I invite you to turn with me to Luke 18, not chapter 19 as I had put in the bulletin, but Luke 18, verses 9 through 14. As I had mentioned this morning, tonight we consider that familiar parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector. Two men who found themselves at the same time in the temple to pray. Two men who were extreme opposites, extreme opposites before the sight of the world, extreme opposites before the sight of each other if they were to examine themselves. Well, actually, the Pharisee did examine himself with the tax collector. And two men who were indeed extreme opposites before the sight of God. Now, we are given their very reason for this parable by Luke already in verse 9 when he says to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable. Jesus is teaching here a life and death lesson about pride and about self-righteousness. And He teaches that how we view ourselves in relation to others is the fruit of how we view ourselves before God. And it's fitting that our Lord uses the context of prayer for this parable, that blessed gift that God has given us by which we are to approach Him, that gift through which we too give evidence of our true relationship with Him. With this parable, our Lord Jesus Christ sketches proper posture before God. Hear now the Word of God. Luke chapter 18, beginning at verse 9 through 14. To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable. Two men went up to the temple to pray. One a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself, God, I thank you that I am not like other men, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Well then, beloved, how do you stand before God? What is your relationship with Him? Is your posture proper before God? Boys and girls, I'm sure that your parents teach you that you are to have proper physical posture. If you're not standing straight, maybe you're slouching over, they say, stand up, stand straight, don't hunch over, don't slouch. Or maybe if you're slid down in a chair, they tell you to sit up straight. Or if you're walking really crazy or something, they might tell you to walk properly, walk straight. Every person, you see, has a particular physical posture. And in the same way, every single person has a particular posture before God. That is, every person stands a particular way in a particular relationship before God, whether they realize it or not, whether they will admit it or not. And again, Jesus sketches here a portrait of proper posture before God, contrasting these two men and showing that proper posture includes knowing His presence, God's presence. It includes recognizing His excellence. And it includes bowing before His mercy. First of all, proper posture before God includes knowing His presence. Being conscious of His presence at all times, but especially when we come before Him in prayer. And the point that I hope to make here is that we are called to know God's presence in the sense of, first of all, knowing that He is God. Understanding that He is God, that He is the one and only true God, that He is the sovereign ruler. That as God, He is the Creator of all things and that He provides for and that He preserves all that He has made. That as the one and only God, He is above all things. He is supreme in power and wisdom and glory and might. All power belongs to Him. All knowledge belongs to Him. All glory belongs to Him. That as God, as the Bible describes, the nations are as dust before Him And He is so great, He holds the seas, the very oceans, as it were, in the hollow of His hand. And because He is God, He will accomplish all that He has planned to do from before the foundation of the world. But not only is He Creator, but He is also holy. And that means that He is completely other than sin. He is completely without sin. He is pure and perfect and righteous. is He cannot and He will not tolerate sin. He cannot and He will not be overpowered by sin. In fact, we read in the Old Testament, He says, No man can see My face and live because He is holy and because man is sinful. And that means, beloved, that we cannot stand in His presence as we are in and of ourselves. He is Creator. He is holy. But He is also Redeemer through His Son of those who cannot save themselves. We only have time to give but a tiny, tiny sketch of all that the Bible says about this great God. We must know His presence. Know that we are in the presence of God Himself who gave us our being. He made us. He gave us our very breath of life. He gave you and me our soul, our breath, our wisdom, our intellect. In Him, as the book of Acts says, we live and move and have our being. And apart from Him, Not one of us can command our next breath. Not one of us can breathe on our own apart from the power of God. We are completely dependent upon this God. And as God, He also knows us perfectly. He knows our lives perfectly. He sees and knows and watches us. He knows every detail of your life and mine. He knows our thoughts before we think them. He knows our words before we say them. Sadly, at times we find ourselves living in such a way that we fail to remember this. In fact, sometimes I think we tend to live in such a way that we're pretty sure that God doesn't see