Parables of Salvation, Part 2

Once again, I will use as reference material this book. I want to give it credit. The Parables of Jesus. The author is James Montgomery Boyce, B-O-I-C-E. And Boyce is, at least in the way he divided up the parables. You will have different works. We'll divide them a little differently. There is a section on the parables of the kingdom. And some of those I know I covered in Murfreesboro and Huntsville three or four years ago, but I don't think I ever covered down here. So we may come back to that here one day. Parables of the kingdom. There are several there in Matthew 13.

The kingdom is like leaven. The kingdom is like treasure hidden in the field and things like that. Parables of salvation. We covered four last time. We looked at some of those from Luke 15, the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son, or the prodigal son. And we also looked at the parable of the workers of the vineyard and the hiring all the way to the eleventh hour.

So we looked at those four last time and we've got three more this time. We'll look at the parable of the wedding banquet. We'll look at the parable of the narrow gate. And then the parable of the two men who went up to pray. So we'll look at those three. Last time, with what we covered, just to refresh our memories, we saw from those parables that regardless of how far we go astray, God desperately seeks all who have strayed.

And so should we. We should not give up on anyone. As you remember, the father looked out and scanned the horizon every day looking for that son to come home and with great joy received his son back. We also noticed that we should always rejoice at the repentance and return of sinners. As that scripture, one of those was read during the sermonette. But the father greatly rejoiced, but the older son was very angry and did not, could not rejoice.

We looked at one that reminded us that we are the ones in debt to God. We cannot work our way out of that debt. But God is willing to give his salvation, his grace, his mercy as a free gift. And we also noticed humility takes us down the path to salvation. Let's go to Ephesians 2 first, and then we'll come back to the parables. Ephesians 2. And we notice here a statement that's made about salvation. Ephesians 2, and we will read verses 8 through 10. Verse 8, 4 by grace. Now let's pause right there. Grace, as we have identified and defined many times, that is, unearned, undeserved, unmerited pardon or forgiveness. For by grace you have been saved.

So there is a sense of being given salvation today. We're told, don't neglect so great a salvation, but the ultimate receipt of salvation is when Jesus Christ returns and being born into the very family of God. But it is through faith.

Everything that we do is perceived through faith. We walk by faith. And that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. And as we know, one of the fruits listed of the Holy Spirit in one place is that of faith, not of works. We are not saved by works. All the lawkeeping of a lifetime won't save anyone, lest anyone should boast, because you see, then it is of our own effort, of our own doing.

But salvation is a gift of God. Verse 10, for we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So we receive the grace of God. It is freely given. It is perceived by faith. And yet the purpose is that we live a life that we could say leads us to good works, which means to walk within the parameters of the law of God. It's what we do. Or, as the Apostle James said, I'll show you my faith by my works, by the way I live my life.

So with that in mind, let's go back to Matthew 22 this time. And in the first 14 verses, we have a parable. It's the parable of the wedding banquet. And let's notice what we can learn from this. As we did two weeks ago, I want to first just survey and read through the parable, and then we'll come back and draw some parallels and or some lessons.

In Matthew 22, verse 1, Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said, The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and he sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding, and they were not willing to come. Again he sent out other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited, see, I have prepared my dinner.

My oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready come to the wedding.

But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious, and he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find invite to the wedding. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all whom they found both good, excuse me, bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him in outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. And last time we saw that, we looked at a parable in chapter 20, and that parable ended with that very statement, and it actually began the previous chapter of the last verse with that statement, Many are called, but few are chosen. Now the meaning of this story, a parable is a story. The meaning is relatively clear. The king obviously represents God the father, who graciously invites or calls people as he sees fit. He calls different ones at different times to be the recipients of his salvation. And yet we have a variety of reactions. Some are indifferent. Some are hateful. Some are arrogant. And some are violent. Then we see that some who had not even been invited initially were invited and graciously and thankfully accepted the invitation. We also see that it brings in the specter of eternal destruction, awaiting those who disregard and disrespect the invitation, who hate the king and his son, and attempt to enter the wrong way. Now as we look at this, we have three categories of people. I tried to emphasize in verse 3, the first category was those who were invited. You had a category who had already been invited, but it was just a matter that word was sent that now's the time to come to the wedding supper. So some had already been invited. Then in verse 9, we have another category, those from the highways, those out on the highways who had not been invited up to this point, but who gratefully came. And then we have this one-man category of the person who came without a wedding garment who was bound and cast aside. Well, we don't need three guesses on a lot of this. The king represents God the Father, and the Father is building his eternal family. And the son, of course, represents Jesus Christ. And the messengers are God's servants throughout history. Whether you go back to the patriarchal day, you had men who like Enoch walk with God. Whether you look at the days of God working through a family, beginning with Abram, Abraham, and forward. Whether you look at the children of Israel, and God would send leaders like Moses or Joshua, or later judges, or later kings and prophets. Or if we look at the last couple thousand years, a long line of ministers that God has sent to his people. The banquet would represent the married supper of the Lamb that we can read of in Revelation chapter 19. But let's go back to these categories.

