TWO PRAYERS—TWO OUTCOMES

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on June 30, 2021 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: June 30, 2021 from Luke 18:9-14

Theme: Those who cry out to God for mercy for their sin are the ones that He declares righteous.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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How often has it been, dear brothers and sisters, that you or I have prayed one thing to God with our lips … but thought another thing before Him within our hearts? It’s sobering to think that—probably far more than we realize or dare to admit—our words and thoughts don’t match up in our prayers. Sometimes, we can be praying a great prayer of pious humility and reverence with our lips, while—the whole time long—we’re thinking in some pretty arrogant and prideful ways about ourselves. I’m afraid I’m guilty.

But that’s not what was happening to two men in a parable that the Lord Jesus told in Luke 18. The prayers of their lips and the thoughts of their hearts were in agreement. But their individual agreement of outward prayers and inner thoughts were quite different from one another’s. One man had been thinking pretty highly of himself—and that’s exactly how he prayed. And the other man had been grieving over the condition of his soul—and that’s exactly how he prayed.

And the results of their two prayers were also quite different … and quite dramatic.

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Now; our Lord had been teaching His disciples about prayer. In Luke 18:1-8, He told the parable of the persistent widow; and taught how God wants us, as His children by faith in Jesus, to keep praying and not give up. And then, in verses 9-14, we’re told something else He said that had to do with prayer;

Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14).

Look at the end result of those two prayers. One man who thought of himself as an unworthy sinner went home ‘justified’ in the sight of God. That means that he went home with the official, authorized declaration from God that he was righteous in His sight. But the other man who thought of himself as righteous, and very worthy of being declared righteous, did not go home justified at all. Instead, he went home a guilty sinner in the sight of God.

That makes this parable very important. It’s certainly a parable that teaches us how to pray. But it’s much more than a lesson about prayer alone. It’s a parable that teaches us a lesson that all poor, helpless, needy sinners need to learn; but also a lesson that all pious, up-standing, seemingly-righteous people need to learn. It’s that only those who cry out to God in prayer for mercy for their sinfulness are the ones that He declares righteous.

How important then that the outward words of our prayer, and the inner attitude of our heart with respect to our need, match up in the right way before God!

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Let’s consider first …

1. TO WHOM THIS PARABLE WAS DIRECTED (v. 9).

We’re not left to wonder about it. Luke tells us in verse 9, “Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others …” How many of us fit that description!—sadly even among those of us who align ourselves with God’s household of faith!

We have a great illustration of the kind of people that this parable is meant for through the life of none other than the apostle Paul. In terms of the outward appearance of righteousness in terms of the rules and regulations of the law, he once stood head and shoulders above everyone else. He could have boasted of far greater righteousness—in strictly human terms—than anyone else. He would have been the most outwardly righteous man in any room he walked into.

But his attitude about all that had undergone a dramatic change. In his letter to the Philippians, he declared that he now rejoiced in salvation through Jesus Christ, and put no confidence in the flesh;

though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:4-11).

It’s remarkable to think of how this man Paul—who had, at one time, boasted in how carefully he had kept all the commandments of the law—would later go on to write;

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life (1 Timothy 1:15-16).

He had discovered that all of his works of self-achieved righteousness had not made him righteous in the sight of God at all. It was only by having encountered Jesus Himself, and by admitting the truth, and by confessing his sin before God, and by trusting only in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, that he became a truly righteous man in the sight of God.

What attitude of heart do you have inwardly about yourself? Is it more like the older Paul?—confident in your own works of righteousness?—looking down in contempt upon others who don’t measure up to your moral accomplishments? Or is it more like the newer Paul?—broken free of any confidence in the flesh?—humbled in the sight of God?—deeply sorry for your sins?—trusting only in the mercy of God through Jesus Christ?

Would the inward attitude of your heart show itself in the way that you outwardly pray?

Let’s go on then to consider what our Lord’s parable teaches us of …

2. THE NATURE OF THE TWO MEN’S PRAYERS (vv. 10-13).

Jesus said in verse 10, “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.” Both went to the temple. Both prayed. But that’s where the similarity between them ended.

