Mike Miller | An Example of True Faith

Sunday Evening, February 15, 2026
Given by Mike Miller | Pastor of Missions and Outreach, Christ Covenant Church

An Example of True Faith

Heidelberg Catechism—Lord’s Day 7

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It's a real privilege tonight to look at Heidelberg Catechism again as we are on our theme for the year. And I am in Lord's Day 7, which deals with the aspect of faith, which was a wonderful start this morning in Kevin's sermon. I was up there going, oh boy, this is going to be great. And so, it was. I really enjoyed Kevin's preaching this morning on faith and righteousness from Romans 1:17.

I would ask you to kindly turn in your copy of God's Word to Proverbs 29: 23, and then we're gonna be looking after that one at Luke 18. Proverbs 29: 23. If you don't have a Bible tonight, and you're a guest with us, it's page 550 in the black pew Bible.

It's a short verse, Solomon says, 

One's pride will bring him low,
  but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

I think it is very clear to most of us tonight that God is opposed to the proud but gives grace and honor to the humble. He brings down the arrogant, and he will exalt the humble. Perhaps the verse we're most familiar with out of the Proverbs is “pride comes before the fall.” On the other hand, true humility likewise at times can be hard to find because we all know those who live with false humility, a veneer that may appear humble.

Number of years ago, Christ's Covenant was involved in tutoring at Matthews Elementary School. You'll remember that if you were a part of that. I had the delight of being what was called a Sidekick, if you will, to a young man named Caleb, who was in second grade. I spoke with Caleb, that I used to call my little buddy, last week. Caleb, is now a grown man, is in college playing football up in Greensboro, and it was just a delight to hear him talk about things and catch up with him. I can remember an occasion when he was a little second grader that I took him, his grandfather and grandmother gave me permission to take him to the YMCA here locally, the Brace Y, and we went to play basketball. Caleb loved basketball.

And as soon as he saw the pool, the Brace Y, he wanted to go. And this pool had two big slides, if you've ever been there. They drop you into about four or five feet of water. So, I asked Caleb, do you wanna go down those slides? And he said, absolutely, Mr. Sidekick, I want to go. He said it very enthusiastically. And my next brilliant question was, can you swim? And he said, yes, but with a little less enthusiasm.

So, I got him ready. Got myself ready on the side of the pool, just in case, and off he went up the stairs. And as he was climbing up those stairs, thankfully one of the young lifeguards came over and said respectfully, sir, he doesn't have a yellow band on his wrist, which indicates that he's never been tested and approved to swim. And so down, Caleb came from the steps with a sad face, and I quickly inquired, how do you get that band?

To which the guy told me, go over there and test in the corner of the pool. And so, Caleb and I went over, ready to pass that test. And on our way, he tugged me on the shirt, and he said to me, he looked up with puppy eyes, and he said, Mike, I really can't swim. And I said, “Well, let's go see if we can try.” And sure enough, he could not swim. Sure enough.

And we enjoyed the rest of the day together. And so, at lunch, I always took him to lunch at the little Qdoba's over there. And I said to him, “So Caleb, what'd you learn today?” And he said, “You know what? I learned that I should have told you I couldn't swim.” And I said to him, “Well, did you learn anything else?” And he said, “Well, I saw all the other kids swimming, and I saw the fun of going down the ladders, or down the slide, and I wanted to be like them, I wanted to do what they could do, and I wanted to prove myself to you and to others.” And he said, with a little smirk in his face, he said to me, “I think I must have felt a little bit prideful.” 

And so, we had a little good discussion about the danger of pride in second grader language. It was really fun; he learned a big lesson. Pride is a tricky enemy of the soul.

So, I suspect at this point in the service you're saying, in the sermon you're saying, wait, I thought we were gonna learn about the Heidelberg Catechism. We are, we are gonna do that. We're doing this through the story Jesus tells in Luke's Gospel about two men. Luke records for us a living picture of what true faith looks like when an individual believes, when someone sees their need for a Savior. So, the question that I was tasked to focus on tonight from the Heidelberg is question 21, “What is true faith?”