The first category again speaks of those who through the centuries have been called. They have already been invited. They have had access to God's covenant and God's truth. Now this group would again go all the way back to the very beginning. Adam and Eve had a pretty open invitation that they disregarded and rejected. And we have one here, one there through the patriarchal ages. But then we have Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and then this national Israel. And through the ages, God sent one representative after another. And they rejected, or they ignored, or they forgot about.

They walked away from the invitation God had given them. And what a great affront this must have been to God over and over. How he called to them time and time again.

They, that first group, are like what we saw last time, the older brother of the prodigal son, who became angry and did not want to see someone later come along. These are like, the parable we'll look at a little later, the Pharisee who looked down his nose at the tax collector. These in this category are like those who were hired early in the day to work in the vineyard. And then despise those who came along later and got the same pay, that denarius representing salvation. All of these resented others that they viewed as being unworthy.

Now keep your place here. Let's look at John chapter 1. Let's just read a couple of verses here. John 1 and we'll read verses 11 and 12. John 1 verse 11. He, speaking of this word, this one who became the light, he came to his own and his own, marginal note there says, his own people did not receive him. But as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in his name. The calling, the invitation to be a part of the very family of God, but they have to believe. It is perceived through faith, as we read at the beginning in Ephesians 2. Now I want to just from time to time refer to a brief note made by Boyce in this book, The Parables of Jesus. And on this particular category, page 67, Boyce says that the willful refusal of those who were invited, it was not that they could not come, but rather that they would not come. The reason for their refusal is not clearly spelled out.

It is suggested in the way the servants were treated. They seized them, they mistreated them, they killed them. If the invited guests felt that way toward the servants, they obviously felt that way toward the king who had sent them and would have seized and mistreated and killed him if they could have. In other words, they would not come because they actually despised the king and the son and were hostile to them. Let's go back to Matthew 22 a little bit. Let's notice that the parallel account is in Luke 14. Luke tells the same parable, but there's a little bit he adds, but then there's quite a bit that he doesn't add, so I chose Matthew's account. Luke's account doesn't even bring in the man who was there without a wedding garment. But in Luke 14, we do find a little bit more here if we just notice it. It's verses 16 through 24, but let's just notice verses 18 through 20. Verse 18, as far as sending servants to tell those invited, it's time. But they all with one accord began to make excuses. All of them made excuses.

The first said, I've bought a piece of ground and I must go and see it.

I asked you to have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen and I'm going to test them. I ask you to have me excused. Still another, I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come. So we just look at those three verses to see that those who had been invited, who are then told it's time for the supper, time for the wedding, and they refused. They made excuses. They rejected the invitation. They disregarded. They wanted to be left alone.

We live in the midst of end time Israel and we have the same attitude that exists to this day. We live in the midst of a nation who does not know who we are, who does not know who the nation is, that we are the descendants of Abraham. They do not want to hear the truth of God.

They have itching ears. They want to go to church and be entertained. They want to be lied to.