You could hardly find two men more different than these two. One was a Pharisee—a religious devotee of the Jewish faith—a man who lived with careful adherence to the letter of the law that God had given through Moses; and who even sought to protect that adherence by adding rules and regulations to keep himself within the confines of that holy law. The other was a tax collector—a traitor to God and man—a sell-out who collected taxes from his own Jewish people on behalf of the occupying Roman government; and whose greed had corrupted his soul, and who was considered to be the most irredeemable of sinners. The Pharisee would have looked upon a tax collector with utter contempt. Almost everyone in the temple would have done so.

And so these two men prayed. In verses 12-13, Jesus said, “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’” It sounds like a horrible prayer to pray—even to pray within one’s self. It wasn’t focused on God; but rather, was focused on himself. It wasn’t a prayer prayed for the good of other people; but rather in order to compare himself with other people and come out on top. It didn’t thank God for God; but rather thanked God for the things he himself had done.

I’m tempted to hold such a prayer in contempt. But then, before I do, I have to ask: How often do I fast? Once a week? Once a month? Once a year? Ever? This man said that he fasted twice a week; and there’s no reason to doubt him. That’s 104 times a year! And how much do I tithe? Do I tithe from out of all I earn? Not this man. He did far more than that. He tithed from out of all he owned! Have I ever taken advantage of someone else? Have I ever treated anyone unjustly? Have I ever had impure thoughts or been tempted by impure actions? As much as I may be sickened by the intense self-exaltation of this man’s prayer, I have to admit that he’d have been a better man than me. That Pharisee’s high standards makes me out to be a sinner.

But do you notice something very interesting about his prayer? Jesus said that he prayed “thus with himself”. That may have meant that he prayed all alone. But the most likely meaning is that his prayers did not reach God. Though he stood in the temple as he prayed, his prayers rose no higher than his nose. They were prayers about himself … and they were prayed with himself.

But Jesus told us also about the other man—the man with whom the Pharisee even compared himself. Verse 13 says, “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’” There was no pride in this man, but only deep shame before a holy God. He didn’t stand in confidence. Instead, he beat his breast in sorrow and remorse. He didn’t boast. Instead, he asked for mercy. He didn’t thank God for his works. Instead, he confessed that he was a sinner.

And there’s something important about that second man’s prayer that you need to know. In the original language, he doesn’t simply pray for mercy. He prays for propitiation. He literally says, “God, be propitiated to me, the sinner.” This means much more than simply a prayer that God would be ‘merciful’. For God to be ‘propitiated’ means that a full and complete satisfaction for His just anger toward sin had been provided—making it so that He was angry at the sinner no longer.

Such a prayer would point us to Jesus Himself. As the apostle John put it—in words that give us the perfect commentary of the tax collector’s prayer;

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world (1 John 1:8-2:2).

It’s only by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross that any sinner—a notorious tax collector, or you and me—can pray, “God, be merciful—be propitiated—to me, the sinner.” Is it your inner evaluation of yourself that you are a hopeless sinner before a holy God? Do you realize that your only hope is in Jesus? Then if so, you’ll be moved to pray a deeply honest prayer like the tax collector did.

And that leads us, finally, to …

3. THE PRINCIPLE THAT THE PARABLE TEACHES US (v. 14).

Jesus first made clear to us that the tax collector’s prayer got results from God. He said in verse 14, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other …” The tax collector—the sinner—went home with the declaration from God that he was righteous; and the Pharisee—the man who thanked God for his own righteous works—went home still a condemned sinner. The tax collector should have gone home with head held high in grateful thanks to God; and the Pharisee should have gone home beating his breast in sorrow.

And why? Jesus tells us, “for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

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Dear brothers and sisters; it’s good if we do not sin. But our blessedness before God doesn’t come from achieving a standard of sinless conduct in which we can elevate ourselves above others. We will never achieve such a standard. And if we boast that we have done so—we only deceive ourselves before God and rob ourselves of salvation.

Instead, true blessedness before God is found in being able to pray—both from the heart and with our lips—in the way that the tax collector prayed. As King David—himself also a great a sinner—once wrote;

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.

For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah

I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin (Psalm 32:1-5).

May the inner expression of our hearts and the outward utterance of our prayers be in agreement in the way that the tax-collector’s were. Because it’s those who cry out to God for mercy—looking to Jesus Himself as the only propitiation for sin—that are the ones that He declares righteous.

EA