Welcome to the For the Gospel Podcast, where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Costi Hinn, and I want to welcome our listeners on Apple, Spotify, and those of you enjoying this on our YouTube video podcast format. On today's episode, I'm continuing with part six of this journey through the parables. And I think my favorite aspect of the parables is that they're simple stories that pack a massive punch. And the truths that Jesus lays out are life-changing, they're convicting, and yet he taught with such simplicity. I'm sure you've experienced this. I know I have. Even going through this series is reminding me he's the best preacher there has ever been. Today we come to our next parable. It is the Pharisee and the Publican. If I had to pick one parable that's a favorite of mine, this is right up there. It keeps coming up. I kid you not, I've probably illustrated with the Pharisee and the publican or the tax collector, as some translations will put it, more than every other or any other illustration in my ministry. It just keeps coming up because there's so many great aspects of it that teach us important truths. I love everything about this parable. It brings conviction on my soul. It's a reminder of how God works. It is an indictment from Jesus on religious hypocrisy and pride, which, man, I don't know about you, but I certainly need these reminders in my own life. We can all go through these patterns where we come off like prideful know-it-alls, or we have these arrogant displays of spirituality. As much as I don't want to be that, and I think, man, I don't like when people are, I can be that way in my life. I know you can as well. We're all human. And there's this sort of a who do we think we are type of provocative question when we think about a parable like this? We tend, all of us, to think we're impressive to God sometimes. And uh surely you and I both would share this in common. I think all mankind loves the underdog, right? The underdog movie, the underdog sports team. And perhaps it's because your own past or mine, maybe it's because of Jesus and the way that he reshapes our thinking after we're saved, probably a combination of all of that. But the publican just wins me over every time. He's the underdog. I find myself reading through this parable, and I want to defend him. I want to encourage him. But most of all, and this is convicting, I want to be him. And I hope you'll find the same thing. If you've been along for the ride in the series, you know the drill now. So first hit pause, grab your Bible if you want, or if you're on a walk or in the gym or you're driving, I'll take you through the whole text and unpack all of this for you. First, let's put the text in its context and then we'll interpret and apply it. We're going to be in Luke chapter 18, verses 9 to 14. Jesus is on the second of two parables about prayer. Now, the first one is about praying and not losing heart. We have this persistent prayer in that section. But this second one is about something very different. We know that because right there in verse 9, Luke records this. Let me read it to you. Luke chapter 18, verse 9. There's a shift from the initial parable or the explanation about persistent prayer and then the publican. Verse 9. And he also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and they viewed others with contempt. First big clue into the context here. We got some self-righteous people. We got some people who view others with contempt. And a very proper question to ask then is who are these people? They're the Pharisees. And if you've never done a deep dive into this group of religious leaders during Jesus' day, it would be well worth the time. And it'll give you greater insight into the weight of Jesus' teaching against them to do some of the short work for you. Let me give you a few truths about the Pharisees. Number one, they loved their own honor. They loved their own honor. If you're going to understand this parable and apply it, if it's going to hit the heart and you're going to know the context, you got to get into your mind the picture of the Pharisees and that they loved their own honor. Nothing excites a Pharisee more than a system that will honor himself. These were leaders who loved themselves. They loved to be elevated to unbiblical heights. If you were to apply this to today, you've got this cultish hierarchy. It makes the shepherds of God's people into anointed royal rulers. They get all the glory, they get all the praise that God deserves. In Jesus' day, the Pharisees were like that. They sat themselves in the best seats, they received immaculate greetings in public, and they ensured that everybody noticed how holy and powerful they were. And one day, Jesus gives them an earful and he tells them what he thinks about their quote honor system. He says this in Luke 11, 43 and 44, woe to you, Pharisees. You love the chief seats in the synagogue and the respectful greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, for you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it. In other words, you just love yourself. You love your title. You love when everybody calls you, you