us and watch us and know us. He knows our days perfectly. Boys and girls, all of your days and my days were numbered by Him. He knew exactly how long we would live down to the very second before you or I even lived our very first day. And He provides for you and me in such a way that nothing happens by chance. As Job uttered, the Lord gave and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Nothing happens by chance, but everything happens at His direction and it's all for our good. And because of who He is, because of the greatness of His person, He's not our buddy. He's not our pal. He must not be taken by you and I lightly. He must be taken seriously. He and His Word is to be taken seriously. He is not one whom we can take and leave as we feel like it. He is not one whom we are to look to only when we find ourselves in a bind. He is not one who is there to give us what we want, when we want, and how we want it. Instead, He is so great that He deserves all of our praise and all of our adoration, all of our worship, all of our fear. all of our reverence. He is the one before whom we are to bow down in humility as those who don't deserve to be heard of Him. But instead, each one of us deserves to be punished forever by Him. This is the very one into whose presence we come. And we are to know that we are in the presence of this very one. These two men in the parable of these two men, and one understood that, the other did not. One demonstrated that proper posture, the other did not. And that proper posture includes, in the second place, then recognizing His excellence. Not only knowing His presence, not only knowing who He is, but then recognizing His excellence because of who He is. And people of God, recognizing the excellence of God is demonstrated in approaching Him. How you and I approach God. You see, those who truly know and understand God by faith recognize His excellence and His worthiness. God's people recognize His transcendent glory and His infinite majesty, His absolute perfection, His unblemished holiness. We cannot comprehend these things completely. But by faith, we recognize them. But at the very same time, we recognize all of these things, the excellence of God by faith. At the very same time, God's people recognize that they are completely other than God. Remember, He is completely other than sin. And we are completely other than God. Because in and of ourselves, we are completely identified with sin. And you and I are wholly unworthy to approach Him. And therefore, recognizing His excellence is demonstrated in approaching Him, We are called to approach Him in humility with that Spirit, that song on our lips and in our hearts that says, Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling. As I heard one of our brothers say it beautifully this morning, Sadly, but beautifully, you and I are poor and naked and blind. We are to come before our God in humility as Isaiah, when he saw the holiness of God came face to face, and he heard the cherubim cry out, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord. And Isaiah responded as he saw himself in the light of God's nature. He said, Woe to me, I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty. We are to approach Him in humility and also to approach Him undeservingly. We must confess, beloved, that there is no reason in me whatsoever that God should accept me. I'm poor and naked and blind. I have absolutely no righteousness to offer to God. Sadly, though, there are many who approach Him in blindness. There are many who openly demonstrate the error of thinking, well, I don't need God. I don't need a Savior. And I'm talking now about the unbelieving world. Those who have absolutely nothing to do with Christianity. They never ever bend the knee to Him in prayer. They have nothing to do with God's people. They have nothing to do definitely with church or anything of that nature. But even more sad, there are others like them. Some who claim to be God's people, like the Pharisee. Some who claim the name Christian. They join themselves to a visible church. They surround themselves with Christian friends, but they truly do not know the presence of God. They do not recognize His excellence. and instead they really rely on themselves. And again, our Lord gave us extreme examples in this parable. One who recognized the excellence of God, the other who did not. The first one is a portrait of self-righteousness. The one who did not recognize the excellence of God, the Pharisee. And this Pharisee represented what the audience really was. Again, to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable. the Pharisee represented what this particular audience really was and the tax collector represented what the audience ought to be. What you and I ought to be. But we need to understand that the Pharisees themselves at that time were models in the sight of the world, we might say. They were considered to be a picture of holiness and righteousness. The Pharisees were model God-fearers of their day. And to be fair, we must also admit that the Pharisees had, or the Pharisaical movement had a good beginning. The Pharisee sect began in the intertestamental time between the prophecy of Malachi and