The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.The Pharisee stood and prayed by himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men: extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.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.The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
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Jesus got another the Pharisee versus the sinner story. Wonderful. So next we have the Pharisee. He stood up, and he prayed, verse 11, about himself or to himself. God, I thank you that I'm not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector here. What he's doing up at the temple to pray, I will never know. You see where his confidence lies? in what he doesn't do, and then in what he does. What does he do? Verse 12, I fast twice a week, and I give a tenth of all that I get. I'm a tither, and I'm a double faster. I'm twice as fast as anybody else. Here I am, twice a week fasting, tithing, not like this joker. Well, who told you to fast twice a week? No one. There's only one place in the whole of the Old Testament where fasting is demanded, and that's recorded in Leviticus chapter 16 in relationship to the Day of Atonement. Fasting appears all over the place for all kinds of reasons good, but in terms of God actually saying, this is what I want you to do, it only comes there in relationship to the Day of Atonement. You see, the issue here is not fasting per se. …
… Jesus told this parable. Two men went up to the temple to pray. One, a Pharisee, that's the professional prayer, and the other, a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, God, I thank you that I am not like other people. What a start to a prayer. I thank you I'm not like other people. Robbers, evildoers, adulterers, Democrats, Republicans. Put whatever you want in there that's not you. That's what he's doing. I get to pray, and they don't get to pray. I get to come to God. They don't get to come to God. I get to have a relationship with God. They get to have a relationship with God. I get to be a preacher. They don't get to be a preacher. I get to worship. They don't get to worship. He said, I thank you that I'm not like robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of all I get, but the tax collector stood at a distance, and he went out on his porch, and he started praying. He didn't feel like he was doing it right, right, but it came from a deep place of gratitude. He felt like he didn't do it right or enough, like he left something out, because the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven. He's not proud of his life, but he beat his breast and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. So, Jesus… Which one did it right? I tell you, this man …
… He's talking about the best and the worst right here. He's giving a contrast. And the Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, God, I thank you that I'm not like other people. Robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. How awkward is this? The guy can probably hear him. God, I thank you so much that I'm not an adulterer. I thank you that I'm not a tax collector. I'm thanking you that I'm not a Pharisee. God, I thank you so much that I'm not like Chris sitting over there. God, I just, I don't know if I have a lot to praise you for, but I'm just glad I'm not like that guy. That's what he's doing. It's so arrogant. It's crazy. He says, I'm thanking you that I'm not like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and I give a tenth of all I get. Y'all, he's treating his prayer time like a performance review. He's coming to God and he's listing all the things. Do you ever do that sometime negotiating with God. Hey, God, I'm here just checking in. I want to let you know I've been doing really good lately. God, I've been going to church a lot more regularly. I even started tithing. I signed up for an E-team. I'm going to start serving at the church. God, I just want to let you know. See, what the Pharisees say, it's not a lie. It's just limited. He probably did fast. He probably did …
… at the front of synagogue. It says, he stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, even as this tax collector. Look at all the good things I do. Look at the image I've attained. Look at the influence I have. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. and then there's the tax collector the the view shifts in the story to the back of the service standing afar off he 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 is jesus speaking 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. So when no one thanked you for the money you gave, when someone else got the promotion at your job for your hard work, when no one saw you help out that person, what is your response when it goes completely unseen? Are you more concerned with obedience or your image. See, when these things happen, we must pose the question to ourselves, what am I really in this for? What are my intentions? Because the moment we do something that we at first think is for the glory of God and that thought creeps into our head, well, no one's going to see it, right? Is it even worth doing if you don't post about it on your …
… two men jesus says went up to the temple to pray one of them was a pharisee and the other a tax collector the pharisee standing off by himself was praying thus oh god i thank you that i am not like the other people thieves rogues adulterers or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of my income. But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven but was beating his breast and saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, Jesus told them, that this man, this tax collector, went down to his home justified rather than the other. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves shall be exalted. Friends, this is the word of God for you, the people of God. Thanks be to God. Okay, so this week I've been wrestling with this text. And I've drawn help from somewhat of an unlikely source. …
… he's bringing God his resume He's like, I fast twice a week. God, you should listen to me. I pay tithes on my whole income. You should listen to me. I'm not greedy. I'm not adulterous. I don't do all those things. These are all of the reasons why you should listen to me. Remember, those are all good things to do. The things he's doing are all good things. They're very, in fact, he's pretty impressive. I mean, twice a week, struggle for one. Tithes on everything. That means 10% of all of his income he gives to the Lord. It's pretty impressive. Those are not wrong things to do, but they are the wrong way to approach God. This is so important for all of us, especially if we have resume faith. Here's one of the reasons why it's wrong. One of the reasons it's wrong is if I come before God and say, God, here are all the reasons. All these things I'm doing, these are all the reasons why you should love me. …
… one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, God, I thank you that I am not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and I give a 10th of all I get. But the tax collector stood at a distance. he would not even look up to heaven but he beat his breast and he said god have mercy on me a sinner and jesus says i tell you that this man rather than the other went home justified before god for all those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted two men showed up to the temple to pray though one didn't really pray at all he just stood by himself and boasted in his good deeds, touted his resume. Thank you, God, that I'm not as big of a mess up as all these other jokers here. Anybody got multiple kids, you trying to do the prayer time thing at night? You know, it's always amazing. You got, we got three girls, you know, and we asked them, what are you thankful for today? And inevitably from time to time, there's one like, I'm thankful that my sister won't hit me again tomorrow. And I'm thankful that even though she didn't want to today, that tomorrow she'll share her toys with me. You know, it's like, okay, we're going to have to do some work on this. This is what's happening here. …