know, Mr. Pastor, Reverend, Doctor. Oh, wow. You know, no first name basis for you. God forbid. People may respect you and give you elaborate greetings, but they don't know what you are under the surface. You love your honor and you love the best seat. Whew. Right away, just thinking about the Pharisees. Yeah, easy to point at them. Look in the mirror. I will too. Man, do you love your own honor? Do I? Careful. The Lord has an indictment for that. Number two, they added to God's law. Pharisees enjoyed nothing more than adding their own powerless words and traditions and methods to God's basic commands. So they loved their own honor and they added to God's law. Where God had given enough instruction for the people's good, the Pharisees would add their traditions and their precepts that were established by their own ambition. They had an agenda to control people and make themselves look powerful. In Mark chapter 7, verses 6 to 9, Jesus calls out the Pharisees for their man-made system. He said to them, Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honors me with their lips, means they talk to talk, but their heart is far from me. They don't love me, he's saying. In vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the traditions of men. Jesus was saying, Listen, you're experts at setting aside the commandments of God in order to keep your traditions. Number three, they targeted helpless people. They targeted helpless people in order to benefit themselves most. Certain Pharisees would prey upon the vulnerable. They wanted to get the most out of people. They were notorious for targeting helpless widows, and so they would benefit from their estate, and they would go after the resources of a deceased husband that he had left to her. And Jesus describes these greedy predators in his final public teaching discourse that Mark records. He teaches this beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and they like respectful greetings in the marketplaces. So very consistent with what you've already heard. And then this additional line, and the chief seats in the synagogue and the places of honor at banquets. All that you already know, they love their own honor. They add to God's law, they love the best seats. But then Jesus adds this in Mark 12, when he's unpacking all this, he says, who devour widows' houses. Whew. He devours a widow's house, that Pharisee does. He longs for the appearances to swoon people. Jesus goes on to say, for appearance' sake, they offer long prayers. They're going to get a greater condemnation, he says in Mark 12, verses 38 to 40. They're con men who took no prisoners, they were willing to break God's law to make a buck, and they would do that on the backs of heartbroken widows. Very important to understand. The Pharisees were not benign, they were not mediocre in their tactics, they weren't just kind of you know misguided, you know, types that the Lord was getting so intense about. No, they were the ultimate hypocrites. And so with that in mind, let me read the parable, and I think you'll understand this even more because you now got a really good context for the Pharisees. And he also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves, that they were righteous, and they viewed others with contempt. Verse 10. Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself. God, I thank you that I'm not like the other people. Swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like, and then specific, this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I pay tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, he stood some distance away. He was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but he was beating his breast saying, God be merciful to me, the sinner. The NASB has an exclamation point because it's an exclamatory statement in the original language. Jesus then in verse 14, I tell you, this man went to his house, meaning the publican, the tax collector, justified, big word. Keep that one in mind. Rather than the other, that's the Pharisee. Why? The word for in the Greek could mean because, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. Listen to the way that they prayed once more. The Pharisee. He stood, he prayed this to himself. God, I thank you, I'm not like other people, swindlers, unjust, adulterers, and like this guy, the tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes of all that I get. So he he gets a little increase with his money, he throws the 10% right in there right away. Not bad to give. Not bad to fast. Not bad to take sin seriously. Who wants to be a swindler or an adulterer? But my goodness, what a display of superior self-righteousness. And then the tax collector, he's some distance away. He won't even lift up his eyes to heaven. So Pharisee comes in, stands up. Hey, look at me. Big prayer. This man, he won't even look up. He feels so unworthy. He's beating his breast. It's a symbol of mourning, his sin, contrition. He says, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. That's the one that Jesus justifies. I want to unpack this a little more for you. Look at how clear it is. One man has a very self-righteous, pompous, arrogant