Let me read this to you, because it answers beautifully. And I'm gonna read it twice, it's short enough to do that. 

True faith is not only a sure knowledge whereby I hold forth the truth, all that God has revealed to us in his word, but also a hearty trust or a heartfelt trust, which the Holy Spirit works in me by the gospel, that not only to others, but also to me, forgiveness of sins, Everlasting righteousness and salvation are freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ's merits. 

Isn't that beautiful? 

True faith is not only a sure knowledge, whereby I hold forth the truth, all that God has revealed to me in his word, but it's a hearty trust. The Holy Spirit works it in me by the gospel. Not only to me, but to others out there. Forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness, salvation are freely given by God, merely of grace for the sake of Christ's merits, not my own.

Now, what I'd like to do is take that template, if you will, that answer of the catechism, and lay it over the parable about the prideful Pharisee and the humble tax collector. And I hope we can see the one man demonstrating, as the catechism says, a hearty trust, a heartfelt trust from the work of the gospel by the Holy Spirit. One who believes that Jesus alone can save from our sin, even the sin of self-righteousness, that it is a gift of salvation given by God merely of grace on Christ's merits alone. So, turn to Luke 18, again in your pew Bible, page 877. I'll start in verse nine.

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed[a] thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

So, before we look at this parable and kind of dig into it, laying again that catechism answer to question, “What is faith?” a few thoughts, a few side thoughts about pride. I want to say tonight if you're not a believer in Christ and you find yourself having been invited here, we are so glad that you're here, and you're listening to a man you probably have never met. I hope in some strange way you will not let your own pride get in the way of truly hearing and applying what God has to say about the topic of true faith, of pride and humility. Now if you are a Christian, I wanna challenge you to listen well because pride is a besetting sin. Constantly hounds us all of our lives and surfaces in so many forms and variations. Just a quick survey of the Bible, you'll find that pride is basically a sin of attitude, it is of the heart and the spirit. So, we read in Proverbs, “Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked are sin.” Solomon speaks of being proud in spirit, or as the psalmist declares commendably, “O Lord, my heart is not proud, or my eyes haughty. It is a heart and spirit problem, and God has to do the surgery in us to change us at the heart level.” That's why self-debasing attitudes, self-humiliation, false humility are not the solutions for the deadly sin of pride.

We could define pride as overconfidence. In our attention to our own gifts, our skills, our accomplishments, possessions, even position, it leads to a possessing a spirit of superiority, of one upsmanship over the other person, just as we saw with the Pharisee over the tax collector. Attitudinally, in all actions that follow that kind of attitude. One commentator writes, “It seems in so many ways that pride is easier to recognize than to define, easier to recognize in others than in oneself.” There are many biblical words that describe pride: arrogance, presumption, conceit, self-satisfaction, boasting, high-mindedness. Paul in his letter to the Romans would say, “It is to think of oneself more highly than he ought to think.” This is the sin that struck the Garden of Eden. With world-changing results, the enemy, Satan himself, tempted Adam and Eve. Remember the story?

Genesis 3.1 - Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

“You shall not be as God,” to quote Satan. This is why the sin of pride is so repulsive to God as one has said this somewhere. “It is in essence the replacement of his rightful place to rule and reign over every individual and every atom of the universe.”

I grew up in a CRU background, and I was discipled using a little evangelistic tool many of you have used before, The Four Spiritual Laws. I actually became a Christian through the person describing the content of that when I was at Ole Miss, and I used it for sharing my faith with others. In the original “Four Laws,” there was a little vivid illustration that was classically pictured, this throne, if you will, where the S stands for self, sitting on the throne, which is demonstrating that self-governance and rules that we live by, rather than God reigning and ruling in our life. This is why so much is said about pride and its counterpart of humility in the Bible. Why so many examples show the downfall of men and even nations. It's completely antithetical, opposed to the very core of God's nature, the Christian faith, the gospel.