They don't want to hear the truth of God because the truth of God requires that when we look in that mirror, we make changes as far as what we see there. Now, let's go back to Matthew 22. Matthew 22 verse 3, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited. I think we need to underscore that these had already been given the invitation, and now when it came down to it, they refused to come. So, let's stop and pause there and let's reflect on our own life and ask ourselves some questions as well. Do I have excuses in my life for not responding to the calling of God? We could go off and the entire sermons could be preached on this. Is anything more important in our life than our Heavenly Father and the calling, the invitation that He has given to us? Is our work more important than study of God's Word? Are our hobbies, or we could say, are sports more important than our spiritual life? A prayer, meditation, periodic fasting, Bible study, etc. Have we become so comfortable with just the way we are? You know, there's no Protestant hymn, just the way I am. Have we become so comfortable that we give up the struggle? The first category people are those who had been invited, disrespected it, rejected it, hated the one who sent them, hated the ones who came in His name.

And let us be warned that the same story is not told of us. But there was a second category.

The second category includes those who have not yet been invited, but because there's plenty of room in the family, plenty of room with the feast, the servants are then just says, go out there into the highways and whoever you find, whoever they are, give them an invitation. Just up the page in my Bible, in Matthew 22, notice verse 43, because this is kind of summarizing a discussion Christ had had with some of the chief priests and the elders of the people. But verse 43, 21-43, therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you. Now verse 23 tells us that He was speaking to the chief priests and elders of the people. He's speaking to the Jewish leaders of His day. He's telling them, you have had that invitation and it's going to be taken from you. And then it says, and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. So Christ was making it clear, you know, as it says in verse 45, they perceived the Pharisees and chief priests perceived that He was speaking of them. So no wonder they wanted to lay hands on Him and take His life.

But Jesus was telling them, you are the remnant of the house of Judah. You know, in the chapter 23, He reminded them the scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. They were that remnant of that chosen people. And He says that invitation is going to be taken from you and given to others who will respond and bear fruits of that kingdom. And that's another way of talking about what we have here with this category in chapter 22 verse 9, therefore going to the highways and as many as you find, invite to the wedding. Well, we're not to that time yet, but there will be a time when there is a blanket access to the way of God will go forth.

Those who then came, this is the second category, the ones who came.

In Boyce's book, I'll read a little bit here, pages 70-71.

He said, He asked, is it possible that God, the King of the universe, can be dishonored by having no one show up to the wedding supper of His Son? Can the work of Almighty God be defeated? Can it be disappointed? Well, obviously we know. No. God's purpose will come to fruition, come to realization.

Let me skip down a bit further here. He says, but surely God is dishonored by the kinds of people who come, someone may say. Those are not the noble people who are first invited. They're not the wise, they're not the mighty. And that may be true, but as Paul says, God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly of this world, and the despised things, and the things that are not to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him. God is not dishonored. He is highly honored by calling whomsoever He will. Well, this second category will consist of a people, and in many respects it began with the time of Christ establishing the church, and especially there in Acts as He taught the church. You don't call any man common or unclean. You go to the ends of the earth, and you give that invitation. You preach that message of the kingdom of God.

You will find there will be some far more grateful and appreciative of that invitation than those who had been invited and rejected it. You will find those who will be filled with indescribable joy when they see what God has opened up to them. And you will have those who will respond and bear fruits of the kingdom, and their rewards will be far greater than those who rejected the invitation and did nothing with it. Third category, that one-man category, the one without the wedding garment. Through this man, I believe, God also gives us a rather stern warning from Boyce's book again, page 72. The Lord goes on to give a much-needed warning in the account of the man who came to the feast without a wedding garment. There's sometimes a kind of inverse pride found in the disadvantage that imagines that because they are not rich or famous or powerful, but poor and unknown and weak, therefore they deserve the king's bounty and can come before him in their own character and on the basis of their own supposed good works. And here Jesus exposed that era by showing how the man who came to the feast without the garment was immediately confronted and thrown outside into darkness. And they'll be weeping and asking of teeth.

And then he says, what is the wedding garment? Well, the wedding garment is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And if we are clothed in righteousness, we will be able to stand before God and rejoice in salvation. And if we are not clothed in righteousness, we too will stand speechless before Him. I think we're through with what I want to look at here in Matthew. Let's go to Romans 3. Romans 3. And we will first read just the last half of verse 19. This is right on the heels of a section where he's quoting different areas of the Psalms about, there's none righteous, not one. We've all been unprofitable, not one does good. Romans 3 verse 19, the latter half, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God.

Isn't it interesting that the man was asked why he was there, unprepared, and he was speechless?