spiritual pride about him. The Pharisee is right in his own eyes. He's better than others. He thinks he's beyond where everyone else is at, and he prays that way. The other man, he exhibits two very important qualities. And I've been studying the Beatitudes preaching at our church through the Gospel of Matthew. And so this is just fresh in my heart. Here's what came up. Here's what came up as I was thinking through this parable from Luke. I'm looking at this publican and I'm thinking, these are the first two beatitudes. When Jesus says in Matthew 5, 3, blessed are the poor in spirit. And then he says, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And then in verse 4, Matthew 5.4, blessed are those who mourn, they're going to be comforted. Those two qualities are so obvious in this man. When you think about the beatitudes, and then you think about this parable, you go, there it is, he's poor in spirit. It means there's this inner spiritual disposition that's empty, not rich. He's not full of himself. He's not high on self-righteousness. He's actually short on it. He's impoverished when it comes to self-righteousness. Meanwhile, the Pharisee, oh, he's full of it. He's so impressed with his spiritual security. He he's got this uh spiritual wealth about him. Meanwhile, the tax collector is spiritually bankrupt. I think the tax collector exhibits exactly what John Stott once said. He said, confession is one thing. That's everybody says, Oh, I'm a sinner. Everybody makes mistakes. Okay. He goes on to say, contrition is another. This man, he doesn't just say that he's a sinner, he's broken over it. Blessed are those who mourn. They're going to be comforted. Jesus is talking about sorrow over sin in that beatitude. And of course, you could apply it to all kinds of mourning. We're all going to receive the comfort of God if we're believers in the end. He'll wipe away every tear. But Jesus is referring to a brokenness over what breaks the heart of God. Sin. This man won't raise his eyes to heaven. He's contrite. His beating of the breast is an expression of turmoil over his situation. And what does he tell God? About his works, about his fasting, about his big tithes, and how, oh, I'm not like them, or like, hey, you know, everybody makes mistakes, God. No, he pleads for mercy. And in the uh shocking contrast, Jesus says, in what I would just make my own modern day paraphrase, if I was commentating on the passage, it a spiritual hotshot is not impressive to God. He says, This man, meaning the tax collector, he went home justified rather than the other guy. That's the Pharisee. Why? Because whoever exalts himself is going to be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. The parable that we've read through, and the parable that I'm unpacking here, it's about one thing. And it's a doctrine we know as justification by faith. What is that? Why does it matter? Well, in its theological sense, justification is a forensic or purely legal term, just that word, justification. It describes what God declares about the believer. Justification is a divine judicial edict. It changes our status before God, our position before God. It carries other ramifications, obviously. If you're justified, you're going to be sanctified. But in this sense, that we're justified is this forensic decree. And it may seem like an odd term, but it's actually not. You know this term, you just don't hear it as forensic decree, but you see it all the time. At a wedding, when the minister says, by the power vested in me, by the state of, you know, whatever, Arizona, where I am. Or when someone buys a home and they get the deed and they legally own it, they pay it off, it's theirs. In a marriage or or in your holding of a deed, there's a legal decree that changes the status of an individual. You now are the homeowner. The home is yours. You're now married. That person and you are legally one. Justification is that declaration, by God, that you are saved. You're not guilty. And it's a huge relief to sinners because it tells us that we're legally right before God. We are forgiven. There's no guilty verdict for sin. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ. That's Romans 8:1. When you're justified, you never have to worry about your status again. How do you get justified? Faith in Jesus Christ. That aspect, meaning faith, is the reason we get legally declared righteous. Faith in Jesus is what God is looking for. That's what justifies. The man doesn't come and bring his works. He doesn't come and bring his big ideas about all that he's done and all that it should be. He doesn't tell God, hey, here's what I think you should do with me. You know, I've this. There's no I except God be merciful to me, the sinner. I'm the problem, you're the solution. I'm the sinner, you're the savior. He comes believing, and what does he ask for? Mercy. What does that tell you? He doesn't believe he has it. He doesn't believe he's earned it. If you earn it, you would just do things to get it. But if you didn't earn it, you gotta ask for it because it's a gift and it's given. And this exposes works-based systems. The Pharisees were experts