Pride says I can do it myself. I've done it, and the Bible says you can't do it. You may be able to do a lot of good things in life, as God has given you many gifts, even contribute to the good of mankind, but fundamentally changing ourselves and making a broken relationship right with God of the universe is one thing you can't do on your own.

In fact, you have to be completely dependent on something outside of yourself. You have to recognize and receive gifts that are by the very definition a gift. You didn't earn it. You don't deserve it. You would think that we humans are welcoming and happy to receive gifts to right a wrong relationship with God. But often we believe we have to contribute something.

Pride is so pervasive in the human spirit. It's mentioned a lot of times in the Bible. High exalted attitudes, while the virtue of humility is praised, it's rewarded by God, as we read earlier. And it can't remain internalized. It'll come out in some way. It'll infect our speech, just like the Pharisee infected his speech, saying, I'm not like that guy over there or that person over there or that lady over there. The Scriptures speak of haughty eyes, a proud look. There's a spirit of comparison, we see that in the Pharisees, example and superiority. Old and New Testaments are replete with proud people.

King Uzziah, 2 Chronicles 26, Acts 12, Herod's refusal to give glory to God. It's also said by Peter and James, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. As one author summarized, pride is viewed as a great evil because it involves pretending to a greatness and glory that belong rightly to God alone. So, for our study tonight, pride is antithetical to the gospel that the catechism talks about into true faith.

Because Ephesians 2:8 and 9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” So with that general survey about pride, let's drill down and try to understand this, and then again, lay on top of our passage the Heidelberg Catechism concerning “What is true faith?” 

First in this verse, we should notice in chapter 18, it is speaking about the pride that keeps one from the kingdom, and humility needed to enter the kingdom. The whole chapter of 18 is filled with numerous parables of true humility and the sin of pride. The praying widow in the first eight verses. The Pharisee and tax collector, what we are looking at tonight. Little children in verses 15 and 17. The prideful young ruler in verse 18 to 27. Jesus' own example of humiliation before the authorities. Helpless blind man seeking to be healed. So, someone has said that Luke 18 could appropriately be called the humility chapter of the Gospels.

So, let's look at this parable beginning in verse nine. Notice first that both are doing a deeply religious thing. They're praying. The Pharisee was recognized in society as a religious leader. The other one, a tax collector, not popular with the people. And Jesus tells us plainly the purpose of the parable, verse nine, to show how some trust in their own righteousness and treat others with contempt. 

Notice their start is the same. They go to the temple to pray. Both are unjustified. Then there's a change. One of them, the Pharisee, stands by himself, presumably in the temple, and the other tax collector stands far off. Two approaches so radically different. One with confident boldness, and the other with humility over his own condition.

What about the content of their prayers? What do they tell us? The Pharisee, a spirit of independence, self-reliance, standing by himself, not needing the assistance of anyone, possessed with a spirit of comparison and contempt for others, a prideful comparison of what he was with others whom he deemed less worthy.

Verse 11, God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, even like this tax collector. What do I do? I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. In summary, we have a man demonstrating a spirit of self-righteousness.

Now, what if the tax collector, the publican, as the old language says, spirit of meekness, standing far off, Spirit of honest contrition, remorse, he'd not even lift his eyes to heaven. Rather, all he knew was to beat his breast, which is a display of one's grief and remorse. He possessed a spirit of need. God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

To which Jesus summarily says, the publican went to his house justified rather than the Pharisee. Teaching us this principle, that everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. My friends, this is the insidious nature and self-deceiving nature of human pride. 

Notice, the Pharisee acknowledges good gifts. He says, God, I thank you, but it's so fleeting. The next breath he says, look at the credit I should get for my own good works. I am not like so and so. He may at first recognize that his good works came from God, but then he turns those around and boasts in them for his own righteousness.

Calvin calls this one remarkable passage because he says this, “The Pharisee is not blamed on the ground of claiming for himself what belongs to God, but because he trusts in his works that God will be reconciled to him because he deserves it. Let us therefore know, though, a man may ascribe to God the praise of works, yet if he imagines the righteousness of those works to be the cause of his salvation, or rests upon it, he is condemned for arrogance," close quote.