He had nothing to say. We look at a person represented by this man, and when anyone answers to Jesus Christ and is asked why they should be invited to the kingdom, we basically have three possible answers. They might, first of all, cite their own good works.

Well, I did this, and I did that, and we've got too, too many eyes already in those statements.

Their own good works. Well, Romans 3 verse 20, therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight. Just the actual works of keeping the law. And again, think back to the ones Jesus spoke to when he gave that parable. The Jewish leaders, the ones who prided themselves as being the great lawkeepers of all time. They would be the ones who would stand before God and cite their own record, kind of like we'll see the Pharisee going up to pray.

I give tithes. I fast. I'm not like this poor sinner. So some will answer God and cite their own works, and others will be speechless. And that's the second reaction. Some will be speechless and have nothing to say. In page 73, the voice says, in this life we may get by with the delusion that our record is pretty good, and that God is satisfied with it. But in that day, when we see God in His glory and understand what true righteousness is, our folly will be apparent to ourselves as well as to all other beings of the universe. And we will be reduced to silence if we're not clothed with the wedding garment of Christ's own righteousness.

The third response, and the only one that's correct, is to essentially, if we were to be asked the question, why should I welcome you to the family of God? The only correct answer is, I don't. Or why do you deserve the family? The only answer is, I don't. And to throw ourselves before God at His mercy. Only those whose records have been washed clean, because you see, it's our record, our sinful life that got us into trouble the first place. Only those who have the past forgiven in the body and blood of Jesus Christ, who have then walked as Jesus Christ walked, and have put on His righteousness, will be able to stand before God and answer that invitation of saying, I don't deserve it. I'm an unprofitable servant. And I think those are the ones God will say, well done, good and faithful servant, enter the joy of the Lord. Let's consider another parable.

And for this, let's go to Luke 13. This is the parable of the narrow gate. If you have the King James, it will call it the straight gate, I believe. Luke 13, and let's first read verses 22 through 30.

22, and he went through the cities and villages, teaching and journeyed toward Jerusalem.

23 Then one said to him, Lord, are there few who are saved? And he said to them, strive to enter through the narrow gate. For many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able, when once the master of the house has risen up and shut the door. And you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. And he will answer and say to you, I do not know you. Where are you from? Then you will begin to say, we ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets. But he will say, I tell you, I do not know you. Where you are from? Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. There will be weak being and gnashing of teeth. When you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out, then will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and sit down. Or they will come and sit down in the kingdom of God. And indeed, there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last. The parable of the narrow gate. Some have questioned whether it ought to be categorized as a parable. It's an answer to a question, but he does tell a story, and I think it's rightfully listed as one of the parables, and rightfully so is a parable of salvation. Jesus has asked, are there only a few people who are going to be saved? That's a funny quirk about human beings. We worry about the numbers, and yet, how many times can we go to biblical examples when God said, nope, too many of you. Midian, or fighting the Midianites, Gideon, tell some to go back. Well, carve the number down more.

Human beings have to have a count and are worried about the numbers. Are only a few people going to be saved? And you know, Christ really didn't answer the question, because he wasn't in the numbers game. He preached here on earth. He fed thousands at times. He had multitudes following many times. And Acts 1 and 2, you've got a little group of about 120 people, it says.

That's not many people. When our Lord and Master, our Savior, Jesus Christ, is the one who was preaching and living that life. But Jesus was concerned about the one asking the question, and wanted to make certain that that person understands what they're asking. Now, boys, once again, I don't want to read too much here, but just a sentence or two here and there. Page 77, Christ's answer in a nutshell was that your duty is to get through the door, or the gate. You can worry about the size. He calls it in the heavenly hotel, but I'm not going to say it that way. The family of God, or the kingdom of God, I think we would prefer.

You can even worry about the size later. Right now, your exclusive compelling concern is to get through the door so that you're on the right side when it closes and you come to judgment.