at that. Modern day uh belief systems, Roman Catholicism, Mormonism, so many others, they're not the true gospel. You're not saved after all you can do, you know, by grace, but after all you can do, like Mormons teach. You're not justified by doing the right things like Catholicism teaches, and you've got to keep doing those things to really stay in God's family. You don't have to find loopholes around the law or do all the kind of right things that people tell you to do to keep God's favor. Judaism had so many little loopholes and systems and things you do. You and I, as Christians, to be followers of Jesus, we obey God because we love God. We love to obey him because our heart belongs to him. We come in faith and he justifies us. You and I, we don't obey God to do to get him to love us. We don't obey God to do all the right things to be saved. We obey and we do good works because we're saved. And when God decrees you justified, that's it. Not because anything you've done, but because of him. Now, why is that a big deal? Well, because Jesus says it's the difference between heaven and hell, judgment and freedom. Being self-exalted on one hand or being exalted by God on the other. The Pharisee, he exalted himself. He thought he had it going with his works, so God humbled him. The tax collector, he humbled himself. He came empty in faith. God exalted him, he justified him. The parable of the Pharisee and the publican reminds us that we don't need to bring a resume of good works to God in order to receive mercy today. In fact, bring nothing but faith. Believe in him and who he is. Believe in Christ's work, believe in his righteousness to cleanse you and make you whole, believe in his power to save you from wrath and hell and misery. Believe only in Jesus Christ. Come as an empty beggar, asking for mercy. Don't assume you deserve it. And what does the Bible say? If you'll come that way, poor in spirit, mourning your sin, empty, head low, beating your chest, contrite over you, over your ways, over your resume, and saying, God, be merciful to me. I'm the sinner. Expressing that need, you are going to receive mercy. And the Bible says mercy and so much more. You will have an inheritance laid up for you in Christ. You have eternity with him. You have joy and peace and everything this world cannot steal and money can never buy. You are justified in the legal courtroom of heaven. When it comes to sinners who are in the hands of an angry God, you are going to be joyously declared not guilty because Christ is your righteousness. I pray that you've experienced that reality through Christ. And if you haven't, you know you can experience that today. If you'd pray the same prayer as the tax collector and mean it from your heart, Jesus will change your life. That's not some, you know, pray the sinner's prayer, repeat after me, and if you say all these words, you're good. Like we're we're kind of praying the rosary or doing some script. And if you just raise your hand and you pray this, then you're good. And we we just sort of check people off and and and shove them through the pearly gates with some repeated prayer. No, I'm telling you, if you on your own would lower your head before God, if you would bow yourself before him in genuine humility, not to pray a prayer and get out of hell and then go live like you want, and you say, Well, I'm saved. I I I told him I'm sorry, you know, I'm good now. No, no, if you would come genuinely saying, God, I need your mercy. I can't have mercy without you. I want heaven. I want salvation. I want to love you, I want to follow you. I've hit rock bottom. I want you to change my life. I see who I am and I see who you are. You pray like that, tax collector, and mean it from your heart. The Bible says in Romans 10 9 that you're saved, and you will receive Christ's forgiveness, and he will change your life. If you believe in your heart genuinely, and you confess with your mouth genuinely that Jesus Christ is Lord, you can be saved today. The Pharisee thought he had it made. The publican, he knew God had it made. And that was the only way he would be made right. Next time, we're looking at the parable of the four soils and how the human heart responds to the seed of the gospel. These two parables really play off each other by way of application, and so I'm excited to dig into that one next time with you. Thanks for listening, for watching, and for supporting. As always, your generosity this year has been incredible. So I just want to keep saying thank you to you. Our ministry is advancing because of God's kindness through you. And there's so many wonderful things ahead because of your support and God working through it. If you've never partnered with For the Gospel financially and you'd like to, you can go to forthegospel.org, click on give, and learn more about how we handle money, how we do reporting, and how you can partner with us for the gospel. Be sure to subscribe on YouTube for free video teachings every week. And you can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter for daily encouragement and truth. I'll be back next Monday with another episode. Keep on living for the gospel.