between the angel coming to visit Mary and Joseph. There was a 400-year gap there where God was, as it were, silent. And the Pharisees had their beginnings somewhere around 145 B.C. and the situation was such that the nation of Judah was being influenced by Greek culture. And the result among the nation was spiritual indifference. They didn't really care about spiritual things. And worldliness, compromising at every turn. And moral laxity. They weren't concerned about how they lived. Sounds kind of familiar today, doesn't it? And the Pharisees, true to their name, which means separatists, they separated themselves with the hope of preserving the nation from spiritual ruin. They had a good beginning, but they had a bad result. And that is that the Pharisees adopted the doctrine of works righteousness through the law. They added literally hundreds of outward demands to the law. They cut the heart right out of the law, which was to love God above all and their neighbor as themselves. The important thing was simply to observe all these laws and commands that they said one must obey. And their fatal error was that they justified themselves before God. They believed that they could do what it takes to win God's favor. They could do whatever it takes to earn salvation. And in their minds, those who were not like them were hopelessly lost. And they failed to recognize the words of Paul in Romans 3, verse 20, when he says, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified. And very clearly from this parable, this Pharisee did not recognize God's excellence. And because he didn't, he also did not recognize his own unworthiness before the sight of God. But instead, he commends himself to God. Verses 11 and 12, the Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself. God, I thank You that I'm not like other men, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. He commends himself to God, look at me. Publicly, he tried to look closer to God than everyone else, most likely either standing up right in the middle of everyone or right in front of everyone to be seen and to be heard. And his prayer really was only about himself. And why God ought to be very pleased with him. He gave thanks not for what God had given to him, not for what God had done for him, but what he believed that he had accomplished himself. And his goal, beloved, was not to thank God for himself, and again for his good gifts, but to praise himself to God. And he offers himself to God. Imagine that. He offers himself to God as a model of righteousness. God, you need a poster boy? I'm your man. Right here. Have you ever done that? In your own heart, offered yourself to God as someone that He ought to commend? He was a model. He offered Himself as a model of righteousness. I'm not like robbers. I'm not like evildoers. I'm not like adulterers. Or even this tax collector over here. And I think it's probably safe to say that this Pharisee truly was not guilty of these gross sins, at least hourly. Of course, he didn't realize that just like you and me, he was guilty of breaking every single command of God, every single law of God in his heart. But no doubt he wasn't guilty of committing these gross sins hourly, but he uses these kinds of people as a canvas, as a backdrop, if you will, on which to paint a glorious picture of himself. And this tax collector over here was living proof of the Pharisee's point. How convenient! How providential on this day that this tax collector was there, an example for him to place before God. Look at both of us, God. You can see for yourself. And God could, of course. And the Pharisee gives a litany of his fasting and of his giving, which, by the way, was more than the law required. The law required that they fast once a year. He fasted twice a week. The law required that they give a tenth of their income, but he gave a tenth of everything. In fact, Jesus says in Luke 11, he speaks out against the Pharisees saying, you tithe everything, mint, all kinds of herbs, you give of everything, but... And it's clear here, beloved, that this Pharisee did not truly know God. he did not recognize the excellence of God he saw no need for God's forgiving grace he did not confess his sins but instead he boasts that he is not a sinner this Pharisee placed his confidence and his trust in himself in his own goodness he left nothing to the mercy of God and he failed to remember what Jesus said in chapter 16 verse 15 you are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men but God knows your hearts God reads your heart and mine. Indeed, this Pharisee compared himself to men and he found himself heads above the rest. But he failed to compare himself with God. And he failed to find himself lacking. And because in his own eyes he had no sin, he saw no need for Christ. And beloved, that was his fatal error. He saw no need for Christ. And for all those who find no need for the Lord Jesus Christ, it is indeed a fatal and eternal error. But there were two men there that day. The other man was a portrait of humility, of true humility. And he was also a picture of the truth that God looks at the heart, not the outward appearance. And this tax collector, at least visibly by his actions