Well, we look at this particular parable, and of course, back in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talked about the, you know, enter in through the narrow gate, and then there's this wide gate that leads to destruction. But we can list three basic points here as we look at this parable. The first one is that there is one gate, and it is narrow. There's one gate, one door, whatever word you want to use, it's narrow. Secondly, that gate is open now, but one day it will close. And I think that's a pretty good reminder to us. And then, number three, your duty now is to strive to get through that gate. Now, with that in mind, again, this is a parable of salvation because the main teaching via this story is that salvation is by faith in Christ alone. Salvation is a gift repeatedly throughout His ministry. Christ said, I am the gate, I am the door, I am the way and the truth and the life. And God rejects all human efforts to salvation. The Pharisees thought they were earning salvation by lawkeeping and all the extra regulations they added onto the law of God. You have other religions. What is it? Buddhism has is that a fourfold or a sevenfold path, but there's a path that human beings tend to come up with.

And some turn to meditation, self-denial, and it was true again of the Jews of Christ's day.

They thought they would get God's favor by being strict lawkeepers. But Christ here taught, salvation is a gift. There's only one way, there's one gate, and that's to follow Jesus Christ.

In Boyce here, page 79, he says, there is a way through the gate. You and I have sinned in little ways or in big ways. Sin keeps us from God. Unless sin is removed, we can never get into, again, he says, into heaven, but into the family, the kingdom. How can sin be removed?

Well, Jesus Christ removes it by becoming our substitute. He died not for his own sin. He didn't have any, but for our sin. Little later, he says, do not make the mistake of counting on your own moral record as a way of coming to God. It is our own record that got us into trouble in the first place. Let's remind ourselves over in John 6 what verse 44 says, and I think we're through there in that part of Luke. We'll come back to Luke 18 in a minute. In John 6 verse 44, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him at the last day.

There is a way. There is a gate. There is a door. But we have to be called. This parable reminds us that that gate for us is open today if we've been given God's invitation.

It may not always remain open, though. We are warned that we do not neglect so great a salvation.

We are reminded that there is a time coming when the door will close.

That tells us that the time for repentance and growth is not endless.

We're told here that we are to struggle to enter that gate now.

Now, in verse 24, we read to strive. It comes from a Greek word, and I usually slaughter Greek words, especially longer ones, but it's agonizamai.

Agonizamai. We have our English word, agonize, that comes from that.

Agonize means to strive to make every effort to achieve. For us, we strive to enter the kingdom of God, and that has to be our reason for being. We cannot earn salvation, as I said last time.

It's a different topic to talk about being rewarded according to our works.

This is salvation, and then different rewards will be given out based upon what we do with what we're given and the amount of time we have and all of that. But the salvation is a free gift, and we are to struggle to enter the kingdom. Let's notice several verses. I just want to go rapid fire here with five passages. Matthew 11 verse 12. Matthew 11 verse 12. And if you want to just write these down, I'll turn and read to them. I want to go through them quickly. Verse 12, And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. So here, and speaking of taking the kingdom, there is this violent effort, this forceful effort to enter. Acts 14 verse 22.

Acts 14 verse 22. Paul told the elders at Ephesus, We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.

Many trials, many tests, many times of persecution, of affliction.

But we must go through that to enter the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 9 verse 27.

1 Corinthians 9 verse 27, where Paul is using the analogy of preparing to run a race.

Verse 27, I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. He could be lax, and in spite of all that he had done, be found on the wrong side of that gate whenever it closes. And so he continued to go through the rigors of being in training, and of striving, and of struggling to enter the family, to enter the kingdom. 2 Corinthians 10. 2 Corinthians 10, and you could write down verses 3 through 5.

It talks here about the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God. But then in verse 5, it speaks of bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

And then finally, Philippians 2 verse 12.

Philippians 2 verse 12. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, the later then it finishes, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

So there is a striving, there is a struggling, there is a working, there is a gate, and we must go through that gate. It is open to us now. It will not always be open.

And for the meantime, we pick up one foot and put it in front of the other and follow with the second in taking steps through that gate, following Christ to the kingdom.

Let's go back now to Luke 18, and we'll see a final parable.

Luke 18. And here are the, here is the parable of the two men who went up to pray, as some call it, or the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, others call it.

Luke 18 verses 9 through 14. Verse 9. 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. Verse 13. 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, the tax collector, the publican, 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.

