:52] He thought he was good and it was about him and Jesus says, no, it's about me. To measure up those things, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

[22:05] You know, the reality is is what we measure against is important. You know? It's kind of like when you're doing work, you know, one of the most important things, you have two important things in building a building.

[22:18] One is level and the other is plumb. The difference, level goes this way, plumb goes this way. Both are critical and to know how to measure it is critical because a plumb line will give you a truly accurate picture of where something is.

[22:41] You know? A level sometimes you can get off a little bit. You know about a plumb line though? A plumb line will always be accurate. When a plumb line hangs, the end of that point is perfectly 90 degrees, perfectly straight down from the point it hangs from.

[22:57] There's no hiding it. There's no deception. If you put it against there, it will show and reveal exactly the plumb line. Matter of fact, you know, turn back in the Old Testament, go to Amos chapter 7.

[23:11] Because it's interesting that God doesn't tell us to be level, He tells us to be plumb. I didn't say plump, I said plumb. Amos chapter 7 and verse 8, notice what it says, And the Lord said unto me, Amos, What seest thou?

[23:24] And I said, a plumb line. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not again pass by them anymore. It's interesting that God uses a plumb line as a picture.

[23:38] Why? Because there's no deviation of a plumb line. It will be true. The reality is proven out. The truth is, God gives us a plumb line today.

[23:49] It's called His Word. He gives us His Word. He is not interested in negotiation or compromise. He has forever settled His Word, and He's not going to bend the standard to make us look straight.

[24:01] You know, the problem is, we like things we can maneuver. But we need to understand that God gives us His standard. Look back in the New Testament. John chapter 12, in verse 48, it says, And he that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judges him, and the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

[24:24] You know, I want you to see here, the Word of God is our plumb line of life. Are we lining up with what God's Word says? You know, this man, the interesting thing about the Pharisee that we're looking at, he had a soothing portrayal of himself.

[24:41] He prays with himself and he feels better about his conscience because he attempts to remind God of how spiritual he is. Lord, look, I go through all the right things. I fast twice a week.

[24:52] I give tithes of all I possess. You know, like the Pharisee, sometimes we get caught up in ourselves instead of caught up in what God has. to say, God, I'm willing to do what you want me to do.

[25:07] It's not about me or how it makes me feel. It's about what's my responsibility before you. How am I measuring to your plumb line?

[25:20] When we pray to God and he sees us as we are, are we saying, God, look at me? Are we saying, Lord, I need you to assess me?

[25:35] You know, think about Isaiah in chapter 6 and verse 5 when he says, Woe is me for I am undone because I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

[25:49] When we get our eyes on the Lord, it changes the perspective of ourselves. But we see next quickly here, we see not only the motive in the mistake, but we see a very contrite man that's the counter.

[26:01] Because if we're going to look here, we see the other unnamed, the publican. The opposite is unfolding. Now these two things are happening simultaneously, I think. I think when Jesus talks in this parable, he's talking about two men that walk in.

[26:17] One goes to do his thing, the Pharisee, and wants everybody to see, you know, and everybody to know. And I think you have the publican that kind of sneaks in behind and says, I have to focus on what God has.

[26:30] Notice here in verse 13 back in our text, it says this, it says, and the publican standing afar off would not so much as eyes, lift so much as eyes unto heaven, but smowed his breast.

[26:43] In other words, you know, I want you to see here, there's a common thread in those who are used of God. This man was willing to humble himself. He caught the first important thing. If you're going to catch God's ear, it's to humble yourself.

[26:57] To say, Lord, it's not about me. You know, by nature, we like ourselves. Ultimately, we look out for ourselves. We are by nature selfish people.

[27:08] People will even do good things to help themselves. Think about the Pharisee. What was he pointing to? He says, I do these things so everybody thinks I'm good. But he missed what it was before God. But here we have this publican that comes in, this tax collector, and he comes and he humbly comes before God.

[27:26] Because look at how he humbles himself. Look at his cry for help. Verse 13 says, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

[27:38] You know what? When Jesus went to the cross, he went for sinners. He went because of our sin. He didn't go so we could be proud or boastful. He didn't say, I'm going to go to the cross. My body's going to be crushed and bruised.

[27:50] I'm going to bleed for those to be prideful. Exact opposite, wasn't it? To realize we're a sinner that needs a Savior. You know, the more we depend on ourselves, our goodness, our merit, our abilities, the more we're going to fall.

[28:06] You cannot get rid of your own sin. You know, we need to grab a hold of the fact that we need to humble ourselves before God. Be willing to say, Lord, what would you have for me to do?

[28:18] Where would you have me to be faithful? Where would you have me do my part? You know, oftentimes I think we get caught up in what's in it for me instead of, Lord, what would you have me to do?

[28:30] Because we cannot live for Christ on our own. We need to be dependent upon Him. You know, 2 Corinthians chapter 3 says this, it says, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God.

[28:47] You know, sometimes we need to get our eyes off ourselves and get them back on God. Because even as a believer, you know what, we can become like the Pharisee.