compared to the Pharisees' actions, He was visibly opposite of the Pharisee. Now again, everybody in that day knew the truth of the tax collectors. Tax collectors were hired by Rome to go out and collect taxes from their own fellow citizens. And with Roman authority on their side, they would overcharge and they would overcollect and they would become wealthy at the expense of their own countrymen. They became thieves. They became extortioners. They were considered by their fellow citizens to be traitors. tax gatherers were hated intensely they were outcasts by their fellow countrymen and there was considered to be no hope for one like this well of this tax collector we read that he stood at a distance he would not even look up to heaven but beat his breast and said God have mercy on me a sinner you see beloved this tax collector had been touched by the Holy Spirit with the grace of God. This particular tax collector recognized the very presence of God. He recognized the truth of who God is and he recognized the excellence of God and at the very same time, he recognized his own unworthiness. He stood in the back. Incidentally, this parable is not proof why it's good to sit in the back of the church and not to sit in the front. Please don't take it that way at all. But he stood in the back. He didn't feel that he was worthy to be close to the altar, to be close to God's presence as it were. He wouldn't even lift his face up toward God, toward heaven. This tax collector saw himself in the light of God's holiness and he didn't like what he saw. And that is to be your response and mine too when we compare ourselves to the light of God's law and God's holiness. We ought not like what we see. and are out of drive us to Christ. And this tax collector demonstrates a conviction of his guilt and shame. He beat his breast and the idea is that he beat it over and over and over and over again. A sign of conviction of his guilt and shame. This tax collector was hungry and thirsty for the one great blessing of God. That God would take his anger away from this man and instead restore his favor to this man. He was starving for the forgiveness of God. Now, both of these men speak to God about themselves, but we find only one of them in the third place, bowing before God's mercy. Now notice, first of all, the Pharisees' request. What was it? Nothing. He had no request of God. What did God have to offer him that he needed? He was guiltless in his own eyes. I haven't done anything for which I ought to be kept out of heaven. And if God didn't know that before, He certainly did now because the Pharisee told him. In fact, it was God who had the debt to the Pharisee. The Pharisee had been obedient. He had done what God demands. And so God owed him. God was indebted to him for going above and beyond the call of duty. If only there were more men like this Pharisee. Boy, this world would be a much better place. But notice the tax collector's request. for the only thing that matters. The mercy of God. Because he was conscious of the divine presence. He was also then conscious of his guilt and of his need for the righteousness of another. He was conscious of his need for the mercy of God. He found nothing in himself that was acceptable to God. And he calls himself the sinner. Not a sinner like the NIV translates it. Not simply one among many, but the sinner. As if he's calling himself the one and only. He was conscious of so much more than just his sinful deeds. He was conscious of his corrupt, sinful nature, his total depravity. Both of these men think only of themselves in a sense, but in entirely different ways. The Pharisee considered everyone but himself to be a sinner. But the tax collector considered everyone else as righteous. But he considered himself, like Paul, to be the chief of sinners. This tax collector, beloved, was completely dependent on the mercy of God to whom he cried and his petition revealed a true consciousness of sin. It revealed a genuine sorrow for sin. It revealed an earnest desire to have his sin removed. It revealed a humble trust in God's pardoning mercy and grace. that is what our petitions are to reveal as well. And notice God's response. As Jesus says in verse 14, I tell you that this man rather than the other went home justified before God for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Now we know what justified means. Justified means to be declared not guilty, but instead to be declared righteous for Jesus' sake. To be declared forgiven. And we might say that this Pharisee actually did receive what he desired. He appeared to be close to heaven, but he was really far away. He had nothing of a value in the sight of God to offer to God. He desired to look good before the eyes of men, and he was satisfied with himself, with what could be seen, which is temporary, as we considered this morning. And his prayer was like smoke that blew right back in his own eyes, And he went home the very same sinner as he came to church that day. But the tax collector went home justified. He went home with the confidence of God's eternal forgiving grace. He was given value before the sight of God through Jesus Christ. He desired to be made righteous in the sight of God