“Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon 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”, Luke 18:10-14. Every Sunday “two men” go up to the Temple, Tabernacle, Cathedral, Synagogue, or Church to pray and worship. These two men in our text describe them well. I use them as a figure, mark them as teaching examples. They teach us a vital lesson on what is true and what is false in religion; whatever the religion may be. Two men go up somewhere every Sabbath and Lord’s Day to worship. One knows the object of his worship and how the LORD GOD must be approached, the other like the Samaritans of old (John 4) worships he knows not what. To the one He is the “UNKNOWN GOD” (Acts 17:23), to the other He is the glorious and compassionate Savior to Whom belongs mercy. The one man goes up to worship the labors of his hands, “I fast, I give”. The other goes up to worship the Great Giver. The one goes up to praise himself that “he is not as other men are,” the other confesses that he feels himself to be the worst of men “have mercy on me the sinner,” he cries. The one thing the publican pleads for in the text, namely “Mercy,” is the one thing most of this self-righteous religious world has the least need of in their self-deceived thinking. Mercy is for the guilty. When a man is tried in a court of law and found guilty of the crime accused of there is only one thing left for the poor convicted felon to do, throw himself on the mercy of the court. Most men have no problem presenting themselves to a church or religious establishment for membership because it is an honorable thing in modern society to belong to something religious. But cast oneself on the mercy of God, as an ill-deserving, guilty sinner is humility to the lowest degree. Proud men are not going to do this and modern religion knows it and will not call on men to do so. Be sure my dear friends, no repentance and humble confession of sin, no justification: no justification, no coming into the presence of the Holy God. Remember these sober words of Jesus, “I tell you this man,” (the publican, the one who confessed his guilt and cried for mercy) “went down to his house justified, rather than the other.” At the beginning of the parable it is said, “And He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.” Does this describe you? Jesus said in another place, “I came not to call the righteous (self-righteous), “but sinners to repentance.” And again the Scripture says, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
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