The prayer, excuse me, the parable is about much more than prayer and attitude in prayer. It is a parable of salvation, like the others we have covered. The story gives us insight into the hearts of these two different individuals. The one, the first one approached God based upon his own supposed good works. The second approached God based upon his perceived need for God's grace and forgiveness. Good works are important, but they do not justify us before God, and the key word in this passage is justified. Justified. The parable answers the question, how is a person to be justified before God? And the simple truth is that not one human being, of and by himself, is just before God. Man is not just. Man is alienated from God. Man makes choices, makes decisions, takes actions that brings the death penalty. But the central question, how can people escape death, eternal death, and be pronounced just before God?

Well, this is also a parable of great contrasts. The first contrast is between the two men.

The one, a Pharisee. A Pharisee. They were among the most powerful ones of that particular sect of Judaism. They had great power. They had great clout. And they were probably the predominant sect of that day, along with others, the Sadducees, Essenes, and others. But you have this one.

A religious body, as the boy says on page 85, they were a religious body whose chief concern was to observe the tiny, the minute points of the law. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Paul said he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. Lots of discussions of Christ is with the Pharisees. He called them hypocrites. He told them in Matthew 23 that they devour widows' homes. They shut the kingdom of heaven, the door of the kingdom, in the faces of so many. So we have that individual. And then we have a tax collector. Tax collector, or publican as the old King James calls it, he was a Jew who worked for the Roman government to take tax money from Jews to give to the Romans. They were notorious for feathering their own nests. Any overage they would keep. Jews who were passing down a road, if they would see the tax collector, they would cross the other side of the road and continue to avoid the person. They were despised. So we're looking at a contrast of someone at the higher echelon of society and the one down at the dregs of the barrel, down at the bottom.

Another contrast is that one was seen as being noble while the other was based.

One was proud, the other was filled with shame. The one was self-confident, almost to the extent that he came across as if he was his own gift to God.

And the other one was kind of cringing, shaking in front of God.

But we have a contrast here between man's view of justification and God's view of justification.

The Pharisee approached God on his own record, his own supposed righteousness.

What he said is logical to the carnal mind. And again, I said carnal mind.

The tax collector approached God on the basis, not of his works, not of his record, but of his intense need as an undeserving sinner for the mercy of God.

And then he prayed one of the shorter prayers in all the Bible, just seven words, God be merciful to me, a sinner. And you know, a knowledge of God is where it starts.

A knowledge of God and an awareness of our own inadequacy, our own sinfulness.

It has to begin there. We have many examples throughout the Bible that we could turn to of individuals who came into the very presence of God. And it seems to be a common thread, a common theme, that their reaction is just that of the sinner here, the tax collector.

Adam and Eve, of course, had their encounter with God. God would first appear and he'd walk and talk with them and teach them. And all was fine until the sin. They sinned and then God came looking for them because they were hiding. And we see that their nakedness was not just physical, but it was spiritual. Because as the serpent had told them, that fruit can make them wise. It would open the eyes and did it ever. And they hid and covered themselves. Because when God came, they were in the presence of a holiness that they didn't deserve to be in the presence of. We could look at Moses.

Moses, golden boy there in Egypt, and yet with the killing of the Egyptian, goes up to Midian. He lives a long time there. His life basically three 40-year periods. And he's been out a long time in Midian. And he's the shepherd now. But he sees that curious sight. A bush over there, and it's burning, but it's not being consumed. And he goes over and he's told, take your shoes off your feet. You're on holy ground. And it says that Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look upon God. Job. Job. It says of him at the very beginning that he was blameless and upright, one who feared God.

And yet we follow that story of what God allowed Satan to do, and what was taken from him.

And Job throughout, he had the three friends that came. The first, what, 32 chapters. I think it's chapter 32 when Eliab comes along. But the three friends and then he gets beat up a lot, but he maintains his own righteousness. And it's like he's calling out for this. He wants his day in court before God to state his case. Eliab begins to make a little more sense than the others. But then when you get to chapter 38, here's this storm brewing and then this voice from the storm.

And in no time, Job's saying, I'm going to cover my mouth while God explained to him, where were you when I was out creating the universe? And what do you know about what happens with the wild goats and the scent that goes? And what do you know about the fearlessness of a horse and the great sea beasts? And at the end of the book, Job speaks again. And he says, I used to think I knew about you, but now my eye sees you. And he was a different man.

