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Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain Luke 18:12:
Luke 18:10-14
Excerpted from: Faith (Part Six)Think about "trusted in themselves" in relation to what the instruction was in the parable just before that. It was about enduring, persevering faith. That concluded with, "When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on earth?" He is speaking about people who trust in themselves.
Why is it so critical that Jesus would zero in on this subject, which is a contrast between pride and humility, directly after the admonitions on faith and persevering in prayer? Well, the reason is because humility is essential to right relationships - most importantly with God, but with men as well.
Notice some things in particular about this parable about these two men. In verse 9 it says that the Pharisee - this certainly refers back to him - was a man who despised others. What we are dealing with here is religious egotism. "Despised others" means to count as nothing. If you despise something, you count it as nothing. How can I have a good relationship with somebody that I despise? Can I have a good relationship with God if I am one who exalts himself against Him? Can I have a good relationship with somebody in my neighborhood, somebody at work, maybe even my wife or my husband - can I have a good relationship with them if I despise them, if I exalt myself over them?
What this begins to show is that we are dealing with a misguided confidence in the self which causes a person to magnify himself and actually brings a person at war against God. So on the one hand we have a self-applauding law-keeper. That is what he says here. He said, "I do not do as other men. I am not an extortioner. I am not unjust. I am not an adulterer."
The proud one, the one who exalted himself, deluded himself into believing that he had a righteousness that he did not possess. His prayer is full of self-congratulations: "I am not as others." You see, "I . . . I . . . I . . ." He says it five times. It is kind of a circle, his prayer is, with him at the center. There is no lowly feeling expressing what he owed God, no thanksgiving for what God had given him, no praise for what God is. He asked for nothing in the prayer. He confessed nothing and, of course, he received nothing. He did not get justified. But there is a very pronounced comparison with others. The man was filled with conceit and totally unaware of it.
The publican on the other hand, did not delude himself into thinking that he was righteous, and he was not. Remember, though, something as we go on here - Jesus, in another place, said the publicans and sinners go into the Kingdom before the scribes and Pharisees. A great deal of it has to do with the fact that the publicans can see that they are sinners and the scribes and Pharisees cannot, and this hindered their relationship with God, as we are seeing very clearly here in Luke 18.
What made the difference was the true evaluation that the publican and sinner makes of himself in relation to God as compared to the evaluation that the scribe and Pharisee made of himself in relation to God. So the difference in this parable is that the one found himself only good, the other found himself only bad.
How different in approach to God the two are! Anyone who thinks that he is going to supply anything of worth to the salvation process is deluding himself. The one flattered himself and was full of self-commendation. The other sought mercy and he was full of self-condemnation. Their approach and attitude toward God and self were poles apart. One may as well have been at the North Pole and the other at the South Pole.
The one stood apart because he was not the kind of man to mingle with others who were sinners, or I might say, inferiors. I really think that applies better to the overall sermon. The other stood apart because he considered himself unworthy to associate himself with others. The one haughtily lifted his eyes to heaven; the other blushed to even look up. The one was puffed up with merit, the other pleads for mercy.
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