[28:59] You can become like the one that gets our eyes on ourselves instead of having our eyes on the Savior. To keep our eyes upon Him because our sin and our miserable condition in ourselves, we may think that our cry to God will be in vain, but you know, the reality is when we come humbly before Him, God will hear and God will answer.

[29:22] Think about what Micah says in Micah 7 verse 18. It says, Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passes by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?

[29:34] He retaineth not His anger forever because He delighteth in mercy. You know, the one thing you can know about God is God delights in those who humbly come before Him because God delights in being merciful.

[29:48] He'll not turn a deaf ear. God will hear the merciful. He will be merciful to those who have humbled themselves because we see also a clear measurement.

[29:59] You know, the Pharisee had a false measurement by his assessing of himself with another human being. You know, when we compare ourselves to others, it's always easy to find somebody who will make us feel good.

[30:16] Have you ever noticed that? Don't take long looking around to find somebody worse than you. It's just amazing, you know. It's like you can always find, you know, no matter who it is, I could take you down here to the worst ward down here at the jail and you know what the person's going to do?

[30:29] Well, that guy over there is worse than me. I only killed 22 people. He killed 24. He's worse. I mean, the measurement is just insane, really.

[30:41] Well, he said, I didn't kill anybody, but you know what? Sometimes we look at our own sin and say, hey, they've sinned worse than me, so therefore I must be okay. A humble person says it doesn't matter what the other person did. One of humility says I only understand that I'm accountable to God.

[30:57] I'm accountable for what He's done. You know, a false measurement, one that was inaccurate. You know, one of the things you'll find in the Old Testament is people would use scales to cheat people and God would call them on it.

[31:15] You know, the Lord condemns improper measurement. You know, Proverbs 20, verse 10 says, divers weights and divers measures. Both of them are alike, abomination to the Lord.

[31:27] You know, the funny part is they've actually found weights that are off in archaeology. They'll be marked for one thing and when they actually weigh them, they weigh different than what they're marked.

[31:42] You know what that tells them? Hey, there was people cheating people. Today, oftentimes, we cheat ourselves by measuring with the wrong things. Just like a weight on a scale can be inaccurate when we judge with the wrong thing ourself before God, it becomes inaccurate.

[31:59] I want you to understand that sometimes this is good and bad because sometimes we think God can't do something and we have an inaccurate measurement of God because God says, I can if you trust me.

[32:11] It works both ways. God says that we ought to have a right measurement because notice here quick the justification that was pronounced by Christ.

[32:24] Verse 14, Jesus looks at him and says, I tell you this, man went down to his house justified rather than the other. You know?

[32:36] Boy, that's a pretty harsh assessment, isn't it? Jesus looks at the Pharisee that everybody would have said, man, that guy has it together. And everybody looks at the public and it says he's over there just crying out to God. The Bible says just being, it's just saying, God, I'm the sinner.

[32:50] I imagine everybody was looking at him like, look at him. He's right. He needs to get right. But Jesus says he went down to his house justified because he humbled himself and said, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.

[33:05] What a picture that we have. You know, you think even when Jesus was on the cross, consider the two thieves. You know, the two thieves were comparing themselves one to another and comparing themselves to Christ too, weren't they?

[33:20] You know? And their perception of who Jesus is made a difference. They both deserved a cruel death that were hanging beside him. One ridiculed him but the other thief cried out to God.

[33:36] The Bible says that he cried out and said, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. He looked at Jesus and said, I believe that you are who you said you are. There was no good thief that would merit heaven.

[33:48] He could not come off the cross and reform his life or start going to church. His only hope was in the Savior. His eyes was only on Christ.

[33:59] Jesus said, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. The picture of simple faith and the proper judgment of saying, Lord, I'm a sinner. Have merciful. Be merciful to me.

[34:10] You know, today I think we have a lot of people who call themselves Christian but the real question we ought to ask is God call you one. All that will matter on judgment day is judgment day when you stand before the Lord is what Jesus is assessment of you because it will either be assessed by the shed blood of Jesus Christ and how it's been applied to your life or it won't.

[34:30] We need to grab a hold of the justification Jesus pronounced one justified. But we find also a jarring paradox here because notice here in verse 14 it says, for the one that exalted himself shall be abased and he that humbled himself shall be exalted.

[34:50] You know, Jesus is again teaching a very simple reality. He says to humble yourselves before God.

[35:01] The Bible says that he will lift you up. Not ourselves but him. You know, the Pharisee exalted himself and the publican humbled himself.

[35:12] Now, 2,000 years after we're still reading and speaking about what took place. These two unnamed men and what took place.

[35:26] Now, don't get caught in your own self-conceit or by comparing yourself the wrong way. I want to encourage you to always see yourself as God sees you. That starts with understanding that God sees you as a sinner who needs a Savior.

[35:39] But the other side of that is a very positive thing too because once you're saved God sees you as his child. He's there. He's with you. He protects you.

[35:51] He looks over you. The same is true if you're his child. If you've called upon him as your Savior. If you've been born into his family. God looks at you and not just as a sinner but a sinner that's been saved by grace.

[36:06] make sure you see yourself and understand how God sees you. We can learn that from these two men. These two people with no name that Christ mentions.

[36:20] Let's pray. Heavenly Father as we come before you this morning Lord we just thank you.