Isaiah. Another example, Isaiah there in, I think it's chapter 6. You could look at it later, but chapter 6, where he is in this vision to the throne of God and the seraphim there. And you know, who do we send? And Isaiah, I'm a man of unclean lips.

One place in the Gospels, Peter, where there was this miracle, Christ had them throw the net over, and they had this great catch of fish. And Peter said, Get away from me, Lord. I'm a sinful man.

All the way to the end of the Bible. John, standing there in vision, he's seeing Christ standing there in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. And he says, He fell on His face and worshiped Him. I fell at His feet as if dead. So, you see, this is a pattern of what happens when a person comes before God and has their eyes opened. When a person comes to really understand God. And this is how we can know what the tax collector had in his heart. He saw God. He knew God.

He saw Himself. The Pharisee did not see God, and he did not see Himself. And so, the tax collector was so acutely aware of his own sin that he actually called himself the sinner, where he said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I checked that out. I looked that up in Robertson's word pictures and also in Vincent's word studies on that Greek word, toi. And it is a definite article. It's not be merciful to me, a sinner, but the sinner. He saw himself as being the chief sinner, a sinner above all. The tax collector was aware of his own sin and aware of the righteousness of God, and he went to God for reconciliation. And so, it leaves us with a question. Do we really, truly see God? Because for the tax collector, God had bridged the gap. And there's a gap between the sinful man and then the man going to God to be justified and pronounced just and clean before God. This man, the publican, the tax collector, knew that he could only approach God because of God's acts of mercy, and his prayer was an appeal to God based upon what God was and what God is.

The Greek word that is translated, have mercy, or here in the New King James, it's be merciful to.

Again, the Greek word, hilastheti, or hilasthetai, something close to that, and it paints a picture of the mercy seat that the man is going and crying out to God as though back in the Old Testament day, or, well, it continued in his day with the temple, he had gone and fallen down before the mercy seat.

You had, in the Holy of Holies, the Ark of the Covenant, and of course, on top of the lid, you had this mercy seat that represented where God symbolically was seated, and the archangel's wings overshadowing, and that God would look down from that at the person and read the attitude, and the Pharisee came based on his own record.

The law, the commandments, the tablets that were inside that Ark of the Covenant, he saw himself as perfectly keeping those, and he didn't see that he had broken every one of them.

The tax collector came on the basis of appealing to God to allow the shed blood of Jesus Christ that would be, of course, it hadn't technically happened at the time of this story.

But he came crying out, treat me as one who comes on the basis of the blood shed for the offering of sin.

The tax collector was likely thinking about the system of animal sacrifices when he prayed, but Jesus, of course, had come, and shortly thereafter would have given his life. And we, of course, as it tells us in Hebrews, he once for all took his own bread, blood, and entered the Holy Place forever. So as we look at these parables, we've looked at seven of them. Let me just go back and refresh our minds on some of the points we have seen. We started with the lost sheep, coin, and son, and those remind us no matter how far we go astray, God desperately seeks those who have strayed, and so should we.

We saw in the parable of the prodigal son that restoration of God hinges upon repentance. Remember, we read how when he came unto himself and confession of sin, he said, I'll go back to my father and say I sinned against you in heaven. And then he actually did that. He took steps to return back to God. We saw also in those parables, certainly that one of the lost son, let us always rejoice. Let us always rejoice at the repentance and return of sinners.

And let us remember that we are the ones in debt to God. He does not owe us a thing.

What we deserve is eternal death. But he's in the forgiveness of business, and so should we.

But you had different ones. One out in the vineyard, different times of the day. Some worked longer than others, but the salvation was a free gift. There's no seniority plan.

We have to work out our own salvation within the time frame of God's calling in our life.

But we've seen today that today is our time to be judged. Today is our time to go through that narrow gate to the family of God, the kingdom of God. Today we are called, and we are given the opportunity to enter. The door will not always remain open. We also are reminded that the entrance, getting on the other side of that gate, takes diligent effort, desperate, unrelenting effort. We are to agonize for the kingdom of God. And we are reminded from this last parable that humility takes us down the path of salvation. Pride always destroys whatever it touches, and no one can stand on his or her own good record. Those who exalt themselves will be brought down, and justification comes through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So, brethren, have a wonderful Sabbath day!