and he was satisfied and his prayer ascended to the nostrils of God like sweet-smelling aroma. Beloved, we all identify here. Every one of us. We can't escape it. We all identify here, either with the Pharisee or with the tax collector. One of the two. So what about you? Where do you stand? In whose line are you standing? You see, there are only two ways. The way of heaven, which is the way of Christ. And the way of hell, which is the way of yourself and myself. And the Bible is clear in Romans chapter 3 that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That there is none righteous, no, not one. And that God will not be mocked. A man will reap what he sows unless there is someone to intervene for him. And there is only one. And it is Jesus Christ alone whom we know has alone given to God perfect righteousness, that righteousness which is freely credited to the account of those who look to Him in humble repentance and faith. And it is Jesus Christ alone who has satisfied all our unrighteousnesses before God. And our confidence, beloved, is that He was made to be sin for us. He took our curse of sin upon Himself. And because of that, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. In His mercy, He has relieved us of our eternal misery. And even when we tend to think at times that we deserve that God should hear us, we sometimes tend to think that God ought to be pleased with us for praying so faithfully and attending church every Sunday and being obedient to Him, at least trying to. And God ought to be pleased with us for the service, the Christian service that we render on His account. Even when we think that God ought to be pleased with us, we are to remember that none of these things in the least little bit justifies us or exalts us in the sight of God. People of God, are you hungry for the great blessing of God, His forgiveness and restoration? And are you hungry for the continual nourishment that He has for your faith? If you are, how do you demonstrate it? Is yours a spirit of humility? Do you recognize others as better than yourself? Do you come, do you approach God humbly for worship, for example, anxious to hear what He has to teach you? See, the truth is we do fail. And each and every one of us is to refer to ourselves as the sinner, as if we are the one and only. And our God has given to us comfort, hasn't He? Comfort for the sake of Jesus Christ and for the sake of His blood and righteousness for those who humble themselves before Him, He will forgive all of our sins. See, apart from Jesus Christ, we can live day by day and we can be seen by men. We can praise our own worth until we're blue in the face. But it's nothing more than a dead end. It's temporary. But in Christ, God's people can live with the confidence of being justified, being seen by God as righteous in Him. And may that motivate you and me to strive to be righteous, to strive to demonstrate the righteousness that is ours only in Christ in such a way that we say, thank You, God, for Your amazing grace to me. And that amazing grace we know is only for those who belong to Jesus Christ by faith, but it's for all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And brothers and sisters, knowing His presence, recognizing His excellence, and bowing before His mercy, which includes then realizing the horrible truth of ourselves, this is to be the proper posture of our whole life. It's to be our posture as we gather together for worship, we are to come seriously, we are to come to worship, prepared to worship our God. It's to be the proper posture as we do our daily work. It is all to be done to the glory of God. It is to be our proper posture as we live in this world as signs pointing to our God. And this posture also then demonstrates that we too have this gospel promise treasure as Paul had in jars of clay. Beloved Jesus Christ demonstrated perfect posture before God. And that perfect posture is the prized possession of all who believe in Him. Let's bow together in prayer. Father, we praise Your name for this fitting reminder, an always timely reminder of how we are called to approach You at all times. How we are to live before Your face. What our posture is to be like. Because we must confess, Lord, that we take so much for granted that we often let our posture slide. We slump before You. We fail to give You the adoration and praise that You are worthy of every moment of our lives. We fail to recognize Your excellence and to exalt You for that. We must confess that at times the world must look at us and think, well, their God must not be so great because they don't seem to claim Him or exalt Him as one would think they would. And therefore, Father, remind us each and every day as we open our eyes to a new day that we serve an exalted God and King, a risen Savior who has died for us. And every night when we lay our heads down to go to sleep, before we close our eyes, may we give You thanksgiving and praise that because of who You are, You have blessed us throughout another day. Father, lead us and guide us every moment by Your Holy Spirit. And indeed, may our lives reflect praise, reflect the truth of who You are. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen. Thank you.