There is a massive jump from God, I thank you, to God, I'm not like other men around me. The only bridge in the universe capable of taking a man from trusting in the grace of God to relying on themselves is the crumbling bridge of pride. It only takes a moment to build a lifetime to tear down. So, Calvin concludes with this thought, “Though he did not proclaim aloud the honor of his own righteousness, his internal pride was repugnant in the sight of God.”

Now, what I would like to do with the time we have remaining is to take what template, that template of the catechism, lay it over this parable Jesus teaches regarding the prideful Pharisee and the humble tax collector. Remember the question the catechism asks and answers, “What is true faith?”

So, here's an example. though not, and hear me here, a complete and perfectly matched example of one who in humble dependency expresses his faith in God. I think we can assume the tax collector has a sure knowledge, a true knowledge of God as the catechism states, of who God is. The tax collector recognizes he can add nothing of his own, coming with empty hands. Be merciful to me, a sinner. The Pharisee's understanding of God, on the other hand, I would contend is deficient. Thinking, I can bring all good works to the table and I'll be justified.

In the tax collector, we see a man whose will, his will acknowledges a sense, approves of what God says. Therefore, he's trusting. The Holy Spirit is working trust in this man's heart. He feels his own need, expressing faith to the God who saves. Even his posture demonstrates it, his eyes downward.

This leads us to, as the catechism says, “this hearty or heartfelt trust that the Holy Spirit works in me by the gospel.”

While the Pharisee, on the other hand, seem to think, I can ascend with a D, not ascent to the will of God, but ascend to this God all by myself through my own merits and bring him down to me. What a contrast between the Pharisee making much of his own righteousness to the tax collector who trusts in the gospel of grace, making much of God. For the humble tax collector, it leads to, as the catechism says, “forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness and salvation that's been freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ's merits.”

In short, Jesus would say, the one went home justified, the other did not. So, as we conclude tonight, let's think for a moment with sanctified imagination. What do you think happened to these two men in the story? We know the tax collector went home to his family that day justified. He was declared righteous by Jesus. I wonder if when he went home, he told his wife and his kids. Perhaps they too trusted in Jesus Christ. I suppose that he went on to serve faithfully behind the scenes, caring for the poor, the widow, doing the work of the gospel in his own assembly, all because of Ephesians 2: 8, 9, and 10, created in Christ Jesus for good works. For the tax collector, I think there was a new and distinct outflow of joy and peace and service, having been treated with grace and mercy himself, wanting to give that to others.

On the other hand, the Pharisee continued to show his outward religiosity to all who would watch, self-justifying by constantly comparing himself to others. No doubt he served, he prayed, he fasted, he continued to give. Yet in the end, when these two men died, one went to heaven, the other did not. For one had been justified by grace through faith and therefore exalted in the next life, and the other had not been justified only to be humbled before the one he could not bow to in this life.

So, my friends, which one would you identify with today? The free offer of the gospel is here tonight. We have a sure knowledge we can hold on to what God and all that God has revealed to us in his Word. We can acknowledge it, assent to it, as the Holy Spirit works a heartfelt trust in us by the gospel. For us and for all people, our sins can be forgiven, everlasting righteousness imputed to us. Salvation freely given by grace alone and for the sake of Christ's merits and not our own. What a wonderful Savior we have. No wonder Jesus said in his most famous sermon, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Let's pray together. Father, we're amazed at this grace, this gospel, this free offer of the gospel. Thank you for the rich and wonderful salvation we have in Christ. We exalt him tonight and worship him tonight alone. Father, help us if we are in a place where we have yet to trust in Christ to do that even tonight. If we have, help us to constantly battle the sin of pride by your spirit and your word. Help us to walk in grace, knowing that Christ's merits satisfy the righteous wrath of God, and we walk in freedom and newness of life as new creation made in the image of Christ. Thank you in Jesus' name, Amen.